In the Task Hall, Lin Huang finally understood why everyone had been looking at him so strangely earlier.
A team of five or more!
And a top ten ranking in the Inner Sect!
"I don’t meet either of these two conditions," Lin Huang sighed. "If it weren’t for these restrictions, this task would have been snatched up by countless people long ago."
After all, given the temptation of the Celestial Element Pill and the Snow Falling on Earth martial art, even if the danger level of a Celestial Armor Task was extremely high, many disciples would still flock to it.
"This Lin Huang is too impatient. He just entered the Inner Sect and already wants to take on a Celestial Armor Task!"
"Tsk, tsk... Entering the Inner Sect through Battle Eight Directions certainly brought him into the limelight. But to take on a Celestial Armor Task, he’s probably not qualified enough."
"Does he even know anyone in the top ten of the Inner Sect?"
The crowd murmured in low voices. Although Lin Huang had drawn quite a bit of attention previously by passing Battle Eight Directions, he had just entered the Inner Sect and his foundation was still shallow. It would be very difficult for him to take on a Celestial Armor Task.
Listening to the discussions, Lin Huang twitched his lips slightly. He hadn’t expected that merely trying to accept a Celestial Armor Task would make him the subject of everyone’s gossip. Then, he turned his head and glanced at Lu Han.
"What are you looking at me for!" Lu Han’s eyelids twitched, a sense of foreboding rising from the depths of his heart.
"Martial..." Lin Huang was just about to speak.
"Shut up! I rank one hundred and ninth in the Inner Sect. It’s useless even if you call me martial nephew. The rules clearly state that a top ten disciple of the Inner Sect must participate!" Lu Han grabbed Lin Huang and tried to drag him out of the Task Hall.
"Just give up on this task. It requires someone in the top ten of the Inner Sect. Don’t embarrass yourself here," Lu Han nagged. He thought, "Thank goodness it’s a Celestial Armor Task. Thank goodness it requires a top ten Inner Sect disciple. This way, we won’t have to go down the mountain! And we won’t have to pass through Xuanyuan City!"
Just as Lu Han was relentlessly dragging Lin Huang outside, a sudden commotion broke out outside the Task Hall. The bustling noise suggested that an unusual figure had arrived.
"Disciples from Baiyue Peak?" Lin Huang stopped in his tracks, gazing at the indistinct figures ahead.
Lu Han, who was pulling Lin Huang, also stopped. Staring at the figure walking at the very front of the crowd in the distance, his wooden face suddenly darkened a bit.
"Hold a grudge?" Lin Huang rested his hand on Lu Han’s shoulder and asked.
"None of your business!" Lu Han gnashed his teeth.
"Senior Brother Wang is here. Why aren’t you making way? Are you waiting to be thrown out?" Along with the approach of those figures, a clamorous voice rang out.
"Wang Chuduan! To think it would be him!" a disciple stared at the young man at the front and clicked his tongue in surprise.
"The top ten disciples of the Inner Sect rarely show their faces all year round. This ’Celestial Armor’ task is truly something else. In less than a quarter hour, a top ten disciple has already appeared."
"With Wang Chuduan here, I’m afraid we have no chance at this Celestial Armor Task!" Another disciple sighed. Although he looked unwilling, there was nothing he could do. After all, the other party was ranked tenth on the Inner Sect Disciple ranking.
An Earth Element Eighth Layer Heaven Cultivation!
This position wasn’t something an ordinary person could shake.
"Wang Chuduan?" Lin Huang’s brows furrowed slightly. He hadn’t expected to see another top ten Inner Sect disciple today. Although slightly inferior to Yun Feifei, anyone who could break into the top ten was undoubtedly a formidable figure with considerable means.
As the crowd murmured, Wang Chuduan and his entourage brushed past Lin Huang and walked into the Task Hall.
Suddenly, he took a few steps back, turned his head to stare at Lin Huang, and raised an eyebrow. "Lin Huang?"
Lin Huang’s gaze fell on the Baiyue Peak emblem on Wang Chuduan’s collar. He smiled faintly. "Does Senior Brother Wang have any advice?"
"I wouldn’t call it advice!" Wang Chuduan gathered his water-blue, gold-trimmed sleeves and narrowed his eyes at Lin Huang. He gave a nonchalant smile. "But I must remind you. An Outer Disciple named Jiang Huaiyin was recently taken in by my Master as a Direct Disciple. Did you know about this?"
"Even if he is Elder Hong Jiu’s Direct Disciple, he was still an Outer Disciple when I challenged him!
"And even if he were an Inner Sect Disciple under Elder Hong Jiu, so what? There’s no rule in the sect stating that Battle Eight Directions cannot be used to challenge an Inner Sect Disciple!"
Wang Chuduan frowned, his thin lips curling into a cold sneer. "What guts. Then you’d better remember: whenever you receive a letter of challenge from me, Wang Chuduan, the consequences will be much worse than what Jiang Huaiyin suffered!"
"Is this the extent of the magnanimity of the Inner Sect’s top ten?" Lin Huang glanced sideways at Wang Chuduan, completely unafraid.
Wang Chuduan chuckled freely. "Jiang Huaiyin is my junior martial brother. Avenging a junior martial brother is perfectly justified. Furthermore, with my status as tenth in the Inner Sect, don’t I have the privilege to crush a couple of insignificant bugs to death?"
"You do!"
Before Lin Huang could speak, Lu Han suddenly spoke up. His voice was brimming with malice. He pushed Lin Huang aside and stood in front of Wang Chuduan.
"Does Senior Brother Wang still remember me?" Lu Han asked.
"Of course I do... Tsk, tsk. Last year’s champion of the Outer Sect," Wang Chuduan squinted and smiled. "The guy I beat up on his first day in the Inner Sect, leaving him bedridden for three months! You really have a death wish, daring to show up in front of me again!"
A heavy scent of gunpowder quietly brewed in the air.
Standing on the side, Lin Huang furrowed his brows. He hadn’t expected the timid Lu Han to have such a past. An Outer Sect champion who was beaten to the point of paralysis on his first day in the Inner Sect. He figured Lu Han must have felt extremely terrible over the past year.
However, for Lu Han to confront Wang Chuduan right now was probably unwise. After all, the latter was ranked tenth in the Inner Sect with an Earth Element Eighth Layer Heaven cultivation. He couldn’t be underestimated.
Just as Lin Huang was about to pull Lu Han back, Yann Qing’er sidled up to him and stopped him.
"What’s wrong?" Lin Huang asked softly.
"This Lu Mutou is actually quite strong," Yann Qing’er whispered. "And don’t forget, Wang Chuduan is tenth in the Inner Sect. If Idiot Lu wins, he’ll become a top ten Inner Sect disciple!"
Hearing this, Lin Huang’s eyes lit up. "The top ten of the Inner Sect—that’s exactly the qualification needed to accept the Martial King’s Tomb training task!"
But, could Lu Han really defeat Wang Chuduan?
One was tenth in the Inner Sect, at the Earth Element Eighth Layer Heaven!
The other was a guy holding a rusty iron spear who had never shown his true strength.
Outside the Task Hall, Lu Han didn’t speak again. His sharp eyes were like those of a vicious wolf, locking onto Wang Chuduan so intensely that it made the latter’s heart pound with fear.
"What exactly do you want? Do you want me to beat you until you kneel on the ground spitting blood and stay bedridden for another year or so?" Wang Chuduan said angrily.
"I challenge you!" Lu Han enunciated every word, speaking with extreme seriousness as he took out the iron spear that had followed him for many years.
"You’re asking for death," Wang Chuduan sneered with narrowed eyes, hostility radiating from him. "Since you’re challenging me, even if I beat you to death, Nan Yunlie can’t do anything to me!"
With that, Wang Chuduan waved his arm and took out a ten-foot-long, sharp, and heavy Wolf Fang Club. With a BAM, he slammed it into the ground!
The atmosphere instantly became incredibly oppressive.
Holding the rusty iron spear, Lu Han stared fixedly at Wang Chuduan. His originally somewhat frail figure seemed to stand much taller as he leaned on the iron spear, faintly exuding an unmatched sharpness.
Meanwhile, the Wolf Fang Club in Wang Chuduan’s hands was exceptionally imposing, radiating a chilling aura.
"I’ll take you down in one move. I don’t have time to play with you; I still need to go accept the Celestial Armor Task," Wang Chuduan chuckled, then fiercely charged toward Lu Han.
In an instant, the air trembled as a domineering and fierce aura surged toward Lu Han like a tide. Wang Chuduan leaped into the air, raising his Wolf Fang Club high. With the crushing momentum of Mount Taishan, he slashed down at Lu Han.
Behind Wang Chuduan, the phantom of a pitch-black wolf appeared, letting out a long, howling roar. Like the command of a wolf king beneath a bright moon, it caused the surrounding air to turn completely violent. This made Wang Chuduan’s strike exceptionally terrifying.
Martial Soul Black Wolf King!
Lu Han pursed his lips tightly, watching the terrifying attack bearing down on him. His dark, youthful face was quite solemn, which then turned incredibly ruthless. He gently stroked the spear in his hands, his thin lips parting to utter:
"Iron Horse Ice River... Crescent Spear!"
The moment Lu Han’s words fell, Lin Huang’s expression suddenly changed.
The surrounding air plummeted to the freezing point in an instant. The neighing of ten thousand horses echoed in the void. Lu Han leaped into the air, his spear sweeping into the sky like a dragon. Using the momentum, Lu Han charged toward Wang Chuduan.
As Lu Han advanced, icy blizzards howled around him, accompanied by the long neighs of horses. It was as if tens of thousands of iron hooves were trampling across a battlefield. This terrifying aura crushed through the air inch by inch...
"Kill!" Lu Han let out a long shout, cold light glinting on his iron spear. Thrusting out like a dragon, he bore down on Wang Chuduan at an utterly terrifying speed. His strike was an unstoppable force of destruction, completely pulverizing all of Wang Chuduan’s attacks.
A point of cold light flashed on the tip of the spear. In a split second, it pierced into Wang Chuduan’s chest, punching straight through his back in an extremely formidable and tyrannical manner.
Accompanied by a miserable shriek, Wang Chuduan’s body was sent flying by Lu Han’s spear.
Lu Han immediately dashed forward. Swinging the battered iron spear once more, he ruthlessly smashed it downward. It was like tens of thousands of black, iron-armored warhorses roaring down from a mountain peak to trample a bloody battlefield.
Wang Chuduan’s expression changed drastically. Before he could even struggle to get up, he suddenly saw the spear rapidly expanding in front of his eyes...
THUMP!
A heavy smashing sound rang through the air. Wang Chuduan had already fallen unconscious, his chest completely caved in and his ribs ground to dust.
He had defeated his enemy in just two moves!
In the center of the hall, the faintest trace of a smile appeared on Lu Han’s dark, youthful face as he carefully wiped the bloodstained spearhead.
The surrounding crowd stared at the scene before them in absolute shock.
"This guy... took down Wang Chuduan in just two moves?"
"Holy shit. Wang Chuduan is tenth in the Inner Sect! No matter how you look at it, he has the strength of the Earth Element Eighth Layer Heaven, yet his chest was completely smashed in by a single spear strike!"
"Who is this dark-skinned guy? How come we’ve never heard of him before?"
"When his Martial Soul manifested just now, it was so incredibly domineering! It was as if I was watching a massive army battling for supremacy over the world. Truly terrifying!"
Lin Huang stared at Lu Han in equal disbelief. He had sparred with Lu Han many times before, but he had never noticed that the latter possessed such a formidable Martial Soul. Otherwise, Lin Huang wouldn’t have been worried earlier. This was partly because neither of them had used their Martial Souls when they sparred.
Although Lin Huang had heard of the ’Iron Horse Ice River Crescent Spear’, he hadn’t expected it to be this terrifying. Judging by its world-trampling momentum, it was fully capable of bordering on an Earth-Tier Martial Soul.
Iron Horse Ice River Crescent Spear!
Lin Huang clenched his warm palms and pondered inwardly. With such a Martial Soul, if Lu Han were to step onto a battlefield, he would probably be unrivaled across the world and definitely earn a spot on the Famous General List.
"He couldn’t take a beating at all!" Lu Han muttered as he looked at the unconscious Wang Chuduan after putting his iron spear away.
"Congratulations on defeating Wang Chuduan. Now we can go accept the ’Martial King’s Tomb’ training task," Lin Huang said with a smile, looking at Lu Han.
"Ah..." Lu Han scratched his head, a look of utter confusion on his face!