Free Web NovelChapter 199: Chapter 136: Erosion Land
"Heh." Liou Yuan let out a chuckle, making no comment.
He then began counting on his fingers, tallying the names of the powerful disciples Xie Miaobo had mentioned.
"Xianmiao, Yan Yingsi, Zhan Huaping, Wang Ze Wen—these four are the strongest among the disciples participating in this Outer Sect trial, aren’t they?"
"Yes." Xie Miaobo replied affirmatively.
"In other words, if we want to make it to the top three and qualify for that Grade C Foundation Establishment Skill, we’ll definitely have to face these four."
Liou Yuan’s thoughts were very clear. He spoke calmly, "So avoiding confrontation isn’t an option."
"If you want to get the Grade C Foundation Establishment Skill, you must be strong enough to defeat at least one of them."
Xie Miaobo hadn’t expected Liou Yuan’s target to be the top three of the Outer Sect trial, because in his view, just making it into the top ten was already quite an achievement.
After all, there was still a Grade D Foundation Establishment Skill to choose from.
Stunned for a moment, he opened his mouth, intending to advise Liou Yuan to be more cautious.
But who knew Qiu Ming had already echoed, "Liou Yuan makes a good point. So if you run into them, you can only go for it!"
"That’s all there is to it," Liou Yuan’s gaze sharpened, his voice rising a few notches. "Then let’s fight them head-on!"
"Do as you like." Xie Miaobo rubbed his brow, giving up entirely on persuading the two in front of him, who were bursting with fighting spirit.
The people the three of them were discussing were basically all those veteran disciples at the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer.
They rarely mentioned those newly admitted disciples with Five-Star Star Acupoints.
Though their aptitude was high, after all, they hadn’t been cultivating for long—not enough to compare with those four Outer Sect powerhouses.
Even Liou Yuan himself subconsciously didn’t bring them up.
Of course, not mentioning them didn’t mean Liou Yuan wasn’t paying attention to them.
At least one person was someone Liou Yuan had to watch closely, and that was Liou Tao.
"If that brat Liou Tao’s been cultivating fast enough, he should be at Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer now."
"This Outer Sect trial is the perfect opportunity—old grudges and new hatreds, let’s settle them all at once."
There were always casualties in the annual Outer Sect trials, so one Outer Sect disciple dying during a trial was nothing unusual.
"At Five Extremes Mountain, I still have to mind the Disciplinary Hall."
"But once we’re at the training ground, no one will answer your cries for help. Let’s see where you run."
Liou Yuan sneered, but kept these words to himself.
The conflict between him and Liou Zhen, and the Liou Family of Xiang Mountain, was almost irreconcilable. Add to that Liou Tao’s repeated targeting, Liou Yuan already hated him to the bone.
How could he possibly let such a good opportunity slip by?
"It must be done without leaving a trace—after all, he’s a disciple with a Five-Star Star Acupoint. He’s definitely not someone minor like Pan Yang."
Liou Yuan’s thoughts surged as he began figuring out how to kill Liou Tao without leaving any evidence.
Since it had to come to murder, Liou Yuan needed to understand the situation at the trial location if he wanted his plan to be flawless.
So, after pausing in silent thought, Liou Yuan steered the conversation toward the training grounds, smiling as he asked Xie Miaobo, "This time the training ground is the same as previous Outer Sect trials—it’s still the Erosion Land at Five Extremes Mountain, right?"
Mentioning the Erosion Land, one had to talk about the origins of the founding of Five Extremes Mountain.
Liou Yuan had read some of these secrets in the records of the sect’s history.
In the ages long before Five Extremes Mountain had established its sect, the border of Jiuli State and the Jin Dynasty was just an ordinary region.
Back then, the land of the Jin Dynasty wasn’t even called the Jin Dynasty—but was known as Wei Ming.
Then, one night, a meteor fell from the sky, crashing into the mountains and forests of this place.
That meteor was as big as a star, its impact earth-shattering, causing earthquakes and tremors throughout Jin and Jiuli.
In an instant, over a hundred peaks were reduced to ashes.
The energy released by the meteor’s explosion rampaged through the mountains—seen from afar, it looked like a blazing sun come crashing down.
Thick, rolling smoke spread for tens of thousands of miles. Both the Jin Dynasty and Jiuli were shrouded in a black haze.
After months of darkness and gloom, the smoke finally faded away.
But where the meteor landed, a vast and bottomless abyss had formed.
From the depths of the abyss crawled monsters called Star Erosion Demons. Their bodies were indistinguishable from stone, with stony patterns, yet clearly alive.
If you killed them with a sharp blade, they would bleed black blood.
Star Erosion Demons were as savage as Star Evil—feeding on all living things, and had extremely strong defenses, making them very hard to kill.
Unlike Star Evil though, they didn’t fear Auspicious Stars nor were they afraid of Evil Stars—on the contrary, when under Evil Stars, they would even battle Star Evil.
If they only kept to the vicinity of the pit, that would be one thing.
After all, they also devoured Star Evil, and could be considered as helpers for cultivators defending against Star Evil.
Cultivators could simply avoid the area.
But these Star Erosion Demons were highly aggressive and relentlessly expanded their territory outward.
Every living creature encountered along the way would be devoured by them.
Some were even Foundation Establishment Realm Star Erosion, preying on Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators.
And some were Golden Core Realm Star Erosion Demons, traveling thousands of miles in search of Golden Core Great Cultivators.
At the worst point, almost all of Jin and Jiuli had been overrun by Star Erosion, and the disaster was spreading toward even farther regions like the Linlang Domain.
Cultivators of this world called that calamity the Catastrophe of Star Erosion.
It’s one of the few disasters in ancient records that almost wiped out all cultivators of this world.
The catastrophe lasted for over ten years.
Until a mighty one named Jing Xuzi appeared out of nowhere, slaughtered several Golden Core Star Erosion Demons in succession, and with overwhelming power suppressed the Catastrophe of Star Erosion.
On top of the abyss left by the meteor, Jing Xuzi moved five Spirit Mountains to seal it.
Jing Xuzi left his legacy on each of the five Spirit Mountains, took on five disciples, founded the sect, and then shattered the void and departed.
That was the predecessor of Five Extremes Mountain.
Which is also why Five Extremes Mountain’s status is so transcendent.
Even though it’s at the border of Jin and Jiuli, no one dares to say a word against it.
That’s why when Five Extremes Mountain’s disciples travel to other places, no sect rejects them.
And that abyss sealed by Jing Xuzi is the Erosion Land.
Five Extremes Mountain set their disciples to remember this calamity and to honor the founding ancestor Jing Xuzi’s achievements.
So, almost every Outer Sect trial is held within the Erosion Land.
Of course, Five Extremes Mountain wouldn’t send its disciples to die—they wouldn’t push them into areas with Foundation Establishment or Golden Core Level Star Erosion Demons. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Only the first layer of the seal is used for training.
The Erosion Land holds four seals, each one a layer.
In each layer, the strength of the Star Erosion Demons is different.
Within the first seal, there are only Qi Cultivation Realm Star Erosion Demons.
Liou Yuan had only read a general description of the Erosion Land in books; the details, even he didn’t really know.
"Of course it’s the Erosion Land. It’s practically a tradition of Five Extremes Mountain." Speaking of Erosion Land, Xie Miaobo—himself a disciple of Five Extremes Mountain—couldn’t help but look visibly proud.
