Chapter 116, The Trial Begins and Crashing Through Fire Dragon Alley

Translator: Raznick

 

After learning more detailed information about the Heaven Spirit Trial, Zhou Chun had a much better idea of how he should participate in this trial.

 

He wasn’t content with clearing the individual trials; he had to participate in the group trial.

 

There, all sorts of dangerous situations could arise.

 

Although he had the help of Rock Turtle and Silver Thunder Python, there was still danger if he encountered multiple enemies teaming up.

 

Therefore, enhancing his combat strength was essential.

 

Talismans were easy enough to obtain. Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi already possessed a good talent for creating talismans and could produce many superior first-grade talismans.

 

Zhou Chun used his merits and requested from Clan Leader to tailor a batch of versatile first-grade talismans for him.

 

Artifacts, however, were something Zhou Chun would have to continue searching for in the market.

 

After visiting numerous shops in the market, Zhou Chun acquired two more superior first-grade artifacts for himself.

 

Now that he had reached the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refinging Stage cultivation, the surge in his Divine Sense and spiritual power meant he could easily use four or five superior first-grade artifacts in a single battle.

 

Then, considering the possibility of encountering a protracted, draining battle, Zhou Chun purchased three additional Qi Restoring Pill as a backup.

 

With all preparations complete, Zhou Chun focused on quiet cultivation within the clan, awaiting the opening of the Heaven Spirit Trial.

 

However, before he could detect any unusual movement from the Heaven Spirit Order, Green Lotus Monastery had already begun releasing information about the Foundation Establishment Pill.

 

The information Zhou Daoyi received was roughly the same; Green Lotus Monastery had indeed invested heavily this time, releasing as many as thirty Foundation Establishment Pills as rewards.

 

According to Green Lotus Monastery’s reward requirements, killing two Dragonized Sect Envoys would earn a Foundation Establishment Pill.

 

At the same time, providing certain important clues to enable Green Lotus Monastery to achieve significant success in its operations against Dragonized Sect could also earn a Foundation Establishment Pill reward.

 

Besides the Foundation Establishment Pill, Green Lotus Monastery also released a number of pills that could enhance Qi Refining cultivation, as well as items similar to Elevating Spirit Fruit to support Foundation Establishment, to encourage cultivators within the territory to report the slaying of Dragonized Sect members for rewards.

 

Once this news spread, the cultivators in the southern regions of Jing Kingdom were considerably more diligent and invested in confronting the Dragonized Sect than they had been before.

 

Within the Zhou Clan, Zhou Daoyi was beginning to stir.

 

Foundation Establishment Pill, a rare resource, was typically monopolized by major powers, released sparingly to trickle into the market, giving other smaller powers and rogue cultivators a glimmer of hope.

 

An opportunity like this, with Green Lotus Monastery releasing thirty Foundation Establishment Pills, arose once every century or two.

 

If this opportunity was missed, obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill to support Zhou Chun’s Foundation Establishment, would not be an easy task even for a Violet Palace Stage cultivator like Zhou Mingde.

 

But he had also promised to escort Zhou Chun to the Heaven Spirit Sect ruins to participate in the Heaven Spirit Trial, and leaving now would risk missing that information by the time he returned to the clan.

 

Thus, he could only restrain himself for now and observe the situation.

 

In just over two months, the number of Dragonized Sect members operating in the Jing Kingdom suffered a devastating loss.

 

Those cultivators who couldn’t resist and defected to the Dragonized Sect were consequently slaughtered, effectively deterring others who were wavering.

 

Zhou Daoyi judged that the Dragonized Sect wouldn’t let this setback go easily.

 

More intense retaliations would follow.

 

At this moment, the Heaven Spirit Order, which had been carried closely by Zhou Chun, finally showed signs of change.

 

He noticed that the Heaven Spirit characters on the order were flickering with faint light, feeling slightly warm to the touch.

 

Seeing this, Zhou Chun quickly went to explain the situation to Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi.

 

“This means the imminent commencement of the Heaven Spirit Trial.”

 

He then turned to Zhou Chun and said, “Wait for me here. I and the Grand Elder will discuss the situation before taking you to the Heaven Spirit Sect ruins.”

 

After waiting for half an hour, Zhou Chun and Zhou Daoyi left the Zhou Clan.

 

It was unknown if it was due to only the two of them, but Zhou Daoyi did not summon his Sky Cloud Python for transport this time, choosing instead to fly with Zhou Chun.

 

The pair traveled north for just over two days, flying over two thousand miles and directly arriving at the northernmost region of Jing Kingdom—Spirit Province.

 

Spirit Province, also called South Spirit Province.

 

It was because the territory of Chen Kingdom, located north of Jing Kingdom’s Spirit Province, was also called Spirit Province, but it became known as North Spirit Province.

 

The ruins of the Heaven Spirit Sect from thousands of years ago were located in a desolate land bordering the north and south Spirit Provinces.

 

It was said that thousands of years ago, the land of Spirit Province was the most prosperous place for cultivation. The estate of the Heaven Spirit Sect was located here.

 

Later, along with the destruction of the Heaven Spirit Sect, the once spirit-rich estate was also completely destroyed in that great battle, becoming a wasteland.

 

After Zhou Daoyi escorted Zhou Chun into the territory of Spirit Province, he first inquired about the specific direction and then led Zhou Chun straight to the ruins of Heaven Spirit Sect.

 

It wasn’t long before a vast expanse of rubble-strewn, weed-covered wasteland appeared in their sight.

 

According to the directions given by passersby, seeing this wasteland meant they had arrived at the ruins of the Heaven Spirit Sect.

 

The rubble on this wasteland was formed by the mountain rocks weathering over time after the estate of the Heaven Spirit Sect was destroyed.

 

And along this rubble-strewn wasteland, traveling approximately a hundred miles, Zhou Chun reached the actual location of the ruins of the Heaven Spirit Sect.

 

It was a more desolate and ruined place, so desolate that even after so many years, only some weeds grew here, and hardly any trees were visible.

 

When they arrived, more than a hundred cultivators from Jing Kingdom, Chen Kingdom, and Shen Kingdom had already gathered there.

 

Most of them were like Zhou Chun’s group, with one or more seniors at the Foundation Establishment Stage escorting one or more Qi Refining cultivators participating in the Heaven Spirit Trial.

 

The Qi Refining cultivators in this place all possessed cultivation at the Twelfth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

 

However, compared to a young face like Zhou Chun, there were quite a few with white hair.

 

It was clear that these old cultivators were participating in this trial, feigning verification of their cultivation strength while truly seeking to seize benefits from within.

 

According to the information Zhou Chun learned from Liu Shiyun, there were quite a few rare herbs that were difficult to find growing outside in certain areas within the trial zone, and some herbs even had second-grade demon beasts guarding them, something beyond the ability of a Qi Refining cultivator to obtain.

 

These forces, who knew such intelligence and possessed a Heaven Spirit Order, would certainly select some powerful Qi Refining cultivator to participate in the trial, attempting to harvest those rare herbs.

 

Zhou Daoyi accompanied Zhou Chun to the location, and those cultivators who had arrived earlier merely glanced at the pair before withdrawing their gazes.

 

After the fall of the Heaven Spirit Sect, the Heaven Spirit Trial became a trial that everyone had the opportunity to participate in, and no one wanted to turn it into a private domain.

 

Unless one directly found a way to break the array restrictions of the trial ground.

 

Therefore, before the trial began, no one would initiate a conflict with others outside.

 

After waiting nearly four days in the ruins of the Heaven Spirit Sect in this manner, the number of Qi Refining cultivators gathered on the ruins had already passed a hundred.

 

And at this time, the Heaven Spirit Order, which had remained largely inactive, suddenly reacted once more.

 

Several Heaven Spirit Orders suddenly detached from their owners’ palms and flew into the air.

 

Then they emitted a bright silver-white light.

 

Some Qi Refining cultivators, witnessing this scene, promptly ascended on their mystical implements, soaring into the silver-white light and reaching out to grasp the tokens.

 

“Zhengchun, you go too.”

 

Zhou Daoyi’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately instructed Zhou Chun to do so.

 

The cultivators present here were no fools.

 

Soon, those cultivators who did not understand the meaning of doing so also soared into the air, grasping their own Heaven Spirit Order.

 

After a while, a silver-white vortex suddenly appeared in the sky.

 

Then Zhou Chun felt that the Heaven Spirit Order in his hand propelled him toward the silver-white vortex.

 

He looked at those who initially reached out to grasp the Heaven Spirit Order and discovered that they didn’t resist the force.

 

He too could only grit his teeth and allow the token to pull him toward the silver-white vortex in the sky.

 

When his body entered the silver-white vortex, Zhou Chun immediately saw black and lost consciousness.

 

When he came to, he found himself in a sealed stone chamber.

 

“This feeling of being out of control isn’t pleasant at all!”

 

Inside the stone chamber, Zhou Chun slightly raised his hand to rub his brow, letting out a complaint.

 

Then he began to survey the stone chamber.

 

Just as described in the intelligence, this stone chamber had nothing of note.

 

It merely served as the initial refuge for those participating in the trials.

 

Each cultivator participating in the trials would appear in a separate stone chamber like this.

 

Then came the waiting, waiting for the cultivator ahead of him to first brave the individual trials.

 

This wait would not be long, because there were a full five individual trials that could be conducted simultaneously.

 

Zhou Chun only waited two hours before the sealed stone door in front of him suddenly opened.

 

He saw that beyond the stone door, there wasn’t a passage but a white light screen.

 

Zhou Chun only curiously looked at the light screen and then charged straight into it.

 

Immediately afterward, with a dizzying spin, he appeared in a secluded stone alley.

 

Ahead, at the end of the alley, which stretched three hundred meters long, stood a scarlet dragon-head sculpture. Behind the sculpture was a white light curtain.

 

Beside him was a stone tablet introducing the rules of this challenge.

 

It stated that this challenge was called Fire Dragon Street, and the test was simple: to rush into the light curtain behind the scarlet dragon-head sculpture while enduring its attack.

 

Any mystical art and artifact could be used for defense, but second-grade talismans or implements were forbidden.

 

Once second-grade mystical art energy fluctuations were detected, the attack of the scarlet dragon-head sculpture would be amplified to second-grade!

 

Zhou Chun, seeing this, hesitated for a moment before deciding not to summon the tanky Rock Turtle but instead intended to clear the challenge with his own strength.

 

He first cast an art, imbuing himself with the Elemental Armor Art, which did not much impede his movement.

 

Then, he activated the Augur Pendant, releasing whirling yellow mists to protect him, and then raised his hand to summon the Golden Scale Shield.

 

Having made these preparations for protection, he used Soaring Art and quickly charged toward the end of the alley, holding Shooting Moon Edge.

 

Almost as soon as Zhou Chun crossed the starting line, the scarlet dragon-head at the end of the alley activated and released an attack.

 

The dragon’s mouth flashed with fire, first unleashing seven scarlet Fireball toward Zhou Chun.

 

After Zhou Chun relied on layers of protection to withstand the explosion bombardment of these seven Fireball and broke through the Searing Fire, another scarlet fire pillar erupted from the dragon’s mouth and struck him.

 

Boom!

 

The powerful explosion reverberated in Zhou Chun’s ears, and he had barely advanced fifty meters when he was blasted back nearly thirty, almost failing the initial trial!

 

“This is insane!”

 

He gritted his teeth, cursing its absurdity.

 

The attack power of that crimson Fire Pillar was practically at the threshold between a second-grade mystical art and a first-grade mystical art; it couldn’t be called a second-grade mystical art for sure.

 

But its power was definitely greater than any superior first-grade mystical art.

 

And this was only the first trial!

 

Still, Zhou Chun didn’t summon the Rock Turtle.

 

His participation in the trial was initially meant to prove his own strength.

 

If he were to resort to summoning the Rock Turtle at every turn, how would he verify his own abilities?

 

He quickly reinforced his defenses with an artifact and continued his attempt.

 

When the crimson Fire Pillar attacked again, Zhou Chun immediately summoned Shooting Moon Edge, blasted it forward, and dodged to the side.

 

This maneuver sent Shooting Moon Edge flying to the end of the alley but successfully spared Zhou Chun from being blown away himself.

 

He charged forward, enduring the lingering shockwave of the Fire Pillar, quickly covering half the distance.

 

At this moment, the crimson dragon’s head flashed with fire again, spewing out a long, crimson Searing Fire aimed at Zhou Chun.

 

The crimson Searing Fire filled the entire alley, leaving no room to avoid it.

 

Zhou Chun had to endure the torment of Searing Fire as he ran the remaining distance.

 

He had to give it his all.

 

Within the Searing Fire, Zhou Chun’s face was roasted crimson.

 

He gritted his teeth and poured all his spiritual power into the Augur Pendant and then took out a Water Shield Talisman to protect himself as he charged against the flames.

 

This short distance, which usually took only a few breaths, was the most arduous journey he had ever undertaken in his life.

 

When he finally touched the white light screen, sweat had drenched him completely.