Primordial Divine Emperor-Chapter 48: The Chosen One Beyond Reach

At this moment, on the Martial Arts Arena of Divine Sword Peak, among the lineup of nearly eighty or ninety thousand prodigies, only a mere two or three hundred were left scattered around.

In the void, the Elder of Divine Sword Peak looked at this scene, nodded in satisfaction, as if the desired effect had been achieved, and slowly withdrew his palm.

In an instant, Ye Xiaofan and others felt their entire bodies relax, almost collapsing from exhaustion. The few exchanged a smile, all taking deep breaths of the precious air.

At this time, an ancient voice resonated throughout the entire venue.

"Congratulations to all of you, you now qualify to directly join one of the Fourteen Divine Peaks. As for which peak you will go to, the Sect will conduct comprehensive testing and evaluation for all of you in three days. In the meantime, take a good rest, for which peak you can enter depends on yourselves."

After the Grand Elder of Divine Sword Peak finished speaking, he stroked his beard with satisfaction at this year’s fresh blood.

With these words, all the peerless talents who persevered bowed to the Grand Elder of Divine Sword Peak, who nodded slightly, then turned to fly towards Divine Sword Peak.

After bidding farewell to the Elder of Divine Sword Peak, all the prodigies examined the peerless talents who had also persevered around them, seemingly wanting to remember each person. These people would be their strongest competitors in the same cohort.

Soon, however, all eyes involuntarily turned towards the position where Ye Xiaofan and others stood—the prodigies of the Ten Cities.

Not only these new disciples who had persevered, but even the senior disciples were looking in this direction.

Obviously, the news of the Sword Saint’s successor among the Ten Cities’ prodigies had already spread throughout the Divine Sword Sect.

However, they had not seen Ye Xiaofan before, so their gazes naturally roamed over the five who still stood, trying to find the figure favored by the Sword Saint.

Feeling the overwhelming enthusiastic gazes, Ye Xiaofan and the others suddenly felt quite uncomfortable all over.

For a moment, the few of them drew all attention, and especially after everyone saw that there were still five people standing among the Ten Cities prodigies, they were slightly surprised.

Unexpectedly, this was the largest number of people who had persevered among the Ten Cities prodigies in history, making everyone in the Divine Sword Sect feel incredible.

For people like Ye Xiaofan, who were born in such impoverished regions, it was already rare to have even one person succeed in enduring the ’Sect Entrance Ceremony’ each year. Yet this year, five appeared at once.

However, upon reflection, no one felt something was amiss. It seemed that this year, for some reason, the prodigies were born, each region’s prodigy count far surpassed previous years.

Under countless gazes targeting this corner of the heavens and earth, even Nangong Jianchen felt a chill down his spine.

"Brother Ye, your situation in the Divine Sword Sect seems a bit tricky; the position of the Sword Saint’s successor seems even harder to secure than imagined," Nangong Jianchen murmured to himself.

Clearly, among these prodigies, many had long coveted the identity of the Sword Saint’s successor, especially those senior disciples who might already be scheming on how to replace him.

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiaofan scanned the whole arena and replied helplessly, "For so many years, when has my situation ever been easy?"

After speaking, Ye Xiaofan gave a self-deprecating smile, feeling not a hint of panic, but rather an impassioned fighting spirit burning in his eyes. He met the gazes of all the prodigal sons and daughters proudly and confidently: "If enemies come, I will face them; if disasters threaten, I will withstand them. What I can’t handle, I leave to fate."

Giving up the position of the Sword Saint’s successor easily won’t be that simple for him.

Nangong Jianchen was slightly stunned by his words, sensing a Zen-like cultivation mindset in Ye Xiaofan, and was surprised by his determination.

The determination of a person, in a unique environment, sometimes needs just a sentence or two to be expressed thoroughly.

"Brother Ye, what are you fighting so hard for?" Nangong Jianchen posed a soul-searching question.

Since awakening his Martial Soul, scenes of Ye Xiaofan training desperately in the Soul Beast Forest were still vivid in his mind. Now, facing an endless sea of peerless demon fiends, he wondered where Ye Xiaofan got his motivation.

Ye Xiaofan replied calmly, "Strength!"

"Strength?" Nangong Jianchen did not turn back, contemplating to himself, and then asked, "What about after becoming strong?"

"Go to Death Valley." Ye Xiaofan answered almost without thinking, fluently.

Upon hearing this, Nangong Jianchen slightly raised his gaze, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes, "Death Valley? For what purpose?"

Hearing this, Ye Xiaofan’s eyes became unfocused, an inadvertent trace of sadness appearing in them, as he seemingly replied to Nangong Jianchen, and partially talked to himself: "To find my father, alive to see him, or dead to see his body."

The reason for his painstaking cultivation was simple and pure: to become strong. Only through strength could he enter Death Valley to seek Ye Tiannan.

Among the five, Jian Zhu listened to their conversation, his eyes slightly moved, yet he untimely poured cold water on them: "Before becoming strong, you must first maintain the identity of the Sword Saint’s successor. Good luck to you."

After speaking, Jian Zhu slowly turned and walked in the direction of the Silver Moon City crowd outside the Martial Arts Arena.

Ye Xiaofan and Nangong Jianchen exchanged glances, both smiling helplessly. However, the latter, looking at Ye Xiaofan, comforted him: "But you don’t need to worry too much, don’t forget, we are newbies now, we have the beginner protection period."

"That’s right, Brother Xiaofan, we have a beginner protection period too."

Beside him, Shangguan Wan’Er blushed slightly, her breath yet to calm down, but she excitedly said: "According to the rules of the Divine Sword Sect, new disciples have a one-year beginner protection period, within this year, those senior disciples cannot challenge the novices."