Chapter 313 – Selective Death
“Little Chen, there are nine paths in front of us, how are we going to choose?”
Han Yan turned to Jiang Chen and asked. Han Yan’s image of Jiang Chen’s omnipotence was deeply rooted in his mind, that’s why whenever they encountered a situation with a lot of variables, Han Yan would just turn to Jiang Chen for his opinion.
“Anything could happen in this kind of situation that has a lot of variables; each path can lead us to anything. Let’s just wait and see.”
Jiang Chen replied as he stared at all nine paths, carefully examining each of the. But, he couldn’t tell any of them apart.
“Why are you losing your head? I’m sure there are someone else who are more nervous than us, just let those impatient people enter first.”
Nangong Wentian crossed his arms in front of his chest. His expression was a calm one.
Time passed by, and crowds of people stood in front of the nine paths. None of them dared make the first move, but, it seemed like they were getting more and more relentless. It was just as Nangong Wentian had said; some people were starting to get impatient.
“I don’t see any difference in these nine paths, and since you’re all such cowards, I’ll be the first one to proceed! I choose the middle path!”
Right at this moment, a young man who looked to be in his twenties stood out. He was a genius disciple from the Eastern Continent, and he was an Early Divine Core warrior at this young age, which made him feel really proud of himself.
Newborn calves weren’t afraid of tigers; all youngsters liked adventuring! Therefore, this young man became the first one to walk one of the paths. He directly stepped onto the middle path with vigorous steps.
Swoosh!
In the blink of an eye, after the young man stepped onto the middle path, it seemed like he was impacted by some sort of dimensional force. His body trembled a little bit, but it soon stabilized. After that, he turned around to the crowds and started laughing, “Look, nothing bad happened! Daddy is going in now!”
The young man turned around and continued walking further into the path, then he just suddenly disappeared.
“Nothing happened to him. Alright, I’ll choose the middle path as well.”
Seeing that nothing happened to the young man, the rest of the people didn’t want to waste more time. Everyone understood one fact; the first person to enter might be the first one to get treasures!
At this moment, about eight people dashed toward the middle path, together.
In just a split second, these people reached the middle path. But, something suddenly happened!
Argh!!
A few miserable shrieks resounded. Under the frightened gazes from the crowd, six men from the group who just entered exploded like balloons, instantly turning into blood mists. After that, the bloody mist just disappeared into nowhere.
What?!
Many people cried out in alarm at the same time. Those who were right behind the group that just entered instantly stopped moving, stunned and frightened by what just happened.
The scene was extremely terrifying! The path still looked normal, and nothing weird had appeared, but those who entered the path just got killed for no reason.
What was even more puzzling was, there was a total of eight warriors who stepped onto the path, six of them died, but the two young men weren’t hurt at all.
Presently, the expressions of those two young men turned real ugly. Their bodies were covered in the blood of those warriors who just died. Six men had just died without any prior signs. But, nothing happened to either of them. This was a bizarre situation that really frightened them.
“How did that happen?”
“Why did 6 of them die, but those two didn’t?”
“What’s going on? This is terrifying!”
No one could remain calm any longer, the situation had stunned every single one present. Finally, the two young men woke up from their shock. Both of them looked at each other, then they both let out a belly laughter, “Hahaha, I knew it! The Island of Ice’s treasures are prepare for those with great destinies! Those with weak destinies can’t proceed any further! We are in, and still alive… this means we are men with great destinies, hahaha!”
Both men were extremely thrilled. They immediately turned around and continued walking forwards, soon disappeared from the eyes of the crowds.
“This is odd… I don’t believe it, there must be something wrong with this path! Let me try another path… I pick the first path!”
An old man in his fifties started walking toward the first path, but stopped when he arrived in front of the path. From the sweat on his face, one could easily tell how panicked he was. After all, a few people had just died on another path, so he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit panicked.
“Fuck it, I don’t care anymore!”
The old man gritted his teeth. It wasn’t easy for him to come here, so he couldn’t just return empty handed. The old man took a step forward and stepped onto the first path.
“Haha, look, I told you, there was something wrong with that path, nothing bad happe-, argh!!”
The old man got very excited, but in the next second, a miserable shrike left his mouth, just like the previous men. In an instant, his body exploded and turned into a blood mist, then he disappeared into nowhere, just like the others.
With this, the crowds were greatly frightened. They looked at the nine paths in front of them as if they were looking at the paths of death. The way those people died was really bizarre; they just died for no reason at all!
“Damn it, this is really scary, how did this happen?”
“This horrifying, all nine paths have the safe problem! We might just die at any time!”
…………
The crowds were terrified, and few could remain calm. Their desire to hunt for treasure has lessened. No matter how precious the treasure might be; nothing could compare to the importance of their own lives.
About ten Combat Soul warriors stood at the front with frowns on their faces. They too had many doubts regarding which path they should choose. Soon, one of the Combat Soul warrior’s eyes lit up. In the end, he couldn’t resist the temptation of treasure, so he finally picked a path and started walking toward it.
“Those who died were too weak.”
After saying that, the immediately stepped onto the path he had chosen. Right after he stepped onto the path, everyone could see a frightened expression emerge on his face, and he restlessly struggled to step off the path. But, he was done for.
Boom!
An explosion resounded. The Combat Soul warrior’s body exploded in just a second, and turned into a bloody mist which hovered around the place.
“Even a Combat Soul warrior died, who else has the courage to step onto a path?”
“That’s it, this is a path to death, and we have no way of entering! Is it really like that young man said, they were able to enter because they’re men with great destinies?”
Panic struck almost everyone’s minds. Few were able to remain calm when facing such a situation.
The Golden Lion furrowed his brows, as if he had just thought of something. He threw his glance at a young man no far away from him. The young man was only at the peak Heavenly Core realm, and it looked like he was still frightened by what he had seen, as his face was pale.
Pat!
The Golden Lion grabbed the young man’s shoulder and said, “You go.”
“Senior, please spare my life, I don’t want to die now!”
The young man nearly pissed his pants, and he repeatedly cursed the Golden Lion inwardly. So many warriors had died, so sending him in was just like killing him. He also didn’t think he was a man with a great destiny either.
“Just go, you might be able to survive.”
With tremendous force, the Golden Lion threw the young man onto one of the paths as if he was throwing a kite. A pitiful shriek immediately left the young man’s mouth, and his face turned red. The strength of a Combat Soul warrior was not something he could resist.
Plop!
The young man’s butt collided with the entrance of the path. He was incredibly scared, and his body was violently trembling. His eyes were closed, and his pants were wet… he really pissed himself out of fear…
A minute passed by, and the young man didn’t explode into a blood mist. Slowly, he opened his eyes and found out he was sitting on the path, and he wasn’t dead! Without hesitating, he jumped up from where he sat, and stood up straightly.
“Wahaha, daddy is still alive, daddy is a man with a great destiny as well!”
The young man was very excited; he was still alive! Immediately, he turned to the Golden Lion and bowed. After that, he walked further along the path.
“What happened? Why did some men die, while others didn’t?”
This was the biggest mystery that took place within the minds of those within the crowds, a mystery everyone were having a hard time figuring out.
“Little Chen, do you know the reason behind this?”
Han Yan asked.
“I understand now. These paths are actually all the same, but they have a selective process. Have you realized by now? Those who survived are all young men, and those who died in an instant were all old. That means, only those within certain age range can enter without getting hurt. As for those who are older, once they step onto the path, they will immediately be killed.”
Jiang Chen didn’t lower his voice, so everyone could hear what he said.
“What Brother Jiang Chen said is correct. If my guess is correct, those under 30 will be able to enter. As for those above 30… looks like we aren’t destined to get any treasures…”
The Golden Lion said in a depressed tone. All the Combat Soul warriors felt slightly depressed at the moment. All of them were clearly older than 30.
“Haha, now I understand! This was made only for the young ones! All of you are too old, and don’t have much potential, so the fortune of this Island of Ice isn’t for you!”
A young man burst into laughter, then he flew toward one of the paths, soon disappearing from everyone’s eyes. Indeed, nothing bad had happened to him.
“It might not be limited to those under 30, I am 31 years old this year, so I might be able to enter as well.”
“Why don’t you give it a try?”
“Alright, I’ll give it a try right now!”
The man walked straight forward to one of the paths. He was really confident in himself, and thought he was still young, as he was only 30-one years old. But too bad, he only realized his mistake upon stepping onto the path.
After the man exploded into a blood mist, the crowds finally understood the rules. Many people became despondent. But, as for those youngsters, they were really excited! The Island of Ice didn’t welcome anyone, it only welcomed those from the younger generation! With this, the competition immediately became less tense.
Looking at all those young men under 30 stepping onto the paths, Han Yan and Nangong Wentian’s lips curved upwards at the same time.
“Hehe, fighting the younger generation sure is fun! Little Chen, let’s go together!”
Nangong Wentian turned to Jiang Chen and said.
However, Jiang Chen on the other side was frowning. According to his body’s age, he was only 16 years old right now, not even 17. But, as for his soul, he was an old monster who had lived for millenniums. If this was counted as his actual age, he would exploded in an instant.
This situation caused Jiang Chen to be at a loss. It wouldn’t be any fun if it actually judged by the age of one’s soul.