Chapter 579 - Scheming Against Each Other
Chapter 579: Scheming Against Each Other
The assessment ground was in complete chaos, and the entire morning was spent in disarray and unease. The busiest of all were the doctors. In white coats, they constantly moved between the candidates and took the wounded away.
What had been a taming exam now became an exam which tested their ability to flee for their lives. The concern of every candidate now was not whether they could tame an exotic beast but how they could flee from the maws of the frenzied beasts.
The Dragon Ascension Conclave was callous, and whether the candidates were willing or not, they were sent into the cages. Trying to back out right before the exam? Not possible!
“Stand aside!” Two doctors carrying a wounded candidate walked past Xia Fei. Xia Fei remembered this person. Right before he entered Dragon Ascension Martial Hall, this guy had placed a hand on Xia Fei’s shoulder and naughtily smiled. “So you’re Xia Fei, that fellow with a negative score!”
He now had a pale complexion, his jaws clenched as blood gushed out from his right arm. He no longer had the disdain he possessed when he mocked Xia Fei.
His arm, which had been bitten off, could just be reattached and was not fatal, but there was no hope of getting a score now. He could only wait to accept his zero.
At this time, Xia Fei saw Yu Xiaobei walking over with a cold face. He was not injured, but his situation was even worse. The exam rules had clearly stated that one could not hurt the exotic beasts and could only suppress them with presence. However, in the end, he could not take it any longer and punched an aardwolf. Not only was he not getting a single point, he was also getting a deduction of one hundred points!
There were many more people in Yu Xiaobei’s situation. The exotic beasts were in a frenzy, and trying to suppress them with presence was basically impossible. After being pushed to the limit by these exotic beasts, they would be forced to counterattack, but in counterattacking, they fell for the trap, their point total falling. The higher their cultivation, the more likely the warrior was to fall into this sort of trap.
Yu Xiaobei had quite a beautiful expression on his face. He had done poorly on the first three exams, managing a few dozen points, but now that he had gotten a deduction of one hundred points, his score was even lower than Xia Fei’s.
“How did you do?”
“What else do you think? I’m going to have a negative score tomorrow.”
“How could you be so careless? Wasn’t it said that you weren’t allowed to counterattack?”
“That’s easy for you to say! Once you get in there and try, you’ll understand. These exotic beasts have all gone crazy! Crazy, you understand? I of course don’t fear a single Beast King, and killing it will be as easy as lifting a finger for me, but subduing it is something I know I can’t do. If you think you can, I welcome you to try!”
Xia Fei heard the conversation between the two candidates. Those participating in this exam were all elites, and they all had high cultivations. Alas, this was not a test on killing exotic beasts, but subduing them!
Subduing a frenzied Beast King through presence was easier said than done. On one side was the combined pressure from the holy beast Shatterstar and the Beast Spirit Codex; on the other side was a Law Sovereign warrior. These exotic beasts were not dumb, and they could see that the holy beast was naturally more frightening, so they did everything in their power to attack their opponents.
Being beaten yet unable to strike back? This was probably the most annoying battle these candidates had ever been through. If any of them got impatient and slapped an exotic beast, they would immediately fail and lose a hundred points!
Yu Xiaobei was a good example. He was very strong, a peak Law Sovereign at his young age, and he cared a lot about his dignity. After the exotic beast had lunged at him a few times, he lost his patience and punched the Beast King.
He had vented his anger, but he had lost all his points because of it, which was the most frustrating thing of all.
“Look there! Someone has successfully suppressed an exotic beast!”
Xia Fei looked over and saw a girl with her hair done in braids successfully using her presence to subdue an exotic beast. That bat with a long tail was obediently sitting on the ground, not daring to attack her, not even when Xia Fei used the Beast Spirit Codex to pressure it.
“Haa… That’s Miss Suchun of the Li Clan with a Law Emperor cultivation for you! Can anyone else compare to her?”
Xia Fei was startled. It appeared that his move was only effective on those warriors below the Law Emperor level. At the Law Emperor level, the Beast Spirit Codex was no longer very useful. After all, the distance was too great, and Xia Fei was controlling 120 exotic beasts all at once, his focus scattered.
In the Eternal Ice Plains, Xia Fei had been able to control thirteen Beast Kings to attack Mu Qiubo without a problem. From this, one could see that the distance and the number of beasts had an effect on the Beast Spirit Codex’s effect.
Xia Fei pursed his lips unhappily.
Phantom laughed. “Don’t get too greedy now. The trouble you’ve caused today will cause the vast majority of candidates to fail, and the slightest lack of caution will have them losing points like Yu Xiaobei. Be happy with what you have. They just mocked you a little, and you’ve already made things miserable enough for them as is, avenging the greatest wrongs.”
Xia Fei said nothing. As the exam continued, more and more strong ones became evident. Xia Fei had not expected that, though none of these people was older than thirty, there would be no fewer than fifty with Law Emperor cultivation! Truly, the elites of the Law Realm were gathered here! All of the geniuses had gathered at this place!
There were also some people who, though not Law Emperors, were able to rely on special methods to tame the exotic beasts. These profound and mysterious methods were unheard of. There was even a way of controlling scent so that the user could imitate the scent of a Divine Beast and subdue the opposing exotic beast!
“What a beautiful move! It seems like I underestimated the Dragon Ascension Conclave. These various methods and skills have broadened my horizon!” Xia Fei said.
Phantom commented, “There’s one other advantage to the trouble you’ve caused today; you forced out all those experts in hiding. Remember what these people look like so that you can avoid directly clashing with them in the future.”
Xia Fei was taken aback. He had just been planning to take revenge, but this had inadvertently allowed him to take note of his opponents’ true strength. It was not just Xia Fei. Many other shrewd warriors were silently recording the situation on the testing ground. Who was their rival, who was stronger than them, and who could not take a single strike; all of this could be seen with one glance.
At his side, Ludi suddenly screamed, “Oh, no! It’s my turn next!”
The emblem on his chest flashed, and a moment later, Ludi was sent into the cage.
Although Young Master Lu had a Law Sovereign cultivation, his martial arts were very sloppy. Facing down the two-headed, color-changing dragon in front of him, he immediately went pale from fear.
*Thump!*
Young Master Lu was so panicky that he immediately dropped to his knees, his entire body shivering as his face turned from white to green.
However, to everyone’s surprise, that savage two-headed dragon was even more frightened than Ludi. When Ludi got to its knees, that Beast King prostrated! Its heads faced the ground, and it did not dare to raise them.
“Eh? What’s going on here?” Ludi scratched his head in confusion.
“Full points! Someone got full points!”
The spectating candidates gasped in alarm, all of them admiring Ludi’s exotic beast taming method.
“What method did he use?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s some secret art?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard about the Lu family having some secret beast taming art?”
“A true man remains inconspicuous! The Lu family might’ve been hiding it this entire time.”
“True. Anyone who can pass today must be an expert. Take note of Ludi’s name. This playboy is playing the pig to eat the tiger. In the future, remember not to take his bait!”
The warriors all chattered, all of them shocked at how Ludi had simply kneeled to subdue the exotic beast. They had no idea that, if not for Xia Fei, let alone subdue the exotic beast, Ludi might even turn into an appetizer.
*Whoosh~*
With the task done, Ludi was sent back, and the crowd parted to open a path. Some of them even came forward to gain Ludi’s flavor. In a flash, Ludi had gone from wastrel to Master Ludi.
Xia Fei smiled. “Congratulations. Brother Ludi was hiding his power and easily passed. Seems like this preliminary exam is no match for you.”
Ludi bitterly smiled. “Don’t tease me. Do you think I don’t know what I’m capable of? That two-headed dragon really prostrated on its own. I did nothing, really.”
Xia Fei solemnly said, “Brother Ludi, Xia Fei truly admires your caution. Everyone clearly saw it, so there’s no need to keep hiding. If my guess is correct, you are at least a Law Emperor! You might even be a Great Law Emperor! Among the tens of thousands of candidates, you’re the one who tamed your exotic beast the fastest, but what method did you use to hide your cultivation?”
“Hidden cultivation?!”
“Ludi knows how to hide his cultivation?!”
The crowd whispered as they listened to Xia Fei’s words.
Ludi frantically stomped his feet. He truly wanted to explain, but that two-headed dragon truly obediently prostrated before him as soon as it saw him, leaving him powerless.
Xia Fei had an idea and engaged in a whispered conversation with Ludi; after which, he appeared enlightened and exclaimed, “I see! Brother Ludi is amazing!”
In truth, Xia Fei and Ludi had not exchanged any words at all, but it appeared as if they had engaged in some secret conversation.
“So Ludi really was a Law Emperor!”
“Note that down fast! In the future, we must avoid any conflict with Ludi.”
Several busybodies took out notebooks and wrote down Ludi’s name while looking at him with weird looks, causing this playboy not to know whether he should laugh or cry.
…
“Teacher, you’re here!” Khedira frantically said, rushing up to an old man who had entered the supervision center and deeply bowed.
“It’s all because your student was lacking! Something weird is going on in the testing ground, but I can’t even find the reason.” Khedira rebuked himself.
Putting aside the chaos, those lacking in cultivation had been injured by the exotic beasts while those with high cultivation but lacking in patience were being sacrificed on the altar of Xia Fei’s scheme. At this time, five thousand candidates had already gone through the test, but fewer than five percent had passed. Twenty percent had suffered the tragic fate of a loss of one hundred points, while the rest had gotten zeroes.
This was the first in Dragon Ascension Martial Hall’s history that such a chaotic exam had been held!
Lu Qiuyan also brought her hands together and bowed to the white-bearded elder. “Senior Nie Ying, you are the best beast tamer of the martial hall. Please, you must help us identify the troublemaker. If captured, they won’t be shown mercy!”
Nie Ying seemed very relaxed, smiling. “Isn’t this perfect? By spurring the exotic beasts into turmoil, that person has taught these fellows lacking in cultivation or patience a lesson. We are the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall! We only accept genius super-elites! Every time, there are incompetent fellows that participate in the assessment, and I’ve long gotten sick of seeing them.”
Lu Qiuyan frowned. “But they broke the rules of the martial hall.”
Nie Ying heartily laughed. “Someone who can drive 120 exotic beasts into a frenzy can only be a beast taming genius.”
Changing the topic, Nie Ying, “But this young man is a bit too crazy, and his hand is rather vicious. He truly needs to be taught a little lesson.
“I’ve already decided on a course plan. I’ll first have him remove the incapable candidates for us, and then I’ll personally come out and give him a stern lesson as punishment for disrespecting the martial hall.”
“So you already know who he is?” Khedira hastily asked.
“Yes, two rather interesting fellows.”
“Two people?”
“Not really. One is a human, but the other isn’t.”
Lu Qiuyan and Khedira scratched their heads. Nie Ying was a beast taming master, yes, but too long with exotic beasts had made him rather eccentric. One was a human, but the other was not? What did that mean?
Xia Fei, who was enjoying the success of his scheme, had no idea that when he was scheming against someone else, an old master who specialized in beast taming was also scheming against him.