Chapter 276

First Pass

"As expected, the spiritual pressure on the Golden Platform grows stronger the higher I go. I've only reached the five thousandth step, but the pressure is already enough to make ordinary rank two Arcana Masters slow down."

Zhuo Wen muttered to himself as he stared at the arcanists, who were clearly slowing down, as he stood halfway up the Golden Platform.

He could sense that the Arcanists who were able to reach the mountainside were all Grade Two Arcanists. Although most of them were Grade Two Lower Tier Arcanists, there were also some Grade Two Greater Tier Arcanists.

Zhuowen's arrival naturally attracted the attention of many arcanists halfway up the mountain. When these arcanists noticed Zhuowen's face, they were all surprised.

They could still clearly remember that the young man in front of them had only arrived after the first stage had started. His position should have been at the very back of everyone. It hadn't been long since he had arrived, but he was already halfway up the mountain?

Wasn't this speed a little too shocking?

Zhuowen ignored the curious gazes of the arcanists around him and raised his head to look at the endless flight of stairs. His brows furrowed slightly. If the pressure on the Golden Platform grew stronger and stronger, his speed would most likely slow down. When that happened, he wouldn't be able to guarantee that he would be able to make it into the top one hundred in the allotted time.

Dong!

A loud and clear sound of a bell suddenly rang out, reverberating throughout the entire arcane trial grounds like a great bell. It immediately attracted the attention of all the climbing arcanists.

Then, at the top of the Golden Stage, a huge light screen suddenly appeared like a banner. At the top of the light screen was the two huge words "Su Yang", which was unusually conspicuous in the entire Arcane Test Field.

"Someone has already reached the top of the Golden Word Summit. I didn't expect it to be so fast!"

"Who is this Su Yang?

He doesn't seem to be an Arcanist from Broken Rock City! "

"I heard that this Su Yang is a genius sent by An Ding City's Arcane Guild. His Mental Energy has already reached the Advanced Third Grade, much stronger than our Broken Rock City's Xue Nai!"

The seats above the training ground first descended into a short period of silence before a clamorous discussion suddenly erupted.

In the VIP seats, a smug smile suddenly appeared on Master Huo Yun's face. He glanced at Master Han Yun with a slight provocation and said, "It seems that our Anding City is still a little better. Su Yang is still quite capable."

When Master Huo Yun said this, Master Han Yun's face became extremely gloomy. He said coldly, "This is only the first stage. It doesn't mean anything!"

"Really?"

Grandmaster Huo Yun chuckled coldly and did not say anything else. Instead, he turned his attention back to the golden word stage.

Qiu Chou, Master Ku Ya, and the others who were sitting in the front row also heard Master Huo Yun's words and their expressions turned ugly.

"Brother Ku Ya, your disciple is much weaker than those two old fellows' disciples!

Right now, he's still only ranked fourth. "Qiu Chou coldly snorted.

When Master Ku Ya heard this, he felt somewhat uncomfortable. He smiled bitterly and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. After all, Xue Nai is a few years younger than their disciples. It's understandable that her strength is a little weaker …"

Halfway up the golden word stage, Zhuowen's eyes narrowed. He immediately turned his head to look at the incense stick that had just been lit and muttered, "This Su Yang is a little too strong. It's only been half an incense stick's time and he's already reached the top. Fortunately, this is only the first stage. As long as he gets into the top 655, it's fine!"

At around the nine thousandth step of the golden word stage, Xue Nai continued to climb up with some difficulty. She was panting and sweating profusely. She looked at Su Qi, who was not far away from her, with a trace of determination in her eyes.

"At the very least, I have to make it into the top three. Only then will I not embarrass our Broken Rock City too much!

If no one in the top three is an arcanist from Broken Rock City, I don't know what others will think of our Broken Rock City! "

As she spoke, Xue Nai forcefully unleashed the Mental Energy in her Niwan Palace. Her speed increased by a few notches, and she was only ten steps away from Su Qi.

In front, Su Qi seemed to have also noticed Xue Nai, who was constantly approaching below. Her beautiful eyes shifted slightly, and after glancing at Xue Nai, who seemed to be struggling, a cold smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "A mere Initial Grade Three Arcanist wants to surpass me? That's a little wishful thinking!"

As she spoke, an even more powerful Mental Energy suddenly erupted from Su Qi's body. Then, with a light step, her speed increased by several times. In the blink of an eye, she had left Xue Nai behind by dozens of steps.

Xue Nai's pretty face instantly turned deathly pale as she looked at the beautiful figure who was getting further and further away from her. A trace of helplessness faintly leaked out from her clear and cold eyes. She was really unwilling to accept this. The Arcana Ceremony was clearly held by their Broken Rock City, but none of the top three arcanists in the first stage belonged to their Broken Rock City. This involuntarily caused a trace of grievance to rise in Xue Nai's heart.

Dong!

Dong!

Another two loud bell sounds rang out, and two more names appeared on the light screen at the top of the Golden Word Summit. They were Zhou Yi and Su Qi, ranked second and third respectively.

Xue Nai clenched her teeth as she looked at the three names on the light screen at the top. The helplessness in her eyes became even more intense. However, this girl's willpower was quite firm. She clenched her teeth and continued to climb. Finally, after twenty breaths, she reached the top of the Golden Word Summit.

The top of the Golden Word Summit was a vast platform. On the platform, there were neatly arranged green stone platforms. There were a total of a hundred stone platforms, and the materials needed to refine the 'Seal Breaking Crystal' were placed on top of the stone platforms.

Xue Nai's appearance naturally attracted the attention of Su Yang, Zhou Yi, and Su Qi, who were already waiting at the top. However, their gazes were still filled with arrogance and faint mockery. Clearly, they also recognized the number one person among the younger generation in Broken Rock City.

"Yo!

Isn't this the number one person among the younger generation in Broken Rock City?

To be able to obtain fourth place with your initial grade three Mental Energy, you've made me look at you in a new light.

I originally thought that you would be ranked outside of the top five! "Su Qi, who was standing beside Su Yang, raised her pretty face and slightly curled her cherry lips as she sneered.

Xue Nai coldly glanced at Su Qi, who was practically looking down at her. She did not refute, but instead quietly found a green stone platform and silently observed the materials on it. However, her tightly clenched hands revealed that Xue Nai's current state of mind was not as calm as she appeared on the surface.

Seeing that Xue Nai was unmoved, Su Qi also lost interest in continuing to ridicule her. She rolled her eyes and placed her attention on the green stone platform.

"Sigh!

Our Broken Rock City's young arcanists are indeed inferior to Anding City and Yeyang City. Among the top three, Yeyang City has one place, and Anding City has two. "Ouyang Yuntu looked at the light screen at the top of the golden platform and sighed in a somewhat upset manner.

A bitter smile also surfaced on Master Ku Ya's face as he said, "It's already not easy for Xue Nai to obtain fourth place. It's a little difficult to ask her to enter the top three!"

Qiu Chou only sat in his seat in silence. No one knew what the number one person in Broken Rock City was thinking!

Dong!

Dong!

Dong …

Two-thirds of an incense stick's time had passed since Xue Nai reached the peak. In the remaining one-third of an incense stick's time, arcanists successively arrived at the peak. The loud and clear sound of the bell continuously resounded in the training field, lingering in the air.

Time also slowly passed along with the unceasing sound of the bell …

"There's not much time left. Why hasn't Zhuowen reached the peak yet?"

At this moment, Master Kuraki could no longer remain calm. His gaze locked onto the figure on the nine thousandth step. That figure was Zhuowen.

"There are still a thousand steps left. There's only ten breaths left. It looks like Zhuowen won't have the chance to reach the peak!"

Beside him, Xuan Ling stole a glance at the incense stick nearby and realized that there was only a little bit left. She could not help but helplessly shake her head.

New names were constantly being refreshed on the light screen at the peak. Soon, the number of names reached ninety-nine. There was only one spot left, and there was not much time left. There was only about ten breaths left.

Because Qiu Chou had brought Zhuowen with him at the beginning, many people had placed a certain amount of attention on the late Zhuowen. Now that everyone realized that there were only ten breaths left, and there were still hundreds of steps above Zhuowen, many people could not help but shake their heads and sigh.

"This kid is really unlucky. If he wasn't late, he might have been able to reach the peak within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. But now, it's impossible."

In the VIP seats, Ouyang Yuntu stared at Zhuowen, who was still climbing, and could not help but shake his head and sigh.

Even Master Ku Ya said regretfully, "Zhuowen's talent is really good. Just now, from his aura, his Mental Energy actually made a breakthrough and reached Perfect Second Grade. With this kind of strength, he should have been able to reach the top of the Golden Stage within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. It's a pity that he missed too much time because he was late."

Qiu Chou frowned slightly. He always felt that Zhuowen was not ordinary. In his opinion, even if Zhuowen missed some time, he should still be able to reach the peak on time!

"There's not much time left!

At my current speed, I'm afraid there's no hope of reaching the peak! "

On the steps, Zhuowen looked at the incense burner that had already burned to the bottom and frowned. Then, he helplessly muttered to himself, "I can only rely on the Thunder Snake Wings. Originally, I didn't want to display this thing, but now, I have no choice."

With a sigh, Zhuo Wen formed a seal with his hands. Immediately, endless lightning surged out from his back. Subsequently, a pair of ten-meter-long lightning python wings grew out from his back.