Martial World's
Chapter 33 - Strength Trial
The Seven Profound Martial Houses had a total of twenty stone pillars for the Strength Trial. Once the exam started, the candidates would be divided into twenty teams to reduce the congestion in the square.
Twenty stone pillars were erected in front of a separate entrance to the Seven Profound Martial House. At the top of each stone pillar was a shining light that was a sign of the fate of every candidate. Whether they will pass through this gate or whether they will be thrown away will all be determined by this one number.
A woman around thirty or forty years old stepped in front of the crowd and stood on the prepared platform. "Hello everyone. I'm one of the supervisors for the Strength Trial. I would like to announce that the Seven Profound Martial Houses examination has three parts. For those who made it through to the end, they would be given an official assessment based on their age, talent, and results. The top ten will get the award, and the number one will be rewarded with the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill!”
Red Golden Dragon Marrow Pill! The entire crowd gasped in shock; even the juniors of the noble families were flabbergasted. The people among them with lesser strength were filled with regret. Their faces revealed regretful and depressed expressions as they were destined to never reach first place. Those who are stronger straighten their backs. Their eyes shone with hope and they twitched as if they wanted to fight. They assumed that this Dark Red Golden Dragon Marrow Pill was specially prepared for them.
Lin Ming had read the medicinal manual before and had a rough understanding of the properties of the Red Golden Dragon Marrow Pill. This pill was about the size of a grape and was made by mixing the Crimson Gold Dragon marrow with some rare and precious plant species. It would then be boiled and refined into pills that could improve physique, increase cultivation, and even help break through bottlenecks.
The Crimson Golden Dragon was not a real dragon, it was a descendant that shared only a small amount of blood. Nevertheless, the creatures associated with the dragon were not weak. Even a Houtian expert would not be a match!
Sky Fortune Kingdom did not have many Houtian experts to begin with, nor did they have anyone capable of refining such a precious pill. Hence the Sky Fortune Kingdom was unable to produce the Red Golden Dragon Marrow Pill.
Without a doubt this medicine came from the Seven Profound Valleys. Each year the Seven Profound Valleys would refine talent, and medicine was provided from the main school to attract talented youths to participate.
Perhaps to the Seven Profound Valleys, the Red Golden Dragon Marrow Pill was not particularly valuable, but to the Sky Fortune Kingdom, it was truly a precious treasure that money could not buy. Even a large noble family would be extremely envious of anyone who possessed such a treasure.
The pretty watchdog did not seem excited or displeased as he continued, "The second, third and fourth place will receive the Scarlet Snake Gold Pill, after all, and the fifth to tenth will receive ten Soul Gathering Pellets!"
The Golden Snake Scarlet Pill was refined from the gallbladder of a hundred year old Golden Scarlet Snake. This type of gallbladder is named for its golden red appearance. It was inferior to the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill, but it was also a rare and precious medicine that most people would never see.
But the fourth to tenth place only received ten Soul Gathering Pellets which were much rarer. Each pellet had a value of 200 taels of gold, and ten of them would equal 2000 taels of gold. But the two medicines given to those who ranked higher were at least 10,000 gold taels. In fact, even if one could pay several times over, they still could not afford it.
The rich rewards made the talented candidates very excited; they could not wait to get on stage and show off their skills. Looking at this excited crowd was a group of young men and women wearing silk clothes. They laughed insultingly. Within the group was a handsome young man wearing a jade belt and smiling.
The group of young men smiled and flattered him, “These people are really outrageous. This Dark Red Golden Dragon Marrow Pill was already in the young master's pocket, victory was already a definite conclusion. Are they also thinking of trying and competing? Verily they know not their place.”
The young man smiled faintly and waved his folding fan. He didn't respond. He was a talent of the Yue Lu Wang City family. He had fourth-grade talent, early Third Stage Body Transformation cultivation, and had once taken the number one spot in the elite competition of Yue Lu City. Yue Lu City was a big city, so this number one place had its weight.
On the platform the woman continued, “Now we will start the first round of the entrance exam. Please participate in the exam at your full strength. The light rays in the stone column will signal the strength of your attack. An inch represents 100 jin of strength. As long as you pass 1000 Jins then you will pass this round! Each candidate will have three attempts. As long as you qualify once then you will graduate. Everyone, now we're going to have a demonstration. Lin Sen, go ahead.”
When the beautiful woman finished speaking, a man walked onto the stage. He was tall and thin, almost looking thin, with a pale face, cold and sharp eyes.
He was wearing a black suit and on his back was a three-foot-long knife. Despite the broad daylight, when he stepped on stage, the temperature of the crowd dropped by several degrees.
"Is that Ling Sen?"
"Someone from the Heavenly Abode of the Seven Profound Martial Houses!"
This Ling Sen was clearly famous, but Lin Ming did not know him. He turned around and asked Lin Xiaodong, "Who is this Ling Sen?"
Lin Xiaodong might not be diligent in practicing martial arts, but she was very fond of gossiping and curious about all things, so she knew about things like this. He said, “Ling Sen is one of the senior apprentices of the Heavenly Abode which is the fiercest department in the Seven Profound Martial House. He was twenty years old and was a fourth grade talent. His cultivation was at the peak of the Fourth Stage, and he had just entered the Heavenly Abode last year. On his own initiative, he asked to be sent to the battlefield for one year, where he massacred many people. Currently his combat abilities were hard to estimate, but one said that he would soon enter the Fifth Stage of Body Transformation.
Twenty years and the Fifth Stage of Body Transformation? Lin Ming was slightly surprised. Generally, martial artists were considered outstanding if they reached the Fifth Stage, the Bone Forging stage, by the time they were thirty years old. This Ling Sen was also filled with killing intent, it seemed like he had killed many people on the battlefield. Compared to those who had the same level of cultivation, this man was truly a master.
Ling Sen hated demonstrations like this. Yet it was a tradition that disciples from the Heavenly Abode would show off for the candidates. This is for the sake of telling them that there is always someone out there who is better, and they should never stop fighting to get to the top.
4900 jin!
On the field everyone was full of praise and astonishment. If Ling Sen used his full strength, he might even surpass 5,000 jin!
Seeing this result, Lin Ming's eyes widened. This Ling Sen's strength was almost twice that of his!
Lin Xiaodong said, “This is not something that comes as a surprise. He was one of the top talents in the younger generation of Sky Fortune City. It would only be strange if he did not get results like this.”
Lin Ming said, “One of the younger generation? Can Qin Xingxuan defeat him?”
Lin Xiaodong shrugged. “I don't know Qin Xingxuan's strength, but Qin Xingxuan is well-informed and studies all subjects. Ling Sen had only focused his training on fighting and killing, in fact he was a man who specialized in life or death battles. I don't think Qin Xingxuan might be able to win if their lives were at stake, but don't forget that Qin Xingxuan was only fifteen years old while Ling Sen was twenty. ”
Hearing this, Lin Ming nodded slightly.
Body Transformation has a total of six stages. The further you go, the more the gap between the stages increases. The strength of one in the Pulse Condensation stage could reach 8000 jins. Lin Ming was very far from this state of affairs.
"Showever, begin!" At this time on the stage, the beautiful middle-aged woman sent out orders to begin the Strength Trial.
The young candidates were extremely excited, each wanting to get up and test their strength. Yet when they actually tested their strength on the stone pillar, many failed.
“900 jin, 850 jin, 850 jin, three times failed. Continue!"
“950 jin, 900 jin, 900 jin, three times failed. Continue!"
Many candidates had just reached the Second Stage of Body Transformation. If they were in peak condition, then they might be able to reach 1000 jin. Yet they cannot be at peak condition for every attempt. Moreover, they also suffered from nerves and were unable to show their highest level of strength. These people are naturally eliminated.
"1000 jin, qualified!" Someone in Lin Ming's row passed by, and the man cried out in excitement as he danced in excitement. The truth was that this man also understood, even though he passed and barely qualified, he would most likely be eliminated during the second round. Even so, it was an honor for him to pass the first round of the Seven Profound Martial House entrance examination at the age of sixteen.
“1300 jin, qualified!”
"950 jin, fail!"
When the results come out, those who fail will sadly leave in low spirits. The people who succeed are dizzy. And among them there are those who show indifference. For these talents, passing this test was a gift.
Right now, there is a commotion ahead. Lin Ming looked ahead and saw that a young man wearing blue linen clothes was standing in front of the stone pillar, and gathering his strength.
Lin Ming was curious about who this man was. He heard some people discussing, “It was Sun Ping from East Water City. He was at the Third Stage of Body Transformation. Power ferocious!
As the discussion was going on, Sun Ping darted forward. He struck the stone column with a 'peng', and the light beam began to tremble as it shot upwards. It stopped at two feet and three inches.
“2300 jin!”
This was the first person to have passed 2000 jins. The crowd exploded with a cry