Cheat Cultivator's Ascension-Chapter 425: Risks and Rewards

Seeing the expression on Su Xiaotian's face, Ling Feng couldn't help but take a few steps back all while slurring his words trying to convince the immortal-like young man already cracking his hands not to hit him too hard, his body intending on continuing to create distance between the two of them had it not been for the two figures standing straight and unbothered stopping him on his path.

"Looks quite lively, let me join in on the fu— oh, on second thought, I'll just stay here, Ah Tian, what do you want to do with Ah Feng?" seeing his two sworn brothers seemingly horsing around, one of these figures' thought that he should join in on the entertainment, only for him to completely change his mind as he saw the modest smile on the immortal-like young man's face, something that made even him, who believes himself to be made out of guts, to feel quite uncomfortable with just his sworn brother's gaze alone.

"Hahaha, Old Tian, Old Feng, let's stop horsing around now, look, an elder from the Dao Seeking Mountain is already approaching" looking at his good brothers acting like that, the last one of the four, the fierce-looking yet still handsome Huo Chen said with an amused smile on his face, the fact that the one usually the most mature and collected among the four of them, Su Xiaotian, acting like that brings him a new understanding of this immortal-like young man's nature.

Hearing the words from the fierce-looking young man, the two stops their antics and immediately shifts their attention towards the elder of the Dao Seeking Mountain already having the attention of the entire group of participants on him, causing him to nod in satisfaction as he felt like the discipline this young people have is quite good even despite them having quite the tall pride as well.

"What do you think the second trial is?" waiting for this elder to start informing them about the second trial, the cunning-looking Wang Sheng asked, his question obviously directed towards the one who appears to be the closest with the organizer of this competition compared to the rest of their group.

"It's about to be explained in a moment anyway, why ask that now and not two days ago?" hearing Wang Sheng's question, Huo Chen couldn't help but point out with a trace of annoyance in his tone, making the cunning-looking young man frown a bit as he felt that he needs to duke it out with this sworn brother of his.

"What the hell is it with you if I want to ask Ah Tian that question or not, Ah Chen, what? Are you my mother?" smiling tauntingly at the fierce-looking young man, Wang Sheng asked with pride filling his voice, almost as if he is completely confident that Huo Chen won't be able to find anything to retort to his question.

Unfortunately for him, he just set himself up for the biggest punchline he might ever receive, with both Huo Chen who is pretty well versed with arguments with him, and the witty Ling Feng missing a beat, and his most talented and powerful sworn brother throwing the punchline, making sure that there's nothing he can do to hit him back, whether it is mentally with words or physically with an attack.

"Sheng, I may not be your mother, but I sure am your father!! Haha!!" unable to contain his laughter as well, the immortal-like young man said before he exploded in joy as he never expected that he will eventually find a time that he can make this crass, Earth joke in this world, his words making both the fierce-looking young man and the amiable-looking young man to puff their cheeks as they initially tried to stop the immense laughter coming out, only for them to fail as they exploded in laughter as well.

Should they be heard by the elder who is about to start speaking, their group, well, except for Su Xiaotian whose combat power goes way beyond theirs, would definitely be in for a hell of a beating from the elder of the Dao Seeking Mountain, but luckily for them, their most talented sworn brother already foresaw this happening and immediately weaved a barrier made purely out of soul power to isolate the noises they made from coming out, all while still making sure that everything in the surrounding still enters the barrier so that they won't miss anything that the elder will say.

As he watches both Huo Chen and Ling Feng holding their stomachs and gasping for air between their laughter, Wang Sheng also starts laughing as well, as even he, who got directly hit by Su Xiaotian's joke, couldn't help but admit that he got him good with that, and recalling the joke, he starts laughing as his mind runs and begins imagining glorious moments where he can use this line against other people who might foolishly ask a question similar to the one he just asked.

"Damn it Ah Tian! You're really ruthless!! I need payment for the mental damage you have done, let me take that line for later use, hehehe" acting aggrieved as if the immortal-like young man just hit a sensitive spot, Wang Sheng said with his tone filled with righteous indignation, even going as far as slamming his clenched fist onto his chest acting like he was totally betrayed, before his face changes into his usual, cunning expression as he said the latter part of his words.

"Feel free to use it, I doubt you will ever be able to use it against me anyways" waving his hand as if he's giving something to someone all too generously, Su Xiaotian replied in confirmation making Wang Sheng smile, with their two remaining sworn brothers taking a gulp as they knew that they have a good chance of slipping and allowing Wang Sheng to use the joke against them.

While the four of them are still enjoying talking to each other, they stop as they hear the Dao Seeking Mountain's elder already speaking, reminding the remaining participants of the competition about the dangers and opportunities lying on the second trial of the competition.

"Alright young people, first, once again, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for passing the first trial, some with flying colors while some barely, yet nevertheless really impressive…" the middle-aged elder said with a smile on his face, his comforting words further boosting the ego of the ones who previously came out of the first trial the fastest and increasing the confidence of the ones who came out of the first trial the latest.

"Enough about the first trial now, welcome to the second trial, young geniuses from all across the continent" he said with a welcoming tone in his voice as he smiles towards the young geniuses, participants of this competition, a satisfaction welling from the depth of his heart as he experiences first hand the fact that the younger generation will often go beyond the previous one, leading everyone to greater heights.

"Ahem, well, the trials of the Dao Enlightenment Competition always come with two sides, the dangers and its benefits, something that all of you should already know after passing the first trial" the elder said, garnering agreement from almost everyone of the participants as they all felt like there are some improvements that they received after passing the illusion on the first trial.

"While this trial will have some benefit as well, the difference is that the first trial focuses mostly on the mental fortitude and strength of the participants, this second trial will focus mostly on the spirit, well, you will find out once you descend this valley" pointing at the deep gap between two tall mountains near the one they are currently on, the elder starts explaining further in-depth with his tone shifting from the neutral one to one filled with pride for having a place like this in the force he belongs to.

"That is the Sky Compressing Valley, a place that puts any cultivator's spirit to a test, completely pushing their spirit qi back to their body and even suppressing it to the point that it would start to forcefully compress, a process all too dangerous to a cultivator who doesn't temper their spirit qi well enough…" as the elder starts explaining, some of the participants already starts frowning thinking that this trial is about to be troublesome, while some others also starts smiling excitedly as if they are looking forward to this trial more and more.

"Well, some of you already guessed it, it seems, but I will say it anyway, as for those who tempered their spirit qi to a certain degree, they will gain immense benefits from this, compressing their qi further and improving its quality, and eventually its quantity since the compression of their spirit qi will allow a lot more of it to be stored in their bodies" the elder explained, causing a significant number of the geniuses in this place to roar in utter excitement.