Top-tier Unruly Master-Chapter 1579 - 1616: Man-made Lake

Ding Fan released his divine sense to observe the flowerbed, feeling a distinct repulsive power, which slightly surprised him. With a bit of force, his divine sense quickly grasped the situation of the flowerbed. However, Ding Fan did not notice anything special about it; perhaps the only noteworthy feature was the repulsion force itself.

Ding Fan thought quietly to himself.

At this time, all the disciples had gathered by the man-made lake, followed by Long Ren and the other leaders of the thirty-six caves, although they stood at a relatively distant position. Ding Fan still did not understand what the second round’s competition was exactly about, despite having heard from Long Ren about the general selection process; supposedly, the second round tested some unique abilities of the cultivator disciples.

Ding Fan’s gaze rested on the man-made lake, wondering if this second round of the Great Alchemy Competition was somehow connected to the lake. However, the lake was indeed quite peculiar...

"This round of the competition will still be hosted by me. Everyone can see the man-made lake before us, right?"

At this moment, the middle-aged sect master who had hosted initially stood in front of the disciples and spoke in a loud, clear voice.

Ding Fan sized up this middle-aged sect master, whose cultivation was at least at the Spirit Severing Late Stage. Ding Fan somewhat aspired to such cultivation, as his current level was only at the Nascent Soul Mid Stage. Although he could defeat a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator, reaching the level of the middle-aged sect master might empower him to contend with Transcendance Tribulation Stage cultivators.

Ding Fan understood that achieving that would mean truly gaining a foothold in the Cultivation World; his Dayang Sect would grow stronger under his leadership, and even the Wild Wolf Gang would no longer be a threat. It would also be time to avenge all the cultivator sect masters and disciples previously wronged by the Wild Wolf Gang.

Immediately, Ding Fan refocused his thoughts, looking at the man-made lake as other disciples did. Most cultivator disciples saw nothing particularly different about the lake; perhaps the oddity was that a man-made lake existed on the surface of a Giant Peak thousands of meters high, which was indeed incredible.

However, this being the usual residence of the thirty-six caves, even extraordinary things wouldn’t cause much surprise, given the considerable power of the thirty-six caves. Nothing would be beyond the Lake Master’s ability; even a sea here would be understandable.

Seeing the crowd’s plain expressions, the middle-aged sect master felt a hint of mischievousness and then addressed them:

"Did everyone notice the path of stone steps inside the man-made lake?"

The disciples responded unanimously:

"Yes, we see it."

...

Indeed, they all noticed the path of stone steps inside the lake. However, the steps were not continuous but intermittent, with gaps ranging from several centimeters to nearly a meter, and some extending several meters apart.

Despite these gaps, treading the steps posed no difficulty for the disciples, who were all at the Nascent Soul Stage. Whether the gap was a few meters or several dozen meters, these cultivators could glide effortlessly against the wind, spanning the distances.

Though Nascent Soul Stage cultivators cannot truly fly with the wind, gliding several dozen meters is quite feasible and easy. Following this, the disciples nodded at the middle-aged sect master, signaling that they had seen the steps.

Yet among them, only Ding Fan appeared serious, as his divine sense had already detected the difficulty of traversing those stone steps to reach the flowerbed at the lake’s center.

The flowerbed contained an ancient formation with powerful repulsive forces. Even for Spirit Severing Stage cultivators, walking along the stone steps to the flowerbed in the lake’s center was no simple task.

Ding Fan speculated silently, uncertain if the competition’s second challenge would be as he imagined.

Soon, the sect master’s words answered Ding Fan’s question.

"Since everyone has seen the steps, we can proceed. In this second round of the competition, participants must walk along the steps toward the center of the lake. The disciple closest to the lake’s center wins first place, the next closest second place, and so forth. Does everyone understand?"

With a hint of a mocking smile, the sect master addressed the disciples.

The disciples were astounded upon hearing the sect master’s words, surprised by the supposed simplicity of the second round’s challenge.

"Isn’t this too easy?"

"Indeed, is it just a test of our gliding skills? These gaps pose no difficulty for us!"

"Perhaps the examiner thought the first round’s alchemy challenge was too taxing, giving us an easier task! Haha..."

"Could it be like this?..."

...

For a moment, everyone was talking at once. At this time, the young man in the blue shirt, Lu Ferng, looked at the man-made lake in front of him with furrowed brows and said with a heavy tone:

"This competition is not simple. There is some kind of prohibition in this man-made lake. Trying to approach the center of the man-made lake is not an easy task, and I’m afraid that even I cannot get halfway to that flowerbed!"

...

Wow...

Having said this with a very grave expression on his face, Lu Ferng couldn’t help but surprise everyone present. Obviously, they hadn’t expected there to be such a mystery behind this man-made lake. At this time, a middle-aged sect leader couldn’t help but look at Lu Ferng with some appreciative eyes, feeling rather satisfied with him.

"It’s no wonder he is the most promising disciple of the Thirty-Six Caves. His divine sense is quite extraordinary, being able to sense the abnormality in the man-made lake just from the lakeside. Not bad, not bad..."

The middle-aged sect leader couldn’t help but secretly praise in his heart.

Upon hearing Lu Ferng’s words, all the disciples were shocked, obviously not expecting the man-made lake to be so extraordinary. Everyone had a look of surprise on their face, somewhat unbelievable, especially as the man-made lake currently looked perfectly ordinary. At this time, the middle-aged sect leader looked at the disciples with a serious expression and said:

"What disciple Lu Ferng said is correct. It is not easy to walk to the flowerbed in the middle of the Dark Lake. Therefore, everyone has three chances. Now, let’s start drawing lots to proceed with the competition in sequence."

Once the middle-aged sect leader finished speaking, the disciples each received a card with a number from the working maidservants. Ding Fan received a card with the number seventy-eight written on it, meaning he was the seventy-eighth contestant in the competition. Subsequently, the disciples proceeded with the competition in the order of the numbers on their cards.

"Oh no! I’m number one! What terrible luck!"

A somewhat short-statured young male cultivator looked at the card in his hand with a face full of dejection and said.

Soon, under the urging of the middle-aged sect leader, this young cultivator stepped directly onto the stone steps by the lake. When the young cultivator stepped onto this stone step, the initial trepidation on his face turned into a look of shock, as he clearly felt a very powerful force hitting him the moment he stepped onto the lake’s stone steps, almost knocking him out of the man-made lake.

Fortunately, the young cultivator quickly released all the True Qi within his body, only then was he able to barely stabilize himself. But the young cultivator’s body was still swaying significantly, giving everyone below a fright. At this moment, everyone below also realized the truth in Lu Ferng’s words.

Obviously, this man-made lake is no simple matter. Although the first contestant’s cultivation was at the Nascent Soul Mid Stage, considered decent although not particularly outstanding among everyone, it was unimaginable that this disciple almost got knocked over just by stepping onto the first step, proving the formidable energy within the man-made lake.

At this moment, the eyes of everyone below were tightly fixed on the young cultivator, who still stood on the first stone step in the lake. Everyone’s heart was incredibly tense, feeling quite similar to how the disciple standing in the lake felt.

Instead, the disciple on the stone steps wasn’t so nervous now, though all his muscles were tense, having no extra energy to feel anxious. After all, this was the selection trial, and he naturally strived to perform well to achieve the best results in this competition.

Even if he couldn’t secure a spot to enter the Xuantian Secret Realm, winning the Lake Master’s reward was still an exciting prospect.

This young cultivator finally lifted his foot toward the second stone step. His brows furrowed tightly, and his body trembled slightly despite himself. It was evident that what seemed like just a small step was proving incredibly difficult for him. Eventually, when striding toward the third stone step, because the distance to the third step was relatively farther, just dozens of centimeters but still far for him—

He was directly tipped out of the lake by an invisible yet extremely powerful force, landing heavily on the ground. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Everyone watching this scene was staggered, evidently not expecting that he would be thrown out before even reaching the third stone step; it was simply unbelievable! Subsequently, everyone’s mood became quite heavy, realizing that the seemingly easiest part of the competition was actually the most challenging.

Then, the second contestant began to walk onto the lake, but his physical condition or cultivation level was somewhat inferior to the first contestant, being merely at the Nascent Soul Early Stage. What surprised everyone was that this second contestant was tossed out at the second step.

Soon, one after another, cultivators were thrown out of the man-made lake by the incredibly powerful force within. In no time at all, twenty disciples had already been expelled, the furthest reaching only the fifth step—a taller young man at the Nascent Soul Mid Stage—before being tossed out.

For those disciples who hadn’t competed yet, there might not be much feeling, but for those who had already participated, advancing to the fifth step was already quite impressive. After all, the invisible force within the man-made lake was so immense.

It wasn’t something ordinary cultivators could withstand.