老汉色aⅴ

After giving two sticks to General Li and handling all the relevant administrative matters, Xu Que finally stepped into the palace.

This was his first time entering the palace after transmigrating, and yet the impressions and memories which swarmed his mind were so vivid.

The training ground was located right beside the throne room, over a large patch of flat lands. When Xu Que looked over, he realized that a large spell had been placed over the training ground and resembled a dome, clearly separating the training grounds from the rest of the palace.

The piece of flat land was extremely wide and was the size of about seven football fields. More than a dozen stages were fitted all around the training grounds. An Imperial Guard stood beside each stage, watching out for any suspicious activity.

Right in the middle of all these stages was a peculiar looking teleportation spell, which was surrounded and maintained by ten Original Infant Staged cultivators. Xu Que watched but couldn’t determine the purpose of a teleportation spell.

What was the use of a teleportation spell here? Could it be that the candidates would be transported to another location to be tested? Xu Que muttered under his breath softly.

At this point a student walked past him and heard him mumbling to himself and smiled. "Fellow brother, haven’t you heard the announcements yesterday? Apart from testing literary talents, candidates would even be tested based on how well they fought."

"Oh, then what was the purpose of the teleportation spell?" Xu Que asked curiously.

The student replied him passionately, "Of course it has something to do with the demons which have been causing problems to Fire Nations. Hundreds of victims had been harmed by these demons over the past few months. The teleportation spell would thus be a test of how well a candidate can fight. It would thus send the candidate into a forest to kill the demonic beasts."

Xu Que was taken aback by how simple the test was.

The student then started sweating as he continued speaking, "Brother, doing this is no easy feat. The demonic beasts are innately stronger than most humans of the same cultivation level. Besides, this test was about which candidate could kill the most Golden Core Staged demonic beasts. The fighting here would be very intense."

When Xu Que heard this he was elated. A test of who could kill the most demonic beasts, that was interesting.

Killing demonic beasts? Isn’t that too simple? It’s just TOO EASY.

"Fellow brother, please do not let your guard down while you’re attempting to kill these beasts. If you get into trouble in the wilderness, nobody would be able to rescue you. And yet getting to that stage isn’t easy. Look, we still have to get through the first round of literary tests." The student stretched his hand and pointed towards the elevated stages within the training grounds.

Xu Que looked at the dozens of stages and creased his eyebrows, "Why were these stages needed for the tests then?"

"Of course it’s for us to compete against one another fairly. This test is actually a test of our martial arts foundations. The spells around the stage would seal up our core energy. Hence we’re only allowed to use our own physical strength and compete against one another."

"So this was to test our basic martial arts capabilities? I thought it was to test our knowledge on poems."

"Naturally there would be tests on poems, but you have to first pass through this stage of martial arts testing before you can advance to the next stage, which would discuss poems."

"So that’s the case, thank you my fellow brother for you guidance."

Xu Que clasped his hands in a salute.

The student returned the salute as he departed.

Xu Que swept a glance at the training grounds as his lips curled into a smile. After all, martial arts was much simpler than reciting poems.

Hehe, this is going to be too easy.

Right at the same time, the crowd started to thicken within the training grounds. Many cultivators who had queued up early had been granted admission into the palace grounds, along with several other esteemed candidates who had been allowed to skip the queues like Xu Que had.

All of a sudden, the crowd broke out in audible discussion as people were roused and alarmed. The scene was rather noisy, and Xu Que was unsure about what had just transpired./

When Xu Que turned his head to look, he saw that the huge gates had been opened where several members strolled in under the protection of several Imperial Guards.

"Quick look, those are the disciples from the three biggest sects across the five nations." A student shouted out in excitement.

It’s been long rumoured that disciples from the three great sects would participate as well, although nobody had expected so many of them to show up.

Indeed, each of them looked extraordinary, and everyone could tell that these disciples were extremely powerful

The group leading the way belonged to Jade Sword Sect, and the person leading the sect was dressed in white robes. He must be the legendary swordsman, Ye Zhang Feng.

Indeed, the rumours stated that he owned a blood coloured shadowless blade that could move with such lightning speeds. It’s been said that this treasured item was betrothed to him by the sect leader of the Jade Sword Sect himself. Whenever he killed, his victims won’t even be able to see his strikes due to how quick they were.

His cultivation level wasn’t low as well. Although he looked rather young, he was already of the third stage of the Original Infant Stage.

The crowd broke out in hushed discussions as their eyes fell onto the highly skilled swordsman in white robes.

When Xu Que heard some of these discussions, he turned to look at him as well and thought to himself, "Damn that scoundrel. Looks like another Act Tough Criminal has appeared. But how dare you act tough right before the act tough king. You are not worthy."

Look at all of you, what rubbish about being from the three great sects of the fire nations? You look just like students who have been guaranteed admissions into schools, but when it comes down to it, you still have to compete with me on those stages.

Xu Que especially hated it whenever other people acted tough in front of him. This supposedly legendary swordsman was just displaying his skills before an expert. If you’re really that good, you should use this chance to stop the spread of my famous name and reputation!

Xu Que watched the way he swaggered as he walked, and was repulsed by him. "Your robes are so white, do you think you’re the leading actor in this acting tough scene? This act tough king will play with you until you’re sick of it!"

He thought to himself deep down in his heart. Naturally, he wouldn’t even give regard to this rubbish ‘legendary swordsman’, for he was only level 3 of the Original Infant Stage. Xu Que could kill him with just a slap.

Apart from the Jade Sword Sect, there were disciples from Sky Incense Valley and Enlightenment Sect. The disciples of these three sects looked rather heroic and extraordinary. Each of them possessed a certain fearsomeness to them.

As soon as they entered the training grounds, each of them had his chest stuck out, clearly enjoying the attention received by all these cultivators and students.

However to Xu Que, these were a group of weak act tough criminals. His attention was directed at the group of Sky Incense Valley disciples.

He recalled how he was at the trial area of the Sky Incense Valley some time back, and the huge scene he caused. Soon after, he met a woman who was as calm as water atop the Soul Tower. It was such a pity that he had to activate his Escape Emblem even before he could get his hands on her.

Seeing the group of Sky Incense Valley disciples at this point caused him to pay them closer attention, as he sought someone out from the crowd.

However he was evidently disappointed. Apart from the ten disciples sent by Sky Incense Valley, there was only an Infant Transformation Staged elder who led them. Everyone of those faces were unfamiliar, none of them were those he had met while at the trial area.

"Ai, could it be that we’re not fated?" Xu Que sighed as he shook his head.

Before long, there was a group of people who had entered the palace. The disciples of the great sects along with several students from different colleges were dispatched to their assigned area and was given tea.

Only people like Xu Que, who came as an unknown individual without any status, had to look for an empty spot to stand.

Right at this point, a eunuch appeared from the throne room and walked over.

He was holding on tightly to an imperial edict and had a rather fearsome posture. He stood atop a stage and cleared his throat before shouting out, "Arrival of the Imperial Edict!"

Immediately, everyone around ceased in their discussions as they looked up at the stage outside the throne room.

The eunuch pulled open the scroll and started reading out, "Behold the words of the mighty Fire Emperor’s, : Only a person complete in both martial arts and literary skills would be worthy of becoming the Prince Consort to the Fire Nations."

After the simple message had been broadcasted, the eunuch rolled the scroll as he scanned across the crowd and exclaimed in a shrill voice, "The first test begins."

Dong dong dong!

The drums started hammering away somewhere in the distance, and were so loud they hurt the ears and caused adrenaline to pump within the hearts of those competing.

Everyone around straightened themselves up and started heading towards the training grounds.

"The hardest part for us would be the fighting parts, as long as get through it, we would find the other tests easy." A student spoke out in glee.

"The disciples of the great sects or other rogue cultivators would have difficulties with the poems and literary arts."

The Fire Emperor evidently favors students like us. The first round was to compare martial arts strengths against each other. The purpose of this was to prevent death or severe injuries to each other. Later on, we would then be able to eliminate some of these brutish cultivators, and allow us to successfully advance.

However, the hardest part would be the second stage, in which we’re required to kill demonic beasts. We only have to rely on our own individual strengths then.

The few student cultivators whispered among themselves, as their faces revealed looks of confidence.

Right at this point, a loud sound rang out as the protective spell started to shine brightly. Nine entrances were opened up, as they led to 81 different stages where candidates would compete.