566 Cleared
Slaughter, Endless slaughter!
Ye Chen had never experienced such a fierce battle. This battle was forcing him to meet his limits again and again. His mental state was like a tightrope that could snap at any moment. There was no room to breathe; the moment it concluded, he would instantly collapse.
At this moment, he felt a genuine admiration for Dugu Jue and Tantai Mingyue. For these two to be able to charge through the seventh level, they must have a frightening aptitude and ability to battle above their level as easy as eating food and drinking water.
"Forty sixth!"
Resisting the chop of a yellow-robed sword artist with his left hand, Ye Chen raised his right hand. Sword light gushed out, and the sword-artist's head was sent flying.
The moment he killed the sword artist, his figure flickered, dodging the incoming sword light from behind. Although the sword light missed Ye Chen, its breath left behind a clear scar on his shoulder.
"Forty seventh!"
Nimbly dodging sword light coming from almost every direction as Ye Chen spun in the air. The two swords, as if two wind wheels, sprinkled interweaving sword light, scarring the earth and slashing the void wherever they went.
Puff!
The sword artist nearest to Ye Chen was swallowed by the interweaving sword light and dismembered into dozens of pieces before dissipating in the void.
"My power consumption is too much!"
After using this move, Ye Chen's face slightly paled, and bulging blue veins on his face turned slightly visible. From the first level to this moment, he had killed a hundred and fourteen images, all of which had cultivation base and will equivalent to his. Every single kill was not easy; especially in the seventh level, every single kill was twice or thrice as difficult.
Even though he was a Sea of Soul realm warrior, he couldn't keep up with this kind of consumption.
Fortunately, the consumption of yellow-robed sword artists also seemed to be high, and they seemed somewhat lax. Otherwise, continuing on would be simply impossible.
Rapidly retreating, Ye Chen sucked in a deep breath and pointed toward the dense incoming sword light. A huge cyan finger confronted the sword light head on.
"Forty eighth…Forty ninth!"
Borrowing the momentum from the void, Ye Chen didn't retreat, but charged forth. At an extreme speed, his figure shook once and transformed into dozens of shadows that drowned two yellow-robed sword artists. Sword light flickered and the two toppled on the ground.
…
Around the ranking wall, sharp inhalations could be heard every few moments.
"Eight hours have already passed since he began!"
"Even if he can't clear the seventh level, he will surely be placed third or fourth."
The faces changed. The absolute majority among the people present could only proceed to the fifth level, and there were hardly a few who could reach the sixth one. The fifth pass was so difficult in itself, then what about the seventh one? Its difficulty was something they couldn't even imagine. Otherwise, among the myriads of geniuses, how could only Dugu Jue and Tantai Mingyue clear the seventh level and look down upon the young elites of world?
"This guy!"
Yan Fengfeng smiled bitterly. As a descendant of Phoenix, her talent was not inferior to anybody, but she could only each up to the fifth place, being firmly pushed down by the above four. But now, it seemed that she couldn't even preserve her fifth position, and was about to be pushed down to sixth.
In reality, she was actually looking down on her aptitude.
This test was forged for evaluating mankind. As a Blue Phoenix, she would inevitably suffer a little bias. After all, there were a lot of different aspects among humans and demonic beasts; the two couldn't be lumped together. Her test had only evaluated her aspects similar to humankind while her beastly aspects had not been evaluated, or only a part of it had been evaluated.
The Blue Phoenix could be discussed on the same level as the ancient Nine Headed Serpent. Even if her aptitude wasn't equal to the two freaks that were Dugu Jue and Tantai Mingyue, it shouldn't be far off.
"Yan Fengfeng, this kind of a genius can't be let by. Our faction with us two is strong, but not enough to contend against the factions of those young tyrants. With his addition, our faction will be strengthened by a lot. Moreover, he still hasn't matured yet." Hai Wuya smiled toward Yan Fengfeng.
"Of course!" She said.
Sky Martial Region had countless geniuses. If one were to pick any random area within, they would be able to find some geniuses lurking. However, geniuses were quite prideful, and upon encountering other geniuses, there would be friction; the two sides would not find each other pleasing to the eyes. After a long time, the small grievances would gradually turn into animosity and hostility from the depths of their hearts.
'There is strength in numbers.' This saying had been true since the ancient times. One might wish to contend fairly, but others might not be willing to do so. If one didn't wish to be bullied with numbers, one must have their own faction. In that way, be it fair or unfair means, one wouldn't suffer any losses.
Factions could be strong and weak. The faction the two of them had created could almost be ranked in the top ten. Unfortunately, apart from the two of them, their faction didn't have any other powerful figures. Ye Chen, in their eyes, was certainly the optimal candidate. With him, they might even be able to contend against factions of the young tyrants in a few years. Dugu Jue and Taitan Mingyue were also not to be taken lightly. Their potential was simply frightening.
…
"Fifty nine!"
Borrowing the momentum of the free fall, Ye Chen resolutely chopped at the head of a yellow-robed sword artist. The sword edge moved along the forehead, cleaving it into two halves.
Huff!
There were only five yellow-robed sword artists left. Making use of this opportunity, Ye Chen panted, slightly relaxing his taut nerves.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The five yellow-robed sword artists were unafraid of death. They charged at Ye Chen from five different angles, emitting a powerful sword Qi upon drawing closer.
Following a strange and unpredictable trajectory, Ye Chen spun around and passed through the small crack between sword Qi like a white steed speeding through a creek, impaling the neck of yellow-robed sword artist to his side. Pulling out his sword, he again slashed a beautiful arc in the air, and head of another yellow-robed sword artists flew off.
"Three remaining!"
Ye Chen was almost on the brink of exhausting his power, and he no longer seemed that domineering. Of course, the yellow-robed sword artists had also lost a large amount of power. The latter had no wisdom, and any loss of their power would be directly weakening them. It was instead easier for Ye Chen to kill them now.
"Stay back!"
The two swords overlapped; one straight and one inverse. Two crescent shaped sword Qi converged to form a hemisphere which sent the two yellow-robed sword artists who had taken this chance to get closer flying back. At the same time, Ye Chen stuck out the little finger of his hand holding the sword. A Green Lotus Sword Qi shot out like a light beam, piercing toward the skull of the yellow-sword artist moving in from the other side. At this crucial moment, the latter's body shifted, bringing its shoulder in place of its head.
Tear!
Upon receiving the injury on its shoulder, it faintly trembled. However, other than that, it showed no reaction and pounced on Ye Chen with a deathly silence while waving its longsword.
Ye Chen stamped the ground, and a hidden energy stuck under the counterpart's feet and exploded. It was actually the Earth Explosion Ye Chen had used back in the day.
Although it couldn't heavily injure the yellow-robed sword artist, it could make it stagger.
"Die!"
Flipping his right wrist, Ye Chen ruthlessly severed its waist.
Feeling his power exhaustion becoming more and more grave, Ye Chen gnashed his teeth before stamping his feet and bursting forward, his long hair fluttering in the wind.
One of the two remaining yellow-robed sword artists charged forth and met the longsword in its hand with Ye Chen's. Unfortunately, Ye Chen's momentum was too powerful, forcing the latter several li away while giving off sparks that filled the air.
The desolate ground split open as Ye Chen ruthlessly smashed it into the ground. The brutal fighting style had changed his temperament.
Turning his body, Ye Chen looked at the final yellow-robed sword artist!
"It's over."
Thrusting the longsword into the ground, Ye Chen gasped. The body, which had been completely drained, suddenly found strength which poured into his two arms following the imaginary channels inside it. The flesh on the two arms suddenly swelled, making the edges distinct like the edge of a blade.
Peng!
With no fancy movements, one straight chop was made.
Holding the sword with both his hands, Ye Chen forced it half into the sword artist manifestation. Without giving it any chance to recover, he again chopped straight. This one strike contained his entire spirit; it instantly slashed through the longsword the latter had raised above its head.
The longsword broke, and the yellow-robed sword artist collapsed!
Sheathing the sword back, Ye Chen stood for a while, looking around. He could only see signs of destruction on the desolate land. If the yellow-robed sword artists had flesh and blood, it would have certainly been littered with dismembered corpses and rivers of blood.
Buzz!
Ye Chen's figure gradually turned indistinct and dissipated into the void like the yellow-robed sword artists.
Near the ranking screen, Ye Chen's original body opened its eyes. He could faintly feel the exhaustion, and there were many sore spots on his body.
Seeing Ye Chen waking up, everybody felt their scalps tingle. They promptly moved their gazes toward the screen. In the first row, the third name was an awe-inspiring 'Ye Chen'.
Purple Name!
"Number third, purple name! He has cleared the seventh level!"
"Frightening! Who would have thought that another freak would appear after Dugu Jue and Tantai Mingyue? This is really huge news!"
Unable to suppress their mood, everybody started chatting.
"He passed!" Disbelief was written over Hai Wuya's face.
"Passed, standing on the same level as Dugu Jue and Tantai Mingyue!"
Yan Fengfeng knew that there was actually no difference between the first, second, and third place. The former two had taken the test one year earlier, so their names were at the top. As long as the name was purple, the aptitudes would be similar.
"Xie Zhiqiu, you can't beat him." Ling Luohan bitterly smiled, speaking a bit absent-mindedly.
Clenching his right hand, the former rigidly stared Ye Chen. Originally, he thought that he would have a huge battle with Ye Chen after the test and wash away the previous humiliation. However, at this moment, he didn't have a trace of confidence. He had been made a quick work at the sixth level, while Ye Chen had cleared even the seventh level. The difference was too humongous.
"There will still be plenty of opportunities to clear the previous shame. I don't believe that he can keep on maintaining his superiority."