chsdbacks Chapter 23 The Five-Year Grand Exam: The Journey Begins in the Secret Realm
Chapter 23 The Five-Year Grand Exam: The Journey Begins in the Secret Realm
The following day, as the rising sun cast its golden rays upon the mountain range surrounding the Taoist temple, the huge square in front of the Hall of Ten Thousand Laws was already bustling with activity.
All the newly recruited disciples who had completed their five-year term, totaling more than a thousand, stood in their respective areas in complete silence.
On the high platform, Chongming Zhenren, Elder Wu, Elder Liu, and other core elders of the outer court stood solemnly.
Master Chongming's gaze swept across the thousands of young yet resolute faces below the stage with lightning speed. He spoke in a deep voice, his words clearly reaching everyone's ears:
"Five years of honing our skills, now is the time to test our mettle! The Daoist Academy's five-year grand examination has officially begun!"
There were no lengthy lectures; they went straight to the point.
"This assessment will no longer be limited to arena battles. You will all be entering Yunmengze, a low-level secret realm under the control of the academy, for trials!"
A barely suppressed commotion erupted from the audience. A secret realm! Just as rumored!
With a wave of his sleeve, Master Chongming unfurled a huge scroll of light and shadow in the air, revealing a strange scene of misty fog, water, and forest.
"The Yunmeng Marsh Secret Realm spans a thousand miles. Its environment is complex, containing miasma-filled swamps and treacherous areas inhabited by demonic beasts. You must survive within it for ten days!"
"There are three assessment criteria!" Master Chongming's voice suddenly rose.
"First, hunt down monsters and obtain their inner cores or specific materials. Points will be awarded based on the monster's level!"
Second, collect the specific spiritual herb Cloud Mist Flower that grows in the secret realm; each herb will be counted as a point!
Third, you must reach the reception platform at the center of the secret realm within ten days!
He surveyed the entire area with a stern gaze: "Fighting is not forbidden in the secret realm, but deliberately harming fellow disciples is strictly prohibited. Violators will have their cultivation abolished and be expelled from the academy!"
Each person will be given a protective jade talisman. If they are in mortal danger, they can crush the talisman and be guided out of the danger, but this will also be considered a failure of the test!
As soon as he finished speaking, jade talismans flew out and hovered in front of each disciple.
The jade talisman was warm to the touch, and simple protective and teleportation arrays were engraved on it.
Lu Ming gripped the jade talisman in his hand, and could feel a slight spatial fluctuation contained within it.
This is both a life-saving item and a means that if it is used, five years of hard work will be in vain.
"The top 300 scorers will be admitted to the inner sect! The top 10 will receive even more generous rewards and will have priority in choosing an inner sect peak!"
Master Chongming's final words instantly ignited the passion of all the disciples!
The inner sect! That's the starting point for a higher path! The rewards and priority selection for the top ten are incredibly tempting!
Lu Ming exchanged a glance with Qin Feiyu and Hu Zhen beside him, and they all saw the fighting spirit burning in each other's eyes.
Five years of arduous training, all for this moment!
"Now, enter the teleportation array one by one!" Elder Wu's loud voice rang out.
In the center of the plaza, a huge and complex teleportation array had already been set up, and it was now emitting a strong spatial fluctuation light.
Following the instructions, the disciples entered the formation in groups of ten, their figures instantly swallowed by white light and disappearing.
When it was Lu Ming's group's turn, he took a deep breath and whispered to Qin Feiyu and Hu Zhen, "Try to meet up as soon as you go in, and be careful!"
The two nodded emphatically.
The moment Lu Ming stepped into the teleportation array, he felt a powerful tearing force. His vision went completely white, and his body felt as if it had been thrown into a torrent, causing him to spin around.
After a few breaths, the ground beneath my feet solidified, and the tearing sensation vanished abruptly.
Lu Ming felt dizzy and lightheaded after landing, and gagged a few times. It was clear that he was still getting used to spatial teleportation, as it was his first time doing so.
He looked closely and realized that he was in an unfamiliar place.
The air was filled with moisture and a faint smell of decaying wood. All around were tall, strangely shaped ancient trees with canopies that blocked out the sun.
Beneath my feet lay soil covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, and in the distance, I could faintly hear the hissing of unknown insects and the sound of flowing water.
This is the secret realm of Yunmengze!
He immediately looked around warily and found that he had been randomly teleported to a small clearing in the forest. There were no other disciples around and he did not sense any obvious danger.
He did not act rashly, but first activated the Qi-guiding technique to sense the spiritual energy of the place.
The spiritual energy in the secret realm is more active than that in the outside world, but it is also more mixed, and there seems to be a strange energy mixed in that makes people feel uneasy.
"I must find Feiyu and Huzhen first," Lu Ming thought to himself, while carefully recalling the light and shadow map he had only glimpsed before entering, and judging that he was probably in the outer forest area of the secret realm.
He chose a direction, raised his spiritual awareness to its highest level, and his figure disappeared silently into the dense jungle like a ghost.
The assessment begins the moment you step into the secret realm.
The mist of Yunmeng Marsh has already swallowed up thousands of disciples.
Who will emerge victorious and who will be eliminated will be revealed in ten days.
The forests of Yunmengze are even more pristine than those of Wuyin Forest.
A faint trace of miasma lingered in the air; inhaling too much would make one dizzy.
The area is covered in swamps, and the ground is soft and muddy. Every step you take could plunge you into a quagmire of unknown depth.
Lu Ming moved forward cautiously, his mind highly focused.
He dared not run fast, for fear of disturbing the lurking monsters.
Following the pre-arranged markings, he used his sword to carve small arrowheads on the tree trunks he passed, hoping that Qin Feiyu and Hu Zhen would see them.
However, two hours passed and he found no trace of any of his companions, or even any of his fellow disciples or demonic beasts.
Lu Ming walked to a seemingly ordinary clearing in the woods, covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves.
Lu Ming stepped on it, only to find his foot suddenly sinking into the ground! It was a swamp trap disguised as fallen leaves!
The swamp, with its strong suction, instantly submerged his upper thighs and was rapidly sinking. His spiritual energy was constantly draining away, making it difficult to circulate his qi!
Lu Ming struggled desperately, but sank faster and faster. The mud seemed to have a life of its own, wrapping around his legs and trying to drag him into endless darkness.
Five years of cultivation seemed so powerless at this moment. The miasma emanating from the swamp made it difficult for him to circulate his qi, and he couldn't use any Taoist techniques at all.
Brute force would only make him sink faster, and Lu Ming was extremely anxious.
He forced himself to calm down, stop the futile struggle, and recalled the scattered records about swamps he had seen in the "Chronicles of Kyushu".
"Don't move around, lie flat as much as possible to increase the contact area between your body and the surface..." He adjusted slightly, trying to lean back and spread his arms as wide as possible on the surface of the swamp that was not yet completely liquefied.
The rate of sinking did indeed slow down.
But the crisis is not over.
The immense pressure of the mud made it difficult for him to breathe, and what was even more terrifying was that he felt something crawling up his legs!
In the dim light, he could see that they were several finger-thick, jet-black leeches made of decaying mud!
A mixture of nausea and fear gripped Lu Ming. He forced himself to endure the discomfort, knowing he had to get away as soon as possible.
He tried to circulate his spiritual energy to cast the Gentle Breeze Talisman, but being in the swamp, he had nowhere to draw strength, and the talisman's effect was greatly reduced.
He drew his longsword and painstakingly severed the leeches that had clung to him, their slimy fluids splattering all over his body, making him feel nauseous.
Just as he felt his strength fading and despair beginning to spread, a hurried voice came from not far away:
"Don't move! Grab this!"
A green vine shot out and precisely wrapped around his outstretched arm.
Lu Ming looked up and saw Hu Zhen standing on the aerial roots of a large tree at the edge of the swamp, her face pale, her hands gripping the other end of the vine tightly.
She had clearly just arrived as well, her breathing rapid and her eyes filled with anxiety.
"Hu Zhen!" A warm feeling and hope welled up in Lu Ming's heart.
"I'll pull you up!" Hu Zhen gritted her teeth and used her magic to try to drag Lu Ming out.
However, she was also affected by the miasma, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of her magic and slowed her progress.
Just then, hurried footsteps and a low growl came from the other side.
"I'll do it!"
It was Qin Feiyu! He appeared out of nowhere, covered in mud and looking disheveled, but with a fierce look in his eyes.
Instead of pulling the vines, he forcefully plunged the spear in his hand into the mud beside Lu Ming until the hilt was completely submerged!
Then he grabbed the exposed spear shaft with both hands, his muscles bulging, and pried it backward with all his might!
"rise!"
Using the fulcrum provided by the spear and the pulling force of the Hu Zhen vines, Lu Ming felt a tremendous force coming from below.
With his own efforts, his body was finally pulled out of the swamp little by little!
When he collapsed on the shore, covered in foul-smelling mud, all three of them were exhausted and panting heavily.
Looking at each other's disheveled appearance, a sense of relief at surviving a disaster welled up between them.
"Lu Ming, are you alright?" Hu Zhen, disregarding her own excessive spiritual energy depletion, rushed forward.
Seeing the red and swollen wounds on Lu Ming's legs from the leech bites, they quickly took out clean water and wound medicine to clean and bandage him.
Qin Feiyu plopped down on the ground, wiped the mud off his face, and was still shaken.
"This godforsaken place! I almost died here as soon as I got in! I was chased by a swarm of poisonous bees for seven or eight miles, and I barely managed to shake them off!"
The brief respite and the joy of reunion were quickly overshadowed by the harsh reality.
Lu Ming cleaned the leeches and mud off his body. Although he was physically fine, his spiritual energy was greatly depleted, and the wound on his leg was still throbbing.
Their start was far from ideal.
"We must be more careful," Lu Ming said in a deep voice.
"This secret realm is more dangerous than we imagined. Our top priority is to find a water source, clean up the area, and then figure out a way to gain points."
After recovering slightly, the three supported each other and continued their arduous journey through the perilous forest.
They walked back to back, wary of everything around them.
The forest is like a giant labyrinth, or a patient hunter, constantly draining their strength and spirit with swamps, poisonous insects, strange plants, and miasma.
On the first day, apart from struggling to find their way and dodging the presence of several potential monsters, they gained nothing.
They failed to find the Cloud Mist Flower, failed to hunt any monsters, and instead exhausted a lot of their physical strength and reserves.
As night fell, the temperature in the secret realm plummeted, and the damp, chilling air seeped into the bones.
They dared not light a fire, fearing it would attract unnecessary trouble. They could only find a relatively dry tree hollow, where the three of them huddled together, relying on their meager spiritual energy to resist the cold.
They could vaguely hear strange noises coming from afar, whether from demonic beasts or other disciples.
Looking out at the dark, perilous forest, a deep sense of powerlessness enveloped them.
Disciples from noble families or sacred sites may have better magical weapons, richer knowledge, or even life-saving trump cards, while they only have each other and the meager skills they have gained through five years of arduous cultivation.
"Can we pass the test?" Hu Zhen whispered, hugging her knees.
Qin Feiyu didn't immediately shout encouragement as usual; he simply gripped the spear in his hand tightly in silence.
Looking at his companion's blurry outline in the darkness, and feeling the dull pain in his leg, Lu Ming felt equally heavy-hearted.
"Yes." Lu Ming's voice wasn't loud, but it was unusually firm. "We definitely can."