The most difficult assessment in history

Everyone was shocked. What kind of matter could make an Elder-level expert change color?

Tu Fang sighed and said, "If I recall correctly, the fellow imprisoned in that cave has likely not been challenged for quite some years."

Tang Waner was startled and hurriedly asked, "What is the cave age of this cave?"

She immediately sensed something ominous. Even the Elder had changed color, and her heart couldn't help but sink.

"One thousand… and twenty-five years," the Elder said with some bitterness.

The entire scene suddenly became silent. Each time those Soul entities were challenged, they would consume a large amount of Soul Power and require an extremely long time to recover.

It was like raising pigs; once they were fattened up, they would be slaughtered. After each challenge, their cave age would start counting from zero.

When each Evil Corpse was defeated and its head cut off, it wouldn't die. However, the Soul entity sealed within its body would need to rest due to excessive depletion. It could then be injected into another Evil Corpse to be used repeatedly.

According to the Branch's regulations, if the cave age of an Evil Corpse used for Core-level assessments exceeded five hundred years, an Elder would need to personally intervene to slay the Evil Corpse, exhaust the Soul's power, and replace it with a new body.

This was because an Evil Corpse with a cave age exceeding five hundred years already surpassed the limit that a Blood Condensation Realm Genius could withstand; entering it would mean certain death.

That Elder's face was deathly pale. He was responsible for overseeing the arrangements of all the caves, and for such a huge oversight to occur, the charge against him was too great.

"Elder Tu…" That Elder sighed dejectedly. However, he was an upright person and knew that he had committed a grave error, causing a Genius to die a miserable death, and he was prepared to accept his punishment.

Tu Fang shook his head and said, "This matter is not your fault."

Tu Fang had been at the Xuantian Branch for so many years and understood that Elder's character very well. He was a very meticulous person, and it was generally impossible for such a major oversight to occur.

Moreover, for over five hundred years, all other caves, all caves that exceeded the standard, had been cleared. Only this one remained, which was quite thought-provoking.

Over five hundred years had passed, and during this time, three successive Elders had been in charge of managing the caves, yet none of them had discovered it.

When Tu Fang saw that cave, he immediately thought of a possibility. This was a kind of destiny, destined for Long Chen to choose that cave.

However, he dared not speak the specific reason. At the same time, he recalled the Sect Leader's instructions, and in his heart, he grew even more admiring of the Sect Leader's boldness and courage. This proved that Long Chen was truly an anomaly.

Seeing the usually impartial Law Enforcement Elder so easily absolve him of his guilt, the Elder couldn't help but be stunned.

"With such a high cave age, how can Long Chen possibly pass? Why don't you rescue Long Chen yet?" Tang Waner said, both shocked and angry.

Tu Fang shook his head and said, "So much time has already passed. Entering now would be meaningless. Now, it all depends on Long Chen's luck."

"How can that be?" Tang Waner was so anxious she was about to cry. She had nearly perished just by killing an Evil Corpse with a cave age of over four hundred years.

One had to know that the higher the cave age, the faster those Souls would recover, and their combat power would become even more terrifying.

Tang Waner gritted her teeth, moved her feet, and dashed towards the stone wall.

"Waner, come back!" Qing Yu was shocked. She knew that Tang Waner was going to save Long Chen, but it was already too late to stop her; Tang Waner had already rushed towards the stone wall.

"Boom!"

Just as everyone was watching Tang Waner in shock, a loud explosion rang out, shaking the heavens. People looked up in horror and discovered that the cave where Long Chen was located had actually exploded, and a figure flew out in a sorry state.

"Is that Long Chen?"

Someone exclaimed, recognizing that the person was indeed Long Chen. After flying out of the cave, Long Chen leaped and flew downwards.

Just as he jumped down, a huge palm shadow flew out from behind him, missing Long Chen by a hair's breadth. It was truly perilous.

That palm phantom carried violent power, causing people's eardrums to ring, and the entire stone wall trembled.

The palm shadow missed its mark, and an angry roar filled with cold killing intent came: "You bastard brat, how dare you deceive this old man! Die!"

The voice was like a wave, and as the voice fell, a black shadow flew out from the cave, its entire body covered in a mass of black mist.

The moment that person flew out, they were illuminated by the light on the stone pillars, and the black mist on their body immediately began to burn, emitting crackling sounds.

"Ahhh… I am so angry! Brat, stop right there!" That figure, amidst everyone's sheer terror, actually pushed through the light and chased after Long Chen.

"Long Chen!"

Tang Waner was overjoyed to suddenly see Long Chen fly out.

"Silly girl, what are you standing there for? Run!"

Long Chen had just flown out of the cave when he saw Tang Waner coming towards him. He pushed her with one palm, and Tang Waner immediately flew away as if riding the clouds and mist.

"Boom!"

Just as Tang Waner was pushed away, a huge palm shadow over a zhang long struck down from the air. Long Chen couldn't dodge in time and was immediately struck, letting out a muffled groan before crashing straight into the ground.

"Bang!"

With a loud explosion, the ground was forcefully smashed into a large crater by Long Chen, and even the surrounding stone platforms were cracked by the shock.

The incident happened so suddenly that no one could react in time. Only after Long Chen had been attacked repeatedly did Tu Fang shout, "Form the White Tiger Dragon-Trapping Formation!"

The dozen or so Elders immediately shouted and slapped the stone pillars in front of them with their hands. Patterns emerged on the sixteen stone pillars, resembling a giant net that covered a radius of ten miles, enclosing that figure in the center.

Only then did Long Chen crawl out of the dirt. Even with his strong Physical Body, he was dazed and seeing stars from the impact.

However, seeing that Gui Sha was enclosed in the middle of the Formation, Long Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally managed to save his own life.

Everyone was dumbfounded, blankly staring at the body covered in black mist, the figure whose true face could not be seen.

Although they couldn't see the figure's true face, they knew that it was undoubtedly a powerful Evil Corpse.

Previously, there had been cases where people who failed the assessment and exited the cave were chased by Evil Corpses. However, once those Evil Corpses exited the cave entrance and were illuminated by the light on the stone pillars, they would immediately turn into a skeleton, their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

But this Evil Corpse that Long Chen was fighting could actually push through the light and chase him out of the cave. It was truly terrifying.

That figure was fixed in place by the Formation. No matter how he struggled, he still couldn't move, as if bound by countless invisible ropes.

"Long Chen, there was a slight accident during this assessment, but it is still within the scope of the assessment regulations, so you are still in the assessment."

"So now, you can choose to continue the assessment or choose to withdraw. However, once you withdraw, it will only count as a failure," Tu Fang said, looking at Long Chen.

Long Chen rolled his eyes. What a joke! Let me fight such a powerful monster? Isn't that just asking for death?

It turned out that inside the cave, Long Chen had been humbly learning the Nether Ghost Shadow Steps from Gui Sha. He was both surprised and delighted by this set of footwork.

This was a very profound footwork. Moreover, Long Chen kept a wary eye out; not only did he record and familiarize himself with the incantations, but he also asked about many cultivation techniques and usage methods, asking in great detail.

Originally, Gui Sha just wanted to use a set of incantations to fool Long Chen. However, Long Chen stared intently at the details and repeatedly asked questions, which annoyed Gui Sha to no end. But for the sake of his goal, he had to swallow his anger and keep explaining, which was why it had taken so long.

Every time Gui Sha was enraged by Long Chen's questions, Long Chen would act as if he were saying, "If you don't teach me, I won't help you even if I have to commit suicide."

Gui Sha was held firmly in Long Chen's grip. Furthermore, Long Chen was very cunning; he was even more familiar with some Qi circulation methods and routes than this old monster, making it impossible for him to spout nonsense. Thus, over such a long time, he had no choice but to honestly teach the Nether Ghost Shadow Steps.

At the same time, he comforted himself, thinking that once he entered Long Chen's body, he would immediately devour his Soul, so he let him be smug for a while.

Finally, in order to verify its authenticity, Long Chen even experimented a few times and discovered that under the circulation of that strange method, his Spiritual Qi could actually make his body much more agile.

At this time, Gui Sha began to urge Long Chen, telling him to get ready and start extracting his Soul from this corpse and injecting it into his Dantian.

First, Long Chen had to point a finger at Gui Sha's glabella. Gui Sha began to circulate his Soul Power to break through the seal.

When Gui Sha circulated his Soul Power, countless strange patterns immediately lit up on the Evil Corpse, desperately sealing his Soul Power.

However, in the end, through Gui Sha's efforts, a gap was opened in his glabella, making it impossible for Long Chen to resist, allowing his Soul Power to enter Long Chen's Dantian along his finger.

Long Chen nodded in agreement, and Gui Sha began to resist the power of the runes on his body while detaching his own Soul from the shell. The process was extremely strenuous and slow.

Long Chen could even sense that Gui Sha's terrifying Soul Power began to be consumed rapidly while resisting those runes.

At this moment, Long Chen began to quietly prepare. When half of Gui Sha's Soul had been injected into Long Chen's finger and started to spread towards his arm…

Long Chen finally knew the time was ripe. He slammed the Thunder power he had been brewing for a long time towards Gui Sha's Soul.

Soul Power feared Thunder power the most. Even one as powerful as Gui Sha could not withstand it. He let out a miserable scream, and his whole body flew backward, his Soul suffering immense damage.

At this moment, Long Chen took to his heels and ran, rushing towards the cave entrance with the fastest speed in his life.

However, this Gui Sha was truly terrifying. Even after consuming more than half of his Soul Power, he still reacted quickly.

At this moment, he was uncontrollably furious. He knew that Long Chen had been toying with him all along and had no intention of cooperating with him at all. He finally went berserk and began to attack crazily.

Unfortunately, Long Chen still managed to escape in the end. However, Gui Sha was driven mad with rage. He was determined to kill Long Chen, so he chased him out, used a secret technique to temporarily block the light of the light pillars, but still failed to kill Long Chen and was trapped.

Seeing Long Chen cast a look of disdain, Tu Fang threw out another condition, saying, "You may invite your companions."