Emperor of the Human Way Chapter 5

T/N: I’ve decided to change “consciousness” to mind. It was too much of a mouthful.

That young girl was called Shui Qingyan, and within the three thousand tribes of the Great Wilderness she came from the Wei River tribe, there were many mudflats on the Wei River, therefore the Wei River came to be called the River Mud clan, and the tribesmen were mainly named Shui (River).

Zhong Yue and Shui Qingyan had known each other for a long time. Last year Zhong Yue had returned home for a visit and on his way back, crossing alone the Great Wilderness traveling from the Zhong mountain tribe to the Sword Sect’s holy land, he had accidentally met Shui Qingyan.

Shui Qingyan’s parents had a high status inside the River Mud clan, and there were over a dozen adult hunters escorting her toward the Sword Sect, but unfortunately they had been attacked by a beast tide on the way and only Shui Qingyan was left alive. She was close to dying under the beasts’ mouth and it was Zhong Yue who saved her.

The scars on Zhong Yue’s left arm were caused by a fierce beast’s bite when he was trying to save Shui Qingyan.

Zhong Yue had protected her all the way to the Sword Sect, and because of this experience Shui Qingyan started to call Zhong Yue elder brother Yue and became very intimate with him.

"Qingyan, you already managed to break your soul out of the body?"

Zhong Yue was shocked and had trouble believing: "you have only cultivated for on year…"

Speaking there Zhong Yue suddenly couldn’t talk anymore, because he remembered his own case. Shui Qingyan’s cultivation speed was already extremely quick, after joining the Sword Sect for only one year her soul could already come out of the body and she could enter the Blue Sky Hall’s a.s.sessment. Compared to many outer sect disciples it could practically be called divine speed!

But in contrast, Zhong Yue cultivated the Fire Era Palace Sovereign Sui Picture little Xin Huo taught him, and only used few hours to break his soul of his body. Probably absolutely no one would believe this kind of speed if he told them!

Of course, Zhong Yue had already been cultivating for several years and breaking into the Out of Body realm now could only be considered above average among outer sect disciples; it wouldn’t attract a lot of attention.

The both of them walked inside the Blue Sky Hall, and saw that it was deserving of the two words "Blue Sky".

Under their feet was an invisible barrier, and an endless sky spread on the other side. Beautiful and grand mountains outlined up and down in unbroken ranges; it was as if one could have a panoramic view over the whole of the hundred thousand li Great Wilderness!

White clouds drifted past their feet in lazy curls. Surveying the scene he could see the exotic landscapes of the Great Wilderness, there were snow-white ice mountains, there were huge trees shading hundred and thousands of li, there were surging rivers, there were unimaginably big lotus flowers, incomparably majestic.

Above their head the scorching sun was hangin high above, while the bright moon drifted low, and it was they were many times closer to the sun, moon and stars in this moment.

There were more than a dozen persons inside the Blue Sky Hall gathered in front of a stage, this stage had a perimeter of a thousand feet with a sword gate in the center, its appearance like that of a sword.

A fierce battle was taking place on the stage. A young man around 15 to 16 years old was fighting against a black demon with a body entirely black.

That demon’s arms were like mantis claws, its legs bent backwards, its speed was very fast as it came and went like the wind. Right now it had transformed into a black shadow circling around the young man as it danced on the stage. Its two arms continuously slashed at the young man like two sickles!

That young man pushed with the left hand and blocked with the right, blood continuously flowing from his body, and was slashed by that demon from time and again. His situation was precarious!

There was an invisible barrier around the stage that sealed it off. That demon had no way of escaping. On top of that it was bloodthirsty by nature, so it attacked the young man in the stage with all its might.

Besides the stage were several white-clothed examiners sitting quietly as they waited for the battle’s result.

"This demon is a low level demon kept by the Sword Sect and used for a.s.sessments. It’s fast and strong, its arms are like blades, and one will certainly lose against it in close combat."

Under the stage, several outer sect disciples were dressed with gorgeous clothes; they obviously were disciples from great clans and had deep understandings of demons. They argued: "But the demon’s weakness is also great, that is its soul is extremely weak! In this fight one only needs to take his soul out of the body, and charge inside the demon’s sea of consciousness, visualize a sword gate, and with one slash of sword qi you can kill his soul. Victory will naturally be yours then!"

"It’s easy to say, but I’m afraid it’s hard to do."

Another person shook his head: "The demon’s attacking speed is extremely fast, its strength is also great, and you’ll absolutely lose miserably if you enter close combat range! If the soul breaks out of the body and gets slashed by its arms, you’ll immediately die! Earlier when that disciple broke his soul out of the body, his soul was cut by the demon and scattered to the four winds on the spot, and even the Blue Sky Hall’s examiners had no time to save him! You can only seize a fleeting opportunity and enter its sea of consciousness in a split second. Only then you’ll be able to cut its soul with sword qi!"

"Not wrong, that demon is too fast and its strength far superior to ordinary people, you can’t overwhelm it with strength, only trap it with wits!"

The Blue Sky Hall a.s.sessment examined both the ability to break the soul out of the body, and your battle awareness, the two were indispensable to pa.s.s!

Zhong Yue frowned faintly, revealing a puzzled expression: "The speed of this demon isn’t that fast and his strength might not be greater than mine. Why do they all say you can’t overwhelm it with strength?"

In his eyes, the speed f the demon wasn’t particularly fast and the strength of its arms slashing down didn’t look so heavy. He cold clearly capture each movement of the demon, and his four limbs and hundred bones were eager to fight it. It was a weird feeling.

He didn’t know that his mind was many times stronger than before, and the speed that was hard to observe by other people wasn’t so shocking to him. In his eyes it could only be called ordinary.

This was the advantage of a powerful mind!

Shui Qingyan took the small totem pole from her back and said in a low voice with sparkling eyes: "My Water Mud clan has predecessors inside the Sword Sect and they gave me this totem pole. It made my cultivation extremely fast. Elder brother Yue, this kind of a.s.sessment is very dangerous, later just take my totem pole for the when it’s your turn, you can give it back to me when you’re done. This way we can both pa.s.s this test."

Zhong Yue felt touched, but when he lifted his head and observed the demon on the stage once more, he shook his head resolutely: "No need, I want to try it by myself."

On the stage that young man was covered in injuries and persisted with clenched teeth.

Suddenly a white clothed examiner pointed a finger and that demon exploded in a bang. It suddenly died a violent death. That examiner showed no emotion and told that young man: "you don’t have the strength to fight anymore, go down. Next, Junshan tribe, Junshan clan Jun Shaofei."

Another young man climbed on the stage, this young man was obviously from a big clan. As soon as he landed on the stage he stuck the divine totem pole in the ground, and the strange lines of the patterns on that totem pole lit up one after another, bursting out magnificent light patterns.

On the stage that sword gate opened with a rumble and a black shadow rushed out with a scream from inside the gate. It directly leaped at Jun Shaofei, its arms like sickles, and in the blink of an eye it was already three feet in font of Jun Shaofei. In the next moment it could cut off the young man’s head, not giving him any time to react!

Suddenly, that demon’s speed abruptly slowed down, slowing half a beat. Although it was still extremely fast, but it was no longer to the point that it couldn’t be seen by the naked eye like before.

"Divine totem poles are indeed incomparably wonderful."

Zhong Yue’s eyes couldn’t help light up and he uttered praises, filled with curiosity toward divine totem poles: " Qi Refining Warriors use spirit to refine divine totem poles, I don’t know how they refine it?"

On the stage although the demon’s speed had gone down, but to Jun Shaofei it was still very fast. This battle lasted a stick of incense. Jun Shaofei finally managed to seize a fleeting opportunity to break his soul outside of his body and inside the demon’s head, cutting its soul with sword qi and finally obtaining victory!

After some time elapsed, young men and young women climbed the stage one by one, and demons continuously came out from that sword gate. Among those young people there was one that couldn’t even last a round and had his hands and feet cut off by the demon; he had to be saved by the examiner. Some struggled bitterly but still couldn’t hold on in the end.

Very quickly it came to Zhong Yue’s turn. Shui Qingyan couldn’t help let out a worried expression and took down the divine totem pole from her back, saying quietly: "Big brother Yue, you better use my totem pole…"

Zhong Yue’s gaze was brighter and brighter. He shook his head and said: "No need!"

The fighting on the stage ended. A white clothed old man looked at his list of names, and said without even raising his eyebrows: "Zhong Mountain tribe, Zhong Mountain clan, Zhong Yue!"

"Disciple is present!"

Zhong Yue answered and climbed on the stage. He inspired a long breath, and his gaze locked tightly on the sword gate in the stage.

Under the stage, many disciples were looking over and took in the sight of this young man who looked dry and thin, his clothes ruined, with a big medicine basked carried on his back. He did not look like he came to partic.i.p.ate in the a.s.sessment but rather like he came gather herbs.

From the audience under the stage immediately came amused laughter, someone laughed quietly: "poverty-stricken disciple, I advise you better not go on stage. You’re going to look ugly…"

As his voice fell there was a rumbling sound. The sword gate opened at the inducement of a whit robed examiner. From the gate came a mind-shaking demon roar and a black shadow shot out like a sword, charging towards Zhong Yue. On the stage the two sickle like arms flashed like a well practiced ch.o.r.eography, and two blade light came streaking in mid-air!

The two blade light went slashing toward Zhong Yue one following after the other!

"Jiao Dragon Body Circling!"

Zhong Yue shouted loudly like the roar of a thunderbolt. At this moment came from the Blue Sky Hall a deep dragon cry, and some people had the illusion they were seeing the vague form of an incomparably ominous Jiao Dragon come over Zhong Yue’s body, draping around his body!

The demon’s two blade light hacked down. Only a "puchi" sound could be heard, and at the same time blood splashed out, followed by a black shadow flying up high and hitting the stage’s invisible barrier with a rumble. It then fell to the ground and didn’t move anymore!

On the stage only the silhouette of a man was left standing.

The audience didn’t make the slightest sound.

The white robed examiners lifted their head one by one and looked incredulously at the stage. They saw that demon’s body lying lifelessly, the ribs on its chest crushed to pieces by a fist. The pieces of broken bones had pierced the heart, instantly killing it.

"Without using the soul, killing the demon with with only one fist…"

An examiner stared sluggishly and murmured: "Several apprentice brothers, does that count as pa.s.sing the a.s.sessment?"

The other examiners also looked at each other. Since they started managing the Blue Sky Hall it was their first time encountering this kind of situation!

An unarmed strike killing a demon who possessed frightening speed and shocking strength. For Qi Refining Warriors it was an easy matter, but for outer sect disciples, it was an entirely impossible thing!

But now, this demon had been killed against all reason by Zhong Yue in one punch, making them feel a little crazy!

Earlier they weren’t paying much attention to the proceedings, and now they have been upset into craziness. But it was only that none of them had any idea how this a.s.sessment should count.