âLele, forget it,â Chu Feng said.
However, Wang Yuxianâs obstinacy seemed to have been triggered by how Chu Feng was being underestimated here. She pouted indignantly and said, âElder, Iâll be frank here. I wouldnât have been here if not for him. I hope that you can make an exception and allow Chu Feng to come with me.â
To everyoneâs shock, she began to lower her knees as if she was going to kowtow to the Monstrous Spirit Clanâs Clan Chief. Seeing that, the Monstrous Spirit Clanâs Clan Chief quickly rushed forward to hold her up.
âMiss Wang, youâre reallyâ¦â
The Monstrous Spirit Clanâs Clan Chief looked at Wang Yuxian with a conflicted look on her face.
âHaa, forget it. Iâll make an exception here and allow him to go with you.â
As reluctant as the Monstrous Spirit Clanâs Clan Chief was, she still acquiesced to Wang Yuxianâs demand in the end.
âThank you, elder!â
Chu Feng and Wang Yuxian quickly bowed to express their gratitude to the Monstrous Spirit Clanâs Clan Chief.
While the Monstrous Spirit Clanâs Clan Chief had openly expressed her disdain toward Chu Feng, he thought that it was understandable since his result at the talent assessment formation was less than spectacular. He was earnestly grateful to the clan chief for giving him this leeway.
He wouldnât want to miss an opportunity to see the puppet army and the energy left behind by the benefactor of the Monstrous Spirit Clan.
The two of them rose into the air and readied themselves to enter the spirit formation gate. Just as they were about to step in, Chu Feng suddenly halted his footsteps and turned around to look at the statue in the square.
âWhatâs wrong, Chu Feng?â Wang Yuxian asked.
The others from the Monstrous Spirit Clan also displayed confused looks at his peculiar behavior.
âItâs nothing,â Chu Feng shook his head and replied.
He was lying.
He had actually felt a gaze coming from the statue, but when he turned around to check on it, the statue stood as still and lifeless as ever, as if it was all his imagination.
Thus, he decided not to make a fuss about it and focus on the spirit formation gate ahead of him.
As soon as they entered the spirit formation gate, Chu Feng and Wang Yuxian found themselves in a vast cavern. It was so huge that it looked like an underground world in itself.
The first thing that came into their sight was the puppet army standing in a neat formation. These puppets were shaped in the form of a human, each of them towering at a height of a hundred meters.
They resembled humans, but there was no way they could have been real humans since they were all made out of wood. In fact, even their armor and weapons were made out of wood too.
These wooden puppets appeared fragile at first glance due to their material, but the aura they emanated would swiftly disprove anyone who thought that they were weak. They were strong to the extent that Chu Feng and Wang Yuxian broke out in delighted smiles.
There were a total of 9832 puppets. The weakest ones were at rank seven Martial Exalted level whereas the strongest ones were at rank three Half-God level.
Of them, there were 32 puppets that Chu Feng was unable to sense their aura. Their powers had been sealed, making it impossible to discern their cultivation. Nevertheless, his intuition told him that they were likely to be incredibly strong too.
Without a doubt, anyone who was in possession of this puppet army could easily become the ruler of the existing Nine Souls Galaxy.
âCan you sense the cultivation of those 32 wooden puppets?â Wang Yuxian turned to Chu Feng and asked.
She had tried looking at the wooden puppets, but she was unable to see through their cultivation. It was out of curiosity that she posed this question to him.
âIâm afraid not,â Chu Feng replied with a shake of his head.
âIt doesnât matter. Weâll know their cultivation once we grasp control of them,â Wang Yuxian said.
There was a huge formation in front of the puppet army emanating an aura that resonated with the puppet army. Clearly, this was the puppet army formation that they had to clear if they wished to control the puppets.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The puppet army formation had to be accessed through a spirit formation gate, but what was intriguing about this was that there were two spirit formation gates in front of them, one white and one black. Both appeared to lead into the puppet army formation.
There should be some sort of meaning as to why there were two different spirit formation gates.
âChu Feng, can you tell whatâs the difference between the two spirit formation gates?â Wang Yuxian asked.
âBoth should grant us control over the puppet army if we clear them, but the process as to how we go about doing so might differ,â Chu Feng replied.
âIâll head out to ask about it. Give me a moment,â Wang Yuxian said before heading out.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng continued scanning the area around him. He was trying to find the energy that the benefactor of the Monstrous Spirit Clan had left behind tens of thousands of years ago.
According to the Monstrous Spirit Clan, the puppet army was constructed using that energy, but Chu Feng was unable to sense the presence of any energy inside the cavern.
Soon, Wang Yuxian reappeared in the cavern.
âWhat did they say?â Chu Feng asked.
âThey said that the trial of the white spirit formation gate is much safer, such that one wouldnât sustain any injuries even when failing the trial. On the other hand, the trial of the black spirit formation gate is much more dangerous. A moment of carelessness can easily cost oneâs life. The juniors of the Monstrous Spirit Clan would usually challenge the white spirit formation gate,â Wang Yuxian said.
âAre there any restrictions on the spirit formation gates? Can a person challenge the trial repeatedly or are they limited to only one attempt?â Chu Feng probed on.
âI asked about that too. The only restriction on the trials is age. Any junior within a hundred years of age will be able to repeatedly challenge any of the two trials,â Wang Yuxian replied.
âWhy donât we split paths then? You can enter via the white spirit formation gate while I take the black spirit formation gate,â Chu Feng proposed.
âSounds good to me. If the two of us fail, we can do a swap and try again. If that still doesnât work, we can try cooperating together,â Wang Yuxian replied with a twinkle in her eyes.
She seemed to regard these trials as a game, and she was looking forward to challenging them.
âSure.â
Chu Feng nodded in agreement.
Having made up their minds, the two of them entered their designated spirit formation gates.
Chu Feng entered the black spirit formation gate and found himself arriving at a pitch-black formation space. He tried activating his Heavenâs Eye, but his visibility still remained severely limited. Nevertheless, he was still able to make out a net of interweaving black threads that resembled a spiderâs web in his direct surroundings.
These black threads completely covered the path in front of him. It didnât seem possible for him to circumvent them if he wanted to advance ahead. These black threads were made out of an incredibly resilient material that was impossible for him to cut through, and they were incredibly sharp such that even a Half-God level cultivator would be cut upon contact with it.
Fortunately, there were sufficient spaces between the black threads for him to pass through. As long as he journeyed carefully, it should be possible for him to clear this trial without incurring any injuries.
Weng!
A faint glimmer of light suddenly shone above him. It was coming from a huge candle that had abruptly appeared above the pitch-black formation space. The candle was slowly burning down, indicating that there was a time restriction to this trial.
He only had fifteen minutes here. If he couldnât clear this trial within the allotted time, he would be deemed to have failed the trial.