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Chen Mo tread down the cliffs using the Cool Breeze escape.
The warriors jumping down the ledges had light techniques, magic treasures, or even some flight abilities. Only Chen Mo was the most leisurely, however, stepping downwards light as the wind, like a feather. Combined with his elegant white clothes, he was outstanding to the extreme.
Bang, bang, bang.
Suddenly, the sound of downpour of arrows whistled through the air. Several dozen bolts and arrows shot towards him from the front. Some warriors were already unable to endure and began to make their moves during the descent.
As everyone knows, a warrior who has lost their center of gravity in midair is at their weakest moment, for there were many maneuvers that would be unable to be used. These warriors also seized this weakness, wishing to use this chance to kill Chen Mo.
However, this kind of weakness fundamentally did not exist for Chen Mo. He waved his hand, and Bagua intent completely swatted these arrows away. Whoosh, whoosh, a bolt and an arrow were fired from his side, shooting gracefully into the distance.
There were two screams.
Two warriors were punched through like targets. One of them was even pinned to death by the bolt directly against the cliff face. These archer warriors inherently did not have high martial arts prowess and neither was their level exceptional, so they wanted to use ranged combat to first seize an advantage. They basically did not have any way to break free of this counterattack.
Chen Mo threw a sidelong glance. The archers who protected him were none other than the Xi Siblings.
“Your Highness, do not let these cannon fodder ruin your mood. Leave them to us siblings.” Xi Wen giggled. Her Flying Locust Crossbow was in hand, loosing bolts like a swarm of locusts.
“Look out for yourselves.” Saying this, Chen Mo swung his arm, striking down more arrows.
Xi Wu displayed his Great Roc Body Techniques,1 drawing and firing his arrows.
The power of his arrows was vigorous, the bowstring sounding like steel.
Chen Mo did not concern himself with them. Looking around, he saw that Tang Yunshen, Jiang Yanyu and others had entered the basin and begun to search for the Buddhist Seven Treasures. There was a limit to the number of Buddhist Seven Treasures, and there was also a restriction that the search must be completed before sundown. If Emperor Tang wanted to make a move to obstruct him, this was the best as well as the only opportunity he had. If he missed this chance, even he would be unable to bother Chen Mo once inside the Seven Treasures Pagoda.
With just a step, Chen Mo already disappeared into the forest. He used the Nose Locking Art to hide. Under the Bodhi Soul Technique, the Nose Locking Art was not stronger, his presence immediately vanishing completely, which surprised the Xi Siblings. Their lock-on arts were very formidable, but it was surprisingly completely unable to perceive His Highness’ presence.
“His Highness is even stronger than before.”
“Maybe he actually can defeat Jiang Yanyu.”
“Let’s go.”
Suddenly.
A dozen of young jinshi affiliated with Lord Chang’an entered the sea of trees.
The forest obscured the heavens. There were endless trees as far as the eye could see, as if one had entered an ancient wood deep in the mountains. The Pagoda Basin’s area was enormous, about the size of a lake, with a visible inner sea. When the three thousand six hundred warriors entered the forest, it was like casting a stone into the ocean; no ripple appeared. With all traces of them gone, only the tens of thousands of warriors above remained, nervously observing.
Chen Mo walked through the forest, the Divine Hawk Eyesight seeing through a thousand meters. He vaguely glimpsed many warriors landing. Chen Mo did not pay attention to them, brooding to himself. During this Treasure Pagoda phase, the most important thing was to gather the Buddhist Seven Treasures.
However, the Buddhist Seven Treasures were scattered at random, but many were arranged to be located at dangerous places. The higher scoring colored glass, pearl, and amber types would at least have Demon Beasts and traps. The absolutely would not let a warrior obtain it for free.
An hour later, Chen Mo discovered an agate in a mountain cavity.
There were no people in the surroundings. Chen Mo slowly walked before the agate, and after examining it carefully, he did not see any traps or Demon Beasts. His Divine Intent moved, taking the agate. The instant his Divine Intent touched the agate, a red array activated under him. Then, red light gathered on the agate, and this red gem immediately released light from within, scorching as fire. When his Divine Intent touched the stone, it was immediately burned.
Chen Mo wrinkled his brow, realizing that obtaining this agate that was worth two points would be no easy feat.
Interesting. A mere two point agate already had this kind of restriction. The burning was not too intense, but it was still troublesome for a warrior. A warrior would need to use their True Qi to slowly dispel it. This was the only way to do so, but this also meant wasting a lot of time.
Chen Mo thought to himself, This Young Master has Zhongli Mo’s “Ash Burning” Innate Skill, so does this little bit of flame even matter. Without another thought, Chen Mo grabbed it. The agate was immediately red as a branding iron in his palm. There was the sizzle of burning flesh. Chen Mo’s True Qi circulated, and three flowers appeared over his head. In a flash, the glowing agate dimmed, and its temperature became ice-cold.
The first of his Buddhist Seven Treasures, a two point agate, get.
Just at this moment, there was a rustle in the forest. A young woman staggered out. When she saw Chen Mo, she had froze, and when she saw the instant that agate was seized by Chen Mo, injuring him, the girl was flabbergasted.
This young woman was very young, about fourteen or fifteen years old, her expression adorable and her physique petite, but she was cutting quite a sorry figure right now.
Chen Mo did not pay attention to her. In the court examination, every warrior was an enemy. So long as they did not provoke him, he was unwilling to bother others.
He had only taken a few steps when the young lady spoke: “May I be so bold as to presume that you are His Highness Chen Mo?”
“I am.” Chen Mo stopped and turned to look at this haggard girl. She had apparently been attacked just now.
“Your Highness, you must be careful. I heard that several jieyuan are preparing to seek trouble with you. They have devised a trap.” The girl said. Chen Mo’s reputation was extremely prominent. Although many people were envious and were full of malice, there were also many more who admired him. This young girl happened to be the latter.
To leave Chang’an in disgrace jeered as trash by everyone, and then to return and shock them all, this metamorphosis simply could not have done anything else but make people admire him.
“Many thanks for the warning.” Chen Mo actually did not pay mind to these people. He saw that the girl’s palm was red, her flesh seared. Seeing her cut such a sorry figure in addition to that, he knew that she should have found some agate a moment ago.
“Did someone steal your agate?” Chen Mo then asked.
The girl’s eyes were extremely furious, nodding. She had only just found the agate, wasting so much effort and nearly using Qi-blood to almost extinguish the agate’s scorching heat, but she did not expect that it would be stolen by another warrior. Knowing she was not a match, she ran away like a dog with her tail between her legs, humiliated to the extreme.
“You’d better go back first, this court examination isn’t suitable for you.” Chen Mo saw that she was only Qi-blood Nine Turns. In her province, she was perhaps considered a genius, but across all of the talents gathered in the Divine Warrior Examination, she honestly could not withstand a single blow.
“Can it be that Your Highness also feels that I am a weakling who must run away?” The girl grit her teeth.2
Chen Mo could not help but smile, “My fault. What’s your name?”
“Ji Yuqiu3 of Ci Province’s4 Captain Ji!”5
“You should know already, but I’m Chen Mo.” Chen Mo looked. There just happened to be another agate nearby. That agate was a size larger than his, so the burning would be even stronger. Chen Mo walked over.
Ji Yuqiu said: “Your Highness, you can’t go touching it, that agate will…” Before she finished, Chen Mo already seized that agate in his hand. He gently gripped it, and the agate’s scorching heat was hot enough to evaporate water.
The girl’s jaw dropped. She had wanted to say that the larger the stone, the more intensely it would burn and be even more formidable towards a cultivator. Originally, the agate burning arrays in this court examination were prepared for Three Flowers Gathered Overhead. Even this kind of warrior would need to consume a lot of True Qi to be able to take hold of it, but how could they do it like Chen Mo, to break the array just by casually grabbing the stone.
Chen Mo’s True Qi was profound, and he also had the Bodhi Soul Technique to see through nature. Naturally, he was able to grasp the core in a single stroke without needing to waste time. Seeing the girl’s astonishment, Chen Mo threw that agate to her. “Take it. Whether or not you can enter the pagoda will depend on your own luck.”
To enter the Seven Treasures Pagoda was to pass. That signified she would at least be able to receive a Rank Eight commandant reward, which was certainly much stronger a rank than captain.
The girl promptly shook her head: “I have to rely on myself for this court examination. I can’t accept Your Highness’ help.” She knew that with her own capabilities, she perhaps would be unable to take such a large agate.
“As far as I’m concerned, this stone is merely a trifle. To you, however, it can change your destiny.” Chen Mo said: “There will always be a time when someone is at their lowest point. Treat me as your benefactor. In the past, I also met a benefactor to be able to have my accomplishments today.”
“Your Highness also met a benefactor…” Ji Yuqiu was as dumb as a wooden chicken.
“Seize a lucky chance, strengthen yourself.” Chen Mo smiled, turned, and left.
Ji Yuqiu stared blankly at this agate in her hand, “If someday Yuqiu becomes like Your Highness one day, I will definitely repay Your Highness.” Ji Yuqiu grasped the stone tightly, making a resolution.
From the start, Chen Mo did not think of making her repay him. As he said, this was merely a trifle. Since the imperial family had so many people dissatisfied with him, there was no harm in adding more people to his own side.
“I wonder how Qing Wan is doing.” When he saw that Ji Yuqiu, Chen Mo also recalled Qing Wan.
After she washed out of Azure Dragon Town, she traveled to other towns to defeat other failed candidates in order to regain her candidacy. At that time, she was only Essence Flower Stage. Perhaps she would be like Ji Yuqiu, unable to enter the Seven Treasures Pagoda.
Recalling Qing Wan’s arrogant expression from back then, Chen Mo sighed.
Another hour later, Chen Mo found his second of the Seven Treasures, a crystal.
That was a crystalline ore squeezed out from a cliff, as beautiful as a flower. Most cultivators would rush over to extract it if they saw such a shimmering crystal flower at this moment, but Chen Mo wrinkled his brow. His intent circulated, and he discovered something different about the crystal flowers. He looked closely with the Divine Hawk Eyesight as well as the Bodhi Soul Technique.
Gradually, he could see a strange lizard crawling over the crystal flowers. Its skin camouflaged with the surroundings, making it hard to distinguish, almost like a chameleon.
“This is a ‘Nine Colors Illusion Lizard!'” Chen Mo identified it.
The Nine Colors Illusion lizard, a Rank Five Demon beast. Its entire body could change through nine different colors, able to blend perfectly with any terrain, difficult to see with the naked eye. This kind of Demon beast was extremely problematic. Warriors and cultivators would need to pay twice as much attention to lock on to it, but even so, victory was not guaranteed. The Nine Colors Illusion Lizard was extremely swift, and it possessed camouflage abilities. Its skin was also capable of evading a cultivator’s Divine Intent search. Even a Lesser Thunder Tribulation cultivator would have a headache facing this creature.
This type of lizard was capable of discharging a paralytic venom, enough to immobilize a person for ten hours.
If bitten by the Nine Colors Illusion Lizard, by the time the venom wore off, the sun would have already set.
Not having expected the guarding of the crystal to be this kind of Demon Beast, Chen Mo considered countermeasures. Without a magic treasure to catch it off guard, disturbing the Nine Colors Illusion Lizard would make things very bothersome, especially when its Inner Pellet was quite useful.
“Oh, right.” Chen Mo recalled something and snapped his fingers.
A Black Frost Centipede jumped out of his Astral Stone, “It’s been a long time since I fed you. This Nine Colors Illusion Lizard is your meal, go and eat it.” Chen Mo recalled that he had harvested such a bug.
Fighting venom with venom was the simplest method. Although the Nine Colors Illusion Lizard was very good at hiding and very deceptive towards a cultivator’s senses, the Black Frost Centipede used its hundred legs to detect prey. From the very start, it had no eyes to deceive. In terms of diet for these Ancient Venomous Bugs, lizards, leopards, and others were all famous on its list. As far as a Rank Five Nine Colors Illusion Lizard was concerned, it should be no problem. Even if there was, Chen Mo himself would just intervene then.
His Divine Intent moved, and the Black Frost Centipede awoke, climbing towards the crystal following Chen Mo’s Divine Intent.
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- I think author got confused. Great Roc techniques should be used by Zongzheng Ying. ↩
- If it wasn’t obvious, she admires Chen Mo. To have even her idol talk down to her, she’s right to be upset. He set an example for others that they also could reach the stars from less than nothing, yet he’s seemingly behaving no different from the other arrogant young masters. ↩
- 寄語秋 ↩
- 刺州 ↩
- I think we’ve found our next Xi Yue… ↩
Funny, I thought you had to be 16–20 to compete, yet this girl is fourteen or fifteen. Maybe she’s just underfed?
Well, I think the story is more concerned with the upper limit because a major competitor that is about to be introduced is only around 12?
I looked it up, and indeed, in chapter 44: The Divine Warrior Examinations, Provincial Examination, the narrator does say “only warriors age twenty or lower were able to participate”. I wonder why I thought there was a lower age limit? I guess it would make sense that any given warrior could only compete in a single edition of the examination, decided by the year they are born. The putative major competitor who is twelve could compete in three consecutive examinations, by contrast.