Chapter 30: Long Tai
“The first trial is strength a.s.sessment. In here are four strength testing monuments. I believe that you all have already seen it. In a short while, when a number is said, the martial artist with the corresponding plate number will come out and be a.s.sessed. If the martial artist’s strength surpa.s.ses one thousand jin they will pa.s.s, if it is less than a thousand they will fail.”
“However, that is only pa.s.sing the first trial of the a.s.sessment. There will still be the rest of the a.s.sessment. The final score will be determined by the total scores from each part of the a.s.sessments.”
As Elder Sun said this, the crowd of martial artists once again started talking again. They actually wanted a thousand jins of strength. Other than a few people with special bodies, one would need at least to be body refining third level to reach a thousand jin of strength.
The previous years a.s.sessment, the first trial only needed to reach about seven or eight hundred. Some body refining second level martial artists could also barely pa.s.s by, but now they had basically cut off the hopes of body refining second level martial artists.
It could be seen, many of the martial artists’ faces had become downcast. About eighty to ninety percent of these people were body refining second level.
However, Elder Sun didn’t care about their feelings and continued to say: “The reward for this time’s a.s.sessment is also quite rich. All those that successfully pa.s.s the a.s.sessment will become the Wind Sword Sect’s outer sect disciple and each will receive a Bone Cleansing dan! The top twenty martial artists will each also receive a Muscle Altering pill! The top ten martial artists will directly become Wind Sword Sect’s inner sect disciple, the top three will receive even more rewards!”
When Elder Sun announced the rewards, every martial artist’s eyes glowed. This time’s a.s.sessment’s difficulty was indeed higher, but the rewards were highest they’ve ever been.
Most of them didn’t have much hope, but as long as they could become an outer sect disciple, they could get a Bone Cleansing dan. For body refining third level martial artists, a Bone Cleansing dan would give them a good chance of reaching body refining fourth level.
Scanning the square below and seeing the martial artists were very excited, Elder Sun didn’t say any more extras, slightly nodding his head: “Now, let the a.s.sessment begin!”
At this time, an examiner was standing beside each of the four strength testing monuments. These people were deacons of the Wind Sword Sect. Receiving Elder Sun’s command, these deacons began the a.s.sessment. Each of them held a roster and began calling out names.
With every number called out, a continual stream of martial artists came up, faced the strength testing monument, and rubbed their fists and wiped their palms, getting ready to test.
Lu Xuan eyes landed on the martial artist who went up first and saw him shake his body a little, then suddenly punched the monument.
When the punch landed, the crystal column on the strength testing monument rose up quickly, finally stopping a little before the thousand jin mark.
The deacon beside him looked and said, “950 jin. Below marks. Two more chances.”
The martial artist’s face was red. He frantically breathed in and punched it again.
“900 jin. Below marks. One more chance.”
“900 jin. Below marks. Failure. Next!”
When he finished speaking, the deacon crossed out the information of the martial artists. He had failed the first trial and would have no chances with the rest of the a.s.sessment.
After failing three times in a row, the martial artist could only leave the square. It was soon the next martial artist’s turn.
“800 jin, 850 jin, 850 jin. Failure. Next!”
…
“950 jin, 1000 jin. Pa.s.s!”
After seeing many martial artists try, Lu Xuan finally saw a martial artist pa.s.s. Hearing the deacon saying he had pa.s.sed, the martial artist immediately shouted in excitement. Although he had barely pa.s.sed, it was still much better than those that couldn’t even pa.s.s the first round.
Seeing each person go up to test, Lu Xuan also a few familiar faces. In front of him was that axe-carrying martial artist and the Feng swordsman who both pa.s.sed the test. The two of them hit 1300 jin and 1400 jin respectively.
The Feng swordsman who was peak body refining third level hitting 1400 jin wasn’t anything strange, but that axe-carrying martial artist had just entered body refining third level and could still hit 1300 jin, surpa.s.sing Lu Xuan’s expectation. He guessed that this person must have been born with an extraordinary const.i.tution. His body strength wasn’t normal. One could tell in an instant when seeing him carrying that large axe.
“Number 332, Xia Ye.” The deacon once again called out a number. The crowd suddenly became noisier.
(TLN: This Xia is the same Xia as Xia Chen Xi’s)
“Xia Ye. Isn’t he known in Lin City as a genius second only to young miss Chen Xi?”
“That’s right. It seems he’s only eighteen years old. I heard that he just advanced to body refining fifth level two months ago. An eighteen year old body refining fifth level. This is a powerful person. I think that this time’s number one place will be taken by him!”
“Ai, let’s not compare ourselves to him. His family’s good, and his qualifications are also good. If I can enter the outer sect, I’ll be content enough…”
Listening to the discussion of the surrounding martial artists, Lu Xuan figured out the extent of Xia Ye’s ident.i.ty. He was eighteen years old and body refining fifth level. He could be considered as a number one figure in Lin City, and he had heard of the Xia family in Lin City before.
Soon, a pretty boy who was wearing silk clothing and carrying a long sword came out of the crowd. It was clear that he was Xia Ye.
And at this time, the deacon at another one of the strength testing monuments also called out a number.
“Number 650, Long Tai.”
Lu Xuan’s heart was startled. Long Tai!
Hearing Long Tai’s name, Xia Ye who was preparing to take the test, suddenly stopped, his eyes scanned across the crowd.
The crowd once again became noisy. A crowd of Long family’s servants opened the road. Lu Xuan had been thinking of Long Tai night and day, and now he was finally in front of him.
Long Yang was similarly dressed, but he didn’t carry any weapons, and his expression was very calm. He didn’t like a good-for-nothing price, however, he did what he wanted in the Qing Mountain Village and didn’t without hindrance.
Lu Xuan’s eyes stared at him. He had dared to have ideas about his sister. There would be day where he was going to fiercely trample Long Tai under his feet!
“Haha, Long Tai. I hadn’t thought we would test at the same time. That’s good. Let’s let everyone see whether Lin City’s number one genius is you, Long Tai, or me, Xia Ye!” Xia Ye said as he stood in the square, staring at Long Tai.
Facing Xia Ye’s provocation, Long Tai seemed very calm. He walked forward and slowly said: “Lin City’s number one genius is neither you nor I. Of course it’s young miss Chen Xi.”
Done speaking, Long Tai seemed very humble as he cupped his hands towards Xia Chen Xi who was by the judging area. If one wasn’t familiar with Long Tai, ordinary people would probably really be tricked by Long Tai’s actions.
“Who is this person, ah? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Long Tai, ah?”
“This I know. He is a person from the Long clan from Qing Mountain Village. I’ve heard that he’s already reached body refining fifth level and is a strong person. I’m guessing that this time’s first place position will be a compet.i.tion between him and Xia Ye.”
“Pei! Someone like him wants to contaminate young miss Chen Xi? He should take a p.i.s.s and look at himself!” Yao Lei fiercely spat, “Older brother Xuan, in a while, go fiercely trample that guy. That first place will certainly be claimed by you!”
(TLN: I do believe Yao Lei is equating Long Tai to a p.i.s.s stain)