Chapter 72 of 100

Chapter 72

13 min read3,251 words

(Hehe, with the ghost festival, we're sending out monthly tickets to beat the ghosts. We received 258 monthly tickets yesterday. Brothers, let's keep it up! The lottery event on Zongheng will last for a week, and you have a chance to win a monthly ticket with just 100 Zongheng coins. Besides the guaranteed two updates, for every 200 monthly tickets received on the same day, there will be an additional update until the backlog is used up! Thanks to our old friends Leopard and Baboon for their support!)

As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written inside.

---

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter his mother had given him.

---

Relying on his unique mystic talisman robe, Suling had already climbed to the fourth level of the Heavenly Ladder platform, which had already made people look down on him. Now, seeing him recklessly trying to challenge the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder and ending up like this, everyone around him couldn't help but feel a sense of schadenfreude.

In fact, the brutal competition among disciples had already begun the moment they started climbing the Heavenly Ladder.

Whoever could truly step into the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder would become a core disciple of the various mansions. They would not only have the opportunity to choose more advanced mystic techniques but also receive more cultivation resources and support, far surpassing the green-robed disciples.

Seeking the Dao against all odds.

The resources that the Canglan Academy and the Suxu Mansion could provide to the many disciples were limited. To obtain more, one had to fight for it. At this moment, who wouldn't secretly feel delighted to have one less competitor?

Gujianfeng spat at the steps below with disdain and cursed, "You overestimated yourself, and this is what you deserve!"

Unless they were direct descendants of the Su family who entered the inner courtyard of the academy, Suling and his collateral branches would not have a higher status in the Canglan Academy than other disciples.

On that day, Suling and Suyi, along with Su Qingfeng, went to Black Mountain, where they relied on their status as Su family members to show off their power and even treated Gu Hu, Gu Chen, and others like servants. Gu Jianfeng had long found them extremely annoying.

This time, entering Canglan, Suling kept provoking and causing trouble. Gu Jianfeng naturally took the opportunity to settle old scores, wishing he could spit in Suling's face.

Seeing Suling in such a miserable state, Suyi was silent, his face pale as he sat cross-legged, not daring to argue with Chen Xun and Gu Jianfeng.

Lou Jiao, seeing that Suling couldn't resist the provocation and attempted to force his way into the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder, which far exceeded his abilities, felt secretly anxious.

He walked over, made a hand seal, and released a mystic circular light to protect Suling, then asked in a low voice, "Do you think you'll have a future if this boy stays in the academy?"

The immense force was deflected by the mystic circular light, allowing Suling to barely sit up. He took out a pill and swallowed it, temporarily suppressing his injuries, but his mystic talisman robe was completely shattered, leaving him in tears.

This mystic talisman robe looked no different from the green robes worn by other new disciples, but it contained three layers of mystic talismans. It was exchanged for by his small clan using decades of savings from the Gu Xi tribe. He had hoped to use it to compete for the position of a core disciple in the Suxu Mansion, but it was destroyed on the Heavenly Ladder today.

How could he face his family when he returned home?

***

Chen Xun saw the hook-nosed attendant walk with Suling and sneered inwardly.

Others might think he was just a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy, but who knew that if he had stayed on Earth, he might have already married and had children? How could he not see through the sinister hearts of people?

Surviving in the wilderness for several years had honed his will.

No matter what sinister schemes the Gu Xi tribe had, as long as they didn't openly violate the rules set by the Su family, he was unafraid. If they came, he would deal with them.

Chen Xun looked around. He guessed correctly that among the new disciples who climbed to the fourth level of the Heavenly Ladder platform, about 120 to 130 people, only about a third could take another step and enter the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder. These were the ones who had the qualifications to directly become black-robed disciples of the various mansions.

He looked up at the mountain peak.

The dignitaries of the academy, who had been standing at the peak, now began to pay attention to the situation below, indicating that the thirty or so disciples who had entered the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder were the ones the Canglan Academy and the Su family would focus on and cultivate.

Chen Xun originally wanted to try how many steps he could take on the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder, which had over 300 steps, but seeing the situation, he knew he had to keep a low profile to avoid drawing the attention of the Su family's elders.

Entering the inner courtyard of the academy by passing the fifth level now might not be a good thing for him.

Compared to the fourth level, the pressure had only slightly increased, but the aura emanating from deep within the mountain, directly affecting the divine soul, was terrifying. It seemed like an ancient fierce beast was imprisoned within the Fulong Mountain, roaring and struggling to devour the divine souls of all the disciples standing on the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder.

Before the Rebirth Realm, the physical strength of martial and true cultivators was limited, and their potential for cultivation lay in their divine souls.

The fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder tested the disciples' divine souls.

Qingxuan saw that Chen Xun had entered the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder so easily, with his eyes still unusually clear, unlike others who were struggling with dim eyes. She was secretly amazed.

Although many thought that Chen Xun's capture of the Gu Xi tribe's patriarch during the trial was due to the Gu Xi tribe's carelessness, seeing this, Qingxuan felt that Chen Xun's strength might not be inferior to Lou Shiyi's.

Qingxuan saw Chen Xun turn and look at Suling with a cold gaze. She also glanced at the fourth level of the steps, just as Suling looked over.

Qingxuan hadn't expected Suling to be so useless in front of Chen Xun. She pretended not to notice and avoided Suling's gaze.

Seeing Qingxuan avoid her gaze, Suling felt a deep bitterness and an overwhelming hatred for Chen Xun, wishing he could tear him apart and eat him raw.

The other disciples who had climbed to the fourth level of the Heavenly Ladder platform, seeing that Chen Xun, who was only thirteen or fourteen, could so easily break through the invisible barrier of the fifth level, were also secretly amazed. They thought that capturing the Gu Xi tribe's patriarch might not have been a fluke.

***

Chen Xun didn't care what others thought. Seeing Qianlan and Qingxuan break through the invisible barrier and step onto the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder, he tried to take a few more steps, feeling that he might not be able to pass the fifth level, but he could reach the top of the fifth level without much difficulty.

After testing his strength, Chen Xun decided not to seek further attention. He nodded at Gu Jianfeng, telling him to go as far as possible with Qianlan, while he sat down to cultivate.

"Are you not going any further?" Qianlan hesitated. She was also at her limit and thought about sitting down next to Chen Xun.

Seeing Qianlan about to stop, Chen Xun quickly made a gesture for her to take a pill.

Qianlan, being quick-witted, immediately understood Chen Xun's intention. She reached into her robe and took out the Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pill she had been carrying for days and swallowed it.

Qianlan was already at the peak of the True Yang Realm, sixth level. Whether she could break through to the seventh level depended on whether her divine soul could generate spiritual awareness.

The pressure released by the Fulong Mountain mystic talisman array was the most severe test for the divine soul. Taking the Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pill at this moment was the best time for her divine soul to generate spiritual awareness.

Chen Xun thought that with the pressure from the Fulong Mountain mystic talisman array and the rich spiritual energy flowing between the steps of the Heavenly Ladder, Qianlan had a good chance of breaking through to the seventh level of the True Yang Realm. This was a rare opportunity for her, and she shouldn't give up.

Qianlan possessed ancient bloodline. If she could successfully generate spiritual awareness, her soul sea would have unexpected abilities.

Chen Xun thought that if Qianlan could break through to the seventh level of the True Yang Realm while standing on the Heavenly Ladder, she would have a good chance of passing the fifth level and becoming a purple-robed disciple, entering the inner courtyard of the academy.

If the northern mountain tribes could produce a purple-robed disciple, the threat of the Gu Xi tribe would be significantly reduced.

Chen Xun and the others' grudges with the Gu Xi tribe were already well-known in Canglan City. Qingxuan naturally knew that the Gu Xi tribe had offered three Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pills and seven talisman artifacts to save Lou Shiyi's life. She thought that the pill Qianlan was taking now must be one of the Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pills...

Qingxuan felt a hint of jealousy, wondering why Chen Xun was willing to share such precious pills and talisman artifacts with other tribal disciples.

Didn't he know that the more advanced one's cultivation, the more precious and rare these resources became?

Didn't he know that in the wilderness, a Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pill could cause a tribe to be destroyed?

Qingxuan had taken a Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pill at the age of fifteen but failed to break through to the sixth level of the True Yang Realm.

She couldn't help but think that if she could get another Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pill, she could definitely break through to the seventh level of the True Yang Realm with the help of the Fulong Mountain Heavenly Ladder array and become a purple-robed disciple, no different from the direct descendants of the Su family.

Unfortunately, she was not a direct descendant of the Su family, and the opportunity to take a Nine Yuan Nourishing Aperture Pill was limited to one or two times. She knew she had no chance of reaching the top of the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder. She sat down next to Chen Xun and asked, "Why aren't you going any further?"

Qingxuan exuded a faint, alluring fragrance. Although the scent was light, Chen Xun felt it would be hard to erase it from his divine soul for a long time.

Chen Xun looked up at the mountain peak and asked Qingxuan calmly, "Why did you stop too?"

"These over 300 steps are too difficult. Even if I force myself halfway, I'll have to give up. It's better to use this time to cultivate. Do you think the same?" Qingxuan looked into Chen Xun's eyes with her dark, deep pupils, trying to read something from his seemingly calm but distant eyes.

Chen Xun smiled, indicating that he indeed thought the same.

Seeing how close Qingxuan was to Chen Xun, the other new disciples were envious but no longer looked down on him. They seriously examined Chen Xun, wondering why he had stopped when he still had the strength to go further.

Indeed, who would dare to look down on these northern mountain disciples now?

Among the thousands of new disciples from the three orders and six mansions, only about thirty had entered the fifth level of the Heavenly Ladder.

And among the nearly a hundred new disciples recommended by the Suxu Mansion to the academy, three of the four who ultimately entered the fifth level were from the northern mountain tribes, one of whom possessed ancient bloodline.

Such a result was truly astonishing.

How could they look down on these northern mountain tribal disciples, who were so strong and full of potential?