Chapter 18 Test (Nine) The final test.

"...Senior Sister."

When Su Lin saw the person in front of him clearly, his lips twitched twice, but he could only swallow his anger silently, his head drooping like a wilted eggplant.

Chen Mo is the eldest disciple of Elder Xuan Ying of Cai Lian Peak. She was born with an indestructible body, impervious to ten thousand swords. She has an amazing talent for body refinement and has consistently ranked among the top three in the inner sect tests. She is one of the best among the previous generation of disciples.

Of course, most importantly, she joined the sect early and was of a higher generation. Everyone present had to respectfully call her "Senior Sister." Compared to her, Su Lin was just a grain of millet.

Thinking about this, Su Lin couldn't help but wonder: why has he been so unlucky lately?

And every time, he could only silently swallow his anger. If he were a dumpling skin, he would be the kind that gets stretched into a bun by his temper.

Chen Mo merely glanced at him indifferently, without making any comment.

Su Lin was almost at his wit's end. He tucked his tail between his legs and slunk away.

"Senior Sister."

"Hello, senior sister."

Chen Mo walked towards them. She was tall, and with her cold expression that said "I'm not someone to mess with," people around her almost instinctively lowered their heads and made way for her.

At this moment, only the clingy Shen Wan dared to speak. She shook her head, looked at Chen Mo, and smiled, "Senior Sister! Have you thought about fighting me yet?"

"I've been waiting for a whole year!"

Chen Mo glanced at her and spoke his first words: "No."

Shen Wan wasn't annoyed, clearly used to being rejected. Xie Yuzhou, standing beside her, tugged at her sleeve, preventing her from chasing after him directly.

Wenren Xi, standing to the side, unusually respectfully put away his fan and gave Chen Mo a slight nod, which Chen Mo responded with a nod of nod.

From the moment she appeared until she left, no one dared to utter a sound, perfectly demonstrating the adage "might makes right."

"Wow, how impressive!" Guda and Qingxing stared at her back, their words full of praise for Chen Mo's temperament and strong physique. They even raised their slender hands and squeezed them, saying expectantly, "When I grow another thousand years or so, I want to become a body cultivator!"

Qingxing glanced at it and commented indifferently, "An infant's arm."

Gudako: ?

It snorted and said fiercely, "The way you treat me is disrespectful to the future number one body cultivator in the world, which means you disrespect the art of body techniques. You will be punished!"

Qingxing: "Is that so?"

What kind of retribution could she possibly receive? She probably won't live to see Gudako, who has become a body cultivator, come to take revenge. Does she think she can summon Chen Mo, the master of body techniques, to fight her?

Qingxing thought about Chen Mo's indifferent appearance and felt that it was probably unlikely that she would ask him to challenge her.

Unless she's extremely unlucky and happens to run into her in tomorrow's match.

Qingxing didn't take it to heart and wandered around some more. She used to be able to walk alone, but now she suddenly had three chattering little followers following her around. She wasn't used to it, so she went back to Tingyu Garden early and had a good night's sleep.

The afternoon of the second day—

Standing on the stage, Qingxing watched the tall figure slowly walk up and silently slapped herself in the face. She realized that nothing in this world is impossible.

"What did I say? Karma's coming!"

Before going on stage, Guda smiled gloatingly and received a good rub from Qingxing.

She looked up and met the gaze of the burly cultivator opposite her, momentarily wondering if she had offended some elder.

Why is she always matched with strong opponents?

Leaving aside Xie Yuzhou, the Golden Core sword cultivator from before, now there's Chen Mo, a physical martial arts genius.

It should be noted that Chen Mo, as the eldest among them and having cultivated for the longest time, had reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm, and his strength was far superior to Xie Yuzhou's.

Qingxing fought Xie Yuzhou to a draw last time, which was due to perfect timing, location, and people. However, enlightenment is not something that comes easily, and she is not so talented that she can break through every time she fights. In this match, Qingxing is definitely not going to be able to beat Chen Mo.

But admitting defeat now doesn't seem right; it would be somewhat disrespectful.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Qingxing lowered her eyes and carefully calculated that another batch of disciples had been eliminated yesterday. Now that she was ranked ninth, even if she lost to Chen Mo, she could still advance steadily if she won the next few matches.

She sighed softly, thinking: Well, the senior sister's strength is undeniable. If I exchange a few blows with her, I can learn some useful combat techniques.

With this mindset in mind, she felt more at ease. So when the match started, facing Chen Mo's powerful punches, Qingxing mainly focused on dodging, constantly shifting her footwork while keeping an eye on the opponent's attacks.

Chen Mo also noticed her defensive and non-offensive fighting style, and a question arose in his mind. He quickened his movements, flashed in front of Qingxing, and grabbed her shoulder.

The so-called body cultivation is not without reason. She only pressed down slightly, but Qingxing felt that the bone there was crushed, making a "crunching" sound next to her ear.

This couldn't go on. There were still more competitions to come, so Qingxing didn't dare to be careless. She picked up the Endless Wood and lightly tapped Chen Mo's arm. Chen Mo was instantly entangled by the thick vines that surged from the ground and couldn't move for a moment. Qingxing took the opportunity to retreat to a safe area.

But these tricks were no match for Chen Mo. As soon as Qingxing's feet touched the ground, Chen Mo clenched his fists and exerted force. With a "bang," the vines were easily broken and scattered in all directions.

It must be said that Chen Mo's body is the best talent for cultivating physical techniques. Her six-foot height and strong limbs give her absolute power to suppress others, while her top-grade wind spirit root can improve her attack speed and make up for the disadvantage of being muscular but clumsy.

For example, at this moment, she rushed towards Qingxing at absolute speed, her arm veins bulging, aiming straight for Qingxing's throat—

Seeing that things were not going well, Qingxing quickly retreated while rapidly gesturing with the Endless Wood to create a defensive formation, attempting to slow down Chen Mo's speed.

But Chen Mo only paused for a moment, and the magic array was torn to shreds in an instant, like a fragile piece of paper.

The force of the punch carried paper scraps. Qingxing felt the pressure from the higher realm. Without hesitation, she lightly leaped off the martial arts stage with a blank expression and landed gently in an open space among the crowd.

At the same time, the bronze bell rang, and Chen Mo withdrew her fist. She dragged her feet for a considerable distance before stopping. She glanced at Qingxing and stood silently in place.

"Chen Mo wins against Qing Xing!"

"What are you doing?" Shen Wan happened to be standing where Qingxing had landed. She seemed to just realize what was happening and looked at Qingxing in disbelief. "How could it jump out by itself?!"

"Why not?" Qingxing brushed the crumbs off her clothes and said calmly, "I can't beat them."

Her tone was so matter-of-fact that Xie Yuzhou, on the other side, couldn't help but glance at her upon hearing this.

Both are fighting opponents of higher levels, so why is it that he unleashes his full power when he's fighting, but when he encounters the senior sister, he immediately admits defeat?

"Junior brother, don't take it too hard," Wenren Xi said with a smile, as if she could read his mind. "After all, senior sister's strength is undeniable."

Xie Yuzhou didn't reply, but he was already planning to practice for another hour tonight.

Qingxing went up on stage and bowed to Chen Mo. She only tidied her messy hair in front of the pool before rushing off to the next competition without even having time to eat.

Fortunately, her bad luck was only temporary. She didn't encounter any tough opponents afterward. Everyone's strength was average. By the time the sun set in the west, she was so tired that her eyes were a little blurry. Only then did she manage to break into the top ten and enter the final test.

"Chen Mo, Shen Wan, Wenren Xi, Xie Yuzhou, Duanmu Tingzhu..." Guda read the names on the blue and white scroll. As if it had seen something funny, it made two "Oh my" noises. "I didn't notice before, but it turns out that Su Lin also went to the third event."

It glanced at Qingxing's face again and laughed, "This is going to be fun!"

"Let me guess what kind of dirty trick this idiot will come up with this time..."

"Really?" Qingxing glanced at Su Lin, who had circled around her. "I think he's avoiding me right now."

It is estimated that after so many things, Su Lin finally realized that his behavior had no effect on Qing Xing and would only backfire on him. So he gave up a series of childish actions. However, every time he encountered Qing Xing, he would snort, indicating that they were irreconcilable enemies.

"Not necessarily." Wenren Xi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling Gu Da. "Junior Brother Su is very stubborn. Last time, my Junior Brother Yang accidentally defeated him, and he kept chasing after him to challenge him. He issued more than three hundred challenge letters in a year."

"But don't worry, Junior Sister, Junior Brother Su is just a little slow-witted, but he's not a bad person at heart."

With her mind on the next test, Qingxing casually replied, "Okay."

"Junior Sister, are you thinking about the demon-subduing matter at Jade Tiger Peak?" Wenren Xi saw that she was absent-minded and immediately saw through her. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, the elders have already set up hundreds of recording beads to monitor it at all times. I'm sure nothing will happen."

"no."

Before going into seclusion, Jiuquchen gathered a large number of basic demon-subduing formation textbooks for Qingxing. She wasn't too worried about demons, but since it was her first time going to Jade Tiger Peak, she was inevitably a little unfamiliar with it.

She looked down at the lines on her palm: "I was just thinking about how to get the Mirror of Past Lives."

Jade Tiger Peak is the peak in Taihua Mountain where demonic energy appears most frequently, so few disciples live there, and only the Buddhist cultivator Elder Mo Tingyu guards it.

Perhaps due to the lack of footsteps for many years, Jade Tiger Peak has gradually evolved a unique system with strange creatures inside, including the Nine Yin Tree with long tentacles, the dwarf rabbit with wings, and the White Bone Flower that emits a foul odor... In short, most of the rarest species in the world can be found here.

As an integral part of Mount Taihua, this open space was never wasted by successive sect leaders. They simply layered several restrictions on it to greatly reduce the demonic energy of the peak, turning it into a training ground for their disciples. They also assigned an elder to guard it and keep a close watch on it to prevent any accidents from happening.

The ultimate goal of this test is to retrieve six Mirrors of the Past from the perilous Jade Tiger Peak.

The Mirror of Past Lives is made of top-grade spiritual stone and contains the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Legend has it that if enough spiritual energy is poured into it, the cultivator can glimpse their past life.

Such magical artifacts are most likely to attract demonic energy, which is also a test that the elders use on their disciples.

For safety reasons, Jiu Chaoying only placed some animals possessed by demonic energy on Jade Tiger Peak as obstacles on their way to retrieve the magic treasure.

Unlike humans who have been possessed by demons, animals that have been possessed by demons cannot disguise themselves and can only show the appearance of a "demon," which makes them detectable by humans.

Qingxing glanced at the glowing Taihua Token in her hand, which was infused with the "Demon-Responding Technique." If any demons appeared nearby, the token would glow and heat up, reminding the wearer to prepare in time.

"The first to obtain the Mirror of Past Lives will qualify for the imperial examination."

Jiu Chaoying stood atop, her majestic voice reaching the ears of her ten disciples. She waved her hand, and the heavens and earth trembled for a moment. Qingxing watched silently as the restrictions on Jade Tiger Peak slowly opened, one layer, two layers…

Upon reaching the fifth floor, she stopped, a smile playing on her lips: "I wish you all a safe and successful journey."

swish swish swish —

Those around her either flew on swords or leaped, quickly entering Jade Tiger Peak. Qingxing watched as their figures became small dots one by one, eventually disappearing into the mountains and forests.

"What's wrong?" Gudako asked, looking at Qingxing who hadn't moved yet. "They've all left already."

Although this test is not about speed, entering the moment first gives you a better chance of finding the Mirror of Foreseeable Past before others.

"It's nothing. It's just that lately I've been feeling..." Qingxing sat on the Endless Wood and slowly flew towards a bamboo grove, "...a kind of uncomfortable feeling."

This feeling started on the first day of the competition, and it's even stronger now; it's practically everywhere.

"It's like someone... has been watching me all along."

A note from the author:

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Should I change the book title?! [emoji] (already changed)

Oh, by the way, no update tomorrow, I'll update the day after tomorrow!