MOF Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Winning the First Place in the Spirit Trial Assembly, Guaiya Peak? Xie Yiling Secretly…

“What?” Xie Yiling didn’t hear Si Wumian’s words clearly while channeling his spiritual energy, but he caught the words “Fufeng,” and couldn’t help but divert some of his attention.

“I’m not too sure either,” Si Wumian thought for a moment and said, “If Immortal Lord Fufeng really intends to accept a disciple, then this Spirit Trial Assembly won’t just be about selecting magical artifacts.”

Xie Yiling naturally understood this principle. If it were an ordinary Spirit Trial Assembly, qualified disciples could go to the Spirit Trial Platform to choose magical artifacts. If he failed this time, he would still have a chance next year.

But the problem was that this Spirit Trial Assembly was immediately followed by the elders accepting disciples. Therefore, the winner of the Spirit Trial Assembly would likely be the first choice for the elders to take on as disciples.

“By the way,” Xie Yiling asked, “What were you so angry about just now?”

Hearing this, Si Wumian’s face, which had just cooled down, couldn’t help but turn ugly again. “Since I can know this news, Lu Jinnian naturally knows it too. He even asked me to relay it to Senior Brother Xie.”

He looked at Xie Yiling’s expression and said in a low voice, “He said he would take the first place in the Spirit Trial Assembly for you, and he would also get the spot as Immortal Lord Fufeng’s only disciple. He also ‘kindly’ reminded me not to lose too badly in the Spirit Trial Assembly. I couldn’t help but argue with him.”

Xie Yiling asked, “Did you win the argument?”

Si Wumian said softly, “How can I win against three mouths with just one mouth?”

Xie Yiling’s expression didn’t change much, but his tone turned cold. “What a coincidence. I want the first place in the Spirit Trial Assembly, and I also want the position of the Immortal Lord’s disciple.”

His ink-like eyes darkened, and his tone carried a hint of sarcasm. “The more Lu Jinnian wants to win against me, the less I’ll let him succeed. Just wait.”

A chill vaguely rose behind Si Wumian. He shrugged his shoulders, and as he turned around, he happened to see Nangong Ci returning.

Si Wumian performed a salute and said, “Greetings, Immortal Lord Fufeng.”

Nangong Ci smiled at him, nodded, and walked towards Xie Yiling. “Still practicing?”

Xie Yiling turned his head, his eyebrows drooped, and the corners of his mouth turned down slightly, looking innocent and dejected.

“What’s wrong?” Nangong Ci asked with some concern as he stepped forward.

Xie Yiling shook his head and sighed. “I’ve been practicing for so long, but it doesn’t seem like I’ve made much progress.”

“Don’t worry.” Nangong Ci glanced back, and Si Wumian’s figure was long gone. He raised his hand and touched Xie Yiling’s head, comforting him, “Take your time. With your ability, passing the Spirit Trial Assembly shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Xie Yiling looked up at him and said in a low voice, “Really? But I don’t just want to pass the Spirit Trial Assembly, I also want to be first.”

Nangong Ci smiled and said, “Alright, then take first place.”

Xie Yiling widened his eyes. “Do you believe I can take first place?”

“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” Nangong Ci’s tone was matter-of-fact. “You’ve been practicing day and night, and I’ve been teaching you day and night.”

Xie Yiling was amused by these words, and a dimple was about to appear on his face. “Sixth Brother, I heard that after this Spirit Trial Assembly, many elders will be accepting disciples?”

“Probably.” Nangong Ci nodded and suddenly asked, “Is there an elder you want to apprentice to?”

Xie Yiling tilted his head, not looking at Nangong Ci, and said softly, “There are no elders, but there is an Immortal Lord.”

The person beside him let out a chuckle. “Is that so? However, after this Spirit Trial Assembly, I don’t plan to accept any disciples.”

Hearing this, Xie Yiling looked surprised. “Why?”

Nangong Ci said, “After the Spirit Trial Assembly, I have to go down the mountain. I heard that evil energy is gathering on Guaiya Peak, and many villagers who went up the mountain to gather firewood have been killed. The headmaster ordered me to investigate.”

Guaiya Peak? Xie Yiling secretly memorized this place name in his heart.

*

On the day of the Spirit Trial Assembly, almost the entire pavilion was summoned to gather below the Spirit Trial Platform. The Spirit Trial Platform was over ten meters high, and the ground was wide and flat, making it ideal for competitions.

Xie Yiling and Si Wumian arrived at the competition venue, chasing and fighting all the way. Before the smile on their faces could fade, they heard an annoying voice: “Junior Brother Xie, it seems you’re very confident in this competition?”

Lu Jinnian had his usual sarcastic smile on his face. He sized up Xie Yiling and Si Wumian and sneered, “Birds of a feather flock together. I’ll be waiting to see you two junior brothers make a fool of yourselves.”

Si Wumian glanced at him and said with some amusement, “I wonder who really is a bird of a feather.”

Zhu Zimo, who was behind Lu Jinnian, immediately said upon hearing this, “Stop being quick with your tongue, we’ll see you on the Spirit Trial Platform.”

Xie Yiling looked at the three people opposite him, the smile not reaching his eyes. “Senior Brother Lu, I’ll let you have the first three moves in the competition later. Don’t lose too badly.”

Lu Jinnian’s face immediately stiffened. He glared at him, flicked his sleeves forcefully, and turned away without a word.

Si Wumian leaned closer to Xie Yiling and said, “Yo, Senior Brother Xie, look, Lu Jinnian’s face has turned green with anger.”

Xie Yiling lowered his voice and reminded him, “Keep it down, if the elders see us, they’ll accuse us of discord among disciples again.”

These words evoked some unpleasant memories for Si Wumian, and he was somewhat indignant. “It’s not like we’re unilaterally at odds with them. Why do we always get punished?”

“If you could learn from Lu Jinnian and cry in front of the elders, saying you wanted to be friendly with your junior brothers but were rejected, wouldn’t it be easy to avoid punishment?”

Si Wumian thought about it, and a look of resistance gradually appeared on his face.

Seeing that his face was turning bad, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but laugh.

At the second quarter of the Chen hour (around 8:30 AM), the Spirit Trial Assembly officially began. The elders sat in order on the high ground.

At the head was Headmaster Nangong Fu, and after a circle of elders were seated, at the very edge was Immortal Lord Fufeng, Nangong Ci.

The disciples lined up in an orderly manner below the platform. Nangong Ci’s eyes scanned the crowd and met Xie Yiling’s, who had been staring at him.

Xie Yiling quickly gave him a bright smile, his eyes curving into crescents. Si Wumian silently looked away.

At the very front of the venue were four long tables, each with number plates on them. Xie Yiling and Si Wumian lined up to collect their number plates and looked at each other.

Xie Yiling’s was six, while Si Wumian’s was twenty-two.

The young man played with the number plate with his beautiful fingers, and a smile floated in his eyes. “Not bad.”

Being number six, it was Xie Yiling’s turn quickly.

Whether it was a coincidence or intentional, he happened to be matched against Lu Jinnian.

The Spirit Trial Assembly tested martial arts as a foundation, but spiritual power was the main focus. The two walked into the arena and bowed to each other.

Then, two wooden swords moved quickly, exchanging blows.

The disciples around them began to whisper in unison. “Hey, who do you guys think will win, Xie Yiling or Lu Jinnian?”

“Does that even need to be guessed? Of course, it’s Senior Brother Lu!” “I don’t think so. Didn’t they say that Xie Yiling has been going to Fufeng Pavilion to learn how to channel spiritual energy from Immortal Lord Nangong these past few days?”

One of them heard this and sneered. “That’s just Xie Yiling doing what he loves to do, relying on the fact that he studied with Immortal Lord Fufeng since he was young to try and build connections. Last time, he kicked Zhu Zimo down the steps and even said that Zhu Zimo’s master, Elder Ming Nan, was incompetent in teaching disciples. Didn’t you hear how Young Master Yue scolded him?”

“How did he scold him? Tell us!”

That person straightened his posture and snorted coldly from his nostrils. “This child is mischievous, has bad character, doesn’t seek to improve, and is a disgrace to the Immortal Sect!”

Nangong Ci calmly watched the two people competing. Nangong Yue, who had arrived late behind him, paused in his seating motion when he saw this.

At first, the two were evenly matched, but as time went on, Xie Yiling gradually fell behind, and the martial arts portion was almost over.

Lu Jinnian gathered spiritual power at his fingertips and controlled the wooden sword to fight Xie Yiling.

Xie Yiling quickly used a spirit shield to defend, but the wooden sword was surrounded by spiritual power, making it extremely sharp.

With a “crack,” the spirit shield in front of him shattered into pieces.

Xie Yiling nimbly dodged a sword, raised his hand, and used a spirit ring to imprison Lu Jinnian’s wrist.

The wooden sword suddenly attacked Xie Yiling’s eyes quickly. The young man put his fingers together and blocked the attack.

Who knew that the next moment, his abdomen would suffer a heavy blow.

Xie Yiling coughed out a mouthful of air violently and fell backward, losing his balance.

Lu Jinnian retrieved his wooden sword and smiled rather smugly. “Junior Brother Xie, can you still stand up? Or, you can shout that I lost, and I’ll consider letting you go!”

A trace of coldness flashed in Xie Yiling’s eyes. He hooked his lips into a highly sarcastic smile, his eyes containing undisguised contempt. “What can you do even if I let you have two more moves?”

Lu Jinnian gritted his teeth fiercely. “You asked for this!”

He forcefully flicked the wooden sword, and the spiritual power in his hand burst out, the wooden sword splitting into three, successively stabbing towards Xie Yiling.

Xie Yiling immediately jumped up with a carp-like flip, and dodged these three swords with three consecutive backflips. But how could a wooden sword formed from spiritual power let him dodge so easily?

Before he could turn around to defend, with a “tear,” the Immortal Pavilion uniform on Xie Yiling’s shoulder was torn by the wooden sword.

The opponent’s spiritual power was overwhelming. He quickly glanced down at his left shoulder, and the surface of the skin was torn open, revealing light red flesh.

The second move.

Seeing that the young man opposite him still had an expression of “what can you do to me,” the anger in Lu Jinnian’s heart burned, but he didn’t show it on his face, and could only increase the force of his attacks.

This time, he gathered strength and struck towards Xie Yiling’s chest.

Because he moved too fast, Xie Yiling couldn’t dodge in time and had to endure the palm strike.

The disciples at the edge of the arena couldn’t help but let out a burst of hissing sounds, but due to the elders being present, they quickly quieted down.

Elder Ming Nan looked at the arena and shook his head. “Still too impulsive.”

A sentence without beginning or end, it was unknown who he was talking about.

Nangong Yue next to him slowly and deliberately added, “The Spirit Trial Assembly can best reveal which disciples are lazy on weekdays. After it ends, we must extend the practice time for the unqualified disciples.”

Finally, he looked at Nangong Ci and said, “Aling, what do you think?”

Nangong Ci’s tone didn’t fluctuate much, and his gaze remained on the arena. “Brother is right, then let brother decide.”

And Zhu Zimo and Zhu Zishan, who had been staring at the platform, clenched their fists fiercely when they saw this scene and silently cheered.

Three moves had passed. Xie Yiling put down his hand covering his chest and stood up straight.

Si Wumian glared at the backs of the two people in front of him and secretly thought: Two idiots, they can’t even tell who’s better.

Lu Jinnian didn’t realize that Xie Yiling’s aura had changed. He was certain that Xie Yiling had just suffered his palm strike and definitely couldn’t move his spiritual power greatly now.

“Junior Brother, I concede!”

As the last word fell, a beam of light struck Xie Yiling.

A few seconds later, a person flew out of the Spirit Trial Platform.