Chapter 291: The Second Rabbit

High above the heavens.

A man in green robes stood with his hands behind his back, looking down indifferently.

The man's features were ordinary, yet between his brows, he revealed an aura of looking down upon the world.

Luo Chen Invincible Son, Chen Changyuan.

"The College Entrance Examination Secret Realm truly does sever the connection between me and my soul-split."

Chen Changyuan murmured; he had separated a wisp of his soul to possess Yu Changsheng.

According to his plan, Yu Changsheng should have already gone to the Slaughter Forest by now to search for the 【Deep Ripple】.

It was just that now, with the perception between his main body and his avatar severed by the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm, he did not know how far Yu Changsheng had progressed.

However...

"However, this collateral branch is becoming increasingly brilliant." Chen Changyuan frowned.

No matter how unwilling he was to see this name, he had to admit it.

Chen Yan was even more talented and brilliant than he had been back then.

"Having finally broken through my blockade, he must surely be thinking of killing me in his heart."

The corners of Chen Changyuan's mouth curled up, carrying a playful air:

"I hope you can make it past this hurdle of Yu Changsheng."

…………

Seven 【Technique】 character Saint-Breaking Fruits.

Eight 【Technique】 character Saint-Breaking Fruits.

Nine 【Technique】 character Saint-Breaking Fruits.

…………

Thirteen 【Technique】 character Saint-Breaking Fruits.

……………

Twenty-seven 【Technique】 character Saint-Breaking Fruits.

Time passed slowly.

He did not know how long the battle had lasted.

The dark night was approaching.

Throughout the dense forest, the roars of beasts gradually vanished, leaving only a field of wreckage.

In the dense forest, Chen Yan lay amidst a pile of corpses, bathed in blood.

He looked at the sky with a sense of listlessness.

His brain was overloaded; it took Chen Yan a great deal of time to adapt to a normal speed of thought.

Chen Yan stood up, his body's strength erupting as he shook off the blood and flesh fragments from his body.

Subsequently, he swallowed the twenty-seven 【Technique】 character Saint-Breaking Fruits from the Saint-Breaking Tree.

In an instant, strands of familiar yet strange memories flooded the depths of Chen Yan's mind.

Boom, boom, boom!

Orbs of light, each wrapped in an ink-colored array disc, floated around Chen Yan, orbiting like planets.

Nine!

Nine Saint-Explosion Orbs!

Self-created Azure Vault-grade, Grade B tempering martial art 【Void-Breaking - Saint-Explosion】, upgraded!

Azure Vault-grade, Grade A!

Chen Yan felt that his 【Void-Breaking - Saint-Explosion】 was not far from Morning Star-grade.

It was truly not far.

Chen Yan felt that for 【Void-Breaking - Saint-Explosion】 to reach Morning Star-grade, perhaps only a single spark of inspiration was needed.

Subsequently, Chen Yan looked at a blood-red Dao-Slashing Bamboo floating beside him.

A full day of slaughter, and the massive amount of Dao-Slashing points had nurtured the growth of the Dao-Slashing Bamboo.

At this moment, this stalk of Dao-Slashing Bamboo had grown five segments.

It was taller than the one he had obtained at the very beginning.

In today's day of slaughter, Chen Yan had reaped over twenty-three million Dao-Slashing points.

The growth threshold for the fifth segment of the Dao-Slashing Bamboo was five million to five hundred million.

It could be exchanged for Morning Star-grade precious medicines and various Azure Vault-grade martial arts.

As for growing the sixth segment, it would require two point five billion Dao-Slashing points.

In other words, even if Chen Yan used five hundred million points to cultivate the Dao-Slashing Bamboo to the limit of the fifth segment.

To grow the sixth segment, he would still need two billion Dao-Slashing points.

Regarding this, Chen Yan had no objections.

After all, the sixth segment of Dao-Slashing Bamboo could be exchanged for Bright Moon-grade precious medicines and Morning Star-grade martial arts.

Chen Yan did not continue to cultivate this stalk of Dao-Slashing Bamboo.

He chose to exchange it directly.

The Dao-Slashing Bamboo cultivated with twenty-three million points could fully be exchanged for a Morning Star-grade, Grade C precious medicine.

When Chen Yan touched this stalk of Dao-Slashing Bamboo with one hand, strands of information regarding treasures entered the depths of Chen Yan's mind.

When he detected a certain item, Chen Yan's eyes flashed.

Immediately following, the thought of exchange arose, and this stalk of Dao-Slashing Bamboo instantly shattered.

A chill emerged in Chen Yan's hand.

It was an ultramarine-colored spirit mushroom, as translucent as ice crystal glaze.

Morning Star-grade Grade B blood-energy treasure medicine, Ice Domain Spirit-Gathering Mushroom.

Blood-energy treasure medicine.

Chen Yan did not intend to exchange for any more tempering treasure medicines; he feared that if he continued to practice tempering, his body would collapse.

However, regarding the path of blood-energy, Chen Yan also needed to spend a great price to improve his strength.

Although he was powerful in every aspect.

His realm was too low.

His current priority was to first advance one martial path to the Fourth Stage.

Only by entering the Fourth Stage could he truly have the possibility of killing an existence like Chen Xiyuan.

He took out a Time Seed.

Chen Yan immediately crushed it.

Hum— a time barrier enveloped Chen Yan.

Start absorbing!

Rolling blood-energy poured into Chen Yan's body.

Within the Saint-Breaking Realm, red light representing blood-energy surged.

Chen Yan's body became translucent.

The particles of his physical body began to store and forge blood-energy.

Golden Body Five-Crossing; Chen Yan wanted to completely forge his Golden Body, and his own blood-energy volume would be thirty-three times that of an ordinary peak Golden Body martial artist.

Moreover, this required those Golden Body martial artists to have achieved one hundred percent forging.

This was the benefit of having a solid foundation.

A strong foundation usually leads to a stronger future.

Not to mention, Chen Yan was a Golden Body Five-Crossing.

Chen Yan absorbed blood-energy while swallowing 【Blood】 Saint-Breaking Fruits.

His physical body's forging degree began to skyrocket.

Twelve percent!

Thirteen percent!

Fourteen percent!

…………

Twenty percent!

…………

Twenty-five percent!

By the end of his cultivation, Chen Yan had swallowed thirty 【Blood】 Saint-Breaking Fruits.

His Golden Body forging degree successfully reached one-quarter.

【Saint-Breaking Tree (Level 6): 449/500】

Only fifty-one more Saint-Breaking Fruits were needed to completely reach the limit of Level 6.

Chen Yan was also curious about what kind of fruit the Saint-Breaking Tree would bring him after reaching Level 7.

He had known about Saint-Breaking Fruits like 【Array】 and 【Technique】 for a long time.

But Chen Yan truly did not know the types of fruits that would be born after the Saint-Breaking Tree reached Level 7.

Not only that.

There was also that chaotic-colored fruit.

Chen Yan actually paid attention to it every day.

Ever since he arrived in Xiaoyang City, the growth rate of the chaotic-colored fruit had begun to surge.

Just like now, it was also growing quietly.

It looked like it was already seventy percent mature.

The mysteries contained within the chaotic-colored fruit left him unable to see through it or guess it.

Today, Chen Yan had gained too much.

Is this the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm?

What would his ranking be?

Could he get into the top five?

He should be able to.

It was not that Chen Yan was arrogant.

Chen Yan did not have the habit of looking down on others.

But the path of will indeed gave him many conveniences; he could perceive the emotions of others and could also ignore the malicious corrosion in the Slaughter Forest.

At this moment.

In the Slaughter Forest, the sky had completely darkened.

A gloomy aura permeated like thick ink.

Ancient trees towered into the sky, their branches intertwined like ferocious demonic claws, stretching toward the purple-black firmament.

All around, the ancient trees were strange.

Just like what Chen Yan saw when he first entered the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm.

The trees in this Slaughter Forest were pitch-black, with fruits hanging from their branches that resembled human bodies.

These human-shaped fruits possessed complete human facial features and limbs.

If one did not look closely, one would mistake them for corpses hanging from the trees.

Chen Yan frowned; only after leaving his cultivation did he realize the malice in the surroundings had grown even more intense.

It was as if endless danger were about to arrive.

Not lingering any longer, Chen Yan intended to enter the village first to take a look.

He walked for about five minutes.

A rustling sound rang out.

An old man dressed in tattered clothes appeared, looking at Chen Yan in surprise, then immediately bowed respectfully: "Candidate, hurry into the village; in a moment, that thing is coming."

"What thing?" Chen Yan frowned.

"Cod Wife." Endless fear surfaced in the old man's eyes, but a flash of fury flickered in their depths:

"A demon that specializes in slaughtering us at night."

Chen Yan frowned, but the old man pulled out a rusted short blade and sat down on the ground of his own accord.

"Candidate, you should go back quickly; the Cod Wife is terrifying, you cannot beat him."

As the old man spoke, his gaze grew dim; he then raised the short blade in his hand, muttering something under his breath.

Immediately after, he raised his hand and brought the blade down, stabbing it into his own chest.

Squelch...

"White bear, white bear, rabbit..."

A look of serenity appeared in the old man's eyes.

The short blade stabbed in deep, blood splattered, and a look of pain appeared on the old man's face:

"Please, end this... everything."

His hand reached into his own chest, struggling to tear something apart.

Immediately after, a blood-drenched heart was pulled out by him.

He let out a shriek like a slaughtered pig.

Pfft!

He vomited violently, and organ tissues sprayed out from his mouth, crawling on the ground like living worms.

Chen Yan frowned.

Within his line of sight, the old man's body began to decompose, turning into strips of flesh tentacles.

With the heart as the center, the flesh tentacles spread out in a web-like pattern, burrowing into the earth.

Immediately after.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The ground on all sides cracked open, and small, pitch-black trees shot out from the ground where the flesh tentacles had burrowed, growing upward.

They were like pitch-black hands, reaching toward the dark, purplish-red firmament.

On the treetops, the bark split open, and human-shaped fruits grew out.

They were very small, but they already showed the initial form of a human body.

Those human faces were the same as the old man who had just perished.

Their mouths were wide open, their expressions twisted, screaming in silence.

Chen Yan's brows furrowed tightly; he now understood how these strange trees came to be.

He scanned the entire strange forest.

Those human-shaped fruits hung there, pairs of frozen eyes filled with endless fear and wailing.

Just staring at him like that.

Staring, staring, staring, staring, staring, staring, staring...

Always staring at him.

So, this was the Slaughter Forest.

A slaughterhouse for humans.

This was the College Entrance Exam Secret Realm, a trial.

But the feeling these people gave him was clearly...

They were human.

Yet, at this very moment.

Boom!

A low, rumbling sound rang out.

A mass of black mist appeared on the heart on the ground, instantly stepping onto this heart, causing blood to splatter.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

A figure three meters tall, its entire body emitting black mist, suddenly appeared.

The massive black mist monster hunched its body, its head covered in countless strands of black mist acting as long hair, hanging straight down.

In an instant, a feeling of madness, distortion, evil, and fury washed over him.

A violent pressure instantly enveloped Chen Yan.

The next moment.

Boom!

A suffocating, fishy stench permeated the air as the massive black mist figure appeared before Chen Yan.

A pair of scarlet eyes stared at Chen Yan through the black mist surging over its entire body, as if sensing something.

Chen Yan looked up from below to meet the gaze of the giant figure.

This must be that Cod Wife.

The next instant.

Boom!

The moment the black-mist giant raised its palm and slammed it down toward Chen Yan, the powerful force compressed the air.

The atmospheric pressure rose abruptly, the surrounding airflow surged violently, and the booming sound turned into an extremely sharp shriek.

A sense of crisis, intense to the extreme, rushed toward him.

Chen Yan's pupils constricted.

With a boom.

Golden light exploded around his body.

【Heaven Patrol】, activate!

Word Realm, activate!

Protective markings, activate!

【Abyss Dive】, activate!

All methods were unleashed, and then...

Escape!

Boom!

The giant palm slammed down, but only struck Chen Yan's afterimage.

In an instant, the massive force slammed into the earth.

Boom!

The earth collapsed, the forest shook, and spatial cracks instantly spread for hundreds of meters.

A giant crater with a diameter of one kilometer appeared instantly.

Boom, boom, boom!

Void-Breaking Light Orbs came blasting in, smashing against the giant's body and erupting with brilliance.

While escaping, Chen Yan unleashed 【Void-Breaking - Saint Explosion】.

His mind was trembling slightly.

What kind of monster is this?

Is the college entrance exam secret realm this terrifying?

Boom!

Hundreds of giant trees around Chen Yan shattered instantly, and an invisible palm of force brushed past Chen Yan's shoulder by a hair's breadth.

Chen Yan's speed exploded; his feet stomped on space, causing ripples like indentations to burst forth within it.

Go to the village.

The feeling this Cod Wife gave him was that it could beat even geniuses like Zhang Luobai and Yu Changsheng to death.

This is a Tier 5 powerhouse.

And, not an ordinary Tier 5 at that.

An extremely strong Tier 5!

…………

At the same time.

In Slaughter Village, wooden houses resembling churches stood on the pitch-black earth.

Inside each wooden house, candidates stood packed together.

In front of one of the wooden houses, military prodigies like Shao Hengyang and Shang Yunwu were standing.

"Candidate lords, the checkpoint assessment is about to begin."

An old man wearing tattered clothes spoke respectfully.

Shang Yunwu frowned:

"Wait a little longer."

Fear appeared in the old man's eyes:

"We cannot wait; the Cod Wife will be here soon..."

Shao Hengyang's expression turned ugly, and he suddenly looked toward the front of another wooden house:

"Ma Tianyin, Lü Guiwen, if I discover you have made a move against Chen Yan, I will kill you!"

In the distance, Lü Guiwen shrugged, while Ma Tianyin sneered:

"First of all, we haven't even seen Chen Yan's face.

The villagers all said that Chen Yan entered the Slaughter Forest.

Secondly..."

Ma Tianyin grinned hideously:

"You, a Tier 6 General Star, are threatening me? Are you looking for death?"

"Hahaha."

Shang Yunwu sneered:

"How about we have a fight?"

Ma Tianyin narrowed his eyes.

Shang Yunwu shouted in a low voice:

"Your family's patriarch is at the Eighth Rank, and you want to make a move against a General Star every damn day. Do you really think you are the ruler of the Xia Kingdom?"

Ma Tianyin said nothing more, but he sneered inwardly.

Chen Yan had gone to the Slaughter Forest.

They had also just learned the general rules.

At night, monsters like the Snow Wife would actually appear.

The rules for the Slaughter Forest this year had changed again.

This thing called the Snow Wife didn't even exist last year.

Clearly, the Slaughter Forest last year was a village of Thought Masters, and the villagers inside were all Thought Masters.

Thought Masters could project their souls out of their bodies, detaching from their physical forms.

Ma Tianyin thought the assessment last year was already difficult enough, but the difficulty had clearly increased this year.

"Snow Wife..."

Shang Yunwu's expression also turned somber:

"The Slaughter Forest is an autonomously developing world; the rules every year change because of the world's own changes."

According to what the villagers said, Chen Yan had gone to the Slaughter Forest early on.

Chen Yan did not know of the Snow Wife's existence.

Right now, he was likely already in danger.

All around.

Inside one wooden house after another.

All the examinees were also looking outside through the windows, their expressions all strange.

Chen Yan, who had just revealed his natural talent, seemed about to be eliminated just after entering the Slaughter Forest.

Being eliminated would be the best-case scenario.

If he died outright, it would become a joke.

Inside a wooden house.

He Youtong narrowed her eyes; there were many people in the wooden house, and it was impossible for her to use a communication array disk.

But if Chen Yan was truly in danger as others said...

He Youtong's eyes were gloomy; if Chen Yan met with an accident, he would be too useless.

Just at this moment.

"Ahhhhh, it's coming!"

A villager wearing rags shrieked in terror.

Boom, boom, boom!

Incomparably violent roaring sounds resounded from within the Slaughter Forest.

Everyone's expressions changed drastically; such powerful roaring...

It was too terrifying.

Was that the Snow Wife?

Shao Hengyang's expression was ugly; the Snow Wife had appeared, but what about Chen Yan?

"Chen Yan..."

A female student named Lu Linqian stood beside Shao Hengyang, whispering, her eyes dim.

She hadn't even eaten a meal with Chen Yan yet.

She had always wanted to.

She had never succeeded.

Just at this moment.

"Chen Yan!"

A cry of alarm suddenly rang out.

Everyone followed the sound and looked, only to see a golden light flickering in the void.

A mass of black mist containing a terrifying aura constantly bombarded Chen Yan, and each time, Chen Yan narrowly dodged it.

Boom, boom, boom!

Terrifying forces followed the black mist as it swung, smashing into the surroundings.

Huge palm prints appeared on the ground.

Everyone was incredibly horrified; just watching from afar made them feel an endless sense of crisis surging toward them.

"Chen Yan, hurry over here!"

Shao Hengyang shouted, desperately blocking the panicked villagers who wanted to close the door:

"You'll be safe once you get inside the house!"

Chen Yan's eyes flickered, his body tilted instantly, and the huge black mist palm fell like an axe from the tip of his nose, missing him as it brushed past his body.

Immediately after, he flew toward Shao Hengyang's side.

"Close the door!"

"Close the door!!!"

An examinee roared; seeing this scene, their face had turned white with fear.

It was too terrifying.

Except for the house on Shao Hengyang's side, all the wooden houses in the village were tightly shut.

Everyone watched Chen Yan through the windows.

The black mist attacked several times, but Chen Yan dodged them with extreme peril.

The force unleashed directly carved an abyss-like trench into the earth, stretching for thousands of meters.

And this was just a normal attack.

Some of the girls felt their hearts rise into their throats.

It was too perilous.

But fortunately, Chen Yan was getting closer and closer to the wooden cabin.

"Hurry!" Shao Hengyang roared.

Beside him, Shang Yunwu was already prepared for battle.

As soon as Chen Yan entered the wooden cabin, he would burst into action and slam the wooden door shut.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

"Ahhhh!!!"

"Xue Qi, Xue Qi!"

Inside one wooden cabin after another, villagers began to scream in terror, as if unable to resist the evil leaking from within the black mist.

In an instant.

Chen Yan rushed to the front of the wooden cabin where Shao Hengyang was.

Ten meters!

Nine meters!

Eight meters!

Chen Yan's figure flickered, his speed erupting, his body leaving behind a long trail of golden light afterimages.

Yet at this very moment.

Boom!

A massive black shadow suddenly appeared between Chen Yan and Shao Hengyang.

A pair of pitch-black eyes stared at Chen Yan through the dense black mist.

Chen Yan's expression shifted slightly; he shifted his body, brushing past Xue Qi's body to move behind Xue Qi.

"Get in!" Shao Hengyang roared.

But in that very split second, Xue Qi's large hand had already reached out to grab Chen Yan.

"Not good!" Shang Yunwu growled.

Chen Yan couldn't get in; if Chen Yan flew even one more meter toward them, Xue Qi would grab him.

Yet at this very instant.

Chen Yan's body suddenly paused in mid-air, and he kicked out, slamming into the edge of the wooden cabin door that was exposed outside.

Boom!

The wooden door was kicked shut by Chen Yan.

Using the force, Chen Yan's body suddenly lunged toward Xue Qi, narrowly flying past Xue Qi's large hand and head.

The next instant.

Xue Qi's hand touched the wooden door.

Sss!

A wisp of black smoke rose up.

Roar!

A roar rang out.

Xue Qi roared, as if wailing, as if in sorrow, as if in a violent rage.

Chen Yan's eyes flickered slightly; he seemed to have discovered something.

Yet at this time.

Click!

Not far away, a wooden door opened.

Ma Tianyin's entire face revealed an extremely excited expression.

He opened the door and looked at Chen Yan indifferently.

Chen Yan had nowhere else to go, but for the moment, Xue Qi could not kill Chen Yan either.

He had opened the door, so Chen Yan could only run toward his side.

But the moment Chen Yan ran over, he would shut the door.

In this way, without him even making a move, Chen Yan would fall into total despair.

Sure enough, just as Ma Tianyin had thought.

Chen Yan flew toward his side.

"Chen Yan!" Shao Hengyang growled.

Chen Yan could not go over there.

But Chen Yan went anyway.

His pair of eyes appeared extremely calm.

During the process of fleeing and being hunted, Chen Yan had also figured out Xue Qi's attack patterns and speed.

In that instant just now, he actually already knew Xue Qi would block him.

After all, movement trajectories can be deduced.

At this moment, he had three methods to temporarily trap Xue Qi and enter the wooden house.

However, two of the methods required utilizing the path of Qi and blood.

The final method was one he had just discovered.

He did not want to use it; he needed to break through on his own.

Unexpectedly, the one who provided him with help at this moment was Ma Tianyin.

Chen Yan moved at extreme speed, rushing to the wooden house where Ma Tianyin was located.

Yet, it was also at this moment.

"Ha, I tricked you..." Ma Tianyin sneered, just about to close the door.

Boom!

Golden light erupted from Chen Yan's entire body, transforming into a ball of light; he did not rush into the wooden door at all, but instead pressed his body against the wooden house and flew toward the high sky.

It was also at this moment.

The immense inertia carried Xue Qi toward Ma Tianyin.

Ma Tianyin's face turned pale with terror.

But Xue Qi's massive feet instantly sank into the ground, halting her momentum.

The enormous figure appeared right before Ma Tianyin.

Ma Tianyin's expression changed abruptly, and he was just about to close the door.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Orbs of light suddenly exploded from bottom to top.

Intense flames instantly erupted from Xue Qi's body, generating scorching temperatures and rolling waves of air.

【Void-Breaking - Saint Explosion】!

This terrifying radiance obscured everyone's vision, and the massive impact force slammed into Ma Tianyin's body.

It actually made it difficult for Ma Tianyin to close the door for a moment.

Roar!

A low roar resounded.

Amidst the endless, brilliant white light, a phantom figure brushed past Ma Tianyin's side and rushed into the wooden house, casually closing the door with one hand while pushing Ma Tianyin out with the other.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Ma Tianyin shrieked in terror; if he went out, he would die!

Yet it was also at this moment.

Boom!

Lü Guiwen, who had not made a move until now, grabbed Ma Tianyin's body.

Click!

The wooden door closed.

Ma Tianyin's body was still inside the house, but one arm was caught by the wooden door, remaining outside.

Roar!

A low roar.

"Ah!"

Ma Tianyin screamed, pulling his arm back as blood gushed out like a fountain.

His entire arm had been devoured by Xue Qi.