Chapter Thirteen: The Wooden Guardians

  As they watched Zhang Hao Ran leave, the crowd was both in awe and jealous. Everyone is human, so why could he cultivate to the tenth layer of Qi Refining Realm at the age of thirteen, and reach the highest level of Lingyun Gong, the fifth heavy?

  Is the gap between genius and ordinary people really so big?!

  Ye Chen shook his head and turned around to walk towards the bulletin board.

  On a huge white paper were written lines of characters as big as fists, with silver hooks and iron strokes, obviously written by an elderly person with extremely good calligraphy skills.

  Looking closely, apart from some notes on the white paper, it also clearly stated the reward for successfully passing through the Wooden Man's Alley - a Flowing Cloud Sect exclusive Qi-enhancing pill that can save one month of hard work. If timed perfectly with the breakthrough, the success rate will undoubtedly increase significantly. Of course, this is under the premise of breaking through to the next level within the Qi-refining realm, and not from breaking through from the Qi-refining realm to the Condensing Reality realm.

  "What I need most now is time, this energy-saving pill can save a month of hard work, it's very useful to me." Ye Chen smiled and continued reading.

  "The top ten players in the Wooden Man Lane can freely choose a high-level martial skill, the top six players will be rewarded with three Clear Wind Jade Dew Pills, the top three players can freely choose a high-level internal skill, and the first place winner will receive an additional Yuan-increasing Pill."

  Ye Chen's eyes narrowed, and he didn't attach much importance to the high-level martial skills of the human rank, but the Qingfeng Yulu Pill was a spiritual medicine that assisted in cultivating Qi. According to people who knew about it, within ten days of taking the Qingfeng Yulu Pill, a warrior would feel refreshed and clear-headed, with no distracting thoughts, their cultivation speed would be rapid, and they would easily grasp martial arts concepts. Even many inner sect disciples yearned for it, its value exceeded 10,000 taels of silver, but it was hard to come by, the only drawback being that it couldn't be taken frequently, as each time the effect would be weaker than the last, until finally there would be no effect at all.

  As for the human-level high-ranking gong method, it is even more crucial. With it, Ye Chen can foresee that his cultivation speed will increase greatly, and the total amount and quality of his internal energy will also reach new heights. In other words, as long as he has a human-level high-ranking gong method, doubling his overall strength is not a problem.

  His gaze fell on the first prize reward, and Ye Chen smiled bitterly.

  There's no doubt that the Xuan Yuan Dan is the most valuable, it can directly raise a practitioner of Qi Refining Realm by one level, and has some effect even when breaking through to the Condensing Reality Realm. However, Ye Chen didn't have any confidence in this. After all, Ma Wu was also a tenth-level Qi Refining Realm martial artist, but his innate talent couldn't compare to that of Wu Zongming and Zhang Haoran. These two were geniuses, their cultivation methods and martial techniques far surpassed those of others, and their comprehension ability was top-notch. It would be too difficult to surpass them and take first place unless he could raise his level from the sixth to the eighth within the Qi Refining Realm, only then might he have some chance of winning.

  He slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and Ye Chen made up his mind: he wouldn't dare to hope for first or second place, but third place was a must-win. If he missed this opportunity, even he himself wouldn't forgive himself.

  ……

  The darkness has dissipated, and the first rays of morning sunlight are shining from the east.

  In the courtyard, Ye Chen was wiping off the body cream after finishing a set of punches, his figure as straight as a sword.

  "After this Mu Ren Xiang, there's still half a year before the Ye Family Gathering. Whether or not I can make a stunning debut depends on today's results."

  Ye Chen was well aware that Ye Tang, the second son of Eldest Uncle, and Ye Xuan, the daughter of Fourth Uncle, were both rare geniuses in the Ye family. At the age of twelve, they had already reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining Realm. Now, three years had passed, it was likely that they had reached the peak of the tenth layer of Qi Refining Realm, or even entered the Condensing Reality Realm.

  A true martial artist can't be defeated just by being beaten; even if Ye Chen's comprehension is astonishing, he can't ignore the gap between them.

  Before Ye Chen had even left the house, half of Liuyun Sect was already in an uproar. The day of the Wooden Pathway trial was an important one for most people, and many Outer Sect Elders and Inner Sect disciples would come to watch. Occasionally, one or two Inner Sect Elders might also make an appearance.

  The wooden puppet alley is located right in front of the announcement square and is usually closed. From the outside, nothing can be seen.

  Deng Ye Chen arrived at the announcement square, where it was already crowded with people. More than half of the 3,000 outer sect disciples had come, all standing on the square. There were also many inner sect disciples and outer sect elders, each sitting high above on the tall platform behind the square.

  "Lin Zhanglao, who do you think will take the top ten spots this time?" The speaker was a youth, only sixteen or seventeen years old, with handsome features and exceptionally pale skin.

  The old man called Lin Changlao smiled and said: "Yuntiao, you are already one of the best among the inner door disciples. You also have interest in this."

  Yun Tao said: "My talent is not outstanding, and I was not favored by people in the past, so I understand more about the mood of those outer disciples who want to take the place."

  "It is." Elder Lin nodded, "In my opinion, more than half of the top ten this time were in the top ten last time, but add one Zhang Haoran."

  "Zhang Haoran? I've heard of him, said to be the number one genius of the outer sect."

  "Yesterday, there was news that Zhang Haoran had cultivated the human-level high-ranking technique Lingyun Gong to its highest realm, the fifth level. This kind of talent is extremely rare."

  "The fifth level of Lingyun Gong, no wonder the elder holds him in such high esteem." Yun Tao's face revealed a look of surprise. When he was still an outer disciple, he had also cultivated Lingyun Gong, but even after becoming an inner disciple, he had not broken through to the highest realm.

  Lin Zhang looked at Zhang Haoran on the field and said with a smile: "The more talents in Liuyun Sect, the greater the potential. One day, if we can upgrade from a ninth-grade sect to an eighth-grade sect, I, as an outer sect elder, will die with a smile."

  Yun Tao's blood was boiling with excitement by Lin Changlao's one sentence, "Don't worry, Lin Changlao, although I'm not comparable to Master Sisters and others, when that day comes, I'll be willing to work as a servant for Yunyue Sect and do my best to help Yunyue Sect advance to an eighth-grade sect."

  "Haha, it's good that you have this intention."

  The time has come for the wooden man to open the alley.

  Hahaha!

  Under the fiery gaze of the crowd, the huge wall in front of the square suddenly cracked open, revealing a deep and mysterious alley, leading to who-knows-where.

  At this time, Lin Zhang stood up and shouted to the crowd: "Everyone, today is the semi-annual Woodman's Alley competition. All outer door disciples are eligible to participate. As for the rewards for successfully passing through Woodman's Alley, you should have seen them on the bulletin board. I won't say more here. Now, let's enter the first round. Only those who can defeat a wooden guardian can enter Woodman's Alley."

  Lin Zhang's voice was not loud, but under the infusion of true energy, it spread far and wide, and everyone heard it clearly.

  "Damn it, last time I almost beat the wooden guardian, this time I'll definitely make it."

  "I'm also, but it's said that in Wooden Man Lane, apart from the wooden men on guard, there are also wooden men with knives, some of them are quite scary!"

  No matter what others think, the competition in the woods has officially begun.

  Creak, creak, creak...

  A row of twenty wooden men walked out.

  These wooden men stood guard at a height of two meters, their bodies constructed from an unusual type of wood block, with eyes made of thin crystal sheets emitting a faint, eerie glow that was clearly not of this world.

  Ye Chen wasn't too surprised, as it was said that the Wooden Man was a special puppet created by the Puppet Gate, a fifth-grade super sect 5,000 years ago. Although it didn't possess intelligence, it could sense people nearby and launch various attacks, which was quite wondrous.

  Liuyun Sect also obtained the method of making wooden men by chance, unfortunately these wooden men have low martial arts skills, only equivalent to a Qi-refining realm warrior, so it's best to use them to test outer sect disciples.