Chapter 51

It's just that the god's remnant face in the sky has a cross-shaped pupil when it opens its eyes.

And this illusory eye has a vertical pupil.

As for the power, it is as different as the blazing sun and a firefly; the former can instantly alienate an area into a forbidden zone, while the latter can only form a deterrent to shake the spirit.

Of course, this should be related to the fact that what formed the illusory eye was only a drop of blood diluted countless times; I imagine that if it were pure blood, the power would be even more terrifying.

But regardless, even if the real eye appeared, compared to the god's remnant face, it would still be a difference of heaven and earth.

Even so, the shock brought to Xu Qing was incredibly strong. The body was only one aspect; what caused ripples in his heart was that this matter broke his cognition.

"Could it be that the Seven Blood Child can already take flesh and blood from a god?"

"This is impossible... Both give me the same feeling, but they are clearly not the same one. So, is there a high probability that there are existences similar to gods in this world?"

This speculation made Xu Qing's breathing even more rapid. He stared at the illusory eye on the blue stone, his heart filled with a strong desire for knowledge about this world.

At the same time, following the roar of the pressure, the people on the square spat out blood one after another, and while swaying unsteadily, most of them could not persist and were sent out by the horse-faced cultivator's wave.

Soon, only three people remained who were still persisting.

Zhou Qingpeng was not among them. Among the three were Li Zimei and a plain-looking teenager. Although the teenager's clothing was not like a scavenger's, it was also just simple, clearly coming from a small city.

At this moment, in this persistence, he also clearly reached his limit; soon blood leaked out, and he had to give up, followed by Li Zimei.

As for the last of the three, it was naturally Xu Qing.

Willpower can be faked.

But this time, in front of this cold existence similar to a god, Xu Qing did not want to fake it.

He instinctively did not want to submit to the other party.

So he stared at the illusory eye, his whole body tense, his heart beating more violently than ever before, cooperating with his willpower to confront that illusory eye.

"Under the gaze of the god's remnant face, I struggled to survive. How can the pressure formed by this drop of blood, diluted countless times, make me submit!"

Bloodshot veins slowly appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. His body trembled, and his entire flesh and blood seemed to be screaming at this moment, but under the suppression of his powerful willpower, honed in the slums and tempered in the forbidden zone jungle, he controlled it firmly.

And at this moment, on the entire square, he was the only one still resisting. This scene caused the spirits of all the testers around to shake wildly, and each of them looked at Xu Qing in shock.

Even the horse-faced middle-aged man and the other two cultivators had their gazes fall on Xu Qing, their expressions surprised.

Because the time Xu Qing had persisted was already very long.

And in this year's test, after a month of progress, up to now, only three people had persisted as long as Xu Qing...

"I wonder if this child can survive the final wave of eruption."

"In this year's test, no one has succeeded in this stage yet."

The three middle-aged cultivators transmitted their voices to each other. The golden liquid on the blue stone had already dissipated for the most part, but... just at the moment it was about to dissipate completely, the illusory eye manifested on it suddenly moved, and its gaze actually changed from divergent to locking onto Xu Qing.

An even more terrifying pressure gathered on Xu Qing at this instant, as if the god wanted all things to submit, rumbling and suppressing like a mountain.

Xu Qing's whole body trembled violently, his head feeling as if it were being pressed down by a mountain range, and it slowly lowered.

This scene made the three cultivators' expressions freeze, and they watched carefully.

But in the process of lowering his head, Xu Qing's body trembled even more violently, and finally, he actually slowly raised it again. As the blue veins on his forehead bulged, his blood-colored eyes revealed a wolf-like coldness, and even more, an unyielding spirit.

The moment he looked at the illusory eye, the seventh layer of body tempering of the Sea Mountain Technique also erupted within his body at this moment, manifesting rapidly behind him, and soon formed a pitch-black ghost shadow.

This shadow was several zhang tall, entirely pitch-black, with spiral horns on its head. Under its purple eyes, its bloody mouth opened suddenly, emitting a silent roar toward the illusory eye.

Roar!!

Xu Qing also roared low, and at this moment, he made invisible contact with the illusory eye on the blue stone.

The next instant, his whole body shook, as if a heavy hammer had been struck into his mind. As blood spat out, the ghost shadow behind him dissipated, but the illusory eye on the blue stone also blurred at this instant and finally dissipated.

Everything ended.

Xu Qing's breathing was rapid. Enduring the headache, he struggled to stand up after a while, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, cupped his fists toward the three middle-aged cultivators who were standing there with deep meaning in their eyes, and turned to walk silently off the square.

Around the square, the others who had successively failed to persist looked at Xu Qing as if looking at a monster, each of their faces carrying disbelief and horror.

"Qi and blood... Qi and blood forming a shadow? This only appears at the Great Perfection of Body Tempering, comparable to the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation!" It was unknown who said this in an uncertain voice, echoing around.

The next instant, bursts of gasps rose one after another.

Only Xu Qing stood there silently, closing his eyes, feeling the pain in his mind slowly dissipating, and faintly, it seemed that a stronger perception was being born.

Like forging, after a thousand hammerings, a sharp edge will be revealed.

This second stage of the test was actually... also like this, containing good fortune within it. However, those who can obtain it are few and far between.

This made Xu Qing freeze. After checking carefully, he found that he really seemed to be much sharper in perception than before, as if his willpower had become more resilient; he had no way to prove the latter, but his feeling could not be wrong.

"Very good!"

On the square, the three middle-aged cultivators responsible for the test all had eyes full of appreciation as they looked at Xu Qing, and the horse-faced cultivator even nodded at him.

"Your name is Xu Qing, right? Those who can survive the final suppression of the second stage of the test will have a significant improvement in their own mental power. Using the blood of a divine creature as a whetstone, the willpower honed will be incredibly resilient!"

"Divine creature?" Xu Qing looked at the horse-faced cultivator.

The other party did not explain, withdrew his gaze, and said nothing more. At this moment, the third stage of the test began.

The one presiding over this third stage of the assessment was the last of the three.

This person had a round face and very small eyes, but the glint in his eyes was very sharp. After coming out, he scanned the crowd and spoke indifferently.

"The third stage of the test is actual combat, fighting against strange beasts within an illusion array."

Speaking of this, the round-faced middle-aged man pointed at Xu Qing.

"Xu Qing, you don't need to participate. Your body tempering has actually reached the level of Qi and blood forming a shadow, already possessing the combat power of the Great Perfection. There is no difference whether you participate in this third stage of the test or not. You are allowed to pass the first stage without testing."

As soon as his words were spoken, the other testers around were envious, but they had nothing to say; the ghost shadow behind Xu Qing just now had completely shocked them.

"Many thanks, senior." Xu Qing lowered his head upon hearing this and bowed deeply with cupped fists.

He was not good with words, but he knew that when facing kindness, one must be polite.

So soon, this third stage of the test began. Watching others step onto the square one after another, Xu Qing simply sat down cross-legged to recuperate his spirit. Until the third stage of the test ended, his spirit had also recovered for the most part.

And through this recovery, Xu Qing deeply experienced that his perception seemed to be twice as sharp as before.

Specifically, he could instantly perceive any movement within a certain range around him in his mind. This scene made his heart beat faster, and his eyes revealed a sharp glint.

"The honing of willpower actually has such feedback... When I go back, I must try controlling the shadow; it should be more flexible."

In the process of Xu Qing's contemplation, the third stage of the test ended quickly.

Everyone returned to their original positions, waiting nervously and anxiously for the results. Xu Qing also stood up and looked at the three middle-aged cultivators who were communicating with each other.

"It's a pity that the First Peak requires a specific token..." Xu Qing lowered his head and looked at the token in his hand; he did not know which peak he would be arranged to enter next.

Not long after, the announcement began. Among the sixty-plus people, a small half were eliminated.

Those who were eliminated had pale expressions; not having passed the entrance test, they were told they must leave the Seven Blood Child within an hour, or they would be erased by the array formation after the time passed.

The term 'erased by the array formation' made Xu Qing's eyes shrink, and it also made those who were eliminated look extremely bitter.

But leaving was not the only choice.

They were told that if they had enough spirit stones to buy contribution points, they could also live in the main city, only the cost would be the same as for commoners: thirty spirit coins or thirty contribution points per day.

And disciples who passed the test, although the consumption was also thirty contribution points per day, gained an additional right to purchase Seven Blood Child cultivation resources.

Xu Qing was a bit ignorant about this and did not understand it very well, but he believed he would soon be able to figure all this out.

Not long after, the remaining people who passed the assessment were told their assigned mountain peaks as the horse-faced cultivator spoke.

"Zhan Han, First Peak."

"Zhao Chungang, Third Peak."

"Zhou Qingpeng, Seventh Peak."

Among them, five people were selected for the First Peak, three for the Seventh Peak, and the other five peaks mostly had six or seven people each.

Following the rise and fall of the horse-faced cultivator's voice, Xu Qing waited silently; he did not hear his name.

Not long after, Xu Qing looked up, his gaze freezing.

"Xu Qing, Seventh Peak."

After the horse-faced cultivator read Xu Qing's name last, he scanned the teenagers and girls in front of him and spoke indifferently.

"Each of you who passed the test is rewarded with one thousand contribution points, and the one ranked first this time is Xu Qing, rewarded with ten thousand contribution points."

Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this; he felt the Seventh Peak was also very good, and at the same time, he was shocked by the amount of the reward.

He secretly calculated it; contribution points were equivalent to spirit coins, so ten thousand contribution points were ten spirit stones.

"So much!" Xu Qing was a bit surprised.

At this moment, after the horse-faced cultivator finished speaking, he took out a jade slip to operate it. Soon, Xu Qing felt his token vibrate. When he lowered his head to look, the pattern on the front of the token twisted on its own, turning into an ancient character representing ten thousand.

But soon, the number changed, becoming nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, one point less.

Xu Qing's eyes shrank.

The other disciples who passed the test here also noticed the change in their own tokens one after another, each with a feeling of emotion. Following the horse-faced cultivator's summons, they were taken away in batches.

The round-faced cultivator beside him walked toward Xu Qing, scanned his token after approaching, and smiled slightly.

"Don't look; I'll introduce it to you in a moment."

Saying this, he summoned the other disciples who had joined the Seventh Peak, called Xu Qing, and walked toward the mountain road leading to the Seventh Peak to the side.

"Let's go; I'll take you into the mountain gate of the Seventh Peak. You must cherish it, because this might be your only time going up the mountain!"