Long Chen acquired some information regarding the Daybreak Merchants Union from Liu Fengfeng. Afterwards, Liu Fengfeng went away impatiently, to cultivate.
Even though Long Chen disliked Liu Fengfeng from the bottom of his heart, but reaching the ninth level of Dragon Pulse Realm at his age was something he was slightly impressed with.
While cultivating the [Burning Heavens Demonic Sun Fist], the night passed swiftly. The Lingwu Family’s selection was soon to begin.
Early in the morning, all the powerful youths at the ninth level of the Dragon Pulse Realm were welcomed by experts. While they walked out of their rooms, they were sizing each other up.
These people were most likely all from small to average factions with some degree of power within Yuanling City. Every youth was used to being extremely arrogant, but after entering into Lingwu Family everyone exercised a large amount of restraint.
With a single glance, Long Chen was able to pinpoint Huang Xiang, who had a relaxed and self-assured expression, but Huang Xiang didn’t see Long Chen. Instead, he excitedly searched among the faces of the examiners, after finding a face that resembled his own but with a more matured and cold expression. His face lit up as he headed towards that person.
“Big Brother…”
Closing in on that man, Huang Xiang called out to him softly.
The man only nodded slightly at him. Looking coldly at the 50 odd people he said: “When participating in the Lingwu Family member selection you are responsible for your own lives. If you have any regrets you can still leave. As for those who don’t want to, follow me to the practice fields.
After the speech he informed the other members of the Lingwu Family, and led the way. With delight, Huang Xiang followed immediately.
Long Chen and the others also followed behind. Everyone present was considered a competitor, therefore, only a few people got along. The atmosphere was tense and ready to explode at any moment.
At the pavilion, Long Chen went along silently with the rest of the people.
Liu Fengfeng clicked his tongue next to him and spoke while observing Huang Xiang at the front. “It would be tragic if I encountered this Huang Xiang, that examiner Huang Feiyang seems to be his older brother by birth. Within these 50 odd people, his strength is among the absolute top. Heaven certainly is unfair.”
“Really?”
Watching Huang Xiang walking proudly up front, Long Chen’s face revealed nothing. Remembering the Ebony Scaled Dragon Horse that Lingqing gave him, killing intent burst forth from his heart.
‘If I don’t teach you a serious lesson, your father, I, won’t be able to face Lingqing. Who cares about your brother, I don’t believe that he can do anything if I beat you fair and square.’
How could Liu Fengfeng know what’s on Long Chen’s mind? He only saw that after hearing Huang Xiang’s name Long Chen didn’t utter a single word. Thinking he was scared senseless, he said: “Don’t worry, you won’t even pass the first round so there is no chance for you to face him.”
Hearing him mention the first round, Long Chen raised his head and asked, “Do you know of the selection process?”
Liu Fengfeng immediately looked at Long Chen as if he was some kind of retard and said silently: “You really are… everyone in Yuanling City knows that the Lingwu Family’s selection of disciples consists of two major tests, yet you actually didn’t know?
Long Chen shook his head.
Liu Fengfeng, with his face full of pity, shook his head. After a while, he sighed “So be it. Since you and I shared a room this could be considered fate. I will tell you of these two trials, first one is to fight steel golems!”
“What are the conditions?”
“In a while we’ll see a place where there are dozens of dark tunnels, each tunnel is only 3 meters tall and 2 meters wide, but all of them are more than 500 meters deep. They are filled with large numbers of steel golems and when you enter a tunnel, the steel golems will start to attack you. I bet you have no clue what steel golems are, right?”
Long Chen replied: “I really don’t know, Brother Liu please educate me.”
Arriving at Yuanling City, Long Chen knew that his own strength was still at the lowest rung of the ladder, so the bold and audacious behavior he displayed back at Poplar Town had to be suppressed.
This was the way Yang Xueqing told him to behave. Right now he needed to endure, but once he was able to amaze the world with his feats, his true disposition would become clear.
Seeing that Long Chen’s ignorance, Liu Fengfeng said with an anticipatory expression: “You can simply treat these steel golems as creatures that can attack but without any intelligence. Little Brother Long Chen, I will give you a piece of advice. If you find that you can’t handle these steel golems, don’t go too far in. That way you can still escape to the entrance. If you enter a hundred meters in, even if you died inside, nobody would know.”
Long Chen smiled and continued to ask noncommittally: “Then tell me, Brother Liu, how can one be considered to have passed?”
Liu Fengfeng smiled smugly and said: “Although we have a total of more than 50 people, there will only be 10 people left after the first test. Do you know why? It’s because once we kill these steel golems we can take the steel hearts from inside their chests. Only those 10 people who have obtained the most steel hearts are allowed to take part in the second test. After years of research, I, your Big Brother Liu, will pass this test with flying colors… By the way, you don’t have a Cosmos Pouch, do you?”
He could easily discern that Long Chen wasn’t from Yuanling City. People from a small town wouldn’t know what a Cosmos Pouch was. Therefore, Liu Fengfeng feigned embarrassment as he said: “You can’t carry many steel hearts without a Cosmos Pouch, but that is also for the best. When you return and break through into the ninth level of the Dragon Pulse Realm, go to Yuandi City. Only then will your chances of success be greater. “
Long Chen found out everything that he needed to know. While listening to this obnoxious fellow, Long Chen felt resentment welling up from the bottom of his heart. But he didn’t bother to argue and walked on in silence.
Seeing Long Chen’s behaviour, Liu Fengfeng assumed it was out of frustration. Shaking his head, Liu Fengfeng shifted his attention to others, sizing up his competition.
“Seems like the competitors, this time, are all of high quality, excluding you, there aren’t any pushovers”
While Liu Fengfeng was babbling away, everyone had arrived swiftly at the place Liu Fengfeng had mentioned.
In front of Long Chen, there was a small hill. At its foot, there were several dozen openings. Currently, all the entrances were sealed by steel doors. When the group arrived, people began unsealing the tunnels.
By that time, there were several representatives of the Lingwu Family standing atop a giant boulder. Amongst them was the elder brother of Huang Xiang, Huang Feiyang.
Long Chen was finally able to study Huang Feiyang more closely. This man had a grave expression and looked unapproachable. A pair of frightening eyes gave off an impression that he was someone prone to cruelty, anyone, who offended him would have to watch their backs.
“However, I must exact revenge for Xiao Hei….”
At this point, the gaze of another powerful youth from the Lingwu Family swept across the crowd. Suddenly Long Chen felt a chill in his heart.
“Gentlemen, I believe everyone more or less knows about the Lingwu Family rules. Our testing for the Green Faction is also modelled on the Lingwu Family standards. There are steel golems within these tunnels. What you all have to do is to enter these tunnels. Whoever passes through these tunnels whilst obtaining the most steel hearts will have the privilege of entering the second round.”
“But I will remind you all once you’ve entered these tunnels it becomes a matter of life and death. Every single one of you must be prepared to die. I will cut to the chase since you have all come this far, forfeiting is no longer an option. Get inside everyone, and we will await you on the other side.”
Long Chen coldly observed these representatives and thought to himself: “These youngsters aren’t that old, but I’m afraid they are all existences at the Human Dan Realm. Huang Feiyang is in the Initial Mastery Stage of the Human Dan Realm. Most likely everyone else is also closer to that level… This is only a branch of the Green Faction within Lingwu Family. These kind of geniuses can actually be seen everywhere….”
“Long Chen, you have much more talent than them. As long as there is sufficient time, you will quickly surpass them. For example, you only need to raise your level a tiny bit, and then you can use the Soul Diffusion Fruit to catch up to them.”
Lingxi’s words sounded in Long Chen’s ears.
Soon, Long Chen was led towards one of the tunnels and there were more than 50 people assigned to a tunnel. The nervous tension spread gradually. While standing in front of the tunnels and listening to the grinding of sharp steel, the majority of the participants felt their scalp tingling.
Currently, the talkative Liu Fengfeng was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, feeling a heated gaze upon him, Long Chen looked up, only to find that Huang Xiang had already spotted him.
At that moment, Huang Xiang, who was about to display his skills, suddenly saw Long Chen, who was surprisingly within his proximity. He felt shocked and thought that he was hallucinating.
But when Long Chen turned around, he could confirm that it was indeed Long Chen. After the initial surprise, he felt his mood brighten, thinking: “It really is that kid. He made me lose face in Yuanyang Citadel. Originally, I was in a hurry due to the Lingwu Family selection and only killed his horse. I never thought that he would enter the selections. I’ll just have to kill him off too. If you want to blame anyone, blame your bad luck….”
Thinking about the second test, Huang Xiang was rather excited as he felt that he would be able to show Long Cheng who was more powerful between the two.
“It seems like the opponents for the second test are directly assigned by my brother, and at that time we’ll face each other again. Let’s see how you die!”
Thinking about it made Huang Xiang feel better.
Previously, the Lingwu Family selection had forced him to let Long Chen off the hook which had made him feel ill at ease for the past few days.
If he didn’t teach Long Chen a good lesson, he wouldn’t be able to clear his troubled mind. This time, with Long Chen’s appearance, he’d be able to resolve this issue and all would be well again.
“However I’m not sure if that kid will be able to pass the first test or not. If it comes to pass that he loses his life inside these tunnels, then I, Huang Xiang, won’t hold a grudge against a dead man.”
Seeing the complex expressions playing upon on Huang Xiang’s face settle into a malicious smile, Long Chen felt alarmed.
“What is that guy plotting?”
Since he couldn’t figure it out, Long Chen dropped the matter. The most important thing right now was to pass the first test. During the following stages of the selection, if he had to face off against Huang Xiang….
“I definitely will cripple that fellow.”
At this moment, Huang Feiyang threw Huang Xiang a glance, smiling faintly as he said: “Open the steel doors! The first test has began!”