Chapter 444: A soft laughter

Staring at the blue-robed young man who was calmly flying towards the center of the arena, the white-robed Dao King's, Elder Zhuan's eyes suddenly widened as he immediately recognized him with a single glance.

Even some of the disciples from the Holy sect behind Elder Zhuan who hadn't taken a clear look at him earlier, now had serious looks in their eyes as they remembered the scene they had seen through the screen of light during the third test.

The blue-robed young man in front of them had not only killed 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators during the third test right after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, but Elder Zhuan had also verified, that he had already comprehended the Dao of Space and had even set it as his foundation Dao for his body refinement.

Now that his cultivation had already advanced to the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, even the disciples of the Holy sect knew that they could no longer look down on him.

If Shun Long could kill normal peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators while he was at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, then after breaking through to the peak of rank 1, it was very likely that he had the strength to threaten even some of them!

Only a few of the disciples behind Elder Zhuan could remain completely calm, as they were barely affected by the appearance of this peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator in front of them. 

The tall and robust young man who had eliminated Hu Liu earlier, narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at Shun Long, but a smile soon appeared on his lips.

Although he had already said a month ago that he didn't put Shun Long in his eyes, he knew that someone who could defeat a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator when he had just broken through to the Nascent Soul was definitely considered a genius.

However, which of the disciples of the Holy sect wasn't also considered a genius? 

From the nearly 30 disciples that had already passed the fourth test, the robust, long-haired young man from the Holy sect didn't put any of them in his eyes, aside from the black-robed young man named Jiang Chen and a few others.

Of course, Shun Long was completely oblivious to the thoughts of the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky, as he slowly arrived at the center of the arena.

Seeing the young man with long brown hair in front of him who was holding the token with the number '351' in his hands, Shun Long's eyes slowly turned serious.

He could feel that this person in front of him was clearly stronger than the average disciples of the Holy sect who had previously fought in the arena, and he was already staring at him with an ice-cold look in his eyes.

It was obvious that this yellow-robed young man had already seen Shun Long's fighting style during the third test, and he wasn't going to underestimate him.

At that moment, Shun Long could feel this person's aura at the peak rank 3 of the Nascent Soul exploding out of his body, before he took out a long, silver-colored sword from his spatial ring.

This was clearly a peak rank 3 gold grade sword!

Staring at the blue-robed young man in front of him whose eyes had already turned serious, the long-haired young man from the Holy sect held his sword with his right hand before he asked in a cold tone

''Are you ready?''

Seeing the silver-colored sword in the yellow-robed man's hands and feeling the aura coming from his body, Shun Long knew that he couldn't hold back in this fight.

However, just as he was about to take out the black sword with mysterious patterns from his spatial ring and reveal his star-rank weapon, Shun Long heard a soft laughter coming from the sky, as it resounded throughout the arena.  This laughter wasn't loud, but it instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Raising his head, Shun Long saw the white-robed Dao Emperor looking at him with a smile on his face, before he slowly turned his attention towards the yellow-robed young man opposite of him.

Everyone in the arena seemed to have a sudden premonition of what Cao Ling was about to say, but they couldn't believe it, so they continued to stare at the Dao Emperor in the sky as the arena fell into complete silence.

And yet, Cao Ling didn't seem to care about the reactions from the disciples behind him or those in the audience seats, as he stared at the long-haired young man at the center of the arena and said in a casual tone

''There is no need to hold back. Fight at full strength!''

The moment that these words resounded in the silent arena, everyone, including the peak rank 9 Dao King, Elder Zhuan, stared at the white-robed Dao Emperor with shock in their eyes.

''Fight at full strength? Against a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator?''

It didn't matter if it was the white-robed Elder Zhuan, the disciples of the Holy sect, or those sitting in the audience seats, none of them believed that something like this was possible as they stared at each other with looks filled with incredulity.

This was the second time that this Dao Emperor Elder had ordered for such a fight to happen, and this time, it was even more difficult than the previous one.

At least the black-robed young man named Jiang Chen was at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, but this 'blue-robed young man's' cultivation was only at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul!

Even Elder Zhuan who had already seen Shun Long's full strength during the third test, felt that something like this was absolutely impossible.

''No, even if the top outer disciples had to suppress their cultivation to the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul and fight against someone at the of peak rank 3, they may not necessarily win. And yet senior Cao Ling wants to make this even harder? Even inner disciples most likely can't do something like this! What is senior Cao thinking?''

As this thought flashed through his mind, the white-robed Dao King stared at Cao Ling in front of him with a perplexed look.

At that moment, both Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had worried looks on their faces that neither of them could hide. Even Liu Mei who had absolute confidence in Shun Long's ability felt that something like this was impossible! After all, at some point, the difference in cultivation realms couldn't be bridged! It was almost as if Shun Long and the black-robed young man from earlier had intentionally offended the Elder and were now suffering his anger.

Even the black-robed Jiang Chen had now opened his eyes and was staring at the powerful bald Dao Emperor in the sky, before he turned his attention towards Shun Long. 

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Author's note: 1/2