28: Visit the headquarters of the Seven Alliances and One Hall

In the Heavenly Sword Hall martial arts arena, the candidates' gazes darted back and forth between Lu Yuan and Chu Wushe.

Hearing Chu Wushe's words, Lu Yuan knew he was still holding a grudge because Lu Yuan had snatched the national first place from him.

"Let me give it a try." Lu Yuan said with a smile.

The elders of the Heavenly Sword Alliance observing the situation on the arena folded their arms.

"Is the power of Lu Yuan's Spirit Skill as strong as Chu Wushe's?" said the elder with a horse-like face.

It was mainly because Lu Yuan's Combat Class, Puppet Master, was too special; he couldn't judge it based on the class.

"We'll know soon enough."

An aged voice rang out. Seeing who had arrived, the elders stood in respectful silence.

"Great Elder!"

"Hmm."

Liu Zhiyuan waved his hand, signaling them not to be so uptight. He was the Great Elder Liu Zhiyuan, second only to the Supreme Alliance Leader in status within the Heavenly Sword Alliance.

The Supreme Alliance Leader was busy with many affairs, and many matters within the alliance were handled by Liu Zhiyuan.

Looking out over the various palaces of the Seven Alliances and One Hall, Liu Zhiyuan knew that it wasn't just them watching; many elders and even alliance masters were also observing the martial arts arena.

Whoosh— Lu Yuan was the first to bring out the four great calamities!

Blood Butcher, Rotten Scab, Vast Nether, and Zhangsha stood at the front. Even just standing there, the pressure they exuded made the candidates unable to catch their breath.

Following that, over a hundred Blood Slaughter Soldiers, heavenly punishment soldiers, and golden spear soldiers...

A thousand ghost puppet soldiers of different types filled the arena!

The star-swallowing soldiers, standing sixty or seventy meters tall like mountains, were particularly eye-catching, making the candidates swallow hard.

"So many Qi Refining Eighth Star monsters?"

Wan Zichen and Ge Yanping, who ranked fourth and fifth nationally and had previously been dismissive of Lu Yuan, exchanged glances.

They were unconvinced by Lu Yuan, feeling that they could definitely defeat him!

But seeing the four great calamities and that strongest star-swallowing soldier, Wan Zichen broke into a cold sweat.

He feared that before he could even get close to Lu Yuan, he would be crushed to death by the monsters Lu Yuan controlled!

Chu Wushe's expression was neither happy nor sad as he simulated a battle scene with Lu Yuan in his mind.

Red threads danced in the air!

Lu Yuan used the high-grade spirit tool, dragon abyss thread, to control the ghost puppet soldiers. Using the dragon abyss thread and using spiritual power to control ghost puppet soldiers were two completely different experiences.

The four great calamities and ghost puppet soldiers controlled by the dragon abyss thread seemed to have a life of their own; Lu Yuan could even feel their heartbeats, making them easier to control.

"Red threads?" Chu Wushe narrowed his eyes.

"If I fight Lu Yuan, I must destroy the red threads immediately so he can't control those monsters!" Chu Wushe thought to himself.

The three-second countdown began!

Zzzzt— The heavenly punishment soldiers gathered to condense lightning cuts, the Blood Slaughter Soldiers threw the long blades in their hands, and other unit types attacked the Giant Sword Stone in different ways.

The four great calamities frantically unleashed Spirit Skills. Lu Yuan, controlling the ghost puppet soldiers, was not idle either, unleashing the Puppet Master-exclusive Mystic Tier High-Grade Spirit Skill: Sorrowful Puppet!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of explosions rose one after another, leaving the candidates stunned.

"Is this really the national first place of the Martial Examination?"

"Holy crap, that's too terrifying. Thankfully there's a barrier blocking Lu Yuan's Spirit Skill, otherwise I feel like I'd be ascended on the spot!"

"Damn, who can withstand this? Over a thousand Qi Refining Eighth Star monsters, plus five terrifyingly strong special monsters—they could probably insta-kill a Xuan Gang Realm Peak ferocious beast!"

Dust filled the air, making it impossible to see the surrounding environment.

Lu Yuan snapped his fingers, and the four great calamities and ghost puppet soldiers vanished.

The candidates checked the screen in front of the Giant Sword Stone.

[Xuan Gang Realm Six-Star]

[Xuan Gang Realm Seven-Star]

[Xuan Gang Realm Eight-Star]

...

"Holy shit, Divine Power Realm One-Star! The power of Lu Yuan's Spirit Skill could insta-kill a Divine Power Realm One-Star ferocious beast!"

Looking at the Divine Power Realm One-Star displayed on the screen, the candidates burst out with expletives.

You have to know that Lu Yuan is only at the Qi Refining Eighth Star, two major realms away from the Divine Power Realm!

"Something's not right. Where does he get so much spiritual power?" Qi Zhihong, an elder of the Heavenly Sword Alliance, said in a puzzled tone.

With so many Qi Refining Eighth Star monsters exerting force collectively, quantity leading to a qualitative change to unleash the power to insta-kill a Divine Power Realm One-Star ferocious beast was not surprising to Qi Zhihong, who was an elder.

What surprised him was that Lu Yuan's spiritual power reserves were simply too exaggerated!

Being able to control over a thousand monsters at the same time—one had to know that a Qi Refining Eighth Star Dark Attribute Combat Class could summon at most eight hundred ordinary Skeleton Warriors.

The limit for summoning Skeleton Warriors was eighty, and Skeleton Warriors were like clouds and mud compared to Lu Yuan's ghost puppet soldiers!

"Is it the effect of the spirit tool?" said Great Elder Liu Zhiyuan Liu Zhiyuan. He noticed that the red thread in Lu Yuan's hand was a spirit tool, and its quality was not low.

"Divine Power Realm One-Star!" Chu Wushe's face twitched, his pupils turning crimson.

Although he was hiding his strength and hadn't used his Blood Attribute Spirit Skills.

But Lu Yuan had unleashed no less than five Puppet Master Spirit Skills in the Martial Examination, and yet he had only shown one!

"Awesome." Jiang Tianxia gave a thumbs up, truly feeling the huge gap between her and Lu Yuan.

Facing the candidates who were so surprised they had forgotten to applaud, Lu Yuan continued to tour the Heavenly Sword Hall under the guidance of Zhong Tongtong.

"Why is everyone at the Heavenly Sword Hall? Come visit our Hall of Judgment."

A group of Practitioners in their thirties, dressed in pure white, luxurious attire, arrived at the martial arts arena.

The female Practitioner leading them, with a gentle temperament, wore a smile.

"I am Nan Lingwen from the Hall of Judgment. The Hall of Judgment's martial arts arena has a spirit tool that can help everyone purify their souls. If you have any troubles, you can go and experience it." Nan Lingwen said, her gaze lingering on Lu Yuan.

"Is Lu Yuan interested?"

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and nodded.

Since he was already here, it was a free experience anyway.

"Wait a moment!" A group of Practitioners dressed in luxurious blue attire appeared.

"Lu Yuan and fellow candidates, our Thunder Alliance's martial arts arena has a spirit tool that can help everyone strengthen their bodies. Want to come and play?" said the leading Practitioner.

Lu Yuan nodded. Strengthening the body sounded more interesting than purifying the soul.

"Wait a moment!"

"It's almost lunchtime. The food at our Wind-Splitting Alliance cafeteria is a must-try. The head chef is a Life Class Practitioner at the Xuan Gang Realm Three-Star who awakened as an Iron Pot. Everyone, come and taste it!"

A person dressed in cyan attire with the words "Wind-Splitting Alliance" printed on their chest arrived at the arena.

"And our Wood Element Alliance. Lu Yuan, many people in the Wood Element Alliance want to take a picture with you."

Lu Yuan: "..."

If you put it that way, then I'll definitely go to the Wood Element Alliance!

The Wood Element Alliance mostly awakened Wood Attribute and support-type classes, and there were many women in these classes.

"Come to our Hall of Judgment!"

"No, go to the Thunder Alliance!"

"What's so good about a dump like the Thunder Alliance? Better come to our Wind-Splitting Alliance!"

The scene was chaotic. The young elders of the Seven Alliances and One Hall were scrambling to pull candidates to their own alliance (or hall).

Although the candidates had already decided which university to apply to, they wouldn't stay at university forever; they would definitely join a faction after graduation.

Especially these top one hundred candidates nationwide!

The task of the young elders of each alliance was simple: leave a good impression on the candidates so they would join their alliance after graduation.

Among the candidates, Lu Yuan and Jiang Tianxia were the most popular!

Chu Wushe was the son of the Alliance Master of the Thunder Alliance, so his status was clear, and thus he didn't receive as much attention compared to Lu Yuan and Jiang Tianxia.

"Lu Yuan, come to the Hall of Judgment." Each of the Seven Alliances and One Hall had sent an elder to persuade Lu Yuan.

"The Hall of Judgment is boring. The Extreme Cold Alliance is the interesting one; it's full of pretty young girls~"

Lu Yuan: "..."

Why does this feel like an ancient brothel, with girls standing on the second floor shouting for masters to come and play?

"Ahem, I plan to visit the Wood Element Alliance first, and then go to the Extreme Cold Alliance." Lu Yuan said.

Don't misunderstand, it's mainly because he was very interested in the environment of these two alliances.

Watching Lu Yuan, who was surrounded by stars like the moon, Chu Wushe clenched his fists.

Night fell. Lu Yuan, who had spent the whole day visiting the headquarters of the Seven Alliances and One Hall, was physically exhausted and lay in the hotel room provided for the candidates.

There was no helping it; the young ladies of the Wood Element Alliance and the Extreme Cold Alliance were too enthusiastic and insisted on dragging him to experience the specialties of their own alliances.

Knock, knock, knock—

Hearing the knock on the door, Lu Yuan, who had just started to feel sleepy, opened the door.

"Mr. Lu Yuan, this is the outfit you will wear tomorrow. If you are not satisfied with anything, please contact me at any time."

The waiter held a black-gold robe embroidered with a fierce tiger.

Tomorrow, Lu Yuan would wear this outfit to attend the awards ceremony as the first place in the China National Martial Examination!