Chapter 58: Chapter 55 Slaying the Demon in Qi State
Song Yueyao shook her head slightly, without answering.
She had no answer in her heart either.
Passing the Menghe River in Feng Mountain was extremely difficult. If it were disciples of the Black and White Hall, there would be a slight possibility, but for outer court disciples… unless the person had already achieved the Soul Succession Realm.
The black-robed scholar was genuinely of the Soul Succession Realm, and his soul was extremely fierce, akin to facing two Soul Succession experts.
The assessment for the outer court disciples wasn’t to kill the black-robed scholar but to achieve a completion rate of 50%.
Massacring nearly half the villagers would count as completion.
This test already involved sneaking, hiding, pure strength, and movement technique among other aspects, making it very difficult.
After all, slaughtering nearly half would easily alert the black-robed scholar. Once he took action, even the disciples of the Black Hall had to flee.
“I heard that two members of the royal family have come. Could it be one of them who did this? If they’ve achieved Cycle Heaven Realm Perfection, relying on that unrivaled Meridian Opening Skill and Qi Circulation Skill, there might be a slight hope of battling someone in the Soul Succession Realm,” Lin Feifei guessed.
That was the only possibility she could think of. If not even the royal family could do it, then nobody else stood a chance.
“Let’s go have a look and we will know,” Song Yueyao said.
Under Huang Licao’s guidance, the two of them arrived at the outer court.
There, Su Yehua had already convened everyone to wait.
As the two women and Huang Licao arrived, many became slightly restless and started to stand on tiptoe to look around.
“It’s Song Yueyao!”
In the crowd, Du Qiuyue recognized Song Yueyao and Lin Feifei at a glance, admiration appearing in her eyes.
“Who are they?”
“The one in white is Song Yueyao, the Palace Master’s granddaughter, one of the most exceptionally talented individuals in the Black and White Hall. I heard she’s not even twenty yet but has already reached the Divine Travel Realm…” Du Qiuyue whispered enviously.
This was the real deal, a Nine-Grade Battle Body, a top genius.
Li Yuanzhao suddenly understood and didn’t show much surprise on his face.
Divine Travel Realm at twenty, but Mother said Ninth Uncle reached Divine Travel Realm at thirteen, Grandmaster at seventeen, and at nineteen, when he built his achievements and sacrificed himself, he was already at the Seventh Realm, the Immortal Third…
That was the one and only monstrous talent in all history!
Having heard about Ninth Uncle’s battle achievements, whenever Li Yuanzhao looked at other geniuses, he felt they were all mediocre in comparison.
“Where’s your Hao? Why isn’t he here?” Du Qiuyue asked in a low voice, her gaze wandering around in search.
Li Yuanzhao shook his head, “Hao probably went off to play chess with someone.”
“Playing chess…” Du Qiuyue’s mouth twitched.
At this moment, Song Yueyao and Lin Feifei began scanning the crowd with their gaze.
“The granddaughter of the Palace Master, huh…”
In the crowd, Jiang Ye narrowed his eyes, sizing up the two elegant figures, a hint of peculiar light emerging in his eyes as he thought to himself:
“She’s quite attractive. If I conquer her, making her my empress, then Song Yufeng, for the sake of his granddaughter, could become an asset for me in the future. It’s a shame she’s a few years older than me, but with Tan Palace as her dowry, I don’t mind taking a small loss…”
As he was contemplating, Song Yueyao’s gaze swept over the crowd and landed on him at first glance.
Although they were all wearing the same uniform, judging by the robustness of the emitted aura, she guessed he was most likely of royal descent.
How could a common Zhou Tian Realm have such a vigorous aura, as mighty as a flood dragon?
Seeing the look from Song Yueyao, Jiang Ye smiled slightly, revealing half a set of white teeth and nodded in greeting.
But Song Yueyao’s gaze calmly shifted away, it wasn’t him.
She continued searching through the crowd, scrutinizing one after another, her brows furrowing.
None was the right one.
“No,” Song Yueyao said to the elder beside her.
Huang Licao was taken aback and quickly asked in a low voice, “Are you sure you’ve looked carefully?”
“Yes,” Song Yueyao nodded.
Huang Licao then turned to Lin Feifei, who also shook her head slightly, revealing a helpless expression.
“Could it be not Alpha Academy?” Huang Licao wondered internally and proceeded to ask Su Yehua, “Are all the disciples of Alpha Academy here?”
Su Yehua, also aware of what they were looking for, glanced over the crowd and noticed two or three absences, saying, “Almost all of them are here.”
The missing were the wastrel who was always sound asleep and two mediocre sons from noble families; she thought it was unlikely to be them.
“Strange…” After thinking a bit, Huang Licao whispered a few words to Su Yehua. She nodded slightly in response and immediately commanded everyone:
“Turn sideways.”
The crowd was puzzled and looked at her questioningly.
Without explaining, Su Yehua assumed the authority of a teacher, her willow eyebrows slightly stern, and everyone promptly complied.
To this beautiful teacher, they had long experienced the strictness of her methods.
Song Yueyao and Lin Feifei, once again compelled to look, were full of confusion. Everyone looked vaguely familiar, presumably due to wearing the same uniform, yet on closer inspection, none seemed to fit.
In despair, Huang Licao said to Su Yehua, “Let the ones who didn’t come find me later, so that Moon and the others can take a look.”
“Yes,” Su Yehua nodded in agreement.
Huang Licao left the area, taking the two women to Beta Academy.
Along the way, a figure casually approached with a wild rabbit in hand. It was Li Hao.
“Which academy’s disciple are you?” Huang Licao immediately called out upon seeing him.
Li Hao looked at them in surprise, not recognizing them, and said, “I’m from Alpha Academy, and you are?”
“Alpha Academy?” Huang Licao’s heart stirred, he turned his head to look at the two girls.
Song Yueyao and Lin Feifei were also sizing up Li Hao—with rosy lips, white teeth, and fair skin, he was an incredibly handsome young man.
However, the wild rabbit he was holding and the grass stains on his academy uniform made him appear somewhat disheveled.
After taking a careful look, the two girls immediately shook their heads slightly:
“It doesn’t seem like him.”
Hearing this, Huang Licao waved his hand at Li Hao: “It’s nothing, you can go.”
Li Hao walked away with a look of confusion, carrying the wild rabbit and passing by them.
Suddenly, Li Hao felt that the aura of the two girls was somewhat familiar—hadn’t he encountered them before in the Mo River cave?
When he returned to Alpha Academy, Su Yehua immediately told him to find Huang Licao.
After asking around, Li Hao understood the situation and shared his encounter on the road. Su Yehua did not suspect him of lying since she too felt that Li Hao was unlikely to be that person. If it weren’t for him being a member of the Li Family and spending the past half month sleeping and lazing around, she would have strictly reprimanded him long ago.
“Hao, where were you?”
Back at his seat, Li Yuanzhao spilled all the details of what just happened to Li Hao.
Li Hao suddenly realized, feeling somewhat disheartened—it was a relief that the academy seemed to have no intention of settling scores with him.
As for the reward?
The Red Sky Precious Sword was indeed impressive, capable of harming the Divine Soul, a truly rare weapon for the Divine Travel Realm.
Even at the Divine General Mansion, only a few tens of thousands could be found.
What a pity.
He was now in the Fifteen Li Realm and no longer needed it.
Above the waterfall, Shen Yunqing and Zhao Zongyuan also received the news, both of them surprised.
“Who did it?”
“Couldn’t be that kid, right? The place he went before, that’s on the side of the Mo River.” Zhao Zongyuan said in disbelief.
Shen Yunqing shook her head slightly: “Although there’s the Mo River there, it’s still possible to return to the academy, it just requires taking a detour. Maybe he took a wrong turn.”
“Hard to tell, this kid grasped your movement technique so quickly, I always feel like I can’t see through him, he might not be in the Zhou Tian Realm.”
“Even the Soul Succession Realm would be difficult.”
Shen Yunqing shook her head and said, “It’s about passing the test, not destroying; who knows what the conditions were. Besides, we just got news—Song Yueyao witnessed it. Old Huang took her to the external academy and they found a kid in Beta Academy who looked similar, but it turned out not to be him after verification.”
“Strange, could it be someone from the Black and White Hall?”
“Who knows, anyway, the matter will soon have a result, it can’t be kept secret.” Shen Yunqing remarked.
“Indeed.” Zhao Zongyuan thought and sighed, “The Fengshan Mo River was quite suitable for testing newcomers, now that it’s gone, we can only use that other Mo River, but that one is much harder.”
“They’ll just have to count themselves unlucky,” Shen Yunqing declared.
Several days later.
The disciples of Alpha Academy gathered in the courtyard. Li Hao, who was preparing to sneak off to play truant, was also called back by Su Yehua, obediently returning to his seat.
“Tomorrow is your first trial since joining the academy, a practical demon-slaying test!”
Su Yehua surveyed everyone with a calm face and declared, “Martial Artists must experience the trials of combat, blood, and fire. We have arranged connections for you; all you need to do is go and report, participate in person. This way, you will understand the flaws in your martial arts when facing demons and how to truly fight the enemy.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes lit up, and many were eager to try.
Demon-slaying?
This was a dream that many in the audience eagerly anticipated.
To travel the world with a sword, slaying demons and eliminating evil—how cool!
“These tasks vary in difficulty; it’s best to know your own strength.”
Su Yehua pulled out a stack of papers and said, “For each task, we will award points based on the difficulty, which can be exchanged in the Black and White Hall’s Martial Scripture Pavilion for weapons, precious medicines, Cultivation Techniques, and Peerless Techniques!”
“But you need to truly assess your capabilities, and avoiding greed is also a test for a Martial Artist.”
As she spoke, she called over a senior student to distribute the papers in her hand.
Li Hao received a copy and casually began to read.
It listed all demon-slaying assignments, spread over different states and cities.
Being able to connect the academy with different states and cities demonstrated the extensive reach of Tan Palace Academy.
Was this akin to sending students to large companies for internships and evaluations?
Suddenly, Li Hao’s gaze sharpened, landing on one of the mission lists.
Demon-slaying Task 23:
Qi State, join the Monster Suppression Department, assist the local demon-slaying team in hunting demons, graded by the local person in charge.
Full score: 10 points.
Qi State!