Chapter 853: Life‑Risking Training

"Everyone, go back to cultivation. It looks like the pressure here is huge. Everyone should have a mental preparation!"

Ye Liuyun saw the trainees and felt they looked as if they had just come down from a battlefield after a great war.

The others, also shrouded in a layer of psychological shadow, returned to cultivate anxiously.

Ye Liuyun had a premonition that tomorrow's battle would not be easy.

So he took out the two divine artifacts bestowed by the dynasty in advance, intending to familiarize himself with them first.

One is a Waist Knife called Flame. He had used this knife before and found it fairly handy; its blade intent can be smoothly manifested.

The other is a long sword with a hilt, suitable for attacking enemies over a wide area.

The blade's thickness is greater than Ye Liuyun's Demon Slaying Sword. It weighs over six thousand jin. The hilt is engraved with the characters "Pi Shan".

"The name of this sword is indeed imposing!"

Ye Liuyun let out a sigh of admiration, brandished the long sword and tested its blade intent. It wasn't as strong as when using the Demon Slaying Sword, but it was sufficient against foes.

Ye Liuyun adjusted to the long sword's weight for a while. With his Yin‑Yang Realm power, a weight of over six thousand jin is effortless for him.

He was merely familiarizing himself with the sword‑dance routine. After all, a long sword differs greatly from a short sword.

The Qian Long Academy's Cultivation Rooms assigned to them were also very sturdy. Even when Ye Liuyun applied blade intent to split a wall, the wall remained unbroken.

After a brief familiarization, Ye Liuyun returned to Xuan Kong Shi and continued cultivating.

First he consolidated his Soul. Since taking the Awakening Pill, his Soul's strength has further increased.

Even after Ye Liuyun repeatedly compressed and refined them, his two Souls each reached twice their original height, and they solidified to the point of being indistinguishable from himself.

Ordinary Martial Cultivators' Souls are several zhang tall, looking terrifying. Yet he compressed his Souls to the extreme, making them appear not very fierce.

However, the Soul pressure released by his two Souls truly reaches the level of a Sovereign Realm.

Afterward, Ye Liuyun began cultivating Heaven and Earth Power.

The effects of the Heaven and Earth Pill have been fully absorbed, and Ye Liuyun's Heaven and Earth Power has doubled. With his increased realm, a single palm strike now amplifies the power five or six times over before.

Now, confronting the First Layer of Creation, Ye Liuyun feels very confident.

As long as he doesn't face an opponent who can also battle across multiple realms, he isn't too worried.

However, this place gathers elite disciples; any single disciple is of genius caliber, so Ye Liuyun cannot be careless.

After cultivating Heaven and Earth Power, he began absorbing Ming Long's Primordial Pill, training nonstop until dawn.

The others were the same; Lu Xiaoyao's words and the atmosphere here frightened them, and they all cultivated through the night.

Early the next morning, Ye Liuyun and his group hurried with the crowd to the training site.

They intended to learn about the situation here from others, but found the people were not very friendly and were highly wary of each other.

However, since Ye Liuyun's group were newcomers, the others' attitude was tolerable, at least they didn't drive them away outright.

Ye Liuyun's group also felt helpless, unable to even obtain any information.

With uneasy hearts, the few of them arrived at the training site.

The training site was actually simple: just an arena.

On the arena stood a middle‑aged man of Ninth Layer of Creation, squinting at the arriving trainee disciples.

"You bunch of weaklings, why dawdle? Move faster, or come up on stage to keep me company!" the man scoffed.

Hearing that, the disciples immediately quickened their steps, practically jogging all the way over.

Ye Liuyun and his companions also followed the crowd, rushing to the arena.

"Hey, a few fresh faces! You newcomers, come up onto the arena," the man called.

Unsure of the reason, Ye Liuyun and the others stepped onto the arena.

But they all noticed that others' gazes were either gloating or filled with sympathy.

The man sized them up and said, "I am your training period instructor, Li Qingyun. In this academy I have a nickname, Li Fengzi!"

Li Qingyun said this while glancing at Ye Liuyun and the others.

Ye Liuyun's group quickly bowed, "Greetings, instructor!"

"No need for formalities, you'll soon be avoiding me!" Li Qingyun waved his hand, showing he didn't care about their attitude.

"So you are Ye Liuyun, the young lord who was ennobled? Yet you only have the Seventh Layer of the Yin‑Yang Realm?" Li Qingyun's greatest interest remained in Ye Liuyun.

"That's me! But a realm doesn't necessarily reflect strength!" Ye Liuyun replied.

"Ha ha, strength? You bring up strength to me?" Li Qingyun burst into laughter.

At that moment, the people below cast hopeful glances toward Ye Liuyun.

"Fine, then I'll see your strength! Return to the entrance; as long as you can step onto this arena again, I will consider your strength recognized. Otherwise, get lost!" Li Qingyun said bluntly.

Even though he knew Liang Xinyu was a princess, he still gave her no face.

Ye Liuyun's group was bewildered by his words. Tested right after arriving?

"Is this a test for us?" Ye Liuyun asked calmly.

"A test? You wish! It's far from a test! This is merely punishment for the five of you who were late. Besides, as your instructor, I need to gauge your so‑called strength, so I can teach according to ability, right?" Li Qingyun said calmly.

After speaking, Li Qingyun laughed.

"Is there going to be a fight? Any restrictions?" Ye Liuyun also knew that this battle was inevitable!

"As long as you can get onto this arena, there are no limits! But let me clarify: you are responsible for life and death; those who fear death may leave now!" Li Qingyun finished, spreading his arms, awaiting the spectacle.

Ye Liuyun and his group stepped down from the arena and rushed to stand at the distant entrance.

"You little brats, what are you still standing around for? Don't you know what you should be doing?" Li Qingyun barked again.

As soon as his words fell, nearly a thousand disciples below drew weapons and rushed toward Ye Liuyun and his group.

"Whoa!" Wei Pangzi exclaimed, his neck snapping. "This is a life‑or‑death gamble!"

Liang Xinyu also looked shocked: "There are too many of them!"

"Charge formation!" Ye Liuyun barked coldly, recalling several people's spirits and simultaneously drawing the Pi Shan Battle Blade.

Yuan Datou excitedly gripped an iron rod, standing at Ye Liuyun's side.

Su Manning stood in the middle, with Liang Xinyu and Wei Pangzi on either side of Su Manning.