Chapter 708 - Storm List
Ye Qingyu did not reply and instead appeared to have gone into meditation.
Likewise, nobody among the watching crowd said a word.
In fact, everyone concealed their auras so as not to disturb him, and placed their attention firmly upon the white-robed figure in front of the Wall of Storm.
They waited with bated breath.
They were waiting for their domain's strongest War God, who had only ever provided them with pleasant surprises and new knowledge, to unleash a strike capable of reversing the situation.
This was a kind of trust that had been engraved in their hearts and souls, and which was close to being divine worship.
Seeing that Ye Qingyu paid him no attention, the gloom in Huang Tayun's pupils deepened.
"Lord Shangguan, this kid is clearly making fun of us. Let's not wait any further. This despicable bastard is just playing for time. In my capacity as an examiner, I hereby cancel his eligibility for the test, and hand him over to Divine Guard Huang Lin to be harshly trialed for theft!" Huang Tayun thundered.
Shangguan Wu frowned.
Just then.
Ye Qingyu, who had been concentratedly observing the Wall of Storm, finally reacted.
He slowly turned his head back to look at Huang Tayun, revealing a pinch of pity in his eyes, and said in a placid voice, "Lord Huang, I've always been curious why, despite being a fellow human, you've treated us as enemies and given us a hard time again and again. There has to be some special reason for your overbearing manner... but, I'm afraid you're about to be disappointed! Keep your eyes wide open and watch!"
While his words were still lingering in the air.
Ye Qingyu delivered a punch forth.
His fist seemed calm and did not contain a particularly intense amount of yuan qi or energy.
Neither did it transform into a dragon claw.
He did not utilize the [Supreme Ice Flame] or the power of thunder and lightning.
All that was on his fist was a pale layer of green light which resembled a green flame that burned soundlessly.
Every breath halted.
Every gaze froze.
Every heartbeat disappeared.
Everyone was looking at this scene.
They saw Ye Qingyu's fist drill its way through the wall slowly yet effortlessly, as if it was going through a water curtain.
The green glow of the fist blended in with the wall and formed ripples on its surface without causing any heaven-and-earth-shaking undulations, as if the fist was reaching into a pale green lake.
He punched through.
He punched through for real!
All around was a deathly gloom.
Nothing was heard throughout the entire test plaza.
Even the winds and clouds seemed to abruptly cease moving. All movement and breathing sounds disappeared, such that the entire space appeared to have frozen in place.
Everyone within and without the plaza was in a state of utmost mental shock.
Especially Huang Tayun.
Due to his inordinate horror, his entire being was in a state of stupefaction. His eyes were out of focus and his body stood motionlessly.
Meanwhile, Shangguan Wu stared wide-eyed as though he had seen a ghost in daylight.
Although he had been a little expectant that a miracle might just happen for this white-robed young man, he was nevertheless completely shocked out of his wits and verbal ability when he saw the Wall of Storm being so easily punched through.
Ten breaths later.
Huang Tayun's fingertips trembled lightly.
Devoid of all senses, he looked in Ye Qingyu's direction while exclaiming to himself, "How can this be... impossible... how did he..."
Several people regained their senses upon hearing these shrieks and subconsciously looked at Huang Tayun.
"Impossible!" The latter continued to bawl dispiritedly as though he was possessed.
"Nothing's impossible in this world." Ye Qingyu looked indifferent as he spoke in a placid voice. He remained facing the wall as he slowly drew back his arm.
The hole gradually closed up on its own in pace with the arm pulling away.
The green aura-emanating wall gradually regained its integrity.
Standing tall in front of the wall he just punched through, Ye appeared to be a deity who had just returned from a hundred victorious battles. Though his body showed no outflow of energy, it seemingly emanated an overbearing pressure which caused others to tremble and submit to him.
At the same time, an unexpected change appeared on the wall.
The green misty glow which had gently undulated on the wall seemed as if it was attracted by a strange power. Like the convergence of a hundred rivers, it then formed into a huge green misty vortex which surged toward the dwindling hole. Within a few breaths' time, the hole absorbed the green mist entirely, in the manner of a living thing taking a drink.
The green glow dissipated.
The entire surface of the wall became extremely glossy, just like a reflective mirror.
"Look, what's that?" a Heaven Wasteland expert suddenly cried out in alarm upon seeing something unimaginable.
In a flash , everyone who was in a state of shock instinctively shifted their sights onto the glossy wall.
In a bottom-up direction, tiny bulges began to appear on the surface and, a few breaths later, formed into several words!
"Thirty... Xue... Fei... Han?!"
"What does thirty mean? Is it a ranking?"
"Xue Feihan? Is that... a name?"
"Who is he?"
"Why are there words forming on the Wall of Storm?"
The Heaven Wasteland experts in the middle of the plaza revealed looks of extreme puzzlement.
The people nearest to the wall, including Yu Xiaoxing, Wen Wan, and Ximen Yeshui, saw the shock and doubt in one another's eyes as they exchanged glances. Shaking their heads, they could not understand this unexpected change.
Within the crowd, Old Fish shot out a bright beam from his pupils, appearing somewhat excited.
Ye Qingyu's attention was also attracted by the unexpected change to the wall.
He was clearly unaware of it prior to this.
However, there were two people in front of the wall whose expressions were entirely different from everyone else.
If everyone else's expressions were that of shock and doubt, then these two's expressions could be described as complete shock and vacuity.
It could even be said that ever since changes occurred on the wall, these two people had begun to look terrified.
They were none other than the examiners of the Wall of Storm test - Huang Tayun, the Violet Gold Divine Office front court supervisor, and Shangguan Wu, the Violet Gold Divine Guards Deputy Commander.
The former, whose face had turned ghastly pale when Ye Qingyu punched through the wall, was still trembling slightly and unconsciously from the excessive shock. He was completely devoid of his usual composure when making plans, and his face looked utterly hideous as if he had seen a ghost in daylight.
The latter remained in a state of shock and was also entirely unaware that he was mumbling stupidly to himself.
"This... this is the Sto... Storm List... heavens, is it really the Storm List?" A disjointed string of words poured out of his mouth.
Discussion voices were gradually heard from among the crowd.
"Storm... List?"
"Is it a grading ranking list?"
"Could it be something passed down from the Storm Martial Emperor?"
"Look, there are 26 names already..."
Names were arranged bottom-up on the wall, and every new name that appeared had an ever more dazzling green glow.
Several dozen breaths later.
As the 14th-placed name, Guang Bi, appeared, the crowd became even more surprised and confused.
Some of these names appeared to be human ones, while others were likelier to be surnames and names exclusive to the Demon Race or Brute Race, but regardless of which races they were from, the names which appeared on the Storm List were terribly unheard of by and unfamiliar to the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps.
At present, nobody could understand the underlying reason for this change.
Neither did they know the significance of these names.
Therefore, even though they had their suspicions, they dared not speculate baselessly.
Ye Qingyu gazed at the wall as new names continued to appear gradually, before shifting his sight to the flaming-red-haired plump elder, Yan Wushuang.
The latter had not been bothering to wipe the sweat from his clammy face, on which large beads of sweat could be found even on his brows and eyelids.
Appearing greatly astonished, he was looking with full attention at the wall, but turned his head toward Ye Qingyu when he sensed an incoming glance from the crowd.
"The Storm List and these names, what are they about?" Ye Qingyu moved closer and asked.
He was certain that, in order to understand this matter clearly, the person he needed to ask was this elder who was responsible for guiding the envoy mission, rather than the examiner who was only responsible for the test.
Yan Wushuang remained smiling even as his tiny briquette-like eyes stared on roundedly in shock, an odd sight to behold. When he heard Ye's enquiry, he moved closer and explained the origin of the Storm List in a lowered voice.
Over millions and millions of years, new domains were continually born in the Vast Thousand Domains.
When a new domain's strength reached a certain level, it would appear on the space-time coordinates and naturally be discovered by the Alliance of Domains which oversaw the various large domains.
When it was time for it to be recognized, the new domain would participate in the domain rating designated by the Alliance. Just like the Heaven Wasteland Domain was currently doing, it would send an envoy mission on the route consisting of various tests in the nineteen cities of chaos and which eventually leads to the Chaotic Sky City where the domain would be rated.
Naturally, over these millions and millions of years, countless envoy missions had participated in the Wall of Storm test.
The wall was built by the Storm Martial Emperor and thus possessed many layers of magical power and divinity. Legend had it that it was not only a tool for testing strength but also a recording and assessing instrument. Over the years, it had recorded the names of numerous "demon-like" supreme talents who had passed the test, and ranked them based on their assessed strength and potential.
"It's believed that the list records the names of the thirty most 'demon-like' supreme talents. Whenever a new talent is found, the list will be updated and the last-placed name will disappear. This is the so-called Storm List," a chuckling Yan Wushuang explained as he wiped away large amounts of sweat.
It seemed that he would perspire at an ever more insane rate whenever he had emotional changes.
"I see... Do you know where these demon-like supreme talents whose names appear on the wall are now?" Ye Qingyu could not help asking as he looked at the names appearing in succession, each more dazzling than the last.