Chương 93: A Strange Change in the Passage, the Manor Lords Grow Suspicious

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!" … Qin Tian barely blocked several blows. He pushed forward three meters. But more and more black iron puppets were gathering around him. It had turned into a vicious cycle. If a martial artist chose to force their way through head-on instead of relying on movement techniques, there were only two outcomes. Either they were like Su Zhe, smashing one puppet apart with each hammer strike, destroying them so fast that the black iron puppets couldn't gather quickly enough. But Qin Tian did not have that ability.

Even when he used his Martial Killing Move, he could only force back a few black iron puppets. The puppets fell to the ground, only to climb back up moments later. At most, they had gained a few harmless cuts. As a result, the number of black iron puppets around Qin Tian kept increasing.

"Bang!"

"Pfft!" Those who are best at swimming are often the ones who drown. Qin Tian struggled to hold on, but in the end, several punches landed on him. He coughed up blood nonstop. As time passed, quite a few black iron puppets wielding martial weapons also began to attack. One wound after another appeared on Qin Tian's body. But the most miserable one was not actually Qin Tian. It was the people following behind him. Originally, they had thought following Qin Tian would be just like following Su Zhe.

With Su Zhe bulldozing everything in front, the people behind him could pick up the scraps and pass easily. But the result… Qin Tian was such a trap! Not only did he fail to reduce the pressure on them, he instead caused more and more black iron puppets to gather around. The difficulty of passing the trial shot straight up.

"Qin Tian! If you don't have the skills, don't take on the job!"

"It's over! It's over! These black iron puppets have combat power at the half-step fourth-grade level, and their defense is even beyond a fourth-grade martial artist!"

"Exactly! We could've made it through by relying on movement techniques before… but now? Hard to say!"

"It's all Qin Tian's fault… Sigh. I thought the number one on the Linwu Ranking would be stronger than Su Zhe, who's only tenth. Who would've thought…" The martial artists following Qin Tian had not dared to defy him before. But now that Qin Tian had dragged them into a desperate situation, they could not help but start complaining. After all, they originally had the ability to pass this trial. At most, they just needed to be careful. But now…

Of those who could make it through this trial, probably not even two or three out of ten would remain.

"Half-step fourth-grade combat power?! Hiss!" The remaining people who had yet to enter the trial heard the words coming from Qin Tian's group and felt their hearts shake, fear appearing on their faces. Although anyone with grade-A aptitude was guaranteed to be able to attempt the trial at Zhujian Shanzhuang (Sword-Forging Mountain Manor)'s disciple recruitment ceremony, martial artists still varied in strength. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

The strong, like Su Zhe, had cultivation at the middle stage of the fourth grade. The weak, like Yu Yi, had only just broken through to the third grade. There were even some martial artists who were only at the peak of the second grade. The difficulty of the trial had suddenly increased! Most of the martial artists no longer felt confident.

"Go! Take Su Zhe's passage!" Someone quick-witted instantly thought of a solution. But before he could take a single step, Special Envoy Qian's voice rang out.

"No one else is allowed to take Su Zhe's passage."

"If you disobey this old man's order and end up spilling blood on the spot, don't blame me for not warning you!" Special Envoy Qian had seen through everyone's intentions and immediately spoke. His order was absolute. Quite a few martial artists who had already started running toward Su Zhe's direction stopped in their tracks. They silently cursed their bad luck. Special Envoy Qian looked toward the passage Su Zhe was in. The corner of his mouth twitched, and his face spasmed.

"That brat… It costs a fortune to build even one black iron puppet…"

"The most important part is that it requires a seventh-grade Yang Spirit expert to condense a strand of Yang Spirit and attach it to a Bloodstone."

"Then the Bloodstone has to be divided and forged into the eyes of the black iron puppets, granting them a spirit."

"Damn it… That brat is doing all this just to protect those two boys from Lu County… wrecking things without a care…"

"How much money and resources is this wasting? Spendthrift! Total spendthrift!" Special Envoy Qian cursed under his breath. In Zhujian Shanzhuang, special envoys like him were getting on in years, yet their realms were not high. They had long since lost their potential. Because of that, their path of martial cultivation was extremely difficult. Even one or two taels of silver had to be stretched as far as possible. Seeing Su Zhe act so wastefully naturally made his heart ache.

However, Su Zhe's actions did not actually violate the rules. Special Envoy Qian could not say anything about it. But this sort of "a grandson selling his grandfather's fields without feeling a thing" behavior still made Special Envoy Qian's heart hurt terribly. …

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!" On Su Zhe's side, he led the charge, his twin hammers moving continuously like a raging storm. Qi and blood surged. Illusory forms of five great beast powers appeared: Barbarian Ox, Fiend Tiger, Spirit Snake, Flood Dragon, and Dark Scythe. His movements also carried the state of the Eleven Forms. Aside from the Dragon Form, the other eleven forms had already entered the realm of the Outer Three Harmonies. Everywhere he passed, the black iron puppets exploded one after another, turning into scrap metal.

Xiao Xunhuan and Yu Yi followed behind him, perfectly safe. Inside Zhujian Shanzhuang. A mirror stood before the five great Manor Lords. The mirror was as tall as a person, and its surface was pitch-black, like the night sky. Yet within the black mirror, tiny points of red light shone. These red dots were spread across ten passages. Everyone's gaze fell in unison on the first passage, where Su Zhe was.

The other passages were progressing extremely slowly, and although the red dots occasionally dimmed, none had gone out. Only in the first passage were the red dots vanishing at an astonishing speed.

"What is going on? The black iron puppets… why are they being destroyed on such a large scale?" The Grand Manor Lord, Xuanyuan Yizheng, wore a long robe. His temples were slightly white, and he had a square, dignified face. At this moment, he frowned as he spoke. As soon as Grand Manor Lord Xuanyuan Yizheng said this, the others all looked toward Ou Zizhen, the Manor Lord of Zhuxin Manor (Heart-Forging Manor).

"Could it be… Brother Zizhen's disciples cut corners?"

"Perhaps the black iron puppets in the first passage were made with inferior materials?" Su Heyang, the Manor Lord of Jishi Manor (World-Saving Manor), chuckled and teased Ou Zizhen with a smile. The Manor Lord of Jishi Manor and the Manor Lord of Zhuxin Manor had a very good relationship in private. A joke or two between them was no big deal. Under Zhujian Shanzhuang were four great manors, each with its own Manor Lord. Above the four Manor Lords was one Grand Manor Lord, who oversaw everything.

The Grand Manor Lord was named Xuanyuan Yizheng. The Manor Lord of Zhuxin Manor was named Ou Zizhen, and the Manor Lord of Jishi Manor was named Su Heyang. The remaining two were Linghu Ruifeng, Manor Lord of Bingxuan Manor (Armory Pavilion Manor), and Zhou Yuying, Manor Lord of Yushen Manor (Jade Body Manor). The Manor Lord of Yushen Manor was Su Zhe's shifu. Her temperament was far too brutal, making people fear her from the bottom of their hearts.

Over time, though Yuying was such a pleasant-sounding name, no one dared to call her that. Those close to her called her "Yushen," those who respected her called her "Manor Lord Yushen," and her enemies called her "Shura Child Matriarch" or "Demoness" behind her back.

"That shouldn't be possible… In this disciple recruitment ceremony, very few martial artists have reached the fourth grade. Most are at the third grade."

"Although these black iron puppets of mine are rather clumsy, their defense is astonishing. How could so many be damaged?" Ou Zizhen ignored Su Heyang's teasing. He stroked his chin and frowned in confusion.

"Send someone in. We will know once we take a look." Grand Manor Lord Xuanyuan Yizheng looked toward a black cavalry commander standing guard outside the passage in the distance. The ten passages led into the interior of Zhujian Shanzhuang. If the martial artists undergoing the assessment successfully passed the trial, they would arrive at the Zhujian Martial Arena. On the high platform of the arena sat the five great Manor Lords.

On both sides, many ordinary disciples had gathered to watch, wanting to see what geniuses would emerge during this year's disciple recruitment ceremony. There were fewer core disciples present. As for the true disciples, none of them were there. All true disciples had the potential to inherit the positions of the five great Manor Lords. Naturally, they would not care about something like a "disciple recruitment ceremony." Some were away on business, while others were focused on martial cultivation.

Xuanyuan Yizheng looked at the black cavalry commander nearest to the passage, his eyes shifting slightly.

"Yes!" The black cavalry commander held a long halberd and cupped his fists in salute. Then, clad in black armor, he strode into the first passage. Everyone craned their necks, waiting. A quarter of an hour later.

"Boom!" An earth-shaking explosion rang out. The vermilion gate of the first passage suddenly shattered, bursting into countless splinters. A figure crashed through the broken vermilion gate from inside the passage and flew out violently like a kite with its string cut…