Chapter One Hundred and Four: The Trial of the Saint Begins

“Brother Liu, please have a seat,” Chu Feng said with a smile to Liu Yantao.

“Brother, you are a true saint!” Liu Yantao burst into tears and clung to Chu Feng’s shoulder.

“Hmm?” Long Yue gave a soft snort and shot him another glare. Liu Yantao instantly shut his mouth and sat up straight.

“So he’s still this terrifying! Heaven help us, why is she only gentle with that brat?” The men of the Heaven Battalion wailed in their hearts, indignation plain on their faces.

Not long after, prominent figures entered one after another, drawing everyone’s attention.

Among them, Chu Feng recognized several familiar faces: the five elders of the human race, Gold Hall Master Jin of the Heaven Battalion’s Spirit Medicine Hall, and even the Eastern King.

According to Long Yue, at every Sacred Trial, the city lords of the four royal cities would attend, along with certain senior figures of the human race, such as the chief officers of the various departments beneath the elders.

These human elders and officials took their seats opposite the trial participants, likewise close to the arena.

Once everything was ready, someone soon stepped forward to preside over the Sacred Trial.

Chu Feng was astonished to see that it was a refined middle-aged woman, who flew directly into the air.

With Long Yue’s reminder, he learned that she was in fact a Saint Spirit Warrior.

Soon, the presider announced the many matters concerning the Sacred Trial from high in the air.

At the center of the Sacred Trial grounds stood only a single battle platform, and the students participating in the trial would undergo their tests there in turn.

By order, those who went first were the students of the Heaven Battalion, then the Earth Battalion, and only afterward the Mysterious Battalion.

This arrangement was chiefly to allow those who came later ample time to observe and gain insight, so they could better prepare for the Sacred Trial.

Two years had passed, and a new cohort of students had already arrived. Among them were more than a dozen who had earned the right to participate in the Sacred Trial through the newcomer tournament.

Chu Feng, Sun Xuan, Zhu Miaomiao, and the other newcomers from the previous and current cohorts, whether they belonged to the Heaven Battalion or the Earth Battalion, were all placed at the end. This was also to give them enough time to adjust.

According to the presider, once the trial began, the battle platform could create opponents slightly weaker than the trial participant based on their cultivation. For example, for a sixth-tier mid-stage Earth Spirit Warrior, the opponent created would be a sixth-tier early-stage Earth Spirit Warrior.

It could be said that the opponent in the Sacred Trial was another self. Even their appearance was identical, and their spirit-body attributes were the same.

Whatever cultivation arts and secret techniques the trial participant used, this opponent would use the very same ones. As the trial continued, the opponent would bring those techniques and all manner of combat arts to an extraordinarily high level.

When the opponent’s methods had been brought to the limit attainable within the trial grounds, if the participant could still match them, then the opponent’s cultivation would begin to rise gradually, until the participant chose to give up.

Thus, all a participant needed to do on the battle platform was endure, and endure without ceasing. The longer they held on, the greater their gains would surely be. Breaking through during the trial was even possible.

Above the battle platform, in the four directions, hung four enormous luminous screens. These screens displayed the participant’s name, origin, and the opponent’s strength, so the audience could better follow the progress of each trial.

Before long, the trial officially began. The battle platform was fully activated, and the densely packed runes upon it flickered with a faint golden light, exuding a mysterious aura.

The screen above the platform showed: Heaven Battalion, Huang Dong.

Very soon, a young man in blue robes, about nineteen years old, stepped onto the battle platform, and then a transparent barrier sealed the platform.

As soon as Huang Dong ascended the platform, he summoned his spirit-body. Then, not far away from him, a figure emerged from illusion into substance.

It was also a young man in blue robes, with a face identical to Huang Dong’s. The only difference was his hair, which was white, making them easy to distinguish.

At that moment, the four screens displayed: Heaven Battalion, Huang Dong, Water Spirit-Body, seventh-tier mid-stage Earth Spirit Warrior, cultivation art “Primordial Water Scripture”; Opponent, seventh-tier early-stage Earth Spirit Warrior.

Truly worthy of the Sacred Trial, battle erupted at once, instantly drawing everyone’s gaze.

A seventh-tier mid-stage Earth Spirit Warrior was by no means weak, even in the Heaven Battalion.

In an instant, Huang Dong circulated his cultivation art, unleashing all manner of water-element spirit techniques, while the white-haired Huang Dong likewise employed the secret techniques Huang Dong had learned.

Although the white-haired Huang Dong remained at the cultivation of a seventh-tier early-stage Earth Spirit Warrior, his use of each secret technique was far more exquisite, and compared with him, Huang Dong was clearly somewhat lacking.

The two fought with sweeping force. Though the white-haired Huang Dong was at a disadvantage, by relying on his exquisite combat arts and practiced secret techniques, he showed no sign of defeat for quite some time.

Outside the platform, the countless student spectators watched the battle without blinking, each gaining more or less insight.

Of course, the one who benefited the most was undoubtedly Huang Dong himself. As the fight went on, many problems in his daily cultivation were solved one by one, and he could not help but marvel inwardly that these secret techniques could be used in such a manner.

Gradually, the white-haired Huang Dong’s application of the various secret techniques became ever more refined, and before long he was evenly matched with Huang Dong.

As the battle continued, Huang Dong gradually began to feel strain. He even brought out a tower-shaped spirit artifact to assist in the fight. Though the white-haired Huang Dong’s cultivation had not increased, his combat strength grew ever more formidable.

Only after half an incense stick had passed did Huang Dong get blasted straight off the platform, coughing up a mouthful of blood. He knew he had reached his limit and hurriedly cried, “Stop!”

At that moment, the white-haired Huang Dong ceased his attack and then vanished.

The barrier sealing the battle platform disappeared, and Huang Dong walked out. He was very satisfied with this performance. Though he had gained much insight during the duel, he still could not fully digest it.

Those who were able to participate in the Sacred Trial were all geniuses of extraordinary talent, with deep accumulation along the path of cultivation. Although the battle had lasted only half an incense stick, it would take him months to fully comprehend all he had gained.

The trials proceeded one after another, and the Heaven Battalion students truly performed quite well. Most of the participants were able to hold on for about half an incense stick, while the more outstanding ones, such as Mo Chen and the others, could last for three quarters of an incense stick.

Even so, none of them had yet managed to push their opponents to the limit of combat performance. According to the presider, only after enduring for a full half hour would the opponent’s combat level reach its peak, after which their cultivation would gradually rise.

Being able to last for half an hour was sufficient proof that one’s mastery of secret techniques and combat arts had reached a very high level. When one could contend with an opponent of equal cultivation, it meant one had already reached one of the limits attainable within the Sacred Trial grounds.

As the Sacred Trial continued, Liu Yantao eventually took his turn as well.

His appearance on the platform truly stunned the Heaven Battalion students. No one had expected the charcoal-black man to be Liu Yantao, and this immediately caused quite a sensation. Even Liu Yantao’s own instructor looked on with a peculiar expression.

On the battle platform, Liu Yantao’s performance was truly astonishing. He held on for nearly a full hour, until his opponent’s cultivation had risen considerably above his own, before the battle finally ended.

Liu Yantao was a ninth-tier mid-stage Earth Spirit Warrior, and what he was competing in with his opponent was mastery of barriers. With a wave of his hand came sheet after sheet of runes, and during nearly an hour of battle, many people noticed that the power of Liu Yantao’s barriers had increased substantially.

Later, Mo Xuan, Duan Yi, and the other four great prodigies of the Heaven Battalion, along with Murong Qiuxue, also took their turns in the trial. Even within the Heaven Battalion, these people were geniuses among geniuses, and their trials were destined to be incomparably brilliant.

All of them held on for more than an hour. At first, they were completely suppressing their opponents, but later their combat strength rose markedly, and just when they were close to defeat, they achieved another breakthrough and held on for a further quarter of an hour. Mo Xuan, Duan Yi, and Murong Qiuxue were already Heavenly Spirit Warriors, and their strength was enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Murong Qiuxue, especially as the legendary Lord of the Sky, left everyone wide-eyed with wonder.

Long Yue was the final one from the Heaven Battalion to undergo the trial, and her turn stirred far too many souls.

Long Yue was undoubtedly the most dazzling genius in the Heaven Battalion. Before the battle had even begun, her cultivation as a third-tier early-stage Heavenly Spirit Warrior was already astonishing enough.

Her golden spirit-body blazed like a sun of gold, erupting with an immensely powerful pressure.

Throughout the entire process, Long Yue never once used a spirit artifact. She fought entirely through her own strength, and it was only after two full hours that she finally fell into disadvantage, her opponent’s cultivation having risen to the late stage of the third tier of Heavenly Spirit Warrior.

Her high cultivation alone was enough to shock people, yet to everyone’s astonishment, her combat power was even more terrifying. What left the crowd utterly stunned was that, at the very moment when signs of defeat had already appeared, Long Yue’s cultivation broke through once more, becoming a third-tier mid-stage Heavenly Spirit Warrior.

After another half an hour, once her opponent’s cultivation had risen to the early stage of the fourth tier of Heavenly Spirit Warrior, the battle finally came to an end.

“Such an incomparable prodigy—how could anyone else keep pace with her?” was the lament in every student’s heart.

After Long Yue’s trial ended, the five elders briefly conferred and then made a decision: they would bestow upon Long Yue the secret technique called Six Transformations of the Golden Spirit.

Gold is the most solid of elements, and its offensive power is fiercely overbearing. The Six Transformations of the Golden Spirit is the strongest secret technique of the gold element, and also one of the human race’s ancestral techniques. If fully mastered and then unleashed, it would increase one’s own strength sixfold for a certain period of time.

The elders’ decision naturally caused a great uproar throughout the venue. After so many years, at last another ancestral technique had emerged.

By the time the Heaven Battalion’s trials ended, six days had already passed. Thereafter, the students of the Earth Battalion and the Mysterious Battalion underwent their trials in succession.

Compared with the Heaven Battalion students, those of the Earth Battalion were somewhat weaker. The best among them could hold on for three quarters of an hour, while the majority barely managed to last half an hour before being defeated.

As for the Mysterious Battalion, they were even a little worse. Generally speaking, being able to endure half an hour was already very good; most of them were defeated after only a quarter of an hour.

In any case, once this trial concluded, the group of students who had participated in the Sacred Trial would surely make great progress within a short time.

At last, Chu Feng and the others began their trials, and the first to go on stage was actually Yu Wenfeng.

Before leaving the spectator’s platform, Yu Wenfeng cast a cold glance at Chu Feng, his expression full of disdain and challenge.