Chapter 1393: The Hundred Cities Trial

"Ye Yuan, something terrible has happened! Something terrible! Uh, Teacher Chi?"

The chubby young man rushed into Ye Yuan's residence in a fluster, only to find Ye Yuan and Chi Fangzheng sitting opposite each other.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "It's just an announcement of the list, why make such a fuss?"

The chubby young man was taken aback and said, "You already know?"

Ye Yuan said, "Teacher Chi has already told me. What, were you also selected?"

Hearing this, the chubby young man grinned foolishly and said, "Of course! Your Lord Fatty has already reached the sixth floor of the Rock Wind Cave—I'm definitely an elite disciple!"

This time it was Ye Yuan's turn to be surprised. The Rock Wind Cave, like the Sword Grave, was a place of trials.

However, the Sword Grave was a place for cultivating the way of the sword, while the Rock Wind Cave was a place for cultivating the law of wind.

The chubby young man had never mentioned this in front of Ye Yuan, and Ye Yuan hadn't expected him to have already reached the sixth floor of the Rock Wind Cave!

One had to know that even Qin Shao had only reached the sixth floor of the Sword Grave.

The chubby young man's talent in the law of wind was truly rare.

Six years had passed since Ye Yuan entered the Hall of Fame.

During these six years, Ye Yuan had lived a peaceful life, with almost no one causing him trouble.

Since then, the Qin family had kept an extremely low profile in front of Ye Yuan, never provoking him.

Thus, Ye Yuan had spent these six years devoted to cultivation.

He had obtained large quantities of first-grade divine medicines from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion and the Wumeng Academy in batches to study their properties.

After studying for thirty years in the Boundary-Steadfasting Space, Ye Yuan had thoroughly understood the properties of first-grade top-grade pills and created a batch of new pills.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, having obtained the pill formulas, naturally made a huge fortune.

For this, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion gave Ye Yuan another fifty million low-grade divine spirit stones as a reward.

In the remaining three years, Ye Yuan continued to soak in the Sword Grave, enduring torment and constantly perfecting Star-Severing.

A few days ago, Ye Yuan had passed the third floor of the Sword Grave and entered the fourth floor.

Just then, Chi Fang came to find him and told him that the Hundred Cities Trial was about to begin.

And he had been selected as one of the participants in the Hundred Cities Trial.

This was a very normal matter; the Hundred Cities Trial was meant to select the most outstanding disciples to participate.

Ye Yuan's performance was so outstanding that there was no reason not to select him; there was nothing to criticize.

However, among the two teachers leading the team this time, one was a member of the Qin family!

"The Qin family has been very quiet these past few years. I didn't expect their target to be this Hundred Cities Trial! I went to see the academy head, but even he couldn't do anything about it! Ye Yuan, you must be careful on this trip!" Chi Fang said solemnly.

Ye Yuan said, "I didn't expect the Qin family's influence to be so strong that they could affect the academy's decisions!"

Chi Fang nodded and said, "After all, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion is an external force and has too little influence in the academy. But the Qin family is different. They have operated in Wumeng Royal City for who knows how many generations. Their influence is deeply entrenched both in the academy and the city lord's mansion. Although they dare not openly oppose the academy, they can use underhanded tricks that are hard to guard against."

Ye Yuan sneered and said, "It seems the Qin family still doesn't know how to spell 'pain.' Then I'll teach them properly!"

Chi Fang sighed and said, "Ye Yuan, this time... Qin Tian is personally making a move! For this Hundred Cities Trial, don't think about achieving anything. It's best to find a place to hide after entering the secret realm and come out only when the trial ends. I've also arranged for an inner courtyard disciple to look after you."

Ye Yuan laughed and said, "Thank you, Teacher Chi!"

……

The Hundred Cities Trial was a joint trial conducted by over a hundred royal cities to train their disciples.

Those who participated in this trial were all the top disciples from each royal city.

Thus, it was only natural that Ye Yuan was selected.

But when Ye Yuan learned from Chi Fang that there were as many as three Qin family members on this trip.

The Qin family was not just Qin Tian, a single top genius.

It was just that his brilliance was so dazzling that it made others seem somewhat mediocre.

Besides Qin Tian, the Qin family disciples participating in this Hundred Cities Trial also included Qin Pei and Qin Zheng, two geniuses from the Heavenly Character Camp.

These two were also powerful experts at the Great Perfection of the Heaven-Seeing Realm.

As for outer courtyard disciples, there were Qin Shao and two other Qin family members.

Only thirty disciples were selected for this trial, and the Qin family occupied six spots.

The strength of the Qin family was evident.

Before them was an octagonal altar. The students of the Wu Meng Academy had all assembled and would be teleported into the secret realm from this altar.

Seeing everyone had arrived, Wen Yiyang slowly began, "All present are the outstanding youths of our Wu Meng Royal City! The Hundred Cities Trial concerns the dignity of our Wu Meng Royal City. After entering the secret realm, you must cooperate fully and strive for the top! But the most important point is to return safely! The academy advocates competition, and among you, there are more or less some grudges. I don't want to hear news of mutual slaughter when you return. Otherwise, the academy will punish severely!"

After speaking, Wen Yiyang's gaze swept across the crowd, and the students all felt a chill in their hearts.

Wen Yiyang's words were actually meant for the Qin family.

Ye Yuan's talent was clearly a cut above Qin Tian's, and he didn't want anything to happen to Ye Yuan.

But this time, the Qin family had exerted pressure through the Elders' Council to have Qin Yuanlong lead the team, adding many variables.

Wen Yiyang had no choice but to give a verbal warning.

As for the rest, it was up to Ye Yuan himself.

"Rest assured, Academy Head. Yuanlong will not fail this mission!" Qin Yuanlong immediately expressed.

Wen Yiyang nodded but said nothing more, only calmly remarking, "Alright, let's set off."

The group stood on the altar. Ye Yuan turned around, but the little fatty was nowhere to be seen. He searched among the crowd and found that he had somehow moved to the side of a very delicate-looking female student.

The usually carefree little fatty had now become shy, almost like a young girl.

"Xiu... Xiuer," Xie Jingyi said bashfully.

Ye Yuan suddenly realized that this senior sister was the Xiuer Xie Jingyi had mentioned, Lin Xiu!

This kid had hidden it well, never mentioning it to him until now.

Ye Yuan had always thought that Lin Xiu was still in Huangning City, never expecting her to be a disciple of the inner courtyard's Heavenly Character Camp.

Seeing Xie Jingyi greet her, Lin Xiu frowned and said, "Call me Senior Sister!"

Xie Jingyi's expression changed, and he stammered, "Sen... Senior Sister!"

Lin Xiu's brow relaxed slightly, and her tone softened a bit as she asked, "I didn't expect you to actually pass the entrance exam! And even qualify for the Hundred Cities Trial!"

Xie Jingyi's face lit up with joy, and he said, "Of course! If I, a grown man, couldn't even do that, how could I be worthy of being Xiuer's man?"