It was Ye Qingchen’s first ti fighting a Green Fla Blast Cloud Monkey, a Martial Emperor Realm beast. He quickly discovered that while the monkey’s strength was comparable to a human at the second layer of the Martial Emperor Realm, its actual combat power was still slightly inferior to the Boulder Demon Ape King he had faced during the Inner Sect Disciple assessnt.
Back then, Ye Qingchen had only been at the fourth layer of the Martial King Realm, yet he had managed to defeat the Boulder Demon Ape King. Now, he had reached the seventh layer of the Martial King Realm and had even mastered the use of nature’s spiritual energy.
Therefore, after landing two successful strikes, Ye Qingchen naturally seized the opportunity. He engaged the Green Fla Blast Cloud Monkey in close combat, paying no mind to the rescued disciple’s astonished expression.
A beast’s intelligence, after all, was no match for a human’s. In terms of raw strength, it was also outmatched by Ye Qingchen, so he finished off the Green Fla Blast Cloud Monkey before him in short order.
The rescued disciple stared blankly at the scene, only snapping out of it when Ye Qingchen walked up to him. He hurriedly spoke, "Ye Qingchen, thank you for saving . My na is Cao Zong..."
Before Cao Zong could finish, Ye Qingchen cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Senior Brother Cao, there’s no need for courtesy. We’re teammates; it’s what I should do. Now isn’t the ti for pleasantries. Let’s go help our other teammates first."
After speaking, Ye Qingchen rejoined the fray. Seeing that Ye Qingchen didn’t bla him, Cao Zong felt an even deeper sense of guilt. Nevertheless, he followed Ye Qingchen’s lead and threw himself back into the battle.
With Ye Qingchen’s participation, the tide of battle instantly turned into a one-sided slaughter.
Ye Qingchen’s speed in slaying the Green Fla Blast Cloud Monkeys was even faster than the combined efforts of the two disciples at the second layer of the Martial King Realm.
This sight left the other mbers of the squad completely stunned.
Within just a few minutes, all eight Green Fla Blast Cloud Monkeys had been killed. Among the ten people in the squad, only one cultivator at the first layer of the Martial Emperor Realm had suffered a minor injury.
But no one felt the joy of victory. Instead, they all hung their heads in dejection, unable to et Ye Qingchen’s gaze.
After that battle, everyone understood Ye Qingchen’s true strength; he was undoubtedly the strongest person on the team.
They recalled how they had looked down on him from the very beginning, treating him as a burden. So had even taunted him with sarcasm. Yet, in the end, they were all saved by him. Each of them was so ashad they didn’t know where to look.
If Ye Qingchen hadn’t intervened against those eight Green Fla Blast Cloud Monkeys, any victory the team might have achieved would have been a Pyrrhic one. Only a handful of them would have likely remained in the Secret Realm.
Finally, Li Chunsheng broke the awkward silence. "Junior Brother Ye, it was we who were blind to your greatness. Please don’t take offense."
Ye Qingchen smiled and shook his head. "Senior Brother Li, you’re too kind. Everyone is just trying to secure a good ranking for our academy, so it’s only natural to be selective about teammates. I’m just a Martial King Realm cultivator, so it’s understandable that I was looked down on. But didn’t you all accept and form a team with in the end?"
Li Chunsheng gave a wry smile. "I’ve always heard that our academy has a mysterious branch, the Shenmu Academy, and that its disciples are all monsters. Seeing you in action today, Junior Brother Ye, I can see the reputation is well-deserved. I’ve never seen anyone possess such combat power while still in the Martial King Realm."
Li Chunsheng glanced at the others before continuing, "You’ve all witnessed Junior Brother Ye’s strength. It’s no longer appropriate for to hold this position. I propose we make Junior Brother Ye our new leader. Does anyone object?"
After Li Chunsheng spoke, the group fell into a brief silence. It was Cao Zong who was the first to cry out, "I agree! I agree to make Junior Brother Ye the leader!"
With Cao Zong breaking the ice, the others quickly voiced their agreent.
Ye Qingchen didn’t refuse. Elder Yang had tasked him with winning the championship, and they had already faced a perilous situation just after entering the Secret Realm. It was clear that Li Chunsheng wasn’t suited to be the team leader.
After agreeing to take the role, Ye Qingchen didn’t rush to issue any commands. Instead, he voiced a question that had been nagging him since he entered the Secret Realm.
Zi Xing had co to see him the night before, telling him clearly that the assessnt was to take place in Tianzhou City. Why, then, had they been transported directly from the Central Celestial Academy into a Secret Realm?
Back then, everyone looked down on him, so he knew asking would be pointless. Now, however, was the perfect opportunity. He turned to Li Chunsheng and asked, "Senior Brother Li, I heard that our assessnt location was supposed to be Tianzhou City, correct?"
Li Chunsheng nodded. "You heard that too, Junior Brother Ye? That’s right. Just yesterday, the deans of the various academies all believed the assessnt would be in Tianzhou City. I entered the inner courtyard a bit earlier and was later selected for the Zhongtian Academy, so I get so inside information."
Li Chunsheng’s words piqued everyone’s curiosity, as Ye Qingchen’s question was on all of their minds.
Li Chunsheng continued in a hushed, mysterious tone, "The location originally agreed upon by the four major academies was indeed Tianzhou City. As you can all see, this Secret Realm was definitely not built in a hurry. Today, Dean Mu claid it was a joint effort by the four academies, but that was just to keep the students from worrying. In reality, this Secret Realm wasn’t built by the academies at all. It was provided by a powerful expert from one of the Ten Ancient Clans!"
"The Ten Ancient Clans?" Ye Qingchen was extrely sensitive to those words and couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
Li Chunsheng nodded and went on, "The Ten Ancient Clans heard that the four academies were holding an assessnt to send fresh blood to the Demon Clan battlefield. They specially offered this Secret Realm for our temporary use. It’s said that this place is filled with all sorts of opportunities that can help a Martial Artist grow rapidly. After discussing it, the academies figured, why not seize an opportunity that allows them to both select disciples and help them grow stronger? The other three academies all agreed and changed the assessnt location to here at the last minute."
Cao Zong nodded thoughtfully. "Listening to you, Senior Brother, this sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it? But why would the dean hide it from us?"
Li Chunsheng shook his head. "That part, I don’t know. I only heard that our Central Celestial Academy was against using this Secret Realm. Because control of the realm is in the hands of the Ten Ancient Clans, we are rely borrowing it. If the clans decided to pull any tricks, the four academies would be powerless to stop them in ti."
Another disciple spoke up dismissively, "The Ten Ancient Clans hold such a revered status. If they wanted to harm the four academies, they certainly wouldn’t stoop to using such underhanded thods."
Ye Qingchen remained silent. He never expected this assessnt would have ties to the Ten Ancient Clans.
Is this a coincidence, or was it planned all along? For so reason, I have a bad feeling about this.
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