Chapter 128: Monsters from the Classic of Mountains and Seas!

"Looks like this is the checkpoint set up by the military......"

Lu Jing continued forward along the passage shrouded in red light.

Upon reaching the first checkpoint, the armored door in front shuddered violently, then slowly rose.

Crack!

In the dim room, several dozen strange beasts nearly three meters tall, drooling from their mouths, flickered in and out of sight.

Their pupils were scarlet, their scales fearsome!

Human bodies with beast heads, like monsters from the Classic of Mountains and Seas!

"The aura fluctuations of these demon beasts are probably around level three or higher; the military really has guts......"

Lu Jing sensed the strength of these strange beasts with his mental power, and couldn't help but exclaim.

The next second, he revealed a smile.

"Perfect, I'll test my flying sword on you!"

After seeing Lu Jing, these strange beasts kept twitching their noses, as if they had smelled a scent they couldn't control.

But before they could make any move, Lu Jing had already taken the sword sheath from his ring and strapped it to his back.

Crack!

Clang—

With a surge of Lu Jing's mental power, three flying swords shot out from the sheath, swirling and howling toward the beast horde.

The whole process was smooth and swift; the high-speed flying swords dazzled the eyes.

Whoosh—

Besides the piercing screech of the swords cutting through air, there were occasional sounds of blades slicing flesh!

Splurt!

The Minyinfeijian, when it touched the beasts' scales, was like a red-hot knife cutting through a lump of fatty butter.

The outermost beasts didn't even twitch before being instantly sliced in half down the middle.

The Minyinfeijian then continued without pause, sweeping horizontally outward.

"I thought these demon beasts had something special, but it turns out they bleed too."

Lu Jing walked forward with his hands behind his back, strolling leisurely through the room filled with strange beasts.

Wherever he passed, the strange beasts were mercilessly harvested like straw.

The synthesis bar also kept popping up prompt tones.

【Congratulations, host, for slaying a "Level Three Strange Beast", obtaining Colorless Crystal Block ×3!】

【Congratulations, host, for slaying a "Level Three Strange Beast", obtaining Red Crystal Block ×1!】

"These Level Three Strange Beasts not only drop Colorless Crystal Blocks, but also have a chance to yield Red Crystal Blocks!"

Lu Jing's eyes lit up, and his gaze toward this kind of strange beast instantly turned interested.

Soon, Lu Jing arrived at the deepest part of the room, where an armored door leading to the second stage stood.

"This first stage really isn't challenging."

Lu Jing shook his head, a slight thought moved, and the flying swords circling behind him returned orderly into the sheath.

Because they were too sharp, not a trace of blood stained the flying swords.

The first stage is very simple; Lu Jing felt it was more about testing their mindset when facing strange beasts for the first time.

After all, those participating in the selection are just teenagers, at most having killed a few demon beasts.

Beasts like these, terrifying in appearance and man-eating, are still a first sight, so it's inevitable to feel fear.

However, in Lu Jing's view, these strange beasts are oddly cute; just the first stage alone yielded ten Red Crystal Blocks.

After leaving here, the Thousand-Blade Demon Sword should be able to continue upgrading.

He couldn't wait to know what special changes would occur after five enhancements.

Rumble—

The armored door of the second stage slowly rose.

Without waiting for the second stage's armored door to fully rise, Lu Jing drew the Thousand-Blade Demon Sword from his waist, stomped hard on the ground, and charged forward.

At the same time the selection began.

In a conference room outside the Cave.

On one spacious wall hung many display screens, labeled with numbers 1 to 60.

Each display screen showed a flickering figure struggling.

And strangely, on another wall hung a lone screen with no markings.

On that screen, a deep blood-red hue filled the view; in the depths, a wolf-headed humanoid monster sat cross-legged, beside it plunged a crescent blade over five meters long.

Opposite these screens, the senior officials of the *** Ministry and instructors from each province sat around the conference table.

Dong Ningxue was also among them, nervously watching screen number one.

The conference room was very quiet; everyone sat upright with solemn expressions.

The reason the atmosphere was so solemn is that the person seated in the chief position was a major military figure named Situjun.

Most importantly, Situjun's strength is also terrifying; he is a genuine Martial Lord Realm powerhouse!

"Five minutes have passed; report the progress of the provincial talents through the stages."

Appearing no older than thirty, Situjun sat in the chief seat, sipped his tea, and his voice carried undeniable authority.

"Yes, Lord Seat!"

The adjutant-like man beside him hurriedly stood, gave a salute to Situjun, then spoke solemnly:

"As of now, twenty-five provinces' talents have reached the third stage, twenty-seven provinces' talents are still stuck in the second stage, and eight provinces' talents have given up in the first stage!"

"Oh?"

Situjun raised his eyebrows, staring at the constantly flashing image before him, "Is the first stage set to be so difficult? As many as eight people have given up!"

The middle-aged deputy continued reporting, "We placed a total of twenty-five level-three exotic beasts in the first stage; each beast's strength is comparable to that of an ordinary fourth-realm warrior. This difficulty is tough for ordinary martial artists, but for these geniuses it's still quite simple!"

Hah, that is to say, most of those who withdrew were scared off, rather than a lack of strength?

Situjun let out a cold snort, and the temperature in the conference room instantly dropped to freezing point, "It seems that temporarily changing the election venue is indeed a good idea; with such a feeble mindset, how could they be worthy of Huaguo's Dragon Imperial New Star!"

After his words fell, Situjun shifted the topic, "However, the quality of this batch of geniuses is still not bad; over twenty of them reached the third stage within five minutes..."

As Situjun spoke, breaking the silence in the conference room, the instructors from each province below also began to whisper among themselves.

A white-haired woman moved closer to Dong Ningxue, speaking in a provocative tone, "Little Snow, your East Chuan Province isn't going to end up at the bottom again, is it? If you can't handle it, you might as well not participate; every time you just go through the motions."

Dong Ningxue gave her a cold glance and said unhappily, "Ping Zhilei, our East Chuan Province doesn't need your concern; you'd better worry about yourself!"

"What do we have to worry about with Kyoto's geniuses?"

Ping Zhilei said mockingly, a triumphant smile on her face, "Kyoto's Jian Ying should be the strongest contender for this Dragon Imperial New Star; by the way, your East Chuan Province's geniuses wouldn't have already been scared into forfeiting, would they?"

Dong Ningxue didn't reply to her, because what Ping Zhilei said was the truth; before Lu Jing's cohort, East Chuan Province basically hovered near the bottom.

But this cohort is different; with Lu Jing's addition, we might actually be able to fight for first place!

Dong Ningxue's eyes sparkled with bright light as she gazed at the No. 1 screen.