Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The Assessment Ends

Song Yan was one of this year’s Outer Disciples, even slightly more outstanding than Chen Ling’Er and Xie Jingyan.

His surname was Song, and it was no coincidence. He came from the very same Song Family that Zhang Chi held a grudge against.

Zhang Chi had already investigated him on the way to the Secret Realm.

’After killing so many younger members of the Xie Family, it wasn’t wise to make another move during this assessment. But if I can use Demon Beasts to do the job, that’s a different story entirely.’

"I’ve found him. He has quite a few people with him, and there’s even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator nearby for protection. But don’t worry, Master. It’s all useless."

"In fact, they can even serve as witnesses to prove that the kid just had bad luck and was killed by a Demon Beast, hehe."

After listening to the description, Lan Xuan performed a Secret Technique. She closed her eyes and, looking through the eyes of a Demonized Beast, quickly located her target.

SLAP!

Then, Lan Xuan slapped her Spirit Beast Bag, and a pair of golden mantises with crimson eyes immediately appeared on the empty ground in front of her.

Each mantis was about ten feet long. Their claws and fangs glinted, looking incredibly sharp, and they radiated a fierce aura.

"Tier One Peak?"

Zhang Chi saw the mantises’ Level at a glance and couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

"That’s right. Only something this powerful could kill Song Yan," Lan Xuan said with a confident smile.

SWOOSH...

The two mantises instantly spread their wings and took off, disappearing as fast as lightning.

Afterward, Lan Xuan took out her Magical Artifact, the Jade Flute, and began to play it without a sound.

"I have not failed my mission!"

An hour later, Lan Xuan’s forehead was beaded with sweat. She finally stopped and broke into a smile.

"Excellent!"

Zhang Chi laughed heartily.

’I have no direct conflict with Song Yan. I don’t even know him. But he just had to be from the Song Family, so he can only blame his own bad luck.’

’In fact, if it weren’t so suspicious to kill too many, I wouldn’t have spared the other junior members of the Song Family here today.’

’For now, this is just collecting a little interest from the Song Family.’

After that, Zhang Chi and Lan Xuan confirmed a way to contact each other, then went their separate ways.

—

Meanwhile, Xie Yu and the others had already found the Sect Disciples. The Demonized Beasts and Spirit Control Sect Cultivators were immediately crushed and scattered.

That Senior Brother Lü also summoned a fiery red fan. He fanned out waves of violent flames, and all the Demonic Qi in its path was immediately dispersed.

However, their goal was not slaughter, but to rescue people and gather the Outer Disciples.

As time went on, more and more disciples gathered, and the overall situation was quickly stabilized.

Of course, this was largely thanks to Zhang Chi having already eliminated the source of the Demonic Qi.

The handsome Song Yan stood in the crowd, chatting and laughing with those around him, the very picture of ease.

He was also standing close to Xie Yu, clearly marked as someone to be protected.

The Demonized Beasts didn’t dare approach, seeing that the Cangwu Sect group was large and had a powerful expert in charge.

After all, they were only Demonized, not insane.

ROAR!

But just then, a large pack of assorted Demon Beasts charged at them, showing no fear of death.

Leading them was, shockingly, a Tier One Peak golden mantis.

"Vile beast, you’re courting death!"

The Cangwu Sect members didn’t panic at the sight. Xie Yu had already flown out to meet them. He summoned a giant ruler that pulsed with green light and, in a few swift moves, utterly crushed the charging Demon Beasts.

The golden mantis, however, turned to flee, narrowly avoiding being obliterated.

"Where do you think you’re going!"

Xie Yu hesitated for a moment, then let out a cold shout and gave chase.

After all, a Tier One Peak Demon Beast was quite valuable; even he couldn’t ignore it.

’And it should be an effortless kill.’

"No, Martial Uncle, save me!"

"Quick, run!"

But Xie Yu had only flown about a thousand feet when a series of blood-curdling screams erupted from behind him.

"Not good!"

Xie Yu hurriedly flew back, only to find that the disciples were already in a state of chaos.

Some people were injured, and among them, Song Yan had been completely severed in two, his eyes wide open in death.

"Dammit, how could this happen?"

His eyes burning with fury, Xie Yu roared.

He had already finished investigating the deaths of the younger Xie Family members and confirmed it was the work of Demon Beasts.

The Spirit Control Sect Cultivators were also suspects.

That alone had already left him incredibly frustrated.

Now Song Yan was dead too—and under his protection, no less. This undoubtedly sent him into a rage so intense he felt like he could cough up blood.

After all, not only did this prove his incompetence, but it would also surely incur the wrath of the Song Family.

’If I’d known this would happen, I never would have suggested to my sect brothers that I stay behind to protect Song Yan!’

Xie Yu was filled with regret, but it was already too late.

"Reporting, Martial Uncle..."

Seeing Xie Yu return, the disciples all breathed a sigh of relief and quickly calmed down.

The remaining younger members of the Song Family immediately stepped forward to report what had happened.

It turned out that just as Xie Yu left, the other mantis had burrowed out from underground, ambushed and killed the unprepared Song Yan, and also injured some of the surrounding disciples.

Then, the mantis once again burrowed into the ground and fled.

Of course, from their perspective, Song Yan hadn’t been the Demon Beast’s sole target. He was just incredibly unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"AHH... Damn you, vile beasts, I’ll kill you all!" Xie Yu roared again, only now realizing he had been played by the Demon Beasts.

But he never suspected Zhang Chi.

Demon Beasts were naturally cunning; it was normal for them to use such tactics.

At most, he suspected that some Black-robed Cultivator was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

But even though he was about to explode with anger, he didn’t dare to act rashly again.

After all, besides Song Yan, there were other younger members of the Song Family here, as well as many other outstanding Outer Disciples with powerful backgrounds.

Half a day passed in the blink of an eye. All the disciples were finally found and were then led out of the valley in batches.

The seven Foundation Establishment Cultivators swept through the valley one more time to confirm no disciples were left behind. Only then did they fly into the air and together cast a series of profound Spirit Techniques.

BOOM...

The next moment, the light barrier of the Grand Array covering the valley suddenly erupted with waves of incredibly hot flames.

Immediately, the valley became a sea of fire and was quickly burned to ruins.

All the Demonic Qi within, as well as any Demon Cultivators or Demon Beasts that had slipped through the cracks, were all reduced to ash.

And with that, the assessment came to an early end.

"Alright!"

"Burn those bastards! Burn this godforsaken place to the ground!"

On the deck of the Floating Airship, the surviving Outer Disciples watched the scene unfold. Awestruck, they began to cheer wildly.

’Whew, good thing I didn’t stay in there. I wonder how Lan Xuan is... Still, I can feel the connection from the Blood Curse and the Spirit Contract, so she must have escaped.’

Zhang Chi was in the crowd as well, his eyes wide with amazement as he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, he had long since returned to his usual appearance, and all of his various gains had been placed into his storage hairband.

"Senior Brother Zhang, we just knew you’d be alright! How was it? Did you get anything this time?" At this moment, Qin Susu and two others walked over, their faces alight with pleasant surprise.

They, along with Chen Ling’Er’s group, had all made it back safely. They had been in a different group from Zhang Chi, so this was the first time they were seeing him.

"I only killed a Tier One Early Stage Demon Beast, but it should be enough to pass the assessment," Zhang Chi said with a slight smile.

"That’s good. Actually, I heard you can still pass this time even if you didn’t get anything."

"Yeah, I heard that just staying alive counts as a pass. It’s just a pity that many of our fellow disciples didn’t make it."

"Exactly. Two junior sisters I knew died during this whole mess!"

Qin Susu and the others were not surprised. As they talked about the incident, their expressions couldn’t help but turn somber.

Even Zhang Chi was silent for a moment.

This was truly a disaster.

’But even with Lan Xuan’s help, I couldn’t have stopped it.’

’She can only control a fraction of the Demon Beasts, and she has to keep playing that Jade Flute to maintain it.’

’If the Foundation Establishment Elder from the Spirit Control Sect were still alive, maybe he could have done it.’

’But that was clearly impossible.’

This also strengthened Zhang Chi’s resolve to become stronger.

’If I hadn’t been strong enough this time, I might have been among the dead.’

They chatted for a while longer. After Zhang Chi heard of their near-death experiences, he expressed his shock and congratulated them on their survival.

Then, suddenly, a fellow disciple shouted, "Where is Junior Brother Zhang Chi? Martial Uncle Xie Yu and the others are calling for you!"