Chapter 3497 — Arriving at the Trial Grounds

Good thing Kang Jingming hadn't died—otherwise, Little Eleven would have been left a widow.

"During this time, your disciple has been working overtime without cease refining Qi Gathering Pills. Not only have I myself advanced to Great Perfection, but my beloved wife Little Eleven has also advanced to Great Perfection. I want her to join the Heaven-rank trial as well, so that we husband and wife can go to the Cloud-Tier Island together! I don't want to be parted from her!" Kang Jingming said.

"Oh?" Ancestor Xuanchen was taken aback. He had not known of this beforehand, and now, hearing Kang Jingming speak of it, he was rather moved. Vicious as Kang Jingming was, he treated Little Eleven quite well!

In the past, he had vaguely heard certain rumors about the Little Peach Blossom, and had thought Kang Jingming a fickle, heartless man. But Xuanchen was such a man himself, so he said nothing—though he still felt some regret in his heart, for Little Eleven was his daughter after all.

Now, hearing that Kang Jingming truly did well by Little Eleven, he could not help but be delighted. "Good. I am gratified that you have such consideration. Then take her along! As it happens, she hates Wei Zhao and that Han Jingyi to death—best let Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi die together, and let you all have your revenge!"

"Naturally. This time it won't just be Han Jingyi—that slut Wang Xinyan too, I want her dead! Damn it, she dared cuckold my elder brother—I'll do her in!" Kang Jingming said savagely. "This trial will be the death day of Wei Zhao's whole family. If it weren't that those inheritors still have their uses, I'd have the Dragon of the Five Fiends eat them all right now!"

"Mm, no matter. Once we reach Cloud-Tier Island, we'll find a way to kill them. The inheritors' only use is opening Cloud-Tier Island; after that, they're worthless." Ancestor Xuanchen nodded.

"Well put. Father-in-law is wise indeed!" Kang Jingming nodded.

Much like the several trials he had attended before, after Wei Zhao drove through a number of cities, the land before him turned desolate. At most a few villages and vast stretches of farmland could be seen, and further on, even the villages vanished—nothing but aimless wasteland!

The road, too, grew harder and harder to travel. Fortunately Wei Zhao had experience and was driving an off-road vehicle; otherwise he would truly have gone mad. Even so, the ride was merely a little bumpy.

But now, Wei Zhao, Wang Xinyan, and Han Jingyi alike were all Heaven-rank Great Perfection experts, and paid no mind to such things.

It was the first trial for both women, and they were utterly excited and thrilled.

Wei Zhao, of course, felt the same, for he would be able to see Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, Yu Ning, Feng Xiaoxiao, Little Nine, and Guan Xin. He had originally wanted to go with Guan Xin, but the inheritors' procedures differed from those of the trial participants, requiring Leader Bai to escort her personally, so Wei Zhao had no choice but to give it up.

"Will this trial be dangerous?" Wang Xinyan asked, excitement tinged with a hint of worry.

"With Brother Wei Zhao here, there's nothing to fear!" Han Jingyi said, full of confidence.

"There's danger in every trial; it depends mainly on what the trial entails. For now we don't know what it will be—we'll only find out once we're there," Wei Zhao said, quite composed. After all, dangerous or not, he had to attend; there was no avoiding it.

They traveled another day or so, and that evening Wei Zhao's car finally reached the location announced for this trial—the Five Elements Mountains!

This place could not be far from the Xuandan Sect, yet lay in the opposite direction. No wonder there was something fishy between the Xuandan Sect and the Five Luminaries Sect—they were so close to each other. This must be the side near the Five Fiends Mountains, then. He only wondered how one was to enter.

Wei Zhao guessed that the Five Elements Mountains were part of the Five Fiends Mountains, but the two were probably not directly connected—something must separate them, for one could not possibly come and go freely.

At the foot of these desolate, uninhabited Five Elements Mountains stood a grand, luxurious inn, its style similar to the inn from the Xuandan Sect trial—prepared expressly for trial participants.

That similar style only strengthened Wei Zhao's conviction that the Xuandan Sect and the Five Luminaries Sect were connected; otherwise they could not have been built so alike!

In the parking lot before the inn's entrance, several cars were already scattered about—clearly brought by other trial participants. Wei Zhao parked his car and got out with Zhao Qilei. A few more cars stood scattered across the lot now; he could not tell whether they belonged to other participants or to the Five Luminaries Sect itself.

"You three—this is no ordinary inn. An important meeting is to be held inside, and we do not take outside guests. If you are not here for the meeting, then please turn back," said a man in a Bagua robe, blocking Wei Zhao, Wang Xinyan, and Han Jingyi just as they entered the inn's lobby. His tone was polite, but his words carried unquestionable firmness.

"We're here for the trial," Wei Zhao said mildly. "I take it that's the meeting you mean?"

"Oh? So you're trial participants? Then please show the invitation issued by the Five Luminaries Sect—or, if you are rogue cultivators, please show your fragments of the Cloud-Tier Island map," the Bagua-robed man said, nodding to the three of them.

"Of the three of us, these two are rogue cultivators, and I come from a branch of the Five Luminaries Sect—Leader Bai's faction," Wei Zhao said.

"What?!" The man started at hearing that Wei Zhao belonged to a branch of the Five Luminaries Sect. Recalling his prior instructions, he could not but be cautious. "Very well—state your names, then demonstrate your strength, and I will register the three of you!"

"No problem!" Wei Zhao, Han Jingyi, and Wang Xinyan all circulated their mental cultivation formulas and unleashed the full extent of their late Heaven-rank, peak Great Perfection strength, leaving the Bagua-robed man utterly aghast! He himself was merely an early Heaven-rank disciple of the Five Luminaries Sect, and these three were all Heaven-rank Great Perfection—far too formidable!

Under the rules of this trial, any expert of Heaven rank or above could participate, with no upper limit. So when the Bagua-robed man saw their strength, he nodded hastily and said, "That will do. Then please show your admission-ticket fragments and your sect invitation, and I will complete your check-in."

Wei Zhao nodded and handed over the three map fragments and the recommendation letter Leader Bai had written for him. After examining them carefully, the man registered each of them in turn, then returned the items to Wei Zhao. "Good, that's all. Keep these safe. They will be collected when the trial begins—do not lose them, or you will have no way to take part."

"Rest assured." Wei Zhao took them back and nodded. (To be continued)