Chapter 84 - 77: First Encounter with the Evil Object, Sword Strikes Traceless

Chapter 84: Chapter 77: First Encounter with the Evil Object, Sword Strikes Traceless

As the exam began, the protective shield that had restricted Lu Chen’s movements vanished. Without the barrier’s isolation, he was immediately hit by the intense stench of blood in the air. The overwhelming, foul metallic scent made even Lu Chen, who was accustomed to life and death in the Dungeon, instinctively frown.

"Just how many people have died here?" he wondered.

Because real-world items could not be brought into this joint exam, the weapon currently in Lu Chen’s hand was an ordinary Immortal Alliance Magic Sword, rather than his usual Ink Flood Dragon Sword. This compromised his combat power to a certain extent, though the overall impact wasn’t too severe.

Standing over the ruins, Lu Chen surveyed his surroundings for a moment before heading toward a nearby underground parking garage. Foundation Establishment Stage Nine Nether Evil Objects constantly patrolled the sky, so choosing to travel above ground in broad daylight was undoubtedly foolish. Therefore, Lu Chen planned to find shelter first and wait until nightfall before attempting to make his way out of the ruins. The underground garage next to his spawn point was the perfect choice.

Aside from deciding on his travel schedule and a temporary hideout, Lu Chen had considered other factors as well. For instance, finding a map of Jade Mountain City was undoubtedly far more important right now than hunting Evil Objects. Without a map, he risked wandering right into the stronghold of the Nine Nether Evil Objects. This wasn’t him overthinking things; if he wanted to survive in city ruins occupied by an Alien Race, he had to account for every possible scenario. After all, this exam had no respawn mechanic. The Evil Objects could afford to make countless mistakes, but he could only make one.

Inside the underground garage.

With the city’s power grid destroyed, the lack of lighting plunged the entire space into pitch-black darkness where one couldn’t even see their own hands. Furthermore, since Qi Refining cultivators lacked the Divine Sense perception of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, such a dark environment would severely limit the combat power of most Qi Refining cultivators.

For Lu Chen, however, this wasn’t a hindrance—it was an advantage. After all, his Cyan Lotus Pupils not only allowed him to see perfectly in the dark but could also pierce through the ruined walls to detect hidden enemies in advance. In fact, before he even entered the garage, he had already noticed four Nine Nether Evil Objects lurking inside. The reason he dared to walk in despite knowing they were there was naturally because he had absolute confidence in his own strength!

[Name: Spider-faced Man]

[Race: Nine Nether]

[Power: Qi Cultivation Fourth Level]

[Features: The Spider-faced Men, who have lived in the Nine Nether year-round, are darlings of the dark and abhor the light.]

The moment Lu Chen stepped into the underground garage, the four hiding Spider-faced Men instantly sensed his arrival. Due to the disparity in power, coupled with Lu Chen deliberately concealing his aura, the four monsters saw him as nothing more than an ordinary Immortal Alliance high school student—a completely harmless target. And to Evil Objects, a harmless Cultivator was the most delicious food imaginable!

The four Spider-faced Men scattered and clung to the walls, forming a covert encirclement. Feigning ignorance, Lu Chen quickly strolled right into their trap. Seeing their prey in position, hideous grins stretched across their faces as they imagined the glorious feast of his flesh and blood. In the seven days since Jade Mountain City had fallen, these Nine Nether Evil Objects had already devoured quite a few Immortal Alliance citizens who hadn’t managed to evacuate the urban area in time. Some of the more gluttonous Evil Objects had even seen their power skyrocket by a whole major level in just this short week.

In the darkness, as Lu Chen stepped fully into the kill zone, the four Spider-faced Men immediately launched their attack. Gripping the garage ceiling with lower bodies that resembled upright apes, they hung upside down. Their spider-like heads unhinged their massive maws, firing a barrage of white cobwebs in unison.

But right before the webs could land on him, Lu Chen’s figure vanished.

"Wh-where did he go?!"

"Where did that human Cultivator go?!"

Just as one of the Spider-faced Men frantically searched for him, an emotionless voice whispered in its ear. "Even though I’ve experienced this many times, I still can’t restrain the killing intent in my heart whenever I encounter Evil Demon and Heretic Dao like you..."

Hearing the frigid words beside its ear, the Spider-faced Man felt a sudden, bone-piercing chill. An intense premonition of death made its entire body tense up as it instinctively tried to pull away from Lu Chen. Unfortunately for the monster, from the moment Lu Chen appeared within five paces of it, it was already a corpse. Within this range, even against a Foundation Establishment Level opponent, the current Lu Chen was confident he could inflict heavy damage or secure a kill.

Swordsmanship... Traceless!

SHING!

With the crisp ring of a blade leaving its scabbard, the longsword in Lu Chen’s hand transformed into streaks of silvery-white thread that carved through the Spider-faced Man’s body. Fast. Too fast. Even with the superior dynamic vision granted by its compound eyes, the Spider-faced Man still couldn’t track Lu Chen’s sword stroke. It only felt as if a gentle breeze had caressed its body. But how could there be wind in an enclosed underground basement?

As the cold gleam of the sword faded, the first Spider-faced Man remained motionless on the ceiling, as if struck by an Immobilization Skill. A second later, countless bloody lines bloomed across its flesh, forming a macabre grid. Then, the monster’s body fell apart into countless tofu-sized chunks of meat, showering the garage floor alongside a spray of black blood.

Almost at the exact same moment the chunks hit the floor, Lu Chen landed gracefully from mid-air. He looked at the three remaining Spider-faced Men in the darkness, his expression perfectly serene, as if he had merely done something incredibly trivial.

The three surviving Spider-faced Men stared at the bloody spectacle, too stunned to even flee. From the moment Lu Chen executed his Flowing Cloud Body Technique to instantly appear in front of their companion, to the moment he landed after drawing his sword to kill it—barely a second or two had passed! And in that brief window, a Qi Cultivation Fourth Level Spider-faced Man had been slaughtered by this Human Race youth with trivial ease.

Despite their shock, the three remaining monsters quickly snapped out of it. Without any hesitation, they scurried toward the deepest parts of the garage, desperate to escape this god of death. But while they wanted to leave, Lu Chen had no intention of letting them go.

SHING! SHING! SHING...

The sharp ring of a sword being drawn echoed several more times. In an instant, the noisy underground garage fell deathly silent.

Having slain all the Evil Objects, Lu Chen stood on a clean patch of the garage floor, staring blankly ahead in bewilderment.

[You have slain a Nine Nether Spider-faced Man (Qi Cultivation Fourth Level). You have gained 40 Experience Points...]

[You have slain a Nine Nether Spider-faced Man (Qi Cultivation Fourth Level). You have gained 40 Experience Points...]

Staring at the blue notification box—which looked completely different from the black one shown at the start of the exam—Lu Chen was absolutely stunned. He couldn’t be more familiar with this blue prompt. Wasn’t this the system notification from the *True Cultivation* game?!

Could it be that the monsters he killed in this exam would grant him precious Experience Points, just like in the game?! The moment this thought arose, massive waves of shock surged in Lu Chen’s heart. Because if that were true, his exam strategy would have to undergo a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

***

PS: I’m sorry, Pang Hu is feeling a bit burnt out, so I’ll stop here for today. Although I only completed six Chapters, they add up to 15,000 words. This is the most Pang Hu has written in quite a while. I will make up for the four owed Chapters in future updates. Apologies.