Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!-Chapter 187: The Preliminaries! 4

WHOOSH!

A yellow color shone, making the brows of Shi Gaolin rise with mild satisfaction yet a hint of ambition. He was clearly grateful for his current talent, but wished he could have produced more and stood out among his peers.

The young man cricked his neck and let his broad shoulders stand out on his muscular body. He was unlike most Hungry Ghost Path disciples who looked pale or malnourished due to the effect of cultivating such potent malevolent yin energy, rather resembling some martial grandmaster from the mortal world who was out on a trip.

"Haha, I told you Shi Gaolin has got this in the bag! Look at that, a yellow level talent!" One disciple of the Hungry Ghost Path cheered with a look of excitement.

"Indeed, old Gu, your disciple is quite good." The Path Saint of the Hungry Ghost Path praised Hall Master Gu Mugui of the Hungry Ghost Hall.

"Hahaha, it’s nothing, it’s nothing!" Gu Mugui replied respectfully, cupping his fists to his direct superior, but the smile on his face was hard to wipe off.

Shi Gaolin stepped down and then glanced at Li Ling, who still hadn’t broken his train of daydreaming to even give him a look, making the fellow’s face darken as he snorted coldly. He would allow him to be arrogant for now, but let’s see how he does on the arena, eh?

The Divine Deva Overseer calmly called out the next name.

"Next person, Hu Lili!"

A collective murmur rippled through the stands.

"Oh, the Tigress is up."

"Her combat strength is terrifying, but soul power... hard to say."

Hu Lili bounced to her feet rather than simply standing, her motion full of wild energy. She strode toward the pedestal with long, confident steps, her hips swaying unconsciously, drawing a number of heated gazes from both lower and upper sect disciples.

She was a beauty in every sense of the word, with a mane of untamed black hair tied back in a loose ponytail, a few strands falling over her brow. Her eyes were bright and sharp, yellow-gold like a beast’s, and there was a feral grin on her soft pink lips.

The white-and-gold robe of the sect clung to her lithe yet voluptuous figure, her sleeves rolled up as if she might be ready to brawl at any moment.

A few of her fellow Wild Beast Hall disciples were already shouting.

"Senior Sister Hu, show them!"

"Even if your soul talent isn’t high, you can still beat them bloody!"

Hu Lili scratched her cheek with a finger, expression slightly blank as she stared at the orb.

"Soul talent, huh... can that be eaten?" She muttered under her breath, then shrugged and slapped her palm onto it.

WHOOSH!

A bright yellow radiance burst forth, solid and strong, filling the space around her with a warm glow.

The crowd reacted instantly.

"Yellow! So her soul’s not bad at all!"

"With that talent and her combat craziness, she’ll definitely make Dao Integration!"

In the Wild Beast Hall section, a few elders nodded in satisfaction, while their Path Saint Wang Kuangnu chuckled, flexing her huge biceps. Hall Master Hu Wulei almost stood up and clapped thunderously with tears in his eyes... for that was his daughter, and the one he wanted to marry Li Ling back then!

"Wild, straightforward, and not completely stupid. Good, good." Sect Master Ming Yue commented casually, filling both Path Saint Wang and Hall Master Hu with pride.

Hu Lili blinked at the light, then withdrew her hand and hopped off the platform, bare feet almost skimming the ground despite the fact that she was wearing boots. She turned her head, gaze naturally seeking out the one person whose reaction mattered most in this arena.

Li Ling, of course, was still half-slouched with his knuckles supporting his cheek, eyes narrowed lazily as if he might doze off again at any moment.

"Tch. Won’t even look? When we fight, I’ll make you look!" She thought angrily wile pouting, clenching her small fist before flouncing back to her seat.

The Divine Deva Overseer didn’t pause. "Next person, Wang Feng!"

The atmosphere shifted as a faint bloodthirst surged through the stands from the Asura Blood Hall disciples as they leaned forward with glee.

"Senior Brother Wang!"

"This is the one who cleared the Killing Fields ten times in a row, right?"

"Yeah, they say his Blood Power is almost as thick as the Asura War Demon."

A tall, broad-shouldered youth with flaming red hair stood up, the ends of his ponytail flicking behind him like a whip. His eyes were a deep, burning crimson, and his expression was naturally fierce, the kind of face that seemed to be on the verge of a snarl even when he was calm.

Even in the uniform white-and-gold, his robe seemed more like blood-stained armor in people’s minds, the aura around him thick with the scent of slaughter.

Wang Feng strode to the orb, didn’t spare the crowd a glance, and slapped his calloused hand down without ceremony.

WHOOSH!

Once again, yellow light.

"A solid yellow as well."

"As expected of Asura Blood Hall’s brute. His soul isn’t refined, but the quality is strong."

In the Asura Path section, a few of Tang Huo’s subordinates nodded with grim approval. The Hall Master himself merely smiled faintly, eyes flickering toward Li Ling for a moment before resettling on his own disciple. She Ren, the Asura Path Saint, did not even deign to comment, his eyes like Ming Yue’s, only reserved for Li Ling.

Wang Feng looked at the glowing orb, then slowly turned his head to the side. His gaze locked onto Li Ling, who remained utterly indifferent, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

"So that’s the famous monster, huh?" Wang Feng thought coldly, lips curling.

"You burn secret realms and nap through tests, and everyone bows and scrapes? Fine then. Heh, when we meet in the ring, I’ll make sure to cut you down in front of all of them and show them what a real Asura War Demon looks like." He thought with a snort, the sound like a war drum in his own chest, then walked back to his position with heavy, resolute steps.

"Next person, Shen Jian!"

The name drew a different kind of reaction, especially from the Divine Deva and allied clans’ sections.

"That’s the Shen clan’s sword seed, right?"

"Isn’t he the nephew of Shen Ziyan?"

"You fool, that makes him... technically under that fellow’s patriarchal line now, doesn’t it?"

A handsome youth rose, no older than seventeen or eighteen by appearance. His features were refined, almost delicate, with a straight nose and thin lips, and his white-and-gold robe fit him like a tailor’s dream. Yet his brows were tilted upward in a permanent arrogant angle, and his chin was held just a bit too high, broadcasting the air of a pampered young master.

He walked with a swordsman’s straight-backed gait, but there was a stiffness to it, as if he were consciously imitating the bearing of elders he admired.

Shen Jian stepped up to the orb and paused for a moment, glancing up toward the high platform where Shen Ziyan sat with a cool face and Shen Taixu who was glancing at him with paternal support. His gaze then darted, almost unwillingly, toward Li Ling, who still looked like an uninterested third party.

"Father, Aunt... and Patriarch." Shen Jian thought sourly, the last word twisting in his mind.

"I’ll show you that the Shen clan isn’t just ornaments at his side." He thought to himself as he strongly pressed his palm down.

WHOOSH!

A bright orange light flared, deep and saturated, causing the air to hum faintly.

The crowd stirred more strongly this time.

"Orange!"

"That’s one level below red!"

"As expected of the Shen clan’s sword seed. With that talent, he’ll absolutely make it to Void Refinement and above if he doesn’t die early."

On the high platform, several elders nodded approvingly. Even the aloof Path Saint Zhang Luo’s eyes flickered, and she murmured something to her fourth disciple Shen Ziyan, who gave the faintest of nods.

Shen Jian’s back straightened unconsciously, pride swelling in his chest... until he followed every other gaze and realized no one was comparing him to the orange quality he just manifested.

Rather, due to the announcement from earlier, they were all measuring him against the yet to come result of a certain Asura War Demon.

Shen Jian’s eyes turned to him again, but still, Li Ling’s eyelashes didn’t even twitch.

"...Does he really not care? Or is my talent still not worth opening his eyes for?" Shen Jian gritted his teeth inwardly.

He turned on his heel gracefully, but his fingers were clenched so hard his knuckles whitened as he returned to his spot.

"Next person, Bei Dongshi!"

This name didn’t carry much weight at first, so the reaction was muted.

"Who?"

"Some Desolate Hell freak. I heard he does something with fate arts."

"He’s strong, but not famous. Not compared to Shi Gaolin and the others."

The young man who stepped forward silenced a few of those voices by appearance alone.

Bei Dongshi was tall and lean, his frame wrapped in the same white-and-gold robe, but his presence was illusory to say the least.

His skin was a deep, dark violet, like polished obsidian with a purple tint while his facial features were sharp and angular, almost elfin, with thin lips and high cheekbones.

Most striking of all was the black headband tied firmly around his eyes, hiding them completely as if he were blind. Despite this, his steps were steady and unerring, bare feet making no sound as he walked.

He gave off a strange, quiet pressure, the kind that made the hairs on the back of the neck rise without knowing why.

"Desolate Hell Path’s Bei Dongshi... he really gives me the chills."

"They say he can cut off a person’s fate just by knowing their name. Don’t speak too loudly."

Bei Dongshi reached the orb and tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something only he could hear. Then, without hesitation, he extended a slender hand and laid it gently atop the sphere.

WHOOSH!