God Emperor
chapter-86

"The first place student this year will most certainly be Prince Huo Xing."

"It will be incredible if he can pass the first obstacle on the third level. I heard that when the three female devils of the School of the Martial Market took their exams, they all passed the first obstacle on the third level."

...

Everyone was discussing excitedly.

Another 10 minutes or so passed and Prince Huo Xing finally walked out of the Wu Tower.

Elder Situ immediately approached him and asked, "Did you pass the first obstacle on the third level?"

Prince Huo Xing looked arrogantly towards the other young warriors with a smile on his face. His eyes focused on Zhang Ruochen, he smiled and said, "I passed the first obstacle on the third level, but unfortunately I failed on the second."

"Great!" Elder Situ was very pleased.

After Prince Huo Xing spoke, excited chatter erupted from outside.

"Incredible!"

"He managed to pass the first obstacle of the third level! His talent is probably comparable to the three female devils who currently rule West Campus, or at least it's not far off."

"Amazing! Given Prince Huo Xing's incredible talent, he may break the current state of the Yin flourishing while the Yang declines," a male external student said excitedly.

"First place amongst the new students will surely belong to him."

With the cheers of the crowd, the next group entered the Wu Tower.

In this group of warriors was not only Zi Qian, but the God's favored daughter of Moon Commandery, Yao Qingtong.

10 people entered the Wu Tower at the same time.

Four minutes later, the first warrior had failed an obstacle and walked out.

10 minutes later, another five warriors walked out.

Soon the light on the second level of the Tower ignited.

The nine Elders under the Wu Tower all nodded. One of them said in praise, "This group of warriors is good. Four of them managed to enter the second level. I wonder how far they will go."

"Yao Qingtong has been a prodigy since she was young. Her Sacred Mark was activated when she was four, and it was a sixth grade Blizzard Sacred Mark. It shouldn't be difficult for her to pass the third obstacle of the second level."

Elder Xie had full confidence in Zi Qian. He also thought that she had a chance to pass the third obstacle of the second level.

An hour had passed. The light on the third level of the Wu Tower lit up.

Only eight warriors had come out from the Tower. That meant two warriors had passed the third obstacle on the second level.

In fact, those two had continued on to challenge the first obstacle of the third level!

"Those two are Yao Qingtong of Moon Commandery and Zi Qian of Yunwu Commandery. I didn't expect that West Campus would have two additional outstanding females this year."

The facial expressions of the nine presbyters were rather strange. After all, West Campus had seen the Yin flourish and the Yang decline for almost 100 years.

They thought that there might be a chance to change this trend with the emergence of Prince Huo Xing. However, no one would have expected these two female prodigies to perform so well.

It was getting dangerous now!

If they passed the first obstacle of the third level, West Campus would continue to be ruled by female students for the next few years. It would be difficult for the male students to turn the tide.

Prince Huo Xing gave a cold laugh and said, "The first obstacle of the third level is extremely difficult. Even I myself almost failed. They will definitely fail to pass it."

Zhang Ruochen was confident in Zi Qian's abilities. After all, she was descendant from the bloodline of Saints. She possessed an amazing physical quality with extremely good eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell.

Her talent was definitely not inferior to that of Prince Huo Xing. Perhaps she was even slightly stronger than him.

Shortly thereafter, Yao Qingtong and Zi Qian seemed to walk out of the Wu Tower at the same time.

The nine presbyters immediately went to ask them what happened.

Yao Qington replied, "I passed the first obstacle of the third level, but failed on the second."

Zi Qian nodded and said, "As did I."

The nine presbyters all laughed together. The new students were very good this year. Three prodigies managed to pass the first obstacle of the third level.

Throughout the history of West Campus, 10 years could go by without a single prodigy being able to pass the first obstacle of the third level.

In recent years, however, it had become frequent.

This was a great omen!

If nothing went wrong, Prince Huo Xing, Yao Qingtong, and Zi Qian would be the top three students of this year. Their actual rankings would depend on their performance in the Wu Tower.

"Miss Zi is very powerful. She actually managed to make it passed the first obstacle of the third level. She will definitely receive a lot of training." A warrior of Yunwu Commandery said with great admiration.

Liu Chengfeng's face revealed a bitter facial expression and said, "This year's new students are all freaks. I thought I could make it into the top 10, but now chances seem pretty slim."

"The next round of Breaking Through the Wu Tower consists of Liu Chengfeng, Zhang Ruochen, Xie Zhaowu..."

Including Liu Chengfeng and Zhang Ruochen, 10 young warriors walked out of the crowd and stood in front of the nine presbyters.

A total of six warriors in the Initial Stage of the Black Realm, three in the Mid Stage, and one in the Dawn State.

The Dawn State warrior was Xie Zhaowu, a prodigy from the Xie Family from Square Commandery.

Xie Zhaowu glanced at Zhang Ruochen contemptuously and thought. "Their cultivation is rather weak. In this group of warriors, I'm sure to stand out and have the best result."

Prince Huo Xing stared at Zhang Ruochen with a furrowed brow. "He was able to kill Qing You, so he must be very talented. However, he is only a warrior of the Mid Stage of the Black Realm. He should at most pass the third obstacle of the second level."

The 10 warriors walked into the first level of the Wu Tower.

Walking into the front door, another 10 small doors appeared inside.

Above the 10 small doors were three ancient, carved characters, the First Obstacle.

Zhang Ruochen looked very relaxed. He walked straight through the second small door. The other nine warriors also chose a door and walked through.

As soon as he had only just entered the small door, Zhang Ruochen came to a closed Martial arts field. All four sides consisted of metal walls.

This closed Martial arts field was quite large. It had a length and width of 20 meters, and a height of 30 meters. On the four metal walls were 16 alcoves each with a bronze light inside.

Zhang Ruochen walked to the center of the Martial arts field and looked at the rock wall above.

A young warrior about 20 years old walked out from the rock wall. He faced Zhang Ruochen and said, "I am Luo Xu. I represent the most powerful force in the Mid Stage of the Black Realm. If you can withstand three of my strikes, you will pass this first obstacle."

The Luo Xu standing in front of him was not a real person. It was a Spiritual Body created by the Wu Tower through the convergence of Spiritual Qi.

Zhang Ruochen said, "You represent the most powerful force in the Mid Stage?"

Luo Xu laughed and said, "The School of the Martial Market in Omen Ridge has been open for 460 years. Every year young warriors come to break through the Wu Tower. It not only includes new students like you, but also older students who have been practicing at West Campus for some time. I am the West Campus' strongest warrior of the Mid Stage of the Black Realm."

Zhang Ruochen seemed to understand something and said, "If my cultivation had reached the Advanced Stage of the Black Realm, I would have met the strongest Advanced Stage warrior of the last 460 years?"

Luo Xu laughed. "Exactly."

Zhang Ruochen nodded and asked, "Withstand three of your strikes, and I will pass this first obstacle?"

"You are correct."

Zhang Ruochen asked, "What if I defeat you?"

Luo Xu replied, "Then you will enter straight into the second level. You will also take my place and become the challenger to the Mid Stage warriors, but defeating me won't be an easy task."

"Let's give it a try!"

Zhang Ruochen lifted the Flashing Shining Sword. While holding it, he became one with the space surrounding him.

He did not use the Space Domain, because he wanted to fight the strongest warrior of the Mid Stage of the Black Realm in the last 460 years in an equal battle.

At the center of the Wu Tower, two beautiful girls sat in a secret room.

The woman surnamed Huang and the girl surnamed Duanmu sat cross-legged in the center of the secret room. In front of them were 10 Spiritual Qi mirrors floating in the air. The mirrors allowed them to see the progress of the 10 warriors.

Normally, two silver robed Elders from the Martial School would watch the Wu Tower.

The woman surnamed Huang and the girl surnamed Duanmu wanted to see the talents of the new students this year, so they made a deal with the two Elders that they would help watch the Wu Tower.

The woman surnamed Huang had an aura of coldness and long jewel blue hair hung straight alongside her face, in contrast to her fair skin. She stared at the 10 Spiritual Qi mirrors and said coolly, "After seeing Prince Huo Xing, Yao Qingtong, and Zi Qian, there's no point in watching the rest of the warriors in the Wu Tower. Even if prodigies do appear again, they won't be stronger than those three. Overall, this year's new students are good. I'm going back to practice!"

The woman surnamed Huang clearly seemed uninterested. When she stood up, her tall and elegant figure was very obvious. She walked towards the exit of the Wu Tower.

The girl surnamed Duanmu continued to stare at one of the Spiritual Qi mirrors. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and she exclaimed. "Interesting! So interesting!"

Walking almost to the door, the women surnamed Huang stopped and asked, "Duanmu Xingling, are you going to keep watching?"

The girl who appeared to be 13 or 14 years old was one of the three female devils of West Campus, Duanmu Xingling.

The woman surnamed Huang was also one of the three female devils. Her name was Huang Yanchen.

Both of them were in the Warrior of Division Profound. They were the masters of West Campus and no one dared challenge them.

Duanmu Xingling waved to Huang Yanchen and said, "Sister Chen, come here. That warrior of the Mid Stage of the Black Realm is battling Luo Xu, and actually holding his own."

"How could it be? Luo Xu is the most talented prodigy that the Martial School in Omen Ridge has seen in the last 460 years. He's the ghost prodigy of a generation. Is it even possible that someone in the same realm can match him?"

Huang Yanchen was in disbelief, but she still went back and looked at the Spiritual Qi mirror.

In the mirror, two males were engaged in a tense battle.

They moved extremely fast, leaving behind streaks of shadows.

Huang Yanchen's facial expression changed slightly. A pair of beautiful starlight eyes revealed a trace of delight, as if they had discovered a new land. She said, "How many strikes have they exchanged?"

"74 strikes!" Duanmu Xingling said.

Huang Yanchen sat cross-legged on the ground again. Picking up a copy of the list, she looked at it and said, "He must be the Ninth Prince of Yunwu Commandery, Zhang Ruochen. His name actually has the 'Chen' character. Doesn't he know that that is taboo?"

Duanmu Xingling laughed and said, "You're not going to make him change his name, are you?"

"I'll wait until he passes the Wu Tower.

"If he can withstand 100 strikes from Luo Xu, he's an outstanding prodigy. As long as he changes his name, I'll spare his life," Huang Yanchen said coldly.

Huang Yanchen had a great appreciation for outstanding prodigies.

Suddenly, the image on the Spiritual Qi mirror changed. Zhang Ruochen's sword technique became harsher, forcing Luo Xu to retreat continuously.

"How could it be?"

Both Duanmu Xingling and Huang Yanchen held their breath and stared closely at the mirror.