Chapter 674: Sowing Discord
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The monstrous beasts killed during the task could still increase one’s cultivation. There were countless monstrous beasts in the stone ocean and demon forest. For them, it was equivalent to a rare hunting ground. Once a human practitioner’s cultivation reached their normal level, the number of monstrous beasts that they had to kill if they wanted to improve further was too many.
With Mo Wen’s current cultivation, if he wanted to step forward and reach the later stage of the Golden Elixir Realm, he needed the power of starlight. He would need the total sum of the power of starlight that he had collected up until now. It could be said that only with the power from killing four Beast Kings could he possibly go up a rank.
Also, even if Mo Wen reached the later stage of the Golden Elixir Realm, his Inner Qi cultivation still could not compare to that of a Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Becoming a Martial Arts Grandmaster was a watershed moment for ancient martial art practitioners. In the ancient martial arts world, there were probably quite a few ancient martial art practitioners who had the pinnacle of the Golden Elixir Realm cultivation, but Martial Arts Grandmasters were rare. A sect with one Martial Arts Grandmaster could be called a large sect.
For ancient martial art practitioners whose cultivation had reached the pinnacle of the Golden Elixir Realm, if they wanted to improve further and reach the level of Martial Arts Grandmaster, the power of starlight that they would need would be immense.
Even the white-robed woman whose cultivation was closest to that of a Martial Arts Grandmaster would still need the power from killing at least three Beast Kings if she wanted to improve further and reach the level of Martial Arts Grandmaster,
Of course, this was only a comparison. The white-robed woman was not an ancient martial art practitioner, but an immortal cultivator. However, in terms of realm, there was little difference between immortal cultivators and ancient martial art practitioners. The Golden Elixir Realm of immortal cultivators was almost the same as the Golden Elixir Realm of ancient martial art practitioners.
However, among immortal cultivators, there did not exist the level of Martial Arts Grandmaster. For immortal cultivators, before the Primordial Soul Realm, as long as they had yet to coalesce a Primordial Soul, no matter how powerful they were, they could only be considered to be of the Golden Elixir Realm.
Mo Wen slaughtered monstrous beasts along his way. Within six hours, they had to traverse a thousand kilometers, reaching the other end of the stone ocean and demon forest.
In the minds of each Human Warrior, they had a set of coordinates that allowed them to locate the spot very precisely. They did not need to worry about getting lost in the stone ocean and demon forest.
Mo Wen pointed his finger and a beam of black light flashed, directly penetrating more than ten monstrous beasts. The monstrous beasts were all turned into ice sculptures.
Time gradually passed. In the blink of an eye, two hours had gone by. Mo Wen had already traversed more than five hundred kilometers. Among the seven, he was not the fastest. There were three others in front of him: the white-robed woman, the leader of the Ghost Lair and the cultivation rich Tan Qiyue. There were also three people behind him. However, they were not far behind— no more than fifty kilometers separated them from Mo Wen.
The first stage of the task was not a difficult feat for human ancient martial art practitioners with cultivation at the pinnacle of the Golden Elixir Realm.
However, Mo Wen also discovered that the further they made their way through the sea of beasts, the more powerful the monstrous beasts that they encountered were. Their numbers did not decrease, but their ranks kept increasing. At first, among a hundred monstrous beasts, there would only be one seventh-rank monstrous beast. Right now, there were at least thirty.
Mo Wen was happy instead of being surprised. The higher the rank of the monstrous beasts, the faster his cultivation would increase. The faster the increase, the greater the improvement. For him, the first stage should not pose any difficulty. Even if there was a Beast King blocking them later on, he believed that he could break through.
When the group slaughtered their way to the far side of the forest, the monstrous beasts became more and more powerful. Later on, among the monstrous beast pack, there were almost no monstrous beasts below the seventh rank.
They had already traversed more than nine hundred kilometers. They were just fifty kilometers away from the goal.
But at this stage, not only did all of the monstrous beasts have seventh rank cultivation, but many were also at the pinnacle of the seventh rank. The group’s speed finally slowed down.
Only four hours had passed. There was still quite some time before the six hours were up.
Mo Wen intentionally did not press forward anymore. Instead, he chose a spot to stop, trying his best to kill the monstrous beasts to increase his own cultivation.
Right now, he also realized that in this stage, the Tower Spirit did not seem to be making things difficult for them. Instead, it seemed to be giving them an opportunity to kill monstrous beasts and increase their cultivation. The next stage would most likely be the true trial.
Mo Wen was not the only one to stop. The white-robed woman and Ghost Lair leader in front also seemed to slow down in unison. They tried their best to reduce their speed and kill more monstrous beasts.
With them slowing down, the people at the rear caught up. Unknowingly, the seven of them had gathered together again.
Gao Hanshan looked at Mo Wen in astonishment. He had tried his best to catch up along the way, but he was still so much slower than Mo Wen. If they had the same cultivation, he most likely would not be a match for this youth.
Lan Zhongzhi followed behind Gao Hanshan. Everywhere he passed, Cold Qi swept past, turning monstrous beasts into ice sculptures one after another. Although the Tower Spirit restricted his cultivation, it did not restrict his martial arts method realm. He had practiced the Cold Water Cloud Technique to the highest realm. His Cold Qi was also extremely powerful.
Among the seven of them, Bu Xingyi was the weakest in both ability and cultivation. He only caught up fifteen minutes after the others arrived.
The few of them had a tacit understanding with one another. Without interacting with each other, they focused on killing monstrous beasts, trying their best to kill as many as they could, causing their own cultivation to become more powerful.
When there were just fifteen minutes remaining, only then did all of them continue pressing forward.
They swept through the forest. When they were just ten kilometers away, able to almost see the goal in the distance, a dark beast shadow came surging towards them. The monstrous beasts actually all had the pinnacle of the seventh rank cultivation. There were even quite a few Beast Kings among them.
Mo Wen’s expression stiffened. There was not just one or two pinnacle of the seventh rank monstrous beasts, but hundreds and thousands of them. There were even Beast Kings among them. It would not be easy to break through. A careless mistake would very likely end up with their lives ending here.
Aside from Nangong Mingzhu and Chu Yuan whose expressions remained unchanged, the expressions of the other four turned ugly. The difficulty of the final stretch was actually so high.
“Little boy Mo Wen, why is your expression somewhat off? Could it be that since we are reaching the finish line, you think that the difficulty of the task is too low and not enough to challenge a genius like yourself?” Bu Xingyi said mockingly as he laughed coldly. At some point, he had appeared near Mo Wen.
The more spectacularly Mo Wen performed, the more uncomfortable Bu Xingyi felt. Maybe because he had lost at the hands of Mo Wen in public, anytime Mo Wen enjoyed the limelight, Bu Xingyi always felt that Mo Wen was mocking him. How could Bu Xingyi, a dignified Martial Arts Grandmaster, let a junior act conceited before him?
Although he felt troubled by the situation at hand, he was still a Martial Arts Grandmaster and was used to big occasions. Mo Wen was but an ignoramus. He probably had not come in contact with such terrifying existences like the Beast Kings before. When encountering such a situation, it was likely that he would be so scared that his knees would turn weak.
“What are you trying to say?” Mo Wen looked at Bu Xingyi.
“I believe that such a brilliant genius like you should be the first to pass this checkpoint and reach the end goal. Before this, the fact that you intentionally dropped to fourth place and let Nangong Mingzhu and Chu Yuan win, you were being too low profile. At the last stretch, you aren’t going to just let them win, are you?” Bu Xingyi said with a plain smile. He put on a look as though Mo Wen was the most exceptional person here and should not be trailing behind.
Mo Wen smiled. At this moment, Bu Xingyi was actually still sowing discord, drawing aggro to Mo Wen. However, Mo Wen wondered how Bu Xingyi managed to practice to the realm of Martial Arts Grandmaster. How could his IQ be so low?
Nearby, Nangong Mingzhu raised her eyebrows as she gave Bu Xingyi a cold glance. This old thing was actually sowing discord, intending to use her for his own means.
Black-robed Chu Yuan also looked at Bu Xingyi with fascination. His eyes contained an indescribably sinister look.
Bu Xingyi felt an inexplicable chill in his body. He realized that his provocative words had pushed himself up onto the precipice. However, he did not mind. As the Ming Temple’s Sect Grand Elder, since when had he feared anyone?
“If it wasn’t for the Tower Spirit task, do you believe that I would have killed you right now?”
Mo Wen released an astonishing Cold Qi from his body. The Cold Qi swept out, enveloping Bu Xingyi’s body. The chill penetrated to his bones, suppressing the Enlightened Buddha Sacred Flame in Bu Xingyi’s body until it flickered.
“You are presumptuous…”
Mo Wen’s contemptuous expression immediately caused Bu Xingyi to react. He, a dignified Martial Arts Grandmaster, had been threatened time and time again by a junior. It was practically presumptuous… too presumptuous!
“One Mo Wen can kill you three times over. Old thing Bu, you’d better know your place,” Gao Hanshan said plainly.
Gao Clan and the Ming Temple had been battling for a few hundred years. The grudge between the two of them could be said to be eternal. He naturally would not act courteously in front of Bu Xingyi.
“Three? Too few,” Mo Wen said casually as he gave Gao Hanshan a glance, as though they were engaging in small talk.
“Of course, I am saving him some face. After all, although he is an embarrassment, he is still a Martial Arts Grandmaster. Although I am ashamed of him, I still need to give him some face,” Gao Hanshan said calmly.
The two of them went back and forth, angering Bu Xingyi to the extreme. His face turned red and he could not speak for a while.
Lan Zhongzhi gave Mo Wen an odd look. He had not expected that this Mo Wen would be so daring, actually having the guts to openly offend the Ming Temple’s Sect Grand Elder. Maybe here, Bu Xingyi could not handle him but once they were out of this space, Bu Xingyi, a dignified Martial Arts Grandmaster, most likely could crush him with one hand.
Youngsters were wild and frivolous. Lan Zhongzhi felt a pang of emotion well up inside of him. However, in daring to insult a Martial Arts Grandmaster, Mo Wen could still be called a maniac.
“Mo Wen, you brat. Once I get out of this forsaken space, I will tear you to shreds!” Bu Xingyi was so angry that he was trembling all over. However, right at this moment, he couldn’t do anything to Mo Wen.
Mo Wen ignored Bu Xingyi. With a flash of his silhouette, he dashed into the beast pack blocking their way. Nangong Mingzhu and Chu Yuan had both traveled far into the beast pack.
Within ten kilometers, it was a minefield. Anyone who stepped into the minefield would be surrounded by the monstrous beasts.
More than ten pinnacle of the seventh rank monstrous beasts surrounded him in an instant. Their bodies emanated monstrous Devil Qi. The terrifying aura was enough to paralyze an Embryonic Breathing Realm ancient martial art practitioner with fright, causing them to fall to the ground and be unable to stand up.
A small, purple bell appeared in Mo Wen’s hand. The next moment, his eyes lit up with two masses of golden flames.
Ding! A soft ring sounded. The more than ten pinnacle of the seventh rank monstrous beasts that were heading towards Mo Wen all trembled, their huge figures freezing on the spot.
Mo Wen’s silhouette was like a gust of wind. He sped past in one sweep, directly passing through the encirclement of the monstrous beasts.
He did not dare to stop and attack these monstrous beasts. He was afraid that, with a slight delay, more monstrous beasts would surround him. Once he was surrounded by a pack of the pinnacle of the seventh rank monstrous beasts, escaping would be too difficult.
Against such a beast pack, Mo Wen had already forsaken the intention of hunting. Being able to slip through the cracks and escape was enough.
Not killing enemies and just pressing forward was much easier for Mo Wen.
With the Glory of Wind combined with the Glory of Cloud, Mo Wen was like the wind and clouds. He floated unpredictably, passing in between the monstrous beasts. There were actually no monstrous beasts that could block him. In a short while, he had already caught up with Nangong Mingzhu and the Ghost Lair leader Chu Yuan.