Chapter 159 The Realm of Trials (Part 10)
Five days later.
The plaza, stretching as far as the eye could see, was densely packed with cultivators. Above them floated countless arenas, upon which stood disciples and elders dressed in Yin-Yang Pavilion attire. In the center of the plaza, the massive magic array of the Trial Realm was still slowly rotating, and in front of the array was a constantly scrolling leaderboard, recording the names and rankings of the trial disciples.
Lin Feibai looked at the ranking list with a solemn expression and gripped the hand of the woman next to him tightly.
Zhou Tingran's face was extremely ugly. The ranking list had scrolled to the very end. Jiang Gu's name had passed by only a few people before it was her turn. Below her was only a person named Zhang Xiaoping. A total of 2,309 people passed the trial, and she was ranked 2,308th. The last 30 people would be eliminated and enter the Tower of Life and Death. Even if she was the Holy Maiden of the Zhou family of Pingze, she would not be an exception.
Lin Feibai, ranked 1,832, was clearly more confident. He had given all his high-level magic treasures to Zhou Tingran last night, but both of them knew the outcome.
Zhou Tingran turned her head and looked at Jiang Gu, who was not far away.
Jiang Gu was listening to Jiang Xiangyun speak.
"The assessment competition consists of ten sessions over ten days. Passing the first day requires completing the most basic True Immortal Realm spiritual power test at Yin Yang Tower. The remaining nine sessions offer nine challenge opportunities. For the first six challenges, each participant can challenge cultivators ranked within the top two hundred. If they win, they can take the place of the challenger. If all challenges are successful, the participant can choose to forfeit the remaining three challenges or randomly choose any cultivator ranked ahead of them. The rankings on the leaderboard will be updated in real time based on the challenges. Both challengers and those being challenged have nine attempts. Challengers are free to choose, and those being challenged have no right to refuse..."
Jiang Xiangyun looked at the series of detailed rules in the water mirror and pondered, "In other words, we not only have to challenge the cultivators in front of us, but we will also be challenged by the cultivators behind us at any time."
“It’s just that eliminating the last thirty people can be completely avoided if arranged properly—” Jiang Xiangyun paused, looking at Shui Jing, “Only one thousand people can enter the second stage of the Mental Refinement Realm? What does that mean?”
“The bottom thousand or so will re-enter the first level trial.” Jiang Gu looked at the rules written on the water mirror. “The top one hundred can enter the second level, and the rest will be assigned to the Eight Pavilions to do odd jobs.”
Jiang Xiangyun and Yao Li both fell silent.
What a vicious rule.
“It’s clearly a case of raising poisonous insects,” Yao Li said in a deep voice.
No one wants to go through the first level again, let alone be a servant in the Eight Pavilions. These people will inevitably fight to enter the top 1,000. As for the bottom 30 who are eliminated and enter the Tower of Life and Death, they seem insignificant.
The fact that such an important rule was announced just before the assessment was clearly intended to catch them off guard.
Many cultivators ranked lower in the square looked pale, and even the top thousand cultivators weren't having an easy time, since those ranked lower would fight tooth and nail to challenge them.
Amidst the gloomy atmosphere, some cultivators remained remarkably calm and composed.
Song Chongshi, Yan Huairan, and a few others gathered in twos and threes, showing little interest in the assessment competition.
“It’s a complete waste of time,” Luo Fan said, frowning.
Qi Yi leaned lazily against the stone pillar and laughed, "Not necessarily. Maybe someone really wants to cause trouble for us and challenge us. Nine rounds isn't a small number."
Song Chongshi laughed and said, "It wouldn't hurt to have a friendly exchange."
"It's a pity we can't challenge those below us." Yan Huairan looked in Jiang Gu's direction. "Will Xiao Qingyan let his lover enter the Life and Death Tower?"
“Isn’t your elder brother in charge of the Life and Death Tower? If you really want it, you can just bribe him and it will be delivered to you quietly.” Song Chongshi said, “Don’t do it in public and give others a handle to use against you.”
Yan Huairan chuckled, and Qi Yi frowned imperceptibly, her gaze falling on Jiang Gu.
These people were convinced that Jiang Gu would be eliminated and sent to the Tower of Life and Death. Even if he was lucky enough not to be eliminated, he would be sent to the Eight Pavilions as a servant, which would make his fate even more sealed.
The first day of the assessment passed quickly. The spiritual power test was not difficult. Jiang Gu suppressed the refining of the Sorrowful Questioning Fire and barely passed. Soon, the second day arrived.
With two matches in one day, and his ranking low, there was no hope of challenging him. Since no one challenged him, Jiang Gu simply barely made it to the finish line and challenged the 2,101st ranked player.
As luck would have it, the other party was none other than the Red-Scaled Demoness who had been with that Golden Roc demon cultivator before.
Upon seeing that it was Jiang Gu, Hong Lin was surprised for a moment, "I didn't expect you to still be alive."
Jiang Gu had no interest in reminiscing with her, and suddenly drew the Crimson Snow Sword from his back.
At the same time, countless arenas in the sky simultaneously appeared with spiritual energy shields, enveloping the cultivators undergoing the trials. The names on the huge leaderboard in front of the trial formation were changing rapidly, and many names changed from bright to gray and disappeared into the air.
Above the plaza, the air was thick with the aura of blood, even more intense than the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Wen Ziheng stood before the trial array, calmly watching the red mist spread, while the cultivator standing beside her handed her a roster.
Wen Ziheng glanced at it indifferently.
"Lord Wen, this is a list of those suspected to be at the Jade Rank. Please keep an eye on them, fellow Pavilion Masters of the Eight Pavilions." The cultivator whispered, "And these few—"
He then produced another list, "It's the children of the landlords of each building..."
Wen Ziheng frowned slightly, clearly displeased.
"Please bear with us a little longer." He smiled bitterly, "Otherwise, we at Yin Yang Tower won't be able to explain ourselves to our colleagues."
“Since you’re so hesitant, why send people into my Yin-Yang Tower?” Wen Ziheng said coldly. “Go back and tell them that the Jade Steps matter is related to the life of Wangyue. I will take care of it. As for these people, their lives are in the hands of fate. The assessment has already begun, and even I can’t make that decision.”
The cultivator said with a troubled expression, "Sect Master Wen, this wouldn't have been a problem in the past, but this time there are disciples of several Pavilion Masters from the Eight Pavilions involved. What do you think about this—"
"Then why not let them be the masters of this Yin-Yang Tower?" Wen Ziheng thought to himself, and the person who was still chattering was directly thrown away, his primordial spirit severely injured.
She glanced at him sideways, and he grabbed the list and ran away, tumbling and crawling.
——
For three consecutive days, Jiang Gu did not leave the arena, and his ranking had quietly jumped from 2,301 to 1,705.
After the final challenge, Jiang Gu failed to kill his opponent, only exchanging rankings with him, and had to rest for half a day.
Many cultivators were sitting or lying in the square, healing their wounds. Jiang Gu did not linger and went straight back to the Jin Department's dormitory.
After refining the Sorrowful Flame, the suppressed spiritual power within his body began to overflow. Clearly, to break through to the early stage of the True Immortal Realm, he needed to find a suitable place to overcome the tribulation of this minor realm.
Yin-Yang City is clearly not a good choice.
Yin Yang Tower has no rule that cultivators cannot leave during the assessment competition. He looked at the teleportation array gradually taking shape under his feet, and with a wave of his sleeve, he disappeared from the spot.
Shortly after he left, Yan Huairan appeared outside the Jinbu Academy. He narrowed his eyes, sensing the fluctuations of metal-elemental spiritual energy, and smiled slightly, "How interesting."
He followed in the direction Jiang Gu had left.
Outside Yin-Yang City.
Sensing the approaching unfamiliar divine sense, Jiang Gu's heart sank. He suddenly turned around and formed hand seals, barely blocking the opponent's attack. He retreated hastily, but still crashed through dozens of thick tree trunks before stopping, having lost some of his strength.
Yan Huairan stood suspended in mid-air with his arms crossed, staring at him with great interest. "I'm very curious how you managed to play these three challenge matches so quietly, without anyone even noticing you."
Jiang Gu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said coldly, "It's none of your business."
"How is it none of my business? I gave you the Netherworld Bone." Yan Huairan looked down at him. "I've been observing you for the past few days. You do have some cleverness. The opponents you chose were all human cultivators and demon cultivators with fatal weaknesses. Unfortunately, in Wangyue, strength is the most important thing. You can't get into the top 1,000 with just this little bit of cleverness."
Jiang Gu met his gaze without flinching. "Then what advice do you have for me?"
“If you are willing to be my furnace, I can help you smoothly pass through the next four realms, and entering the Golden Pavilion will not be a problem.” Yan Huairan’s gaze lingered on Jiang Gu’s face for a long time before he chuckled softly, “No need to rush to refuse. You and that good-for-nothing Xiao Qingyan are not as good as me.”
Jiang Gu's eyes held a hint of mockery. "Utterly foolish."
Yan Huairan thought he had misheard, raised his hand to rub his ears, and said with a gloomy smile, "What did you say?"
Jiang Gu was too lazy to waste words. His original plan was to challenge each level one by one, and he could successfully enter the second level if he ranked around eight or nine hundred. However, Yan Huairan was ranked forty-seventh. If he just ran away, he would only die. He might as well take a chance and kill him.
Yan Huairan's strength far surpassed his own, and he would certainly be no match for him in ordinary combat. He had to resort to a trick. Yan Huairan disregarded his arrogance and didn't even use his full strength because of his good looks. Even so, Yan Huairan's pressure on Jiang Gu was terrifying. At first, Jiang Gu could only try his best to escape his attacks.
"Why bother? I can't bear to hurt you." Yan Huairan calmly transformed into a stream of light and suddenly appeared behind Jiang Gu, slapping him on the shoulder. Jiang Gu instantly lost sensation on half of his body, his vision went black, and he fell from the sky.
But before he could land, Yan Huairan appeared in front of him a step faster, kneeing Jiang Gu directly in the lower back, the sound of his spine breaking clearly audible in the air.
"Don't worry, I'll heal you." Yan Huairan said casually, and then reached out to put his arm around Jiang Gu's waist, but Jiang Gu turned around and kicked him in the chest. Hundreds of magic arrays fell down at once, and a strong wind and thunderclouds rose up all around.
"Heh." Yan Huairan chuckled indifferently, easily dissolving the array with a flick of his sleeve. With one hand behind his back, he walked slowly towards Jiang Gu in the air, saying nonchalantly, "I am already a Golden Immortal, while you have only just reached the True Immortal realm. Stop struggling. I've heard that the primordial spirit of Pingze cultivators tastes quite good. Why don't you take advantage of this free time and serve them well here? If you serve them well, I might reward you with a divine artifact."
Jiang Gu sneered, propping himself up from the ground with his sword. The excruciating pain in his dantian and primordial spirit brought him to the brink of unconsciousness. "How arrogant!"
Yan Huairan shook his head regretfully, "I don't have time to play with you anymore. Since you refuse, then I should teach you a lesson!"
After he finished speaking, he suddenly appeared behind Jiang Gu, and the spiritual energy at his fingertips transformed into a silver cone, about to pierce Jiang Gu's temple.
The powerful binding formation enveloped Jiang Gu completely, and the icy spike pierced through his thin skin and entered his skull. Just as the icy spike was about to completely penetrate, Jiang Gu, who had been motionless, suddenly made a lightning-summoning gesture with his hand.
The lightning-avoiding array that Jiang Gu had initially set up was broken, and thunder roared outside. The purplish-black tribulation lightning, which had been accumulating for a long time, was now in full rage and rushed down from the sky, striking directly at Jiang Gu.
"What—" Yan Huairan looked up in astonishment, momentarily blinded by the blinding lightning.
Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Gu held the Lightning-Drawing Technique still, using his own body as a container to let the heavenly lightning strike directly into his body. The black jade bracelet quickly protected his primordial spirit, and the heavenly lightning was directly guided into Yan Huairan's meridians by the silver cone in his head. Yan Huairan hurriedly retreated, but was blocked by the formation that Jiang Gu had set up to bind him.
In a single instant, their fates were sealed.
Jiang Gu changed the Lightning-Inducing Technique in his hand to the Thunder-Exploding Technique. He revealed a sinister smile to Yan Huairan amidst the sky full of tribulation lightning, turned around and slapped his dantian with a palm. The heavenly lightning instantly exploded in Yan Huairan's sea of consciousness. In the instant that Yan Huairan tried to struggle, he slammed his knee into Yan Huairan's chest, and he crashed to the ground with him from the sky.
The thunder was deafening, and the surrounding mountains shook as the rubble exploded, only gradually subsiding after an unknown period of time.
In the enormous crater, the charred figure, kneeling on one knee, barely moved. Jiang Gu's five fingers formed claws and gripped Yan Huairan's charred neck. He looked down at him, his voice slightly hoarse: "You think you're worthy?"
Yan Huairan's eyes were filled with anger and resentment. He was shocked and furious that he had fallen into the trap of a good-for-nothing like Jiang Gu, and he was even more unwilling to die so easily. But Jiang Gu obviously wouldn't give him a chance to fight back.
Jiang Gu suddenly exerted force, and Yan Huairan's body, which had been blasted apart by the tribulation lightning, instantly turned into dust. The weak primordial spirit that was trying to gather was swallowed into the sea of consciousness by Jiang Gu without hesitation and turned into spiritual power.
On the leaderboard, a name suddenly began to rise rapidly, causing the cultivators in the square to look up. Then, to everyone's disbelief, the name Jiang Gu steadily rose to forty-seventh place.
An uproar erupted instantly.
Jiang Gu got up from the ground, and his clothes, which had been charred black by the lightning, gradually turned into snow-white fabric. He raised his hand and grabbed the cone that had been completely embedded in his temple, and slowly pulled it out.
Crimson blood instantly streamed down his cheeks, dripping onto the scorched ground.
The silver cone pierced deep into the mud, and a surge of golden spiritual energy swept over it, completely crushing it into powder.
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