Chapter 77: Water Droplet Copper Timer

“Just as I calculated,” the unkempt man remarked, raising an eyebrow with satisfaction. “Exactly 299 layers were broken through.” He had immediately made his calculation after Ji Yuantong’s strike, then increased the number of light layers to 300. Everything went as he predicted: Ji Yuantong’s hammer strike left only the very last layer. Such precise control is a requirement for powerful Godfiends.

The unkempt man waved his sleeve, and the final layer of light dissipated. He turned and walked back to his seat, chuckling, “This Ji Yuantong is quite good, isn’t he?”

A black-robed Godfiend beside him chuckled, “Ji Yuantong’s Godfiend body is comparable to Chu Yong’s, Yan Feng’s, and Dong Fang’s. Their realms are also similar, all at the 'potential' realm. However, the power he unleashes is much greater. With the same physique, he can unleash twice the strength. He’s very suited to the path of 'strength'.”

“Hmm, demon monarchs generally have strong physical bodies. But this Ji Yuantong should be able to overpower demon monarchs of the same level in terms of raw strength.”

“Pursuing the path of strength to its extreme is also incredibly powerful.”

All the Godfiends expressed their approval.

Although hundreds participated in the Yuanchu Mountain entrance examination each year, only twenty might be admitted. Typically, only a handful of individuals truly impressed the Marquis Godfiends and King Godfiends.

Now, in just the first preliminary assessment, they had discovered ‘Ji Yuantong’.

Ji Yuantong calmly walked to the end of the line. The many prodigies watched him, each with their own thoughts.

“Impressive,” Meng Chuan thought to himself. While Chu Yong, Yan Feng, and others had very powerful moves, more than twice as strong as his, Meng Chuan’s blade techniques were much faster. In a direct confrontation, Meng Chuan still felt confident. But Ji Yuantong was different. “The power of his single strike is four times mine; the gap is too significant. Only by using my soul power can I defeat him.”

By using his soul power, his strength would surge enough to rival Ji Yuantong’s, and his speed would surpass the opponent’s by several levels. When he used his soul power against the Dual-Heaven demon monarch, 'Poison Pond Demon Monarch,' he had easily created distance. The only drawback was that soul power depleted too quickly.

“Out of 311 prodigies, twelve managed to break through over a hundred layers.” Meng Chuan had naturally remembered this after reviewing the list. “I broke through 79 layers, ranking twenty-third. Yan Jin is ranked seventh.”

Other prodigies also had their calculations, clearly aware of their own rankings.

Among prodigies, the strong only grew stronger.

Those who were exceptional in their youth, nearly twice as strong as other prodigies, would have their families willing to spare no expense on rare treasures to build a profound Godfiend foundation! This could make them three or four times stronger than other prodigies.

Ordinary prodigies who failed to enter Yuanchu Mountain would stagnate, while the exceptional ones who entered and received Yuanchu Mountain's cultivation would become even more powerful.

The gap between them would only widen.

This is how the strong operate: seizing every opportunity to grow stronger! Only then can they hope to become Marquis Godfiends, or even King Godfiends. If one is weaker from childhood, consistently falling behind in various aspects, the cumulative difference becomes vast.

Meng Chuan’s chosen path was 'speed', seizing every opportunity to become faster! So fast that even the equally brilliant prodigy, Yan Jin, found it vexing.

As the first phase of the Yuanchu Mountain entrance examination concluded, family and friends watching from afar had mixed feelings, but remained tense. Other assessments were still to come.

The woman in green, seated on the other side of King Donghe, stood up.

She took a few steps forward, looking at the many prodigies, and stated indifferently, “In the first phase of the entrance examination, which tested the power of strikes, seventeen of you failed to meet the minimum threshold of twenty layers. You do not need to participate in the subsequent assessments; please move to the side and observe.”

As soon as she finished speaking, some staff members immediately guided the eliminated prodigies directly to the area where their families and friends were.

“I am an archer. The power of arrows is inherently far less than close combat, but arrows are faster, I...” a young man protested, unwilling to give up.

“Hmm?” The woman in green frowned and glanced at him. The young man, who had wanted to continue speaking, found himself unable to utter a word. He was lifted into the air and unceremoniously thrown into the area designated for families and friends. The other eliminated prodigies immediately fell silent, though many felt a sense of injustice. They were eliminated outright, without even being allowed to complete the three preliminary assessments.

“The rules set by Yuanchu Mountain have their reasons,” the woman in green said calmly. “Indeed, defeating an enemy is determined by various factors. However, the power of your moves is genuinely important. Demon monarchs generally have strong physical bodies. If your move’s power is too weak, and a demon monarch stands there, you can’t even kill them... what use are you then? Twenty layers is already the lowest threshold Yuanchu Mountain will tolerate.”

“Of course, for archers, who excel at killing demon monarchs, while their arrow speed is extremely fast, arrows are far lighter than spears or hammers. Their overall power is generally slightly inferior. In the first assessment, only two archers were eliminated; all other archers passed the basic threshold. The archer with the most powerful arrows is named Zong Sha, from Huangzhou. His arrows penetrated a full sixty-five layers. His threat to demon monarchs is no less than Ji Yuantong’s.”

“Now, the second assessment begins – Speed!”

The woman in green gazed coldly at the group of prodigies. “After becoming Godfiends, you will face continuous life-or-death battles. When weak, you can rely on speed to escape. When powerful, you can use speed to hunt down demon monarchs. Speed is an incredibly vital aspect for a Godfiend! If your speed is too slow, even if you are strong, you will die if you fail to escape just once. And once dead, everything turns to naught.”

“Speed, essentially, is your life.”

The woman in green waved her hand.

The air in the courtyard began to distort, and the power of heaven and earth converged, naturally forming a winding, dark blue passage, like a curving serpent.

“This winding path is 150 zhang long,” the woman in green said, pointing to a large copper clepsydra nearby. “That’s a water-drip clepsydra, and its drops are timed very quickly. You must pass through the entire passage within twenty drops. The shorter the time, the better. Anyone taking longer than twenty drops will be eliminated! Remember, you must not discard your weapons, nor can you use forbidden Godfiend techniques. Begin!”

“First up, Wu Chang from Longyun Prefecture!” the goatee-bearded man immediately announced loudly.

Wu Chang carried his heavy-backed broadsword, which weighed 58 jin. When executing movement techniques, the weight of the weapon would affect speed. However, it was clear that Yuanchu Mountain’s rule was to forbid discarding one’s weapon.

Whoosh. Wu Chang’s movement technique suddenly erupted, transforming him into a black afterimage as he moved through the passage, sometimes rushing in a straight line, other times cutting a curving arc. Meanwhile, water droplets rapidly fell from the copper clepsydra, their speed adjusted to be very fast.

Whoosh. Wu Chang finally dashed through the 150-zhang winding passage.

“Nineteen drops! Next, Zhang Ping from Jiangzhou!” the goatee-bearded man announced.

The dark-skinned young man, Wu Chang, finally exhaled in relief. Speed was not his strong suit, and he had genuinely feared he wouldn't meet the minimum speed requirement.

One by one, the prodigies attempted the winding passage.

Everyone was tense.

The faster one’s speed, the harder it is to improve further. Even if one's physical body is several times stronger, speed might only increase by a mere fraction. Some Godfiends, in particular, possess boundless physical strength but are relatively more cumbersome, thus slower.

The prodigies all watched the ancient water-drip clepsydra, anxiously calculating.

It was almost noon, but the sky began to grow gloomy. As more prodigies passed through the passage, snowflakes started to fall.

“Chu Yong is up,” many murmured, their eyes fixed on him.

Chu Yong was the most famous among the first sixty prodigies.

Dressed in black robes, Chu Yong carried a large saber. Black watery lightning flowed across his body as he surged forth as a black stream of light, significantly faster than the others, drawing gasps of admiration from many.

Whoosh. The moment Chu Yong passed through the passage exit, the goatee-bearded man immediately called out loudly, “Twelve drops!”

Among the prodigies before Chu Yong, with the exception of a very few who were slower than 'twenty drops', most fell between eighteen and twenty drops. This was because it was difficult to significantly improve speed unless one’s Godfiend body was inherently skilled in it. Only one person, who cultivated a lightning Godfiend body, had achieved the shortest time of 'fifteen drops'. Yet, Chu Yong managed it in 'twelve drops'.

He was a full fifty percent faster than those who took eighteen or nineteen drops. In life-and-death combat, even a slight edge in speed can determine fate, let alone a fifty percent advantage. A fifty percent speed advantage was no less significant than a several-fold advantage in power.

Prodigies continued to appear, one after another. Yan Feng from Yuanzhou took 'thirteen drops', which was also incredibly impressive.

“Twenty drops! Next up, Meng Chuan from Wuzhou!” the goatee-bearded man announced loudly.