Martial Cultivator
chapter-147

The 'microcosm' was actually a massive spatial magic artifact. Due to the different cultivation schools, cultivators would forge various types of magic artifacts that suited their own daoist techniques. These magic artifacts varied greatly, even among cultivators that cultivated the same daoist techniques, the magic artifacts they used might not necessarily be the same.

However, when it came to spatial magic artifacts, they were mostly similar. The most commonly seen were magic artifacts used by cultivators to store items. Such magic artifacts were often not large, with a space about the size of a house. If the grade was slightly higher, the space would be larger. However, these magic artifacts could not store living beings and could not be considered a world, so they cannot be called a microcosm at all.

A microcosm was the most top-tier type among spatial magic artifacts and, to some extent, it already transcended the domain of spatial magic artifacts. Its greatest difference from storage magic artifacts was that living beings could live inside microcosms.

There were not many microcosms in the cultivation world. The one here by the lakeside, belonged to the Heavenly Water Daoist Temple. The Heavenly Water Daoist Temple held a position in Daoism that was second only to the Infatuation Daoist Temple. Being under the Infatuation Daoist Temple for a long time had naturally given rise to many aspirations. Taking advantage of the Myriad Willow Convention, the Heavenly Water Daoist Temple did not only actively participate in the reform, they even brought their microcosm to the Divine Capital, using it as the trial ground for the martial exam. It was sufficient to demonstrate the urgent desire of the Heavenly Water Daoist Temple.

However, the one currently in charge of this microcosm's operations was not a daoist from Heavenly Water Daoist Temple, but Wei Xu.

Because he was overseeing the operation of this microcosm, that was why he said to Chen Chao earlier that it was a minor issue.

It was just that he did not explain things clearly. Firstly, it was unnecessary, and secondly, he did not want to say much.

Standing by the lake, Wei Xu looked towards the pavilion over there and was rather silent.

The pavilion had already been cleared out. Only some of the truly important characters remained in front of the Heavenly Light Mirror.

The elderly man from Myriad Heaven Palace stood before the mirror, smiling as he observed the scenes inside. He asked, "Who do you all think will be the champion of this martial exam?"

Beside the old man stood the temple lord of the Heavenly Longevity Temple. After a moment of silence, this temple lord said, "I'm afraid it will still be those few youngsters who have stepped into Bitter Sea Realm."

Although the martial exam had changed, adding a lot of uncertainty, cultivation realm was still the most important thing here.

In this Myriad Willow Convention martial exam, although the top young talents of the current era did not appear here, among the young participants, there were indeed several individuals who ranked high on the Latent Dragon List.

"Song Changxi should have the best chance."

One of the big shots opened his mouth and said, "He entered the Bitter Sea Realm several years ago and is likely the one with the highest cultivation base among everyone."

The person they mentioned, Song Changxi, came from the Longevity Dao lineage of Daoism. He had always been regarded as the most remarkable young talent in Daoism, apart from the Infatuation Daoist Temple's Twin Pillars. After he arrived in the Divine Capital, he had never shown his face, devoting himself to bitter cultivation in order to achieve victory in the martial exam.

The sect he belonged to was nothing more than a third-rate small sect. It was unknown what stroke of luck they had, to actually acquire such an extraordinary genius. This alone had already made other sects extremely envious.

"Liang Zhao may stand a chance to. Among the itinerant cultivators, his cultivation realm is already pretty good. However, this person has always been accustomed to freedom, making it difficult to say whether he will join any sect."

"That's true. Besides these two, the rest probably don't stand any chance."

The prominent figures felt rather emotional. They actually held quite the expectations for these youngsters.

However, they were also somewhat disappointed because those true young geniuses did not come. Daoism's Twin Pillars did not come, that young sword cultivator did not come, and the little novice monk from the Deercry Monastery who was said to have been able to sense heaven and earth since young did not come.

These were all the first-rate youngsters of the current era, and their absence somehow made this martial exam feel incomplete.

"Look, there's activity."

A prominent figure opened his mouth with a hint of joy.

A new scene appeared in the Heavenly Light Mirror before their eyes.

"It's a Mountain Spirit."

A prominent figure lamented, "Such a demon is rarely seen in the world too."

With the great wall in the north built by the Great Liang Dynasty and countless soldiers guarding it, it was difficult for the Demon King's Court's demons to advance southward in large numbers. Those demons with profound cultivations were firmly blocked in the north. Only these demons within the nation's borders had existed many years ago, but most of the ones with profound cultivations had been killed. The remaining demons had cultivation levels that were not considered high.

However, there were too many demons that remained, making it impossible to exterminate them all at once.

Mountain spirits were a rare type of demon that was rarely seen.

They were extremely adept at hiding and lived deep in the mountains, preying on passing woodcutters and travelers. Even if ordinary cultivators discovered their presence, it was difficult to find them too.

"It's that young martial artist."

"I heard that he was a warden of the Great Liang Dynasty in earlier years and specialized in killing demons for a living."

"Not in earlier years, it was just recently. He's still a warden. It's just that he had no choice but to come to the Divine Capital after killing several southern qi refiners. Now, he's participating in the martial exam on behalf of the Great Liang Dynasty and just so happened to hit the jackpot with demon hunting."

"Just a teenager, I don't believe he's truly proficient in killing demons. That mountain spirit is also in the Divine Trove Realm. He probably won't find it easy to deal with."

"That's true. No matter how skilled he is in quarreling, and even if he's skilled in killing demons, it will take some time too... How is it possible?!"

The voices of the prominent figures abruptly stopped.

Because the images that appeared in the Heavenly Light Mirror quickly informed them a truth.

Which was that... that teenager was really skilled in killing demons.

"If I didn't see wrongly, that mountain spirit should be Divine Trove Realm, right...?"

"Yes, you didn't see wrongly."

"How many swings of his saber did he use?"

"He didn't use his saber, he smashed that mountain spirit with a single punch."

"But the real question is, how did he know to punch from that angle?"

"No, I feel that the problem lies with why he chose that exact moment to strike."

The old man from the Myriad Heaven Palace smiled and said, "That young man is highly skilled in killing demons. He must be very familiar with the habits of that mountain spirit too. Otherwise, how could he achieve such a feat?"

As people listened to the words of this great daoist sage, they were stunned and had to nod in agreement with his statement. If it were not for that, Chen Chao would never have been able to kill the mountain spirit so easily.

Heavenly Longevity Temple Lord said rather worriedly, "At the rate he's killing, I'm afraid that it will be difficult for him to NOT top the rankings."

The reform of the martial exam into a demon hunt was decided by those prominent figures. There were concerns before, whether the participation of the young men from the Great Liang's northern frontier army would affect it. However, no one expected that the youngsters from the north did not return, and instead, Chen Chao emerged.

The old man said, "What can we do? The rules have already been set. Since he's an expert, let's see how many he can kill."

After saying these words, the old man stopped talking.

But by the lakeside, cries of astonishment already sounded out.

The cultivators who were paying attention to the list initially wanted to see those familiar names changing. However, they never expected that the first name to change would be Chen Chao's.

That name on the list dissipated, only to reform at the top, and behind his name, there was an obvious bloodstain.

Or perhaps, it could be called a red mark.

This indicated that in a very short period of time, Chen Chao had already killed a demon.

While no one else had encountered any demons, he had already taken the lead.

"Perhaps it's just luck, maybe it's just a small demon."

They were not qualified to be in front of the Heavenly Light Mirror on that pavilion, so they had no idea what was happening inside. They could only speculate at this moment.

"Yes, it's just luck. Soon, he will be surpassed."

As the cultivators by the lakeside spoke, sure enough, Liang Zhao's name started to move. There was a patch of bloodstain behind his name, but he did not reach the top position on the list.

Seeing this scene, the cultivators furrowed their brows, unwilling to believe such a thing.

"He's just lucky."

"Yes, he'll be overtaken very soon..."

The voices by the lakeside came and went quickly.

Because amidst everyone's eyes, several bloodstains appeared behind Chen Chao's name.

This meant that he had killed several more demons in a short period of time.

People also quickly noticed that the size of the bloodstains behind his name varied.

The initial bloodstain was the largest, while the subsequent ones were not as big.

This also meant that the size of the bloodstains could totally distinguish the strength of the demons.

"It's impossible... How could he be so fast... and why are there so many?"

The lakeside was very quiet, but someone could not help but speak, their face filled with disbelief.

"He must be cheating!"

Listening to this remark, the young cultivators remained silent. No one spoke up, and naturally, no one believed in the so-called cheating during the martial exam.

Moreover, those true prominent figures did not speak. Naturally, no one would believe such claims.

The big shots would not let such a thing happen.

Even if this place was the Divine Capital.

……

……

In the distance, Xie Nandu and Zhu Xia walked over carrying a large pile of food and happened to witness this scene.

Zhu Xia was startled and subconsciously let go, causing the food in her arms to fall to the ground.

"He's so fierce!"