Chapter 701 – Test (3)
They had held on!
After a brief quiet, the envoys on the test plaza jumped for joy and cheered fervently.
Everyone cried enthusiastically and uncontrollably, whether it be the section obstructed outside by the guards, or the test participants who were attacked and wounded by the storm and scattered near the edge of the zone.
"Wonderful! They succeeded!"
"We've passed the first checkpoint!"
"This is a good start!"
To the envoy mission, although this was but the first step in a long, long expedition, to succeed at it certainly bode well.
However, their excitement and joy got on the nerves of others.
"Quiet! Quiet!" Huang Lin annoyedly pointed at the crowd. "Keep quiet! Such disgraceful behavior from you bumpkins. Shouting on the test site is a grave offense which can lead to immediate disqualification. You truly are a bunch of dunces who don't know what death is. F*cking behave yourselves and shut up if you want the test to continue."
Startled, the frolicking crowd hastily quietened.
However, the look of excitement on everyone's face and in their eyes was difficult to disguise.
Huang Lin could not refrain from adding a few more insults but suddenly sensed from the corners of his eyes that several of his colleagues were looking at him with a strange expression. Realizing something, his heart turned cold as he promptly held his tongue.
The Violet Gold Divine Guards on duty for the present day's test were the cream of the crop and were similar in status to Huang Lin. They were not the ordinary guards he led, and thus would not simply accommodate or go along with him on such an occasion. Most importantly, the majority of these guards were humans and thus inwardly supported the envoy mission from the Heaven Wasteland Domain, which was after all a domain ruled primarily by humans.
They had felt something was amiss when Huang Lin displayed contempt and detestation toward the envoy mission at the start but did not say anything.
However, their affection grew after seeing the envoy mission pass the Wall of Storm's test in a hot-blooded and indomitable performance. At this time, seeing that Huang Lin remained unusually hateful and even became more agitated, they began to take issue with him.
Huang Lin, too, only now began to understand them.
Hence, he immediately gave it a rest for the time being upon sensing that something was not right.
…
On the test platform beside the Wall of Storm.
Huang Tayun, who had inconspicuously returned to standing on the test platform, looked somewhat astonished.
Prior to this, he already had some understanding of the new domain's capability based on various feedback from the Domains Alliance’s domain rating envoys.
He had expected a few participants to remain standing within the zone, but was certainly surprised that a good ten of them were able to withstand the fury of the storm.
It appears that I've underestimated these lower domain bastards. He laughed grimly as he thought to himself. But don't start celebrating yet, little ants. Things aren't so simple.
Beside him, however, Shangguan Wu was all smiles.
He was gratified by the performance of the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps.
This gratification was not simply because ten of their men were able to withstand the attack of the Wall of Storm, but more so because of the courage and tenacity they showed in the face of an irresistible force that allowed him to feel the will of the domain's beings.
This was the most important thing to him.
"Not bad, not bad. Good." He nodded.
However, the next moment, he was taken aback when his eyes fell on Ye Qingyu.
And he was not the only person to be startled.
Within the red line boundary, a weird look appeared on the faces of the other Heaven Wasteland experts who had completed the test.
This was because Ye Qingyu appeared extremely abnormal at this time.
…
His body, which was still facing the wall, appeared a little stiff, while his complexion was ghastly pale. As if holding off something, he reached both arms slightly forward with his ten finger tips quivering involuntarily. A sight like this made one feel as if Ye Qingyu was standing in a parallel universe and resisting some terrifying force on his own.
What's going on?
"Cousin?" Yu Xiaoxing's complexion became discolored as she raised her voice. "Cousin, are you alright?"
Ye Qingyu did not reply.
He did not even gesture with his head.
His face turning pale as well, Shangguan Wu darted toward Ye Qingyu and raised a hand to pat the latter's shoulders. But just as his palm reached within a meter, he felt a magnificent force which repelled and numbed his lower arm, causing him to flinch two or three steps back.
"What's this about?" Shangguan Wu was utterly perplexed.
He had taken charge of the Wall of Storm test many times but had never run into such a situation.
Huang Tayun's complexion changed slightly too.
However, he did not say a word. A subtle gleam twinkled in his eyes but he gave no indication of what he was thinking.
Outside the test plaza.
Huang Lin, who had been keeping a careful watch on everyone within the red line zone, also took notice of Ye Qingyu's abnormal state straight away. As if he had just witnessed an incredibly pleasing event, he hollered toward the envoys standing outside the plaza, "Haha, look! I told you all not to start celebrating before the test ends. Ye Qingyu can't take it any longer!"
"Nonsense! Lord Ye is the strongest War God of the Heaven Wasteland Domain!" Luo Yi, who stood at the forefront of the crowd, retorted in a harsh voice.
"Talking rubbish!"
"You must have seen wrongly!"
"Lord Ye is the strongest martial expert of the Heaven Wasteland Domain!"
Behind him, the other mission members, too, began to speak out in succession.
They could not allow the man who was a living god and an invincible being in their eyes to be verbally blasphemed and disrespected.
But no matter what they said, everyone, be it the experts who had been sent flying or the members watching on anxiously, could clearly see that the Lord of the Light Palace was standing in front of the Wall of Storm with a ghastly face and trembling shoulders.
What exactly is going on?
What has Lord Ye run into?
Could there be a dark force in the Wall of Storm attacking Lord Ye by surprise?
Everyone's eyes converged upon Ye Qingyu for a while.
Anxious, anticipant, still, silent, and steadfast. These gazes seemed to create a force which shrouded Ye Qingyu within.
In front of the Wall of Storm, even Ye Qingyu himself did not know what was going on.
When the terrifying storm dissipated, he swiftly became aware of the conditions of the people beside him, and took it for granted that the test had ended for him as well. But just as he was about to lower his guard, an invisible force suddenly surged out of the wall and fell upon his body.
Unlike the preceding attacks of the wall, this force came from all directions. As if wanting to crush him into pieces, it twined around his body like invisible wind ropes or dragon pythons.
He subconsciously operated his yuan power in resistance.
But the more he resisted, the crazier the twining pressure became.
He gradually began to hear the noises of his bones breaking and his muscles bursting. Although there were no signs of injury on the surface of his body, he knew for sure that his bones had all been broken, and that his muscles and meridians, as well as his vital organs, had all been squashed until they deformed.
This was a very odd type of injury. From the surface, he was completely unharmed, but in truth, everything beneath his skin had been crushed as if into mud. This absolutely strange force even controlled him such that he could not move an inch. As time went by, the agonizing pain traveled to his head, causing everything to turn black in front of his eyes. He then had a false feeling that his skull had been squashed until it burst, and thus that his entire being was destroyed.
Given his physical strength, even an Immortal Step pinnacle expert would have had difficulty leaving a scratch on him. It was hence simply unbelievable that he would be crushed alive.
Everything seemed to take place in an instant yet also in a very long time.
When consciousness returned to his body, the pain remained as before except for in his brain.
He shockingly realized that the hair-like green breeze which the mysterious figure in the underground chilly lake had bestowed to his sea of consciousness was spinning maniacally in his mind. It soon traveled down his head like a whirlwind and entered his body.
Incredibly, as the green breeze passed through, his muscles, bones, and organs which had been crushed by the invisible force instantly recovered.
In only the twinkling of an eye, the breeze had traveled through every part of his body.
All of the pain disappeared.
Though the terrifying and invisible force remained wrapped around him, it could no longer cause him any harm.
The breeze zapped like lightning through his meridians and flowed against the torrents of yuan qi to finally land in Ye Qingyu's dantian world. It suspended above the dantian sea as a green breeze, causing the waves of yuan qi to surge and surround Ye Qingyu’s [Yuan Qi True Self Doppelganger].
It brought a different kind of spirituality to the originally bleak dantian world.
"Is this… the law of wind?"
Ye Qingyu was somewhat baffled and uncertain.
Upon introspection, he shockingly discovered that his bones, muscles, and organs were all circulating a faint green color which was the same tint as the hair-like green breeze. It was as dreamy and captivating as jade and emerald.
The terrible crushing force around him had disappeared entirely at an unknown time.
Ye Qingyu flexed his five fingers.
Bam!
The air on his palm instantly exploded just from him pinching his fingers together.
This startled him.
What… what is this force? How can it be this strong?
