Two minutes later, I stopped and surveyed the blood-soaked hall. Of all the students, only nine visitors from the library were still alive. However, all nine were missing their arms and legs and were slowly dying from blood loss. Moving quickly, I treated their wounds, stopping the loss of vital fluids from their bodies. Now, I could be sure that they would at least survive until they were ejected from the tomb. That moment was drawing near since teleportation to the "anteroom" was always the first step to the expulsion of the unwelcome.
"What happened here?" - I heard a frightened voice behind me.
Turning around, I saw a group of my companions huddling together, looking around the hall littered with corpses in utter horror.
"So, you're alive?" - I said in surprise. - "I thought you were all dead, so I decided to take revenge."
"Dao Yu ordered us to gather together and wait to be teleported out, instead of trying to reach the main hall."
"Did he? And who gave him the right to command?"
Dao Yu tried to hide behind the others, but I lunged at him, grabbing his throat and lifting him off the ground, cutting off his air and blood flow to the brain.
"I don't know how you knew I’d be left alone against fifty enemies, but that was your last attempt to harm me."
With those words, I tightened my grip, snapping his spine. Dao Yu twitched one last time and fell silent, his lifeless gaze fixed on me. Not satisfied, I threw his body to the ground and stomped on his head, smashing his brain. Alas, the sect had just lost a "promising alchemist." Maybe Dao Yu had his reasons for delaying my companions, but this was an excellent excuse to get rid of him. Lately, he had been throwing hateful glances on my way and acting like some proud and independent genius, but he was nothing of the sort.
"Pick up these bags of meat and head to the exit” - I ordered my stunned companions, still reeling from the scene.
They dared not argue, quickly grabbing the helpless bodies of the nine students from the Radiant Fingers Sect and carrying them into the corridor leading outside. It was possible to wait for forced teleportation, but I preferred to leave voluntarily. If we were being asked to leave, we should do so civilly. There was no point resisting a "request" we lacked the strength to oppose.
Emerging outside, I saw the waiting guards. I expected our escorts might decide to "remove" everyone, but it seemed our "friendly" allies didn’t dare to take that step. However, as I stepped out of the portal, the eyes of the elder from the opposing sect widened in surprise. When the helpless bodies of his "best students" were carried out, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"What... what happened?" - he cried, rushing from one student to the next.
"I followed the agreement between our sects."
"How?... " - he stared at me in disbelief.
"I am permitted to kill any other participant in the trial, except those who reached the Phantom Library. Therefore, these nine bodies are still alive."
"And the others?" - The elder looked around frantically, realizing no other students from his sect were present.
I didn’t respond, merely laughing maliciously. When he noticed the three rings on my left hand, his questions ceased, replaced by new ones. He would have gladly killed me himself, but standing beside me was Chi Hua Hua, who was clearly concerned for my safety.
"Who managed to reach the library?" - our commander asked.
"Only me” - I replied, silently asserting authority over our group. None of the remaining students dared even attempt to speak.
"And what about Dao Yu?" - the examiner frowned.
I glanced around, noting that of the fifty people who entered the tomb, only a little over thirty were standing here now. Clearly, our "allies" had not wasted time, turning the trial into an outright hunt.
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"He didn’t survive” - I answered curtly, giving my companions a warning look. Blood drained from their faces as my gaze instilled primal terror in them. I had already mastered the first stage of the Malicious Gaze technique, so it was easy to instill fear.
"That’s unfortunate. What’s done is done, we won’t dwell on failures. Now we will all head to the central palace of our sect, where the final part of today’s trial will take place. The leader of the Radiant Fingers Sect is visiting us and has made a wager with our leader on the results of your expedition to the tomb."
Chi Hua Hua shot me a meaningful look, clearly hinting that thanks to me, today’s trial had taken a rather unusual turn.
Without wasting a second, our commander enveloped all the survivors with his Qi and flew away. Five more guards joined us as escorts, while the remaining sentinels headed back on foot. The flight lasted almost an hour, during which we traveled quite swiftly. Finally, we arrived at a richly decorated palace situated atop a high mountain. This place was literally overflowing with Qi, and the views from the mountain's summit made it feel as though we had entered paradise.
We were "landed" on a stone platform, then counted, scanned for Qi, and given permission to present our unwashed faces before the divine eyes of the sect leader. Following a servant whose level was no less than the sixth stage of Core Crystallization, we walked through maze-like corridors and emerged into a wide courtyard. The tiles beneath our feet were made of high-quality jade, and the buildings around us glittered with gold leaf and precious stones. Ahead, on a terrace, sat two individuals from whom emanated Qi of mind-blowing power.
"On your knees!" - hissed our escort venomously.
I had to obey, though I vowed to myself that one day I would cut off these sect leaders' legs at the knees and make them crawl in the dust, begging me for mercy.
"So, esteemed Cheon Chu Han, thirty-one of your sect's disciples survived today's trial" - proclaimed the older man majestically. - "Not the worst result."
"It has been worse” - agreed the young man, who looked barely eighteen. "But let's see how many of your disciples are still alive, esteemed Kre Ka Tui."
After these words, a group of servants ran out from the opposite side of the square, carrying nine limbless bodies onto the plaza. Their wounds had been somewhat treated, so they were no longer at death's door, but no one intended to restore their limbs.
"What... what is happening?" - Kre Ka Tui slammed his teacup onto the table angrily.
"Haha, this is the most astonishing result in all two hundred years of trials in the Forbidden Tomb” - Cheon Chu Han smirked smugly. Now he looked at us with pride, as if he truly had something to do with our success.
"Bai Mu Dan, explain yourself!" - the leader of the Radiant Fingers Sect roared fiercely.
The old man who had been overseeing the disciples ran forward and fell to his knees, bowing low to the ground.
"Master, only nine disciples survived today's trial. All the others were killed just before exiting the tomb."
"This is... Cheon Chu Han, you decided to violate the terms of our agreement?" - the humiliated sect leader stared at his neighbor.
"And what terms did we violate?" - Cheon Chu Han inquired serenely, sipping his tea. - "The disciples have the right to compete with each other. The agreement doesn't specify that they can't settle scores after the winners are determined. Chi Hua Hua, could you explain what happened?"
"Yes, my lord” - our kneeling commander suddenly appeared before us.
I didn't even notice his movement. If I had been at maximum acceleration, perhaps I could have seen something, but with my current level, I couldn't have reacted in any case.
"As you said, the terms of the agreement were not violated. This month, one disciple from our sect and nine from the Radiant Fingers Sect reached the Phantom Library. All nine of these disciples are present here. As for the deaths of the other disciples, responsibility for that has been assumed by our finalist, Tan Zi Tao."
"Is he the one who caught Sun Wei Bonk's interest?"
"Yes."
"Let him step forward and tell us what happened."
I didn't wait for further prompting; I stood up and stepped forward, taking a place beside Chi Hua Hua. However, I didn't kneel again but boldly looked at the two powerful cultivators before me.
"Sect Leader, Sect Leader” - I bowed my head, folding my hands before me in a gesture of respect. - "During this trial, I encountered inner-circle disciples from the Radiant Fingers Sect who tried to kill me. I was had to …"
"Lie!" - Kre Ka Tui shouted.
I paused briefly, then continued as if nothing had happened.
"I had to lure them into a trap, where they died a painful death. But before that, they gave me their disciples' rings and this order granting them permission to enter the Valley of Deprivation before the trial began."
With a magician's flourish, I pulled out a scroll and placed it on the palm of my right hand, simultaneously displaying the three rings on my left. Cheon Chu Han frowned, extended his hand, and pulled the scroll toward himself. While he examined its contents, I continued my report.
"After that, I reached the Phantom Library and found that nine disciples from the Radiant Fingers Sect were already there. Before the competition began, I defeated one of the ten better-dressed disciples in an honest duel, rendering him unconscious. All the disciples from the remaining nine became the winners. From this, I concluded that this group had received covert assistance from the inner-circle disciples I had killed, and one spot remained open only because of the eliminated participant."
Cheon Chu Han rolled up the scroll and angrily threw it at his "ally." The latter caught the document and, without looking, incinerated it with some technique. Considering that his signature was on the paper, he couldn't have not known what kind of document it was.