Yong Ru looked at him expectantly as he was certain that Shun Long would have heard of his senior sister's name, but when he looked at his face, Yong Ru felt like a deflated balloon that had just lost all of its air.

''Bro-brother Shun, you- don't tell me that you don't know who my senior sister is.''

Shun Long looked at him and answered matter-of-factly as he nodded his head

''Mm. Never heard of her before.''

Yong Ru felt like an arrow had just pierced his heart as he said

''Then brother Shun, let me explain. My senior sister, Jiao Mingxia is a very strong 'ice-element' cultivator and she is probably the strongest out of everyone else in this sect exam. I'm not looking down on you brother Shun, but you are probably not a match for my senior sister at all.

Aside from my senior sister though, there are 2 more people that you must be wary of brother.

One of them is the son of the sect master from the 'Iron-hardened sect', people call him the little giant, Da Chong . You probably saw him when sect master Da Chao was arguing with the Grand Elder of the 'Flying sword sect' when we were at the Demonic Mountain Region's entrance. It is rumored that Da Chong is a body-refining cultivator, as well as the person with the strongest physical strength in this sect exam.

The last of the 3 is the grandson of the Grand Elder from the 'Flying sword sect', Hui Ming. Aside from him being a sword cultivator like most of the disciples in the 'Flying sword sect', I don't have any other information about him.''

As Yong Ru finished speaking, little Black's voice was heard inside Shun Long's head

''Master, sword cultivators are usually extremely proficient in attacking techniques as well as in swiftly killing their opponents. I guess that the reason why people don't know much about this Hui Ming is so he can keep his trump cards hidden.''

Shun Long nodded his head as he was now interested in meeting these 3 people. One of them was the woman who Yong Ru called the strongest in this sect exam. Although Shun Long didn't take his words to heart, there must still be something special in this woman for Yong Ru to say something like that.

The other one was a strong body-refining cultivator just like Shun Long, while the last one was the strongest sword cultivator from the 'Flying sword sect' that was participating in this exam.

Yong Ru then continued

''Aside from brother Shun, your floating cloud sect must have some peak rank 3 earth grade cultivators as well, but none of them is a match for those 3 that I just mentioned. Brother Shun even though I know you are strong, you can not take those 3 lightly.''

Shun Long walked towards Yong Ru and patted him on the shoulder as he said

''Thank you''

-

Heading deeper towards the inner region, the 2 didn't meet with any more surprises on the way. Apart from the magic beasts that were at the early rank 2 and needed some effort from Shun Long to get killed, the rest of their journey was easy.

On the fifth day, Shun Long and Yong Ru arrived in front of a huge plains area.

There were almost 20 people, forming 3 different groups, all of them being disciples of the 4 sects.

...As the 2 walked in, everyone had turned their heads to observe the newcomers.

The people who had already managed to arrive here, were all in the earth grade, with some of them having already reached the peak of rank 3.

Yong Ru looked at Shun Long as he said

''Brother Shun, we are now in the inner region. This is the safe area where most disciples in the earth grade will gather. As we came too early, it is relatively empty, that's why we don't see many people here.

But in the next 5 to 10 days, this place will surely get crowded as no one will want to miss the opportunity to absorb the qi from the central mountain.''

Shun Long's eyes were focused ahead, deeper inside the Demonic Mountain region, as he could faintly make out the shadow of a few huge mountain peaks, when little Black's voice was heard in his head

''Master! I am certain that there is an extraordinary treasure in this Demonic Mountain Region!''

Shun Long nodded his head as he responded to little Black

''I had guessed so as well. The qi around us has more than doubled in density and purity, compared to when we were on the outskirts a few days ago. I assume that the deeper inside we head, the purer the qi we absorb will be, all the way until we reach the central mountain.''

''You are right master. But this won't be an easy journey for us.

Master, you should probably leave that Yong Ru fellow here. He will only become a burden to us later on and there is a high chance that he may die as we head deeper inside.''

At the same time, Yong Ru's voice was heard as he looked at Shun Long and asked

''Brother Shun, how about we stay here in this place, while we wait for the qi eruption to start?''

Shun Long however, shook his head as he replied

''Brother it's better if we part ways here for now. I'm going to enter deeper inside the inner region.''

Yong Ru's eyes widened as he asked in a trembling voice

''Brother Sh-un.. are you serious? It is too dangerous to wander around the inner region.''

Shun Long looked at Yong Ru as he nodded his head and said

''I have my reasons for heading deeper in the inner region. Although it is dangerous, this is something that I have to do.''

Yong Ru gritted his teeth as he said

''I will follow you then brother.''

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