89. Clearing the Trial

Liangyu waited for two full days.

During that time, she had secretly gone out to take a look. Outside the gorge, a restrictive formation had been set in place, and several dozen qi-refining cultivators were being held back beyond it. No one knew what the senior Foundation Establishment cultivators had said, but those people all waited obediently and made no attempt to break through the barrier.

Two days later, just as Liangyu was cultivating, a sudden barrage of thunderous explosions came from the direction of the stone passage. She peered out and saw rock walls splitting apart as the old crone called Severed Sound staggered out.

"What a ruthless method." Severed Sound coughed up a mouthful of blood. "If this old woman hadn’t kept a few hidden treasures in reserve, I would have perished here today!"

Liangyu’s heart lurched at the words. Why was she the only one who came out? Where were the others?

After speaking, Severed Sound sat down cross-legged on the spot and took medicine to regulate her breathing.

After a while, Fu Changchun appeared, covered in blood and panting heavily.

Severed Sound opened her eyes, surprise flashing within them. "Daoist Fu, you actually got out!"

Fu Changchun wiped the blood from his hand and gave a bitter smile. "A close brush with death."

He was truly in a wretched state. His Daoist robe was stained with blood everywhere, half a sleeve had been torn away, and a piece had been ripped from the hem. What trace was left of his earlier air of an eminent master? Most horrifying of all was the wound at his waist, where flesh had been laid open in a ghastly mess.

"Where are the others?" Severed Sound coughed once and swallowed another pill.

"Alas!" Fu Changchun’s face was sorrowful. "Daoist Gou, Daoist Pei, and Daoist Yuanbei have all fallen inside."

Severed Sound was silent for a long while before finally shaking her head. "Consumed by greed. They were bound to suffer such a disaster."

Liangyu listened in a daze. Did that mean the girl from Heaven-Slaying Gate, the scholar from the Hall of Ten Thousand Hells, and the monk from Bright Wisdom Temple were all dead? For a moment, her heart was in turmoil. She still remembered how the Heaven-Slaying Gate girl had spoken and laughed with her before going in, so relaxed and carefree, and the scholar, the monk... They had still been living, breathing people only two days ago. Now she would never see them again.

This was the first time she had truly witnessed the cruelty of the Cangming cultivation world. She had long heard that here, disputes among cultivators and bloody brawls were countless, but she had never imagined she would stumble upon an example with her own eyes.

Had Fu Yuanqing, Xu Zheng, and Miss Yan not come out either? Had they also fallen inside?

Just as she was thinking this, she heard Fu Changchun let out a long sigh. "It was only an ordinary discipleship ceremony, and yet more than half the organizers have perished. I fear the various sects of Lingcang will all be shaken by this."

Severed Sound gave a cold laugh. "Daoist Fu, why put it so politely? It is not merely a matter of shaking the sects of Lingcang. Xu Zheng has died here; Sword Lord Bright Sun will surely be enraged. With a Nascent Soul grand cultivator stamping his foot, Lingcang will be plunged into a bloody storm. Even the Star Sea will not remain peaceful."

Xu Zheng was dead? Liangyu was greatly shocked. From Xu Zheng and Fu Yuanqing’s conversation, he was plainly the treasured darling of that Sword Lord Bright Sun. If he had truly perished here... she did not dare imagine the consequences.

Fu Changchun gave a bitter smile. "We won’t escape unscathed either. With Sword Lord Bright Sun’s capricious and unreasonable temper, he may well decide we were the ones who implicated his precious great-grandson. Then he may force us to accompany Xu Zheng in death..."

"That need not be feared." Severed Sound was calm. "No matter what, we are not disciples of the Purple Firmament Sword Sect. No matter how formidable Sword Lord Bright Sun is, he cannot simply take our lives at will. Whether it is Scarlet Cloud Palace or White Tower Sect, both have Nascent Soul grand cultivators in charge. If he were to take our lives, where would that leave the face of our two sects?"

"Alas, Severed Sound, what you are saying is the best-case scenario. But if Sword Lord Bright Sun arrives first and kills us afterward, what then? At most, the Nascent Soul forebears of our two sects would fight him once. Surely they would not truly turn against the Purple Firmament Sword Sect over the two of us, mere Foundation Establishment cultivators?"

At this, Severed Sound fell silent. Given her understanding of the Purple Firmament Sword Sect, Sword Lord Bright Sun really might do such a thing...

A dead silence settled over the scene. Neither of them spoke again.

Then, from the direction of the stone passage, another sound came. A figure carrying a sword slowly emerged from within.

It was none other than Xu Zheng, whom Fu Changchun and Severed Sound had both assumed to be dead!

He looked far neater than either Severed Sound or Fu Changchun, though his light purple sword robe had been stained with large swaths of bright red blood. Clearly, he had not emerged without difficulty.

"Xu... Daoist Xu," Fu Changchun cried in astonishment. "You are all right?"

"What else would happen to me?" Xu Zheng’s expression was cold as he swept a glance over the two of them.

Severed Sound said in disbelief, "Daoist Xu, were you not trapped by the dark abyssal miasma and nearly unable to escape?"

Xu Zheng gave a snort and could not be bothered to answer. His gaze was as sharp as lightning as he fixed the two of them in place. "You came quite at the right time. Not early, not late—only when the mechanism had just been found."

That remark made Fu Changchun give a bitter smile. "Daoist Xu, there was a problem with the formation. As the ones responsible for presiding over the ceremony, if we did not come to resolve it, who else would? We never imagined that the formation of the eight sects had been altered to lead into the Abyssal Dead Zone. If we had known matters were this grave, we would have reported it to the sect rather than entering the abyss on our own."

The Abyssal Dead Zone. The bottomless ravine that cleaved the Cangming Realm in two. It was said to be thousands of miles deep, black as pitch and without visible end, filled with a strange aura. Let alone ordinary people, even cultivators found it difficult to enter. For Foundation Establishment cultivators like them, if they ventured into it rashly and were enveloped by the abyssal miasma, survival was nearly impossible. That was precisely why Fu Changchun and Severed Sound had believed Xu Zheng had already perished.

Now that they saw Xu Zheng emerge, the great burden in their hearts finally eased, even as they were shocked beyond measure. As long as Xu Zheng lived, Sword Lord Bright Sun’s fury would at least not fall on them. Both of them suddenly felt the relief of one who had escaped with their lives.

"Hmph! If you had not been so greedy and short-sighted, rushing forward to snatch everything the moment you saw it, none of this would have happened!"

Xu Zheng’s words were rather sharp. Not only Fu Changchun and Severed Sound, but even Liangyu frowned. This Xu Zheng was far too unpleasant. So what if he was Sword Lord Bright Sun’s beloved grandson and had the right to be proud? There was no need to be so cutting. If he were not the junior of Sword Lord Bright Sun, saying such things would have gotten him kicked long ago!

At once, Severed Sound and Fu Changchun both looked ugly, yet they could say nothing. After all, they had indeed done as he said. Liangyu’s impression of Xu Zheng also soured greatly. She had never believed there was anything worth being proud of in relying on one’s elders. Even if he was right, he had spoken with far too little leeway.

"Forget it. It is pointless to say more now." Xu Zheng wiped his face, then with an expression of disgust, cleaned the blood from his hand. "Let us get out first."

The proposal was readily accepted by Severed Sound and Fu Changchun. Why had they entered the formation to begin with? Was it not because they feared these qi-refining cultivators would become trapped inside and cause a catastrophic disaster? As for the abyss and the treasure, those were only things they had discovered after entering.

Xu Zheng left first, then Severed Sound, and finally Fu Changchun. He motioned to Liangyu, who was hiding in a corner, and said in a kindly tone, "Cheng Liangyu, for one so young, you have shown admirable restraint. Now that matters are settled, let us go out."

Liangyu hurried to her feet and bowed. "Yes, thank you, Senior."

She followed Fu Changchun out of the gorge. After that, she saw him, Severed Sound, and Xu Zheng busy themselves for a while until the formation was opened.

She only heard a rumbling from afar before the sky suddenly blazed with light. A streak of white radiance enveloped her, and when it faded, she was already standing on the Ring Isle.

"Uncle Fu, Uncle Fu..."

"Senior Brother Fu!"

The White Tower Sect cultivators waiting outside, upon seeing Fu Changchun, swarmed over at once and asked after him in a flurry.

Supported by others, Fu Changchun sat down before the building and said, "Do not panic. Only some flesh wounds."

Liangyu knew that Fu Changchun’s injuries were certainly more than flesh wounds. In the formation, when he had emerged from the stone passage, his face had been ghastly, and it was clear even his meridians had been injured. Still, she understood that before so many disciples, he had to preserve his dignity. No matter how severe the injury, it could only be discussed later.

She then heard Fu Changchun issue orders to arrange matters. "...As for the third trial, forget it. The formation is already broken. We can only report it to the sect for repair; it cannot be set up again for now."

"What about the results?"

"Let them be counted according to the first two trials. After all, strength can be cultivated, and our White Tower Sect has never been strict about strength alone when recruiting disciples."

"Very well, we will follow Senior Brother Fu’s decision."

Watching the Foundation Establishment cultivators murmur and confer among themselves, the qi-refining cultivators who had come for the ceremony stared at them nervously. The sudden upheaval in the formation had drained many people’s spiritual energy, and some had even been injured. If the formation had not been broken in time, there would have been casualties for sure. Now that they heard they need not take part in the third trial, those who had done well in the first two were greatly relieved, while those who had performed poorly feared they would fail the threshold.

Liangyu quietly pondered her own chances. She had been rated first-class in the first trial, so there should be no problem, but the second trial had given her a second-class result. Surely they would not require both trials to be first-class before admitting someone? That would be terribly unfortunate.

Just then, the discussion over there concluded. A Foundation Establishment cultivator stepped forward and called out, "First trial, Immortal Path: first class and second class pass."

With those words, some sighed in disappointment while others rejoiced wildly.

The same cultivator then said, "Second trial, sect test: first class, second class, and third class pass."

Those who had received third-class in the second trial were overjoyed beyond measure, never expecting they would still have a chance!

Next, the cultivator said, "Those who passed both trials may come forward to receive their rewards. Those willing to join the sect, please leave your names. Those unwilling, return your ceremony token."

Confirming that she had passed, Liangyu finally let the great burden in her heart fall away. Only then did she understand why the second trial had been made more lenient. This was the Star Sea, where many loose cultivators were unwilling to enter a sect and had merely come for the rewards. If that group was to be filtered out, of course the conditions had to be loosened.

Sure enough, Liangyu saw many people step forward to collect their rewards and return their ceremony tokens. There were nearly a hundred such people. Among those who passed both trials, however, there were only a little over two hundred—no more than a third.

Thinking this, Liangyu also stepped forward to receive her reward, but she left her name behind. From this moment on, she was a disciple of the White Tower Sect.

Thank you, everyone, for your concern. With your support, I will keep going.

Mm, I’ll correct the typos later.