Chapter 32 : Turned to dust…
“Hmm, Pass, “ said the elder as he handed a token to Shen Tian.
He took the token and went to another field.
There were also many people present in the field.
A roughly thirty-year-old woman stepped in front of the crowd and stood on a platform that had been set up. “Hello everyone. I am one of the supervisors for the Strength Trial. I would like to announce that the Extreme Martial Sect’s examination first part is over and all of you present here are the ones that have passed. For those who manage to qualify through the end, they will be given an official assessment based upon their age, talent, and result. The top ten will obtain an award, and the number one will be rewarded with a Gold Dragon Marrow Pill!”
Gold Dragon Marrow Pill! The entire crowd gasped in surprise; even the juniors of the aristocratic families were flabbergasted. Those among them with lower strength were filled with regret. Their faces revealed sorry and depressed expressions as they were destined to never achieve first place. Those that were stronger straightened their backs. Their eyes shone with hope and they twitched around as if they were itching for a fight. They had assumed that this Gold Dragon Marrow Pill was prepared especially for them.
Gold Marrow pill was a Mortal Ranked 5th grade Dan which cleansed your marrows and strengthened your bones. It was a highly valuable pill in the Mortal Realm and best for cultivators under the Spirit Realm.
The rich rewards made the talented candidates incomparably excited; they were impatient to go on stage and show off their skills. Looking at this eager crowd was a group of young men and women wearing silk clothing. They laughed contemptuously. In the group was a handsome youth wearing a jade belt and smiling.
The youth’s entourage smiled and flattered him, “These people really overreach. This Gold Dragon Marrow Pill is already in young master’s pocket, winning is already a foregone conclusion. Do they also think to try and compete? Truly they do not know their place.”
The youth faintly smiled and waved his folding fan. He didn’t respond. He was a talent of the Long City’s Long family, Long Yanfeng. He had a late 8th Stage of True Qi cultivation and had once taken the number one spot in Long City’s elite competition. Long City was a big city, thus this number one spot held some weight.
The twenty stone pillars were set up in in front of wide field. At the top of each stone pillar was a shining light which was the mark of every candidate’s destiny. Whether they would pass this gate or whether they would be tossed aside would all be decided by this one number.
On the platform the woman continued, “We will now begin the first round of the entrance exam. Please participate in the exam with your full strength. The light beam on the stone column will signal the strength of your attack. An inch represents 1000 jins of strength. As long as you pass 10000 jins then you will pass this round! Each candidate will have three attempts. So long as you qualify once then you will pass.”
“Exam, begin!” At this moment on stage, the beautiful middle aged lady sent out the order to start the Strength Trial.
The young candidates were all very eager, each was itching to get up and test their strength. However when they actually tested their strength on the stone pillar, there were many who failed.
“9000 jins, 8500 jins, 8500 jins, three times failed. Next!”
“9500 jins, 9000 jins, 9000 jins, three times failed. Next!”
“10000 jins, qualified!” Someone in Shen Tian’s line passed, and that man shouted happily as he danced around in excitement. The truth was that this man also understood, although he passed and barely qualified, he would most likely be eliminated during the second round. Even so, it was an honor for him to have passed the second round of Extreme Martial Sect’s entrance exam at twenty years of age.
“13000 jins, qualified!”
“9500 jins, failed!”
When a result came out, those that failed would dejectedly leave in low spirits. The ones who succeeded were giddy. And among them were those that showed indifference. To these talents, passing this trial was a given.
This moment, there was a commotion in front. Shen Tian looked ahead and saw that a youth wearing blue linen clothes was standing in front of the stone pillar, and was gathering his strength. He heard some people discussing, “That is Sun Ping from East Water City. He is at the 5th Stage of True Qi Realm. His strength is fierce!
As the discussion was occurring, Sun Ping shot forwards. He hit the stone column with a ‘peng’, and the light beam began to tremble as it shot upwards. It stopped at two feet and three inches.
“23000 jins!”
This was the first person who had passed 20000 jins. The crowd burst into an exclamation.
Now, it was finally Shen Tian’s turn.
“Good luck young master “ Feng Yue cheered him
"Ah yes...."
several moments gone,
But Shen Tian was still hesitating , seeing the boy not punching the column and standing there that elder came towards him.
“Is there any problem ?” she asked
“Ah, this wall can regenerate, right? I don’t want to break it.” Shen Tian asked.
“Hahahahaha” suddenly waves of laughter spread throughout the martial field as the people were laughing holding their stomach ...this was the funniest joke they heard in their life
“What a Buffon “ , “where this guy came from” , “Hahaha this guy even has a goose as a pet “ they made fun of Shen Tian.
Just you wait till my young master shows you...Feng Yue thought
The elder lady made an amusing face when she heard that.
“Hahaha, don’t worry, don’t worry. No matter how hard you hit it, it won’t break.”
“Hell, even if you do, nobody will blame you!” she laughed.
This steel wall will generate no matter how much it’s beaten.
“Okay, now all you have to do is focus the strength in your whole body into your punching hand.” “And when you feel your hand is getting stronger, just punch out as hard as you can but remember not to use your cultivation just use your physical strength .”
“You promise?” Shen Tian had to make sure again.
“Of course!” the elder laughed.
“Ah, you should use full strength otherwise—” she tried to warn him before he hurts himself. But her words were caught in her throat and was stuck there.
*BANG*
The sound of a metal wall being hit was so loud, it resounded throughout the entire Extreme Martial Sect and even scared some disciples awake from their Cultivation.
“Fuck! Who the fuck is walking around banging two woks together?!”
“Aiya, I almost pissed my pants!”
“Fuck you! How will you take care of the responsibilities if someone fails to breakthrough because of that?!”
Everybody was cursing at the one who did that. The once quiet Sect instantly turned noisy.
Meanwhile, the elder and rest people were standing there like a dumb chicken. They looked at the place where the ‘wall coloumn’ used to be.
There was nothing!
The only thing she can see are these black dots flying in the air! It had turned into dust! He punched the wall into dust!
How the fuck was that even possible?
She has never heard of a regenerating steel wall being punched to dust! How the fuck is it going to regenerate now?!
“You lied to me! What ‘it will regenerate no matter what.’ I only turned it into dust, yet why is it not regenerating?” Shen Tian felt wronged.
He even held back....
“Bullshit! What lies?! If you turn it into dust, obviously it will not regenerate!”
“No wait, how is that even possible?! How did you do it?!”
The elder did not dare to believe that this young man here could have such strength, that he could even punch the wall to dust!
*Rumble* Disscussions broke out among the people present there, they couldn’t believe what they saw!
“Who’s this young man?” , “ That wall column could be damaged by only Spirit Realm Experts “ , “he must be someone with divine strength …or cheating"
“Ahem , let’s get to the next round” Not able to comprehend what happened the elder asked others to proceed to next round.
***********
The heart of martial arts was by no means anything that was greatly loyal or virtuous – or even good. Whether it be living buddhas that brimmed with righteousness or demon sect leaders with dark intentions, the truth was that the heart of martial arts judged neither good nor evil. It only resolved to ask whether one had the determination to tread the rocky path.
Practicing martial arts was a daily struggle. One’s life would be filled with misery, danger, enticements; if one’s mentality was not firm then it was easy to fall from the path of a martial artist and give up, thus wasting all previous efforts.
Some people only practiced martial arts for wealth and sensual pleasures. In the heart of these people they practiced martial arts without truly understanding what it meant. This would not affect them during an early period of cultivation, but as would be an insurmountable roadblock later. The Pulse Condensation Period was enough for one to have a sumptuous and luxurious lifestyle where one could drown in money and beautiful women. Sky Fortune Kingdom had many such warriors. Because Sky Fortune Kingdom would handsomely reward those who reached the Pulse Condensation Period, there were those who would suffer untold hardships to attain this goal, only to halt their path of martial arts because they could not resist the temptation of extravagance.
The Dream Trial did not examine one’s cultivation; it perceived one’s determination and heart of martial arts.
At this time, more than half of the candidates had failed the second trial, so after they had left the field, the square was much more spacious.
Shen Tian turned around to look at Feng Yue. He had left her waiting in the field under a shade.
“Everyone follow me. We are now headed to the Sea Jade Platform.” The elder instructed
The crowd of about a hundred boys and girls followed the beautiful woman supervisor.
There were no tall buildings or massive constructions inside, but endless stretches of land and streams dotted with gorgeously designed pavilions. These pavilions were carefully crafted, with smooth, fine lines and surrounded by a perfect blend of scenery. It really made one exclaim in amazement at the seamless craftsmanship and sense of natural aesthetic that went into its design.
The crowd people walked for about the time it took to drink a cup of tea until they approached a deep green lake. It had a vibrant color like a living jade. The surface had no trace of waves and was peacefully quiet. The lake was hedged by weeping willow trees, and even though it was autumn when the leaves of trees would fall, it amazed everyone that not even a single leaf had was floating on the calm lake surface.
In the center of the emerald lake, a jade platform had been carved out of pale white jade. The jade platform was joined to the shore by nine stone bridges. It was like a mystical fairy world come to life.
Shen Tian found that a few dozen meters from the jade platform were a pavilion that was floating in the water. In the pavilion was placed a stone table that was covered with tea and dried fruits. Around the table were sitting several old men and a single girl who was looking towards them with great interest.
There were elders from the Extreme Martial Sect. Exams were held once every 5 years, and they would come to observe to see if there were any good seedlings among the candidates and would accept them as disciples and also today they heard a boy was able even to pulverize the stone column to dust as even someone in Sky realm would have made much effort to make that happen !
“Come up. Defend your mind, sit in meditation, and once you cross the trials then you will have passed.” The beautiful elder said.
The candidates stepped onto the nine stone bridges one at a time. Their hearts began to drum wildly in their chests. During the first round and second round, their hearts had been filled with confidence. They knew the limits of their own strength. Only some of them had thought that they might be nervous and not able to display their full potential, but they knew in their hearts that they did not need to be too anxious about passing. But this time was the Dream Trial, and they were nervous.
Many of the candidates had never attempted the Dream Trial before, so they did not have an idea what sort of scene they would encounter at the end. But they had heard that this was the trial with the highest rate of elimination; it would reach as high as 90%!
In a group of ten, only one would pass!
One had to know that they were the most outstanding talents among those of their age. In a small town or small family or even in an entire continent of Jin Long, they were the most splendid and majestic of their generation. They had constantly been revered and labeled geniuses since childhood, but even in such a group of people, most would be eliminated within the Dream Trial!
This trial was truly terrifying!
“Sit upon the jade platform. After ten breaths the trial shall begin!” The beautiful lady supervisor said. Even though she was separated by a fair distance, her voice was clearly heard within every candidate’s ears.
As Shen Tian stepped onto the jade platform, he sat cross-legged on the jade platform.
“........”
Nothing happened even after 10 breaths Shen Tian didn’t feel any....
How can a trial designed for mortals measure the heart of martial art of a GOD who is already at the apex?
“Hmm I should lower my soul force other I wouldn’t see anything “ Shen Tian let those illusions take over his mind...