Martial Arrogance Dragon Soul-Chapter 140 - 131 Section 95
Gu Fengxian and Xie Jin’an, these East Campus disciples, quickly arrived beneath the Cloud Ascension Ladder.
Following the lead elder’s order, these disciples from the East Campus leaped onto the ladder before them in succession.
For a moment, these East Campus disciples were all climbing upwards, between their leaps, soaring to even higher rungs of the ladder.
Qin Qing carefully observed these East Campus disciples as they flew between the rungs of the Cloud Ladder.
Indistinctly, he seemed to see streams of Spiritual Patterns cascading down from above the ladder, like waterfalls, draping over the climbing disciples from the East Campus.
These East Campus disciples were also experiencing resistance in their climb due to the pressure of these Spiritual Patterns.
At first, this resistance was not noticeable, but as the disciples climbed higher, the resistance obviously grew stronger.
"It seems... the stronger the Cultivation of disciples like Gu Fengxian and Xie Jin’an, the greater the resistance they have to endure," Qin Qing thought.
"Moreover, the higher one climbs, the denser the Spiritual Patterns become, and the greater the resistance the climbing disciples have to withstand..."
Qin Qing observed carefully while conjecturing the various signs within the Cloud Ascension Ladder in his mind.
At this time, among these East Campus disciples, Xie Jin’an and Gu Fengxian were neck and neck, charging at the forefront.
"Gu Fengxian, in last year’s examination on the Cloud Ascension Ladder, I lost to you by a mere two breaths’ time. This time, I won’t lose again!" Xie Jin’an turned his head to the side and said to Gu Fengxian, who was on the other side.
Gu Fengxian’s lips curled into a slight smile, "Xie Jin’an, it will depend on your ability then. However, since you lost to me last year, you’ll have to lose to me this year too!"
"Really? We’ll see about that!"
As soon as Xie Jin’an finished speaking, a burst of sword radiance shot forth from his body.
In this round of assessment on the Cloud Ascension Ladder, the use of Spiritual Treasures was not allowed.
The burst of sword radiance that erupted from Xie Jin’an’s body was not from a Flying Sword, but a sword radiance formed by the outburst of Spiritual Energy from his body.
This sword radiance enveloped Xie Jin’an’s whole body, as if he had transformed into a sharp sword.
"Swoosh, swoosh!"
Xie Jin’an’s speed once again increased, the sword radiance emitting a sharp cutting force, cleaving through all the Spiritual Patterns descending from above.
"Already exerting your strength?"
Gu Fengxian smiled faintly, waving his hand, and a sound like a phoenix’s call burst forth from within his body.
A blue phoenix shadow manifested, encompassing him.
This was Gu Fengxian’s Martial Soul, the Azure Phoenix.
The Azure Phoenix was not a real spiritual beast, the Phoenix, but it was rumored to be a descendant of the phoenix species, with highly pure phoenix bloodlines in its body.
The so-called Phoenix, that is, the Vermilion Bird, rumored to be one of the four Divine Level spiritual beasts!
After the Azure Phoenix manifested, Gu Fengxian’s speed skyrocketed as well, pursuing Xie Jin’an relentlessly.
"Boom crack!"
Suddenly, there was lightning and thunder.
The sky, which had appeared clear until just a moment ago, suddenly filled with countless bolts of thunder and lightning.
Lightning snakes twisted and writhed, dense in the air like a Sea of Thunder.
"Rumble, rumble..."
The thunderous roar continued to sound.
Then, bolt after bolt of lightning struck down from the sky.
"Crack!"
"Snap!"
Amidst the thunder and lightning, Xie Jin’an and Gu Fengxian continued to evade, moving with agility, their bodies extremely flexible.
Those other East Campus disciples below them, for the most part, were left far behind by the two of them.
As the thunder and lightning descended, the other disciples increasingly felt the difficulty of climbing upwards.
"Pfft!"
A disciple was struck by the lightning.
Immediately, he fell from the Vertical Cloud Ladder and was directly eliminated!
Fortunately, the power of thunder and lightning contained in this bolt was not strong, and the lightning itself was only as thick as a finger.
So although the disciple was struck by lightning and severely injured, his life was not lost.
Following the lightning strike, there were attacks of frost, flames, hurricanes, sandstorms, and other extraordinary phenomena.
However, these disciples participating in the year-end assessment were all elites among the disciples, so the chance of elimination was not that high...
In the end, out of the thirty East Campus disciples participating in the assessment, a total of twenty-six passed.
Surprisingly, the first place this time was actually taken by Xie Jin’an.
Gu Fengxian was just a breath’s time behind him!
"Ninety-five breaths! Xie Jin’an, not bad at all," Gu Fengxian said to Xie Jin’an, standing atop the Cloud Palace.
"Haha, Gu Fengxian, I told you, this time on the Vertical Cloud Ladder, I would beat you..." Xie Jin’an laughed.
"Indeed, I am completely convinced by my loss, ninety-five breaths, just three breaths shy of breaking the record! I’m one breath behind you, and although it’s only one breath, the gap is actually huge!" Gu Fengxian said.
Xie Jin’an nodded slightly, "Yes, it took me ninety-five breaths to reach the top of the Cloud Palace, and although I’m just three breaths away from the record, each of those breaths represents a gap as vast as the heavens and earth... That person who reached the top of the Cloud Palace with just ninety-two breaths is definitely a genius among geniuses!"
The two shared the same understanding.
Both Gu Fengxian and Xie Jin’an were very clear that this speed was already their limit.
The increase in cultivation would not actually bring much help for the Vertical Cloud Ladder challenge.
Because as cultivation increases, so does the oppressive force that comes with it.
The reason the two of them could improve their speed compared to last year was mainly due to the advancement of their movement techniques.
And when it comes to movement techniques, they had already trained to the utmost limit; to improve further would require advancing their Cultivation Realm.
Once the Cultivation Realm advanced, the difficulty of climbing the Vertical Cloud Ladder would greatly increase, so it’s quite a dead end.
As the last disciple from the East Campus reached the top, a thunderous cheer erupted from the camp of East Campus disciples below.
Qin Chang, Linghu Leiyue, and other heads and elders of the East Campus all stood up, clapping joyfully.
Thirty disciples passed, and twenty-six of them made it through, which was a very high passing rate.
Moreover, Xie Jin’an and Gu Fengxian achieved remarkable times of ninety-five and ninety-six breaths respectively.
"Well done!"
Even the Seventh Prince, sitting beside Qin Chang, couldn’t help but nod in approval: "Those two disciples have great potential!"
"Seventh Prince! They are Xie Jin’an and Gu Fengxian. Xie Jin’an is the one who got first place. I will have them meet you after the assessment is over," Qin Chang hurriedly said.
"Good!" The Seventh Prince nodded. He came to observe the Great Qian Martial Institute’s assessment mainly to scout for talent, and this was exactly what he wanted.
After the East Campus disciples finished ascending, it would soon be the turn of the West Courtyard disciples.
At this moment, those East Campus disciples who had already ascended to the Cloud Palace looked down at the West Courtyard disciples below with a mocking look in their eyes.
"You West Courtyard trash, hurry up and get up here; we grandpas are waiting for you!" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Some East Campus disciples started shouting from above.
Xie Jin’an also spoke to Qin Qing, "Qin Qing, I’m waiting here for you. You better not fail to ascend this round; don’t disappoint me too much!"
Xie Jin’an stood atop the Cloud Palace, his voice booming down from above and reverberating across the sky.
Meanwhile, that group of East Campus disciples also burst into belly laughter...
