Chapter 432: Chapter 274: Killing Space (Part 2)

’Even if the Purple Cloud Association wasn’t causing trouble, I still need to do my best to get on the Potential Ranking in this monthly exam.’

No longer focusing on these matters, Zou Feng was about to practice with Gongsun Jinghong again when a knock suddenly sounded on the door.

He had thought it might be Leng Jing, or a fellow countryman from the Great Yan Dynasty, but when he opened the door, it was his neighbor, Qiu Lan.

"What is it?"

Qiu Lan nodded.

"Then come in and talk?" Zou Feng stepped aside, gesturing for Qiu Lan to enter.

However, this made Qiu Lan hesitate. After all, she had been pacing outside Zou Feng’s door for a while.

The sounds that had been coming from the room just now made her blush crimson.

’The Outer Sect monthly exam is tomorrow, and it doesn’t take a genius to guess he’ll be targeted by the Purple Cloud Association, yet he still has the energy for crazy dual cultivation...’

’Seriously, is he just that brazen, or is he addicted to... that?’

Zou Feng noticed that Qiu Lan seemed hesitant to enter his room, so he quickly changed his tune. "Let’s talk outside then!"

With that, he walked past Qiu Lan and went out first.

Only then did Qiu Lan breathe a sigh of relief.

A moment later, Zou Feng stopped in a secluded spot by the courtyard wall and waited for Qiu Lan to speak.

In truth, he was quite curious why Qiu Lan would suddenly show up right before the monthly exam.

’Surely she wasn’t here to act as a mouthpiece for the Purple Cloud Association again, or to deliver a final ultimatum?’

"Brother Zou..." The words reached her lips, but Qiu Lan hesitated.

"It’s fine, you can speak freely!"

Qiu Lan finally let out a breath and said with resolve, "Brother Zou, I happened to receive some news. The Purple Cloud Association has hired Kong Shuo, who’s ranked one hundred seventy-three on the Outer Sect’s Potential Ranking, to act against you during the monthly exam..."

’Ranked one hundred seventy-three on the Potential Ranking?’

"They couldn’t even get someone in the top one hundred?" Zou Feng blurted out.

He had thought the Purple Cloud Association would have a bit more clout, but the person they hired wasn’t even in the top hundred.

Hearing this, Qiu Lan was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously replied, "The top one hundred? I’m afraid the higher-ups of the Purple Cloud Association would have to make a personal request for that to be even possible..."

The implication was that the Purple Cloud Association’s leadership hadn’t gotten involved in this matter.

After all, if the leadership had to condescend to deal with a mere Outer Sect rookie, the Purple Cloud Association would only lose more face.

"Alright, I understand. Thanks!" Zou Feng was certain Qiu Lan wasn’t making it up.

After all, the name Kong Shuo had indeed appeared on the List of Gods. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

However, a new question immediately arose: What was Qiu Lan’s motive?

’Hadn’t this woman been willing to act as an accomplice for the Purple Cloud Association members before?’

"Brother Zou, don’t underestimate him. Anyone who can get on the Potential Ranking is truly extraordinary."

"But the Alternate Space for the monthly exam is vast. If you’re careful, you might be able to avoid this disaster..." Qiu Lan added as a reminder.

This only made Zou Feng even more confused.

"Uh, so why do you want to help me?" Zou Feng asked bluntly.

Qiu Lan said frankly, "I may not be a good person, but I at least understand the principle of repaying kindness. I never had the chance to thank you, Brother Zou, for not holding my past actions against me!"

Zou Feng understood now.

’So it turns out that simply by not deliberately targeting or getting revenge on her for her previous rudeness, I’ve already earned her gratitude.’

’Is the environment in the Outer Sect really this cruel? Full of deceit and people seeking revenge for the slightest grievance?’

’I was just too lazy to bother with such trivial matters, and it ended up creating a positive connection...’

"After the monthly exam, I’ll treat you to fried rice when I have time!"

Zou Feng hadn’t known which of the new names on the List of Gods belonged to someone on the Potential Ranking, so he couldn’t say that Qiu Lan’s information was useless.

At the very least, he now had a way to make sure Kong Shuo wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep, which would affect his performance during the monthly exam.

After saying this, Zou Feng didn’t linger and left directly.

As for Qiu Lan, besides wanting to repay a kindness, she was actually more interested in seeing if someone like Zou Feng, who dared to confront the Purple Cloud Association head-on, could forge a different path.

After all, when she had joined the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, she too had faced a choice and had tried to stand up to Yang Haoyu.

But the result was a crushing defeat. She was forced to submit and accept reality...

The next day, the Outer Sect monthly exam arrived as scheduled.

For this monthly exam, most of the disciples who had newly joined the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect were naturally filled with apprehension, terrified of perishing in the Alternate Space.

But many of the veteran Outer Disciples, who had participated in the monthly exam many times, were unconcerned, treating it as just a few days’ trip to an Alternate Space.

This wasn’t strange. After all, while casualties were unavoidable in the monthly exam, it wasn’t some meat-grinder-level, high-difficulty instance.

As long as one’s ambitions weren’t too high—not aiming for a good score or trying to fight for a spot on the Potential Ranking—one could actually just lay low and survive to pass.

Therefore, Zou Feng wasn’t worried about the safety of Teng County and Gongsun Jinghong.

Of course, he didn’t deliberately ask the two women not to pursue a good score in the exam.

Everyone has their own path. Zou Feng wouldn’t go so far as to manipulate their cultivation paths just because he wanted to practice the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill more.

In the early morning, after getting ready, Zou Feng led the two women and followed a crowd of Outer Disciples from the surrounding mountains to the location of the super-massive teleportation array within the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect.

The monthly exam was actually equivalent to a combat drill in preparation for future conquests of Alternate Spaces.

This made most of the newly-admitted disciples quite excited.

In the conquest of Alternate Spaces, although Outer Disciples were cannon fodder, risk often meant opportunity.

During this time, Zou Feng had heard no shortage of a certain type of topic that Outer Disciples loved to talk about.

It was always about some past Outer Disciple who originally had mediocre Talent, but then, during a conquest of an Outer Realm, accidentally obtained some divine object or had a fortuitous encounter, and then soared to prominence.

Using this to enter the Inner Sect was nothing special; there were even examples of those who, because of such opportunities, managed to become a True Inheritor in one fell swoop.

’However, after hearing these stories, I was most curious: If a treasure was really discovered in an Outer Realm, wouldn’t it belong to the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect?’

’Hiding it at the time is one thing, but after returning to the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, could you really hide it from the Celestial Dao Cauldron?’

However, the answer he received to this question was that his perspective was too narrow.

You think the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect covets your pathetic little trinket?

You might think you’ve obtained a treasure, but to the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, it’s probably no more significant than a single strand of hair.

If you can hide it from the leaders of the Outer Realm conquest and bring the treasure back to the Immortal Sect, that’s your skill. With the sect rules in place, no one can try to steal it from you.

It was because of so much toxic motivation like this that even though the Outer Disciples knew they were basically cannon fodder during the Outer Realm conquests, many of them would still face it with a positive attitude.

As Zou Feng queued up, waiting to enter the teleportation array, he could already feel several malicious gazes on him.

But there were simply too many people present, and for a moment, he couldn’t pinpoint where these hostile gazes were coming from.

"Brother Kong, that’s him! He’s Zou Feng!" In a distant line, an Outer Disciple from the Taian Mountain Dining Hall stepped forward to point him out.

In truth, it would have been easy for Kong Shuo to find out what Zou Feng looked like, but seeing him with his own eyes was safer.

After all, some disciples would choose to use a Disguise when entering the Alternate Space to prevent their enemies from causing trouble during the monthly exam.

"Hmm, you can tell he’s the arrogant and untamable type at a glance. Not bad, not bad at all!"

"I just love the look on the faces of these arrogant types when their eyes fill with despair..." Kong Shuo said with a sinister smile.

Seeing this, the disciple who had pointed out Zou Feng couldn’t help but think to himself: ’Aren’t you the same arrogant and untamable type?’

’Of course, I would never dare say that out loud.’

After a while, a voice full of majesty boomed from the sky.

"All Outer Disciples, listen up!"

"This month’s exam will take place in a slaughter-type Alternate Space! Kill the Alien Race within that space. The more you kill, the higher your score!"

Hearing this, Zou Feng couldn’t help but turn to a familiar Dining Hall disciple next to him and ask, "Are there Alternate Spaces that don’t involve killing?"

"Of course. There are also puzzle-solving Alternate Spaces, or ones that require everyone to team up to pass."

"So, if you get a lot of points, are there rewards?"

The disciple really wanted to roast Zou Feng for being here a whole month and not even knowing such common sense, but in the end, he just said, "Of course there are! Who would bother busting their butt for no reward? Wouldn’t it be better to just lay low and wait for the exam to end?"