As Li Mo peered into the distance from the carriage, he could already spot the Divine Beast Peak.
Divine Beast Peak was the final peak of the Qingyuan mountain range, and it was the closest one to the wilderness.
Up ahead, a chaotic scene unfolded with disciples from both the inner and outer sects clearly divided.
Without exception, those gathering were all new disciples who hadn’t yet taken the sect’s trial.
As soon as this carriage belonging to the sect master came to a stop, it instantly became the center of attention for the crowd.
“Is that the sect leader’s direct disciple, Ying Bing?”
“Hiss… This sister looks like she’s breaking the rules of nature.”
“Keep it down! I heard she already has eight meridians in the bl**d Qi Realm. Elder Qian Bufan’s direct disciple told me that she even received a set of cloud-patterned inner armor for it!”
“She just joined! Eight meridians? What a monster!”
“There’s no way someone could top the sect’s trial in their first year, right? That would be too outrageous.”
“Who’s that by her side?”
“That’s Li Zhenchuang, who entered the sect with her.”
“I know him—Li Zhenchuang is a really nice guy!”
Hearing the discussions of the other disciples, Li Mo couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Thanks, but no need for the “nice guy” card, okay?
“Looking Moon Cliff seems to be deep in the trial area,” he thought to himself while scanning the map to find the place he had agreed upon with Ying Bing.
The deeper you go into the trial area, the stronger the beasts get.
Looking Moon Cliff was in a somewhat remote location, and one would have to pass through territories inhabited by Late Nine-Rank and even Peak Nine-Rank beasts.
If you didn’t have the chops, you really couldn’t just wander in.
“One hour…”
Li Mo glanced at Ying Bing, who was at the front of the crowd, secretly cheering himself on.
Don’t underestimate us time-travelers!
Suddenly, he sensed a familiar gaze boring into him.
Wang Hu.
At this moment, Wang Hu still wore that defiant expression, but there was an unusual shadow lurking between his brows, making him seem rather ominous.
Staring into Li Mo’s eyes, he blankly slid his hand across his neck and mimicked a throat-cutting gesture.
“What’s his problem now?”
Li Mo found himself at a loss for words, instinctively sensing that Wang Hu wasn’t quite right.
So, he took it a step further and activated his Heavenly Fate Divine Eyes.
[Name: Wang Hu]
[Age: 16]
[Bone Structure: Tiger Arm, Leopard Waist.]
[Realm: Eight Meridians of bl**d Qi Realm.]
[Fate: Black]
[Evaluation: Some talent, may achieve something if he studies hard, but narrow-minded, vengeful, and arrogant, likely to slide into extremist paths.]
[Recent Encounter: Deep contact with beast types, strayed too far down the wrong path, insufficient bl**d essence to sustain himself, preparing to devour beast bl**d, gradually losing reason.]
“Beast types?”
Li Mo raised an eyebrow.
What puzzled him wasn’t Wang Hu’s fate but rather the fact that he had connections with the Huanmo Sect.
Before the trial, outer sect disciples weren’t allowed to leave the sect unless they withdrew.
If he had always been in the Qingyuan Sect, then where did his contacts with the Huanmo Sect come from?
“This trial is probably going to be unusual,” Li Mo pondered for a moment.
Hmm, if a Heavenly Fate girl were involved, that wouldn’t be normal at all.
According to the usual script, Little Ice Girl would probably pull off some miraculous comeback, right?
Since he knew about it…
“Master!”
Li Mo sprinted over to where the elders were sitting.
“Hmm?”
Shang Wu was napping, but as soon as he heard his disciple’s voice, he rubbed his hair while half-awake:
“Is it time for lunch?”
“I’ll treat you to a meal after the trial. I have something to report,” Li Mo replied, sharing his insights.
However, he found a convenient justification to overshadow other reasons revealed by the Heavenly Fate Divine Eyes.
When he mentioned the words ‘Huanmo Sect,’
Xue Jing, Qian Bufan, and instantly turned serious, even Shang Wu’s sleepy demeanor dissipated.
“Are you sure it’s a Huanmo Sect disciple? This matter is no joke.”
Qian Bufan’s voice was low, his brow showing unmistakable concern.
“My father served as a county officer and once captured a demon from the Huanmo Sect. I just felt a familiar aura. I can’t be sure, but considering the gravity of this situation, it’s best to report it to the elders. Even if it turns out to be a false alarm, it’s better than not saying anything,” Li Mo explained reasonably.
“Little Mo is sensible,” Xue Jing nodded after a moment of consideration, adding:
“There’s a 90% chance that kid Wang Hu has practiced Huanmo Sect’s evil techniques and is cultivating beast bl**d.”
“Claws into our Qingyuan Sect, huh?”
Elder Yin Huaxuan abruptly stood up, seemingly ready to drag Wang Hu in for questioning.
“Yin Huaxuan, hold your horses!”
Xue Jing stopped him, his gaze towards Li Mo showing a bit more satisfaction as he said:
“We understand now. You can return and continue your trial like nothing happened.”
“Understood.”
Li Mo complied readily.
Elder Xue probably had other plans in mind.
Within the Qingyuan Sect, if the elders couldn’t handle Wang Hu, then no amount of thoughts from him would help.
…
Half an hour later.
Qian Bufan stood in front of everyone, hands behind his back, explaining the trial rules:
“Regular beasts don’t count.”
“Nine-Rank Early, Mid, and Late beasts score 1, 3, and 15 points respectively.”
“Of course, there are also Nine-Rank Peak beasts, which are worth 100 points, but they’re no match for those at the Internal Breathing Realm – it’s best not to try them too easily.”
“If you’re in a bind, you may release a signal arrow, and inner sect enforcers will come.”
After Qian Bufan finished, he returned to his seat.
With his last word settling, the disciples received their signal arrows and chose their weapons.
More than a thousand people, like a tidal wave, entered the forest.
“Elder Yin Huaxuan,”
Xue Jing suddenly spoke up.
“Mm.”
Yin Huaxuan nodded.
He blew into a bone whistle, sending out over a thousand birds from Divine Beast Peak, some flew into the woods while others circled above.
…
After a cup of tea, a signal arrow rang in the sky.
Soon, an inner sect enforcer returned, dragging a black panther carcass behind him. This black panther was the size of a calf and its eyes were wide open, a fierce demeanor frozen on its face.
The fatal wound was at its throat, where a single sword had sealed it off, not a drop of bl**d spilled.
Because the wound was frozen solid.
“Ying Bing, take note,” Qian Bufan said, eyes wide in amazement.
“There are plenty of disciples capable of killing Nine-Rank beasts, but to do it so cleanly and efficiently is rare.”
Yin Huaxuan’s eyes flashed.
“If I suppressed my realm to a bl**d Qi Realm, I still couldn’t achieve such a clean execution.”
Xue Jing clicked his tongue in astonishment.
“Little Ice Girl seems to lack actual combat experience before.”
Shang Wu’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Killing a beast for the first time, and it looked as effortless as slaughtering a chicken.
Many highly talented disciples, despite their formidable strength, often faltered in front of beasts, unable to muster their full power against the oppressive aura.
Some people thrived under pressure, fighting harder the more challenging it got—like her.
Shang Wu called it the innate combat physique.
“Why hasn’t my clever disciple made any notable moves yet?”
The grand master propped his chin with one hand, half-open eyes showing hints of drowsiness as if about to doze off again.
Whoooosh—
Another signal arrow rang out.
“Li Mo, killed a Nine-Rank Early beast!”
The inner sect enforcer dragging back the beast made the elders fall into deep thought.
After observing for a while, Xue Jing hesitantly said,
“This thing… is it a Winged Tooth Snake?”
Let’s be honest.
If it weren’t for Elder Xue having just used the scales of a Winged Tooth Snake to concoct medicine, he wouldn’t have recognized what this thing was.
This ‘snake corpse’ had its head exploded, fangs shattered, and all its bones broken, leading its long body to crumple up like a soda can someone stepped on.
Brutal.
A complete contrast to Ying Bing.
Qian Bufan, rubbing his plump belly, fell into thought:
“Shang Wu, wasn’t Li Mo practicing… sword techniques?”
“He’s also quite skilled in the Six Harmonies Fist.”
Shang Wu shrugged, indicating it wasn’t her problem.
Yin Huaxuan picked up a shard of snake fang:
“The most durable part of the Winged Tooth Snake is its fangs, yet they were smashed along with the body in one punch.”
“This kid’s realm now isn’t beneath Ying Bing.”
“Plus he’s likely practicing some horizontal training technique?”
Xue Jing felt chills run down his spine.
The elders had no objections; with their discerning eyes, they could tell a lot from the battle traces left behind.
In terms of fending off Nine-Rank Early beasts, Li Mo’s performance wasn’t inferior to Ying Bing’s.
But the elders opened their mouths, unsure if they should praise him or not.
The combat style was eerily similar to a certain someone…
One Shang Wu was enough of a headache for the Qingyuan Sect!
What if a second one popped up?
“Sigh, Old Xue, you’re such a blockhead. Why didn’t you take this kid under your wing back then?”
“?? I already had a full quota for direct disciples; Elder Qian had an opening, so why didn’t he take him?”
“I wanted to take him back then; it’s just that Shang Wu’s niece got to him first.”
“You really are a blockhead!”
“Is it too late to keep him from going down the wrong path now?”
The elders sighed collectively.
Shang Wu leapt to her feet, hands on her hips, one fist cracking knuckles:
“If you want to steal my star disciple, fine! Whoever beats me, my precious disciple goes to them.”
The stage suddenly fell silent.
