Chapter 3: The Turtle's Pace

  With a loud shout from Ji Yu Xing, the young men of the Ji family were like untethered wild horses, dashing straight towards the summit of Qingyan Mountain.

  Last year's champion, Ji Chang Xiao, took the lead with his horse, his body as agile as a monkey. With a light touch of his foot on a protruding rock, he could borrow momentum to surge up one zhang (about 3.3 meters), and then press both hands on another rock, exerting force to pull himself up another zhang. In an instant, he had left everyone behind.

  Ji Changsheng, Ji Changle and Ji Yuqing followed closely behind. Although they were not as agile and energetic as Ji Changxiao, they were also skilled young masters of the Ji family. They circulated their yuan power to their limbs, allowing them to firmly grasp the green rocks with their hands and feet. With just one hand and one foot, they could support their entire body, steadily standing behind Ji Changxiao.

  After Ji Changsheng, Ji Changle and Ji Yuqing, there were those collateral descendants of the Ji family. These people mostly only cultivated to the point where they could circulate their yuan power through their skin, muscles, meridians, five organs and six viscera, but one by one, they all grew tall and sturdy, with broad waists and long arms, and under the effect of the yuan power in their bodies, they quickly caught up.

  Compared to the four people in front, Ji Changxiao, Ji Changsheng, Ji Changle and Ji Yuqing, they had some unstable breathing during their movements, and some of them even started to sweat on their foreheads. This is a characteristic of not having enough profound yuan power.

  Obviously, the overall strength of the direct descendants of the Ji family is much stronger than that of the collateral branches.

  At the age of fifteen, Ji Xiaolian also performed well in her first participation in the assessment. She climbed all the way while "heh heh" laughing non-stop, as if she found the buttocks swaying above her head very interesting.

  Even so, she didn't drag too many people behind her. On her first attempt at the trial, she followed closely behind Xi Yueqing with a series of giggles, the distance between them only about a dozen or so yards apart.

  All the young men of the Ji family strained their energy to rush to the top of Qingyan Mountain, in order to be able to stay in the Scripture Pavilion for three days. After years of hard work, they were now ignited with passion, rushing forward in a competitive manner.

  Among these people, the one who was far behind in last place, Ji Changkong, looked a bit out of place and eye-catching. Compared to Ji Changxiao's speed that was almost as fast as lightning, his speed could only be described with the two words "turtle crawl"!

  On the precipice, Ji Changkong grasped a boulder with both hands, his veins bulging from exertion. He first stabilized his body, then stretched out to step on another protruding rock, took a deep breath, and carefully shifted his weight onto the foot that had stepped on the rock, freeing up his hands to find another handhold for support.

  Ji Changkong proceeded in this cautious and steady manner, one step at a time, slowly making his way up to Qingyan Mountain.

  The youngest son of the Ji family was the most inferior one, but he was also several dozen feet ahead of him.

  When Ji Changkong was still moving slowly like a snail, the fastest Ji Chang Xiao was about to reach the top!

  At the foot of the mountain, Nie Yuan Shan, Ji Yu Xing, Ji Yu Sheng, Ji Wan Yun and others looked up at the one after another of the Qi family's young masters who were rushing up the mountain.

  Watching his grandson, Jia Changyong, galloping ahead on horseback and about to reach the top, Jia Yuexing's mouth curled up in a smile of relief. He glanced at Jia Changkong, who was moving like a snail, and saw that he had only moved a dozen or so yards but was already drenched in sweat, still not far from them. Jia Yuexing furrowed his brow, seemingly thinking that Jia Changkong was deliberately humiliating the Jia family in front of Nie Yuanshan.

  "Come on, Long Kong, if you really can't do it, then just come down early. You've been weak since childhood, this kind of intense training isn't suitable for you!" Ji Yu Xing said impatiently.

  "I'm fine, anyway, Nie Shu is watching from the side." Ji Changkong responded with a sentence not far above, ignoring the cold sweat flowing out of his body, and continued to climb up with great difficulty.

  "Not like the men of our Ji family at all!" Ji Huagu muttered to himself, "The men of the Ji family are tall and sturdy, every one of them is a real man. But he's so thin and pale, always getting sick every three days, and having a big illness every seven days... I really don't know if he was picked up by Huatian from somewhere and thrown into our Ji family..."

  "Hao Guang!" Ji Yu Sheng angrily shouted, "What are you saying? Chang Kong was personally handed over to me by Hao Tian himself. Is he or isn't he my grandson? Can't I even tell that?"

  "Third Master, please calm down, I was just joking." Seeing Ji Yu Sheng's furious face, Ji Huang Guang was startled and quickly smiled to appease him, but looking at his expression, it seemed that he wasn't particularly afraid of Ji Yu Sheng.

  "Who dares to wag their tongue again, I'll be the first to not forgive him!" Ji Yu Sheng coldly snorted, his eyes gloomily staring at Ji Huang Guang, and then swept a glance at Luo Shi and Zhao Shi who were not far away.

  The lord of the Qingyan Castle, Nie Yuanshan, who was standing beside him, furrowed his brow, seemingly quite displeased with Ji Huang's words. However, he seemed to think that this was a matter for the Ji family to handle and did not intervene.

  "Grandpa, I've arrived!" Just then, a loud and energetic shout came from the top of Qingyan Mountain. At this time, Ji Changyao had already reached the summit, while Ji Changle and Ji Changsheng were only two-thirds of the way there.

  Ji Yu Xing heard this, smiled and stroked his beard, nodding in satisfaction: "This child, Chang Xiao, has not been lazy for the past three years. This time, his movements are much more agile than they were three years ago, and his speed has increased by nearly half."

  "Yes, in order to be able to compete with that girl from the Qiu family, he has been practicing diligently to the point of neglecting sleep and food!" Ji Huanghong said with a smile. His son was able to achieve this, and as his father, he was naturally delighted.

  Seeing these two father and son seemingly very satisfied with Ji Changxiu, Nie Yuanshan's mouth cornered slightly disdainfully, coldly saying: "Half a month ago, I was visiting the Yin Mountain Qu family, saw that Qu Lingxue lass, if my eyes aren't mistaken, Qu Lingxue this lass should have already broken through to the Three Talents Heaven boundary!"

  Xī Xīng and Xī Huáng Hóng, the father-son duo, upon hearing Niè Yuǎn Shān's words, had their smiles suddenly frozen in place. Their faces turned unsightly, as if they had swallowed a fly. Their eyes revealed unhidden shock, grief, bewilderment, and tension...

  "I heard that two years ago, Ji Chang Xiao lost to Ju Ling Xue. Hehe, I also know some of the grudges between your Ji family and the Yin Shan Ju family, but I don't want to comment on this matter. However, if Ji Chang Xiao really wants to compete with Ju Ling Xue, his current strength is still far from enough..." Nie Yuan Shan said calmly.

  Ji Chang Xiao was still wandering in the Two Instruments Heaven realm, while his opponent had already broken through to the Three Talents Heaven, a full realm apart. If the two were to clash again, he would undoubtedly be defeated!

  The gap between the boundaries is like a chasm, and the heavenly masters of the Two Instruments Heaven are not something that can be surpassed by the heavenly masters of the Three Talents Heaven with just one word "difficult"!

  "Three Talents Heaven... Three Talents Heaven... That girl should be only seventeen this year, how is this possible? Two years ago she had just reached the Two Instruments Heaven realm, and in just two years, she has broken through again! This... this is truly a despairing distance..." Ji Huahong muttered to himself, his soul lost.

  Ji Yu Xing's mouth corners no longer had a hint of smile, his face was filled with embarrassment.

  "This world has a kind of person called heaven-defying genius! Ji Lingxue that girl, is this kind of person!" Nie Yuanshan defined.

  ……

  "Old master, come and take a look." Just as Ji Yu-xing and his son Ji Huang-hong were silent, the steward Shao Kang, who had arrived with Nie Yuan-shan, suddenly waved at him from afar.

  Nie Yuanshan was taken aback, and with a apologetic smile at Ji Yuexing and Ji Haohong, he walked towards Shao Kang. When he arrived in front of Shao Kang, Nie Yuanshan asked puzzled: "What's wrong? What could have startled you?"

  Others may not know Shao Kang's strength, but Nie Yuanshan will certainly know?

  Although they are both Six Harmony Heaven Masters, Shao Kang's true strength is absolutely above Ji Jue Xing, the master of the Ji family!

  Outer Three Unite the eyes, hands and body; Inner Three Unite the essence, energy and spirit. Shao Kang has already refined them all! He only needs to use his own essence, will and soul to nurture a divine weapon of his own, then he can advance further and reach the Seven Stars Heaven Realm!

  Apart from his exceptional abilities, Shao Kang's composure was also something that Nie Yuanshan admired greatly. Normally, no matter what happened, Shao Kang would never be flustered or surprised, but this time he had taken the initiative to call out to him, which made Nie Yuanshan feel very puzzled.

  "Old master, look." Shao Kang let out a soft breath and pointed upwards.

  His sigh was a sign that his mood was unstable, and Nie Yuanshan, who had been with Shao Kang for many years, naturally knew what this small action meant. In recent years, Shao Kang had rarely been in an unstable mood. Therefore, Nie Yuanshan's heart was even more puzzled, and he involuntarily followed the direction of Shao Kang's finger.

  Shao Kang's pointing direction was exactly where Ji Changkong chose to climb the Phantom!

  From then on, all the way up, more than ten feet away from the top, Ji Changkong was still struggling to move, following Shao Kang's finger movement. The direction he pointed to was all the way up, and when Shao Kang's moving finger passed over Ji Changkong who was still struggling to climb, it suddenly stopped for a moment, then continued to move upwards, finally pointing to the top of Qingyan Mountain before stopping.

  As Shao Kang's fingers moved, Nie Yuanshan's eyes also followed.

  Earlier he was somewhat indifferent, but when Shao Kang's fingers fell on Ji Changkong's body and suddenly stopped for a moment, Nie Yuanshan seemed to have realized something.

  He was taken aback for a moment, then silently calculated in his heart, and suddenly his face turned solemn...

  PS: Just one spot away from the new book chart, I hope brothers can vote for me and give me a helping hand! Come on, let's get some enthusiasm going!