Chapter 434: Examination

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

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

His spear technique was fast—and dangerously so!

An inch shorter, an inch more perilous!

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

In fact, each thrust contained multiple temporal Dao principles—acceleration, as well as temporal slowing directed at the enemy… combined with various secret arts, his strike carried an eerie sense of 'temporal chaos'.

"This technique is called 'Cun Guangyin'… only those who master it within ten years may continue studying the secret scripture; otherwise, it is advised to abandon it outright…"

…

"Ugh…"

After his first comprehension, Fang Xing rubbed his temples: "Shi Guang… is incredibly strong! Extremely strong! His understanding of the Temporal Dao even surpasses Master Qinghua… the subsequent spear techniques can even freeze time—even if only within a localized region—making them truly remarkable."

At this thought, he immediately checked Shi Guang's records.

He found that even ordinary or formal members lacked access rights.

But as a core member, he was able to access them.

'Shi Guang, human cultivator of Wu Jie Mountain… cultivates the Temporal Dao, matches a Heavenly Immortal at Nascent Soul ninth layer, and is a Nascent Soul overlord… yet tragically failed to fully comprehend the Temporal Dao, and passed away in sorrow upon reaching the ten-thousand-year limit.'

'According to later evaluations, his talent was extraordinary; had he pursued any other Dao path, he would surely have achieved Heavenly Immortality.'

'Alas, he was both made and undone by the Temporal Dao.'

'As a top-tier Dao, the Temporal Dao enabled him to match a Heavenly Immortal despite incomplete comprehension—yet that final step defeated countless prodigies and heroes.'

'Is the Temporal Dao truly this difficult?'

Fang Xing sighed softly; these top-tier Dao paths clearly carried far greater difficulty in achieving Heavenly Immortality.

But for him, the harder the entry, the better!

After all, he had his attribute panel to grind!

The greater the difficulty, the greater the rewards upon mastery!

'With the 'Qinghua Scroll' and 'Cun Guangyin'… I can now fully devote myself to comprehending the Temporal Dao, and spend remaining time focusing on the Void Dao.'

'Once I reach the third layer of Temporal Dao comprehension and awaken the Heart of Time, I can begin breaking through to Nascent Soul and forging the "Zhu Long Nascent Soul"… though Zhu Long Nascent Soul is difficult, with a trace of Zhu Long blood in me, it will be relatively easier…'

Fang Xing did not take on any missions or engage in socializing—he devoted himself entirely to comprehending the Temporal Dao.

"Hm? So applying 'Temporal Acceleration' to oneself also has many subtleties… and severe side effects."

"Accelerating one's own time inevitably accelerates aging—even a Nascent Soul cultivator, if their personal time is accelerated ten thousandfold, will age to death within a year!"

Ten-thousand-year lifespan!

This is the limit of the Nascent Soul realm, imposed by cosmic laws!

Whether human or beast, regardless of innate lifespan, as long as one remains at the Nascent Soul realm, one cannot live beyond ten thousand years!

This is entirely unlike the vast lifespan differences between Mortal Realm humans and beasts.

"Thus… in Shi Guang's spear art, one technique is 'Temporal Acceleration'—actively accelerating the enemy's surrounding time by hundreds of millions of times, causing them to age to death instantly… far more terrifying than the Spring-Autumn Knife's lifespan-cutting."

"This technique is virtually unbeatable below the Heavenly Immortal realm—anyone who encounters it must be killed… but it demands extremely high mastery of the Temporal Dao."

"Additionally, 'Cun Guangyin' contains several other Temporal secret arts, all quite impressive… one of them, the 'Hui Yuan Secret Art,' allows one to borrow spiritual energy from one's future self… after the time limit expires, a portion of one's spiritual energy mysteriously vanishes over a future period… I'd call it Spiritual Energy Borrowing… reportedly, at advanced levels, even injuries and conditions can be 'borrowed'…"

…

As Fang Xing became immersed in cultivation, time slipped away, second by second.

Several years later.

Within the Grand Void Illusion, a subtle ripple suddenly jolted Fang Xing awake: "Huh? This is…"

He checked and found a notification: he had been scheduled to participate in the Core Member Examination.

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

"This is important—after all, the bottom three get eliminated…"

Fang Xing yawned and tucked away 'Cun Guangyin'.

At this moment, he still appeared as a black-clad youth, but the next instant, he transformed into a black-and-red dragon, several meters long.

"For the Core Member Examination, apart from not using treasures, all one's own abilities count… naturally, I'll use my own template—otherwise, I'd just be asking for punishment."

He flew forward—and the heavens and earth shifted instantly.

In the void, a vast cloud terrace stretched endlessly, spanning a hundred li in every direction.

Above the terrace floated countless eyes—each eye enormous, like celestial orbs.

Fang Xing mingled among a group of beast-tribe core members, observing the human cultivators across from him.

Huo Lingzi was clearly among them.

"Ninety-seven… anyone who's a core member shows up for this exam, so Wu Jie Mountain's core members still haven't reached a hundred?"

Fang Xing mused to himself.

"You're… Black Dragon?"

A white-furred monkey beside him scratched his cheek and asked.

"That's me."

Fang Xing felt the gazes of other beast-tribe members but said nothing.

These past few years, he had secluded himself in intense cultivation—he had no social ties, and felt no rejection whatsoever.

As for public humiliation? Everyone here was shrewd—no one would stoop to such a disgraceful act, especially not in front of these Heavenly Demons and Heavenly Immortals; doing so would only reveal one's petty nature and unsuitability for greater responsibilities.

Even Huo Lingzi now came over with a smile: "Black Dragon, after years of secluded cultivation, I'm sure your progress has been tremendous…"

Fang Xing instinctively glanced at his attribute panel:

【Void Dao: 3497/20000 (Proficient)】

【Temporal Dao: 5623/10000 (Skilled)】

…

"Indeed," he nodded, realizing he had grown quite strong.

"Hehe, I hope we cross paths in this competition—I look forward to testing your skills."

Huo Lingzi seemed even more furious, yet his face remained smiling.

"You, Stone Dragon… though your strength is mediocre, you've got a real talent for pissing people off. Huo Lingzi's infamous among humans, and yet you've got him riled up like this…"

The white monkey chuckled: "I'm Wu Qi… also under the command of the Chaos Great Saint—we should get to know each other better."

"So you're Brother Wu…"

Fang Xing chatted casually for a moment, then asked his most pressing question: "Among all core members, who should we be most wary of?"

"The top core member is unquestionably 'Qiong Bai'… he's Imperial Blood, a true 'Imperial Prince' among beasts—we should just surrender if we face him…"

Wu Qi pointed to a white-robed boy whose face bore scales and whose horns jutted sharply.

Fang Xing stared for a long while but couldn't identify his beast species.

"Others include the human cultivator 'Yun Futu' and the dragon 'Ao Xin'—both extremely formidable. As for the rest, we'll have to fight to find out."

Wu Qi spoke with an air of undeniable dominance.

After all, he was a beast-prince-level prodigy himself.

"Brother Wu, you've got real presence."

Fang Xing nodded.

BOOM!

At that moment, the hundreds-of-li-wide cloud terrace split apart into dozens of smaller terraces.

Simultaneously, the Grand Void Illusion's battle roster was delivered to every core member.

Everyone was busy; the Heavenly Immortals and Heavenly Demons above were even busier—so all battles occurred simultaneously.

As for rankings, no need to worry—the Illusion's System Spirit is perfectly fair, matching each core member with the most suitable opponent.

On one cloud terrace,

Fang Xing saw his opponent: a serpent demon with a human torso and serpentine tail.

"I am Qing Wu… you're the Black Dragon?"

Qing Wu's face lit up with delight: "To face you as my opponent… is perfect!"

Fang Xing internally rolled his eyes—he knew the core member rankings had an elimination system.

Facing a weak opponent meant an easy win—obviously a good thing.

"But… I'm not weak."

He growled low and lunged forward—each scale seemed to merge with the void, his movement carrying an eerie elegance.

A twenty-meter-long black-and-red dragon emerged, soaring through the void, then slashed out with a claw!

SSCH!

Silver-white lines of Void Dao principles appeared, shattering the space itself.

"Void Dao third layer?!"

Qing Wu's expression turned grim as he swung his twin blades.

His weapons were a pair of curved knives, identical in design to his Nascent Soul treasure, yet vastly weaker—only at the level of Mortal Realm ninth layer.

In the void, streaks of emerald moonlight appeared, stretching endlessly.

Threads of Wind Dao principles emerged, twisting and entangling into the shape of a moon serpent.

SSCH!

The moon serpent, entirely woven from Dao threads, was startlingly lifelike—its tongue flickered, its body impossibly agile, jaws wide open as if ready to swallow Fang Xing whole.

Whoosh!

Fang Xing vanished in a flash, dodging the giant serpent; his claws, emitting faint silver-white light, instantly breached some limit, deflecting two curved blades and pressing against Qing Wu's forehead.

Plop!

The opponent's head exploded instantly; the headless corpse collapsed and quickly dissolved.

"That… how is this possible? How could third-rank Void Dao principle overcome fourth-rank Wind Dao principle?"

Baiyuan Wu Qi had just defeated his opponent when he saw this, and couldn't help being startled.

"Time Dao principle? The 'Inch of Time'? That looked like claw techniques, but was actually spear art?"

Yun Futo, clad in white robes, had already defeated his opponent; seeing this, he smiled faintly: "It seems this black dragon was holding back—if not, Huo Lingzi could never have defeated it so easily…"

"Hmph, is that even a dragon?"

A jade-white dragon opened its mouth, emitting a woman's voice—it was 'Ao Xin'.

She gazed at Fang Xing's black dragon, her expression carrying a hint of something inexplicable.

Though the opponent appeared to be a mutated Stone Dragon offspring, just now it had given her a strange sense of dread.

"An illusion?"

"Too bad… this is merely a false body constructed by the Grand Void Illusion… If I encountered it in the Qingyuan Great Realm, I might sense it more clearly…"

Ao Xin glanced at the black-red dragon, etching its appearance firmly into her mind.

(End of Chapter)