Chapter 1719: Chapter 1719: Clearing the Trial

Time passed by second by second.

In front of the Shadow Wall Stone, Sikong Yu suddenly turned around. Qing Yi, who was attracted by the images on the stone, noticed that her young lady was leaving and quickly turned around: "Young lady, don’t you want to see if Li Feng can pass?"

"Hmph, it’s already over."

Without looking back, Sikong Yu stepped away from the core of the mechanism. This Mechanical Path was something she had traversed countless times before, so she was naturally very familiar with it. Li Feng was already close to seeing the exit, indicating that the fully activated Mechanical Path hadn’t troubled him much.

"Ah!"

Qing Yi turned her head to glance at the Shadow Wall Stone again. Could it be that he was finished?

"Young lady, wait for me."

Still not having seen the result, Qing Yi, with the question of whether Li Feng would succeed or not lingering in her mind, had no choice but to run a few steps quickly to catch up with Sikong Yu.

Mechanical Path.

Li Feng’s eyes suddenly brightened, and in an instant, a huge cylindrical space came into view. However, at the very moment he charged out of the passage, the passage reached its end.

Li Feng cursed inwardly, but unable to stop due to the immense inertia, he swiftly twisted his foot and turned his waist, grabbing the edge of the passage with one hand at the moment he was about to fly out.

Almost within a breath, the massive rolling stone that seemed to follow like a shadow charged out with a roaring momentum, and then under the heavy inertia, it flew up and, shortly after, crashed directly into the deep pit behind.

Only after a few seconds was a muffled thud heard.

Hanging in mid-air, Li Feng looked down to see that the pit below was filled with giant rolling stones and countless sharp stone spears. As if that wasn’t enough, the fall of the rolling stone stirred the creatures in the pit, revealing large centipedes that covered the entire pit bottom.

Gulp.

Li Feng swallowed hard. This was an entry assessment, yet it looked like someone’s tomb, clearly leaving no way out for people.

Supporting himself with his arms, Li Feng climbed up to the platform in front of the passage and raised his eyes upwards. Suspended in this cylindrical space were some moving stone slabs, and it was obvious at a glance that to reach the ground, one could only use these slabs to gain momentum and leave.

Li Feng observed for over a dozen breaths, figuring out that these slabs moved and floated according to a set pattern, and he quickly recorded their approximate positions in his mind and calculated rapidly.

Undoubtedly, this tested not only physical coordination and agility but also intelligence. Whoever said that Nine Layers Mountain was just for a bunch of brutes couldn’t be more wrong—without some brains, passing it by sheer luck alone was unlikely.

Li Feng took a measured breath and, after waiting a few seconds, as one of the Floating Stones was about ten feet away, he leaped, easily crossing the distance of over ten feet, landing on the subsequent stone and then propelling himself upwards again, ready to leap to another stone.

However, the moment he exerted force underfoot, the stone, seemingly affected by a reactionary force, began to fall.

Li Feng couldn’t help but curse the designer of this mechanism again, saying, "This gives no chance at all." Or rather, it gives only one chance—if you miss a step or hesitate, you could fall into the deep pit.

Luckily, he hadn’t recklessly attempted it; Li Feng withdrew his attention, focusing entirely on these Floating Stones.

The stone column space was just over twenty zhang high, and about thirty leaps would reach the top, but not a single one of these thirty jumps could be wrong, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty.

Not to mention the poisonous creatures in the pit added even more pressure.

Fortunately, this time, the mechanism only triggered the stone to fall when stepped upon, without any other mishaps. Li Feng continued rising, like an impeccably precise machine, stepping on the stones and shooting out of the opening perfectly.

The moment Li Feng emerged, sunlight was a bit glaring. He tumbled and landed, looking somewhat messy. In the next second, Li Feng felt many gazes turn towards him.

"Brother Li, it seems you’ve lost this round."

Bai Xiaosheng approached with a cheerful smile. He hadn’t expected to actually beat Li Feng to pass the Mechanical Path. Seeing Li Feng’s rather disheveled appearance comforted Bai Xiaosheng somewhat, proving at least that Li Feng wasn’t omnipotent.

Although he’s powerful, his reactions and agility were clearly inferior to his own.

In fact, Bai Xiaosheng had finished a whole incense stick’s worth of time earlier.

Li Feng got up, looked at Bai Xiaosheng, who was dust-free, a bit surprised. Could it be that Bai Xiaosheng hid his strength? With so many mechanisms in the Mechanical Path, it offered nearly no breathing room. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Even using martial techniques might be insufficient for many, yet Bai Xiaosheng completed it ahead of him.

"I lost."

Li Feng was straightforward, accepting his loss without complaint, knowing it just meant answering three questions for him.

"Heh, straightforward enough."

Bai Xiaosheng smiled with narrowed eyes: "This isn’t the place to talk; let’s find a place to chat later."

Li Feng nodded, his gaze sweeping around. This was clearly a core area of the Nine Layers Mountain branch, resembling a training field, wide and open. Besides Bai Xiaosheng, there were three other people standing to the side.

When the three saw Li Feng, two regarded him coldly while another just glanced and continued to meditate.

Bai Xiaosheng leaned in close to Li Feng, whispering: "These three passed the earlier assessments before you."

"Those two assessing you, the one on the left is called Pang Yu; this guy’s nickname is Giant Rhino. His family used to be prominent. Now the Pang Family is just a small family running a Powerful Fist Dojo and seemingly has demon beast bloodline, so he’s naturally very strong, having hit two ding of force on the Force Measuring Platform."

"Beside him is Niu Dali, from the third-rate Niu Family. Don’t be fooled by their dark, clunky look; their background is significant. An ancestor of the Niu Family was once the Chief Guard of the Liu Family, one of the Eight Royal Families."

"Nowadays, the Niu Family is part of the Liu Family’s retainers."

Li Feng oh-ed in understanding; no wonder that guy seemed so haughty.

"Over there is Wu Gang, whom I introduced to you before outside. He’s from the Southern Fist Sect, probably the weakest in terms of background."

After Bai Xiaosheng’s introduction, Li Feng nodded, "Just the five of us?"

Bai Xiaosheng said, "Five is plenty; usually, one or two get through if that. Often, no one makes it, considering Nine Layers Mountain’s assessments are ongoing, not on set dates."

Li Feng nodded.

This entry assessment mode of Nine Layers Mountain separated the flow of people, allowing assessments anytime, avoiding crowds unlike other sects with fixed dates gathering masses each time.

This indeed made Nine Layers Mountain less conspicuous.

While they spoke, Yan Zhao, who was in charge of the assessment, walked over, glancing at Li Feng before surveying everyone present.

"First, congratulations on passing the Mechanical Path assessment. This tested not just your physical coordination and reactions, but also this." Yan Zhao pointed to his head.

"Since you’re standing here, you’ve met Nine Layers Mountain’s selection standards. Next comes the final assessment. As long as you perform well, you should not be eliminated."

"Of course, when I say ’shouldn’t’, it doesn’t mean there’s no chance."

"Now, follow me."