“The Godfiends are here!” someone exclaimed.
Meng Chuan, Meng Dajiang, and Yan Jin raised their heads and saw three streaks of light fly over. They could barely make out the three figures flying towards them. The leader was a linen-clothed man. Behind him were a cyan-clothed woman and a sloppy man.
Huh? Meng Chuan and Yan Jin felt stabbing pain in their eyes. Their heartbeats quickened, and their lifeblood turned unstable. They hurriedly looked down, afraid of looking straight at them.
None of the mortals dared to take another look. Meng Dajiang also lowered his head slightly.
“Flight with just the body?”
“These three can actually fly with their bodies. Only Marquis Godfiends can fly.”
“Every Archean Mountain entrance examination would have a Regis Godfiend and two Marquis Godfiends presiding and managing it. The one leading the group is King East River!” As the bustling crowd lowered their heads, they conversed via voice transmissions. One could release their Quintessential Energy to transmit voice transmissions once they were in the Force realm. Most of the people present were capable of sending voice transmissions.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The three Archean Mountain Godfiends landed at another spot in Blazing Sun Palace.
“Everyone, King East River and the two Godfiends have arrived.” There were some stewards inside the Blazing Sun Palace as well. One of them, a goateed man, loudly said, “All who are participating in Archean Mountain’s entrance examination, line up according to the names I call out. The first one is Dragoncloud State’s Wu Chang. Second, Jiang State’s Zhang Ping. Third...”
Names were called out one by one. Youths lined up as their names were called.
“87th, Wu State’s Meng Chuan.”
After hearing that, Meng Dajiang immediately said, “It’s your turn now, hurry over.”
“Okay.” Meng Chuan immediately ran to the back of the long line.
“88th, Archean City’s Qi Chou.” Another young man stood behind Meng Chuan.
...
A total of 312 people were participating in Archean Mountain’s entrance examination this year.
“All of you, follow me.” said the goateed man loudly. He walked ahead, and the three hundred-plus geniuses followed him obediently. Be it princes or princesses, children of Regis Godfiends, or extremely talented geniuses, all of them followed the rules. When they saw the auras of the Regis Godfiend and the two Marquis Godfiends, they had felt the astonishing difference in strength.
Just a glance from a distance caused their lifeblood to become chaotic. This made them even more eager to become Godfiends.
After they left the square, they passed through a palace door.
They arrived at a small palace yard, where a group of Godfiends were seated in the distance. The Godfiends who had escorted the geniuses from the twenty-three states of the Great Zhou Dynasty—such as Marquis Southcloud and the others—were all chatting and laughing. King East River—who was in charge of presiding over the entrance examination—was seated at the seat of honor while the other two Marquis Godfiends were seated to his sides.
King East River was dressed in linen clothes. He restrained his aura, making him appear like an ordinary person. However, his bearing was dissimilar to a mortal’s.
“Marquis West Sea, your son comprehended Force at the age of thirteen. His talent can be said to be extremely high! He can be given an additional spot and directly enter Archean Mountain. Why did he participate in the test?” King East River laughed.
Marquis West Sea—who was seated beside him—immediately laughed and said, “Senior Brother, that kid of mine has always had a mind of his own. Two months ago, he comprehended Force and insisted on participating in Archean Mountain’s entrance examination. He said that he was going to compete with all the elites in the world. This kid didn’t think through it. He has just comprehended Force, and his competitors are far older than him. Most of them are at higher cultivation realms and have richer battle experience than him. Isn’t he just seeking trouble for himself? But he still insisted on coming.”
“It’s good to broaden his horizons.” King East River smiled as he swept his gaze across the three hundred-plus geniuses walking over. His face changed slightly.
“Humph.” King East River suddenly let out a cold snort—it was as if thunder was echoing out in all directions of the palace yard.
The three hundred-plus people were shocked. Even the Godfiends were astonished.
“Our Archean Mountain limits participants’ age to twenty years old or younger,” said King East River. “Among the 312 of you, one of you has already exceeded twenty years of age. If you step out obediently, you will be punished lightly. If I catch you, I believe you will regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Exceed twenty?” Meng Chuan and company broke out in a commotion.
Suddenly, two youths walked out of the group. The two exchanged glances, both stunned.
One of them bowed respectfully in the direction of the Godfiends. “I am Yu Wanfeng from the Chang State. I was an orphan that was later adopted by the Yu family. I don’t know my true age either.”
The other youth said respectfully, “I am Tian Gu from the An State. When I was a child, my hometown was invaded by demons and I wandered the land. I was young back then, and I don’t know my exact age either. When the Tian family adopted me, they decided that I was five years old.”
“An State’s Tian Gu, you are twenty-one years old,” said King East River. “You have exceeded the limit and it’s against the rules of Archean Mountain. Since you’ve admitted it, go serve in the military for ten years.”
“Yes.” The youth bowed respectfully.
Normally, military service lasted five years.
However, some took the initiative to extend their military service. For example, Meng Dajiang had been in military service for ten years. The dean of Mirror Lake Dao Academy, Ge Yu, had spent twelve years in Qinyang Pass before he had created his saber art. Therefore, serving in the military for ten years was considered a slap on the wrist. This was also due to the fact that the other party had taken the initiative to step forward, and had been a vagrant during his childhood.
Regis Godfiends can tell the age of all three hundred of us at a glance? Meng Chuan was secretly surprised. He knew that Archean Mountain had the means to assess the participants’ ages, but he had never expected that it took only a glance from a Godfiend.
Tian Gu from the An State obediently left. He had no right to participate in the entrance examination.
As for Yu Wanfeng, he was somewhat glad. Clearly, his actual age had not exceeded the limits.
...
311 youths stood there, while a large group of relatives entered the palace. However, there were railings blocking them from approaching.
“Everyone.” The sloppy-looking man seated next to King East River rose to his feet. He took a few steps forward, then looked at the geniuses before saying with a laugh, “Archean Mountain’s entrance examination is held over two days. Today is the preliminary selection, and tomorrow will be the final selection.”
“The preliminaries are divided into three segments. Every segment requires one to reach the minimum threshold. Those who can’t reach the threshold will be eliminated immediately. After the three segments, an overall score will be tabulated. The top 100 will pass the preliminaries, and the rest will all be eliminated.”
“The first segment of the preliminaries...” The sloppy-looking man flicked his sleeve, and layers of light appeared in front of him. These light barriers were a hundred feet long, three hundred feet wide, and an inch thick. There were approximately two hundred of these dense light barriers.
“According to your order, each of you will use your full strength to attack me. Remember, you are not allowed to use forbidden Godfiend spells. The more barriers you break through, the better the result. The lowest requirement is twenty barriers. If you aren’t able to break through twenty barriers, you will be eliminated. Let’s begin.” The sloppy-looking man stood there, easily controlling the light barriers.
“First up, Dragoncloud State’s Wu Chang,” announced the goateed man immediately.
A dark-skinned youth came forward solemnly. He drew his thick saber, took a step forward, and chopped down furiously. Instantly, a black saber beam cleaved the light barriers with a furious roar, causing the light barriers to be penetrated.
“37 layers. Next, Jiang State’s Zhang Ping,” shouted the goateed man.
...
Each person only had one chance and could only use one move. Grievances about not performing up to mark was useless. In a life-and-death battle with demons, there were no retries.
“29 layers. Next, Imperial Capital’s Chu Yong.” This person’s name attracted the attention of many people.
“Imperial Capital’s Chu Yong?” Meng Chuan also paid more attention. Although he didn’t know much about all the geniuses in the world, he had heard of Chu Yong. He was recognized as the number one genius of the imperial capital’s younger generation. Seven years ago, his name had already spread throughout the world. He had also joined the Archean Mountain’s test this year.
The tall Chu Yong wore black robes and carried a large saber on his back. He immediately drew his saber, and his body was covered by black lightning. The terrifying might alarmed all the geniuses present as they felt a sense of oppression.
Meng Chuan was also alarmed. The pressure this person exuded was even stronger than those demon commanders.
“Open!” He shouted like thunder.
The saber struck the light barriers with black lightning. Boom—
The light barriers were instantly destroyed, leaving only a small number intact.
“191!” shouted the goateed man loudly. The crowd was in an uproar. There were already fifty-three geniuses who had their turn. None of them tore through the hundredth layer, but Chu Yong had managed 191 layers! The difference was indeed astonishing.
Everyone present stared at him.
This was too shocking.
Many spectating relatives were shocked as well. Only a one-eyed elder was laughing. “Haha, that’s my grandson. How’s my grandson? Say something!”
What a powerful strike. Meng Dajiang was amazed as well. He had prided himself over his son, but the power of this strike still shocked him. This was a strike that could match a newly-advanced Godfiend. He was terrifying even without using a forbidden Godfiend spell!