Chapter 1496: Chapter 74: I Was Hit by the Demon Lord, I Am Proud_2
It’s a mountain range on the Chaoyang Plain that’s relatively uncommon, not very tall but undulating and continuous, with verdant foliage throughout, enshrouded by patches of mist here and there.
The flying carriage circled briefly in the air before beginning to slowly descend, eventually landing within a Ji Family estate that had fallen into disrepair over the years.
Ji Yanxiu explained, “This stretch of barren hills belongs to our Ji Family’s ancestral heritage. In the past, our ancestor Ji Wuchen laid out many Formations here, such as the Misty Array, Blinding Array, and so on. Moreover, our Ji Family has always stationed an Elder and a team of household heads here all year round, to prevent irrelevant people from entering this precious site.”
Creating Formations is a massive expenditure and the ongoing maintenance over the years is also a vast consumption—it can be said that since the departure of Ji Wuchen, the Ji Family has invested in Formation maintenance far more than ten tis the resources spent on the initial construction of the Formations during these seven or eight thousand years.
The continued investnt in these Protective Arrays without any return might have also exacerbated the decline of the Ji Family.
After taking a short break in the Ji Family’s estate.
The group then passed through layers of Formations to arrive at a hidden ravine.
At the deepest part of the ravine, there’s a Sword Tomb.
It is a massive stone building engulfed in seals, resembling a ritualistic altar.
Long chains are wrapped around pale stone pillars, with thick stone steps stretching from the front all the way up to great heights. Through the hazy mist, one could also see the mottled ancient swords on the stone steps above.
Those were all left by predecessors.
Perhaps because they had been there for far too long or due to subpar maintenance, there were signs of rust on the chains that wound around the stone pillars, and even those ancient swords seed as if they had lost their spirit, becoming utterly silent.
But even so, the Dense Sword Intent lingering over the entire building still commanded respect and was not to be underestimated.
“Yanxiu, where is the Sword Array Codex?” Wei Qingyun swept his God Sense around, but did not find any trace of the Codex.
“If I may report, Young Master, look over here.”
Ji Yanxiu flew down to the steps of the Sword Tomb, picking up a fallen signboard and setting it upright once more.
This was a signboard made of Spirit Wood Material, which, despite being exposed to the elents, had endured for years without decay.
The board bore sword-made, awkward and twisted writing: “Self-service trial, fools kindly refrain; only after passing the second trial may you disturb us. The first trial rules are as follows…”
“Isn’t this a bit too casual?”
Wei Qingyun could hardly believe his eyes; where in the world would there be such a casual trial for a Codex?
Feeling rather embarrassed and also sowhat helpless, Ji Yanxiu said as he reported, “Initially, the Artifact Spirit of the Sword Array Codex would indeed preside over the assessnts, but… cough, every generation of young people from our Ji Family would co to try, which eventually bothered the Artifact Spirit to no end. Later, it simply stopped appearing, and even the trial was changed to a self-service one.”
“Who cares whether it’s self-service or not?” Holding an ancient sword in his arms, Yun Tai’an, dressed in snow-white, spoke up without much concern for these details, “Let’s speed up the trial, I can’t wait to et my destined Codex.”
This person hadn’t said a word from the start, but when he did, his words were explosive.
Even Wang Anye could not help but glance at him with a side-eye.
“Young Master Anye, Yun Tai’an is a famous sword fanatic in Chaoyang State, demonstrating extrely high Sword Dao comprehension since he was young,” Ji Qianqian conveyed to Wang Anye, “Despite his blunt and straightforward nature, as if he’s always out of sync with his surroundings, his swordsmanship is very profound, and he’s probably a competitor you should not overlook.”
“Thank you, Miss Ji, for the warning,” Wang Anye replied via spiritual transmission, “But does Miss Qianqian lack confidence in herself?”
“I lack confidence,” Ji Qianqian replied with a helpless bitter smile, “In terms of Bloodline Talent, I’m only of Ding Grade Celestial Genius. When it cos to understanding and knowledge of Sword Dao and Formation, I’m also outmatched by them. As far as I know, both Wei Qingyun and Yun Tai’an are famous geniuses, with even their Bloodline Talents reaching the Second Rate Supremacy! My reason for joining forces with Young Master Anye was rely out of unwillingness; I did not want the Codex to fall into their hands.”
Honestly, when she first spoke up, it was out of discontent, clinging to a faint hope that perhaps Young Master Anye might be able to compete with them.
But even she had not expected Young Master Anye to turn out to be so extraordinary, guarded by a Transcendent Void Realm tribute no less, and so she began to place even more hope in him.
As they talked, Ji Yanxiu had already helped to initiate the “self-service” first trial.
Right beside that wooden signboard, there was an ancient and decrepit Refining Artifact Creature. Accompanying his maneuvers, the Refining Artifact Creature clicked and clacked discordantly, and then spewed out several sheets of paper exams.
“Young Masters, the first trial is relatively simple, it’s mostly about the basic theories of Formation and Sword Dao,” Ji Yanxiu, well-prepared, swept his Storage Ring and several sets of desks and chairs appeared on the ground, “Co on, let’s give these questions a try, everyone.”
Far too casual!
The worldly Yun Tai’an and Wei Qingyun were sowhat dumbstruck.
Each Codex has very strict requirents for its inheritors, and assessnts are usually taken very seriously.
In the various States’ Sacred Lands, there would be contests between Saints and Saintesses, nations would initiate battles between Emperor’s Sons and Princesses, and Wang Fu would hold competitions for Princely Heirs.
Where would you find sothing so casual?
Even Wei Qingyun, who had heard from Ji Yanxiu about the nature of the first two trials, did not expect the actual examination to be this way. After all, Ji Yanxiu had only ntioned the scope and difficulty of the exam due to feeling embarrassed and did not elaborate on the specific details of the process.
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