Chapter 237: Chapter 244: Of Course Choose the Biggest!
(First update)
Translator: 549690339
A sudden clap of thunder startled Yang Zhen and the others. They watched as a figure plummeted from mid-air, exchanging looks of surprise.
“The Spirit Road has indeed opened!” The Water Moon Spirit Lady exclaimed, with Bai Xuan and Ye Zhiming also displaying gleams of surprise and joy in
their eyes.
Yang Zhen paused, looking at the poor fellow who had just tumbled to the ground and was now scampering off. He then glanced at the Water Moon Spirit Lady and asked, bewildered, “What does getting struck by lightning have to do with the opening of the Spirit Road?”
Barely a moment after he finished his question, another thunderous crash echoed through the air, followed by a series of grotesque screams. Another figure tumbled from the sky, landing with a loud thud, and causing dust to billow up from the ground.
Like the previous figure, this one too hastily scrambled off the ground and fled from the scene without sparing a glance at Yang Zhen and the others.
Yang Zhen, still looking bewildered, watched this figure disappear. Turning his head, he saw the pleased expressions on the faces of Bai Xuan, Ye Zhiming, and the Water Moon Spirit Lady.
“It has just begun!” The Water Moon Spirit Lady said with an excited expression. “We made it to the heavenly selection!”
Bai Xuan and Ye Zhiming laughed heartily in agreement, looking back at Yang Zhen and saying, “Brother Yang, our timing couldn’t be better.”
A thousand alpacas stampeded through Yang Zhen’s mind. He nodded gravely
and said, “In that case, let’s get moving!”
The Water Moon Spirit Lady stifled a chuckle, looking at Yang Zhen quizzically.
“Aren’t you going to ask what’s going on?”
“Damn it!” Yang Zhen couldn’t help himself. He shot a glance at the Water Moon Spirit Lady and said calmly, “Lady, there’s a saying in our village: don’t reveal others’ secrets. It’s a basic matter of courtesy.”
The trio stared blankly at Yang Zhen, at a loss for words. Bai Xuan gave a wry smile and said, “Now, I’m beginning to understand how those people must
have felt.”
Ye Zhiming and the Water Moon Spirit Lady intuitively knew who ‘those people’ were referring to. They nodded in agreement and closed their mouths. Whenever this bastard Yang Zhen opened his mouth, he could turn black into white. Even though he clearly had no clue about the current situation, he pretended as if he was completely in the know.
And he was damn good at it too!
“So, what exactly is going on?” asked the contemptible cat, playing the ‘curious creature1 to the hilt.
Yang Zhen glanced at the cat, patted him on the head, and said, “Tonight, I’ll cook dinner for you. Anything you want cooked by yours truly, Sao Saint.”
Contemptible cat:”???”
Though he looked puzzled, having no idea what he had done to please Yang Zhen, the contemptible cat was still overjoyed. “You better keep your word!” he declared with a triumphant ‘aha.’
Watching this exchange, Bai Xuan and the others shared a look and sighed in unison.
Yang Zhen admired the contemptible cat – while the creature didn’t have many skills, his ability to volley the conversation was commendable. Indeed, a rewarding response.
Bai Xuan cleared his throat and said, “It’s too complex to explain in a few words. You two just follow us and you’ll soon understand.”
As their group moved along, Bai Xuan explained the so-called Heavenly Selection to Yang Zhen and the contemptible cat.
The Heavenly Selection was a means of entering the Spirit Road, a method initiated by humans when they opened the route.
The Spirit Road differed from other hidden treasures in that it could be opened by people. The cost, however, was extraordinarily high. Rarely could anyone bear such an expense; it was more common for two or three superpowers to jointly initiate its opening.
Once this happened, each power would receive a Heavenly Token and nominate one’ defender of heaven’s will’ to enter the Spirit Road by the most optimal route.
Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen was compelled to curse, “Isn’t this just preferential treatment? It’s completely unfair!”
The trio blinked, then shook their heads wryly, saying, “In this world, how can there be any fairness? Although it might seem unfair, even after spending vast fortunes to open the Spirit Road, others too can independently choose their routes into the Spirit Road.”
Yang Zhen perked up. “It does seem a bit more equitable now. So, those two fellows we saw earlier chose a route they couldn’t handle, and were kicked out by the Spirit Road, right?”
Ye Zhiming nodded, saying, “It’s not easy to pass the Heavenly Selection. You must choose the route that best suits you to gain the optimal training.” Yang Zhen gave a nod of agreement – sometimes having too high a starting point isn’t necessarily a good thing!
As their conversation continued, they finally arrived at the opening of the Spirit Road. They were taken aback by the sight of a crowd that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Yang Zhen’s eyes scanned the scene. There were nearly a thousand practitioners gathered there, with cultivation stages ranging mostly between Nascent Soul and Void Cultivation Stage.
All of them had assembled on an extremely spacious platform situated at the foot of a mountain. Above the platform, nine gigantic beams of light were descending from the sky like pillars that pierced the heavens, evoking a sense of reverence.
The beams weren’t all the same. The further they got to the right, the bigger and brighter the pillars seemed to get, also appearing much thicker.
The furthest pillar was entirely black, billowing and surging. Amidst the violent waves, it radiated a wild aura that made even someone like Yang Zhen, with his level of cultivation, feel a chilling sense of dread.
There were barely ten people in front of this black pillar. However, the aura resonating from these individuals was unfathomably powerful. They all seemed too young to command such awe but bore an expression of haughty selfconfidence and determination.
The number of people in front of the other pillars increased steadily. The pillar furthest to the left had the most – over a thousand. As one moved to the right, the numbers gradually decreased, forming a step-like pattern.
Yang Zhen took a deep breath and asked, pointing at the black and thick pillar, “So, that one must be the best route, right?
Ye Zhiming1 s face briefly took on a strange expression before he nodded, saying, “Indeed, that is the most substantial route to the Spirit Road. However… You’re not actually considering going down that path, are you?” Yang Zhen blinked. “What, are they not allowing me in? Is it VIP only?” “What nonsense?” Bai Xuan shook his head, explaining, “That’s the route for the Defenders of Heaven’s Will.”
Oh, wow!
Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen’s eyes narrowed. He pointed to the dozen people and said, “They can’t all be Defenders of Heaven’s Will, can they? I may not know the rules well, but the Spirit Road opening once would not result in that many Defenders, would it?”
Ye Zhiming curled his lips and said, “Of course not all of them, but… all of them have been Defenders of Heaven’s Will at least once and have all safely traversed the Road of Heaven’s Destiny at least once!”
“Damn!”
Yang Zhen paused. These people clearly had all been through the route at least once with the Heavenly Token. Are there that many superpowers up to this task? They had all been Defenders of Heaven’s direction once, what chance did he and his fellow novices stand?
“Wait. Even though they’ve been Defenders of Heaven’s Will before, they don’t have any tokens this time. How are they supposed to get in?” Yang Zhen suddenly realized this point and asked.
Ye Zhiming chuckled, “This time they’ll have to charge through like everybody else Don’t think just because they’ve crossed over once, they won’t fail. Of these twelve, aside from two or three token-holders, it would be impressive if three could make it through.”
Yang Zhen let out a hearty laugh, turned on his heel, and started walking towards the Road of Heaven’s Destiny. Over the stunned silence of the trio, he turned around to ask the contemptible cat, “Given the little lady’s talent, do you think she might have taken this route?”
“Very likely!” the contemptible cat nodded. “Go on, ask them. Then we will know.”
“I also think so. This stuff seems like it’s stratifying people into different classes, according to power. If I had to choose, I’d definitely go for the biggest, thickest one!”
“Yang…” Bai Xuan raised his hand to speak, but Yang Zhen had already moved on.
AU three watched, stunned, as Yang Zhen tapped a young man on the shoulder and asked, “Excuse me, young man, has a pretty little lady passed through this passage?”
Whoosh!
Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to Yang Zhen.
The “young man” that Yang Zhen had tapped on the shoulder turned around with an ashen face.
“Oh, my apologies! It appears that you are a young lady!