Past life sage: This life a dual cultivator

"unbelievable! Someone is already in the second stage", an expert exclaimed after seeing the movement in the stone pillar.

"Who is it?", his companions exclaimed and looked towards the large stone pillar.

The stone pillar was divided into three different colours of light and each colour represented three separate layers of the Serpentine forest.

The yellow light represented the outermost area of the forest and untill now all hundred names were inside the lowermost portion of the stone pillar which was glowing with yellow light.

But suddenly some changes appeared among the names and a name vanished from the lowermost position. The next moment a name appeared in the middle of stone pillar which was glowing with blue light.

The name was a familiar name for the spectators but they had never expected him to be the first to enter the the innermost area of the Serpentine forest.

"This guy is a freak! There are so many capable participants yet none can match this little monster from the Zhan clan", the emperor realm expert from the Spirit palace mumured. Beside him, two young ladies of the Spirit palace were also observing the stone pillar and there was a look of shock in each of their eyes.

Other spectators may not understand the level of difficulty of the last test but as the host of the grand sect competition, both of them were completely aware.

According to common sense, none of the cultivators should cross the first layer before the evening but the result of Zhan Chen, proved their speculation otherwise. It was only four hours into the competetion yet Zhan Chen had already crossed the outermost area and currently fighting in the inner area of the Serpentine forest.

"Princess, this brat is really something. He is only eighteen yet posess such a level of prowess! We should not left him unchecked. Otherwise, we will have to regret later", a shadowy looking expert spoke to the second princess of the imperial family.

"Aunt Shiyu, you are speaking the truth but we shouldn't act right now. With the appearance of the space crack, the situation is quite complicated. But this is still not reason why I am holding back.

The immortal abode is going to open up and we may need the help of Zhan clan experts to open the pathway. We can't take the risk now because the immortal abode will be a heaven defying opportunity for my ninth sister", Xie Lanying spoke.

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Zhan Chen was unaware of the thoughts of the imperial family. Otherwise, he would have cursed them for how crafty they were. After all, none among the eight super powers could have imagined that the space crack was only a cover. The true goal of imperial family was a certain immortal abode.

"Clang!", metallic sound rang out as Zhan Chen defended himself from another sneaky attack. He kept fending the attacks of the human cultivator but his real focus was on a distant tree.

Two pairs of eyes were watching their battle keenly but from the looks on their eyes, Zhan Chen was sure that they would pounce at them as soon as he saw any sign of weakness.

"Brat, your struggle is futile. Just give up on you resistance and I promise, it will not be painful for you", the attacker of Zhan Chen spoke with a grin on his face.

Zhan Chen looked at his attacker with a disdainful look on his face but he chose not to reply. Afterall, there was no point in talking to a dying man.

The attacker of the Zhan clan gradually became wary after facing the rocksolid defence of Zhan Chen. He turned to look towards his companion but it was the exact moment when Zhan Chen striked.

A line of red appeared on the neck of the cultivator who was attacking Zhan Chen. "Brat...", he could only speak this much before a horrified look appeared on his face.

Zhan Chen ignored the horrified cultivator and walked past him leisurely. His attacker did his best to slow down the blood but his wound didn't stop bleeding. He finally stopped breathing while looking towards Zhan Chen with wide open eyes.

"What is the point in hiding? It is not that you two can run away in my watch", Zhan Chen spoke while walking towards the distant tree.

"Little punk, don't be so full of yourself", an angry voice came from the back of the tree. Two experts walked out and glared towards Zhan Chen with fierce expression on their faces.

"It is your fault for getting into a confrontation with me. Now attack together, otherwise it will be far too boring. I am tired of having one on battles with Core condensation realm cultivators", Zhan Chen spoke with a disinterested look on his face.

His words and his expression were last straw for both of the cultivators as they pounced towards Zhan Chen after hearing his provocation. Both of them attacked simultaneously and from their attack pattern, Zhan Chen was sure that both of his attackers were acquintances.

Both of his opponents attacked in tandem and Zhan Chen fought them equally by limiting his cultivation to peak Core condensation realm. There were simply too few opportunities for him to fight. So, he didn't want to finish such battles without fighting for a while.

'Clang'

'Clang', his sword collided with both of his attackers as they did their best to finding an opening in Zhan Chen's defense. 'Neck , chest, belly', they tried to pierce all of his vulnerable body parts but they didn't succeed.

"Wu Tao, retreat", one of the attackers said to his companion while fighting Zhan Chen. An disappointed look appeared on Zhan Chen's face as he kicked the ground with his leg and jumped into air.

He moved his body in a roundabout manner and launched a whirlwind slash towards both of his opponents. His attackers brought their swords forward to stop his attack but a cracking sound came out from their swords as their swords cut in two.

Zhan Chen's attack didn't stop even after cutting their swords as a bone deep wound appeared on both of their chests. Zhan Chen didn't press for another attack as he walked forward leaving behind his attackers dumbfounded.

"Wu Tao, I can't beleive it", one of the attackers murmured.

"Me neither", the other assailant added. Both of them stood rooted on the ground as they watched the back of Zhan Chen disappear in the woods.

Zhan Chen came across few magical beasts after his clash with the human cultivators. None of the magical beasts were at fifth tier. So, he cut down them easily without stopping on his path.

His true challenge began when he came across a group of fierce looking animals. 'Black glistening bodies with flowery pattern and two dangerous looking canines, no doubt these are the Sabretooth leopards", he thought to himself.

Two leopards were at his left hand side and right hand side, another one was standing at his front. There was none in his back but Zhan Chen was not naive enough to show his back to the Sabretooth leopards.

"Looks like I am surrounded", he thought to himself with a smile on his face. It was not that he was sneaked on by the Sabretooth leopards rather he chose to enter the layer of Sabretooth leopards voluntarily. The reason for his action was a certain herb which he found quite enticing.

'It is not like I can avoid a battle', he murmured to himself while looking at the Sabretooth tigers. He could sense that there were several magical beasts in the nearby areas and none of there cultivation was weaker than the pack of Sabretooth leopards.

It meant he had to pick a fight with any group of magical beasts if he wanted to advance. Zhan Chen could see through the logic of the Spirit palace regarding this arrangement. So, he chose to fight the Sabretooth leopards for passing the second stage of the test.