Qin Zheng had just turned his head around to the front again when they suddenly heard the scream ahead of them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
All of them quickly turned their heads to the front. They could see a few people in front of them suddenly disappear. In that instant, their hearts turned cold. What had happened over there?
It didn’t take even one second for another series of screams to sound from the front as numerous people suddenly disappeared.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"There’ll be a test imposed on all of you as we climb the mountain naturally," Qin Zheng explained unhurriedly. He took his time and didn’t say it to them directly. "If you fail the test, you’ll be sent directly to the bottom of the mountain."
Test?
Hearing Qin Zheng purposely didn’t tell them about that, they understood that Qin Zheng wanted to make them understand their lesson. They couldn’t possibly blame him because the man before did instruct them to follow after Qin Zheng carefully.
"You’re cunning." Han Fu’s smile grew wider. "But I like this better. I thought that it’s going to be a boring walk, but it didn’t seem to be the case."
"Glad that you like it." Qin Zheng chuckled. "Because in a while, you won’t be able to laugh about it anymore."
Ye Jiao noticed that Qin Zheng��s steps seemed to change for a split second. She was confused, but then she suddenly noticed that a beast had appeared before her. Her hand instinctively raised her hand as she switched her center of gravity and punched it right in the stomach as she didn’t have the time to take out her dagger.
Pssh!
The moment her fist came into contact with the beast, it had disappeared into nothingness. Ye Jiao blinked her eyes as she noticed that she had returned back to the mountain with Qin Zheng already one step further than before.
’That... must be Illusion Array!’
For a split second, when the beast appeared before her, everyone around her disappeared. However, the scenery didn’t change in the slightest. She understood that it must be just testing their preparation and courage to face against a sudden attack from a beast that they didn’t even know.
"Wow, that surprises me," Han Fu remarked. He had continued his walk like nothing happened, but there was astonishment in his eyes.
"It must be an Illusion Array."
"A powerful one at that. I don’t even notice when I enter the array, and that beast suddenly appears before me."
"Right, but it disappears as soon as I try to attack it. Is it because our attack gets in or...?"
"Ooh, right. I didn’t directly attack it, tho," Han Fu also titled his head. Even though they have only met with each other today for the first time in their lives, they didn’t have any qualms discussing with one another.
It was as if they were already old friends.
"I don’t think it’s designed to test our attack," Gao Yun added again.
"Then maybe..."
"This is a test of courage."
Qin Zheng’s words stopped them from their discussion. They looked at Qin Zheng, who was walking leisurely in front of them without any apparent change in his footsteps. He didn’t seem to be surprised at the sudden attack at all.
"Courage?"
"Yes. If you cower your back against that beast, you’ll be directly sent to the bottom of the mountain and have to repeat it. Martial artists should be brave and not allowed to show their back to their enemies," Qin Zheng explained unhurriedly. He looked to the front. "This is only the beginning, so you should be prepared that there would be more to come."
Ye Jiao knew that Qin Zheng was telling them to be prepared. This was only the beginning of the examination, so there would be more to come.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Wow, there are more people who are afraid," Han Fun turned his head to the back. There were a lot of people who had passed the first examination and had a stern face. However, many of them also screamed and sent to the mountain foot directly.
"It’s better to fail early rather than late."
"Why?"
"Because there’s no chance to catch up if you fail when you’re already about to finish with the limited amount of time," Gao Yun said seriously.
Right.
Looking at the front, Ye Jiao realized that there was still a long way to go. There would be more tests upfront, and if they failed, they would be sent to start over at the very beginning. The feeling of failure would be immense at that time.
There was also no time to catch up anymore.
"Are you afraid?" Qin Zheng taunted.
"No."
"Nah, as if I would fail."
"Not at all."
The three of them replied almost immediately. They have their own reason as to why they couldn’t fail, so they know that they have to succeed. No matter how hard it would be, they would not give up.
Not far behind from Ye Jiao, Qi Huan was walking steadily. He has passed the first test flawlessly as that kind of beast would be unable to make him afraid. Even if the beast had much more power than him, he would still face it.
’The examination is not going to be easy.’
As they continued to walk, they suddenly felt as if there was a humongous pressure coming at them from upwards. The force was threatening to push them to the ground, making them unable to walk.
"Wha..." Han Fu lost his balance for a split second. He quickly regained it as he looked at the ground with interest. "Hey, it’s interesting! Is there any gravitation array or something like that in this place? It suddenly became heavier to walk."
"It feels like there’s Eon Energy Master Rank 4 releasing his aura," Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. This kind of pressure felt oddly familiar to her because of her training in the past and also the battle against those Eon Energy Master Rank 4. They would release their aura and try to pressure her just because she was younger and at a lower rank compared to them.
"Oh?"
"Array is more plausible," Gao Yun said shortly.
Han Fu nodded, but he looked at Qin Zheng as if waiting for an explanation.
Even without looking, Qin Zheng said in a flat tone. "This is the second part of the examination."