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Chapter 591: White Swallow Gem

“Crafty Approach!”

Xia Fei’s form flashed amid the crowd, crossing the spatial gate in several clever steps. The final ten candidates would be abandoned, and Xia Fei had no desire of being among their numbers.

“Hang in there a little more,” Xia Fei stroked Furball’s head and said.

Actually, he was having quite a tough time himself. Fortunately, Xia Fei had a natural affinity to his control of Origin Energy, so he was able to absorb at a rate faster than those around him. Two grade 4 Origin Crystals had allowed him to recover more than half of his physical energy.

It was another foreign planet. The location of each round was different, and Xia Fei was already completely clueless about where he was.

A bright moon hung high in the night sky, with a strong breeze blowing through the plains, picking up sand particles that made it difficult for anyone to open their eyes easily. Xia Fei had Furball and himself protected behind the liquid war armor, utilizing the precious few seconds he had to replenish his lost energy. Soon, the next round of harsh test would begin.

Busey pursed his lips as he eyed all the tired candidates and growled, “This nameless planet is roughly 250,000 kilometers in diameter. The content of this test is simple: Dig a tunnel until you reach the opposite end of the planet. The terminal in each of your hands will indicate your path, and if you stray from the coordinates displayed, you’ll be eliminated! Failure to complete the tunnel, eliminated! If you end up last, eliminated!”

Yelling the word ‘eliminated’ thrice in a row, the expression on all the candidates’ faces changed!

“We’re warriors, not miners!” a big-eared candidate moaned.

Busey heard this complaint, and everyone saw as his face turned black and bellowed, “Anyone who complains, eliminated! You there! You’re eliminated!”

*Buzz*

Everyone felt a bout of dizziness come over them. This was completely unreasonable, for they were not even allowed to gripe secretly about the test!

That big-eared candidate’s eyes turned blank. He immediately spat blood and fainted after hearing that he got eliminated. Had he known the consequences, he would not have opened his mouth in the first place! A single sentence was all it took for him to throw away his future!

There was no time to think or complain. Over six hundred candidates present abruptly turned into miners, burying their heads low as they began digging.

The amount of work needed to dig their way through a planet with a diameter of 250,000 kilometers was hardly anything easy. A warrior like Xia Fei who had the speed ability or someone who had learned the Law of Matter might not have too much trouble, but those poor candidates who lacked such abilities could not even find a place to cry even if they wanted to.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of holes began appearing across the plain. Everyone could only work as they absorbed Origin Crystals; it was a good thing that Xia Fei had brought enough crystals, so he temporarily did not need to worry about having a lack of crystals.

Dragonscale Hectoslasher transformed into flying daggers and began revolving forward like an excavator. Xia Fei worked as he kept glancing at the terminal he held in his hand; the system of coordinates did indeed ensure that he was on the right path, never once deviating from it.

*Swoosh*

Busey’s figure blurred and appeared on the other side of the planet. Here was a vast lake, so if the candidates had dug out in accordance with their paths, they would surely come bursting out from this lake.

There were plenty of rocks by the lakeside, so Busey took the chance to sit on one such rock and trained his eyes forward at the peaceful lake expressionlessly.

“Uncle Busey, why did you change your plan at the last minute and make these candidates dig a tunnel?” Zanian Feng suddenly appeared beside him and asked.

“This batch of candidates has pretty good potential. If I don’t use some abnormal means to assess them, there’s no way for me to eliminate a good portion of them quickly.”

Zanian laughed. “You’re not wrong. As long as they reach the last round without experiencing absolute exhaustion, you can freely play with them as you please.”

If the candidates heard what they had just said, they would most definitely be so angry to the point of vomiting blood. Who would have guessed that these rounds of so-called tests that Busey claimed to be doing was no more than some games he had thought up of, and his goal was to grind down the vigor in each one of them?

Everything they had done before was in preparation for the final round, which meant that the final round ought to be the most important.

“Are you done with the work on your end?” Busey asked.

Zanian nodded. “According to your wishes, down to the final detail.”

“Very good.”

Zanian said, “There’s still something I don’t understand, though. Since you’ll only be confirming people at the final round, and you spent so much energy setting everything up, why don’t you just accept them right away? It would save you time rather than wasting round after round doing this.”

Busey glanced at the terminal in his hand. It had not been long since the start of the test, and the fastest candidate had already finished digging approximately 100,000 kilometers of their tunnel. The progress made was astounding, while Xia Fei was ranked around 300, a full 5000 kilometers behind the person in the first place.

“Actually, every round I made them undertake has great pertinence; the first round of killing the King Kong Eels tested their physical coordination as well as their ability to explore and search. The dangerous desert in the second round tested their ability to predict. This round tests their willpower and physical endurance, including an all-important trait that a warrior should have.”

Zanian was shocked. “What could this all-important trait be?”

Busey did not give him a direct answer but slyly replied, instead, “You’ll know when you see it.”

Zanian laughed. “Since you feel it is of such importance, I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled. Speaking of which, the torture you’re putting them through is really worth spectating. I inadvertently saw the prize and that’s most definitely something very useful to these candidates!”

Busey nodded. “The reason why our Dragon Ascension Martial Hall’s assessment isn’t seen as such but is viewed as the Dragon Ascension Conclave all thanks to the prize. Candidates will learn this one reason after all the suffering: There’s bound to be gain after all that pain! A great gain!”

...

In the darkness, Xia Fei manipulated his Dragonscale Hectoslasher to keep the constant digging. He also had Peacock Blue help, its two, large bluegrass blades opening and closing as it dug through the underground soil and gravel and threw it behind Xia Fei.

Such a digging would result in a single passageway, where the path behind him would be completely sealed. He was completely underground, with barely enough space to fit himself. It was impossible for him to be saved even if he needed it, and that increased the danger of this test greatly.

Peacock Blue’s existence helped Xia Fei immensely. Its two, large grass blades were flexible and tough. Like two large shovels, it sent all the loose gravel and soil to his back non-stop.

As such, with the Dragonscale Hectoslasher carving out a path and Peacock Blue disposing of the soil and gravel, Xia Fei seemed like a fully automated excavator as he made ceaseless progress. Furthermore, Xia Fei had his Silver Desert armor to adopt the shape of a streamlined shuttle, making it that much easier to move underground.

“What kind of trash assessment is this? Who would ask a warrior to dig out a tunnel!” Phantom complained by Xia Fei’s side, venting out all the unfairness Xia Fei was experiencing. It was as if he was angrier over this than Xia Fei.

Xia Fei ignored him. No matter how arduous or unfair this test might be, since he had already made up his mind to win it, he would carry on as required. Nothing would stop him from his continued advancement.

He had a goal in mind, and he would work hard until he achieved it. It was that simple.

The terminal indicated his position among all the candidates, and he was presently ranked 327th. This position was still a long way off the goal of being in the top three that he had set for himself. Xia Fei furrowed his brows, continuing to bury his head and make his way forward without making a fuss.

All of a sudden, Xia Fei discovered that several candidates who were far ahead in front were slowing down, with some even coming to a complete halt, frantically burrowing in every direction. The situation looked extremely chaotic; just what could have happened?

“This is an opportunity for me to close the gap between me and the other candidates ahead!”

Xia Fei gritted his teeth and increased his speed forward.

As if cursed, more and more began to lose their sense of direction the closer they got to the core of the planet. Their speed slowed greatly, and the directions they were digging went completely erratic, like a headless fly ramming itself against every surface.

“Just what exactly is going on here? Does none of them care about being eliminated, losing their opportunity to enter the number one martial hall in the entire Law Realm?” Phantom wondered.

Xia Fei shook his head.”I have no idea, but there might be something unforeseen happening ahead! Let’s silently observe and see what caused this change.”

Soon, Xia Fei himself got near the core. As it turned out, the core of this planet did not consist of fiery lava or heavy metal but rather equally soft and loose topsoil, though the difference was the presence of small little pieces of shiny white things, which were constantly jumping around!

“White Swallow Gems!” Xia Fei and Phantom had exclaimed in unison!

...

“That’s right. I’ve long known that the core of this planet has some precious White Swallow Gems, so I decided to conduct the third round here, changing the test to digging a tunnel,” Busey said solemnly.

Zanian burst into laughter. “Uncle Busey, I’ve got to hand it to you; anyone knows that the White Swallow Gems can aid a Law Adept’s cultivation. Even a piece will fetch an astronomical sum. Anything that can directly improve an individual’s cultivation has always been viewed as a priceless commodity—something that can’t always be bought even if one has the money to. Many Law Adepts can only dream of getting their hands on one!

“I finally understand the content of this test; the tenacity to resist the temptation!”

Busey nodded, his face impassive as ever.

“Once candidates learn that there are White Swallow Gems in the core of this planet, their heart will surely be greatly moved. After all, obtaining a White Swallow Gem means an increase in cultivation levels, and these candidates aren’t low-leveled. As the difficulty of gaining levels increases, more and more will need to spend several years or more just to raise themselves by a single level.”

“If it were money, I do believe that not many would be tempted. After all, money is no more than a means to an end for experts, and levels are what matters most. Few will be able to resist such a temptation. These are White Swallow Gems, though; even I will salivate over getting them!”

With a smile, Zanian continued speaking. “Unfortunately, there’s no way to tap and use unprocessed White Swallow Gems directly, so even if those Law Adepts get their hands on one, it will be useless. Were you someone who could watch as others take your coveted items like this? If I wasn’t mistaken, you surely set a White Swallow Gem counter on the identification plates that every candidate received to record all the gems they’ll obtain, and whatever they got here must surely be returned, completely intact, at the end of the day.”

“You’re right. That’s indeed the case. White Swallow Gems are precious and rare. The Dragon Ascension Martial Hall needs plenty of them every year, so there’s no reason for us to let these candidates benefit from us, but I’ll reward them based on how much they’ve picked up, so at least they won’t have done it all for naught,” Busey said.

Zanian chuckled. “Still, at this rate, candidates who lack the necessary mental fortitude will end up get entranced by them, causing it to affect their final results greatly, ultimately losing out when all’s said and done, for the completion of the assessment is the greatest goal; how will any of them know the benefits of joining the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall?”

The candidates were, of course, not privy to this conversation between the two old and young foxes. At the moment, every one of them was so tempted by the White Swallow Gems that they had forgotten their true purpose for being here and was busy chasing after the gems.

“Xia Fei actually leapfrogged into first place! He didn’t get misled by those White Swallow Gems.” Zanian Feng felt excited. His sharp eyes picked out Xia Fei as the candidate he recommended the most the first time around, and his good performance more or less reflected well on him.

“That’s not right. Though Xia Fei hasn’t stopped, he hasn’t given up on the White Swallow Gems, either. It’s not a bad move on his part, maintaining his forward momentum even as he keeps collecting the gems!” Zanian exclaimed after a quick check of his terminal.

Busey was expressionless, even as he spat, “He’s actually eaten many White Swallow Gems, too? Does he not know that these things can’t be directly used?”

“Having his cake and eating it, too! This guy is really greedy!” That impassive countenance that Busey held began twisting.