The Carnation Goddess

The instant that Elder Li Hong had shouted 'Forward', all 10 groups were moving hastily in front.

Shen Lie's group was also no exception in this.

The problem was, this was the mountain wilderness and there was only one path for the time being.

It was not long before the 10 groups were slowly being split up as more and paths had appeared.

Shen Lie was surprising agile and he was moving faster than his own group had anticipated. In fact Jie Ying was quite astonished that Shen Lie was moving on the rocky and dirt track as though he was walking on an even ground.

Instead of Shen Lie who was not the one that could not catch up, it was several protégés in his group that were unable to catch up with him!

Jie Ying also had some difficulty catching up with Shen Lie but each time he would catch her with his grip; she could feel revitalized and so much lighter. This startled her.

In this mountain wilderness, many of the protégés were breathless as they entered into the mountains but not Shen Lie.

Although he looked like a weak scholar and he could be knocked down by the strong winds but he was steadfast with his movements.

In fact, he had turned to frown at his group. "We need to hurry fast or we will be the last. Can't the ones at the back move a bit faster? There is nothing difficult about moving up the mountains. You are all not maidens."

This put many of the male protégés in his group to shame and they were awkward in the face as they could not even catch up with a scholar like Shen Lie.

Most of them were out of breath and they could not even argue with Shen Lie.

The most damning part was that Shen Lie was the group leader and if he asked them to be faster, this was his order.

If they disobeyed his order to follow him, they could not even complain against him to anyone.

His order was simple and that was to follow him tightly.

Could they even have the face to tell anyone that they could not follow a weak scholar like Shen Lie?

Naturally they could not and dare not as they valued their face!

Moreover Jie Ying, the greatest beauty in their cohort was in their group and this was a slap to their face if they could not even follow behind her.

Time quickly passed.

It was now only 3 groups that were still taking the same path; they were Xiong Ba's group number 1, Di Shitian's group number 6 and Shen Lie's group number 10.

Except for the strongest cultivators in the 3 groups, many of the cultivators numbering 60 in total were looking exhausted.

But Xiong Ba, Di Shitian and Shen Lie seemed to be in a contest to see who was faster.

Di Shitian turned to stare coldly at Shen Lie as he inhaled heavily, "Why are you still following us? Can't you see that your group is tired? You are not the last and moreover we still have 7 days. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Shen Lie said gently with the same composure, "Actually I am not following you. You are following me. I think you look more tired than me. Why don't you take a break first instead?"

Then he laughed as he pointed at the peak in front of them, "But since you are not tired, why don't we race to that peak instead?"

Di Shitian: …

"You are crazy!"

Di Shitian angrily shouted at Shen Lie and while he was shouting at Shen Lie, he spotted a path that did not require for him to go up the mountains. So he said to his group, "Follow me to that path over there."

Then he said coldly to Shen Lie, "Don't you dare to follow me…"

But before he could finish, Shen Lie had already walked away and was waving his feather fan as he walked to smile at Xiong Ba.

Shortie Lai was already giddy from the rapid walk and he was only too glad to follow Di Shitian to an easy path.

Many of the female protégés in Di Shitian's group were also relieved when they saw that they did not need to go up the mountain.

They were nearly freaked to the death when Shen Lie had suddenly challenged Di Shitian to go up the mountain peak.

However the same could not be said for Shen Lie's group and they were all freaked to the death by now and they were all breathless with hopelessness.

They were now cursing: How come this Shen Lie can't seem to get tired?!

Now it was Xiong Ba, Chu Feng, Mei Xuan, Xu Shaoqing and Xu Shaoxing turn to be pestered by Shen Lie.

Shen Lie waved his feather fan as he smiled at Xiong Ba, "Why don't we have a race to that peak over there?"

Xiong Ba: …

Chu Feng: …

Even for bronze core cultivators, they were also quite tired and breathless now.

How come this Shen Lie was not tired at all?

Jie Ying who was being gripped by Shen Lie did not feel tired at all and she was now curious about Shen Lie; it was because she could feel a strong internal profound energy that was coursing into her and she was feeling as fresh as she had just started.

What was more, she could feel that her cultivation core was stronger than ever before as though she was meditating in the mountains and absorbing the thick spiritual auras into her cultivation core. All in all, it was as good as meditating for 1 week in the mountains!

She really could not believe it.

When Shen Lie had told her that he would make her into a Saintess, she actually did not believe in him and it sounded more like a lover's promise than anything else.

No one in the entire divine realm could actually brag that they could make another cultivator into a Saintess. Also there were not many Saintesses in the entire Fenghua Great Continent and many were in the Fake Saintesses cultivation realm.

Xiong Ba had suddenly said to his group, "We shall take this path here."

He had suddenly discovered a hidden path that led downward.

When his group saw that this path was actually going down the mountain forest, they were instantly relieved.

Shen Lie quickly said to Xiong Ba, "Oh no. I've sensed great danger from this path. This is a most unwise decision. I suggest that you follow me up that peak first…"

Xiong Ba angrily interrupted Shen Lie, "Shen Lie! Are you the leader of my group or I am? How dare you meddle with my decision! And don't you dare to follow us down this easier path since you don't want us to go."

Chu Feng hummed coldly, "Danger my foot!"

Mei Xuan was also humming coldly, "I dare you to poke fun at my Brother Xiong Ba again!"

Shen Lie protested immediately, "But…"

But he was quickly interrupted by the rest of Xiong Ba's group; even the twin sisters Xu Shaoqing and Xu Shaoxing were looking at Shen Lie with an ugly look.

Jie Ying pulled Shen Lie away as she said, "You are not their leader. We should try to take care of ourselves first instead."

Shen Lie sighed softly as he muttered, "If this is their destiny to die here, then so be it."

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Author Note:

1. The experiential training officially starts now!