Chapter 425: Assessment

"I, 'Shi Guang'… shall now demonstrate a spear technique!"

A cold-looking man in black stood proudly in the void, a long spear appearing in his hand.

His spear technique was fast, and even more perilous!

One inch shorter, one inch more perilous!

Shi Guang's spear was very long, yet he wielded it with extreme peril.

Furthermore, within a single thrust, it actually contained the power of different Time Dao laws; it possessed both acceleration and time deceleration targeted at the enemy… combined with various secret arts, it made this thrust faintly carry a sense of 'Time Disorder'.

"This spear, named 'Inch of Time'… only those who can master this move within ten years may continue to study the secret manual; otherwise, it is recommended to give up directly…"

……

"Whew…"

After finishing his first contemplation, Fang Xing rubbed his brow: "This Shi Guang… is strong! Extremely strong! His insight into the Time Dao laws even seems to surpass Master Bai Lian… The subsequent spear techniques can even freeze time, and even if it's just time freezing in a single area… that is also quite remarkable."

With this thought, he immediately began to look up information on Shi Guang.

He found that ordinary members and even official members did not have the authorization.

However, as a core member, he was still able to find it.

'Shi Guang, a human cultivator and member of the Boundless Mountain… practiced Time Dao laws, a Nascent Soul Level 9 powerhouse who could rival Celestial Immortals, a Nascent Soul hegemon… yet regrettably failed to fully comprehend the Time Dao laws. Once the ten-thousand-year limit arrived, he passed away in sorrow…'

'According to later evaluations, his talent was brilliant; had he walked the path of other Dao laws, he would surely have achieved the rank of Celestial Immortal…'

'It is just a pity that he succeeded because of time, and failed because of time.'

'As a top-tier Dao law, even without fully comprehending it, it could allow a Nascent Soul powerhouse to rival a Celestial Immortal… yet the final step stumped countless geniuses and heroes.'

"Are the Time Dao laws truly this difficult?"

Fang Xing sighed softly; for these top-tier Dao laws, the difficulty of achieving the rank of Celestial Immortal was clearly even higher.

But for him, as long as he could get started, the harder the better!

After all, he had the attribute panel to grind!

And the higher the difficulty, the greater the benefits after achieving success in the future!

"Now that I have the 'Bai Lian Scroll' and 'Inch of Time'… I can naturally devote myself to contemplating the Time Dao laws, and in the remaining time, I can also focus on the Void Dao laws…"

"Once the Time Dao laws are contemplated to the third level and I comprehend the Heart of Time, I can begin to break through to Nascent Soul and refine the 'Candle Dragon Nascent Soul'… Although the Candle Dragon Nascent Soul is very difficult, for me, who possesses a trace of Candle Dragon essence blood, it is actually relatively simple…"

Fang Xing did not go to accept missions or engage in social activities, but wholeheartedly began to contemplate the Time Dao laws.

"Hmm? So using 'Time Acceleration' on oneself also has many tricks… and there are terrible sequelae."

"Self-time acceleration inevitably accelerates aging… even for a Nascent Soul powerhouse, once their own time is accelerated ten thousand times, they would die of old age in a year!"

A ten-thousand-year lifespan!

This is the limit of the Nascent Soul stage, restricted by the laws of heaven and earth!

Regardless of whether they are human or Yao, and regardless of their lifespan, as long as their realm is still the Nascent Soul Realm, they can only live for a maximum of ten thousand years!

This is completely different from the vast difference in lifespan between mortals and Yao.

"So… in Shi Guang's spear Dao, there is a move called 'Time Acceleration', which actively accelerates the time around the enemy by hundreds of millions of times, causing them to die of old age instantly… it is even more terrifying than the Spring-Autumn Blade cutting lifespan."

"This move can be called unsolvable below the Celestial Immortal stage; encounter it and you will surely die… unfortunately, it has very high requirements for Time Dao laws."

"Besides this, within 'Inch of Time', there are several other Time secret arts that are quite good… among them is a 'Yuan-Returning Secret Art', which can borrow magic power from one's future self for a period of time… after the time limit passes, for a period in the future, one's magic power will mysteriously disappear by a portion… I would like to call it the magic power loan technique… It is said that when practiced to a profound realm, even injuries and states can be 'borrowed'…"

……

Just as Fang Xing was immersed in cultivation, time passed bit by bit.

Several years later.

Inside the Grand Void Illusion, a subtle fluctuation suddenly startled Fang Xing awake: "Hmm? This is…"

He looked and found that he had received a notification to prepare for the core member assessment.

"So, has the ten-year grand competition period already arrived?"

"This is still quite important, after all, the last three must be eliminated…"

Fang Xing yawned and put away 'Inch of Time'.

At this time, he was still in the appearance of a young man in black, but the next instant, he transformed into a black-red dragon several meters long.

"For the core member assessment, besides not being able to use treasures, all of one's own strength counts… of course, one must use one's own template, otherwise, it's just looking for abuse."

He flew forward, and the world changed instantly.

A cloud platform in the void was vast and boundless, stretching for a hundred miles.

Above the cloud platform, there were pairs of eyes, each pair incomparably huge, like the eyes of heaven.

Fang Xing mingled among a group of Yao core members, looking at the human cultivators opposite.

Huo Lingzi was surprisingly among them.

"Ninety-seven… encountering such an assessment competition, no core member would not come, so the Boundless Mountain core members have not yet broken a hundred?"

Fang Xing muttered to himself.

"Are you… Fellow Daoist Brother Brother Heilong?"

A white-haired ape beside him scratched its cheek and asked.

"Indeed…"

Fang Xing felt the gazes of other Yao members and did not say much.

He had been in closed-door cultivation for these past few years and had no social interactions at all, and he felt nothing about any exclusion or the like.

As for face-to-face humiliation? They were all shrewd people; no one would do such a degrading thing, especially in an occasion watched by Heavenly Yao and Celestial Immortals. To strike such a pose would it not be clearly showing that one's own capacity was small and one was unfit for great responsibilities?

Even Huo Lingzi came over with a grin to greet him: "Fellow Daoist Brother Brother Heilong, after several years of hard cultivation, you must have made great progress…"

Fang Xing subconsciously glanced at the attribute panel:

【Void Dao Laws: 3497/20000 (Proficient)】

【Time Dao Laws: 5623/10000 (Skilled)】

……

"Indeed." He nodded in acknowledgment; he seemed quite strong.

"Hehe, I hope to meet you again this time, Fellow Daoist, and learn from your high moves."

Huo Lingzi seemed even angrier, yet his face was full of smiles.

"You, this Shi Longzi… although your strength is nothing special, you have a way of angering people. That Huo Lingzi is also famous on the human side, yet he was actually angered by you like this…"

The white ape beside him was overjoyed: "My name is 'Wu Qi'… we both belong to the command of the Hun Tian Great Sage, we should get closer."

"So it is Brother Wu…"

Fang Xing chatted casually and asked the question he cared about most: "Among us core members, which ones should we be most careful of?"

"The number one core member is naturally 'Qiong Bai'… he is of Imperial Blood, an existence that can be called an 'Imperial Son' among the Yao. If we encounter him, we should just admit defeat…"

Wu Qi pointed to a young man in white robes, whose face was covered in scales and whose horns were prominent.

Fang Xing looked for a long time but could not identify what kind of Yao breed it was.

"As for others, the human cultivator 'Yun Futu' and the flood dragon 'Ao Xin' are also quite powerful… as for the rest of the people or Yao, we will have to fight to know."

Wu Qi's confident words were filled with a domineering aura.

After all, he was also a genius of the Yao prince level.

"Brother Wu is domineering."

Fang Xing nodded.

Boom!

At this moment, the hundred-mile cloud platform split apart, turning into small cloud platforms.

And the battle schedule of the Grand Void Illusion was sent to every core member.

Everyone was very busy, and the Heavenly Immortals and Heavenly Yao above were even busier, so all battles proceeded simultaneously.

As for the ranking, there was no need to worry; the World Spirit of the Grand Void Illusion was the most impartial and selfless, and would match every core member with the most suitable opponent.

On one of the cloud platforms.

Fang Xing saw his opponent, a snake Yao with a human body and a snake tail.

"My name is 'Qing Wu'… are you Brother Brother Heilong?"

A hint of joy flashed across Qing Wu's face: "To be able to encounter you as an opponent, it is… truly great!"

Fang Xing rolled his eyes inwardly, knowing that the core member ranking had an elimination system.

Encountering the weak and being able to win easily was naturally a good thing.

"However… I am not the weak one."

He let out a low roar and pounced instantly, every scale seeming to merge into the void, his movement technique carrying a unique aesthetic.

A black-red dragon over twenty meters long appeared, roaming the void, and suddenly swung a claw!

Swish!

Silver-white Void rule lines appeared, causing the void to shatter.

"Void Dao laws third level?!"

Qing Wu's expression became solemn, and he brandished the twin blades in his hands.

His weapons were a pair of curved blades, identical in style to the Nascent Soul treasures he possessed, but their power was far inferior, only at the ordinary level of Mortal Realm Level 9.

In the void, streaks of ink-green moonlight appeared, stretching out in a continuous sheet.

Streaks of Wind rule lines appeared, even constantly entangling, turning into a moon python.

Swish!

The moon python, constructed entirely from law threads, was lifelike, flicking its tongue, its body moving with incredible flexibility, opening its bloody mouth as if it were about to swallow Fang Xing in one gulp.

Whoosh!

Fang Xing used a Void Flash, dodging the giant python, and his claw, overflowing with faint silver-white light, instantly broke through a certain limit, swiping away the two curved blades and pressing onto Qing Wu's forehead.

Pfft!

The opponent's head exploded instantly, and the headless corpse fell to the ground, quickly dissipating.

"That is… how is it possible? How can the third level of Void Dao laws defeat the fourth level of Wind Dao laws?"

The white ape Wu Qi had just defeated his opponent and saw this scene, unable to help but be somewhat surprised.

"Time Dao laws, 'Inch of Time'? That looks like a claw technique, but is it actually a spear technique?"

Yun Futu, in white robes, had already defeated his opponent and saw this scene, smiling slightly: "It seems this black dragon was hiding its strength before, otherwise Huo Lingzi would definitely not have been able to defeat it easily…"

"Hmph, does this count as a dragon?"

A flood dragon like white jade spoke, actually emitting a woman's voice; it was 'Ao Xin'.

She looked at Fang Xing's black dragon, but her expression carried a hint of mystery.

Although the opponent looked like a mutated Shi Longzi, just now it had given her an illusion of palpitations.

'An illusion?'

'Pity… this is after all just a fake body constructed by the Grand Void Illusion… If we met in the Qingyuan Great World, I should be able to sense it more clearly…'

Ao Xin glanced at the black-red dragon and firmly remembered its appearance in her heart.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 426 =====