Chapter 117, Passing Three Trials and Wolf-bears

Translator: Raznick

 

He had finally made it!

 

In a courtyard, Zhou Chun wiped his face with his sleeve, a look of profound emotion in his eyes.

 

The Fire Dragon Street trial had truly been dangerous.

 

By the time his palms touched that sheet of white light screen, his defenses had run out.

 

If he had been even a fraction slower, he would have suffered a severe injury, even death.

 

This also made him realize that if one only considered the individual cultivator’s strength, he was still far behind the true powerhouses in the Qi Refining Stage.

 

Because in the past, cultivators who chose to undertake the individual trial were sometimes able to pass the third level by themselves!

 

During the time when the Heaven Spirit Sect still existed, only cultivators who could pass the third level were the ones they would select as elite disciples.

 

“But being able to pass the first level is, at least, already surpassing quite a few people. Many couldn’t even do that!

 

“And a spirit pet is also a part of a cultivator’s strength. That’s undeniable. Why should I belittle myself?”

 

Zhou Chun smiled, and his mind quickly calmed down.

 

He cast an art, summoning water vapor that condensed into clear water to cleanse his body, and then changed into a fresh set of clothes.

 

Having finished these tasks, he began to survey the small courtyard.

 

The courtyard wasn’t large, roughly ten meters in length and width. It was also quite bare, not even a single common wildflower in sight.

 

At the courtyard’s center was a stone well with swirling white light within.

 

Another wall had a doorway, within which the same swirling white light flowed.

 

This represented two different choices.

 

Choosing to leap into the stone well would initiate the next stage of the individual trial.

 

Choosing to enter the doorway would lead to a rest area, where he could wait for the group trial to begin or remain until the trial period ended and he could leave.

 

Zhou Chun naturally didn’t hesitate and headed directly toward the stone well.

 

He had yet to exert his full power, so he wanted to see where his limits lay.

 

With a leap, he plunged into the stone well; after a whirl of dizziness, Zhou Chun reappeared in a wider, longer stone alley.

 

This stone alley was ten meters wide and one-half a mile long, with walls a hundred meters high on either side.

 

Along the walls, on either side, stood three statues of different shapes.

 

They were the guardians of this stage.

 

Sixth Street was the name of this stage; the rules were similar to those of Fire Dragon Street: enduring the continuous attacks of the six statues and reaching the end of the alley would signify completion.

 

Zhou Chun had already tested his strength in the previous stage, so there was no need to restrain himself in this one.

 

Moreover, the terrain for this stage was well-suited for the Rock Turtle.

 

Thus, after reinforcing himself with protective arts, he released the Rock Turtle.

 

Once the Rock Turtle had also been reinforced with several defensive mystical arts, Zhou Chun gave the order, and it charged forward.

 

Almost as the Rock Turtle crossed the starting line, a humanoid statue wielding a large blade on the left swung the blade, slashing out a golden saber energy seven or eight feet long toward the Rock Turtle.

 

The Rock Turtle cast Earth Wall to shield itself, simultaneously retracting its head into its shell.

 

Boom!

 

The solid earth wall was easily pierced and destroyed by the golden saber energy, which then sliced through the stone armor on the Rock Turtle’s back, leaving a deep gash several inches long on its carapace.

 

However, considering the Rock Turtle’s current carapace, which was over a foot thick, this barely registered as damage, merely a graze.

 

Therefore, after weathering that blow, the Rock Turtle extended its head and continued to advance at a measured pace.

 

Although it was a slow-moving demon beast, the Rock Turtle’s massive size allowed it to move with surprising speed.

 

Soon it traversed the distance of sixty meters, encountering the second wave of attack.

 

This time, the attacker was a toad statue, which emitted a blue glow from its mouth, quickly spitting out a beam of blue ice light to encase the Rock Turtle in ice.

 

At the same time, a stone statue opposite the toad suddenly raised its arm, quickly forming a stone the size of a carriage to hurl at the Rock Turtle.

 

Now, Zhou Chun could no longer stand by and hastily invoked Shooting Moon Edge to slash at the massive stone, simultaneously casting a Fire Snake Talisman to help the Rock Turtle melt the ice encasing its body.

 

Zhou Chun relied on his Rock Turtle as they worked together to finally pass the rest of the Sixth Street trial.

 

Unlike the Fire Dragon Street, after passing Sixth Street, he didn’t need to transfer through that small courtyard, and there was a direct transfer light screen leading to the third trial.

 

The third trial was no longer a street; it had become a platform a hundred and fifty meters long and wide, named Battle Platform.

 

Guarding the platform was a puppet.

 

According to the stone tablet beside the platform, this puppet could instantly unleash thirty-six superior first-grade mystical arts and also had a shield equivalent to an inferior second-grade mystical art.

 

The challenger needed to break its shield to win.

 

This was equivalent to a Qi Refining cultivator fighting a cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment without a second-grade artifact!

 

Zhou Chun understood the difficulty of this trial from reading the description.

 

But after actually fighting, he realized this trial was even more difficult than he anticipated.

 

Foundation Establishment cultivators could almost instantly unleash superior first-grade mystical arts, but only the ones they were very familiar with.

 

The puppet, however, could instantly unleash thirty-six superior first-grade mystical arts!

 

This made it impossible to judge what mystical art it would use next, making any targeted prevention impossible.

 

And it didn’t care about his attacks.

 

Even though Zhou Chun released both of his spirit pets to participate in the battle, this battle was very difficult and arduous, and he almost gave up several times.

 

Finally, he consumed more than ten superior first-grade talismans before he and the two spirit pets managed to grind down the shield on the puppet.

 

Passing the third trial meant that Zhou Chun’s power had reached the standard of elite disciple selected by the Heaven Spirit Sect thousands of years ago.

 

This was rather impressive for a cultivator from a small clan.

 

However, even after clearing the third trial, he still didn’t receive any rewards.

 

It was unavoidable; thousands of years was a long time.

 

Without anyone replenishing the trial rewards, the original reward arranged for the first three trials had long been taken by those who came before.

 

Only if someone could pass the fourth trial, or even the final fifth trial, was there a chance they could receive item rewards.

 

However, Zhou Chun couldn’t risk that possibility.

 

The third trial alone had already exhausted his resources, besides the two traces of Hard Gold Sword Energy.

 

Who knew how difficult the fourth trial would be!

 

Leaving through the exit beside the arena, Zhou Chun was soon transported to a courtyard with fresh air.

 

Although the courtyard was not large, it finally had flowers and grass, like a normal courtyard.

 

This was the resting place for those participating in the trial.

 

After briefly examining the environment of the courtyard, Zhou Chun settled down to meditate, recovering his spiritual power.

 

This was one advantage he held over other cultivators.

 

Even within this Heaven Spirit Trial, Natural Qi was still tainted by Savage Qi.

 

Therefore, the vast majority of cultivators participating in the trial didn’t meditate here and could only recover their spiritual power by taking Qi Restoring Pill and similar pills.

 

This way, they often couldn’t maintain their spiritual power in a perfect state like Zhou Chun does.

 

After waiting for approximately a day, the gate of the courtyard opened, revealing the white light curtain in front.

 

“The group trial zone has finally opened?”

 

Zhou Chun, who had already recovered, stood up, his eyes gleaming.

 

He then stepped forward without hesitation.

 

After another dizzying sensation caused by spatial displacement, Zhou Chun appeared in a mountain forest.

 

Beneath his feet was a small, stone altar, which had now become dilapidated due to time. Nearby was a stone tablet, the writing on which was also severely eroded.

 

Fortunately, the meaning could still be discerned.

 

This trial was named Battle of the High Tower, and at the center of this area stood a seven-story-high tower.

 

Only when seven Heaven Spirit Orders were collected could the high tower’s barrier be opened to enter and choose a treasured artifact from the collection.

 

In previous trials led by the Heaven Spirit Sect, any trial participant defeated in this stage had to hand over their Heaven Spirit Order to the victor.

 

However, now that there was no higher-level cultivator overlooking it, trial participants would likely prefer to kill competitors to obtain Heaven Spirit Orders.

 

“I wonder how many trial participants will enter this area this time!”

 

Zhou Chun’s eyes flickered, already imagining the trial participants hunting each other for the Heaven Spirit Order.

 

Zhou Chun remained in place for a moment before reaching into his spirit beast pouch and releasing Whitey, his Silver Thunder Python, to scout ahead and begin exploring the forest.

 

The area didn’t prohibit flying, but it restricted how high one could fly.

 

A green and red barrier existed in the air at an altitude of approximately three hundred meters. As long as the flying height didn’t exceed that barrier, it was permissible.

 

Knowing that the participants in this trial were meant to hunt each other, unless faced with an emergency or possessing extreme confidence in their strength, no one would risk flying and exposing their presence.

 

Zhou Chun’s strength was formidable, but he wasn’t reckless enough to take such a dangerous chance.

 

It was safer to remain grounded.

 

After all, the Heaven Spirit Trial was set to last for two weeks, giving the participants ample time to explore the trial area.

 

While traversing the forest, Zhou Chun easily discovered several herbs.

 

He noticed that beneath a towering ancient tree covered in ancient vines, Whitey, unleashing electric currents, effortlessly blasted a black demon beast of the superior first-grade to the ground.

 

Zhou Chun then ascended the tree and harvested a dozen dark red spirit fruits from a reddish-brown vine.

 

These were called Fire Vine Heart Fruit and were a rare herb, valued at twenty to thirty spirit coins per fruit.

 

This herb was the best he’d acquired here so far.

 

After gathering the herbs, Zhou Chun continued on.

 

He had briefly flown up to survey the direction and could vaguely see the seven-story-high tower, seemingly atop a mountain far off.

 

Now he was heading in that direction.

 

Zhou Chun believed that the other trial participants who came to this trial area would certainly choose to press on in that direction as well.

 

Half an hour later, Zhou Chun arrived at a low-lying area in the mountains, a valley between two mountain peaks.

 

The path in this valley was extremely difficult to navigate, with the ground covered in slippery moss and prickly plants everywhere.

 

After walking around for a while, Zhou Chun simply couldn’t stand such a place and flew up to a nearby mountain, preferring to walk over hills and ridges.

 

Just as he had walked a bit on the mountain, he heard a sound like digging and felt a slight tremor in the ground.

 

This caused his face to darken, and he immediately stowed away his Silver Thunder Python, quietly performing the Cicada Forest Blending Breath and heading toward where the sound came from.

 

After traveling for an hour, Zhou Chun saw the creature making the sound.

 

It was a bizarre demon beast covered in long black fur, with the body of a bear and the head of a wolf.

 

“It’s a Wolf-bear—a rare beast!”

 

A flash of surprise crossed Zhou Chun’s eyes, but he recognized the origin of the strange demon beast.

 

The Wolf-bear had a ferocious and cruel temperament and preferred solitude.

 

A unique thing about this beast was that its partner could be any bear demon beast, and the offspring it gave birth to were likely to be dominated by its bloodline.

 

Wolf-bears were also very rare in the outside world.

 

Because the beast’s heart was a rare medicinal ingredient, and its blood essence was an essential ingredient for refining certain special pills.

 

[Wolf-bears enjoy eating bee larvae, especially those from carnivorous, venomous bees; it’s likely searching for a beehive right now!]

 

Zhou Chun’s thoughts flashed, and he quickly guessed the reason it was digging and burrowing.

 

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Zhou Chun heard a cheerful bear roar.

 

He then saw the Wolf-bear, which was almost ten meters long, sitting on the ground with a large honeycomb, extending its thorn-covered tongue to consume the bee larvae inside.

 

Its tongue swept across the honeycomb, and bee larvae, no bigger than an adult’s thumb, were hooked by the thorns and drawn out, falling into its mouth.

 

A venomous black bee, about the size of two adult fingers, circled the wolf bear but was powerless.

 

Its venomous stinger could not pierce its skin; even if it tried to take advantage of the wolf bear sticking out its tongue and sting it, the stinger would be rolled up and swallowed along with the bee larvae.

 

Watching the wolf bear eat with such enjoyment, a cold glint flashed in Zhou Chun’s eyes, and he intended to kill it and take its heart.

 

But just then, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from another part of the forest.

 

“It’s a Wolf-bear!”

 

[There were others here?]

 

Zhou Chun winced, and he immediately hid, fully activating the Cicada Forest Blending Breath to conceal himself.