The Tianyang Sect ssenger said expressionlessly, "I'll ask one last ti, have you all really made your choice?"
The scene was deathly silent, not a single person spoke.
"Let make this clear, if anyone dares to deceive or harbor a stroke of luck, and I find out," the Tianyang Sect ssenger said coldly, "hmm, the consequences will be very serious. Rember, if you rember, you rember; if you don't, you don't. Don't even dream of getting lucky, I will check each one of you later! Those who try to deceive will be punished severely!"
"I... I had rembered it just now, but now I've forgotten it again..." A young man walked out from the crowd on the right, his head bowed as he walked towards the crowd on the left.
"I've forgotten too."
" as well."
"What's going on, my mory is getting worse and worse, I clearly rembered it just now, how long has it been? To forget so quickly? That's really inexcusable!"
"To wait in vain for ten years, only to end up with nothing."
...
Startled by the Tianyang Sect ssenger, a large group left the queue on the right.
There had been over ten thousand people in the queue on the right just now, but now only a little over two thousand remained. What did this an? It ant there were too many people trying to muddle through.
"All right, those on the left may leave," the Tianyang Sect ssenger waved his hand, "If you're not willing to give up, you can co back in ten years."
Tens of thousands of people left dejectedly.
"Those standing on the right, get in line. I'm going to start the check now to see if you have truly rembered the incantation," the Tianyang Sect ssenger declared.
Over two thousand people lined up and underwent the inspection in order. It took the better part of the day to finish the check, and more than a hundred people were eliminated. Those who were eliminated begged bitterly, even kneeling and kowtowing on the ground, asking the Tianyang Sect ssenger for another chance, for they truly longed to cultivate immortality.
The Tianyang Sect ssenger remained unmoved, saying coldly and rcilessly, "The rule is the rule, it cannot be changed."
After fruitless pleading, those who were eliminated could only leave with heavy hearts.
"That's it for today's assessnt. We will continue the assessnt tomorrow." After dropping this comnt, the Tianyang Sect ssenger flew away on his sword.
Through a single assessnt, tens of thousands were eliminated, leaving only over two thousand people. The rate of elimination was indeed too high.
"Gao Fei, it's truly great that we both managed to stay," Zhu Xiaoliang said with a big grin.
"Don't celebrate too early," Gao Fei pursed his lips, "There are still two more assessnts."
"I believe that we'll definitely stay here. Co on, let's go celebrate," Zhu Xiaoliang pulled Gao Fei to the side, "I've brought a few jars of good wine and so leftover roast at, enough for the both of us."
They started a fire and sat around it, drinking wine, eating at, and chatting away rrily.
"Yesterday was bustling with noise, but today it's all quiet and desolate," Gao Fei took a gulp of wine, "The change is really too great."
Zhu Xiaoliang nodded, "This is reality, a cruel reality."
"I wonder how many will be gone by tomorrow," Gao Fei chewed on a piece of rabbit at.
"The Tianyang Sect ssenger said they'll only recruit three hundred in the end, so we still have to eliminate at least a thousand more."
"Humans, all longing to cultivate immortality, to pursue longevity, how many will succeed in the end?"
"One in ten thousand, a very low probability. There's nothing we can do, everyone is afraid of death, we all want to live a few more years."
"Zhu Xiaoliang, I didn't expect your mory to be this good. You rembered the entire incantation after hearing it just once, it really surprised ,"
"I'm surprised too, I didn't think your mory would be so good. I was worried this afternoon that you'd be eliminated. But when I saw you made it, I was overjoyed,"
"Let's keep up the effort tomorrow. We must stay!"
"Cheers, to hopefully passing the assessnt smoothly!"
That night, the two of them drank a lot of wine, ate a lot of at, and talked a lot. After getting drunk, they fell asleep and snored loudly. A little wine made their heads heavy and sleep ca fast.
They slept until daylight.
At the mont the sun rose, both of them opened their eyes.
"Oh..." Gao Fei stretched out his arms in a big yawn, then twisted his neck, "I haven't slept this soundly in a long ti."
" neither," Zhu Xiaoliang said, smiling, "Let's quickly get up, wash up, and eat. The Tianyang Sect ssenger will be here soon."
The two stood up from the ground, washed their faces, brushed their teeth, and prepared a bit of breakfast. After eating their fill, they sat down and waited for the Tianyang Sect ssenger to arrive.
It wasn't long before the Tianyang Sect ssenger arrived riding on his sword.
"Greetings, ssenger!"
The more than two thousand people hurriedly stood up and respectfully greeted him.
"You all look energetic, seems like you rested well last night," the Tianyang Sect ssenger spoke indifferently, "Do you know what the second assessnt is?"
Everyone shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.
"Yesterday's test was about your mory, today's test is about your endurance," said the Tianyang Sect envoy without beating around the bush, stating it outright.
"Endurance?" Everyone was stunned.
"Yes, endurance," the Tianyang Sect envoy nodded. "Cultivating immortality is a very tedious and tasteless affair, and those without a certain level of endurance simply cannot persist."
"Envoy, how do you plan to test our endurance?" soone asked.
Without answering, the Tianyang Sect envoy took out a fiery red bead from his sleeve, tossed it lightly, and the bead flew into midair. Then sothing bizarre happened - the bead floated in the air, emitting layers of red halos. These halos converged to form a transparent screen that enveloped everyone present.
"What is this thing?"
"It's so hot."
"I feel a sense of danger."
...
After being covered by the light screen, many people showed signs of panic.
"The bead I just threw into the air is a magic artifact that can release high temperatures. You will stand within this light screen, endure the scorching heat, and you have an hour's ti limit. Those who persist until the end will qualify, and those who cannot may leave," said the Tianyang Sect envoy.
Then he paused, "Let remind you one last ti that this test is filled with a certain degree of danger, and it might be fatal. You'd better think it over. If you really can't stand it, leave imdiately without hesitation."
Hearing it could be deadly, fear arose in everyone's heart, but no one left. It had been hard enough to get to this point, and giving up now would be too regrettable.
They could only give it their all!
"Alright, that's all I have to say." The Tianyang Sect envoy stepped out of the light screen, waved his large sleeve, and a chair appeared in front of him. He bent down to sit on the chair and closed his eyes to rest.
The temperature inside the light screen rose higher and higher, and many people started to sweat.
"It's too hot! Really too hot!"
"I really want to take a bath now, a cold bath."
"No, I have to take off my clothes."
...
Many people began to strip, but even without clothes, it was still very hot, and sweat kept flowing.
Among the crowd, only Gao Fei was the most relaxed. Although he had lost his cultivation, he was indeed a Golden Core Stage cultivator with a body that had been toughened to the extre, and this degree of heat could not harm him.
Of course, to avoid attracting the attention of the Tianyang Sect envoy, Gao Fei still had to pretend to be in unbearable pain.
"It's so hot, I'm about to die from the heat," Zhu Xiaoliang said as he took off his clothes, remaining only in shorts that covered his privates. His hair was wet, and sweat ran down his face, neck, and shoulders like he had been fished out of the water.
"Hang in there," Gao Fei encouraged. "As long as you last until it gets dark, you'll succeed."
"It's a long ti until dark," Zhu Xiaoliang said with a downcast face. "Gao Fei... I might let you down..."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Gao Fei glared at Zhu Xiaoliang. "Do you still want to take revenge? Do you still want to kill those bandits?"
Upon hearing the words "take revenge," a look of hatred flashed in Zhu Xiaoliang's eyes: "I want revenge! I want to kill those bandits! I must have revenge!!!"
"If you want revenge, you have to hang on," Gao Fei said. "You absolutely can't give up!"
"I won't give up, I will persist! Even if I die, I won't leave," Zhu Xiaoliang said fiercely.
Ti trickled by, and before they knew it, it was noon.
Everyone had already persisted for two hours.
"I can't take it anymore, I'm out..." A fat man stumbled out of the light screen and then sat down on the ground, sobbing loudly: "I want to cultivate immortality, I really do..." His crying was so pitiful that it was unbearable to witness.
"Since you've withdrawn, leave imdiately," said the Tianyang Sect envoy, opening his eyes and speaking emotionlessly. "Don't wail here, you'll disturb the others." How cold-hearted those words were, not even allowing soone who had given up to vent their emotions.
The fat man got up from the ground, crying as he walked away.
"I'm withdrawing too..."
"I can't hold on either..."
"I really tried, but I just can't keep up anymore."
...
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen people had left.
The remaining individuals were on the verge of collapse, persisting solely out of reluctance and gritting their teeth to hang on. Whether they could last until the end, no one knew.
Zhu Xiaoliang leaned against Gao Fei, his expression vacant, muttering nonsensically: "Mom, I miss you... I really miss you so much... Your son is about to die... I'll see you soon... The only regret is... I can't avenge you...
I'm useless... I really am so useless..."
"Just hold on a little longer, it will be dark soon," Gao Fei said, gently patting Zhu Xiaoliang's back. "Think about how tragically your mother died; without killing those bandits, she will never rest in peace."
"I will persist... I persist..." Zhu Xiaoliang said weakly: "But... I really can't do it anymore... Gao Fei, can you do a favor? If I die, can you avenge ?"
"No!" Gao Fei shook his head. "I will not promise you that! If you want revenge, do it yourself. I will definitely not help you!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)