Chapter 79: Snowflakes Chill

Episode 1: Secret Technique 'Three Autumn Leaves'

Author: I Eat Tomatoes

The Godfiends chatted and laughed, watching the geniuses cross the channels one by one.

Soon, it was Yan Jin's turn.

Yan Jin ultimately spent twelve 'drops of water' time to cross the entire channel. His speed was comparable to Chu Yong's, which was considered excellent. In fact, Yan Jin, who cultivated the Ice-Fire Elemental Body and possessed a profound Godfiend foundation, was far faster than ordinary Qi Condensation realm experts. It was simply that he had sparred too many times with Meng Chuan... and been too thoroughly suppressed.

“Still much slower,” Yan Jin transmitted to Meng Chuan as he returned to the team. “If my guess is correct, I probably won't even make it into the top ten.”

Although Yan Jin was reclusive, he surprisingly got along very well with Meng Chuan.

“You should be able to make the top ten,” Meng Chuan transmitted.

“Many who specialize in speed, like those cultivating the Lightning Elemental Body or Wind Elemental Body, are still to come,” Yan Jin replied.

“Most of them don't have a strong enough Godfiend foundation to compare with yours,” Meng Chuan comforted his friend.

For instance, a genius who cultivated the Lightning Elemental Body earlier spent fifteen 'drops of water' time to cross the entire channel because their Godfiend foundation was quite ordinary. This clearly demonstrates the importance of a Godfiend foundation! Meng Chuan, Yan Jin, Chu Yong, Yan Feng, Ji Yuantong, and Zong Sha, for example, all possess Godfiend foundations roughly three times stronger than others at the same level. This is nearly the limit. Even spending ten times more on heaven-and-earth treasures would only increase a Godfiend foundation from three times to four times... which is simply not worth it.

It was quite rare for Meng Chuan, born into an ordinary Godfiend family, to possess a Godfiend foundation comparable to those from top-tier Godfiend families.

Time passed.

Geniuses appeared one after another, until it was finally the turn of two highly anticipated archers.

The capital's top young archer, Imperial Princess 'Li Ying,' and 'Zong Sha,' who had excelled in the first stage of the entrance examination.

“Nineteen drops. Next, Li Ying of the capital,” the goatee-bearded man announced loudly.

Princess 'Li Ying' of the Great Zhou Dynasty stepped forward, dressed in purple, exuding natural nobility. In terms of family background, she surpassed even the sons of ordinary King Godfiends.

Within the Great Zhou Dynasty, at least, the Imperial Li clan was still the foremost Godfiend family.

Princess 'Li Ying,' with a bow and arrows on her back, transformed into a blur of wind and swiftly moved through the channel. Her speed was extremely fast; while she couldn't match the monstrous Meng Chuan, she still outpaced the other geniuses who had appeared before her.

She quickly traversed the entire channel.

“Ten drops!” The final result announced by the goatee-bearded man drew praise from many geniuses and exclamations from the families and friends in the distance: “The archers are showing their strength now. Archers generally have faster speeds.”

After Imperial Princess 'Li Ying,' after a few more participants, it was 'Zong Sha's' turn.

“Seventeen drops. Next, Zong Sha of Huangzhou.”

Zong Sha was an ordinary-looking youth, also transforming into a gust of wind with his bow and quiver on his back. Yet, his speed seemed even faster than Princess 'Li Ying's'.

“He cultivates the Wind Elemental Body, just like me, and has a very deep Godfiend foundation,” Princess Li Ying observed, frowning. “But his realm is higher than mine; he's already reached the peak of 'Potential'! He was already stronger than me in the first part of the entrance examination, and his speed is still faster.”

“Nine drops!” The goatee-bearded man's voice was slightly higher-pitched. Among the more than 120 geniuses who had competed so far, Zong Sha was the only one besides Meng Chuan to complete it in under ten drops.

Zong Sha calmly returned to the team.

It was very difficult to cross the entire channel in under ten drops. After Meng Chuan's seven drops and Zong Sha's nine drops... finally, 'Ning Yibo,' a genius from Jiangzhou, transformed into a streak of light and passed through the entire channel, taking 'nine drops of water' time, comparable to Zong Sha.

It wasn't until over two hundred people had competed that another astonishing genius appeared.

“So fast.”

“Such speed!”

This was a black-clad youth carrying a pair of short spears. He completely transformed into a streak of lightning. He also cultivated the Lightning Elemental Body, trained diligently, and had reached the peak of 'Potential.' His speed was astonishing to those present.

The moment he finally burst out of the exit, the goatee-bearded man announced the result: “Eight drops!”

“Hmm?” The black-clad youth frowned slightly. “I cultivate the Lightning Elemental Body, diligently practice movement techniques and flying dagger skills every day, and have reached the peak of 'Potential.' My family also spent five heaven-and-earth treasures on me. My proudest attribute, speed... is actually still slower than Meng Chuan's?”

“Jin Huan from Yunzhou?” Meng Chuan also noted the black-clad youth's name. “Among the younger generation, there's actually someone whose speed is close to mine.”

He himself was only slightly more than ten percent faster than Jin Huan.

“Jin Huan from Yunzhou's speed is excellent. If this were last year's Primeval Mountain entrance examination, he would have been the fastest,” a Godfiend remarked with emotion.

“His True Yuan burst isn't as good as Meng Chuan's!” the scruffy man chuckled. “Meng Chuan's instantaneous True Yuan burst is a full two times stronger than his. Meng Chuan must have consistently trained the resilience of his meridians to be able to unleash such powerful True Yuan with a mortal body. Furthermore, Meng Chuan's coordination of his physical body and True Yuan is more refined. Combining these two factors allows his speed to be so much faster than Jin Huan's!”

“Meng Chuan's True Yuan circulation is indeed exquisite, no less profound than some of the Godfiend legacies within our Primeval Mountain.”

“Perhaps he obtained some incomplete legacy,” the group of Godfiends also praised him.

The vast majority of those present were Marquis Godfiends, with even King Godfiends among them! They could all discern the profound intricacies of Meng Chuan's True Yuan circulation.

This was due to Meng Chuan's mastery of certain techniques from the 'Five Thunders Descending' section of the *Thunderclap Annihilation Saber* combined with a fifteen-fold True Yuan burst. Even then, he was only 'fifteen percent' faster than Jin Huan. Of course, a fifteen percent speed advantage is already enormous!

After Jin Huan of Yunzhou, no one else managed to cross the channel in under ten drops.

“Last participant, Ji Yuantong of Primordial City,” the goatee-bearded man announced loudly.

Everyone turned their gaze simultaneously.

Meng Dajiang also closely watched the slender young man. Ji Yuantong had been too dazzling in the previous entrance examination, far surpassing everyone else.

“Boom.”

Ji Yuantong, carrying two heavy hammers on his back, transformed into a black streak and dashed forward. The ground subtly trembled as he ran, indicating the immense force in each step. He quickly burst out of the exit.

“Ten drops!” the goatee-bearded man announced loudly, but this time much more calmly. Although ten drops was an excellent result, even for Imperial Princess 'Li Ying,' an archer, it took ten drops of time to pass. For Ji Yuantong, however, it merely felt 'acceptable'.

Meng Chuan also nodded slightly: “Those two hammers must weigh hundreds of catties. If he had dropped them, he could have been faster. He probably could have finished in nine drops! However, a true expert would never easily discard their weapon.” For someone like Ji Yuantong, a master of immense strength, losing his two heavy hammers would reduce his combat power by more than half.

That's why Primeval Mountain had established the rule: participants must carry their own weapons while crossing the entire channel.

With Ji Yuantong's return to the team, the second stage of the entrance examination concluded. Only four individuals completed this stage in under ten drops.

Ning Yibo of Jiangzhou and Zong Sha of Huangzhou both took nine drops, Jin Huan of Yunzhou took eight drops, and Meng Chuan of Wuzhou took seven drops. Meng Chuan's speed, even if compared to Primeval Mountain's entrance examinations over the past twenty years, would still rank in the top three. Ji Yuantong's heavy hammer prowess would also rank in the top three over the same twenty-year period. This year was definitely one of the higher-level entrance examinations in Primeval Mountain's history.

The higher standard also increased the difficulty of securing a spot.

“Hmph.” The woman in green stood there, waving her hand, and the massive channel directly dissipated into the air. Her icy gaze swept over the group of geniuses as she spoke: “Nineteen of you spent more than twenty drops of time. You are immediately eliminated; you may now move to the side and observe.”

The cold wind continued to blow, and snowflakes drifted onto everyone.

The nineteen eliminated geniuses felt the wind was biting and the snow was chilling, but their hearts felt even colder. Unable to enter Primeval Mountain, they would have no choice but to serve in the military on the battlefield, striving to accumulate merit to earn a chance to enter the 'Godfiend Blood Pool.' In reality, most would fall during the process of 'accumulating merit,' never even getting the chance to attempt entry into the Godfiend Blood Pool.

Aunt Meng herself had barely survived to enter the Godfiend Blood Pool back then, the only one successful from her team of geniuses.

One by one, the geniuses silently walked towards the area where their families and friends were gathered, their loved ones watching them with sighs.