blueteamnovel Chapter 23 Fan Violence
Chapter 23 Fan Violence
The closer you get to that patch of mist...
A sense of unease, without any apparent reason, welled up in everyone's hearts.
Chen Hongzhi swallowed hard.
"Lu Lin, there's no danger in this fog, right?"
Lu Lin nodded. "The headmaster just said there are no monsters in the mist... but I don't know if there's any danger."
Lu Lin's words of comfort did not calm Chen Hongzhi down.
"Even though there are no demonic beasts, the mist still drains people's life force, right?"
"Fourth brother, don't think too much about it. Now that you've signed the waiver, there's no turning back."
Chen Hongming said in a deep voice.
They had all heard about the mist before, but this was the first time they had seen it with their own eyes.
At the foot of Evil Mountain, there is a tent area set up by the academy.
The many candidates who had already arrived gathered in twos and threes.
Two hours later, with the arrival of a teacher from the academy, all the candidates had gathered.
"Dear candidates..."
The speaker was a scholar dressed in a long red robe. "Now that everyone has arrived, you can enter the misty area and begin your treasure hunt."
"The academy has placed a thousand student tokens within the misty area. Once you obtain one, you can leave the misty area."
"Fighting is not prohibited within the misty zone. You can find the tokens yourself or steal them from others."
"Of these thousand tokens, five hundred are visible and their locations will be indicated by red flags. The remaining five hundred are hidden and need to be found by you."
"Having more cards revealed is not useless."
The teacher in red paused for a moment, and coughed twice amidst the expectant and puzzled gazes of the many examinees.
"At the beginning of this year, the academy discovered a mine of Divine Stones, with a fairly considerable output."
"Therefore, in order to allow everyone to enjoy the benefits of the mine together with the academy, Headmaster Li Songtao has specially decreed that, apart from what is needed, any excess student tokens can be exchanged for one Divine Stone."
"What?! The academy has discovered a Divine Stone mine?"
"Previously, our Qinbei Prefecture didn't have a single mine. If we wanted to cultivate, we had to rely entirely on transporting them from other prefectures, which is why the price of Divine Stones remained high."
"Divine Stone, did you hear that? You can exchange one token for one Divine Stone."
The crowd erupted in uproar.
Chen Hongzhi and Lu Lin were also stunned by the academy's grand gesture.
Previously at the academy, Li Songtao announced that only by defeating a seeded player could one obtain a Divine Stone, a reward that had already made many people eager to participate.
Now, one token can be used to obtain one Divine Stone.
Excitement gleamed in Chen Hongming's and Chen Hongzhi's eyes.
"Second Brother!"
"Fourth brother!"
The two exchanged a glance, everything understood without a word.
Besides trying to obtain the tokens they needed to enter the academy, they had another objective for this trip.
Divine Stones are a form of hard currency in Qinbei Prefecture.
The official price is one thousand taels of silver per piece.
But no one can buy it at that price.
In the black market where private transactions are possible, the minimum price for a single Divine Stone is five thousand taels.
Although the academy discovered the first Yan Shen Stone mine in Qinbei Prefecture, the price of Yan Shen Stone will not drop much.
Because there are too many martial artists in Qinbei Prefecture who are skilled in skin refining, flesh refining, and bone refining.
The Divine Stone is the key for all martial artists to enter the Five Organs level.
"Silence! Silence!"
The teacher in red waved his hand, and the room quieted down considerably.
"According to Li Songtao, the fog area will remain safe for the next three days. With each additional day, the fog density will increase. It is expected that the fog area in front of us will become a normal fog area in about a month."
Therefore, this assessment will be conducted over a period of three days.
"When the three days are up, a master will enter the mist to call out to you. If you do not return by then, you will be disqualified from the assessment, your assessment results will be cancelled, and the academy will not explore further to search for you."
"It's already late today, so everyone can head into the fog area early tomorrow morning."
After the red-robed scholar finished speaking, he said nothing more.
He has clearly explained the risks of the foggy area and advised candidates to enter the area the following day.
But if someone doesn't listen, they should bear the consequences themselves.
Anyway, they all signed a waiver of liability.
After the red-robed scholar left, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Because of the high risk of the assessment, the number of people who originally signed up for the test was reduced by more than half, with only about 3,000 people actually showing up.
The disciples of the Fang, Lü, Zhao, and Xiang families are still present.
Jiang Yao, who had met Lu Lin before, and his older brother, who was being cuckolded, were also there.
As the teacher left, many candidates headed towards the foggy area without prior arrangement.
Chen Hongming, Chen Hongzhi, and Lu Lin exchanged glances, nodded together, and followed the main group forward.
Three hundred meters.
Two hundred meters.
One hundred meters.
The closer you get to the fog, the more pronounced that mixed feeling of longing and palpitations becomes.
Step into the fog.
Lu Lin immediately felt a gentle, invisible suction force enveloping him from head to toe.
The body's Qi and blood are also restless and agitated.
It gives me a feeling that the world is so big, and I want to go and see it.
Lu Lin quickly practiced the Dragon Tiger Golden Bell Shield technique, and the feeling gradually faded and dissipated.
Then look at Chen Hongming and Chen Hongzhi beside him.
The two immediately activated their skin-refining techniques to firmly lock in their internal energy and blood.
However, the blood and qi still seeped out of the body slowly like flowing water, dissipating into the mist.
Chen Hongming's expression was grave. "Fourth brother, Lu Lin, we probably can't stay in this misty area for long. Three days is the limit."
"And even excluding the fact that the fog will gradually thicken, this timeframe will likely be even shorter."
"Second brother, what's there to worry about? Let's just stay here and wait for someone to come out, then we'll just rob them. Isn't that simpler than searching ourselves?"
Chen Hongming glared at Chen Hongzhi.
"You think you're so smart? Look around, how many people are there?"
Chen Hongzhi turned his head and looked around. Of the three thousand people who had entered, one thousand had ventured deep into the fog zone to explore, while the rest were hesitant and lingering nearby, clearly having the same idea as him.
"What should we do then? We can't just stay here and guard it, and if we go in to explore, we might get robbed."
"Then let's not choose either of them. Let's leave the foggy area, listen to the Master, get a good night's rest, and come back tomorrow!"
Chen Hongming made his decision and was about to leave when he realized that Lu Lin was gone.
……
Chen Hongyu and Chen Hongjie returned to the Chen residence.
He informed Chen Dingkun of the news about this assessment.
Upon hearing that they were about to enter the foggy area, Chen Dingkun and Madam Zheng both became nervous.
However, since both of them had already signed a death waiver, their presence there would be of no use now.
Chen Dingkun and Madam Zheng stayed at home all day, feeling uneasy.
That evening, the kitchen prepared a table of food and wine, but Chen Dingkun and Madam Zheng had no appetite.
Just then, a servant came to report.
"Sir, there is a monk outside the door who calls himself Fanli. He says he knows you and asks you to come in and meet him."
"Fanli? I don't know him. Just give him some vegetarian food and send him on his way."
Chen Dingkun waved his hand; he didn't have the energy to deal with any monks or Taoist priests right now.
The servant did not leave immediately, but instead took out a note from his pocket and presented it to Chen Dingkun.
"Sir, this is a token given to us by the other party. Please take a look."
Chen Dingkun took the note, his expression changed drastically, and he stood up abruptly, his voice trembling with urgency.
"Quickly, tell that monk to wait for me in the study!"