Chapter 26: Ryan Fang
Unknown to Zen, someone stood straight-faced outside the Bloody Mountain, clenching his fists indignantly.
Outside the mountain, all the tutors from the Cloud Sect were standing next to a Picture Slab, carefully monitoring the performance of each participant within the Bloody Mountain.
Because they assigned the disciples based on ability and performance. However, according to the rules, disciples who passed the test would be allowed to choose their tutors.
These tutors?monitored as early and carefully as possible, so that they had a general assessment of the disciples who participated in the blooded test. Then they made their decisions. They all wanted to find and draw the talents into their folds.
Anyone participating in the blooded test received a disciple card. Through the disciple card they carried, the tutors could see where each participant was and what they were doing.
At that moment, Dylan Fang was expressionless. Although he was the Dragon Peak tutor, he was also a member of the Fang Clan.
Fang Clan sent four clansmen to participate in the blooded test. And Dylan was instructed to ensure that no matter what happened, those four were to pass the test.
As a matter of fact, the pass rate of the disciples?from the noble clans?was much higher than any of the disciples that were commoners.
Among over one thousand lowborn disciples, approximately two hundred might pass the blooded test.
About one hundred and seventy of the two hundred noble clansmen would pass the test.
There was always a large gap between the classes because most of the commoners were fearful of the noble clans from birth. They also were fearful of offending the families behind these disciples.
With such a low pass rate, although there was a larger group of commoners, most of them would just end up being bit part players.
Before the blooded test started, Dylan?Fang had returned?home once where he patted his chest to make a solemn promise to the whole clan that all four family members would pass the blooded test.
Nevertheless, two of them were just eliminated from the blooded test.
Just then, two rays of light shot from a spot in the Bloody Mountain, shooting straight into the sky. Those in charge of the blooded test climbed on flying chariots to retrieve the disciples that were eliminated from the blooded test.
Watching on the Picture Slab, he knew what had just happened. The fellow was becoming quite vicious. He made them crash their heads into each other hard. If not for the magic array, they would have died. They were two young members of his family and had bright futures.
“Dang it! How dare you!” exploded Dylan.
No common disciple had dared to treat a disciple from a noble clan so rudely in a long time. Generally speaking, if a noble clan child failed the blooded test, it was due to conflicts with another noble group. Sometimes, a noble disciple would fail because he was so cocksure of his talents?that he challenged an unreal beast in the fourth or the fifth layer. But, rarely were noble disciples washed out in the test by some ordinary disciple.
Dylan wanted to know who this commoner was, and make him pay the price for hurting disciples from the Fang Clan. He continually manipulated the Picture Slab, trying to find the young man's information from more than one thousand participants'. And soon enough, he saw?what he wanted. The boy's name was Zen Luo.
When he switched over to see what Zen was doing, he couldn't see anything.
The image on the slab became a blurred, snowy screen.
'Is the signal bad, or, is the Picture Slab broken?' wondered Dylan as he switched to the picture of another disciple, only to find that everything from that view was normal. He could see everyone's except Zen's.
'What's going on there?'
Dylan wasn't the only one encountering this issue. Other tutors were experiencing the same thing.
For better research, some tutors constantly switched from one image to another on their Picture Slabs, to observe each candidate. However, when they turned to Zen's picture, they saw a blurry image.
They didn't care much about this incident, thinking like Dylan, that there must be a bad connection. They just shook their heads and switched to the next one. As there were a lot of candidates to watch, it wasn't a big deal to miss one or two.
What none of the thirty-three tutors were aware of was that there was one tutor able to trace?Zen, and that was Master Su.
She had noticed what other tutors encountered, seeing heads shake and watching them move on to the next candidate; a mischievous grin spread across Master Su's pretty face. She attended the Picture Slab intently. If anyone was next to her, he would see Zen on the Picture Slab in front of her, instead of a blurred picture.
The reason no one could see Zen's performance but her was that she tampered with Zen's disciple card when she made an excuse to check his card.
Only by making sure that no one could watch Zen's performance would no one pay any attention to him. Zen should join her peak.
But, now she worried, 'Did the previous battle catch the attention of others?' Master Su sighed nervously. Although others could not trace?Zen, and could not see Zen's performance, they were able to perceive signs through other participants.
She prayed that Zen got enough crystals to pass the test, and she hoped that Zen?would not?become involved in any more fights. But, then again, those noble clan children were annoying, and always caused trouble. Master Su couldn't help but curl her lips upward in a sly grin.
Things didn't always go as master Su expected.
As two disciples from Dylan's family were eliminated from the test, his eyes blazed with anger, and he was fuming. Fang Clan had sent four disciples to participate in the?blooded test. Three were from offshoot branches and were?not as strong. However, one of them was Dylan's immediate family and the third son of the family's leader. His name was?Ryan Fang, and he was a mighty, talented?young man.
Dylan gave his word to the clan that all four would pass the test. Now, two were cut from the ranks. He waited impatiently. He connected to Ryan's disciple card via the Picture Slab, and without hesitation, he called out, sending his voice over the slab.
According to the blooded test rules, this was a violation. However, Dylan didn't care about anything.
“Ryan, Noah and Peace were eliminated from the blooded test! Someone did that to them!” Dylan said in a low but passionate voice over the Picture Slab to Ryan.
“What did you say? Who dared to do that to my people?” Ryan?replied as he ran swiftly on the third layer of the magic array. Behind him, six three-grade unreal beasts were chasing him. But he didn't rush in confusion. He didn't frown, and instead, he started chatting with Dylan.
“It was some guy named Zen Luo! Do you know him? He just doesn't quit! He dared to touch Noah and Peace,” stated Dylan, as he ground his teeth. He was so angry because Noah was his nephew, and in his immense family, was the closest to him. Dylan treated him as a son.
Comparatively, Ryan?was a direct line of descent. But, he was not that close to Dylan or other branches.
“I know him, where is he now?” asked Ryan coldly.
That was what Dylan wanted. He said smirking, “I will give you his location. He is still on the second layer!” Although Dylan couldn't see Zen, it was easy to check his location.
“Alright then, I will kill him after I deal with these imaginary beasts behind me,” said Ryan in an unusually bitter voice. In fact, in Ryan's heart, it wasn't a big deal that the stupid cowards from his family were kicked out of the game. It simply meant they were not eligible to enter the Cloud Sect.
But since these stupid cowards?were also members of his family, anyone who dared to cause harm must pay the price.
“Ryan, the guy is good at fighting, so, if you are not able to beat him down, consider swallowing the Mystical Pill!” suggested Dylan.
Fang Clan, was well known for refining pills with many famous alchemists in the family. The Mystical Pill was a pill worth a city. It could raise someone's range to a higher level in a short time, and greatly enhance their strength in a critical moment.
However, this pill could only be used if the person was below the nature level, and it was challenging to create. That was why Ryan?received just the one.
“Uncle Dylan, are you doubting me?” asked Ryan in a cold tone. He was the son of the head of the family. Even though Dylan was a tutor at the Cloud Sect, his status in the family was nothing compared with Ryan's and as such, Ryan didn't hold much respect for Dylan.
As Ryan finished speaking, he?sped up. Dylan watched as Ryan's body flew up to the left and twisted twice in the air as he nimbly clutched a short dagger, pulling a bright blue line from it.
As they touched the azure line, the beasts?chasing him, were all cut in two, changing first into dimming lights as they slowly dissipated in the air.
Soon, Ryan had killed six three-grade?unreal beasts.
Watching from his Picture Slab, Dylan's heart sank, as he soon realized how wrong he was. Ryan held tremendous power, and he surely had limitless prospects. This was someone he needed to please. So, softening his smile, Dylan said in a flattering manner, “No, that isn't what I meant. Maybe, I worry too much, you have superior strength and are unbeatable in Bloody Mountain. I have sent you Zen's location. Check it now.”
When Dylan was finished, Ryan's expression went blank. He turned and walked in the direction that Dylan directed.
At that point, Zen was continuing going deeper into Bloody Mountain, having killed two second-grade?unreal beasts. Able to have a small break from battling, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was exhausted, but, within moments, he heard an unnatural laugh and his face contorted.
There, standing in front of him, were twenty disciples from noble clans. They had set up a tollbooth, and anyone who wanted to get through was forced to hand over all their?crystal fragments.
The first thought came into?Zen's mind was?'These stupid guys are surely crazy' and it was evident, there wasn't going to be even a small break.