Chapter 350: College Entrance Exam? An Assessment by the Lord of Martial Dao!

Lord of Hardened Body.

San Jin and Cheng Zizhen were stunned by this scene; they looked up at the old man sitting on the mountain of corpses, their bodies trembling.

This was the Lord of Martial Dao, the ultimate powerhouse who created the Hardened Body martial path.

Cheng Zizhen subconsciously wanted to kneel down, but seeing Chen Yan standing straight before her, she still lifted her head.

"It is merely a wisp of consciousness."

The old man chuckled:

"Many years ago, I created this place to serve as the college entrance examination secret realm for the younger generation of Great Xia."

As the old man spoke, his pair of world-weary eyes met Chen Yan's gaze.

A strange force continuously narrowed the distance between Chen Yan and the old man.

Drip!

The sound of dripping water rang out.

Chen Yan's body jolted, and the surrounding space began to change.

The glacier was gone, the mountain of corpses was gone, and only endless darkness remained all around.

A point of faint light appeared, continuously expanding, blooming quietly in the depths of time like a serene ink wash painting.

This was a Chinese-style courtyard; within the courtyard, the carved beams and painted pillars fully displayed a rustic charm.

Beside the pond in the center of the courtyard, the old man dressed in black stood with his hands behind his back, watching the koi jumping in the pond.

Chen Yan looked at the old man; although his expression was calm, deep inside he was thinking a lot.

He could not definitively judge whether this person was an enemy or a friend.

The story of Slaughter Village was, in itself, an abbreviation of the story of Great Xia.

In the story of Slaughter Village, this old man was the village chief who murdered Xue Qi's wife and daughter.

Cycle after cycle, Xue Qi's initial enemy was the village chief, and the final enemy remained the village chief.

Despair was synonymous with Xue Qi.

"Do you feel indignant for Xue Qi?"

The old man's voice suddenly rang out.

Chen Yan did not answer, but the old man, as if he already knew what Chen Yan was thinking, said to himself:

"When you reach the pinnacle of a race, you will discover that civilization is numbers, a massive group of data."

"I simulated Great Xia as Slaughter Village, cycle after cycle, collecting the variables and results of Slaughter Village time and time again."

He looked at Chen Yan, his gaze turning somber in an instant:

"It was just to see what the future of Great Xia would actually be like."

Chen Yan did not speak, but in his heart, he fundamentally did not approve of the other party's methods.

The thoughts of this Lord of Hardened Body were very simple.

Let Slaughter Village become the experimental lab mouse, and through cycles and various data, find the path that Great Xia could develop.

Sacrifice a small portion of people to fulfill the future of the majority.

In the other party's eyes, the victory of the future perhaps only depended on how many of the human race remained.

There was no difference between one hundred million people dying and one hundred people dying.

Yet, such a person was precisely the founding lord of Great Xia.

The old man sat by the pond, waved one hand, and a pancake appeared in his hand; he took a bite and said:

"From the moment you changed the realm of the Hardened Body martial path, allowing the Extreme Forging Realm and the Unity Realm to appear on yourself simultaneously, I noticed you."

He laughed, speaking with a sense of mockery:

"Originally, I was only slightly curious and didn't intend to do anything to you, but who told you to say the word 'obedient' that day."

Chen Yan did not speak; he had indeed said such words that day.

He had not expected that it was precisely because of this that he would be detected by the old man.

"I didn't intend to target you either, but perhaps there is a strange attraction between Lords of Martial Dao."

"You walked toward me step by step; for others, it is just participating in the college entrance examination, but for you, it is facing the assessment of the Lord of Martial Dao."

The old man said quietly, and the pancake in his hand was finished by him in a very short time.

"What is the name of your martial path?"

The old man asked quietly.

"Will."

Chen Yan answered calmly.

"Will..." The old man stroked his chin and glanced at Chen Yan:

"Has the second realm come out yet?"

"Not yet."

"What is the concept?"

"Divine Body of Will," Chen Yan replied; this was his initial concept, and he was currently constantly contemplating the various mysteries of the Divine Body of Will.

"Is there a Source Space?" the old man continued to ask; his eyebrows were exceptionally long and extremely thick.

"No," Chen Yan said; he had never had the intention of constructing a Source Space from the very beginning.

But after his voice fell, the old man was silent for a long time.

He looked at Chen Yan gloomily, and a pinch of bait appeared in his hand at some point, which he threw into the pond.

Instantly, the koi in the water leaped up, and water splashed everywhere.

"A fellow traveler." The old man stood with his hands behind his back and spoke quietly:

"Whether it is the path of Mind Power or the path of Blood Qi, both require the creation of one's own Origin Space."

"The Origin Space of the Mind Power path is born at the Seventh Realm, the Creation Realm, which is a major flaw."

"Therefore, the path of Blood Qi begins creating its Origin Space as early as the Origin Realm."

"When I created the Horizontal Refining Martial Dao, I began outlining the Origin Space from the Unity Realm, perfecting it almost to the extreme."

"And you..."

The old man's gaze was distant, like the clouds of Cangwu, ethereal and mysterious, as he looked at Chen Yan:

"You have disappointed me; you should have begun creating your Origin Space from the First Realm."

Chen Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, lost in thought over the mysteries in the old man's words.

From the perspective of the three physical martial daos—Mind Power, Blood Qi, and Horizontal Refining—the Origin Space is extremely important.

Judging whether a martial dao is powerful or not must begin with the Origin Space.

Why?

Chen Yan pondered, looking at the old man:

"Creating an Origin Space is for the purpose of creating a brand-new space far away from this world."

The old man swept a glance at Chen Yan:

"Yes, only by creating a world without Ancient Gods can the human race truly survive."

"The Origin Space is that world!"

Chen Yan frowned.

So, the future path envisioned by the masters of the three martial daos—Mind Power, Blood Qi, and Horizontal Refining—is to escape.

"Young Master of Martial Dao, you must change your own martial dao path."

"It is best to create your own Origin Space before you have even created your Second Realm."

The old man stood up and walked before Chen Yan:

"Begin."

Chen Yan frowned:

"What do you mean?"

The old man blew on his beard, slightly dissatisfied:

"Naturally, it is to perfect your own martial dao under my guidance."

He spread his arms:

"You are very lucky; when I created Horizontal Refining, I had no teacher."

The old man laughed, his face full of wrinkles bunching up.

But soon, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, and he just looked at Chen Yan like that:

"Why don't you start?"

The handsome-looking Master of Will revealed a smile at this moment, just quietly staring straight at the old man:

"I would like to ask, since you have already created a powerful Origin Space, why..."

Chen Yan looked around:

"Why is it that within the entire Great Xia, there are still countless Ancient God Beasts?"

The smile on the old man's face gradually vanished, and his gaze slowly turned icy.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at Chen Yan just like that.

"There is one more thing I want to ask you," Chen Yan said.

"Speak," the old man said, the coldness in his eyes growing thicker.

"The Master of Blood Qi, was he really killed by you?"

Boom.

A terrifying explosion resounded within the courtyard, incomparably dreadful.

The fish in the pond were shaken by a powerful force, instantly turning into clusters of blood mist within the pool.

At this moment, the aura on the old man was incomparably terrifying.

He stared fixedly at Chen Yan and barked:

"Chen Yan, remember, I am not begging you; I am helping you."

The beard on the old man's chin was bristling, and a terrifying momentum surged continuously from his body.

Chen Yan frowned:

"But you failed."

The old man's expression flickered uncertainly.

Chen Yan, however, continued:

"My martial dao shall be created by me alone; I appreciate your good intentions, but they are not needed."

The old man looked at Chen Yan and took a deep breath.

For a moment, it was as if all his past experiences flashed through his eyes.

He spoke earnestly:

"In the story of the rabbit and the white bear, the rabbit village chief and five other rabbits devoured the white bear's blood."

"They became crazed, and they became powerful."

"At that moment, the rabbit village chief understood a truth."

The old man said in an icy voice:

"Rabbits are herbivores; they cannot defeat the white bear."

"Only when the rabbit stays far away from the white bear can all despair be thoroughly ended."

Chen Yan frowned:

"But my Martial Dao can erase malice."

The old man was startled; he looked at Chen Yan and shook his head:

"I know, but I do not want to let you develop as you please.

Before the founding of the Great Xia, my ancestors created the Path of Thought-Power, my son created the Path of Qi and Blood, and I created the Path of Hard-Body Tempering.

The time interval between the appearance of these Martial Daos was only a few hundred years.

I originally thought that the human race would head toward prosperity from then on, and that new Martial Daos would continue to appear after Hard-Body Tempering."

He sighed long and hard; back then, he had thought the human race's fortune had reached its peak.

He believed new Martial Daos would constantly emerge, and the human race would truly obtain hope.

But he was wrong.

A hundred years after the Hard-Body Tempering Martial Dao, no new Martial Dao was born, and even after a thousand years, there was still none.

It was only after ten thousand years that a Chen Yan appeared.

The human race can no longer afford to experiment.

If the human race's fortune were flourishing, new Martial Daos would still be born.

In that case, he could very well let Chen Yan experiment as he pleased.

But now, it is different.

After Chen Yan, there might not be any new Masters of Martial Dao appearing again.

"Chen Yan, there are gaps even among Masters of Martial Dao; if you were too mediocre, you would have had no chance to stand before me at all.

But you came, and you passed my test.

You are excellent, you must not mess around!"

The old man spoke indifferently, his voice carrying a kind of ancient stillness.

The next moment, his figure slowly dissipated.

Within the courtyard, his voice lingered in the air.

"I will give you time; think it over carefully. Once you have figured it out, I will teach you the method to create a Martial Dao."

In an instant.

Inside the courtyard, only Chen Yan remained.

Chen Yan frowned, looking at the empty courtyard, and fell into silence.

Having gone through so much trouble to arrive here, was he really going to be dealt this hand?

For others, the Master of Hard-Body Tempering personally teaching the mysteries of creating a Martial Dao might be a heaven-sent opportunity.

For him, it might also be an opportunity.

But, does he, Chen Yan, need to accept it?

Chen Yan sat cross-legged and entered meditation.

He was contemplating the current situation and thinking about the future.

The courtyard here was extremely tranquil; the fish in the pond that had been destroyed just moments ago were resurrected by a strange energy, and the sound of flowing water splashed and gurgled.

Sunlight fell from high above, making the courtyard bright and refreshing.

Chen Yan had no heart to appreciate these things; at this moment, it felt as if countless voices were ringing out within his heart.

They were arguing.

He stood up abruptly and walked toward the outside of the courtyard.

But as soon as he crossed the courtyard gate, he returned to the inside of the courtyard once again.

The Master of Hard-Body Tempering did not play by the rules.

Chen Yan threw a punch, and thunder, ice, and golden light intertwined and erupted, yet it did not have any effect on the entire courtyard.

"Give up."

The old man's voice resounded from the horizon:

"Asking you to take me as your master feels almost like bullying you."

Chen Yan frowned.

Now, it seemed he had no other way.

He should still be on the third level of the Dream Abyss.

Chen Yan felt the malice shrouding the entire courtyard.

This courtyard was merely something the old man had conjured up.

Then, how was he to leave?

Chen Yan fell silent.

If it were for the other examinees, crossing the ice river would have already been enough to leave the third level of the Dream Abyss.

Crossing the ice river was the method to solve the problem.

But for Chen Yan, it was not like that.

Chen Yan entered the College Entrance Exam Secret Realm, and from the very beginning, it was not a simple exam.

It was accepting the assessment of the Master of Hard-Body Tempering.

A Master of Martial Dao was accepting the assessment of another Master of Martial Dao.

Now, Chen Yan had passed the assessment, but the reward he was about to receive was not what Chen Yan wanted to obtain.