Chapter 36
Strange-shaped stone pillars stood tall like withered trees without branches, and a river about ten meters wide flowed through the midst of them.
"This river flows down from Wangyueya," someone said.
"I just need to go upstream," Li Mo pondered to himself.
Footsteps approached from ahead, and he looked up to see an inner sect steward dragging back a sheep-like beast covered in scale armor, its horns black.
An old friend.
The Black-Horned Sheep.
Though it often appeared on the dining table of Qiu Shui Ge, it was actually a late-stage ninth-grade beast. Despite being herbivorous, it was exceptionally aggressive and incredibly strong.
Now, however, it lay slain by a single sword strike.
"Was it Ying Bing who did this?" Li Mo recognized it immediately.
A clean and decisive cut to the throat, the wound frozen, not a single drop of blood spilled.
The Black-Horned Sheep probably didn’t even realize it was about to die.
"That's right, it was indeed the work of Ying Zhenchuan," the steward nodded.
He stood there, watching Li Mo without moving.
Li Mo felt a bit puzzled at first, but then his brow relaxed.
He sensed it too.
In the next moment, a massive shadow suddenly emerged from the water, leaping high into the air.
It was a gigantic turtle with a bumpy shell!
A late-stage ninth-grade beast, the Spiked-Back Turtle.
Turtle blood could be used in medicine, its meat was incredibly delicious, and even its shell was valuable; the bathtubs in Qiu Shui Ge were made from its material...
Of course, the Spiked-Back Turtle, as a late-stage ninth-grade beast, was also quite ferocious. In waters where it resided, other fish were practically nonexistent.
"Another late-stage ninth-grade beast," the inner sect steward observed with interest.
Both of these true disciples had entered Qingyuan Sect at the same time and had ascended to the hundredth step of the Tianjian Stone Stairs.
Ying Zhenchuan could kill the Black-Horned Sheep with a single sword strike.
He wondered how Li Zhenchuan would fare against the Spiked-Back Turtle.
Naturally, being a late-stage ninth-grade beast, the Spiked-Back Turtle would be harder to kill. If it withdrew its limbs into its shell, even a martial artist at the Blood Qi realm would likely be left staring helplessly.
Just as he was thinking this, Li Mo had already made his move.
The Qinggang Sword suddenly erupted with dozens of sword lights, each one carrying a latent surge of blood energy.
"Nice swordsmanship," the inner sect steward couldn't help but express a hint of admiration.
Even among the true disciples of Qingyuan Sect throughout the years, this swordplay was truly remarkable.
Had he not seen Ying Bing's swordsmanship, he might have been even more astonished.
Sensing danger, the Spiked-Back Turtle let out a low growl and immediately withdrew its limbs.
Dozens of feather-like traces, transformed from the Fire Crane's Thousand Feathers, exploded against its shell, instantly covering it with tiny cracks.
Not only was the turtle shell damaged.
The Qinggang Sword also suffered several small chips.
Li Mo: "..."
This sword was a standard weapon issued by the sect, and it should have been sufficient to slay a ninth-grade beast.
Unfortunately, he had encountered a tough nut to crack.
If he had used a bit more force just now, the sword might have broken before the turtle shell did.
"Roar..."
The Spiked-Back Turtle seemed to have lost its nerve and flipped over, trying to escape back into the water.
"Don't run!" Li Mo chased after it without hesitation.
It had just been so aggressive, and now it thought it could leave after damaging his weapon?
"Li Zhenchuan!"
"That beast is cunning!"
Before the steward could finish his sentence, Li Mo had already plunged into the water.
Watching a series of bubbles rise, the steward felt a surge of anxiety.
Once in the water, the Spiked-Back Turtle was not just ten times more troublesome; even a peak ninth-grade beast would hesitate to tangle with it in its domain.
Li Mo's swordsmanship was impressive.
But in this water, he might only be able to exert fifty percent of his strength!
Just as he decided to jump in and rescue him, a loud splash erupted.
Boom!
The river surface suddenly erupted in muddy waves, and a massive figure was thrown into the air.
Li Mo followed closely behind.
He descended like a meteor crashing into the earth.
The Spiked-Back Turtle's eyes were filled with fear, as if it could sense death approaching.
But this time, it couldn't retreat into the water; it could only resort to its old trick, retracting its limbs and head into its shell.
"!"
The inner sect steward watched in shock, his mouth agape.
The Spiked-Back Turtle was thrown out of the water?
But that was not the end of it.
In the next moment, something even more astonishing happened.
Li Mo didn't use his sword this time; every muscle in his body was tensed to the limit.
With the mastery of the Six Harmonies Fist, he unleashed the full power of his ten meridians, infused with the killing intent of the Extreme Martial Path.
He threw a punch!
That fist struck the turtle shell.
The shell crumpled and shattered like a fragile eggshell under the force.
The impact even sent shockwaves through the ground, creating a web of cracks.
"I really..."
"Want to be a swordsman!"
Young Li clenched his fist, filled with indignation!
Hearing his roar, the steward's already stiff face twitched wildly.
He looked out at the shattered turtle shell, dark red blood slowly oozing from within.
The Spiked-Back Turtle was clearly dead from that punch.
And it had died in a most unpeaceful manner.
Looking at Li Mo, his sleeves were completely torn, steam rising from his body, and the muscles that were inadvertently exposed looked like they were forged from gold and iron.
You... a swordsman?
You just crushed the Spiked-Back Turtle to death; if it were still alive, it would surely jump up in protest.
...
A short while later, the corpses of the two beasts were placed at the entrance.
One of them was immediately recognizable as the Black-Horned Sheep, undoubtedly killed by Ying Bing.
But the other "lump" left the elders momentarily dumbfounded, unable to identify what species it was.
"This is the Spiked-Back Turtle?"
"Yes, it was in life," came the reply.
"This..."
The expressions of the elders were nothing short of spectacular.
Ying Bing was impressive, having killed every beast she faced with a precise sword strike, as if she knew exactly where their weaknesses lay.
As for Li Mo... they truly didn't know how to evaluate him.
"Shang Wu Shi Zi, you’re sure you taught him swordsmanship, right?" Xue Jing confirmed once more.
"Why would I lie to you?" Shang Wu sniffed.
The inner sect steward corroborated, "Li Zhenchuan indeed used a sword, and his swordsmanship is exceptional. It’s just that the quality of the weapon was too poor to break the Spiked-Back Turtle's shell."
"When he smashed the Spiked-Back Turtle, he was shouting something about wanting to be a swordsman."
"..."
Doesn't that mean his fists are harder than the turtle shell?
The elders fell into silence once more.
After a long pause, Elder Han He finally spoke slowly, "After the trial, let Li Mo go to Shenfeng Cave to pick a weapon. Among the famous weapons, swords are the most abundant, and we won’t lack for one for him. If he’s not satisfied, he can even choose two from my private collection."
"Hmph, as if you need to agree," Shang Wu raised her chin and said, "Now, who’s keeping score?"
The steward standing by the scoreboard wiped his sweat and began to write on the score sheet.
Everyone glanced over.
On the scoreboard, Li Mo and Ying Bing were practically crushing everyone else, leaving them far behind.
The gap between the two of them was quite small.
Ying Bing led by a mere five points.
As for the third place...
Wang Hu?
**Chapter 32: Should True Strong Ones Be Humble?**
At another part of the creek stone forest, Lin Jiang was battered and bruised, his spear wavering in his hands, clearly in a state of decline.
He was entangled with two massive wolves covered in ring patterns; one was a late-stage ninth-grade beast, while the other was mid-stage.
The Fiery Ring Wolf, in terms of strength, was not particularly strong among ninth-grade beasts.
But it was extremely cunning, never appearing alone, and they would coordinate with each other.
"If this drags on, it won't be good for me," Lin Jiang furrowed his brow.
Even if the trial ended here, he needed to quickly determine a winner.
He was already seriously injured, and if more Fiery Ring Wolves showed up, he would be in deep trouble.
Among the true disciples, Murong Xiao was half-demon, and Ying Bing needed no further mention; even geniuses would despair in her presence.
Li Mo... he had heard that he was quite popular?
In any case, he was the only one who remained obscure.
Lin Jiang had broken through to the Blood Qi realm's sixth meridian and had practiced his spear technique to a small level, enough to handle most mid-stage ninth-grade beasts. He had hoped to make a stunning impression.
But now, stopping here felt quite unsatisfactory.
Table of Contents
