StH Chapter 12: Qi Condensing Pill, Daemon Suppressing Sword

Sorry guys for the late release!

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“It seems like the battle on the Celestial Ascendance Road is reaching its final stage. In the end, who will be the first one out?” Woodsong said whilst stroking his long beard, staring at the exit of the road with squinted eyes.

Su Yanli also looked forward to seeing who was going to win first place “Reportedly, the final zone of the exam tests the footwork technique of the servants, so I think Qing Mang will be the first one out. Her footwork technique <<A Little Bit of Azure Radiance>> is quite profound and exquisite, a Middle Class Martial Art that is quite close to being a High Class Martial Art!”

“Ju Huo was born in the wild and grew up surrounded by wild animals, so he also has a chance.”

It was not only their eyes that were focused on the exit of the Celestial Ascendance Road; the eyes of the ten thousand other spectators were too!

They consisted of ten thousand servants, some Outer Disciples, as well as a few Core Disciples! Also, numerous other pairs of eyes from the strongest people of the Sect were fixated on Celestial Ascendance Mountain from other parts of the Blue Surge Mountain.

“I think it’s going to be Zhao Danlong, because his Ancestral Martial Technique <<Thirteen Swords of Zhao>> is the most powerful out of all the participating servants!”

“No, not necessarily… Qing Mang’s <<Solitary Mountain Sword Shadows>> is a Martial Art specialised to slay Daemons!”

Discussions regarding who was going to claim the crown was all over the mountain.

But Sun Wudao was not in the mood to listen to them and join them.

“Wu Yu that brat, always making me worry over him. Where in the world is he?” Sun Wudao looked around his surroundings to find Wu Yu. He originally wanted to leave his spot to look for him, but he was worried that Wu Yu would return when he was out.

And at that moment, the whole mountain burst into noise.

Sun Wudao gazed at the entrance to find somebody rush out of the exit!

“Somebody has come out.”

All the noise and chatter and subsided after the appearance of the teenager.

Except for the servants, the many powerful Celestials on scene, even though they were quite far from the exit, were able to see clearly the facial features of the teenager.

The person was taller than what they expected, taller than the oldest contender Zhao Danlong, who was 14. It seemed that the young man was not one of the servants that had reached the 7th Heavenly Stage.

“Who’s that?”

More than ten thousand pairs of eyes fixated on the young teen on the Celestial Ascendance Podium, so surprised that nobody made any sound.

Even the Daoist Arts Keeper Elder Woodsong was shocked, staring at the teenager with squinted eyes for over half a day, to find that he’d never seen him before. It seemed that the teen was quite old already.

Su Yanli, who was next to Woodsong, was the first person to accurately guess who the teenager was.

“Wu Yu.” Her red lips opened slightly, eyes glinting with surprise, unable to calm herself down.

The young man on the podium looked up, meeting her gaze. What was surprising about his eyes was that it showed his calm, unfazed under the gaze of tens of thousands of people.

He had already reached such a stage! Su Yanli remembered that only a while ago he had only managed to defeat Zhao Chuan by a hairsbreadth.

“So he’s Wu Yu?” Woodsong understood now why Su Yanli praised him so. Upon seeing him for the first time, he noticed that Wu Yu was special. “This Wu Yu has an unique air about him, but it’s a pity that he’s too old.”

Not many people knew who Wu Yu was and which mountain he belonged to.

Everybody was looking at him with shock and surprise.

“Sun… Sun Wudao…” A servant from Yan Li Mountain walked over to Sun Wudao from his viewing spot, which wasn’t quite far away, to point at the teenager with trembling fingers “Wu… Wu Yu….”

“What?” Sun Wudao’s hearing ability and eyesight had deteriorated, so he wasn’t able to make out who the teenager was.

“That’s Wu Yu.”

“Wu Yu?”

Sun Wudao’s eyes widened in shock. He had wondered previously why the blurry young man on the podium resembled Wu Yu so much, so it was quite a surprise to him it actually was Wu Yu! That scared him a lot “This Wu Yu… He said that he wanted to go to toilet, but it seems like he got lost and wandered over to the podium. What am I going to do?!!”

Sun thought that Wu Yu ran onto the podium by accident.

“Sun Wudao, Wu Yu charged onto the podium from the Celestial Ascendance Road!” The servant trembled in shock.

“Don’t joke about that…..” Sun Wudao replied.

He stared at Wu Yu, and Wu Yu also raised his head, meeting his gaze. Wu Yu remembered which direction Sun Wudao was in, and was clearly able to see Sun looking at him. He had finally achieved his goal, so his excitement receded to tranquil and calm.

He waved at Sun to show that it really was himself there on the podium.

“I did it.”

Upon seeing the old man so excited and joyous, Wu Yu felt incredibly satisfied. He had no idea how ecstatic Sun was, how Sun was crying with tears of joy, but he knew that Sun was happy, and that was all that he wished for.

Of course, he still hadn’t passed the entrance exam yet.

“Wu Yu, he has reached the sky with one step! (means that a low profile person who was not noticed much before has stunned everybody by succeeding)”

Sun Wudao’s hands, which were grasping hold of the sides of his armchair, were trembling. His eyes had brightened with joy and elation; maybe to him, the person who was standing on the podium was not Wu Yu, but himself!

In the sky.

“Situ Jin…”

The red clothed girl Huaqian You nearly fell off her Celestial Crane.

“I see it.” Situ Jin said, his expression showing a dismality he had never shown before.

Wang Yiyan’s face was also quite pale and gloomy “This is not possible! Back when you were whipping him, Situ Jin, he had no Martial Ability. How is it possible that he participated in the entrance exam and claimed number one today?”

Liu Muxue eyes glinted with the brutality of a wolf “Nobody can reach the 6th Heavenly Stage from no Martial Ability in 1 month; it’s quite obvious he hid his Martial Ability from us, so it was no wonder that you weren’t able to whip him to death, Situ Jin. This means that brat has high levels of tolerance – perhaps he has something to hide which he cannot tell anybody about.”

Colour drained from Huaqian You’s face “Situ Jin, because of the way you treated him, I’m afraid he’ll want to take revenge against you. There’s a high possibility of that happening because of his pettiness!”

Situ Jin smiled savagely, and replied “Don’t be scared, he’s just a slave! And like I said before, coming out first is nothing. Weren’t there a lot of people who relied on chaos in the battlefield and luck to charge out of the road first?”

Li Muxue said “I’m not scared; it’s just his petty personality makes me want to vomit.”

“Let me say it again. There’s still one more part to the entrance exam, so as long as he doesn’t become an Outer Disciple, he’ll always be lower than us in status. Also, I have my little brother to support me, so why should I be scared of a Mortal brute?”

What he said was true.

In the last stage of the Celestial Ascendance Road, Wu Yu grasped hold of the opportunity when when the three 7th Heavenly Stage Experts retreated, bursting forward, chopping off the leg of a Demon Monkey with <<Slaying Whales in the East Sea Sword Technique>>, then rushing out of the road in the space created by the absence of its leg. He did not win honourably, but at least he succeeded! The trio were still back in the road, blocked by the injured and angered Demon Monkey, battling to get out.

“Congratulations, Wu Yu, for being the first one to rush out of the Celestial Ascendance Road! Your name will be forever engraved within the history of the Sword to Heaven Sect!”

Woodsong’s voice resounded within the mountain.

The Sword to Heaven Sect had always recorded the first one to rush out of the Celestial Ascendance Road in its history. The entrance exam was an event that allowed one’s name to resound throughout the Heavens easily!

“Wu Yu! Wu Yu!”

Tens of thousands of people were passionately chanting Wu Yu’s name.

He was currently the dream and the pride of all servant disciples! To become an Outer Disciple from a servant was a legend, an aspiration to the servants, the goal which they could put all their efforts in. If they could not succeed before 16 years old, then they would live a life like Sun Wudao’s life, always lamenting and regretting.

All servants wanted to become Celestials! It was their desire, their dream!

“Ka Cha!”

Upon seeing the championing Wu Yu received, Situ Jin fell into an incredibly bad mood. He thought that Wu Yu’s glory was a mocking laugh at him. The anger caused him to clench his fists tight.

On the other side, after confirming everything he was seeing was true, Sun Wudao fell into absolutely shock, eyes turning rosy and ruddy.

“Happy! So Happy!”

Many servants from Yan Li Mountain were congregated around Sun Wudao, firing envious and respectful gazes at him, something that he’d never received in the whole of his life.

And at that moment, Qing Mang, Ju Huo and Zhao Danlong successfully slayed the Demon Monkey and rushed out of the path.

“You shameless man, rushing out of the road because of my efforts. Watch me slay you!” Zhao Danlong’s face was red with anger, lifting his sword to ready himself for battle with Wu Yu.

“Stop” Woodsong said softly, causing Zhao’s temper to subside. He stared at Wu Yu ferociously, then murmured under his breath “Wait until the battle on the Celestial Ascendance Podium. I’ll make you regret you were ever born!”

Wu Yu did “cheat” by winning because of other people’s efforts, but he hadn’t broken any rules, so he didn’t care. And anyways, it was too early to be happy, as there was still the battle of the Celestial Ascendance Podium.

Gradually, 100 servants scrambled out of the road, the bloodstains on their body eye catching under the radiant rays of the sun.

After the first 100 servants were sorted out, the rest of the servants had to leave through the bottom of the mountain, because they did not have the qualifications to step onto the Celestial Ascendance Podium.

Some servants nearly made it by just a bit, but reality was harsh, so all they could do was lament and regret.

The entrance and exit of the Celestial Ascendance Road closed, signalling the end of the first half of the entrance exam.

100 young men and young women, under the eyes of tens of thousands, displayed their will to battle, their roiling anger, their passionate desire to step onto the road of Celestials, to transcend and ascend!

The place they were on was the Celestial Ascendance Podium, a podium that was 1000 feet wide. There was a 100 feet deep pit that surrounded the podium; if one was knocked off into the pit, then they were out of the battle of the Celestial Ascendance Podium.

Woodsong stood up, face indifferent and apathetic, radiating Celestial might! Wu Yu was very excited to see such a powerful Celestial again. After arriving in the Sword to Heaven Sect, Wu Yu’s horizons had broadened, not only limited to East Yue Wu and its neighbouring kingdoms.

“Out of the 100 of you, only 30 will enter the Sword to Heaven Sect and become one of its true Disciples!”

“From 300 to 30, there is a 1/10 chance that one can become a real disciple of the Sect. This is because we want to ensure that those who succeed in entering the Sect are all real Martial Arts Geniuses!”

“The road to becoming a Celestial is dangerous – one has to battle against the Heavens, battle against the Earth and battle against Daemons and Demons! Those without great potential or great determination cannot enter the Dao of Celestials, because it will only lead injuries and death and the wasting of life!”

“You have all been able to make it here, so I’m sure you already know of some of the obstructions and dangers of the Celestial Road, therefore I’ll not elaborate on this topic.”

“The rule of the Battle of the Celestial Ascendance Podium is that participants who are shatter their red runesheets, or are knocked down from the podium will be eliminated from the exam. Remember, no killing is permitted, because those who kill have vile temperaments and cannot become Celestials.”

“When there are only 30 people left standing on the podium, the battle will conclude, and the exam will end. You can form alliances, enact guerilla warfare, hold a battle royale… whatever you like, but remember, you’re eliminated once you’re knocked out of the podium.”

This was the only rule of the battle of the Celestial Ascendance Podium.

It seemed quite simple, but it was actually very dangerous, because battle royales were much like real battles between Celestials, where there were no true allies, no true enemies. What one could only do was be on guard whilst cooperating with other.

The remaining servants may not be the strongest 30, but they would definitely have something unique to themselves to be able to last till the end. Even if one only hid and dodged in the battle royale and managed to make it till the end, it was one of his abilities, his strong points, nothing more.

“Of course, if it was only like that, then there would be meaning in hosting this battle.”

Woodsong laughed after saying that, stimulating the curiousity of the crowd.

“We have a traditional custom in our entrance exams, and that is the “Celestial Ball Plundering” event! Today, the lucky disciple who manages to obtain the Celestial Ball will receive three generous prizes. The first prize is the right to directly become an Outer Disciples, as well as to leave early before the battle ends. Of course, this isn’t the most important gift out of the three. The following two treasures are! The first treasure, is a Qi Condensing Pill!”

Upon hearing the name of the pill, the crowd went into an uproar! The Qi Condensing Pill was a real medical pill, and reportedly could only be made by Jindan Celestials, so it was very expensive and precious! It may not have an effect on people in the Mortal Body Forging Phase, but it could help one breakthrough and reach the Qi Condensing Celestial Roots Stage from the Mortal Body Forging Phase!

It was something that a Qi Condensing Celestial Roots Celestial like Su Yanli would crave!

Of course, it was only one of the two treasures.

“The second prize, is a top grade Mortal weapon! It’s name is Daemon Suppressing Sword! It’s might can rival that of normal Mana Weapons!

Mana Weapons were weapons that could only be used by Celestials.

Daemon Suppressing Sword!

Wu Yu’s eyes seared, because that sword was better by many times than the one he was holding right now. It’s value was comparable to that of top class Martial Arts, and was many times more precious than high class Martial Arts!

Qi Condensing Pill, Daemon Suppressing Sword… Those items could make many Outer Disciples’ eye’s go red with greed, such as Situ Jin and his cronies.

Only the 13 year old Situ Bright could have the qualifications to wield the Daemon Suppressing Sword and ingest the Qi Condensing Pill.

“The Celestial Ball Plundering event will take place alongside the battle of the Celestial Ascendance Podium. Whoever obtains the Celestial Ball and manages to hold onto it for more than 60 breaths will win the Celestial Ball Plundering event.”

“But if the ball is stolen, and you snatch it back, the timer resets!”

“And if there’s only 30 people left on the podium, signalling the end of the battle of the Celestial Ascendance Podium, yet nobody has managed to snatch the Celestial Ball and hold on to it for 60 seconds, I’ll take away the Qi Condensing Pill and Daemon Suppressing Sword.”

And like that, Woodsong finished his announcement.

The battle of the Celestial Ascendance Podium, START!

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