Chapter Nine: The Curtain Falls

Chen Fan found it easy to kill a fifth-level demon beast; with an eruption of his essence core, three or five punches were enough to finish one off.

But facing ten of them at once was an entirely different matter. At that moment, he no longer had the protection of the Silver-Leaf Soft Armor, and even he could not ignore attacks from fifth-level demon beasts.

If his perfected Three Thousand Thunder Moves had not reached the level of subtle mastery, allowing him to use Thunder Flash at will, he might not have survived even ten breaths.

“Hu... hu...”

This round had cost him the equivalent of three essence cores’ worth of time before he finally wore down and killed all ten demon beasts one by one. His breathing was ragged, and by now he was covered in quite a few injuries.

His ranking rose to 415th place.

“My true essence cannot leave my body, and I lack area-of-effect techniques. This is still too exhausting...”

Chen Fan clearly remembered how, back then, when Eldest Senior Brother had unleashed a single blade gleam, the disciples of the Four Symbols Sect had fallen in a heap.

Then, when the next round of the trial began and four fifth-level demon beasts, accompanied by one sixth-level demon beast, appeared before Chen Fan, he understood clearly that it would be hard for him to keep winning.

The gap between fifth-level and sixth-level demon beasts was simply too great.

Sixth-level demon beasts were terrifying beyond measure.

Even one-on-one, Chen Fan estimated that even if he used every trick at his disposal, he still might not be able to kill it, let alone while the other four fifth-level demon beasts harried him from the side.

What was more, he had been fighting continuously, and his simulated body was already badly injured. His essence core had also been consumed again and again, leaving his body under considerable strain.

And yet he was unwilling to admit defeat so easily.

He kept driving the finely controlled Thunder Flash of Three Thousand Thunder Moves, darting and weaving through the air, then seizing every opening to strike, walking the razor’s edge between life and death.

In the end, he managed to kill only three fifth-level demon beasts before the sixth-level demon beast struck him with a single claw, killing him on the spot.

His body dispersed within the Ten Thousand Phenomena Illusory Realm.

...

“Hu!”

Chen Fan opened his eyes and found himself back in the plaza. Around him, seven or eight out of every ten people were already gone. His face had gone pale.

It had to be said that even dying in an illusion was a painful experience.

“Junior Brother Chen Fan!”

“Chen Fan!”

Chi Liuguang and Zhang Fan were standing not far away on either side of Chen Fan, looking at him with odd expressions.

“Do you know your ranking?”

Chen Fan nodded and looked toward the names on the surface of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Jug not far away.

Before Chen Fan’s name was the number 398.

In that final round, he had killed three extra fifth-level demon beasts, and thus climbed nearly twenty more places!

Zhang Fan let out a sigh.

“Setting age aside, Junior Brother Chen Fan, you should already be the number one performer in this trial! Even in terms of raw strength, among the disciples of the Academy’s Star Tower, you should rank in the upper middle at the very least. I even suspect there isn’t a stronger fourth-stage martial artist in the entire academy than you!”

Chen Fan shook his head. Seeing that some of the surrounding trial participants still had their eyes closed, he could not help but freeze slightly.

“I’m first? The trial shouldn’t be over yet, should it?”

Zhang Fan gave a wry smile.

“They have no way to compare with you at all. Look at your score tier. Even the second-place contestant, a fifth-stage martial artist, is already over six hundred places behind. There is absolutely no comparison...”

Chen Fan gave a slight nod, but there was not much joy on his face.

His strength might be formidable among the newly admitted disciples, but among all the disciples of the Martial Academy, he still could not even break into the top three hundred. The gap between him and the truly top-tier disciples remained considerable.

Another stick of incense later, at another part of the plaza.

Yan Lincu’s face flushed red as he opened his eyes, instantly bursting with excitement.

“Hahaha! With only third-stage martial cultivation, I forced my way into the top eight hundred. There isn’t a third-stage martial artist in the Martial Academy stronger than me... Chen Fan, you’re finished!”

Beside him, Chai Yong and Zhao Hei had already awakened as well. Both wore expressions of delight, though there was also a hint of awkwardness.

“Junior Brother Yan, keep your voice down...”

Yan Lincu froze, then looked at the two senior brothers in confusion.

Noticing their odd behavior, he lowered his head to look for his own name, but before he even found it, he saw Chen Fan’s name at the top of the list.

“Three hundred and ninety? How is that possible?!!”

Yan Lincu’s eyes widened, and the color drained from his face.

“He’s only third-stage martial cultivation. How could his rank be so high!”

Not to mention third-stage martial artists, not even fourth-stage disciples of the Martial Academy could reach such a position.

Chai Yong coughed twice and said in a strange tone, “A few months ago, during the Demon-Slaying Assembly, he really was only third-stage...”

...

The trial ended.

In the end, fewer than a hundred disciples remained to have their names recorded by the Martial Academy, and all of those several dozen were geniuses capable of fighting above their level, possessing formidable real-combat ability.

Among them were even quite a few prodigies who had grasped the realm of subtle mastery.

The rest of the failures could only leave in silence, waiting for next year’s assessment.

When the results of the third round were tallied, and scores were calculated according to age and individual ranking, Chen Fan received yet another top grade.

With three top grades, Chen Fan naturally became the undisputed number one in this assessment.

Yan Lincu, though a blood physique, had not yet been developed for long enough and ultimately only took third place. As for the city prodigy Cha Wentong, whom Chen Fan had once met, he ranked fifth, narrowly missing the chance to enter the Star Tower directly.

Unfortunately, Zhang Fan placed outside the top ten, while Chi Liuguang came in around thirtieth or fortieth. For the time being, neither of them could enter the Star Tower.

Still, with their talent and strength, a few more years of tempering should make entering the Star Tower no problem in the future.

...

The assessment drew to a close.

Several dozen newly admitted disciples followed Mao Wangchen into the Martial Academy’s ancestral shrine.

Incense was burned to honor the forebears.

Mao Wangchen’s white robe billowed, his expression solemn and dignified.

“In the twenty-sixth year of the Great Hunt era, our Qingming Martial Academy has welcomed a total of seventy-two new disciples...”

The new disciples each held incense and paid their respects.

The Great Hunt era referred to the current imperial era of Great Qian, which had begun twenty-six years earlier, when the present Emperor of Great Qian had gone hunting and encountered the one-horned divine beast, the White Qilin, thus marking the years by an auspicious omen.

This year was the twenty-sixth year of the Great Hunt era.

After Mao Wangchen finished the ancestral rites and gave his words of encouragement, he dismissed the newcomers, then kept Chen Fan behind alone.

He was to meet the upper management.

The Nineteenth Prince of Great Qian was also present.

“So you are Chen Fan. Indeed, you are impressive in appearance and extraordinary in spirit!”

The Nineteenth Prince smiled warmly at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan cupped his fists. “Thank you for your praise, Your Highness.”

The prince appeared to be around thirty years old. He gave off a strong sense of pressure and was likely an accomplished martial expert as well, though Chen Fan did not know whether he had reached the grandmaster realm.

Moreover, his words were courteous, lacking the distant and aloof air so common to royalty.

He was as refreshing as a spring breeze—a man of substance.

The academy head, Mao Wangchen, stroked his beard and looked at Chen Fan with satisfaction.

“Chen Fan, I have seen your physical examination results. You are not of a special constitution. Yet at the age of fifteen, you managed to achieve a top grade in the strength test; you must already have reached the limit of blood and qi, yes?”

Before the Martial Academy’s assessment, there had to be checks for bone age and banned medicine.

So these people all had information about Chen Fan.

“You have discerning eyes, Headmaster!” Chen Fan said with a clasped-fist salute.

Mao Wangchen nodded with a smile.

“Haha, remarkable. To have reached the limit of blood and qi before the age of fifteen—strong blood and qi can accelerate the refinement of true essence, and its impact is no less important than that of one’s bones and marrow. In your cultivation of true martial arts, your advantage is no weaker than that of an ordinary blood physique. Good, very good.”

Looking across the two prefectures, reaching the limit of blood and qi was rare, but not unheard of. Yet to reach it before fifteen and still climb into the top four hundred of the Martial Academy—that was truly extraordinary.

“Your ranking is already higher than that of most Star Tower disciples. Our Qingming Martial Academy has not seen someone as remarkable as you in decades. Taking first place is well-deserved. Tell me, what kind of weapon-type spirit artifact do you want?”

Mao Wangchen narrowed his eyes.

Chen Fan had already decided long ago, and without hesitation he said at once, “This disciple wants a pair of spirit artifact gauntlets!”

The most powerful technique he possessed now was still Nine Sun Tyrant Tiger Fist.

Three-Foot Sword, though formidable, was still at too low a level of mastery, and besides, he already had a fine-grade black sword that was sufficient for his use.

As soon as he said this, the people around him all froze slightly.

Even Ye Wuji, standing in the crowd, shot Chen Fan a series of meaningful looks...

“Gauntlets?”

Mao Wangchen laughed as he looked at Chen Fan. “Are you certain you want gauntlets?”