Translator: AnubisTL
"Boom—"
As the inheritance vanished, the space began to collapse.
"Why are you still rubbing it? Your butt is still attached to you!" Sensing the disturbance, Gu Feng grabbed Hua Wenyue, who was still rubbing her butt, and shot forward like an arrow from a bow!
Hua Wenyue felt the environment around her change at the speed of light, the sound of wind whistling in her ears. She turned to look at Gu Feng and was instantly awestruck.
At this moment, she finally caught a glimpse of Gu Feng's true strength.
She saw him charging recklessly through the collapsing passage, throwing a punch that unleashed a devastating shockwave, unstoppable and so fast that she could barely keep her eyes open.
"If I were to strike now—" Hua Wenyue's eyes flickered, her thoughts racing.
She secretly gathered Spiritual Power in her hand, hesitating for a moment, but ultimately decided against it. Gu Feng turned to her, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Not too foolish after all!" Gu Feng chuckled, his speed increasing dramatically once again.
"When we get outside, tell them you received the dragon clan's inheritance!"
"Why should I?" Hua Wenyue immediately protested. Why should she become the target of everyone's attention?
"Because I'm stronger than you, and I have leverage over you!" Gu Feng grinned, revealing a row of bright white teeth.
Hua Wenyue clenched her teeth, wanting to lash out, but in the end, she succumbed to Gu Feng's overwhelming presence and reluctantly lowered her head.
...
"The inheritance... someone has obtained the inheritance!"
"It's Hua Wenyue! She and Gu Feng are the only ones who haven't come out yet!"
"I can't help but wonder, why don't any of you think that Gu Feng might have obtained the dragon clan's inheritance?" Monk Wu De smirked. Gu Feng was too good at pretending. Even now, no one had exposed his true nature.
While silently admiring him, Monk Wu De also mourned for Hua Wenyue. This woman had likely become another victim!
"Are you out of your mind?" Dugu Ao shot a disdainful glance at Monk Wu De. Just standing under the same sky as him made him feel disgusted. The monk was truly shameless.
They're out!
Two figures, somewhat disheveled, burst out from the rubble!
Sensing Hua Wenyue's aura, everyone was shocked. Although they had gained some benefits during the trial, they paled in comparison to the significant boost Hua Wenyue had received.
"Hua Wenyue, what fortune! You actually obtained the dragon clan's inheritance!" Zong Shixuan said with a hint of envy, though he didn't dwell on it. He was also a Heaven's Chosen, brimming with confidence. Who would go further on the path of martial arts was still unknown.
"Congratulations! The five of us were once on the same starting line, but now you've taken the lead. We must work even harder to catch up!" Wu Sheng's fighting spirit burned fiercely, his posture as sharp as a sword. A swordsman should press forward without fear, not afraid of others' strength, but afraid of having no rivals.
Hua Wenyue's eye twitched. She really wanted to say: I'm the one chasing someone else. What's the point of you chasing me?
But under Gu Feng's overwhelming presence, she held her tongue and simply nodded, her expression as cold as ever.
"I'm no match for you now. Fortunately, the misunderstanding has been cleared up." Dugu Ao set aside his pride and stepped forward to congratulate Hua Wenyue.
"Ah— though I'm not convinced, there's nothing I can do. Congratulations!" Duan Yansheng sighed, his tone tinged with frustration.
"Gu Feng? How did Hua Wenyue end up with the inheritance?" Only Monk Wu De was left bewildered. This didn't make sense!
"Why wasn't it her? I was just there to make up the numbers!" Gu Feng chuckled casually, his gaze sweeping across the room as he asked with a hint of curiosity, "Didn't anything strange happen during the assessment?"
"Nothing strange, just that the battles were extremely brutal!"
"We waited here for two hours just to barely recover from our injuries."
"It was terrifying. The opponents we fought were all phantoms. It's hard to imagine there are so many Heaven's Chosen in this world."
"Yeah, if it weren't for Senior Brother Qin reacting quickly and giving up on the assessment in time, I might not have made it out alive."
"..."
Gu Feng looked at everyone with a puzzled expression, a sudden realization dawning on him. It seemed that only the passage he and Hua Wenyue had taken had such an absurd assessment. The other Heaven's Chosen had been engaged in proper battles. He had been overthinking things.
"Huh—why do you two look unharmed?" At that moment, one of the Heaven's Chosen noticed the anomaly with Gu Feng and Hua Wenyue.
"How could we not be injured? What we went through was even more terrifying. I almost lost my life, and it was only thanks to Hua Wenyue's fierce fighting that I survived," Gu Feng said with a half-truthful laugh.
Hua Wenyue's expression darkened slightly, but she nodded imperceptibly.
The others didn't dwell on it too much. Seeing Hua Wenyue wearing Gu Feng's clothes, they naturally assumed it was the result of a fierce battle.
"This trial is finally over, but there's one thing that needs to be settled now!"
"Right. While we had some free time earlier, we carefully checked the caves and found that the ten storage rings Monk Wu De took out don't match the missing treasures inside!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes turned to Monk Wu De, who looked pitifully at Gu Feng. Gu Feng, however, looked up at the sky, feigning indifference.
Hua Wenyue glanced at Gu Feng, feeling disdain. She was probably the only one, aside from Monk Wu De, who knew that all the treasures had ended up in Gu Feng's hands.
Unfortunately, she had a hold over Gu Feng, and Monk Wu De was too afraid of Gu Feng's strength to speak up. Both pretended not to know.
"I've already obtained a great opportunity. You can divide the treasures among yourselves," Hua Wenyue said, distancing herself from the matter.
"Monk Wu De, hand over the treasures, or things might get unpleasant."
The pressured Monk Wu De kept casting pleading glances at Gu Feng. How could he possibly produce the treasures?
Beads of sweat rolled down his bald head as he found himself in a dilemma.
"Since that's the case, let's all stretch our limbs a bit. It'll also be a good way to test the opportunities we gained from the assessment."
Just as everyone closed in on Monk Wu De, forcing him to retreat step by step, a sudden loud boom struck everyone's hearts.
"What happened!"
Gu Feng immediately activated his Immortal Eye. Void Break, a dark green light flashed in his right eye as he directed it toward the entrance of the Coral Stone.
When he saw the situation at the entrance, a sense of foreboding washed over him.
The Dragon Clan Elder had previously speculated that the Dragon Clan Inheritance had likely been deliberately moved into the Coral Stone by a traitor and then secretly taken out of the East Sea Dragon Clan.
Whoever had the ability and audacity to do such a thing was no ordinary figure. At the very least, the Blue Cloth Star Glow Squid clan alone wouldn't have had the courage.
This also explained why the Blue Cloth Star Glow Squid had always been too afraid to enter this place—they feared causing a disturbance and alerting the East Sea Dragon Clan to their presence.
Now that the inheritance had been seized, the mastermind behind the 'Blue Cloth Star Glow Squid' must have sensed it. The nearby subordinates arrived here first.
"You all block the entrance! I'll find the core of this artifact and take full control of it!"
Dense swarms of Sea Demons, resembling cockroaches and about three meters long, oozing green mucus, came pouring in from the entrance, looking particularly horrifying.
The group no longer dwelled on the missing treasures. Hua Wenyue, prioritizing the greater situation, took the lead and charged out first!
"Hurry!"
The Sea Demons were vast in number, almost filling the passageway, but they were only equivalent to human cultivators at the fifth or sixth level of Nurtured Spirit. The Heaven's Chosen could hold them off without much difficulty.
Gu Feng walked toward the center of the Coral Stone, activating his Immortal Eye. Void Break, and carefully searched for the core.
Soon, he found the core amidst the previously collapsed ruins.
Swinging his arms, he moved the surrounding stones aside and then began refining the core!
Low-Grade Earth Artifacts were usually controlled by Soul Core Realm cultivators, so Gu Feng's refinement progress was slow.
The sounds of battle and the shouts of the Heaven's Chosen echoed in his ears.
"Hurry! There are too many Sea Demons. We can't hold them off for long!"
"Those who are injured, fall back! Those who aren't, step up!"
Hua Wenyue stood at the forefront, facing the endless Sea Demons, unleashing her full power.
The Nine-Colored Lotus bloomed, and wherever its light shone, large numbers of Sea Demons fell. However, this also incited their bloodlust, and they trampled over each other, surging forward like a mountain.
Gu Feng grew anxious. While these Sea Demons were not a significant threat, if they lingered here too long, they might face even more powerful Sea Demons.
"Refine it for me!"
Gritting his teeth, Gu Feng's eyes turned slightly red as he unleashed his full strength. This was the first time in over a year that he had pushed himself to the limit.
The Runes of the core began to light up gradually under his control.
But it was still too slow. Based on the current progress, it might take days to fully refine it!
Damn it!
"If I can't refine it completely, I'll refine a simplified version first and escape!"
With a determined heart, Gu Feng's right eye glowed with a dark green light as he activated the Immortal Eye Forbidden Art. Candle Sun!
Dark green flames appeared out of thin air, scorching the core's Runes.
"Good, it's working!"
Seeing the Runes begin to dissolve in large patches, Gu Feng felt a surge of joy.
After a few more activations, nearly half of the Runes had burned away!
The flames spread wildly as Gu Feng frantically refined the core.
At a certain moment, a resonant hum echoed in his ears, and Gu Feng felt a profound connection with the artifact.
"Good! Five years of lifespan—worth it!"
Overjoyed, Gu Feng willed the entrance to seal completely, preventing the Sea Demons outside from entering again.
Soon, the Heaven's Chosen had killed all the Sea Demons trapped inside.
"Boom—"
The Sea Demons roared, furiously attacking the Coral Stone. From the sound, there were at least a hundred thousand of them. The Heaven's Chosen, having narrowly escaped disaster, stood there pale and stunned.
"Everyone, hold on tight! Let's go!"
Gu Feng shouted, steering the Coral Stone and breaking through the Sea Demon encirclement.
But they hadn't gone far!
Boom—
A deafening crash resounded, as if a giant hand had slammed into the Coral Stone, sending it tumbling wildly. Everyone, including Gu Feng, was thrown into disarray.
A moment of sheer terror!
Gu Feng peered through the Array Formation of the Coral Stone and saw that they had been struck by the tail of a massive Sea Demon, shaped like a great white shark, stretching a kilometer in length.
After a brief assessment, he realized that the great white shark was equivalent to a human cultivator at the fourth level of Sea Condensation!
Zong Shixuan and the others turned pale. "That's a Deep Sea Moon Shadow Whale. Legend has it that its stomach forms its own space, capable of swallowing seawater within a radius of ten kilometers in one gulp!"
Hiss—
Gu Feng felt a chill run down his spine. The artifact they currently controlled was of a spatial attribute, with almost no offensive capabilities.
If they were swallowed by the Deep Sea Moon Shadow Whale, they would surely perish.
"The path ahead is blocked. We can't return to the Great Chu Dynasty. Let's head further away from the shore!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Feng saw the Deep Sea Moon Shadow Whale open its indescribably large mouth, visibly sucking in vast amounts of seawater.
The Coral Stone shook violently, and the Runes inside flickered incessantly. Under the powerful suction force, their speed drastically decreased.
"Everyone, head to the core and channel your Spiritual Power with all your might!"
Gu Feng shouted, and the two hundred Heaven's Chosen rushed to the core, sitting cross-legged and frantically channeling their Spiritual Power into the Coral Stone.
"At this critical moment, can you stop slacking off!" Hua Wenyue, seeing Gu Feng pretending to exert himself beside her, couldn't help but feel furious.
Others might not know Gu Feng's true strength, but she knew it all too well.
"I need to conserve my strength. At the most critical moment, only I can make a difference!" Gu Feng whispered.
This time, he wasn't exaggerating. If he unleashed his full strength, killing the Deep Sea Moon Shadow Whale outside wouldn't be a problem. But the issue was, it wouldn't guarantee their escape. Who knew what other monsters lurked ahead?
The most reliable method now was to flee!
"Right, right, right! Brother Gu should conserve his strength. These trivial matters can be left to this humble monk. You focus on the tough ones!" Monk Wu De nodded vigorously, exerting all his strength to channel his Spiritual Power.
"Hum—"
The Coral Stone's light intensified, and in the next moment, it broke free from the Deep Sea Moon Shadow Whale's suction field, darting away at incredible speed!
"Don't stop! If we get surrounded, we're dead. There are so many Sea Demons!"
Looking around, they saw countless Sea Demons of various kinds, numbering over a hundred thousand, closing in from all sides!
"Ah—"
"Boom—"
Everyone fought desperately. The Coral Stone transformed into a streak of light, moving at an extreme speed, almost like teleportation, narrowly escaping the encirclement before the hundred thousand Sea Demons could fully close in.
"Where are we going?"
"Don't worry about where! Just focus on shaking off these Sea Demons first!"
(End of the Chapter)
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