The two who rushed at the forefront were none other than the Divine Son of the Blood God Cult, who was clad in golden armour, and the Holy Maiden, who had nine circles of holy light on her body.
The two of them, like two arrows that had left the strings, took the lead and quickly rushed past a height of one thousand metres. Their stances were very skillful, and the effects of the boundary of Mount Prana, on them, didn’t seem to be very great.
White Feather, Ning Returning Sea, and Yan Kongming followed closely after the Divine Son and the Holy Maiden, with White Feather, who possessed the Flying Immortal Saint Body, having a rather astonishing speed, only lagging behind the Holy Maiden of the Blood God Sect by a distance of twenty feet.
Ning Guihai’s speed wasn’t slow either, almost running neck and neck with Bai Yu.
Of the three great experts, only Yan Kongming’s speed was slightly inferior, trailing behind White Feather and Ning Guihai by a stone’s throw.
Yan Kongming, however, appeared calm, a grim smile flashing through his eyes, “The middle of Purah Mountain has poisonous gas barriers and swirling swamps that corrode the flesh of Half-Saints, and there’s even an area of wind blades at the top of the peak, so what’s the point of rushing so fast now, you’re not going to have to slow down later on.”
Yan Kongming’s gaze, glancing in the direction behind him, instantly, revealed a hint of surprise.
The person chasing after him was not one of those Third Order Half-Saints that he had analysed to be a certain threat, but instead was a Second Order Half-Saint.
“No wonder Dharma King Hai Moi sent him to compete for the flag lord, he really does still have some skills.”
Yan Kongming did not place that Second Order Half-Saint chasing after him in his eyes as he continued to sprint towards the top of the mountain at his fastest speed.
The Half-Saint chasing after Yan Kongming was naturally Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t display his own speed completely, doing so would only expose himself.
He had the same intention as Yan Kongming, and decided to reach the halfway point of the mountain before exerting his power to overtake the few people in front of him in one go. As for now, just don’t fall behind too much.
Behind Zhang Ruochen were four powerhouses whose cultivation had reached the peak of Third Order Half-Saint. The strength of the four of them was not as strong as Bai Yu, Yan Kongming, Ning Guihai, and the others, yet they were only just a step weaker.
When the Blood God Sect’s divine Son and Holy Maiden hadn’t appeared, the four of them had already prepared to join forces and get rid of Yan Kongming first. In this way, they would have a slight chance of becoming Flag Lords.
After the divine Son and Holy Daughter joined in, it made the competition even more intense, and it could be said that the four of them no longer had even the last shred of a chance.
“That brat is only a Second Order Half-Saint, how can he charge ahead of us?”Among the four Half-Saints, a short and fat man in his fifties roared in anger.
The other three Half-Saints, also very unconvinced, increased their speed and continued to sprint forwards.
Right at this moment, Yan Kongming’s mouth spat out a sound wave that quietly and silently entered the ears of the four Half-Saints, conferring with them, “Split Heart Half-Saint, Demon Sea Half-Saint, Ten Thousand Cities Half-Saint, and Xuan Clothes Half-Saint, the four of you don’t have any chance at all of becoming Flag Lords, so why don’t you co-operate with me, and help me to become a Flag Lord. After it’s done, I can give each of you a holy stone.”?The short and chubby man known as the Demon Sea Half-Saint let out a cold laugh, “A mere piece of Saint Stone, and you want us to help you and send the callers away?”
“Two Saint Stones each, as long as you promise, we can help you out.”The Xuan Clothes Half-Saint said in a voice transmission.
The sum of all the wealth of a First Order Half-Saint would only be able to purchase one or two Sacred Stones.
Thus, two Sacred Stones was not a small amount, not to mention, the four Half-Saints combined would be a total of eight Sacred Stones.
Yan Kongming clenched his teeth tightly and hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing, saying, ”Fine, I promise you. Once we enter the mid-mountain, the four of you will immediately make your move and help me get rid of Ning Guihai. As for Bai Yu, I will personally clean him up.”?The Sea Demon Half-Saint’s gaze stared towards Zhang Ruochen’s back and said, “That brat under the seat of the Sea Underworld Dharma King is also a bit of an eyesore, should we get rid of him first?”
“He’s just a minor foot soldier, White Feather and Ning Guihai are the real threats. You guys shouldn’t delay my main business because of a minor foot soldier.”Yan Kongming said in a deep voice.
The dialogue between Yan Kongming and the four Half-Saints in the back used the means of sound transmission, however, Zhang Ruochen’s ears were integrated with a Divine Seal, so he naturally heard every word they uttered clearly.
“Preparing to join forces? Since that’s the case, I’ll slow down some more.”?Zhang Ruochen also had some plans in his mind, so he smiled faintly and slowed down once again, quickly falling behind the Demon Sea Half-Saint, Xuan Clothes Half-Saint, Wan Cheng Half-Saint, and Split Heart Half-Saint.
If they wanted to fight, let them fight first.
At the bottom of Mount Prana, Blue Night saw Zhang Ruochen gradually falling behind, his brows slightly frowning as he said, “Gu Linfeng is still too low in cultivation after all, and his backbone is insufficient, so there is no hope of capturing the Flag Master’s position again.”
“It can’t be helped, who knew that the Divine Son and Holy Maiden actually came to participate in the examination as well?”Ji Shui let out a soft sigh.
Blue Night and Ji Shui no longer held any hope for Zhang Ruochen, no matter how the process went, the end was already doomed.
On Mount Pura, the Divine Son of the Blood God Sect was the first to reach the halfway point of the mountain and rushed into into the cloud layer.
The cloud layer was full of poisonous miasma that could corrode the flesh of a half-saint. Even with the divine Son’s cultivation, he immediately slowed down, releasing his Sacred Soul Domain as he carefully climbed upwards.
Immediately after, the Blood God Sect’s Holy Maiden, Bai Yu, Ning Guihai, and Yan Kongming rushed into the clouds one after another, entering the poisonous miasma region.
Right at this moment, Yan Kongming took out, from his arms, two crimson iron plaques and injected his holy qi into them.
With a wave of his arm, the two iron medallions, flew towards Bai Yu and Ning Guihai respectively.
“Boom!”?”Boom!”
Inside the two iron tiles, thirty-six chain-shaped inscriptions, as thick as a bowl’s mouth, each rushed out, dropping down from mid-air and connecting to the ground, enveloping Bai Yu and Ning Guihai within.
“Locking Saint Sealing Demon Formation.”
Standing in the formation, Bai Yu was slightly startled, his eyes staring over towards Yan Kongming as he said in a cold voice, “Yan Kongming, how dare you, wanting to wage war on both me and Ning Guihai at the same time?
Yan Kongming was not only a Martial Dao Half-Saint, but also a Spiritual Power Half-Saint, with attainments above the Blade Technique and Formation Technique reaching the top level at the same time.
Yan Kongming smiled and said, “Today, out of the three of us, there will only be one person who will be able to reach the top of the mountain, and that person is me.”
A cold, sharp murderous aura appeared on Ning Guihai’s face as he stared towards Bai Yu and said, “Since he’s so arrogant, let’s join forces and finish him off first.”
“Good!”
Bai Yu pinched out a sword technique and executed Sword One, and with a loud bang, he broke the Sacred Locking and Sealing Demon Formation and attacked Yan Kongming from the left side.
Ning Guihai took out a three-foot long dragon tooth dagger and also broke through the formation, rushing towards Yan Kongming.
“Ning Guihai, your opponent is us.”
Four silhouettes with powerful auras rushed up first, surrounding Ning Guihai while striking out a martial art and pressing down on him.
The four silhouettes were none other than the Demon Sea Half-Saint, the Wan Cheng Half-Saint, the Xuan Clothes Half-Saint, and the Split Heart Half-Saint.
The four Half-Saints joined forces, and they actually caused even Ning Returning Sea to be somewhat confused, and for a moment, they could only passively defend…?Ning Guihai’s assassination techniques were, indeed, quite brilliant, however, once he was exposed in the open and subjected to a siege, many of his assassination techniques would be rendered useless. Even his speed advantage was gone.
At the mountainside location of Mount Pura, the seven Half-Saints fought into a ball, sending the miasma poisonous mist tumbling, resounding with rumbling sounds, and at any time, boulders, rolled down from above.
Zhang Ruochen arrived at the mountainside location without slowing down, restrained his body’s aura to the extreme, and circled around the seven Half-Saints’ battle circle.
Subsequently, Zhang Ruochen put on his speed and raised it up, going forward to catch up with the Blood God Sect Holy Maiden above him.
Hearing the sound of breaking wind coming from behind her, the Blood God Sect Holy Maiden turned her petite body and stared back. When she saw Zhang Ruochen’s silhouette, she revealed a demonic and moving smile, ”Snipers and mussels fight, and the fisherman gains. This brat’s cultivation isn’t good, but he does have some small intelligence.”
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen’s speed that had erupted was just a little bit slower even when compared to the Blood God Sect’s Holy Maiden and Divine Son.
“Not good, someone is rushing ahead of us!”Yan Kongming was the first to detect Zhang Ruochen’s figure, and an annoyed look flashed across his eyes.
Bai Yu also stared upwards at Zhang Ruochen and snorted coldly, “This son is very calculating, at the very beginning, he purposely acted like he was weak, causing us to let our guard down against him. However, his true strength is very strong, and the speed he is exerting at this moment is a bit faster than even me.”
Yan Kongming and Bai Yu stopped exchanging blows and transformed into two figures, chasing after Zhang Ruochen above.
“Boom!”
Ning Guihai also sensed the crisis, and so, borrowing the power of the Blood God Compass, he erupted with a power jinq at the Fifth Order Half-Saint level.
With a swing of the Dragon Tooth Dagger, it sent all four peak Third Order Half-Saint powerhouses flying backwards.
“Swish!”
Enhanced by the power of the Blood God Compass, Ning Guihai’s speed was so fast that it resembled a grey bolt of lightning, quickly overtaking Yan Kongming and Bai Yu.
Yan Kongming and Bai Yu also mobilised the power of the Blood God Compass, erupting with a speed that only a Fifth Order Half-Saint would have, rushing towards the top of the mountain.
“Let’s get rid of that Second Order Half-Saint realm brat first, lest we fight later and he takes advantage of us again.”Yan Kongming said in exasperation.
The three of them, Ning Guihai, Bai Yu, and Yan Kongming, came to an agreement that they were prepared to destroy Zhang Ruochen first.
“All three of them have really taken the Blood God Compassion.”
Zhang Ruochen saw the three silhouettes that were getting closer and closer behind him, and he was secretly anxious in his heart, contemplating whether or not to mobilise the power of the Blood God Compulsion as well.
The power of the Blood God Compulsion, although very strong, was not sustainable and could only last for a quarter of an hour at most. After a quarter of an hour, the cultivator would be knocked back to his original form.
Zhang Ruochen did not want to borrow the power of the Blood God Compulsion until it was absolutely necessary.
Zhang Ruochen raised his head and saw the Blood God Sect’s Holy Maiden in front of him. Thus, he injected the holy qi in his body completely into the holy veins of his legs, increasing his speed by a few more points.
At this moment, the Holy Maiden of the Blood God Sect was caught in a swirling swamp that was a hundred feet long, and was struggling to move forward at less than a tenth of her previous speed.
To reach the top of the mountain, one had to pass through the swirling swamp area.
Zhang Ruochen quickly reached the edge of the swirling swamp and without any hesitation, rushed in.
