They had just arrived in this jungle full of underground plants, yet red light was flas.h.i.+ng ahead in the darkness. Somebody had already been subject to a fatal attack, and had decided to shatter their red runesheet.

Even though all the servants partic.i.p.ating in the entrance exam had reached the 6th Heavenly Stage, their toughness of mind, battle experience and Martial Art Techniques may be different.

Some servants had retreated in face of this imminent danger, whilst others charged forward into the forest, shouting great and loud battlecries!

Wu Yu, in the darkness, could see some people around him engaged in battle.

“It has started!”

Wu Yu grasped hold tightly of his metal sword, razor sharp and deadly, but the scales and flesh of the Red Horned Qiu Snakes were quite tough and resilient, almost as hard as that of a snake daemon, so he was unsure if it would do any damage.

No time for thought!

Ding!

The swordlike red horn struck at him with the power of a giant Beast, but Wu Yu was prepared, swinging his sword sideways with two hands to parry it.

“Move!”

He wanted to push aside the snake and continue moving forward, but he had miscalculated its strength. Never did he expect that it’d also have the power of 100 battlehorses, comparable to that of his!

“Tear!”

Wu Yu’s movements were swift and fast, slightly pus.h.i.+ng aside the snake’s head, creating an opening for him to attack. Switching his sword over to his right hand, he gave a mighty slash, deeply embedding it into the snake’s neck, opening a wound that gushed snake blood all over the ground.

Hiss!

Surprisingly, the snake wasn’t dead yet, shrieking and struggling in pain, causing Wu Yu’s sword to get stuck within its skeleton.

“When you’re fighting a snake, hit its Qicun (literally means 7 inches, buts its figurative meaning is a snake’s seven weak points)!”

Upon recalling this important fact, he quickly reacted before the snake put up any resistance. Using his great strength to pull out his sword, he twirled it, the blade s.h.i.+ning cruelly in the darkness, before lunging forward, plunging it deep into the snake’s heart.

The Red Horned Qiu Snake collapsed weakly.

“What a pity!”

The snake was long, and the scales, flesh, guts… were quite precious materials that would fetch a good price, but they were the Sword to Heaven Sect’s property and there was no time to skin and collect them.

Wu Yu lifted his metal sword and snaked around the battles that were taking place between the servants and the snakes, reaching the front of the group before long. In actuality, many people had already finished off the snakes they were facing off against, but none were moving forward, afraid they would be surrounded by wild Beasts if they went by the lonesome.

“You seemed quite relaxed, in that battle of yours with the snake.” Suddenly, somebody by the side said; startled, Wu Yu looked closer, to find out that it was Zhao Danlong, one of the servants who had reached the 7th Heavenly Stage.

“But, I’m going to be No. 1 today! The Qi Condensing Pill is mine!”

With that, he bursted out shocking speed, speeding ahead into the distance!

“Zhao Danlong, very fast!”

“I think that he’s going to be the first one out of here.”

“No, I don’t think so… Qing Mang is long gone already.”

In between the tragic slaughter happening between man and beast, people would frequently drop out, or finish off their opponents and move forward, chatting along the way.

“The first one out?”

Wu Yu thought for a while, and concluded that being the first one out would have some benefits, because he would be in the limelight, under the eyes of tens of thousands of people!

His previous mission was to get into the top 100, but upon reflection, he decided to aim for number 1, as he wanted Sun Wudao, in his immense antic.i.p.ation, to see him come out of the mountain first.

“Move!”

He sped off like a ray of golden light in the darkness.

> was a footwork technique most suitable for moving in the forests, so he, unlike most of the other servants, managed to evade the Red Horned Qiu Snakes, saving precious time by not engaging into battle with them. Upon noticing that there wasn’t much people around his immediate vicinity, he estimated that he was at the front of the “troop”.

“Let’s rest here for a while.”

If he moved forward, it was 100% guaranteed that he’d suffer the the brunt of the next wave of attacks.

There were around 20 servants nearby Wu Yu, and among them there were 3 who were more eye catching than the rest, able to fight off multiple servants by the lonesome, as they had reached the 7th Heavenly Stage.

“I’m 15 years old, yet I’ve only reached the 4th Heavenly Stage. Their talent in Martial Arts is multiple times better than mine!” Wu Yu could not help but smile bitterly. Of course, he wasn’t depressed, because he had only begun cultivating (recultivating haha) one month ago!”

“Swamp!”

After pa.s.sing through the densely packed forest, he stepped into the next zone, an endless swamp! The mud in the swamp was soft and weak, hiding numerous savage Beasts, air bubbles bubbling up frequently without end.

“Ah!”

Right at that moment, a servant rushed into the swamp. Suddenly, the mud began to shake, and a three foot long black beast burst out from under, biting hold of the unlucky servant, its sharp teeth puncturing his skin and flesh, then proceeding to drag him under the swamp!

“Save me!”

The servant screamed painfully and tragically.

There was no time for him to shatter the red runesheet, because the attack was too sudden and too ferocious.

Wu Yu was just by the sidelines, so upon noticing the danger the unlucky servant was in, he immediately jumped into the fire to rescue him, because saving people was like firefighting (means one has a duty to save people if they are in danger right in front of one’s eyes)

“It’s actually a Giant Axemountain Crocodile!”

Wu Yu recognised the black scaled Giant Beast, because he had fought against one back in the days when he was still a 5th Heavenly Stage expert, although he was not its opponent.

“The Giant Axemountain Crocodile’s scales are as hard as metal, so hard that normal blades cannot puncture through it, therefore it’s only weakness is its eyes!”

Because he was quite familiar with this Beast, everything he knew about it instantly popped up in his mind, and without further ado, he jumped forward in front of its eyes, transferring power to his arms, and thrust out his sword!

Pu Chi!

The longsword poked through its eyes and into its brains!

The Giant Axemountain Crocodile died instantly.

Wu Yu calmly dragged the injured servant from its mouth, to find out it wasn’t a he, but a she, and quite a delicate and pretty one at that. Her face was pale and drained white after her ordeal, trembling whilst staring at Wu Yu, her saviour.

“I’ll be going first.”

Wu Yu did not want to engage in conversation, because time was pressing, so with the blink of an eye, he entered the swamp, using

> to run on its surface, controlling himself so he wouldn’t fall and sink.

A black robed Celestial Sect Disciple arrived at the side of the injured servant, and upon seeing that she was unharmed, he looked at Wu Yu’s back, which was disappearing into the distance, before turning back to say to the girl “Next time you’re in danger, snap the red runesheet!”

“Yes! Shangxian!”

“Thankyou.” After the Shangxian had left, the girl servant looked at the direction Wu Yu left in, thanking him in her heart. All servants were compet.i.tors in this exam, and yet that person had wasted time to save herself, a rare and scarce act of goodwill.

On his journey through the swamp, Wu Yu used his immense strength, which was stronger than that of a wild beast’s, to kill a few more savage Beasts! Normally, wild beast’s had great power, but their killing techniques were not as intricate and profound as those of Celestial’s and Human’s, so when Wu Yu’s strength was similar to that of his wild beast opponents, dominating them, gaining the upper hand wasn’t hard.

There were still  body shapes in front of him.

“I’ve finally exited the swamp!”

Wu Yu stepped on solid ground at last, leaving the G.o.dforsaken swamp behind, bringing him a sense of relif, but he knew deep within his heart that the endless heaps of rocks in front of him was where the most terrifying test was going to take place. There were a total of 3 waves of beasts; this was the last one.

“Kill!” Zhao Danlong gave a loud shout, before rus.h.i.+ng into the darkness.

The remaining servants gradually exited the swamp to arrive at the stone heaps. It seemed that none of them were weak; After all,  hey were all Martial Art Geniuses, and had been trained under the Sword to Heaven Sect’s watchful eye!

Wu Yu increased his pace.

“Bloodthirsty Demon Monkeys!”

In front of him was a narrow path, surrounded by giant stones. It led to a road, and the end of the road was the exit of the Celestial Ascendance Road, which was the dream place of all servants.

But, on that narrow path, blocking the way, were a total of around 300 Bloodthirsty Demon Monkeys!

This type of monkey was black furred, and had blood red tattoos swirling around its body. It also had a pair of red eyes, and was also 20 feet tall – Wu Yu and company weren’t even as wide as their arms! Reportedly, Bloodthirsty Demon Monkeys loved the taste of fresh blood, so upon smelling their beloved delicacy, they would go crazy!

The stench of fresh blood drifted from the swamp into the stone heaps.

Therefore, the eyes of the Bloodthirsty Demon Monkeys were all bright red, their giant hands hammering their chests, the path and the nearby rocks to express their excitement. The stench of savagery and brutality filled the air, blocking all the servants from reaching the end of the road and achieving their dreams.

There was only one way to exit the Celestial Ascendance Road, and that was to rush through all the Bloodthirsty Demon Monkeys that were blocking the way.

This time, the Beasts were densely packed together, so there were no gaps for anybody to slip through.

“Kill!”

The first 20 servants that were able to rush out from the swamp were all elites, and with the three 7th Heavenly Stage experts as the leaders, they were an unstoppable force! Servants who had just rushed out from the swamp also joined the group as it rushed, adding to its power and might.

Wu Yu was within the “troop” of servants.

Boom!

They had finally collided with the “Monkey Wall”!

Tear!

Wu Yu slashed his metal sword at the Demon Monkey’s torso, tearing apart its skin, biting into its flesh.

“Roar!”

The Demon Monkey, angered and stimulated by the pain, raised its monstrous arm, slapping down hard at him. Wu Yu stayed calm, unfazed, lifting his left arm to block the incoming palm.

Pa! His feet sank into the floor, creating a depression on the road!

“Such great strength!”

Even though he lamented at the monkey’s power, he was quite happy with the end result, because

> gave his body greater resistance to attacks than other people! Not only that, it also increased his regenerative abilities by multiple times the normal rate!

His power, resistance and regenerative ability were all many times that of normal people!

Wu Yu transferred his strength to his arms, swinging his sword horizontally, and as the monkey’s attack was about to land on him, his swordpoint swiftly flitted by its neck, instantly opening a wound that spurted blood out by the gallons.

Boom!

The Bloodthirsty Demon Monkey collapsed onto the floor.

But, it was just one.

There were more than 300 monkeys blocking the road; even with servants unceasing joining the battle group from behind as well as the servants who had reached the 7th Heavenly Stage leading the charge, they still hadn’t managed to charge through, only slaying 40 monkeys in the outer rim.

“It’s impossible to slay all the monkeys before leaving the path.”

“That’s why a group attack is not beneficial and not fair towards the stronger servants, as the weaker ones could just sneak through any gaps in the wall they create.So that means the best method to exit this G.o.dforsaken place is to use whatever means necessary to charge into the monkeys by the lonesome, then killing all monkeys in the way to create a path of blood that leads to the outside.”

Wu Yu was sure that other people had also noticed this point, especially the three servants who had reached the 7th Heavenly Stage, because they had already executed their footwork techniques, charging into enemy lines. The Demon Monkeys all had tall and burly statures, so it was quite easy for them to move around their legs and under their hips.

“Rus.h.!.+”

He had already made it here, facing many trials and tribulations along the way, so he wanted to win and become first place. And like that, he was the 4th person to rush into the ma.s.s of monkeys.

“Its you!”

Zhao Danlong, who was covered in blood from all the fighting, had noticed Wu Yu’s appearance.

In actuality, Zhao was also very exhausted, but Wu Yu’s arrival threatened him, giving him motivation to fight and sprint faster, as Wu Yu had not reached the 7th Heavenly Stage yet. If Wu Yu managed to beat him, then he would lose a lot of face!

Whoos.h.!.+

Wu Yu continued sprinting forwards.

It was quite lucky that he cultivated

>, because it gave him a comprehensive understanding on how the Demon Monkeys moved, so there wasn’t much pressure on him when moving around the Monkeys, dodging all attacks they launched at him.

“So what this final zone really tests is not battle ability, but your agility and footwork techniques!”

He looked forward, and noticed that Qing Mang, with her

Ju Huo wasn’t slow either, just behind Qing Mang.

Zhao Danlong had great battle ability, but his footstep technique was weaker than the two, so he was third.

“No, I’ll only be fourth if I go on like this.” Wu Yu thought whilst battling.

> gave him great defence against attacks, so the Demon Monkeys could do nothing of harm against him.

“There’s a Demon Monkey that’s evolving into Daemon! It’s absorbed too much or our blood! G.o.dd.a.m.nit!” Zhao Danlong shouted, instantly terrifying the servants behind him.

The evolvement of a Beast into a Daemon was a very important transformation.

With the Bloodthirsty Demon Monkey’s foundation and talent, evolving into a Daemon would grant it an immense increase in battle ability, maybe even reaching the power level of a 9th Heavenly Stage Tongshen expert!

Luckily, evolving into a Daemon took time.

Daemon’s were much stronger than normal Beasts, but weren’t that horrifying for the servants, so after their initial shock, they resumed their charge to break through the Demon Monkey’s. And by then, Wu Yu finally noticed the monkey that was about to evolve into a Daemon,

Ka Cha, Ka Cha!

It’s body bloated, weight already two times as heavy than a normal Monkey Demon, the red within its eyes slowly disappearing, obvious signs it was developing a consciousness. Once it develops a conscience, the monkey would have the intelligence and sentience of a human,  and would also gain the ability to transform into a human, allowing it to mix into human society and eat people without suspicion.

“Kill!”

The Monkey Daemon blocked the way out, so slaying it was a must if one wanted to get past.

Zhao Danlong, Qing Mang and Ju Huo, the three 7th Heavenly Stage experts, each executed an attack at the same moment against the monkey, engaging in battle.

The techniques they used were

>,

> and

> respectively!

All top notch Middle Cla.s.s Martial Techniques!

“One Sword Dominating the Clouds!”

“Azure Cloud Sword Shadows!”

“Slaying Daemons Style!”

The three 7th Heavenly Stage servants weren’t bad, there attacks leaving behind numerous cuts and scratches on the Monkey Daemon, but none of them were fatal. Also, their energy depletion was enormous, so before long they were all exhausted and panting.

It wasn’t because Wu Yu didn’t want to help; it was just that the three were too overbearing and domineering, so he couldn’t find an opportunity to help out.

“Roar!”

Their attacks angered the Monkey Daemon, so it gathered its blood and Qi and roared, spitting it out, letting it permeate the air. Whatever the blood and Qi touched started to corrode, so there was nothing Zhao Danlong and company could do but retreat swiftly!

Wu Yu finally found his chance.

>.

Wu Yu grasped hold tightly of his sword, before charging past the three, launching himself straight at the monkey like the roiling waves of the East Sea!

This time, he was the closest one to the exit of the Celestial Ascendance Road!