Yue Jang moved forward with an embarrassed look as he had to ask his followers to give him some beast cores. They gave him a small amount, but then he remembered he had stored beast cores in his Soul Binding Rings. He checked the rings immediately and saw that there was a large amount of beast cores in them. His embarrassed look disappeared, replaced with a smile as he realized he had more than enough. and then he gave the beast cores to the old man.
There was a line to give the beast cores to the old man, and Wang Chen was about fifth in line, with Zu Ming holding the third position.
Suddenly, an idea struck Wang Chen. He quickly manipulated something in his storage ring, then created a Qi string and sent it towards Zu Ming's storage ring. Using the string, he discreetly removed Zu Ming's storage ring without alerting him. After a while, he returned the storage ring to Zu Ming without him noticing.
Wang Chen couldn't help but think to himself, "Let's see how you deal with this."
…..
"Give me your beast cores," the old man said flatly.
Nodding, Zu Ming focused on his storage ring and began to take out the beast cores. However, he was shocked to see that the cores were pouring out from the ring in an endless stream.
The old man muttered, "This," with a gobsmacked expression on his face. Seeing this, Zu Ming hurriedly stopped taking out the core beasts from his storage ring. He didn't know what was happening now. He had not killed this many core beasts, so where did they come from? He raced his mind, trying to find an answer.
The old man snatched Zu Ming's storage ring and then focused on the ring, attempting to retrieve more beast cores, if possible.
As he concentrated, more and more beast cores poured out from the ring until its size had grown to one fourth the size of a mountain. Seeing this many beast cores, the disciples from different sects and elders were all quite shocked.
"I already said the Blood Fang sect disciples were the ones who killed our Red Lotus sect disciples. If not, how could he have this many beast cores in only a single person's hand?" Yue Se roared.
"How did you get this many beast cores?" the old man asked, raising one of his eyebrows. "Don't tell me that what these elders are saying is true."
"No, no. I obtained this many beast cores in a single cave. There was no one there. Only these beast cores were kept on the ground," Zu Ming replied. He knew what he had done was wrong, but he couldn't correct it now, so he had to lie.
"Bah! Do you think we will believe your straightforward lie? Are you telling us that those beast cores were specifically prepared for you?" Yue Se said in an angry tone.
The Blood Fang sect elders couldn't interfere in this matter now, as it was beyond their expectations. If Zu Ming hadn't taken out so many beast cores, there was still some chance to settle the matter and save some face for their sect.
"Shut up, all of you. It is possible because in history, there are many cultivators who have gotten beast cores in one place without any guarding," the old man intervened.
After the old man's intervention, there was a moment of silence as everyone tried to digest the situation. Zu Ming, who had been pale and nervous, relaxed a little, a small smile forming on his lips. He knew that the old man had just saved him from the wrath of the Blood Fang sect disciples.
Yue Se, however, was not convinced. "But this is too much of a coincidence. How could he have found so many beast cores in just one place?" he argued.
The old man sighed. "I understand your skepticism, but sometimes, things do happen that are beyond our understanding. It's not impossible that Zu Ming stumbled upon a cache of beast cores that were left unguarded. We must not jump to conclusions without proof," he said firmly.
Yue Se grudgingly nodded in agreement, and the tension in the air dissipated somewhat. The other disciples and elders also seemed to relax, some of them nodding in approval of the old man's wise words.
Zu Ming couldn't believe his luck. He had thought that he was done for, but now he was safe. " My lie became true, hehehe."
'Sigh, the protagonist 's luck is quite fierce, if it was any other Cultivator in the place of Zu Ming he would have been dead by now.' Wang Chen thought.
"The matter is over now, we shouldn't delay anymore. Who's next in the line?" the old man continued collecting the beast cores.
Wang Chen's turn came soon after. As Wang Chen stepped forward to hand over his beast cores, there was a noticeable lack of interest from the crowd. Everyone seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, still trying to process the shocking revelation of Zu Ming's enormous stash of beast cores.
After some time had passed, the old man had finally collected all the beast cores from the disciples. With the task accomplished, he then proceeded to distribute tokens to each of them.
"Listen all of you," he spoke in a clear voice, "now the first part of the test is done. The second test will happen seven days from now on, and the results you will receive will be in 2-3 days on your token. Till then, farewell." With those final words, the old man vanished from sight, leaving the disciples to wonder what the next phase of the test would entail.
"Why don't we take the advantage of old man's absence and kill blood fang sect disciples?" A disguised voice whispered.
As soon as the voice was heard, Yue Se and Su Zhong immediately scanned the surroundings with their spiritual sense, trying to locate the source of the voice. However, they were unable to pinpoint the location of the speaker.
"We can't do that. The old man has clearly warned us not to escalate the situation. If we take action, it will bring destruction upon our sect, and we won't be able to handle it. Be mindful of your actions," Su Zhong cautioned. As a sect elder, he didn't want any of their disciples to take reckless actions that would harm the sect.
"I see," the disguised voice belonged to none other than Wang Chen. He had used Celestial Thief Qi to disguise his voice and location, making it impossible for anyone to trace him.
….
"Let's go back to our sect," Su Zhong and Yue Se said as they summoned their giant ships.
Su Zhong gestured for his faction disciples to board the ship and they all nodded in agreement.
As the ship moved forward, Su Chen approached Wang Chen, Su Chen remarked, "I didn't expect your cultivation to increase so rapidly in such a short time."
"It's nothing, Young Master Su Chen. I had a few fortunate opportunities that helped me breakthrough to the Innate Realm 1 stage," Wang Chen replied.
"You're being too modest again. I've already told you that many times," Su Chen said with a smile.
"Okay, okay, Brother Chen," Wang Chen said as he waved his hands.
"In the future, please take good care of our faction's disciples and remain loyal," Su Chen said, patting Wang Chen's shoulder.
Wang Chen's thoughts were focused on his true intentions as he smiled at Su Chen's words. He knew that Su Chen believed in his talent, but also had doubts about his ability to pass the second test. However, Wang Chen was confident that he could at least manage the faction, especially since someone would need to take care of it in Su Chen's absence.
As Wang Chen reassured Su Chen of his loyalty and promised to take good care of the faction's disciples, he had other plans in his heart. He intended to completely loot the faction and take every penny he could, without missing a single one. Wang Chen was cunning and had always been ambitious. He saw this as an opportunity to rise to power and gain more resources, and he was determined to make the most of it.
….
The flying ship landed on the platform, and all the disciples disembarked. Su Zhong stepped forward and addressed the group, "As you all know, the fighting competition, which serves as the second test, will begin in seven days. I hope you will not become complacent and will train and practice hard to give your best performance in the competition."
The disciples were motivated by the elder's words and became excited to begin their training. Su Zhong dismissed the group, telling them they could leave.
[A/N: Hello dear readers, I have noticed that there has been a decrease in support lately and it has been a bit disappointing for me. I would greatly appreciate your help in lifting up my mood. Thank you.]
