Chapter 697 - Things Not As They Seem

"Keep going! Next group!" Kana yelled as she cut the head off another demonic beast. She was currently covered head to toe in blood from the demonic beasts she had slain thus far. She was overly exhausted but kept pus.h.i.+ng on. Luckily they were slowly making progress.  "Just five more groups…."

"Kana, I am out of arrows!" Fei yelled out. She had pulled out a dagger and came to Kanna"s side.

"We just need to hold off a little longer. Besides us, there are four more groups. Just four more, and we can finally cross." Kana did not understand why this trial was so hard. There should be no reason for the number of demonic beasts that kept sp.a.w.ning. Although she had a feeling that they were not real, the fact that she was constantly getting hurt told her that she would die for real if she was not careful. She was not the only one either. Many had been hurt already, and a few had actually perished. But there was nothing she could do. Even if she wanted to save them, she couldn"t. 

Although she could use her soul, and all of this would be easy, she did not want to use her final trump card just yet. There was still a ray of hope. Unlike when she faced the man in black robes in that underground cavern where she had no other options, she had people helping her this time, and all of them were fighting with everything that she had. She was truly impressed by the unity of these young men and women. Some of which were just barely in their teens. They were facing down these demonic beasts together with her, covered in wounds and blood the same as her. She now saw each and every one of these young men and women as her comrades in arms. 

"Boss, Wu Mei is down!" One of the young men at her side yelled out. 

"Fei, grab her and bring her to the bridge!" Kana ordered as she went to block a demonic beast charging at her. At the same time, another attacked from her left. With no other choice, Kana had to use her left arm to block the second demonic beast, only for it to sink its teeth deep into her flesh. "Ahh!" 

"Kana!" Fei yelled out in surprise. 

"It"s fine. Just do as I say!" Kana gritted her teeth and swung her sword, killing the first demonic beast before stabbing the demonic beast clinging to her arm in the neck. Blood sprayed onto her face as she tossed the now dead demonic beast to the side.  "Do not falter! If we falter, we will all die! Let the injured go across after the injured have made it to the other side. I will personally take up the rear."

Outside the trial kneeling on the floor, was an old man with a long white beard. In front of him was the sect master of Moon Crest Academy. "Elder Tuxian, I believe you owe me an explanation. In all my years of being the sect master of Moon Crest Academy, I, Hou Jiahao, have never once had our admissions tests tampered with. Those young cultivators who came to join our sect did come to take trials that were out of their ability. Our trials are already harder than normal, and now you have made the last trial a living h.e.l.l for these hopeful disciples! Who put you up to this!?"

"I did it on my own. No one put me up to it!" Elder Tuxian replied immediately, not daring to look at the sect master.

"Oh? So if I were to search your soul right now, it would only be you doing something you have no motive to do? Do you think I am stupid? Elder Ning, search his soul and dig out the mastermind behind this. Whether he ends up brain dead or not afterwards means nothing to me. From this moment on, he is no longer an elder of our Moon Crest Academy." The sect master"s killing intent was soaring. If he did not need to get information out of this man in front of him, he would have cut him into thousands of pieces. 

Hearing he was about to have his soul searched, which could truly make him brain dead, Elder Tuxian began to sweat. After a slight hesitation, he suddenly shouted out: "It was Elder Ye! Before taking his punishment, he told me to kill a certain disciple. He said that she had killed many of the disciples of the sect and had brainwashed Elder Ning. He said it was for the good of the sect that we should kill her and get rid of her."

"Oh? Well, We will find out if that is true once we search your soul." The sect master waved his hand, and Elder Ning stepped forward. Elder Tuxian"s face paled as he yelled out: "You can"t do this! I will tell you the truth! It was truly…. AHHHhhh!!!!!"

Elder Ning"s brow wrinkled. "Again! The mind and soul were completely destroyed."

The sect master"s face turned black. He looked at Elder Tuxian, who had blood and chunks of matter dripping from his orifices with a complex expression. "Elder Ning, check him for any kind of residual demonic qi… I have a feeling this is not so simple anymore."

The sect master did not see the first disciple die during the second trial. But now, seeing Elder Tuxian die in the same described manner, he was sure that things did not add up. "While Elder Ye is rash, he is not dumb enough to mess with the trials. He would be more sneaky about his actions…. Elder Ning, you handle things here. I will go to the back mountain." 

"I will handle things properly." Elder Ning clenched his fists. He was a proud member of Moon Crest Academy. He had been raised in this sect from a young age and owed a lot to the sect..  So to see such a thing happen during a new disciple recruitment test angered him to no end.