Chapter 1768: Kong s.h.i.+’s Last Trial
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
“Forget it!”
Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless by their reactions. He did not think that those fellows would flee so quickly as if he was some kind of frightening monster.
It was true that he had intended to get rid of the Otherworldly Demons; it could possibly spell the end of mankind if they, by any chance, managed to acquire the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn. However, for Yan Xue and the beasts, he had really intended to just have a chat with them!
On the other hand, seeing the stifled look on Zhang Xuan’s face, Zhao Ya and the others could roughly guess what he was thinking, and slight smiles crept onto their faces.
“It’s not that they are afraid; they simply want to avoid any unnecessary complications. As candidates chosen to enter the Prime Hall, they have only one mission—obtain the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn,” Luo Ruoxin explained.
Understanding this point as well, Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement. He turned to the crowd behind him and said, “Zhao Ya and Ruyan, these paintings are valuable treasures. Grab them.”
“Yes!” Zhao Ya and Wei Ruyan nodded before swiftly going around the room to keep the paintings.
“Cough cough… Zhang s.h.i.+, these are treasures left behind by Kong s.h.i.+. Isn’t it a little disrespectful to simply take them away like that?”
The two master teachers who had followed along looked at him with speechless looks on their faces.
To actually strip the Prime Hall bare shortly after their arrival… was it not a huge act of disrespect toward Kong s.h.i.+?
“So, your intention is for us to…” Zhang Xuan looked at the two master teachers and questioned.
“Shouldn’t we at least pay our respects to Kong s.h.i.+ first before taking those paintings?” one of the master teachers remarked with a reddened face.
It was Zhang Xuan’s turn to be rendered speechless.
In the end, what the master teacher was picking fault at was that they had not paid respects to Kong s.h.i.+ before taking the painting.
Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan instructed, “Forget it, let’s continue!”
Zhao Ya and the others moved swiftly, and it did not take long for them to clear all of the paintings in the room.
“Let’s proceed ahead!” After stowing all of the paintings, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and took out the Prime Amulet. “Little Amulet, where is the location of the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn?”
“It’s located at the very center of the Inner Hall,” Little Amulet replied.
“Lead the way!” Zhang Xuan instructed.
Little Amulet nodded before swiftly flying ahead.
The Prime Hall was almost like a labyrinth; there were many split roads that confused one’s sense of direction. Nevertheless, under the lead of Little Amulet, Zhang Xuan’s group swiftly flitted ahead.
They encountered quite a number of treasures along the way, and Zhang Xuan did not hesitate to throw them into his storage ring. As a result, it was almost as if the Prime Hall had suffered a locust infestation. Not even ordinary sculptures were spared from Zhang Xuan’s plundering!
The two master teachers could not help but shake their heads helplessly. They had not expected the young prodigy to be so greedy, and they found themselves wondering if it was the correct decision to be coming together with him.
If Kong s.h.i.+ knew that he had such a junior, he would probably die of rage!
“Why are there no decent treasures here? Is Kong s.h.i.+ that poor?”
In contrast to the others who were awed by the Prime Hall, Zhang Xuan was collecting the treasures all around with a grumpy look on his face.
It was not that the items he had collected was devoid of value—any of the paintings, zithers, brushes, and so on that he had collected could definitely be sold for an astronomical sum on the Master Teacher Continent. However, there was nothing that came close to comparing to the treasures that he had collected in the Subordinate Halls.
The two master teachers clutched their stifled chests, as if trying to resuscitate their halted heart.
Those words were simply much too heretical, such that they could only act as if they had not heard them at all.
Proceeding ahead, they swiftly arrived at a particularly vast atrium.
“This is the place,” Little Amulet said as it fell onto one of the stone tablets by the entrance.
Weng!
It was as if something had been awakened by that action. The towering sculpture that stood at the very center of the atrium began to slowly turn its body around.
As the face of the sculpture came into sight, gasps of disbelief sounded all over the room.
It was Kong s.h.i.+!
“Those who have cleared the preliminary trials, I welcome you to the Prime Hall. However, if you wish to acquire the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn, there’s one last trial that you’ll have to overcome.”
The voice of the sculpture was light, but it seemed to soak right into one’s soul as if the nouris.h.i.+ng breeze of spring.
Obtaining the Prime Amulet and cruxes of the outer dimensions and entering the Prime Hall were all trials for the candidates. Those who were able to get that far were indubitably the most talented geniuses of the world. However, they would still have to prove their qualification to inherit Kong s.h.i.+’s inheritance through one last trial.
“Right ahead of me is a walkway filled with Illusory Formations, Slaughter Formations, and all kinds of inner demons. If you are able to overcome it and walk to the end of the walkway, you’ll find the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn within your reach, and you’ll gain a chance to a.s.similate it. Even if you are unable to succeed, rest a.s.sured that you won’t face any danger. However, you’ll be teleported out of the Prime Hall, and you won’t have another chance to gain my heritage.”
As the sculpture spoke, it raised its finger and pointed in front of it.
Zhang Xuan turned to look and saw that there was a walkway at the center of the atrium. It seemed to extend into the distant horizon, almost as if there was no end to it.
“Each person only has one attempt. You can choose to head there alone or together; there’s no restriction on how many people can challenge the walkway at once,” the sculpture explained.
Zhang Xuan turned to Little Amulet and asked, “How does the walkway work?”
In the brief look that he had taken at the walkway, everything appeared completely normal to him. He could not find any traces of formations or the like in it. If so, it was likely that the trial was on an entirely different level than what he had encountered previously.
“This was specially left behind by Kong s.h.i.+ to test later generations. I’m not too sure about the details,” Little Amulet replied awkwardly.
“… Alright then.” Knowing that it was within Little Amulet’s blood to become utterly useless during crucial moments, Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed deeply.
Activating his Eye of Insight, he took another look at the walkway.
However, he was still unable to discover anything. There were no energy disturbances within the walkway at all.
“Teacher, I’ll give it a try first,” Zhao Ya said as she stepped forward.
“Be careful!” Even though the Kong s.h.i.+ sculpture had said that there would be no danger, Zhang Xuan still could not help but worry a little.
“Un!” Zhao Ya nodded.
She walked up to the walkway, and without any hesitation, she took a step into it.
Weng!
A white ray of light descended upon Zhao Ya, causing her to freeze on the spot. It seemed like she had been cast under some kind of illusion, rendering her immobile.
Some time later, a cold aura burst forth from her body. In an instant, she suddenly seemed to have become the monarch of the ice, and powerful energy raged around her, threatening to tear down the entire walkway.
Unfortunately, even though Zhao Ya was powerful, the walkway was even more so. No matter how powerful the attacks that she threw toward the walkway were, they did not faze it in the least.
After looking for a moment, Luo Ruoxin suddenly remarked, “It seems like Zhao Ya’s Pure Yin Body has been activated once more…”
Zhang Xuan quickly took a closer look at Zhao Ya, and he found that the latter was indeed growing stronger by the moment. By that point, she was just a single step away from reaching Ancient Sage, and it seemed like she was ready to achieve a breakthrough at any moment.
Shrouded by the icy aura of the Pure Yin Body, she looked like a proud G.o.ddess commanding an imposing presence, graceful and eye-catching.
Every move that she made seemed to be in harmony with the world, bringing out indescribable elegance in her actions.
As time ticked by, her unique const.i.tution was gradually being awakened further, becoming even more wholesome than before.
Hu!
Just as Zhang Xuan was just about to take a closer examination to determine the source behind Zhao Ya’s sudden awakening, another ray of light suddenly shrouded the latter. Following which, she vanished from the spot, as if someone had teleported her away.
“Failed!” Kong s.h.i.+’s voice filled the atrium.
“She failed?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback for a moment before nodding in realization.
The sculpture had said earlier that those who failed the trial would be teleported right out of the Prime Hall. From the looks of it, it seemed like Zhao Ya had been teleported away.
“Teacher, allow me to go next!”
Seeing that her senior had been teleported away, Wei Ruyan stepped forward and volunteered herself.
Just like Zhao Ya, she swiftly plunged into the midst of an illusion. As time went by, her unique const.i.tution began to further awaken, and concentrated poison aura drifted around her. At the same time, her cultivation surged furiously as well.
While she did not manage to achieve a breakthrough to Ancient Sage, there was a transformative advancement in the quality of her zhenqi. It seemed like she was only a single step away from overcoming her bottleneck.
However, before she could do so, she was teleported out of the Prime Hall as well.
Following which, Luo Qiqi and the other two master teachers also volunteered to head over.
Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before saying, “Let’s go together!”