I have an Apocalypse City
Chapter 1173 - Chapter 1173 Chapter 1175 Flying Sword_1

Chapter 1173: Chapter 1175: Flying Sword_1 Chapter 1173: Chapter 1175: Flying Sword_1 “`

Indeed, as the young man reached the three hundredth from the last step, his body suddenly sank heavily, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, staining the pristine white steps a crimson hue.

Duan Jian let out a soft sigh, the young man had not prepared mentally, or rather, he had prepared himself for an additional ten kilograms of gravity, only to be suddenly crushed by a thousand kilograms.

This caused both his mental and physical balance to be thrown off, and his organs were severely damaged by the increased pressure! With his physical fitness, it would be very difficult for him to ascend the last three hundred steps.

Gu Luo had more than once complained about this design, but in the eyes of the elders of the Imperial Sword Sect, as a disciple of the sect, one must always be vigilant and ready for danger that could strike at any time! The first nine thousand or so steps weren’t the real challenge; the final three hundred were!

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, the young man’s expression wilted, disbelief flashed in his eyes, and he even felt as if the Imperial Sword Sect’s assessment was a form of deception.

It felt as if his lungs were on fire, and the threat of death was drawing nearer. The young man even began to feel his body drifting further and further away from him, his heart filling with panic.

A faint sigh echoed by his ears, and the young man suddenly found himself wrapped in a warm white light, his injuries visibly healing at a rapid pace.

Before the surprise could fade from his face, the young man realized something, his body stiffened, and when he looked up to the mountain’s peak again, his entire body turned into a beam of white light and reappeared at the foot of the mountain.

Looking up at the towering Ascent to Heaven Stairs reaching into the clouds, the young man couldn’t help but shed two streams of hot tears. He knew he had failed. He had been so close to success, only three hundred steps away from becoming a disciple of the Imperial Sword Sect, nearly within reach, but in the end, that distance became an insurmountable gulf, a divide between mortals and immortals!

“Such a pity!” Punishment Elder Wei Dong let out a soft sigh. In fact, most of the disciples within the Imperial Sword Sect were like the young man before, lacking in exceptional talent, relying instead on sheer tenacity and perseverance to pass the assessment. These disciples who passed the assessment are now the backbone of the Imperial Sword Sect, and Wei Dong was one of them.

“Alright, in this disciple recruitment assessment, only two have passed the first test, Song Jian and Xin Ling!” Punishment Elder Wei Dong turned his head, looking towards the two.

Xin Ling seemed somewhat uneasy. Were it not for her Ancient Moon Sword Physique, she probably wouldn’t have done as well as the young man before and would have been eliminated early. She felt as though she had entered through the back door.

In fact, Xin Ling didn’t know how envious other disciples within the Imperial Sword Sect were of her. Within the sect, those with and without sword physique qualifications reached different heights, which was precisely why the qualifications for the Sword Spirit Pool were so precious!

“You two come forward and listen to the contents of the second test,” Wei Dong nodded to them lightly.

Song Jian and Xin Ling came forward, standing in front of the great hall, the Ascent to Heaven Stairs empty behind them!

“For the second test, you need to go five hundred kilometers away to the Sword Pond Lake and either collect a Red Sword Grass with perfect quality, or hunt down an equivalent lord-level BOSS and obtain its core of excellent quality or higher, or excavate a Moon Spirit Stone of level nine or above, or extract a bottle of essence from the Sword Pond Lake, or capture a Sword Tooth Beast cub with perfect aptitude…”

“Once completed, return here directly. You have three days!” Punishment Elder Wei Dong looked at the two with a calm face.

Only then did Song Jian realize why his mentor, Duan Jian, insisted that he acquire a flying sword before coming to the Imperial Sword Sect for the entrance examination.

After all, a distance of five hundred kilometers, even using Flame Light Wings, would take nearly two days and nights to travel back and forth. Although the assessment task wasn’t difficult, the requirements were extremely high. With good luck, one might encounter their objective right away after arriving at Sword Pond Lake, but with bad luck, they might not even find one Red Sword Grass of perfect quality out of a hundred.

“`

If I had a flying sword, I could save a lot of time on the round trip and focus all my time on finding the mission target, which would greatly increase the chances of success!

Just then, a faint mosquito-like voice suddenly buzzed in Song Jian’s ear, “Even if you fail the second round of the assessment, you can still become an official disciple, but the treatment and benefits will be halved, so you’d better be quick, don’t dilly-dally and waste time!”

Song Jian was taken aback; he hadn’t expected that, in front of so many peak masters and elders, Duan Jian would dare to transmit secret messages to him. Did he really think that all these elders and peak masters were for show?

With a somewhat helpless nod to Duan Jian, Song Jian saw that several peak masters and elders were giving Duan Jian fierce looks.

“Ahem, Xin Ling, the second round of the assessment is also very important, you must take it seriously, go quickly and come back quickly!” Gu Luo said to Xin Ling with a stern face.

Xin Ling looked somewhat bewildered, but still respectfully said to Gu Luo, “Understood, Instructor!”

Song Jian couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Duan Jian, thinking to himself, “The disparity, this is the disparity!”

“Alright, enough talk, take the map and get going!” the Punishment Elder, Wei Dong, tossed two inconspicuous-looking sheepskin scrolls to the two of them.

Song Jian took one and saw that the sheepskin scroll looked ordinary, but was actually like an electronic map. It not only marked his current position and the location of Sword Pond Lake, but even displayed a faint shadowy line showing how to get there safely and quickly.

At this moment, a voice inevitably came to Song Jian’s ears, “Gaode Maps is navigating for you…”

Song Jian couldn’t help but exclaim internally, “This is practically a magic-modified GPS navigation map!”

“Sword Flight Art!” With a light shout, Xin Ling stepped on a flying sword and rapidly flew towards Sword Pond Lake. Below her feet, she stood on a sword emitting a faint silver glow.

Gu Luo looked at Duan Jian with a touch of pride and whispered, “This is a flying sword I bought for fifty Amethyst Coins. Although its attack power is so-so, its flying speed is second to none, even comparable to normal golden-quality flying swords. Quite a steal…”

At this moment, Duan Jian was feeling somewhat regretful of his earlier message transmission; compared to Gu Luo’s open and straightforward reminder, his own approach seemed so petty.

But after hearing Gu Luo’s somewhat boastful words, a mysterious expression appeared on Duan Jian’s face. He cleared his throat twice and said to Song Jian, “Song Jian, go quickly and come back quickly, don’t waste time!”

Song Jian gave Duan Jian a glance, nodded slightly, and immediately summoned his flying sword. Executing the Sword Flight Art, he flew towards Sword Pond Lake. In an instant, he became a small dot in the sky and vanished from sight, his speed almost three times faster than that of Xin Ling.

…

PS: Thanks to “keepo” for the donation of 1000 Qidian coins~