Chapter 101: First Appearance, Moon-Cutting Whirlwind

  "This... how did the Soul Testing Stone suddenly crack open?!", The white-robed old man stared with wide eyes, and didn't even notice that the list in his hand had fallen to the ground.

  Ignoring the onlookers' gasps of amazement, Helian No squatted down and quietly activated his Stellar Devouring Technique to absorb soul energy. Before long, his depleted soul energy had recovered somewhat. He stood up, steadied his breathing, turned around, and asked the still stunned examiners, "Honorable examiner, may I have the results now?"

  The white-robed examiner finally came to his senses, and he subconsciously raised his hand, only to find that the list had somehow fallen to the ground. The white-robed examiner smiled awkwardly, bent down to pick up the list, cleared his throat, and announced in a loud voice: "Tian Shuang He Lianuo, ten years old, Soul Servant Sixth Stage, main study of Thunder System, Soul Power level... tenth level! You have now passed the first two tests of the preliminary examination. Please go to the large hall inside for the final inspection by the Soul Tester!" Because the Soul Testing Stone was destroyed, the examiner did not know what He Lianuo's actual Soul Power level was. However, since the ninth-level Soul Testing Stone had exploded, it could be inferred that He Lianuo's Soul Power must be above nine levels. The white-robed examiner simply reported tenth level!

  He Lian Nu slightly bowed to the examiner, then walked into the hall with big strides. As soon as the door closed tightly, the surrounding souls could no longer see what was happening inside the hall. Following their usual practice, the white-robed souls temporarily stopped testing and focused on waiting for He Lian Nu's test results to be announced.

  He didn't know that everyone outside the hall was paying attention to him, he walked towards the depths of the hall with big strides. The hall was extremely narrow and long, almost without any extra decorations, nor did it have a hint of human life. In this dead silence, even footsteps sounded unusually empty. He walked for half a cup of tea before finally seeing the end.

  It was strange that there were no windows in this grand hall, so although the outside was still brightly lit, it was pitch black inside. By the faint light of the candles on the wall, Helianuo vaguely saw an old man with a shaved head sitting in the corner of the hall. The old man looked extremely listless and seemed to be dozing off. Helianuo waited patiently, but when he didn't get any response after half a day, he finally couldn't help but clear his throat to remind the other person of his presence.

  The old man slowly raised his eyelids, his turbid eyes showing no signs of vitality. He moved his body slowly and finally spoke: "Another young one has arrived? This year's examinees seem to be quite good, just this one examination room has already had five or six children reach my level in just one day! In previous years, it was often necessary to wait for several days before someone would come. This busy life feels pretty good! Now that you're here, let's begin. You can use all your strength to attack me, I won't counterattack, but I'll use 10% of my power to dodge. As long as you can touch me, even if it's just a hand touching the corner of my clothes, I'll consider you passed the initial test! However, don't try to cheat, only direct contact between our bodies or objects on our bodies counts!" The old man didn't get up, but nodded slightly on his cushion, indicating that Helian could begin attacking.

  He Lianuo didn't rush forward, since the loss of Tian Lang's dagger in the Blood Refining Tower, he hadn't had time to find another suitable weapon, and with his right arm almost completely disabled, his combat effectiveness had been greatly reduced. In this situation, wanting to attack the old man with a shaved head wouldn't be as simple as it seemed on the surface. Although the old man's shaky appearance gave people an illusion that he might die at any moment, He Lianuo wouldn't be naive enough to underestimate him. After all, even Mo Fei Bai, a Soul Servant of the 9th stage, had almost fallen here, so as a Soul Servant of the 6th stage, he must be even more cautious.

  After a long deliberation, Helianuo finally took action. He quickly ran to the old man's side, his left hand spread wide with five fingers, grabbing towards the old man's wrist!

  The old man let out a light hum, and without seeing any movement, his entire body along with the cushion under him suddenly retreated half a meter. It was this half-meter distance that caused He Lian's claw to barely fall short!

  He Lianuo never expected to succeed with one move, his feet moved quickly, chasing the old man's retreating direction, swinging his claws repeatedly, every time it seemed like he was about to grab him, the old man would suddenly dodge lightly, and the two of them were in a stalemate, the space in the great hall was extremely narrow, but both of their movements were extremely agile, and they didn't seem to be hindered at all.

  "Little guy, is that all you've got? I know what you're thinking, taking advantage of my old age and lack of physical strength? Let me tell you, although I'm not as good as I was in my younger years, I can still handle a young whippersnapper like you! The old man couldn't help but feel annoyed at Helian's relentless claw attacks."

  "Alright, let me show you my true strength!", Helianuo suddenly roared loudly, his left hand transforming into a fist as he smashed it towards the bald old man's head with a loud crash!

  Tian Shang Fist! Helianuo's move was indeed the most powerful Tian Shang Fist among the three ancient martial arts, and after successfully breaking through to the sixth rank of Soul Servant, Helianuo felt that this supposedly forbidden technique had become much easier to use. However, with his current physical strength, he could only use it once a day. His previous attempts had already allowed him to grasp some of the old man's secrets, so this Tian Shang Fist was executed extremely swiftly and decisively. The old man tried to dodge, but Helianuo's fist, accompanied by a whistling wind, was about to strike his head when a yellowish-brown light suddenly burst forth from the old man's body, instantly enveloping him entirely. Helianuo's Tian Shang Fist struck this yellowish-brown light, yet surprisingly failed to shatter it. Seeing his attack fail, Helianuo hastily retreated backward and stood far away in the corner of the wall.

  After a long time, the yellow light on the old man's body slowly dissipated. He rubbed his shoulders and praised Helianuo, saying: "Good kid, you actually used such a ruthless move! If I hadn't reacted quickly and released the Earth Guardian, I'm afraid this old bone would have been scattered by now! However, unfortunately, you still didn't manage to touch me. This first test, I think you won't pass!"

  Kerlinuo clenched his fists upon hearing this, as his strongest attack, the Tian Shang Fist, had already been proven unable to break through the old man's defense. To become even stronger, he must obtain an admission quota from the Sacred Soul Academy; no matter what, he must win this challenge before him!

  "It seems that I can only use that move now! No matter what, I won't be eliminated here, or else I'll be ridiculed by Lan You Ruo that little girl!", He Lian Nuo muttered to himself, the soul power in his body quickly concentrated on his legs, he felt his legs becoming lighter and more powerful, the power contained within them seemed to be able to shatter everything!

  "Oh? You want to get serious now? I have to say, your soul power is quite astonishing! Unfortunately, you've met me!", the old man smiled faintly, and a yellowish light enveloped his body once again. Apparently, despite his casual tone, he still had some reservations about Helianuo.

  "Is that so? Old senior, if you feel it's not right later on, you'd better make a prompt decision to enhance your cultivation, because with just that one percent of strength, it's fundamentally insufficient to contend against my Moon-Slaying Whirlwind!", He Lianuo smiled gloomily and suddenly kicked his legs, swiftly shooting up to the old man's head.

  "Old senior, I've offended you!", Helianuo bellowed in mid-air, and immediately his entire body spun violently around. His two legs spread wide apart in a split stance, with countless dark blue blades extending from the edges of his legs, fiercely slashing down towards the bald old man!

  The old man let out a light hum, and the yellow color on his body suddenly brightened several shades. Facing Helian Nuo's thunderous descent, he didn't retreat but instead advanced, lifting himself and the cushion he was sitting on high into the air, charging towards Helian Nuo as she spun rapidly!

  A loud crash, the old man's yellow protective shield barely withstood Helian's Crescent Moon Whirlwind, and then shattered violently! The old man clearly did not expect Helian's soul technique to be so terrifying. Seeing his life-saving measure being broken through, he hastily retreated backward. Even so, the sharp blade on Helian's leg still swept across his clothes, instantly cutting off the string of Buddhist beads hanging from the old man's chest. Under the intense rotation, dozens of beads scattered in all directions and flew away in an instant!

  Kerieno's Crescent Moon Whirlwind had broken the old man's Earth Shield, but its own rotational speed had also slowed down by more than half. Kerieno, who was already showing signs of falling, suddenly rotated again with a burst of strength from his waist. This time, however, his legs were too weak to attack, and instead, it was his left arm that took over. With the whirlwind generated by this rotation, Kerieno's left hand caught the pearls flying everywhere and fiercely flung them at the old man who had fallen to the side!

  The old man had barely dodged the slash of the moon's whirlwind, and now he saw dozens of pearls flying towards him. He busily fended off more than half of them with his hands and feet, but several pearls with extremely tricky angles hit him heavily on his body!

  He Lian Nu was unable to continue attacking after using his soul technique twice in a row. He struggled to control his body as he descended to the ground, and immediately began panting heavily with his hands on his knees. The Slash Moon Whirlwind He Lian Nu had not fully mastered to begin with, and now that he had used it without any interval after the Swift Wind Falling Thunder Slash, his legs were completely numb and had lost all feeling. It was fundamentally impossible for him to continue attacking!

  The old man with a shaved head let out a sigh of relief as he saw Helianthus's exhausted state, although the few beads had hit him painfully, but ultimately didn't cause much harm. He regretfully sighed and said to Helianthus: "Youngster, you're the first one to push me to this point with just one-tenth of my real power! Unfortunately, you only know how to brute force your way through things and don't know how to adapt. You should know that this test is meant to examine a soul's ability to think on their feet. Although it's a bit regrettable, I have no choice but to declare... you're eliminated!"

  "Is that really so?" Unexpectedly, He Lianuo heard these words and not only did he not become disheartened, but instead smiled slightly, then took step by step towards the old man, his pace slow but very firm.

  "Don't struggle in vain anymore, you now... uh? How could this be, my body...", the old man was about to advise Helianuo to give up, but was horrified to discover that his entire body had become stiff and unable to move! He stared wide-eyed as Helianuo slowly moved in front of him, slowly raised his palm and slapped it towards his head!

  "It's over!", Helian's left hand gently fell on the old man's forehead, and immediately the whole person crashed down!