Chapter 100: Trial of Death  

Translator: KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor:

In the wake of the voice that echoed out, the crowd automatically opened up a path.

A dignified middle-aged man wearing exquisite armor slowly walked into the crowd under the accompaniment of two generals.

His gaze descended onto Yu Xiang.

Yu Xiang’s face went grim.

"Vice Commander, Sir! Captains, Sirs!"

The robust general respectfully saluted the three people who had just arrived.

"Vice Commander, Sir! Captains, Sirs!"

All of the surrounding youths, including Yu Xiang, who had an ugly expression, respectfully saluted.

Only one violet-clothed youth stood there unfazed.

The dignified middle-aged man, or in other words, the Vice Commander of the Iron Blood Army, deeply glanced at Duan Ling Tian as he asked, "Why didn’t you salute?"

Xiao Yu and Meng Quan both broke out into cold sweat, worrying about Duan Ling Tian.

The corners of Yu Xiang’s mouth curled into a sneer, as he felt that Duan Ling Tian was going to have a hard time...

"I’m not a member of the Iron Blood Army right now. Why should I salute you?" Duan Ling Tian asked indifferently.

"Audacious!" the two captains behind the Vice Commander roared. Their expressions went grim.

Instantly, two dense murderous auras enveloped Duan Ling Tian, as if wanting to force Duan Ling Tian into submission...

However, they were bound to be disappointed.

Duan Ling Tian stood on the spot, unfazed.

The two Captains were stupefied and their expressions froze.

Was this really a youth of only sixteen or seventeen years?

To actually be able to disregard the murderous aura they developed on the battlefield....

If they knew what Duan Ling Tian did for a living in his previous life, maybe they wouldn’t be so surprised.

The Vice Commander glanced deeply at Duan Ling Tian as he asked in interest, "What kind of principle is this? They aren’t Iron Blood Army members either, so why did they salute us?"

"Them?"

Duan Ling Tian swept his gaze at the surrounding youths before slowly saying, "There are only three reasons why they would have saluted you. The first, they feared you; the second, they admired you; or the third, following the behavior of the crowd blindly."

"Fear? Admire? Follow the crowd blindly? Haha... Interesting, interesting. I must say, what you just said went straight to the heart of the matter."

The Vice Commander nodded as he emitted a rare smile on his face.

Xiao Yu and Meng Quan heaved a sigh of relief.

Yu Xiang and Yu Xiao’s group of youths, however, had ugly expressions.

"So you’re saying that you don’t fear me, don’t admire me, nor do you follow blindly with the crowd, right?" the Vice Commanded asked.

"Yes."

Duan Ling Tian nodded.

The Vice Commander suddenly turned hostile as he roared, "Audacious!" And then an even more terrifying murderous aura enveloped Duan Ling Tian.

Not only that, but this murderous aura even spread out to the surroundings, causing all the surrounding youths’ faces to turn slightly pale.

Even Yu Xiang was suppressed to the point that his face flushed.

At this moment, among the people present, besides the two Captains and the Decurion, only one other person wasn’t affected at all by this murderous aura, and it was precisely the person who was at the center of the murderous aura, Duan Ling Tian.

Duan Ling Tian stood there unmoved like a mountain, his expression carefree as if even if Mount Tai were to collapse, it wouldn’t cause his expression to change...

"Good!"

The Vice Commander abruptly started laughing as his eyes emitted a trace of valuing a talent. "Kid, what’s your name?"

"Duan Ling Tian!"

Duan Ling Tian’s eyebrows slightly twitched.

"Duan Ling Tian...Ling Tian...Your name is really arrogant[1]! Actually daring to rise and place yourself above the heavens!"

The smile on the Vice Commander’s face didn’t disappear as he continued, "I’m the Iron Blood Army’s Vice Commander, Qiao Qing Shan, and the person in charge of the Genius Camp test today. I hope you can smoothly pass the test, as I’m really looking forward to your performance."

Duan Ling Tian smiled lightly and said, in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, "I will surely not let Vice Commander Qiao be disappointed."

The surrounding youths were completely dumbstruck.

When Duan Ling Tian started arguing with the Vice Commander Qiao, all of them thought that he was going to have a hard time.

But in the end, seeing Duan Ling Tian actually being able to receive special attention from Vice Commander Qiao caused them to be unable to help themselves from gasping in admiration...

If it was them in his place, they would probably have long been scared sh*tless by Vice Commander Qiao.

Duan Ling Tian!

They all deeply remembered this name.

This youth who dared to confront an Iron Blood Army Vice Commander who had gone through hundreds of bloody battles. He was bound to be engraved deep within their memories.

Yu Xiang’s expression became even uglier.

"This guy..."

His gaze fell upon Duan Ling Tian and it emitted a trace of maliciousness.

Duan Ling Tian frowned.

This Yu Xiang didn’t know when to cut it quits.

"Decurion Wang Mang, you did a great job earlier and didn’t throw the face of our Iron Blood Army."

Meanwhile, Qiao Qing Shan looked towards the robust general and nodded.

Wang Mang stood ramrod straight as he loudly said, "Vice Commander, Sir! This is my duty."

"Very good! Wang Mang, from today onwards, you will replace Yu Hong and be promoted to the rank of Centurion... Yu Hong privately obtained test qualifications for his brother, and that is considered to be exploiting his power for his brother, so he will be demoted to the rank of Decurion."

Qiao Qing Shan had a tranquil expression as he slowly gave his orders.

Yu Xiang’s expression distorted greatly.

Never would he have expected that he actually indirectly caused harm to his own elder brother.

The gaze he looked at Duan Ling Tian with became even more filled with malice...

As far as he was concerned, all of this was because of Duan Ling Tian!

If it wasn’t for Duan Ling Tian, Wang Mang wouldn’t be drawn over, and the matter wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand.

"Thank you, Vice Commander, Sir!"

Wang Mang had a pleasantly surprised look on his face as he repeatedly expressed his thanks.

"You deserve it."

Qiao Qing Shan nodded.

Seeing all that was happening, Duan Ling Tian’s eyes flashed with a bright light, as a sense of admiration arose in his heart.

Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward.

"Duan Ling Tian, reporting to Vice Commander, Sir!"

Duan Ling Tian saluted Qiao Qing Shan.

Qiao Qing Shan was dazed for a moment before reacting to Duan Ling Tian’s change of attitude, and he laughed. "You, kid, you’re really interesting."

After a moment, Qiao Qing Shan turned his gaze over to Yu Xiang. "Yu Xiang, I should really reclaim the number card in your hand and abolish your qualification to participate in the Genius Camp test...

"But since your elder brother has already been punished now, I’ll let bygones be bygones."

"Thank you, Vice Commander, Sir!"

Yu Xiang was anguished in his heart, but he could only express his gratitude.

"OK, it’s noon, so the Genius Camp test will officially begin!"

Qiao Qing Shan’s thunderous voice that contained Origin Energy echoed out, transmitting out towards the entire drill grounds...

At the same time, he brought along the two Captains and ascended the high platform in the center of the drill grounds.

"This year, our Iron Blood Army’s Genius Camp test will be different from the previous years. This year’s test is only about one word: slaughter!"

Qiao Qing Shan looked at the group of youths in front of him as he slowly spoke.

Slaughter?

Many of the youths had puzzled expressions.

"Interesting."

The corners or Duan Ling Tian mouth curled into a light smile.

Xiao Yu had a tranquil expression.

Meng Quan’s expression turned slightly pale as he asked, "Duan Ling Tian, Xiao Yu, this slaughter can’t be indicating killing someone, right?"

"What, haven’t killed someone before?" Duan Ling Tian asked, in a joking manner.

"Of course not!"

Meng Quan shook his head.

"Then you better learn properly today."

Duan Ling Tian smiled.

"You’ve killed someone before?"

Meng Quan’s eyes stared wide open.

"Is it that strange?"

Duan Ling Tian was dazed.

"I just remembered that you’re a freak... Xiao Yu, have you killed someone before?"

After he rolled his eyes at Duan Ling Tian, Meng Quan looked eagerly at Xiao Yu.

"Yes."

Xiao Yu nodded.

Meng Quan laughed bitterly, "Damn, I probably won’t get through the test."

"The test hasn’t even started and you’re already so sluggish. If you ask me, you should just give up and go home," Duan Ling Tian angrily scolded.

"No, I’m not going home! I will definitely pass the test!"

After hearing what Duan Ling Tian said, Meng Quan seemed to recall something as his gaze abruptly became firm, causing Duan Ling Tian and Xiao Yu to be caught off guard.

It looked like Meng Quan was a person with a story as well...

Meanwhile, the Iron Blood Army’s Vice Commander, Qiao Qing Shan, had already started announcing the test rules. "This year’s test stresses upon three main points: courage, strength, and teamwork! The participants of the test may participate in a solo fashion or team up with the companions that they trust..."

Duan Ling Tian and Xiao Yu looked at each other and smiled.

"Meng Quan, Xiao Yu and I plan to participate together. Do you want to join us?" Duan Ling Tian asked.

"Thanks, I know you two are trying to help me, but I want to rely on myself... You two can help me right now,, but you can’t help me my entire life."

Meng Quan’s eyes flashed with a trace of gratitude as he saw through Duan Ling Tian’s intentions.

"I believe that you will certainly pass the test."

Duan Ling Tian nodded.

"Right, Duan Ling Tian and I will take the test solo to encourage you," said Xiao Yu.

"This year’s test will be conducted in a one versus ten fashion... Your opponents will be the enemy kingdom’s soldiers that my Iron Blood Army took as prisoners. Anyone who kills all ten enemy kingdom’s soldiers will be considered to have passed the test."

Qiao Qing Shan paused briefly.

Immediately, various changes of expressions occurred on the youths that were present.

"Are you kidding? We have to face ten enemy kingdom soldiers by ourselves? Even if those soldiers are far from being comparable to the elite soldiers of the Iron Blood Army, they would still be at least at the ninth level of the Body Tempering Stage. If there were some Core Formation Stage martial artists mixed within, how could we possibly deal with it?"

"Yeah, this is virtually a trial of death!"

...

The entire drill ground was in uproar.

"Silence!"

Qiao Qing Shan’s voice smothered out the voices of everyone present.

Instantly, peace was restored to the drill grounds.

"Out of the ten enemy kingdom soldiers that I’ve arranged for each and every one of you, six are at the ninth level of the Body Tempering Stage, three at the first level of the Core Formation Stage, and one at the second level of the Core Formation Stage... If two people take the test jointly, then they will be assigned 12 ninth level Body Tempering prisoners, six first level Core Formation prisoners, and two second level Core Formation prisoners. If it is three people jointly taking the test, you can deduce it from the earlier allocations... If anyone among you doesn’t dare to take the test, you may choose to withdraw right now and leave my Iron Blood Army’s drill grounds."

As he finished speaking, Qiao Qing Shan’s voice became cold and indifferent.

"Now, I’ll give you all three minutes to consider," Qiao Qing Shan added.

Immediately, the drill grounds was in chaos.

After three minutes had passed, only a mere ten or so people left.

The remaining youths still numbered at over 200 people.

"Only so few left."

Meng Quan was slightly surprised.

"Only a few of the people standing here today are hoping to catch a lucky break after all; most of the people have the determination to bet their lives, so how could they possibly withdraw from the test so easily?"

Duan Ling Tian saw through things thoroughly, and thus he pinpointed the truth behind the matter.

"These enemy kingdom soldiers will have martial skills that are far inferior to ours, but they have experienced the battlefield and fought countless battles and consider killing to be a game, so we can’t look down on them."

Xiao Yu’s words were obviously spoken for Meng Quan.

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[1](TL Note – If anyone is wondering, the Ling Tian in the MC’s name is also half of the title of this novel. Anyway it would mean to soar/rise above the heavens, and is what happened in this dialogue here. Just wanted to clear this up.)