Chapter 480 - 478:Moved.

Chapter 480: Chapter 478:Moved.

"That’s... damn." I really had no words.

Listening to Shaia explain just what the hell Shulvan really was, what he was capable of, it all put things in perspective.

But nothing. Absolutely nothing shocked me more than the fact that according to Shaia, Shulvan would’ve had a much more convenient fight against Fear, so much so that he wouldn’t have faced as much of a challenge as I had.

Now... I wasn’t going to lie, that made me feel some type of way, but,

"Heh! Don’t worry about it. You and your apostle are fundamentally different; that’s the only reason Fear was able to take you off guard," Shaia reassured.

"After all, you’re the source. And the product can never truly outperform the source, no matter how impressive."

I smiled at those words.

I knew she was right, but still,

"It would be nice to actually see that bastard in action. Now I’m really curious about what that would look like."

"Tehehehehe... don’t worry, I’m sure something will pop up soon enough that’ll warrant some proper action."

"You just had to go and jinx it, didn’t you?"

"Ohh, please... you’ve been having too much of an easy ride for you not to suspect something to be coming."

She wasn’t wrong. We’d already spent more than five days within this region and nothing significant had happened yet.

My life wasn’t one of such peace, especially not with the many beings out there seeking me out, so like Shaia had said, there was definitely something coming, but,

"It matters not." Let them come. And I hope it’s an apostle this time around; after all, I still had a bone to pick with those guys.

The anger in my chest was stuffed down before it could surface as I turned my attention back onto my friends that seemed ready to begin another round without delay.

"Alright fellas, fun time is over," I called out, appearing in their midst.

"Huh? What do you mean ’fun time is over?’" Malachi asked. The monkey seemed to be getting ready for round two, but,

"No more fighting for you guys."

"What!?" Salazar exclaimed loudly. "I was just about to have my turn!! This monkey claimed he could actually beat me after failing to take down this furball, and I was just planning on teaching him not to fuck with time." The freak tried to plead his case.

"Yeah... sucks to be you then. You guys have had enough fun already. Look at what you did to the place—you completely totaled it, so now I have to fix it and go back to what we were doing."

"Ughhhh...." Simultaneous groans escaped the group as the very idea of going back to the time we were at seemed to genuinely frustrate them, well, at least almost all of them.

"Can I just say, I’m loving this brand of despair you guys are giving off? It feels different and fresh, absolutely fascinating." Leo just had to be Leo once again.

I was honestly beginning to wonder if it was a good idea—turning this guy into an apostle, that is.

"Haa... well, whatever. What’s done is already done." I let out a long breath as I raised my arm, and then,

SNAP!!

I snapped my fingers, ignoring the protests coming from the others.

The world glitched for a brief moment and then,

"Zhou Su Qing!" A young man appeared on stage as he issued out his challenge.

"Haaa... back into the pit of suffering we go. Man, I hate my life," Malachi groaned as they were all forced to go through the same boring scenario we’d had the first time before Paku interjected unceremoniously.

"Descending Crane Claw!!"

"Rising Dragon Jade Palm!!!"

"Ugghhhh.... Fuck my life." A twisted sense of amusement coiled within me as I watched Malachi, Paku, and Salazar squirm, the three utterly floored by the battle currently ongoing.

BANG!!!

It wasn’t until ten minutes later that a figure was finally sent blasting off the stage.

"WINNER!! Man Nou!" The challenger stood proudly on stage, fist held high in victory as he tried to regulate his breathing.

"Do you wish to continue challenging, or will you stop?" The voice of Luo Yao echoed through the arena as she addressed the young man.

"This one shall stop here, thank you, Lady Luo." Cupping his fists, the young man jumped down and took his place right beside the 69th-ranked person on the list.

Slowly but surely, the challenges came and went.

Nothing exciting of note occurred as all the participants seemed to have come to a unanimous agreement to avoid the six figures currently sitting proudly atop the leaderboard.

And so, it was in utter boredom and stagnation that the trials finally came to an end, the final top ten being picked out, not by elder choice, but by their sheer capabilities until finally,

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, this section of the sect trials has successfully come to an end."

OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Naturally, the crowd had eaten up everything with great enthusiasm.

I might’ve been bored out of my senses with these fights, but for these people, two whole hours of name-calling and repetitive posturing was a great form of entertainment.

"You wanted the experience, now you’re complaining about the experience?" Shaia asked, her voice clearly enjoying my suffering.

"I wanted the fun bits of the experience, not this nonsense."

"I guess now you can maybe understand your friends a little bit, hehehehehe."

"Nope. They’re just being overdramatic. I’m nothing like that. I just always prefer the fun parts of whatever I do to the boring parts—there’s a difference."

"If you say so."

"The leaderboard rankings have been finalized. Everyone, congratulations."

The elder in charge of the competition appeared in the sky with Luo Yao and her new favorite disciple still tagging along, their faces radiant—well, the elder’s face was radiant since only his was visible, but with the aura coming off of Luo Yao, it was safe to assume she was also quite pleased with the result.

I turned, attention falling on the new leaderboard, and just like before:

1- Long Chen.

2- Sulvan Entros.

3- Huang Xiaolong (Leo).

4- Duan Ling Tian (Paku).

5- Yang Kai (Malachi).

6- Chu Feng (Salazar).

7- Chu Xuantian.

8- Ye Lingxi.

9- Yue Ming.

10- Ming Zhu.

...

...

The top ten remained unchanged, as our names dominated the ranking.

The cultivation world had avoided the trope of an elder trying to manipulate results with some useless gimmick, leading to things actually playing out fair and square, and it bothered me that they were getting out of character, especially when it involved the fun bits.

"A special congratulations to those of you that have made it into the top ten. Your rewards will be specially distributed once we arrive at the sect, but for now, stand tall in knowing that you have proven yourselves, at least in this trial, to be the cream of the crop. I am proud to have you all in my sect. Maybe, just maybe, with a little more special training, you might be eligible to become mine, or any of the other grand elders’ disciples, so do not relax, do not get complacent, strive harder and push for more, because in this race against Heaven and its intention to keep us from ascension, we must never relent." I had to give it to this woman; she really did know how to get spirits pumping and blood flowing with her words, because the moment she was done with her speech, the whole atmosphere ignited.

Not just those in the top ten, but the entire top hundred.

Who wouldn’t want to be the disciple of a grand elder? Think of the resources. The connections. The free posturing ticket.

One look at Lin Tian, who was levitating like a chosen child of Heaven, cropped out from a different batch, and you would be motivated to get to the same position.

"WE THANK THE ELDER FOR HER GRACIOUS WORDS!" The candidates saluted fervently as Luo Yao nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, you may all return to your homes and get prepared. We shall be leaving Canglan soon, and everyone will be expected to have arrived at the spirit vessel within the next three days as we will not be waiting." Done with her words, she cast one last fleeting glance at our group and then, gone.

"Damn! That was awesome. I wonder if I can go watch the other trials."

"You’re still deliberating? The one on Martial Heaven, I’ve already contacted my senior brother there; we’re definitely going. Even if I can’t join the sect myself, at least I can watch all these amazing geniuses showcase themselves."

"Damn!! The Spirit Ascension Sect’s recruitment season is truly the best season to be in, isn’t it?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

The audience became excited and animated as everyone finally left the coliseum at the break of dawn.

All day. We had spent all day yesterday going through one test. And I had to admit, despite the lackluster ending, it was indeed quite fun.

"Hmm... I just remembered something. Shaia, did you look into the abyss gate I asked about earlier?"

"You’re just recalling that now? Where has your head been all this while?" Trust Sana to always be quippy with her words.

"I’m sorry, oh wise and ancient one, but could you please tell me?"

"Humph! They do have abyssal gates here, but they’ve all been pulled to one location and are being guarded there, even the ones leading to the inner reaches of the abyss, since these galaxies have some high-level worlds."

"They can do that?"

"Of course. The gates aren’t fixed to one spot, after all. A powerful enough individual could move them."

"Alright. So where are they? Maybe I can start my investigation while I’m bored."

"You don’t need to worry. The place they’ve been placed is exactly where you’ll be heading to soon enough."

"You don’t mean..."

"Yes. The abyss gates are being guarded by the Spirit Ascension Sect itself as a property under the Lin Imperial Family."

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A/N: Today’s Chapter is really late, and I’m sorry for only dropping one. My head wasn’t really working straight . I’ll see if I can make it up by doing three tomorrow as an apology.

Ps: before you ask, NO, shulvan isn’t stronger than Dante lol, he could never. As for why he would’ve had an easier time against fear, I’ll let you guys make your guesses.

Anyways, as always...

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Thanks for reading..