Chapter 1781: Two Choices

On a broad avenue, Ye Yuan was strolling forward leisurely.

On the avenue, many martial artists walked either in groups of three or five, or alone.

The auras of these people were all formidable; they were all at the Divine Lord realm!

Ye Yuan knew they were all heading to Shadowmoon Sect to participate in the sect's assessment, and so was he.

From Sikong Xiu's sea of consciousness, Ye Yuan learned that the only True God-level sect currently recruiting new disciples was Shadowmoon Sect.

There were still over two hundred years until the next Huangling Martial Meet.

Ye Yuan needed to break through to the Divine God realm within these two hundred years.

To participate in the Huangling Martial Meet, one must be at the Divine God realm.

And Ye Yuan seemed to still have a long way to go before reaching the Divine God realm.

In the years prior, Ye Yuan had been immersed in the Dao of alchemy, and his martial arts progress had not been fast.

Over the next two hundred years, Ye Yuan planned to cultivate with full effort, striving to break through to the Divine God realm as soon as possible.

"Hey, little brother, which sect are you from? You look unfamiliar!"

A rough-looking man, perhaps feeling bored, sidled up to Ye Yuan and walked alongside him.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "I'm from a small Divine Lord-level sect, not very famous."

The rough man laughed and said, "No wonder you're so weak. With your strength, it'll probably be hard to pass Shadowmoon Sect's entrance assessment!"

Ye Yuan chuckled inwardly; this guy was quite straightforward.

But he could also tell that this man was the type to speak his mind without thinking.

Ye Yuan just smiled and said, "I'm just here to try. After all, there's nothing left for me to learn in my original sect."

The rough man said, "That's true. It's already not easy for you to have cultivated to your current level in a small Divine Lord-level sect. But the geniuses who can enter Shadowmoon Sect are one in ten thousand. If you want to pass the entrance assessment, you'll probably need a few more hundred years."

Ye Yuan nodded and said, "Mm, if I can't make it, I'll work as a menial laborer in Shadowmoon Sect and come back for the entrance assessment when I'm strong enough."

The Huangling Void Realm was vast, with sects standing in great numbers. The dozen or so True God-level sects were behemoths.

But there were also many Divine God-level sects and Divine Lord-level sects. After talented disciples from these sects had learned enough, many would choose to enter higher-level sects.

First, their own sects no longer offered much room for growth, and staying would only waste time.

Second, once these disciples achieved success in a True God-level sect, they would look after their original sects.

Therefore, most of those going to participate in Shadowmoon Sect's entrance assessment were True God-level disciples.

Of course, there were also some disciples from small sects, mostly unknown and unlikely to pass the assessment.

The rough man's words were not without basis.

Only he didn't know that Ye Yuan's combat strength far surpassed that of his peers.

The rough man laughed and said, "Haha, I'm from Thundercloud Sect, my name is Han Yong. If anyone dares to bully you in the future, just drop my name."

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Han. I am Ye Yuan."

As the two were chatting, a jeer suddenly came from the side.

"Haha, Han Yong, why don't you take a piss and look at yourself? Who do you think you are to claim you can protect someone? If I bully him now, do you dare to protect him?"

Ye Yuan glanced sideways and saw three richly dressed young men looking at Han Yong with smirks, their faces full of mockery.

The three had very similar features, clearly brothers.

Seeing them, Han Yong's expression changed, and he said in a deep voice, "Zhao Xi, what are you so cocky about? If you've got guts, come at me alone, and I'll make sure not to kill you!"

Han Yong turned to Ye Yuan and said in a low voice, "These are Zhao Zhao, Zhao Shu, and Zhao Xi, three brothers from Demon Elephant Sect, mortal enemies of our Thundercloud Sect."

Ye Yuan understood immediately upon hearing this.

Zhao Xi sneered, "You're only slightly stronger than me, not even a match for my second brother, and you dare to act arrogant in front of us three brothers? Your Thundercloud Sect is really trash, sending out a waste like you, only fit to put on airs in front of small sects."

These words made Han Yong's face turn ashen with anger.

The Zhao brothers were extremely talented, and their strength had always been on par with each other.

Zhao Xi was slightly weaker, but still at the peak of the Divine Lord Seventh Heaven.

The other two were even at the Divine Lord Eighth Heaven!

Han Yong's talent was actually quite good; he was also at the early stage of Divine Lord Eighth Heaven, but he still fell short against these three brothers.

"Zhao Xi, you dare insult my Thundercloud Sect? If you've got the guts, fight me one-on-one!" Han Yong didn't dare to challenge all three, so he tried to provoke Zhao Xi with words.

Zhao Xi laughed and said, "Once we enter Shadowmoon Sect, there'll be plenty of chances for one-on-one fights. But for now... heh heh, didn't you say you'd protect this kid? Now I'm going to bully him, and I want to see how you plan to protect him. I want everyone to see how trashy your Thundercloud Sect is. You don't even know your own strength, haven't even joined the sect, and you're already acting like a protector!"

Han Yong's expression changed, and he said to Ye Yuan, "Ye Yuan, I've dragged you into this. You go quickly, I'll hold him off!"

Zhao Shu laughed and said, "Isn't it too late to leave now? Your opponent is me!"

Zhao Shu moved, directly engaging Han Yong.

Han Yong was slightly weaker than Zhao Shu, so he could only passively defend.

He could run if he wanted to, but if he did, Ye Yuan would be left alone to face the three Zhao brothers, and the consequences would be dire.

Zhao Xi walked slowly toward Ye Yuan, a playful look on his face. "Kid, you're not running? Are you scared silly? Heh, don't blame me for bullying you; blame Han Yong for trying to show off."

Ye Yuan himself found it absurd—just walking along, and he ended up in such trouble.

However, he didn't take Zhao Xi's strength seriously.

If Zhao Xi hadn't come after him, he would have let the verbal sparring with Han Yong slide. But since Zhao Xi insisted on provoking him...

Ye Yuan could only sigh inwardly: if you don't court death, you won't die.

"We're all going to participate in Shadowmoon Sect's assessment, future fellow disciples. Why make things so unpleasant?" Ye Yuan said helplessly.

He really didn't want to get involved in such pointless conflicts.

If Zhao Xi would just back off, he wouldn't bother with him.

Zhao Xi burst out laughing. "Fellow disciples? Haha, kid, you're overthinking it! With your strength, you think you can pass Shadowmoon Sect's assessment? You and I will never be in the same world! So we can never be fellow disciples!"

Ye Yuan shrugged and said, "And then?"

Zhao Xi sneered, "Kid, I have to admire your thick skin. Now, I'll give you two choices: first, kneel down and shout 'Thundercloud Sect is trash' three times; second, I'll cripple your cultivation and break your legs, making you crawl to Shadowmoon Sect."