Chapter 198: The End Of The Second Round of The Ten Nations Grand Tournament, Reaching The Third Round

　　It was nighttime.

　　Ye Ping sat quietly on the eaves.

　　He was deep in thought about the Foundation Establishment realm.

　　After the previous mystic realm was over, someone held a banquet and Ye Ping also learned some secrets about the Foundation Establishment realm during the banquet.

　　Foundation Establishment realm.

　　It was the establishment of the Dao foundation of cultivation and thus was called the Foundation Establishment realm.

　　Besides, the biggest change in the Foundation Establishment realm was the quality of spiritual energy.

　　Ye Ping was thinking about the perfect Foundation Establishment method.

　　The degree of perfection was determined by the quality of spiritual energy.

　　The purer the quality, the more perfect the realm.

　　Ye Ping could break through to the Major Perfection of the Foundation Establishment realm, but he had been hesitating, in hopes of being able to enter this realm in the most perfect state.

　　However, unfortunately, it was difficult to comprehend the method of perfect Foundation Establishment.

　　It was not cultivation, but to open up an unusual path of cultivation using one’s abilities.

　　If one could not open it, it would be a waste of time.

　　Even after opening it up, it might not necessarily be the right path. Many cultivators who had slipped into obsession had come about like that.

　　Hence, it was extremely difficult for one to open up a path of their own.

　　Fortunately, Ye Ping did not know it very well. Otherwise, he might not take the risk.

　　Currently, the greatest problem that Ye Ping encountered was the division of stages of the Foundation Establishment realm.

　　There were nine or ten.

　　The Foundation Establishment realm was divided into the early, middle, late, and Major Perfection stages. In order to make it more perfected, a few more levels had to be added.

　　Ye Ping had two options.

　　He could make it nine stages.

　　The other option was that he could make it ten stages, which meant perfection.

　　That made Ye Ping feel very conflicted.

　　Nine was extreme and ten was perfect.

　　On the eaves, Ye Ping was immersed in pondering and seemed to be vexed.

　　He could have broken through the Foundation Establishment realm a long time ago but he wanted to be perfect, thus he kept delaying.

　　If he continued delaying, there wouldn’t be any benefit, and on the contrary, it might even shake one’s Dao Heart.

　　Two hours.

　　Four hours.

　　Six hours.

　　After pondering hard for six hours, Ye Ping seemed to have suddenly understood something.

　　Nine was the extreme number. Although it was one short of perfection, it was in line with the common sense of heaven and earth. If it was really divided into ten stages, it might not be as effective as the extreme number of nine.

　　Thinking of this, Ye Ping pondered for another hour before finally determining the method of the technique of the nine extremes. He then began to cultivate.

　　Boom!

　　At this moment, Ye Ping seemed to have a ringing furnace in his body while spiritual energy entered his dantian.

　　Pfft.

　　However, in an instant, Ye Ping broke through the realm, and the aura in his body turned from white to green.

　　Next, in another instant, Ye Ping broke through the realm again, and the green aura turned red.

　　As his realm continued to rise, Ye Ping’s physical body was also greatly strengthened.

　　In just one night, Ye Ping had broken through to the seventh level.

　　He had accumulated too much before, and now that his thoughts had spread, he broke through to the seventh level of the Foundation Establishment realm.

　　Ye Ping’s sudden breakthrough to the seventh level of the Foundation Establishment realm was equivalent to that of a Golden Core realm cultivator.

　　Even Ye Ping’s aura was already infinitely close to that of a Golden Core realm cultivator.

　　A beam of golden sunlight shone on Ye Ping’s body.

　　It completely reflected Ye Ping’s aura of an absolute Confucian immortal. Even his abilities had a qualitative change.

　　His physical body was once again strengthened and his Dharmic powers became even richer. The spiritual energy also metamorphosed into a light gold color. As long as he went two levels up, Ye Ping could reach the perfected Foundation Establishment realm.

　　However, the last two levels were very difficult and required more than sufficient spiritual energy.

　　However, no matter what, Ye Ping had already figured out a new road.

　　Phew!

　　After spitting out a turbid mouthful of air, Ye Ping stood up.

　　It was the second round of the Ten Nations Grand Tournament.

　　It was the test of the physical body pagoda.

　　At this moment, it was already daybreak and the test was set to begin at noon. However, it didn’t matter whether he was late or not.

　　After all, the physical body pagoda assessment itself was not a contest in the first place. It didn’t matter how long it would be.

　　He stood on the eaves.

　　Ye Ping gazed in the northwest direction.

　　A large black ancient tower appeared.

　　It was the physical body pagoda.

　　The so-called physical body pagoda was the ancient pagoda. There were a total of 81 levels of the pagoda, each of which was guarded by a guardian.

　　The guardian was neither a demon nor a human cultivator but a puppet beast. Its physical body was extremely strong. Not only was its physical body strong, but it was also a puppet and thus had extremely superb martial arts moves.

　　After entering the ancient tower, Ye Ping’s spiritual energy would be sealed directly. If he wanted to break through, he would be able to use the power of the physical body to defeat the puppet beast.

　　Besides, during the banquet yesterday, Ye Ping also knew that if he passed the physical body pagoda test, he would be able to enter the Wei Nation yard and participate in the literary test.

　　The entire Ten Nations Grand Tournament would last for ten days while the mystic realm test lasted for one day. Three days were reserved for the physical body pagoda test, and there were six days for the literary test.

　　However, if one could end the physical body pagoda test sooner, they would also be able to take the literary test sooner.

　　After all, the literary examination was not like the illusionary realm and the physical body pagoda, which could be passed using strength. It mainly required intelligence.

　　Ye Ping’s idea was simple. He wanted to take the last two tests directly and then go straight back to the Jin Nation Academy.

　　He wanted to see if he could comprehend the supreme sword intent.

　　If he could not, he would just forget it and go back to the sect.

　　To be honest, Ye Ping was now preoccupied with thoughts about returning to the Qingyun Dao Sect and learning from his Senior Brothers.

　　In particular, after experiencing this mystic realm test, Ye Ping understood his shortcomings even more.

　　Hence, he was even more eager about returning to the Qingyun Dao Sect.

　　The Jin Nation Academy and the Ten Nations Academy were all superficial.

　　Ye Ping just wanted to hurry back to the sect and listen to his Senior Brother’s lectures. In his opinion, that was better than going to the so-called Ten Nations Academy.

　　Hence, with this idea in mind, Ye Ping was now thinking of hurrying up and leaving.

　　If it weren’t for the elders of the Ten Nations Academy who insisted that he should take all the assessments before he could obtain the rewards…

　　However, at this moment, Ye Ping had already left.

　　Phew!

　　In an instant, Ye Ping disappeared on the spot.

　　He rushed towards the physical body pagoda.

　　Huangfu Tianlong had already gone to the physical body pagoda long ago, and hence, Ye Ping left alone.

　　15 minutes later.

　　In the south of Wei Nation Capital.

　　The huge physical body pagoda struck through the clouds. It was a typical octagonal pagoda.

　　The pagoda was black, giving off a solemn and dignified aura. There were Dharma treasures like gourds and flying swords hovering at each corner of the pagoda.

　　There were more than 100,000 cultivators surrounding the pagoda. If not for the exclusive passage for participating students, Ye Ping probably wouldn’t be able to squeeze his way through.

　　At this moment, with the appearance of Ye Ping, many people started discussing among themselves.

　　“It’s Ye Ping.”

　　“You’re calling him Ye Ping? You have to call him Elite Ye.”

　　“Yes, yes, yes. Elite Ye, Elite Ye.”

　　“Look guys, Elite Ye is here.”

　　“It’s Elite Ye.”

　　“Senior Brother Ye is here.”

　　Everyone on the street got into a huge uproar.

　　After yesterday’s mystic realm examination, everyone remembered Ye Ping’s name.

　　At a young age, he possessed the Golden Wheel of Expiation and even managed to force the Fiendcelestial Cult’s Devil Son to unveil three talismans.

　　In an unevenly matched battle with a Golden Core realm cultivator, Ye Ping still managed to make him reveal his trump cards.

　　Ye Ping could be said to have become famous because of a single battle.

　　That was precisely why Ye Ping’s fame had also increased tremendously. Nowadays, everyone in Wei Nation knew who Ye Ping was and all the onlooking cultivators of the Ten Nations were aware of him.

　　In addition, Ye Ping refused to join the Ten Nations Academy, which was a shocking move.

　　Hence, in the eyes of the Ten Nations cultivators, Ye Ping had another nickname.

　　This nickname was Elite Ye.

　　He was the absolute elite of the Ten Nations.

　　On the main road, Ye Ping remained composed without smiling. However, he was not pretending, but rather, Ye Ping understood that it would be best to stay calm.

　　“Senior Brother Ye, you’re here.”

　　“Greetings, Senior Brother Ye.”

　　“Greetings, Senior Brother Ye.”

　　When they walked towards the physical body pagoda, hundreds of students of the Ten Nations, who were preparing to take the test, all bowed towards Ye Ping.

　　They were all elites of their nations and didn’t think they were inferior to anyone.

　　However, when they saw Ye Ping, they all took the initiative to come over and bow to him. Clearly, Ye Ping had a high status in their eyes.

　　“You guys are being too polite.”

　　Ye Ping bowed simply.

　　“Senior Brother Ye, why are you so late? Senior Brother Huangfu has already entered and he’s doing pretty well. It’s only been fifteen minutes but he has already passed the test.”

　　Someone spoke up and informed Ye Ping that Huangfu Tianlong had already taken the test.

　　“Did he pass?”

　　Ye Ping was slightly surprised.

　　“Yes, perhaps the conditions of the mystic realm yesterday were too harsh and the requirements of the physical body pagoda are not that strict. You just have to break through to the tenth level within an hour.”

　　“Senior Brother Ye, don’t you want to try?”

　　“So far, only the elite of Li Nation has broken through to the 47th level of the 99-level pagoda. Senior Brother Ye, if you go up, you can probably break the record.”

　　Everyone was complimenting him seriously.

　　He wanted to see what record Ye Ping could create.

　　They almost all believed that Ye Ping could definitely break the record but they could not imagine which level he could reach.

　　“You just need to pass the test, you don’t have to vie for first place.”

　　Ye Ping smiled bitterly. Anyway, he had already been determined as the top performer of the Ten Nations Grand Tournament so he did not want to display his abilities yet.

　　However, as soon as he said that, the elder who was guarding the physical body pagoda below suddenly spoke up.

　　“Little Friend Ye Ping, it’s already stated there. I hope that you can display your true abilities during the physical assessment and literary test. If you hold back, you won’t get any rewards.”

　　The elder’s words made Ye Ping stunned.

　　‘There are such rules too?’

　　However, after thinking about it, Ye Ping had nothing to say. After all, it wouldn’t be right for him to take the reward without joining the academy. Hence, it was reasonable for them to set those rules.

　　However, at this moment, people suddenly spoke up again.

　　“Senior Brother Huangfu has stepped up.”

　　“He has crossed over to the 48th floor. Senior Huangfu has surpassed the elite of Li Nation.”

　　“It’s really terrifying, Huangfu Tianlong has only gone in for an hour. Yet, he has already reached the 48th floor. The elite of Li Nation has held on for four hours but he’s still stuck at the 47th floor.”

　　Everyone spoke up and they were staring at the physical body pagoda.

　　They were well aware of who would be defeated.

　　“Everyone, if Senior Brother Huangfu comes later, tell him to wait for me here. I need to see him for something.”

　　Seeing that it was almost past dawn, Ye Ping did not delay any further.

　　He also planned to pass the physical body pagoda test early and then go to take the literary examination.

　　After taking the literary examination, he would ask the Ten Nations Academy to give him his rewards. He would then hurry to the Ten Nations bazaar.

　　Yes, the Ten Nations bazaar.

　　Ye Ping now wanted to try out the Three Thousand Treasure Appraisal technique that Lin Bei had imparted to him and see if he could get a treasure.

　　At the thought of this, Ye Ping walked towards the pagoda.

　　He handed the token to the pagoda elder.

　　Soon, the doors of the pagoda were opened.

　　Under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes, Ye Ping took a step across and walked into the pagoda.

　　Creak!

　　There was nothing on the first floor of the physical body pagoda. Apart from sunlight, there was nothing else in the pagoda.

　　As Ye Ping stepped into the ancient pagoda, he soon noticed that his Dharmic powers had been restrained, and since he had restrictions on his spiritual energy, he had no choice but to rely on the power of his physical body.

　　Before Ye Ping could think more about it, a figure appeared.

　　It was a burly man who seemed human, but it was in fact the puppet beast who had obvious marks on its face.

　　Bang!

　　Without any word of nonsense or hesitation, the figure struck.

　　Boom.

　　Ye Ping took a step forward and threw a punch with incredible speed.

　　The puppet beast split into pieces immediately, and a ray of light soon appeared in the central area.

　　It was a symbol of passing. If he walked up, he would be transported to the second level.

　　In an instant, Ye Ping went to the second floor. If there was another puppet on the first floor, it would hit him without hesitation.

　　Since the other party was emotionless, Ye Ping also did not say another word of nonsense.

　　Boom!

　　He punched again.

　　Ye Ping arrived at the third floor.

　　Outside the physical body pagoda.

　　All the cultivators were paying attention to Ye Ping’s breakthrough speed.

　　In just less than eight minutes, Ye Ping had already arrived at the tenth floor.

　　“He reached the tenth floor in just less than eight minutes. He truly deserves to be an elite.”

　　“It has only been less than eight minutes.”

　　“That’s too fast. Even someone as powerful as Huangfu Tianlong took 15 minutes. Yet, Senior Brother Ye reached the tenth floor in less than eight minutes?”

　　Everyone was discussing as they felt that Ye Ping was too fast.

　　However, soon, the physical body pagoda lit up.

　　In one breath, Ye Ping arrived at the 20th floor.

　　He reached the tenth floor in one go, leading to a huge uproar.

　　In less than eight minutes, Ye Ping had already reached the 33rd floor.

　　Each floor of the physical body pagoda was stronger than the one preceding it. It was not doubled but increased by small increments each time.

　　The setting was meant for providing a clear view of the strength of the disciples’ physical bodies.

　　Ye Ping reached the 45th floor in 15 minutes.

　　That speed was beyond the knowledge of the students.

　　Prior to this, there were geniuses but they weren’t this incredible.

　　Huangfu Tianlong reached the tenth floor after fifteen minutes. Yet, Ye Ping used the same amount of time to reach the 45th floor.

　　‘This is absurd.’

　　The more outrageous thing was…

　　Although Ye Ping’s advancement had slowed down, it was still shocking.

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　　All the elites almost stagnated at the 45th floor for a long time, but Ye Ping soared all the way up like a divine soldier from the sky.

　　There were only 81 floors to the pagoda.

　　Ye Ping had already reached the 65th.

　　Oh, no, now he had reached the 69th floor.

　　At this rate, Ye Ping should be able to pass in less than an hour’s time.

　　Indeed, comparison would be hurtful.

　　Soon, half an hour passed.

　　Ye Ping had arrived at the 79th floor.

　　He was two floors away from the 81st floor.

　　When he reached the 79th floor, Ye Ping began to find it overwhelming.

　　The puppet beast was strong and experienced in combat. More terrifyingly, its physical body was tough.

　　Ye Ping fought against it but could not kill it with one blow. If he wasn’t careful enough, he might be severely injured.

　　On the 79th floor, Ye Ping was injured, but the good thing was that he slashed the puppet beast.

　　On the 80th floor, Ye Ping’s left hand and chest were fractured and he almost fell into the hands of the puppet beast. However, fortunately, the Ancient Godfiend Body was extremely tough and it allowed his injuries to recover.

　　On the 81st floor.

　　Ye Ping faced a huge enemy.

　　The puppet beast of the 81st floor was almost invincible. It was indestructible as it was made of ancient gold and its martial arts experience was incredible. Each move seemed ordinary but it contained thousands of his willpower.

　　Ye Ping was almost fully focused when taking on the puppet beast.

　　He had dominated his way through and was almost exhausted, but even in this situation, Ye Ping did not choose to give up.

　　Boom!

　　The pagoda roared as Ye Ping fought with the puppet beast ferociously.

　　If it wasn’t for the fact that the pagoda was an extremely high quality Dao artifact, it would have been blown to pieces.

　　At the end of the battle, Ye Ping’s body was covered in injuries.

　　This time, Ye Ping encountered tremendous pressure.

　　Unlike the desperation of the illusionary realm test, the battle brought about a qualitative change even though he was still getting beaten up.

　　However, Ye Ping was also learning from it.

　　He spent an entire hour on it.

　　At the end of the fight, Ye Ping was covered in blood.

　　However, at that moment, the puppet beast froze.

　　In the next moment, the puppet beast destroyed itself.

　　The puppet beast was made of a puppet and thus could not fight for a long time. The fact that Ye Ping lasted for an hour meant that he had actually already won.

　　Boom!

　　Boom!

　　Boom!

　　At this moment, the physical body pagoda roared while the sounds of bells filled the air.

　　A bright beam of light rose into the sky as an indicator to all the cultivators in Wei Nation that someone had passed the physical body pagoda.

　　Outside the physical body pagoda.

　　Countless pairs of eyes were staring straight at this pagoda.

　　Ye Ping had spent only two hours in total to pass the physical body pagoda test.

　　Besides, up to now, Huangfu Tianlong was still stuck at the 49th level and was unable to break through.

　　Huangfu Tianlong was ranked second to Ye Ping.

　　Everyone was shocked and some people were silent.

　　Ye Ping was like an insurmountable mountain that appeared in the heart of every cultivator.

　　They knew that Ye Ping was ferocious and overpowering.

　　They also knew that Ye Ping’s eliteness was unparalleled.

　　However, they didn’t expect that Ye Ping could be this strong and powerful.

　　It was unbelievable.

　　Whoosh!

　　In the physical body pagoda, rays of red light surged into Ye Ping’s body.

　　It was the reward for passing the physical body pagoda.

　　The Qi and Blood of ancient ferocious beasts.

　　The physical body pagoda contained the Qi and Blood of ancient ferocious beasts.

　　Those who passed the level could obtain the enhancement of the Qi and blood.

　　Ye Ping swallowed the massive amount of Qi and blood while his energy was restored to the peak.

　　An entire hour later, Ye Ping’s realm broke through to the eighth level.

　　At this moment, Ye Ping opened his eyes and left the physical body pagoda.

　　Whoosh!

　　The doors of the physical body pagoda opened.

　　A figure appeared in front of the crowd.

　　It was Ye Ping…

　　There was no light around him, but in the eyes of everyone, he was shining brightly.

　　In the next moment, Ye Ping walked out of the physical body pagoda.

　　He discovered that Huangfu Tianlong was not around.

　　He was still fighting hard in the physical body pagoda.

　　Hence, Ye Ping asked someone to tell Huangfu Tianlong that he would either wait for Huangfu Tianlong in the Tribute Courtyard or wait for him in One-Line Sky.

　　After saying that, Ye Ping headed straight to the Tribute Courtyard of Wei Nation.

　　——