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The first floor’s “Ink Meaning” assessment was now over. Those without 30 points were all sent out of the pagoda by Monk Seven Treasures. Of the three hundred warriors who had initially passed, only half remained.
Qing Wan, Xi Wen, and the others had obtained a full score of 28 points in the first round. They were also very easily able to engrave the first three steles, but they gave up on the fourth and fifth. Still, they received 31 points overall at the very least. They had the qualifications to enter the second floor.
Buddhist light glowed. The boundless plain vanished from view, and everyone then appeared inside a tower. A flight of stairs leading to the second floor appeared in front of them.
All of the warriors excitedly ascended the staircase, eager to see what the second floor’s trial was.
Xi Wen tugged Chen Mo’s arm. The girl’s little face was red from excitement, incessantly singing praises about Chen Mo’s turnaround victory just then.
“Oracle bone script, hm.” Jiang Yanyu was pensive.
Several warriors walked along at the very back, gazing in Chen Mo’s direction, speaking in low whispers. “What do we do? This Chang’an Fourth Highness is unfathomable. We basically have no way to hinder him.”
“But His Imperial Majesty said that whoever is able to make Chen Mo suffer defeat in the Divine Warrior Examination will receive an even greater reward.”
These warriors were all jieyuan from various provinces, and they were all considered as belonging to a neutral faction, though they had received orders from the emperor. They had originally participated in the Divine Warrior Examination for their future prospects, and what else could have better prospects than a guarantee from the emperor.
“You’re stupid. Even Tong Jingtian was no match for him, and he instead lost his qualifications. What else can we even do.”
“Exactly.”
“Princess Cui, what do you think we should do?”
A young man reverently asked a red-clothed woman.
That young lady was about fourteen to fifteen. Her petite, less than 150cm build was like that of a doll, which made it very easy for her to be lost in a crowd. But the surrounding young men from the imperial faction were nevertheless very deferential to her, not daring to be arrogant.
Her name was Cui Wumeng,1 the daughter of the middle aged and greatest of the Three Dukes, “Duke of Impermanence” Cui Pan.2 With regards to “Duke of Impermanence” Cui Pan, he was also a fearsome figure outside of his southwestern Quan Province. The Cui Family’s signature abilities were the “Yama Raja Palm,” “Deadly Seven Hooks,” and the “Road To Yellow Springs,” and they were all purported to be very vicious powers.
It was precisely because of these malicious abilities that Cui Pan had married countless times yet lacked an heir. When he reached his sixties, he finally was blessed with a daughter, naming her Wumeng. The meaning was that he would no longer dream of receiving anything.3 He had already received everything he wanted.
Cui Pan spoiled his daughter severely. Originally, Cui Pan did not want to allow his daughter to walk his path and instead encouraged her to study other cultivation methods. How could he have anticipated that Cui Wumeng would be very fond from a young age of the Yama Raja Palm and these other vicious techniques. When she was little, she displayed extremely high talent.
Because she was doted on too much, Cui Wumeng was very crafty and unruly from a young age. She had many a malicious idea, making the people of the entire Cui Dukedom complain endlessly. In the end, the emperor specifically allowed Cui Wumeng entry into the Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard for experience. Not only did her unruliness not diminish, it instead became even worse.
The Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard did not dare retain her.
The Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard were responsible for the safety and security of the nobility, but Cui Wumeng’s disposition was fond of toying with other people’s lives. How could they dare retain a person like this.
People familiar with Cui Wumeng all knew that he had a Star General-like nickname, “Yellow Springs Princess,”4 which also hinted at her lethality.
Cui Wumeng’s cultivation was only Three Flowers Gathered Overhead. It was not considered very high overall, but given her identity, some of the imperial faction’s warriors were still quite afraid of her.
Cui Wumeng watched Chen Mo’s back, not caring for the others’ question.
They sneered.
Entering the second floor of the Seven Treasures Pagoda, Chen Mo discovered that his True Qi had surprisingly increased sharply. The other warriors also felt their cultivations had vastly improved, unable to help but caper madly with joy.
Chen Mo had heard Big Sis say that the Seven Treasures Pagoda was a Primeval Chaos Spirit Treasure. Each floor could improve the cultivation of any cultivator or warriors, provide enormous benefits. No wonder the Great Chong Dynasty’s aristocrats and officials would let their children participate in this Divine Warrior Examination.
The second floor of the pagoda was a main hall, the roof of which was too far to see. The surroundings had enormous hundred meter arhat statues, faces as terrifying as vajras, vanquishing tigers and dragons, very spectacular.
Monk Seven Treasures walked out of thin air and announced the rules to enter the third floor.
The second floor’s trial was called “Card Scriptures.”5
Millions of talismans would fall from empty space. These talismans would conceal “cards,” and these cards would contain a mantra that came from Buddhist sutras. The jinshi were required to obtain these characters and assemble them together.
The talismans would fall five times. Each wave, warriors were required to obtain at least four cards. The points for each wave were split into 1, 1, 2, 2, and 3. An additional point would be awarded if an accurate mantra was formed. The second floor was worth ten points in total. Thirty-four points were needed to enter the third floor.
The Great Chong Dynasty took Zen as its fundamental root. All warriors participating in the Divine Warrior Examination were aware of this as well, understanding much about Zen. They were also knowledgeable about some Buddhist sutras and mantras. However, most people actually did not care for that full score. So long as they obtained enough cards, that would be sufficient.
The hundred warriors were chomping at the bit. Subsequently, a multi-colored pinprick of light appeared.
Millions of talismans sprinkled down like snowflakes.
After they reached a certain altitude, everyone began to start seizing them.
Chen Mo grabbed the ten talismans closest to him. These talismans suddenly became ten fireballs. Not only did the second floor’s trial test a warrior’s eyesight and speed, these talismans also became every kind of attack trick to injure a warrior. Warriors needed to withstand these attack disturbances and successfully find the Card Scriptures.
The ten fireballs rumbled towards Chen Mo. They were mostly the same as normal Blastfire Talismans.6 Chen Mo activated his True Qi for protection and swatted with his hand, dispersing all of those fireballs.
His body moved, his hand swung, and twenty to thirty more talismans once again became fireballs that exploded on Chen Mo.
To him, these fireballs presented no threat at all, but to call forth a Card Scripture like this was too inflexible. Millions of talismans were drifting from the sky, and a million fireballs was enough to make a Thunder Tribulation cultivator feel spent.
The cultivators all began to use their own methods to find the Card Scriptures as fast as they could.
The Thunder Tribulation cultivators were the most relaxed. They were able to directly control their Flying Swords to cut down the fireballs, detonating them all in the skies, remaining untouched. Jiang Yanyu’s three thousand Misty Rain Sword Intent was incomparably fluid. A drizzle followed the girl around, as indistinct as a mist, and no other warrior dared approach her.
Hundreds upon thousands of fireballs exploded, but Jiang Yanyu gently grabbed and could find the Card Scriptures hiding in the talismans.
The other strong opponent, Fang Xi, was using the Vajra Protection. An arhat and a yaksha appeared beside him, providing him assistance. His Flying Swords were simple and unadorned, but they did not lose any of their dignity. He used the Solemn Lion Sitting Posture, also easily picking out Card Scriptures.
Chen Mo did not have Flying Swords, so he naturally was not as relaxed as the Thunder Tribulation cultivators. However, he used the Bagua. The Bagua Array immediately drew in more than a thousand talismans to his side, and then he used Bagua punch-intent to disintegrate them all, leaving only a few Card Scriptures.
Chen Mo did not randomly grab Card Scriptures just to complete the mission like other warriors were. As a warrior aiming to become zhuangyuan, he would not let go a single point.
While Chen Mo used the Bagua to get rid of the talismans, he also searched for the Card Scriptures’ characters, the Divine Hawk Eyesight like torches.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Five card scriptures very quickly reached his hand.
The first wave of “Card Scriptures” ended. Because they obtained five of the card scriptures, some people were in great delight. Others were gloomy having only obtained a few. The card scriptures came in five waves, and the later waves would become increasingly challenging.
“This many Blastfire Talismans is overdoing it.” Xi Wen ran over holding five card scriptures.
“How did everyone do?” Chen Mo asked.
“We all got them.” Xi Wen and the others grabbed an arbitrary five card scriptures each. It was already pretty good that they were able to find five card scriptures under that kind of concentrated fireball bombardment.
“Not enough points.” Chen Mo knew that Qing Wan and the others’ scores were 31 points in the first floor. Now, they only had 32 points.
“There’s no other way. These fireballs were too strong.” Xi Wen was even injured.
Chen Mo was silent. The next few waves, these upcoming four waves, the fireballs would become even more intense. Perhaps Three Flowers Realm warriors could only retreat to the side.
Just as he was mentioning the idea, impressed voices and some bustle came from Fang Xi and Jiang Yuanyu’s side. The warriors gazed at them, showing astonished gazes.
“What’s going on?”
Zongzheng discovered after he asked around that it turned out Fang Xi had found five card scriptures. These five words, “all physical phenomena are like,” each showed promise, and when everyone looked, they realized which mantra he wanted to form.
Seeing that Fang Xi and Jiang Yuanyu were heading for full marks, everyone naturally was even more impressed.
“Your Highness, what are your card scripture characters?” Xi Wen asked, not conceding defeat.
The girl’s question attracted the attention of other warriors. Everyone really wanted to know whether or not this Highness who was able to write immemorial script would produce a perfect score.
Chen Mo took out five card scriptures. The characters on the cards made everyone a bit disappointed.
Worry, hindrances, without, hearts, without!
He had repeat words in the first wave of card scriptures. It was very clear that he was in a rush like them and randomly grabbed some characters. Any way they looked, those could not form a mantra.
To be able to find five card scriptures amidst thousands of talismans was already very challenging, and assembling them into a Zen mantra was even more difficult. Xi Wen actually was not surprised at all. In the past Divine Warrior Examination, it was extremely rare to obtain a full score on the second floor.
“Hearts without worry, without hindrances?” Cui Wumeng cocked her little head. She saw that the card scriptures in her hand were surprisingly the same as Chen Mo’s.
After giving the jinshi a period of time to adjust, the second wave began.
Again, talismans fell from empty space like snowflakes. This time, the talismans became flaming birds, having changed into Fire Sparrow Talismans. As Chen Mo had anticipated, each talisman would be stronger than the last.
The Fire Sparrows that the talismans formed were already able to affect a warrior’s True Qi. Millions of fire birds flew through the air incessantly and metamorphosed, an incomparably spectacular sight.
The Three Flowers Realm warriors were barely able to get through this wave.
The third wave’s talismans had become “Heavenly Thunder Talismans.” If a warrior got too close, the talismans would strike their bodies like a thunderclap. One hundred Heavenly Thunder Talismans were sufficient to disintegrate a warrior’s True Qi defenses. Other than by possessing a powerful treasure and ability, the Three Flowers Warriors could only renounce their struggle now.
In this wave, other than Zongzheng Ying who relied on his family’s True Treasure “Great Roc Golden Armor” to endure, the Xi Siblings and Qing Wan were defeated.
Seeing them a bit dejected, Chen Mo took out his extra card scriptures and gave them out. With Chen Mo’s strength, the third wave was still considered simple. His Bagua punch-intent was enough to easily handle it. Since Xi Wen and the others were his people, Chen Mo would not be stingy in taking care of them.
To be able to pass a floor, even if they reached only so far as the third floor, would be an enormous help to their martial arts.
“Your Highness, Xi Wen truly wants to devote her life to you.” Xi Wen was moved to a complete mess.
“The next two waves will be very troublesome. I fear I won’t be able to help you.”
“Chen Mo, you had better look after yourself first. We already have the qualifications to enter the third floor.” Qing Wan issued a rare sentence of concern.
“Fine then.”
Chen Mo nodded, knowing he could not be distracted anymore.
The fourth wave’s card scriptures continued to fall.
This time, all of the talismans became various kinds of ferocious beasts. Of the nearly two hundred warriors who began this round, less than a hundred were still able to vie for card scriptures.
Chen Mo’s palms beat the vicious beasts back, and he grabbed at a card scripture with “terror” on it.
Just as he was about to take it into his hand, a hand as white as bone suddenly extended from the side, hooking this “terror” card scripture into its grasp.
Chen Mo was taken aback.
“Adorable Highness, this card scripture is Wumeng’s.”
A delicate girl smiled eerily. A foul fog lingered around her, as if she had come from the Yellow Springs.
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