On the mountain gate stairway, the disciples of the Serene Void Academy continued their charge upward. The stronger ones fought the gatekeepers alone, while the weaker banded together in groups of three to five to overwhelm a single opponent. As they drew closer to the gate, more and more disciples collapsed, getting carried back by their companions and laid upon Wind Dragon's back. Lu Chen and the others had just cleared the hundredth step. From this point onward, every step would be guarded by a core disciple of the Guardian Capital Academy. While the group was still recovering from the battle, none of them noticed a frail young cultivator quietly edging toward the hundred and first step. Standing at the platform's edge, the young man called down, "Senior Martial Brother Lu... I've always been at the bottom of the Serene Void Academy when it comes to cultivation. Since this trial began, I've been protected by my brothers. But now... it is my turn to step forward." Nantian Yijian heard the voice and looked up. "Boss, that's Feng Qingshan! Is he trying to face the next step by himself? Stop him! The next level is guarded by a core disciple at least at the ninth level of the Qi Regulation Realm! With his strength, he'll never stand a chance!" Lu Chen's expression darkened. He snapped his head around and shouted, "Come down at once! A core disciple guards the next step! You'll only be throwing your life away!" But Feng Qingshan laughed. "Hahaha! My name is Feng Qingshan! I may not be skilled, but I fear nothing! Watch closely! I am no longer someone who needs constant protection." He glanced back at the fallen disciples lying on the hundredth platform, then burst into louder laughter. "Today is the day I burn my blood. Let me be the one to test the path ahead for you, Senior Martial Brother Lu." "No! It's too dangerous!" Seeing how resolute Feng Qingshan was, Lu Chen gathered up the remaining disciples and raced toward the next step. But Feng Qingshan had already turned and stepped boldly onto the platform of the hundred and first steps. The core disciple guarding it sat at its center, waiting calmly for the challengers. He opened his eyes and spotted Feng Qingshan. "A level-three Qi Regulation Realm cultivator? How did you make it this far? Is this a joke? Has the Discipline Court grown useless, or are you simply concealing your strength?" Feng Qingshan lifted his sword and charged with his movement art. "Cut the nonsense. Show me your strength." The cultivator slowly rose to his feet, a flicker of cruelty flashing in his eyes. "Hmph... boy, accept death. You don't belong here. Remember my name. I am Lei Bao. If you survive, come seek revenge." They exchanged only three blows before Lei Bao struck Feng Qingshan down with overwhelming force. Lei Bao sneered. "Is that it? How could someone this weak even make it here?" Feng Qingshan coughed up blood in midair. Even as his body was thrown back, he continued to mutter, "Ha... Level-nine Qi Regulation Realm, skilled with twin blades, abundant in spirit qi... but you also have an old injury on your left shoulder, and your footwork lacks speed.'" He had deliberately endured Lei Bao's attacks just to unleash those three strikes. It was a probing-type spirit art that used spirit qi to sense the opponent's condition. Lei Bao's face darkened at his words. "Were you testing me just now?" Rage burst out as he raised his twin blades. "In that case, die! Deaths at the mountain gate are nothing unusual. Wind Lightning Twin Blades!" Lei Bao spun his weapons, sending a flash of sword light bursting with storm and lightning. "How dare a mere level-three Qi Regulation Realm cultivator like you play tricks on me? I'll show you the true strength of a core disciple!" Feng Qingshan glanced at him. "Heh... the Wind Lightning Twin Blades. That's the Wind Lightning Academy's sword art. Go ahead, show me everything you've got. Let me see what an inner sect core disciple is capable of." Lei Bao swung the twin blades, weaving a dense wall of sword qi wrapped in wind and lightning. "Since you are courting death, very well, I'll grant it." As the storm walls closed in, Feng Qingshan laughed wildly. "So this is all a core disciple amounts to? I thought you'd be far more terrifying." Lei Bao, shamed into fury, slashed down with the storm wall. "Die, you little wretch!" "Seems this is as far as I can go. Hopefully, this will help Senior Martial Brother Lu." Feng Qingshan carved Lei Bao's strengths and weaknesses onto a talisman, then used the last of his spirit qi to hurl it down the stairway. He closed his eyes, watching the talisman shoot toward Lu Chen. "I didn't expect the core disciples to be this strong. Looks like I won't survive. But perhaps this way, I won't hold everyone back anymore." "Hahaha! Scared now, aren't you? Then scream for me!" Lei Bao laughed madly at the sight of him closing his eyes. "Hm? Why won't you scream?" His laughter faded, replaced with a cold scowl. "Why aren't you afraid? Scream for me!" "The dying need not fear," Feng Qingshan sneered with mocking laughter. "In life, what we pursue is nothing more than bonds and friendship, things that you'll never know." Lei Bao's fury drove his blades harder, the storm wall pressing in faster toward Feng Qingshan. "You must fear me. You have to!" The roar of wind and thunder grew closer, its blades already cutting into his flesh, yet Feng Qingshan's heart only grew calmer, faintly stirring with signs of a breakthrough. "Heh... you'll never know." A crisp sound rang out by his ear. The storm and lightning around him vanished in an instant. Lei Bao shouted furiously, "Who are you? How dare you block me from guarding the mountain gate?" "Hmph. You wanted to kill your fellow sect brother. Isn't that a violation of sect law? And you call yourself a man of the Discipline Court." Lei Bao sneered. "This is the Mountain Gate Trial. No one would know it was me who killed him. Besides, even if he died, it would only mean he wasn't strong enough." Feng Qingshan opened his eyes in surprise. "Senior Martial Brother Lu? You're here already? Have you seen the message I sent you?" "I have," Lu Chen said as he put away the Hunyuan Greatsword, pressing the talisman slip against Feng Qingshan. "Take this back. You acted far too rashly. Once we return, I am going to double up your training intensity." Feng Qingshan slowly pushed himself to his feet, head lowered. "Senior Martial Brother Lu, I was wrong. I thought I could slip from his grasp, but I never imagined a core disciple's strength would be this overwhelming. I swear, once I return, I'll devote myself fully to training." Chapters first released on novel★fire.net "What are you doing? Do you take me for nothing?" Lei Bao hurled his twin blades at Lu Chen. "A bunch of Qi Regulation brats, dragging along a useless Qi Absorption weakling, and you think you can play savior?" "Argh!" With wind and lightning swirling beneath his feet, Lei Bao charged forward, blades in hand. "Die! All of you are trash!" "Trash?" Lu Chen snorted. "No. You're the trash here. We only came to break into the mountain gate without harming anyone." He flicked his hand, knocking down both flying blades. "But since you tried to kill your fellow sect brothers, you'll have to pay the price." "Hah, arrogant fool. A level-one Qi Regulation brat thinks he can make me pay?" Lei Bao picked his blades back up, sneering. "A brat as arrogant as you must have no parents. Perhaps even your clan will die because of you." Coiling high above the clouds, Wind Dragon let out a weary sigh. "It's over. He shouldn't have said that." Lu Chen froze. Those words pierced him like knives. His eyes instantly turned bloodshot. "What... did you just say?" "Oh? So your parents really are dead?" Lei Bao sneered even harder. "I said you have no parents, and one day your entire clan will die too. With your pathetic strength, you can't even protect them. Heh, angry now? But what can you do about it?" Even as Lu Chen's aura surged, Lei Bao continued to mock coldly. "In a world ruled by strength, the weak protect no one." Wind Dragon's smile twisted bitterly. "Ah... he struck every sore spot in one breath. Fortunate or cursed, I can't even tell anymore." "You'll pay for this... Slot and Strike! Yin-Yang Twin-Fish Mode!" Lu Chen roared, and the Twin-Fish Medallion merged with his Hunyuan Greatsword. "Spirit Light Chain! Green Sovereign Divine Tree! Golden Snake Nine Variations! Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms! Thunderburst Curse! Stone Wall Formation!" Rushing across the platform, Lu Chen unleashed technique after technique without restraint. Perhaps the massacre of his village still haunted him, for his composure was beginning to unravel. Battered and bleeding, Feng Qingshan stared at him in awe. "So... this is Senior Martial Brother Lu's true strength? With power , he must have already stepped into the Qi Condensation Realm. I thought Senior Martial Brother Song only lost because of inner demons, but now... it seems Senior Martial Brother Lu truly defeated him on the Jun Merit Platform by sheer strength." "This is what the boss meant by growth. Every time he appears, he feels like a completely different person," Nantian Yijian muttered, rooted to the spot as he shouted Lu Chen's name. "But why does it feel like something's wrong? He's nothing like his usual steady self." Jun Laoye, who knew even less about Lu Chen than Nantian Yijian, was equally shaken. Watching the surging spiritual light erupt across the platform, his eyes widened. "So what Little Lu said was true. Even without us, he could have broken through the mountain gate. But how did his cultivation soar to this level? And something is really wrong with him, even I can see that much." A thunderous crash split the air as Lu Chen struck Lei Bao, sending him flying straight into the Stone Wall Formation with a single blow. "Die! You'll pay for what you said!" Lu Chen's strikes only grew faster, the formation flashing with spiritual light as Lei Bao's furious roars echoed within. Wind Dragon let out a heavy sigh. "Little Lu has lost control again. The slaughter of his village still lingers in his heart." Standing atop Wind Dragon's head, Nantian Wan'er cried out, "Lu-gege, this is only the Mountain Gate Trial! You mustn't harm your fellow sect brothers!" "Little Lu, don't kill him! Too many people are watching!" Jun Laoye, finally realizing the danger, rushed forward in an attempt to restrain him. "Lu Chen... wake up!" Jun Laoye tried every method he could, but nothing roused him. In desperation, he detonated the thunderclouds above. A deafening explosion shook the entire stairway of the mountain gate, drawing the eyes of every gatekeeper higher up toward the chaos below.