223 The White Tiger's Test
The White Tiger brought Yang Lujia to his territory. Meanwhile, the Red Qilin himself followed them discreetly. Yang Lujia barely noticed someone following him, but he surmised that it could only be the Red Qilin. After this old Qilin had clearly much stronger cultivation than him despite being in his spiritual form.
Could it be that his father had subdued them in their real bodies? Just thinking about it made Yang Lujia feel cold.
From what the Red Qilin said earlier, he was the only one who could freely roam around the array formation’s respective territories. Not one of the beasts could do what he could, not even the old Black Tortoise.
Yang Lujia left the others inside his own world and accompanied the White Tiger. When the Vengeful Pangolin saw the world that Yang Lujia created, her soul almost jumped out of her body due to shock.
Even Brownie looked at her with a smug look on his face. This lass had not yet seen the capabilities of that kid yet. If she were to know how powerful Yang Lujia was when he was in action, she would further be shocked.
“Your Highness, I know that Old Red would follow us here to keep me in check. However, rest assured, I dare not make a move on Your Highness. I highly respect His Highness, your father, very much. If I were to harm you, it would be equivalent to disrespecting him.
“However, I have to warn Your Highness that the test that you will undergo this time would be entirely different from the easy test I usually give to others.”
The White Tiger had a solemn face as he said those words. He was even looking at Yang Lujia like a kid who was motivated by his powerful father to surpass the latter’s strength in the future.
“Your Highness…” Seeing the silent Yang Lujia, the White Tiger felt agitated and restless and even thought about the things he said—whether there were things that had gone wrong in what he said.
Apart from his wild nature, he was also one hell of an over-thinker. He would always think of every possibility like a very keen professional. In fact, his keen perception and skeptical character were something attributed to his keen senses—particularly his sense of hearing and sense of sight.
“Your Highness, this is my territory,” he finally said after seeing Yang Lujia in a daze.
Yang Lujia woke up from his stupor and looked at the White Tiger wondrously. “Although you’re quite strange, your taste in choosing a place where you can stay is very good! Compared to Old Red, this one was even more promising.”
Although White Tiger’s territory was illusionary, Yang Lujia could compare this scenery to an exquisite painting of an enchanted forest. Apart from the vibrantly green plants, the waters were also navy blue with a lighter palette. On the other hand, the animals here were basically under the rule of the White Tiger.
Once the White Tiger was seen in the periphery, the other creatures immediately bowed down in his presence. Moreover, the childish air of this White Tiger before had instantly vanished upon facing his spiritual subordinates.
Yang Lujia was surprised that most of these creatures had already become Saint Emperors and some even reached higher realms than that. He didn’t know what realm was above the Saint Emperor, but he was certain about the extent of their strength.
It was no wonder why a cultivator who would try to enter the Sacred Region by force would certainly fail.
“Today, I am with His Highness—the young master, the son of our previous master…” the White Tiger announced which astounded the crowd of creatures.
“Lord White Tiger actually found Yang Lujia?!”
“It’s obvious! Why would you still ask that useless question?”
“Hah! Why is he so handsome? Is that him?! Ahhh!”
Yang Lujia was stunned when he heard what these creatures had said about him. He then looked at the White Tiger, who now had a guilty look in his eyes. Nevertheless, the White Tiger let out a small cough and looked at his subordinates. “Everyone, please be quiet. Today, His Highness’ ground for the test will be this forest. Thus, you will be temporarily sent to another barren territory for a while.”
“Yes, Lord White Tiger!”
“We are more than prepared to let His Highness, Yang Lujia, become our best honorable guest of all!”
“In fact, His Highness is the rightful emperor of everyone in this array formation!”
Although they were only souls, they were basically akin to humans who already developed their own souls. There were also other creatures that had blank expressions. Despite that, however, they did not show any disrespect toward the White Tiger or Yang Lujia.
“Your Highness, you may now enter the enchanted forest. I wish you the best, Your Highness!” The White Tiger was filled with high expectations for Yang Lujia. After all, this was the son of the man he revered the most in his entire life.
Only those who could dominate him could earn his respect. That was the kind of creature the White Tiger was.
Yang Lujia nodded at him and landed in the enchanted forest beside the river. He then looked up and was surprised that he could no longer detect the presence of the White Tiger or the tailing Red Qilin. It was as if he had entered into another separate world.
“What kind of formation is this? A formation within a formation? Is this how grand array formations like this are done?”
Yang Lujia was filled with questions. Now, however, he first had to do this test.
“Your Highness!” Soon enough, the White Tiger’s voice sounded in his mind. He immediately knew that the White Tiger did not want the Red Qilin to know about the test he would be given—because what if Yang Lujia wasn’t able to pass the test?
Wouldn’t it mean that they had already revealed the information that they were supposed to withhold as per the instruction of Yang Lujia’s father, the one who subdued them by brute force?
“What is this place?” Yang Lujia realized that the place’s scenery did not change. Only the difference was the time this test was supposed to take place. Although it was still daytime outside, it was already nighttime in this place. “Indeed, this place was indeed a sub-array formation within its main array formation.”
“Your Highness really has sharp senses. However, that was not important now. I will now tell His Highness about the rules of my first test and how you shall pass this test.”
Yang Lujia’s aura changed and his gaze showed determination. Like his father, he now desired to be strong—only then he could be with his father again. However, that wasn’t his only goal, he also hoped to surpass his father in the future.
“Your Highness, the first test’s information will be shown in the stele that would sooner emerge from the bottom of the river. Even I do not have any idea about what could be written in the stele. However, the master, His Highness, your father, told us that you shall only follow what the rules are and everything would go smoothly.”
“Alright!” Yang Lujia naturally agreed to it. He would have no other choice but to agree anyway. This was arranged by his father. If he refused to do the test, he would be inking some dirt on his father’s reputation. Therefore, he felt the need to do this.
This was the same feeling he had felt back when he was on Earth—the feeling of being dominated by his father—the feeling of being pressured by his father’s achievements—and that the son should achieve more than what the father had clinched and achieved.
After a minute of waiting, the ground suddenly quaked and a stone stele gradually emerged from the bottom of the river. It was five times taller than Yang Lujia. When Yang Lujia was about to ask that there were no texts or information inscribed on this stone stele, the latter suddenly lit up and characters started to appear one after another.
When Yang Lujia slowly read the lines of the characters in the stele, he was quite surprised. It seemed like the rules and the way how these tests shall be done complimented the divine beast’s personality or specialties. However, he also guessed that it might not be the same as the other divine creatures as well.
“As the night descends, there shall be endless carnage. Amidst the carnage, the tune of clashes, roars, and wails shall echo; and as they echo, seek for the sound that is the thinnest amongst the silence.”
“What does this mean?” Yang Lujia thought that this might be a riddle. However, his instincts would always tell him that this quoted part of the inscriptions on the stele was the most attractive and should probably be the hardest to understand.
He didn’t know that the test his father prepared for him right off the bat required him to use his wit.
“Seek for the sound… thinnest amongst silence… does this have something to do with hearing?” Yang Lujia immediately got the gist of the quoted part. He believed that his father, even with the main tests, would still stick to the personalities or specialties or special aspects of the five divine beasts.
For example, the White Tiger was someone incredibly talented in terms of having keen senses. Two of his strongest senses were the sense of hearing and sight…