Chapter 65: The second trial

The pressure burst out of him like a silent explosion. His aura rose, fierce and towering, turning the space within the ring into something that felt too small, too close.

His hair lifted, though the air was still. The ground seemed to hum.

Wang Yu controlled the force with precision, locking it inside the ring so the audience would remain unaffected. The spectators stayed seated, calm and composed.

But inside the ring, everything changed.

The moment the pressure descended, bodies folded.

More than ninety candidates bent forward, as if a giant hand pressed against their backs. Some grit their teeth, trembling. Others staggered a few steps, nearly falling. Faces drained of color. Knees shook.

The power of an Exalt revealed itself without need for a single movement.

This was what it meant to stand before someone far above you.

Yet even with his careful control, a thin thread of that pressure spilled out… drifting toward the exempted area.

It reached Ryan’s group like a slow, heavy tide.

For Fan Wei and the others, Wang Yu’s aura was no longer crushing, but it still lingered. It came in waves, one after another, not strong enough to break them, yet irritating enough to demand constant resistance. Ignore it, and it gnawed at the bones. Resist it, and it drains energy little by little.

Annoying. Persistent. And Quite Unpleasant.

Among the exempted few, Mu Xianling stood at the level of a three-star Upper Elite. Her talent surpassed even Li Mingtian back in the day, but talent did not erase pressure. Her brows knitted tightly while her breathing became uneven. She was holding on, but not comfortably.

Fan Wei looked the most relaxed. His cultivation was the highest here, apart from Ryan. The leaking pressure barely made him blink.

Next was Yuan Qiong, affected, but still steady.

Su Sidao, however, fared the worst. Though the pressure was only residual, he treated it like a real battlefield, his stance wavering, sweat forming early.

And then there was Ryan.

He stood there casually, robes fluttering lightly, posture straight and calm. To him, Wang Yu’s momentum was no more than a passing breeze.

Fan Wei noticed, and his pupils shrank slightly.

Why is he completely fine?

Was Wang Yu’s pressure avoiding Ryan?

Of course not.

The truth was simple. Ryan was a nine-star Exalt, while Wang Yu was only a five-star Exalt. Forget about a strand of energy, even if Wang Yu used his entire strength to put pressure on Ryan, nothing would change.

After all, a lower realm’s aura could not suppress a higher one. Ryan did not even need to release his own momentum. His presence alone rendered the pressure meaningless.

Meanwhile, on the ring, time crept forward.

Three minutes passed.

Many faces flushed crimson. Sweat poured like rain on their bodies. Legs trembled violently as they tried their best to hold. But eventually, one by one, candidates collapsed, their bodies giving up before their will. Western Mansion’s proctors moved swiftly, carrying the fallen away.

Ryan’s gaze sharpened, watching several Li Clan members still standing.

Li Baijie. Li Zhanfeng. Li Wulin. Li Shu. Li Wujie.

All of them remained so far.

More shocking still, from the original 118 candidates, fewer than seventy remained after three minutes. Almost all of those still standing were five-star Elites or higher.

Yet Li Shu, only a three-star Elite, was still there.

Small frame. Pale face. Trembling limbs.

But she stood.

Even some eight-star Elites had already fallen, yet this soft-spoken little girl refused to kneel.

Ryan’s eyes flickered.

Interesting…

If Li Shu made it into the third round, Ryan silently decided, he would personally help her grow. Someone like this should not be buried.

She was, without question, the greatest dark horse of this qualification test, aside from the exempted few.

Four minutes passed.

The ring thinned further. Barely fifty remained.

Then—

Li Wulin fell.

The five-star Elite collapsed to his knees, then face-first to the ground. Proctors rushed in.

A sigh rippled through the Li Clan.

So close.

Another minute, and his fate might have changed entirely.

Now, only four Li Clan members remained on the ring.

Li Wujie was certain to advance.

The other three hovered on the edge.

Seconds ticked away.

In the final stretch, several more candidates collapsed just before the line. Their fall, mere heartbeats from success, drew heavy sighs from the audience.

Sometimes, the difference between crossing a chasm and falling into it was only a few seconds.

Twenty seconds remained.

At this moment, Li Shu was clearly at her limit.

Her steps wavered. Her eyes lost focus. Her body swayed violently.

She looked like a tumbler toy, leaning, about to fall…

Fifteen seconds.

But she grit her teeth, digging her nails into her palm, and continued to stand.

Ryan’s gaze narrowed.

Ten seconds.

Now Li Baijie and Li Zhanfeng were in trouble too. Both bent forward, bodies curled, legs shaking uncontrollably. Their breaths came in ragged gasps.

Nine seconds.

eight—

Thump!

A body from the Li Clan hit the ground.

But it wasn’t Li Shu.

She swayed like a drunkard who had lost all sense of direction with her eyes closed, body leaning forward and back, yet her sheer willpower stubbornly refused to touch the ground. Like a tumbler toy, she looked as if the next breath would topple her, but she endured.

The person who collapsed was Li Zhanfeng.

He fell in the final eight seconds.

On the high platform, Li Gengxin let out a long sigh, shaking his head in pity. His expression darkened instantly. Three seconds. Just eight seconds, and Li Zhanfeng could have stepped into a completely different future.

Even Ryan frowned slightly, disappointment flashing across his eyes.

Seven seconds left.

Another body slammed onto the ring.

Still not Li Shu.

It was Fan Chun.

The moment his knees buckled and his body hit the ground, the audience erupted in exclamations. Many people who knew Fan Chun shook their heads in regret. The Fan Clan Patriarch’s face stiffened, his lips pressed tightly together.

Seven seconds.

Just seven seconds more, and Fan Chun would have entered the third round.

But he failed.

Six seconds.

Li Shu still stood.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

*Ting!

“Congratulations,” Wang Yu announced loudly as he withdrew his momentum.

The invisible pressure vanished instantly.

Sweat streamed down Wang Yu’s forehead. Maintaining an Exalt-realm aura for five minutes against more than a hundred people was no small burden, even for him.

Li Shu passed.

She passed the second round in the most fragile, most unbelievable way possible.

The audience burst into applause, loud and sincere. Even those who had doubted her earlier now applauded without reservation. Perseverance like that deserved respect.

Wang Yu nodded repeatedly. If this little girl could enter Western Mansion, her future achievements would be terrifying.

The Li Clan members looked at Li Shu with pride and admiration.

The patriarchs on the high platform congratulated Li Gengxin one after another, making him the center of attention.

But Li Shu heard none of it.

The moment Wang Yu announced the end of the test, she smiled faintly, as if finally satisfied, and then her body went limp.

She fainted.

The Li Clan rushed forward in alarm, but after checking her condition, they finally relaxed. She had only exhausted her strength completely. With proper rest, she would recover in time for the third round.

The remaining candidates who had endured to the end also collapsed where they stood, gasping heavily, faces filled with relief and joy.

Though the second round lasted only five minutes, it was far crueler than the first.

Out of more than a hundred participants, only 48 remained.

More than half were eliminated.

Even many outstanding talents fell here.

From the Li Clan, only Li Baijie, Li Wujie, and Li Shu advanced to the third round, along with Ryan, who was exempt.

Li Xuling, Li Zhanfeng, and Li Wulin were all eliminated.

The Li Clan’s hope now rested on just four people.

As the crowd dispersed, Fan Wei sneered at Ryan.

“Tomorrow is the third round. I hope you don’t cry when you’re beaten down.”

Su Sidao laughed loudly. “I really hoped you’d last long enough to meet me so I could teach you how to behave. But a waste like you? You’ll probably lose in the first match.”

Yuan Qiong chuckled. “If by some miracle you sweep the field tomorrow and beat them all, wouldn’t that be funny? I’m actually looking forward to seeing you embarrass them.”

No one truly believed Ryan could do it.

Ryan remained silent.

Tomorrow, he had already decided, he would stop holding back.

Tigers did not bare their fangs, and people really started mistaking them for sick cats.

“Don’t forget your promise,” Mu Xianling said coldly.

“Don’t worry,” Ryan replied calmly. “I keep my word. I just hope that when you lose, you won’t cry and pretend nothing happened, and then use your family to make empty threats or something.”

“You!” Mu Xianling flared up. “I would never go back on my word!”

“That’s reassuring,” Ryan nodded seriously.

Mu Xianling snorted angrily and stormed off.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep