Chapter 5636: Second Place

The trial ended, and the pillar reverted to normal. Chu Feng didn’t receive anything despite having just gone through the trial, not even a proof of his result. Nevertheless, he wasn’t too worried as the Seven Realms Sacred Mansion would have thought of that.

He left via the spirit formation gate at the other end of the formation gate, but he was transported into a ma.s.sive mountain valley instead of being brought back to the waiting location. On the walls of the mountain valley were thousands of spirit formation gates, and each of them had an elder waiting.

They held a formation in their left hand and a token in their right. There were three marks on the token, namely ‘Psyche’, ‘Construction’, and ‘Breach’.

A few people stepped out of the spirit formation gates, and the elders pa.s.sed their tokens to them. Nothing happened to most of the tokens, but some of them lit up when the challengers took them.

When Chu Feng stepped out of his spirit formation gate, the elder waiting outside pa.s.sed him a token, and it immediately lit up. This suggested that the token only lit up if one had cleared the trial.

“Congratulations, young friend. Please enter the teleportation formation on the left,” the elder said as he gestured to the center of the mountain valley.

There were two teleportation formations at the center of the mountain valley. The left one was for those who had cleared the trial, whereas the right one was for those who had failed. Only those who cleared all three trials could advance to the combat exam, so those who failed any trial were immediately disqualified.

Chu Feng took the token and entered the left teleportation formation. He was transported back to the waiting room, where he found the number of people in the waiting room was much fewer. Clearly, most people had been eliminated in the first trial.

Those who lingered in the waiting room were those who had cleared the first trial but were taking a brief rest to recuperate.

However, Chu Feng decided to enter the second trial straight—Construction.

The location for the second trial looked similar to the first. A pillar was at the center of the room, and the name of the record holder was inscribed at the top of the pillar—Seven Realms Sacred Mansion, Jie Ranqing.

Chu Feng began constructing his formation, and it didn’t take long for him to complete it.

As soon as his formation was finished, eight dragons surged out of the pillar and coiled around the formation palace. That was his result. It paled slightly in comparison to his mother’s, but it was because intentionally lengthened the construction time while lowering the resilience of the formation.

The eight dragon silhouettes were not indicative of his true strength; it was simply the result he had wanted to achieve.

What Chu Feng didn’t know was that the Seven Realms Sacred Mansion’s Mansion Master and the mysterious elder were watching his every move.

“Something’s wrong,” the elder said with a grim voice.

His previous arrogance and contempt had disappeared without a trace.

“What do you think, milord?” the Seven Realms Sacred Mansion’s Mansion Master asked.

“Tianran, did you notice it too?” the elder asked.

“I’m not sure, but I think he’s doing it on purpose,” the Seven Realms Sacred Mansion’s Mansion Master said.

“Let’s watch on,” the elder said.

Chu Feng left the palace via the spirit formation gate at the opposite end, and he was transported to a mountain valley once more. This time around, the elder didn’t pa.s.s him a token but instead activated the formation to light up the second mark on it.

“Young friend, please take the left teleportation formation,” the elder said with a fawning smile. His att.i.tude was much better than before.

Chu Feng proceeded straight to the final ‘Breach’ trial.

The location was almost identical to the previous two trials. There was a pillar in the center that had Jie Ranqing’s name inscribed at the top. The only difference was that there was a formation in the palace that the challenger would have to breach.

Chu Feng quickly constructed a formation to breach the palace’s formation. Eight dragon silhouettes surged out of the pillar as soon as he was done.

After the completion of the trial, Chu Feng left the palace.

An elder was waiting for him in the mountain valley outside the spirit formation gate. He had already activated the formation in his hand, ready to light up Chu Feng’s third mark, but his gaze changed when he realized that Chu Feng’s token had two lit marks.

“Congratulations, young friend. You’re the second one to clear the talent test. You must be a remarkable prodigy,” the elder generously offered Chu Feng his compliment.

“Thank you, elder,” Chu Feng replied with a smile before heading to the center of the mountain valley.

However, the elder suddenly spoke up, “Young friend, are you not curious who’s the first one to clear the talent test? She’s your potential rival.”

“Elder, are you willing to tell me?” Chu Feng asked.

He was curious about the first person to clear the talent test, as such information could aid him in the subsequent combat exam. He had known that many formidable juniors would be joining the entrance examination, so he wasn’t confident about taking first place. Knowing who to look out for would be a great help.

He had only refrained from asking as he thought that it would be confidential information.

“I can only tell you that it’s a woman,” the elder replied with a chuckle.

“Thank you for your advice.” Chu Feng bowed to the elder before taking his leave.

Right after he left, the elders in the mountain valley began secretly chatting amongst themselves.

“That lad is that Chu Feng, right? He’s formidable.”

“It’s no wonder our mansion master allowed him to choose a Saint-tier treasure in advance.”

“There’s no guarantee he would clinch the first place though. That woman was much faster than him.”

“Indeed. That woman is a true monster.”

“To be honest, I thought that this entrance examination was just for show, and that no one would clear the trials we have set. Who could have known there are so many outstanding juniors in the world of cultivation? It really was the right call to hold the entrance examination right now.”

“No wonder our mansion master is honored as the most talented mansion master ever. His wisdom and decisiveness are impressive.”

Initially, the elders couldn’t understand why the Seven Realms Sacred Mansion’s Mansion Master wanted to hold an entrance examination at this juncture, but by this point, it was clear that the junior world spiritists outside were much stronger than they had expected.

…

Stepping into the teleportation formation, Chu Feng returned to the waiting room. He stowed his token, not wanting to draw attention. He scanned the room to check if anyone had a token with three lit marks, but it was to no avail.

…

The Seven Realms Sacred Mansion’s Mansion Master and the mysterious elder continued staring at the formation palace where Chu Feng was previously at even though it was empty now. Silence loomed between the two of them.

“What’s that lad’s name again?” the elder suddenly asked.

“Milord, his name is Chu Feng,” the Seven Realms Sacred Mansion’s Mansion Master replied.

“Times are changing. Such a talented person actually appeared outside our Seven Realms Sacred Mansion. That lad came to make a name for himself and join our ranks. Why did he hold back if he had the ability to draw out the ninth dragon silhouette?” the elder asked in confusion.

By the second trial, he could already tell that Chu Feng’s ability was the real deal. In fact, he had a feeling that Chu Feng could have done better in the second trial, just that he had intentionally held back.

By the third trial, it was obvious to him that Chu Feng had intentionally withheld his result at eight dragon silhouettes.