Chapter 94: Strong Passage

The blazing sun beat down, and the leaves were all wilted.

A long corridor, covered in climbing vines, offered shelter to many awakened individuals—men and women ranging widely in age, from teenagers to those in their fifties or sixties—who stood there escaping the scorching sun.

Chu Feng and his family were among the later arrivals, and many people looked their way.

“Is your whole family awakened?” a gaunt young man asked, his eyes exceptionally bright, like two golden lamps.

“No, just me,” Chu Feng replied with a smile.

A fair-skinned young man with unusually large ears scoffed, “How old are you, still being dropped off by your parents? Do you really expect to enter the Jade Pure Palace like this?”

Many people in the corridor turned their heads to look at them.

Chu Feng really wanted to kick him a couple of times; he had only told the truth, but it had resulted in ridicule.

Zhou Yitian advised, “Everyone should be more amiable. You might be working together in the future, and since you’ll be seeing each other often, you should support one another.”

After speaking, he walked away with his hands behind his back.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just outspoken and likes to speak his mind,” said the gaunt young man with eyes like golden lamps.

Is that how you mediate? The first part sounded like advice, but the second part was clearly disparaging.

Chu Feng looked at them and said, “You two are working in tandem, provoking people like this. Are you asking for a beating?”

“Young people these days are so impetuous, they can’t even take a word of criticism,” the fair-skinned young man said, shaking his head. His large ears wobbled with the motion, truly absurdly big.

He sounded like an old man, which was infuriating.

Chu Feng really wanted to grab his ears and give him a good thrashing.

Before he could speak again, many people gasped in surprise.

“She’s absolutely stunning, alluring and enchanting. Wow, she’s quite something, isn’t she?” the gaunt young man with eyes like golden lamps whispered.

“No, she’s even better!” The big-eared young man was equally excited.

Chu Feng figured it out: these two guys were no good; their mouths were naturally asking for trouble.

Many people in the corridor turned around, their eyes lighting up.

She was indeed a beauty, very eye-catching. She arrived floating in the air, her skin like snow, her long hair naturally wavy, her eyes alluring, her red lips like fire, and a pair of pure white wings on her back.

“Thank goodness I’m not late!” she said, landing lightly, patting her chest, and letting out a long breath.

“That move… I’m completely smitten!” The big-eared young man’s fair face flushed, and he instinctively patted his own flat chest.

“Beautiful lady, it’s not too late. If you’re worried, come, you can go ahead of me in line,” the gaunt young man with eyes like golden lamps eagerly offered, inviting the woman to cut in line. He then introduced himself, “My name is Du Huaijin.”

“Yes, you can line up with us here,” the big-eared young man said, also very enthusiastically introducing himself, “My name is Ouyang Qing.”

Chu Feng was completely speechless. These two obnoxious guys were treating his family of three like they were invisible, openly arranging for someone to cut in line.

“This isn’t good, is it? I can just stand here,” the woman said with a smile, tidying her curly hair. Her eyes sparkled, making her even more alluring.

Her pure white wings had already retracted, revealing a large expanse of white skin through the two slits in her clothing, which were specifically designed for them.

At the same time, she smiled and announced her name — Ye Qingrou.

“Ah, you’re Ye Qingrou?”

“Winged Ye Qingrou, I can’t believe I’m seeing you in person!”

In the corridor, a group of people immediately gathered around. There were men and women, and the men, needless to say, had fiery gazes.

The women who gathered around were also very excited, saying, “Winged Ye Qingrou, I really admire you!”

What was going on? Chu Feng and his family of three were also surrounded because they were standing right next to Ye Qingrou, and now they had no idea what was happening.

Of course, there were others who didn’t understand either. They only thought Ye Qingrou was incredibly captivating and alluring, nothing more.

“Are you even awakened? Don’t you usually follow the awakened forum? You haven’t even heard of Winged Ye Qingrou? She’s the one who killed Thunder Leopard, and based on her achievements, she’s one of the top fifty masters in the country!”

Chu Feng finally understood. He hadn’t expected this woman with the fiery figure and captivating eyes to be so powerful.

However, he felt that the so-called top fifty masters ranking certainly didn’t account for hidden existences like the Buddha’s Disciples or Thunderclap, who were awakened individuals that had risen to power over twenty years ago.

Just like how the current Vajra, Silver-Winged Heavenly God, Fire Spirit, and White Tiger King were revered as the four great masters, the absolute top figures like the Master of Jade Pure Palace were not included at all.

“Sister Ye Qingrou, not only are you so powerful, but you’re also so beautiful, even more beautiful than your photos,” a young girl exclaimed.

As for the group of men, they continuously nodded.

Ye Qingrou’s wavy long hair, red lips like flames, alluring gaze, and fiery figure made it impossible for her not to attract attention.

“Brother, have some consideration, quickly move a couple of steps and let the beautiful lady pass,” Du Huaijin, the gaunt young man with eyes like golden lamps, said to Chu Feng.

“Exactly, exactly!” The big-eared young man, Ouyang Qing, repeatedly nodded in agreement.

Now, Chu Feng wasn’t angry with them at all; he just found these two guys too obnoxious.

Ye Qingrou was escorted forward by the crowd. She turned back, smiled at Chu Feng, and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Chu Feng laughed. “It’s more pleasant to look at you from here. Otherwise, I’d have to keep turning around!”

Everyone was speechless.

Ye Qingrou shot him a sharp glare.

Just then, the last group of people arrived, over a dozen of them, led by a very handsome young man with a gentle smile who seemed very radiant.

“Oh, he looks a bit familiar,” someone exclaimed in surprise, then quickly recognized him and whispered, “That’s Chen Luoyan!”

“Chen Luoyan?” someone asked in surprise.

“That’s right, it’s him. His achievements also rank him among the top fifty. I can’t believe he’s here too. It’s really lively today; two top masters have arrived at once!”

“Hello, everyone,” Chen Luoyan said politely, greeting everyone. He was very handsome, had astonishing achievements, and held great fame in the awakened community.

There were quite a few awakened individuals in the country now, so to be ranked among the top fifty was absolutely remarkable!

Because, on average, there would only be two or three such people in Shuntian at most.

“Brother Chen, are you also from Shuntian?” someone asked him.

“No, I came from Tianjin,” Chen Luoyan said.

Everyone was surprised. Tianjin was at least three to four thousand li from Shuntian now, and his daring journey across such a distance spoke volumes about his formidable strength.

As a result, several female awakened individuals politely discussed with Chu Feng whether Chen Luoyan could be allowed to move further up the line.

“No problem,” Chu Feng said, waving his hand. If he was going to let one person through, he might as well let two.

In the end, Ye Qingrou and Chen Luoyan were both at the very front of the line.

As for Chu Feng’s family, they were still at the very back.

Wang Jing was a bit dissatisfied, but Chu Zhiyuan waved his hand, feeling it was nothing to worry about.

“Alright, time’s up, everyone, follow me,” someone said, walking over and inviting the awakened individuals in the corridor to enter the larger courtyard ahead.

At this point, Wang Jing and Chu Zhiyuan could only wait outside.

The courtyard was very large, and surprisingly, there was no feeling of heat. It was very cool, solely because of a pond that emitted astonishing cold air.

The courtyard walls were old. The place was empty, containing only the strange cold pond.

A female awakened individual smiled and said, “Although everyone is very enthusiastic, the Jade Pure Palace is very strict in selecting awakened individuals. Only those with exceptional strength will pass.”

She told everyone that they needed to jump into the cold pond, dive deep down, and find the assessment site themselves.

“Under no circumstances should you force yourselves,” she reminded everyone, “because this cold pond is unusual; it’s extremely frigid, and staying in it for too long can harm your body.”

Everyone hesitated for a moment. Were they really supposed to dive down?

“What if I can’t swim?”

“Then it depends on your courage,” the female awakened individual smiled.

Everyone pondered that if they had enough strength, they shouldn’t encounter danger, and even if they couldn’t swim, they could probably endure until they reached the destination.

*Plop!*

Once the first person went down, a second followed, and soon dozens of people dove into the cold pond.

Chu Feng also went down and was deeply surprised. This cold pond was indeed peculiar; the cold air was bone-chilling. An ordinary person would be frozen stiff if they came down here!

He had some doubts; was this really water? Why wasn’t it frozen?

On the way, some people indeed couldn’t bear it and hastily stopped their descent, because their bodies were stiff and their blood was almost freezing.

There were awakened individuals monitoring inside the cold pond, and seeing that some people truly couldn’t endure, they went to rescue them.

Chu Feng slowly dived down. Soon he saw a dim light on the rock wall along the way, so he swam over. It was transparent, like a space enclosed within a light barrier.

With a slight push, he squeezed himself into the glowing aura.

He was somewhat surprised that the water didn’t follow him in. It was very hot here; flames rose from the ground, and there was even magma in the distance.

“Please continue straight ahead,” an awakened individual directed him.

After walking through this scorching place, Chu Feng’s clothes were already dry. He then entered a very vast space.

Was this an underground world or a folded space? Chu Feng was somewhat skeptical, because it was far larger than the Jade Pure Palace above ground.

This looked like a huge, incredibly vast training ground. There was no artificial lighting, yet it wasn’t dark; the air hung a hazy grey.

Many awakened individuals had arrived and found it strange.

Only about thirty awakened individuals remained who had made it this far; half had already been eliminated.

There were quite a few staff members here, all awakened individuals, numbering in the dozens.

“The assessment is very simple; it mainly depends on your strength!” one imposing old man said, staring at everyone.

He scanned the crowd, gradually smiling, and said, “Very good, Ye Qingrou, Chen Luoyan, I know you both. You have great reputations and impressive achievements. The Jade Pure Palace welcomes you.”

Clearly, these two had long been on the Jade Pure Palace’s radar, considered rare talents who could be cultivated vigorously.

“It is rumored that among this group, there are also individuals with special abilities, such as extreme foresight and super hearing. Have they made it here successfully?” the old man asked.

“Here!” Du Huaijin stepped forward, his eyes gleaming like two golden lamps. Everyone immediately understood that he was the so-called “Extreme Foresight.”

“I’m here too!” Ouyang Qing walked out, his large ears trembling as he moved.

People immediately laughed.

These two guys were “Extreme Foresight” and “Super Hearing”? Chu Feng felt it was strange.

“Even if your strength is insufficient, I’ll grant you special permission to join,” the old man said with a smile.

Everyone was filled with envy.

“It’s fine, we both want to try it,” the two said, full of confidence, clearly believing their combat power was impressive.

“The test is very simple, no fancy stuff,” the old man announced. “First, we’ll test your relevant physical abilities, then directly move to actual combat.”

The physical ability tests mainly included hearing, vision, speed, and strength.

Ouyang Qing was terrifying; he truly lived up to his “Super Hearing” reputation, able to hear the sound of mosquitoes flying hundreds of meters away, which astonished everyone.

An ordinary person could only hear a mosquito’s buzzing within half a meter. Was his hearing hundreds of times better than others?

“He’s worth cultivating. I’ll give you some special fruits later,” the old man said, very satisfied. “Perhaps you’ll truly be able to hear sounds from a thousand miles away.”

Ouyang Qing’s large ears wobbled with delight, and he said, “This isn’t even my limit!”

Chu Feng curled his lips. Although he admitted this guy was strange and his hearing shockingly acute, he still found him obnoxious.

“What’s that look? Are you unconvinced?” Ouyang Qing, “Super Hearing,” saw Chu Feng’s lips curl and immediately felt displeased.

Everyone looked over.

“Isn’t it just simple hearing?” Chu Feng hadn’t come today to keep a low profile. He originally intended to display his strength so that the Jade Pure Palace would value him, provide sufficient security for his parents, and also grant him freedom, like the White Tiger King, without being subject to commands.

“Oh, challenging me?” Ouyang Qing said, staring. “If you can also have that kind of hearing, I’ll eat all the mosquitoes in that paper box hundreds of meters away.”

“Alright, get ready to eat mosquitoes,” Chu Feng said.

Three hundred meters away, someone replaced a paper box, inside which insects were buzzing.

“Five mosquitoes,” Chu Feng said, keenly catching the sound.

“Correct!” an awakened individual responded from afar.

The group of people on site were petrified. So powerful, another “Super Hearing” individual?!

“You... were you guessing?!” Ouyang Qing exclaimed, startled.

“Do it again,” the old man said, deeply surprised, instructing someone to prepare.

“Six are buzzing,” Chu Feng replied again.

“Correct!” someone responded again from three hundred meters away.

“Bring the paper box over,” the old man said, having a wicked sense of humor, and actually ordered someone to bring it.

Ouyang Qing, “Super Hearing,” felt his head swell with dread; he was in a difficult situation.

When the paper box was opened, he let out a miserable shriek: “How can there be such huge mosquitoes?!”

The paper box was large, and the mosquitoes inside were each an inch long, buzzing around erratically.

Five such creatures, could he really eat them? Big-eared Ouyang Qing’s face turned green!

“In the Jade Pure Palace, we honor bets and keep our word. Eat them,” the old man said, laughing and urging him.

Everyone was speechless, feeling this old man was somewhat disrespectful of his age, but at the same time, they were all very expectant, fearing nothing more than a lack of excitement.

The old man was very considerate and explained, “Don’t worry, these aren’t real mosquitoes; they’re artificial and produce sounds similar to normal insects. Go ahead and eat them boldly.”

“Plastic? So big, and I have to eat five? I’d rather they were made of meat!” Ouyang Qing was on the verge of tears. Could this thing even be digested?

Under everyone’s gaze, he was beyond tears as he stuffed them into his mouth!

“You brat, still needing your parents to drop you off, I can’t believe how wicked you are!” Du Huaijin, “Extreme Foresight,” glared at Chu Feng, defending Ouyang Qing.

“How about we have a contest too, and the loser still eats mosquitoes?!” Chu Feng squinted at him.

As soon as he heard “mosquitoes,” Du Huaijin quickly shut his mouth. He was truly afraid of losing and having to eat a few himself, especially with Ouyang Qing dry-heaving next to him.

“Stop throwing up,” the old man kindly reminded him, “those are eco-friendly materials that can decompose automatically. At worst, you’ll just have diarrhea for a few days.”

“Ugh...” Ouyang Qing was so angry he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

“If you don’t dare to compete, then forget it. I wasn’t really planning to anyway,” Chu Feng said with a relaxed expression.

“Compete!” Du Huaijin blurted out, feeling he might have been intimidated by the brat’s trickery, but as soon as he said it, he regretted it.

“Good!” The old man didn’t wait for Chu Feng to nod; he agreed first, willing to witness it.

Everyone was speechless. This old man was certainly not a good person.

In the distance, it was pitch black, utterly devoid of light, so dark one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face. An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to see anything within a few meters.

However, Du Huaijin, “Extreme Foresight,” had dazzling eyes and could directly see several mosquitoes flying three thousand meters away.

This level of vision startled even the old man. He looked at him strangely and said, “Very good. When the fruits on that tree ripen in the future, I will definitely reserve one for you. There’s a good chance you’ll become the legendary ‘Extreme Foresight’ from myths!”

“Your turn!” Du Huaijin smiled and looked at Chu Feng.

Chu Feng was very calm, his divine senses fully activated. His eyes were deep, and then two divine lights shot out. Instantly, he saw several spots on the wall four thousand meters away.

“Five spots.”

“Really?” the old man exclaimed in surprise.

“Correct!” someone confirmed.

The group of people was shocked. This “greenhouse flower,” brought by his parents, was actually so powerful?

Everyone was petrified, including Ye Qingrou.

Du Huaijin, “Extreme Foresight,” immediately squatted on the ground, holding his head, almost in tears, and said, “I don’t want to eat mosquitoes!”

The old man consoled him, saying, “It’s fine, they can be decomposed. Eat them.”

Du Huaijin was speechless with exasperation.

This was just an interlude. After these two had to eat mosquitoes the size of fingertips, no one dared to compete with Chu Feng anymore.

*Clang!*

When testing strength, Chen Luoyan’s entire body glowed golden, emitting a brilliant radiance, as he directly lifted a thirty-thousand-jin bronze cauldron over his head.

People looked at Chu Feng.

He naturally walked over and directly kicked. The largest cauldron, weighing thirty-seven thousand jin, lifted off the ground.

With one kick, Chu Feng sent it ten meters into the air, utterly shocking everyone.

By now, everyone knew that this was a terrifying master.

When testing speed, Chu Feng ran two hundred sixty-eight meters in one second, leaving even the flying Ye Qingrou behind, astonishing everyone once again.

“Actual combat!”

There were thirty staff members present, prepared for actual combat. They would act as sparring partners to test everyone’s combat power.

*Bang, bang, bang...*

Chu Feng held nothing back, sweeping through them. In just a blink of an eye, more than thirty awakened individuals were sent flying. Not a single one could remain standing.

“He’s a monster!” an awakened individual exclaimed, clutching his chest and grimacing. “You only needed to be able to contend with one of us for a moment to pass.”

“You didn’t say that earlier!” Chu Feng genuinely hadn’t known.

“Good, good, good!” The old man stepped forward, knowing he had found a treasure. This person named Chu Feng was definitely stronger than the White Tiger King.

He seriously scrutinized Chu Feng and said, “You can become the leader of a team. You can now select some subordinates from this group of people.”

“What I want is freedom, and security for my parents!” Chu Feng said calmly.

“No problem,” the old man chuckled, “but you can still choose some subordinates to help you with tasks on a daily basis.”

“Alright then, you, and you, follow me from now on,” Chu Feng said, pointing at “Extreme Foresight” and “Super Hearing.”

“No!” the two cried out, their faces turning pale.

“Yes!” Chu Feng said.

“Big Brother!”

“Boss!”

These two changed their expressions too quickly. They quickly ran over, beaming, ready to give him shoulder and back massages.

“I’d like to join them too,” Ye Qingrou said, gracefully swaying as she walked toward them.