Chapter 53: Irrefutable Proof, Xiao Xuanzhen Really Is One!

Who goes first?

Chen Yi swept his gaze across the crowd, his heart sinking slightly.

Although Xiao Xuanzhen had set the conditions in advance, explaining that the fiend could neither leave its cage nor harm them, most of the aristocratic youths—whether Du Yanqing and Lin Xuerong who had undergone family trials, or the Hua family's three sisters—revealed fear on their faces.

The only ones whose faces showed no trace of fear were himself and the young barbarian.

After a few seconds of thought, Chen Yi stepped forward.

Lin Xuerong subconsciously wanted to follow, but he gently brushed her aside with a subtle flick of force.

"Brother Yi..."

Chen Yi turned sideways to leave her with a smile, then looked toward the fiend and chuckled, "I didn't expect the entrance examination of the Greater Void Dao Sect to be so simple. Let's start with me, then."

Du Yanqing's body stiffened, "Brother Yi?"

Wang Yongnian's mouth hung wide open, "Brother Yi!"

Du Yan and Wei Letian, brother and sister, both experienced a jolt of spirit, their gazes locked tightly onto him.

Even Hua Youxiang waved her arms and shouted, "Good man, well done!"

Seeing someone take the lead to charge forward, the rest of the people felt the fear previously inflicted by the fiend dissipate by a few points.

Xiao Xuanzhen looked at Chen Yi, a trace of displeasure flickering across her delicate face.

This was different from what she had envisioned when designing the trial, and different from the situation in the previous few examinations.

According to her plan, after this fifth-rank fiend appeared, no one would dare to step forward and challenge it for at least the time it took to burn a stick of incense.

She had not expected an anomaly to appear on the third day of the examination.

"Senior Sister," Chen Yi said with one hand resting on the hilt of the Chunyu Sword, asking with a smile, "may I ask if we are allowed to use weapons?"

"Do as you please," Xiao Xuanzhen replied coldly.

Seeing her tone, Chen Yi inwardly raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that this girl couldn't possibly...

Was she already immune to men at such a young age?

With that thought, Chen Yi turned back and gestured to Lin Xuerong and the others.

Watch my performance—

As he turned, Chen Yi took a single step forward.

Sword Step!

His figure instantly arrived at the side of the bronze cage, and the Chunyu Sword flashed out of its scabbard in an instant.

A flash of cold light condensed into a single point as it swept forward, thrusting through the gaps between the metal bars.

"Roar—!"

Faced with this sword strike, the fiend seemed as though it had been subjected to humiliation; instead of dodging or evading, it tore open its leathery wings, and a beast's claw covered in scales lunged to grab the Chunyu Sword.

However, Chen Yi was well-prepared.

The moment he felt resistance on the tip of his sword, he withdrew his step and retreated, giving the fiend no chance to actually get a grip on the Chunyu Sword.

Chen Yi was well aware that with his current level of martial prowess and a sword technique at the realm of minor accomplishment, it was still not enough to pierce through the defense of this fiend.

Therefore, from the very beginning, his goal was simply to stab the beast to complete the examination.

Yet, the successful strike just now also caused a hint of doubt to surface in his heart.

Even though this creature was trapped inside a cage, given its speed and strength, was there really anyone other than him who could manage to touch it?

Or perhaps, what this trial tested was not the result, but whether these people possessed the courage to step up right in front of the cage?

If that were the case, he had underestimated Xiao Xuanzhen earlier.

"Examination, passed."

Putting aside Chen Yi's inner conjectures, Xiao Xuanzhen had witnessed that sword strike with her own eyes.

With such mastery of the sword, it was no wonder he could remain fearless in the face of a fifth-rank fiend's madness.

It was just that the others...

Before Xiao Xuanzhen could observe the remaining examinees, she saw Chen Yi trot back, saying "it's not hard, not hard at all" while waving his hand to signal everyone else to go ahead.

And though Du Yanqing and the others hesitated slightly, out of trust in him, they exchanged glances and all stepped forward together.

Seeing this, the rest of the group quickly followed, their expressions entirely devoid of their previous fear.

Seeing this, Xiao Xuanzhen felt increasingly disgruntled with Chen Yi.

Regardless of her mood, now that the second trial had reached this point, it was impossible to continue.

She had no choice but to wave her hand to have someone withdraw the fiend, announcing helplessly, "All of you have passed the second trial!"

As soon as these words were spoken, apart from Chen Yi, who had already guessed it, everyone else was stunned, their faces painted with bewilderment.

"Passed?"

"We haven't even... haven't even made a move yet."

Du Yanqing also looked at the people around him in confusion, "Could it be that this trial only requires one person to pass?"

"Idiot!"

The little princess pinched him, "Obviously, as long as you dare to make a move against it, you pass the examination."

"Is it really that simple?"

"Hmph, if Brother Yi hadn't made a move, would you have dared?"

Once they figured it out, the gazes the group directed toward Chen Yi shifted subtly.

They knew very well that if he hadn't stepped forward first, there was no telling how long the second trial would have dragged on.

Only the tall and robust young barbarian smacked his lips with a look of regret and muttered, "What a pity, I wanted to give it a try."

"..."

Only then did the crowd realize that, apart from Chen Yi, there was someone else who had felt no fear whatsoever.

However, looking at the young barbarian's exaggerated build, they thought to themselves that having that kind of courage was not all that surprising.

Before the crowd could recover from the joy of passing the second trial, they heard Xiao Xuanzhen announce in a ringing voice:

"The third trial, and also the final one—Martial Arts Techniques!"

"The content of this trial is equally simple: you only need to last three moves in my hands, and you will be considered to have passed."

Three moves?

To last three moves in the hands of a formal disciple of the Greater Void Dao Sect?

Having experienced the previous encounter with the fiend, Du Yanqing was much more cautious and asked, "Are we allowed to use true qi cultivation?"

"Both techniques and cultivation are permitted," Xiao Xuanzhen said with a slight curve of her lips. "Of course, my cultivation will not exceed yours."

"As long as you can last three moves, you will pass the examination and henceforth become a disciple of our Greater Void Dao Sect."

Hearing this, regardless of what the others were thinking, Chen Yi rubbed his hands together inwardly.

After waiting for so long, an opportunity to complete his counter-attack mission had finally arrived.

A chance of three moves, with equal cultivation tested upon the realm of techniques.

Heh, he could beat Xiao Xuanzhen until her wits were scrambled!

However, Chen Yi quickly realized that something seemed amiss with the third trial.

Following Xiao Xuanzhen's call of Hua Xianzi's name, and amidst Hua Xianzi's nervous anticipation, three casual, floating palms landed softly upon her, after which the examination was declared passed.

The surrounding crowd exchanged blank stares.

"Just like that?"

"Could it be that this Senior Sister wants all of us to pass the examination?"

"That's fantastic!"

Yet, before they could revel in their joy for long, the next young man and woman who stepped up were knocked flat on their backs by Xiao Xuanzhen.

At this point, even the dullest among them could sense that something was wrong.

"Different?"

"Why? Clearly, Hua Xianzi's three palm strikes didn't have any force behind them at all!"

Xiao Xuanzhen glanced at them and scoffed, "What do you mean different? The techniques and cultivation I used were exactly the same; it's simply that those two were too weak in strength."

Those who couldn't even withstand three moves of her normal strength naturally could not possibly pass.

Meanwhile, Hua Xianzi, who had passed the examination, felt a wave of intense shame well up in her heart for the very first time.

She... the force behind those three palm strikes she had received was practically non-existent.

"..."

Watching Xiao Xuanzhen speak absolute nonsense with a straight face, Chen Yi couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

She pulled punches when facing Hua Xianzi, but went all out against everyone else, right?

Case closed, this fellow was undoubtedly—