Chapter 8: Forgive me, it’s my first time making a shield

Ning Yue and Jiang Yishen entered the trial grounds together.

Along the way, many people cast their gazes upon them.

It seemed that quite a few people had witnessed what happened at the entrance.

The jade pendant incident must have also become known, because many people kept approaching them, attempting to walk with them.

Ning Yue rejected them all impartially, walking forward without looking, letting them guess and be curious.

Jiang Yishen was quite uncomfortable with the attention and followed Ning Yue silently.

“Jiang Yishen,” Ning Yue called out, “Are you going to walk with me after we enter the trial grounds?”

“…Mm.” Jiang Yishen answered after a moment’s hesitation.

“Okay,” Ning Yue said readily, “But, inside, I won’t help you with everything.”

“Of course,” Jiang Yishen chuckled, “I can’t rely on you for everything either. I already troubled you enough earlier.”

“Everyone, quiet down”

A senior brother in a disciple’s uniform shouted to the crowd.

“The trials are divided into two stages. In the first stage, everyone enters the same trial ground. After successfully exiting, each person will enter a sword cultivator’s area, an alchemist’s area, a formation cultivator’s area, and so on, according to their circumstances…”

“The time limit is three days. Those who successfully exit within three days will pass. Generally, there will be no life-threatening danger. If you encounter something you can’t handle, you can use the transmission technique, and someone will take you out, but you’ll be considered disqualified.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a large fog arose from the ground, quickly obscuring even those nearby.

Ning Yue narrowed her eyes and quickly grabbed Jiang Yishen’s clothes.

After the fog cleared, Ning Yue observed her surroundings and found herself in a dense forest.

The crowd that had filled the hall was gone, only Jiang Yishen was beside her.

It seemed everyone had been transferred to different areas.

Ning Yue looked at the towering trees around her: “The trial begins.”

“Mm,” Jiang Yishen’s eyes darkened, “We need to find the exit to pass the first trial.”

Ning Yue looked at the seemingly endless forest: “Such a large forest, where do we find the exit?”

Jiang Yishen looked up: “Although it’s called an exit, it’s not a traditional door. It could be a tree, or a leaf. The so-called exit is the center of the entire secret realm.”

“Oh,” Ning Yue nodded, seemingly understanding but still confused about this place.

She patted a large tree beside her: “Such a large place, how do we find the center? Should we climb the tallest tree to take a look?”

Jiang Yishen sighed with a smile: “No need to climb a tree, find the place with the most concentrated spiritual energy.”

Jiang Yishen said: “The Fusang Sect’s first test always rotates through five scenes: fire source, jungle, ice river, desert, and cage. We’re lucky this time; it’s a jungle, which is advantageous for me.”

Ning Yue: “Is it a trial ground simulated according to the characteristics of the five spirit roots?”

“Yes,” Jiang Yishen nodded, “But the scenes appear randomly each time. Sometimes, there’s more than one scene in a trial ground.”

Ning Yue and Jiang Yishen walked side by side into the depths of the jungle.

“We’re just wandering around aimlessly? There’s no time limit or unknown dangers?”

Jiang Yishen sighed helplessly: “Of course there are. These plants aren’t here for nothing. They might attack at any time, and occasionally demonic creatures will appear, but they’re all within our capabilities to handle.”

“Wow” Ning Yue became excited, touching a nearby tree and then the grass on the ground.

“These things will attack people?”

Jiang Yishen’s eyes narrowed, pulling Ning Yue up and behind him: “Careful, I hear something.”

Ning Yue peeked out from behind Jiang Yishen and pointed to the ground.

“That vine on the ground moved.”

As soon as she finished speaking

The bowl-thick vine on the ground attacked the two of them at an incredible speed.

In an instant, they were tightly wrapped around by the vine.

Then, as if it had intelligence, the vine wrapped around Ning Yue’s waist and swung her back and forth, like a swing.

Ning Yue suspected the vine was trying to throw her out.

But it was her first time on such a high swing, and she was a little excited, so she patted the vine wrapping around her.

“Behave, swing higher!”

Whether the vine understood her or was angry, it swung with great vigor.

They could see other participants in the selection in the distance.

“Yahoo”

“I’m coming to save you! Miss Ning”

“Huh?” Ning Yue turned her head and found that Jiang Yishen had already broken free from the vine at some point.

He was jumping onto a tree, drawing his sword to cut the vine wrapping around her.

“Wait”

“What…” Jiang Yishen paused, missing the opportunity, and was quickly entangled by the vine again.

“It’s okay, let it throw us.” Ning Yue narrowed her eyes, looking into the distance, “Don’t struggle.”

Although Jiang Yishen didn’t understand, he obediently didn’t struggle.

The vine, having swung enough, wrapped around them and flung them forward

“Whoa”

The wind whipped their hair, the tangled strands obscuring their eyes.

“Miss Ning” Jiang Yishen shouted against the wind, “Grab my hand”

He intended to catch Ning Yue before they landed to reduce the impact.

But Ning Yue grabbed Jiang Yishen’s wrist and shouted: “Hold on tight.”

Jiang Yishen was stunned.

Then, at the moment of impact

An invisible wind blew, gently cushioning their fall.

Ning Yue reacted extremely quickly, landing on her feet and gracefully jumping to the ground.

Jiang Yishen was stunned, still suspended in mid-air by the wind.

“How long do you want to lie there?” Ning Yue said with a smile, “My spiritual energy is barely enough to carry you out of the trial grounds.”

Jiang Yishen’s face flushed, and he landed.

Ning Yue breathed out and put her hands on her hips: “Not bad.”

Jiang Yishen asked: “Miss Ning, that was…”

“Mm… a wind-type spell,” Ning Yue pondered, “Probably… a derivative spell of the Wood Spirit Root?”

Jiang Yishen: “Miss Ning also has a Wood Spirit Root?!”

“Sort of.” Ning Yue answered, “Forget about that for now. When I was flung into the air, I discovered that the spiritual energy here is the most concentrated. Let’s check this place out.”

Jiang Yishen agreed, not expecting to reach this place so quickly.

After all, once entangled by the vine, the instinctive reaction is to resist.

Only the two of them were in this place, meaning others were still struggling with the vines.

Ning Yue had just taken a step forward when she suddenly stopped.

She raised an eyebrow: “Oh dear?”

As soon as she spoke, the lush plants around them suddenly became menacing.

Thin, needle-like leaves flew towards them at incredible speed.

Those with poor eyesight might not even see them, and they could easily be cut to pieces.

Jiang Yishen immediately condensed his spiritual energy into a shield to protect them.

But he was a step too slow, and Ning Yue was cut on the shoulder by a sharp leaf.

The wound was quite deep.

“Damn!” Ning Yue winced, clutching her arm, “Can’t you just grow leaves properly? What kind of tree grows like this? No wonder it grows in a trial ground. I wouldn’t even want to look at it if it grew outside.”

The leaf-throwing tree paused for a moment, as if it understood her words, and attacked with even greater ferocity.

Jiang Yishen’s cultivation was not high, and cracks soon appeared on his shield.

“Miss Ning,” Jiang Yishen shouted, “I can hold on for a little while longer. Quickly hide behind the tree next to you.”

Ning Yue didn’t move, narrowing her eyes at the tree: “Why are you so petty? You broke down after just a few words? Do you have to be so sensitive?”

The response was an even more violent attack, the cracks on the shield getting larger, about to shatter.

“Stop it! Miss Ning!” Jiang Yishen struggled to stand in front of Ning Yue, “Go quickly, I really can’t hold on anymore.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Ning Yue reached out, and the moment the spiritual energy shield shattered

She condensed a vibrant green light at her fingertips, and a soft light bloomed.

A spiritual energy shield, the same as before, appeared in front of them.

“First time making a shield, the quality is average. Is this okay…?” Ning Yue turned to ask Jiang Yishen.

Jiang Yishen: “…”