Chapter 68  : Chapter 068: Another Batch Coming

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Upon witnessing Yang Zhen standing up against the spirit soul of the tenth-layer matrix, everyone was utterly shocked.

If Yang Zhen had merely accidentally grasped the Sky Crossing Void, incidentally cultivated the Soul Tempering Sutra, and inadvertently ousted the three most hopeful talents from the matrix, people would have reluctantly accepted the situation.

This circumstance would only prove that Yang Zhen’s talent was truly formidable, terrifyingly so, surpassing Yun Jie and other prodigies. Indeed, Yang Zhen’s gift was now rivalling Hua Youyue’s distinguished talent.

However, the fact that Yang Zhen could withstand the tenth layer matrix was utterly inconceivable, it went beyond the bounds of talent alone.

How tremendous would his talent have to be to casually cultivate a Soul Tempering Sutra and withstand the tenth layer’s onslaught?

This transcended genius – it was pure monstrous talent.

Even amidst these monstrous talents, no one had ever heard of someone able to resist the tenth layer matrix before forming their spiritual ocean.

With this thought, everyone’s heart skipped a beat, and they could only look at Yang Zhen in disbelief.

“No, that’s impossible. Could it be that Yang Zhen has already formed his spiritual ocean?” The Sorcerer mumbled, appearing as if he’d suffered a major mental shock. Then shaking his head, he said in a grave voice:

“That’s impossible. At the beginning, Yang Zhen indeed did not cultivate any soul tempering techniques. The state of being oppressed and squeezed out could absolutely not have been feigned.”

The refined middle-aged man looked equally bewildered and lost. He asked, “So, what is the matter with Yang Zhen? Apart from cultivating the Soul Tempering Sutra, did he consume a soul stabilising pill just now?”

“Even with a soul stabilising pill, it wouldn’t be possible. Unless…” The Sorcerer suddenly turned his head to look at Hua Youyue, and in a grim voice asked, “Flower Tower Master, what you allowed Yang Zhen to cultivate just then – was it really the Soul Tempering Sutra?”

Hua Youyue glanced at him and revealed a playful, ambiguous smile, “What do you think?”

“You…”

The Sorcerer’s face sunk. Hua Youyue was not Yang Zhen. If Yang Zhen behaved thus towards them, they may have plotted to kill him during or after the test. However, Hua Youyue was different. Even if he had the nerve, he wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on her in Flame City – he wouldn’t even dare to think about it.

Hua Youyue seemed to be in a good mood and she headed down towards the Cloud Platform with a smile. Right when she was about to leave the platform she suddenly turned to the Master of Tan City and said, “Town Master Tan, we can determine who will be the first place winner in this Spirit Soul Test, can’t we?”

Master Tan was taken aback, and with a forced smile, he glanced at Yang Zhen and said, “We can certainly determine that!”

Yang Zhen had contested against the never before reached ten-layer spirit souls, something that simply couldn’t be summarized by mere records. Naturally, he was the winner.

In future Spirit Soul Tests, it was likely that Yang Zhen would hold this record. After all, it was unheard of for a man who hadn’t formed their spiritual ocean to withstand the pressure of the tenth-layer spirit soul. The task was deemed virtually impossible.

Hua Youyue nodded in satisfaction, a smile on her face the whole time, and proceeded to head downstairs.

Nobody noticed that Hua Youyue had worn more smiles in those two days than she had in the past two years.

The Sorcerer and the refined gentleman were at a loss for words, unable to voice their thoughts.

What could they say?

It’s inappropriate to declare Yang Zhen the winner of the Spirit Soul Test?

Yang Zhen had ousted everyone else. Currently, he was the only one remaining to resist the tenth-layer matrix; stretching an arm here, flexing a hip there, he seemed more content than men who roamed the brothels.

Under these circumstances, if they dared to question Town Master Tan’s decision, they’d most likely be shamefully criticized and unable to face the city the next day.

Both men snorted in unison, their faces gloomy as they sat down, their eyes fixated on Yang Zhen’s back, filled with intense murderous intent.

Leaving such a man alive would ultimately lead to complications. Yun Jie and Zeng Bi Shu, even including Liang Qiu Shui, might all potentially suffer from a difficult-to-eliminate psychological shadow, severely impacting their future growth.

Only with Yang Zhen’s death, could these three men emerge from their shades.

Just like Hua Youyue’s terrifying teacher. It was said that in previous years, anyone in the Nether State who haphazardly mentioned that person’s name would incur harm due to a psychological outburst.

This once led to a peculiar phenomenon. Two young talents in a confrontation would, prior to fighting, mention that senior’s name to the opponent. There was a chance their opponent would collapse from mental breakdown, spontaneously spitting blood, avoiding the fight altogether.

Such a person naturally instilled fear in others. Now Yang Zhen had come along and this jerk was even worse, causing their teeth to ache from anger. What irritated the two men further was their connection to Changyue Tower. Why did these two troublemakers have to be affiliated with it?

Yang Zhen was unaware that his actions had stirred shock and even terror in the onlookers, and many had begun to question him. They suspected he had opened his Spirit Sea, the only plausible reason they could think of for his ability to resist the Ten Layer Array up until now.

Hua Youyue stepped gracefully to Yang Zhen’s side and softly asked, “Have you opened your Spirit Sea?”.

A thought stirred in Yang Zhen’s mind. He couldn’t let this information leak out. If it did, he might catch the attention of some old rivals who would be hell-bent on recruiting him as a disciple and passing on their martial arts legacy to him. That would be a real bother.

“No, I haven’t!” Yang Zhen answered immediately, clearing any doubts in his mind, “Why do you ask?”.

Hua Youyue had a look of disbelief on her face. She laughed and said, “The suppression of the spirit soul by the Heavenly Mace is unique. The tenth layer is several times stronger than the ninth. So, those practitioners without a Spirit Sea usually…”.

“Oh my!” Yang Zhen suddenly screamed, startling Hua Youyue.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I wondered why my head was throbbing so. It’s about to burst, oh, I’m dying.

The tenth layer’s suppression of the spirit soul is indeed terrifying.”

Upon saying that, with another grimacing scream, Yang Zhen abruptly swung his arm. Spinning a few rounds, he staggered towards the ninth layer.

Hua Youyue stood stupefied, watching Yang Zhen in complete bewilderment.

Yang Zhen’s loud outcry was heard by everyone in the luminous summit, causing all of them to twitch at the corners of their mouths.

Seeing Yang Zhen ‘in a pathetic plight’ being ejected from the tenth layer and falling towards the ninth, he was about to hit the ground when he suddenly changed direction and fell towards Hua Youyue, triggering an eye roll from most of the onlookers.

Could his acting be any more exaggerated?

It was painfully obvious he was pretending. Besides his over the top performance, he didn’t even want to lie on the ground. Instead, he changed the direction mid-air and fell towards Hua Youyue?

Shameless, utterly shameless, the shamelessness that breaks through the sky!

Upon hearing Yang Zhen screaming, Hua Youyue was startled and believed he got injured. When she realized he was just pretending with a fake fall, it was too late for her to evade him. All she could do was stretch out her hands to support him.

Duang!

Yang Zhen landed as hoped on Hua Youyue. He laminated weakly: “L..I’m injured!”.

Finished speaking, Yang Zhen moaned and then fainted on Hua Youyue’s shoulder.

“Yang… Yang Zhen?” Hua Youyue uttered in puzzlement.

Hua Youyue stood dumbfounded in the middle of the ninth layer array. The respected Flower Tower Master, the one admired by all the young talents from the three countries had a look of helplessness, one typically seen in young girls.

Feeling the strong masculine aura of Yang Zhen, Hua Youyue took a deep breath: “Fangyue!”

Lan Fangyue jerked awake and quickly looked up at where the bewildered eyes were focused at, walking hastily over.

Hua Youyue held Yang Zhen with one hand and stepped down to the seventh layer, saying to Lan Fangyue: “You, take Young Master Yang to rest!”.

Upon hearing her words, Lan Fangyue didn’t dare to be negligent. He nodded hastily, but his face once again showed signs of bewilderment.

Yang Zhen’s hands, unbeknownst to when, were draped around Hua Youyue’s neck. His bodyweight hung on her and he wouldn’t let go.

Hua Youyue:

Lan Fangyue:

“Forget it, I’ll do it!” Hua Youyue said helplessly.

Just then, a strong wave of Yuan Qi energy rippled from the sky. Hua Youyue and others looked up, their expressions taut. On the horizon, a group of people was approaching with their swords. Judging from the powerful aura, they were at least of the Golden Core stage, and were not in small numbers..