Chapter 3509 — The Purpose of the Trial

This was not what Wei Zhao had hoped to see, but if Tianchan was present, Wei Zhao trusted that she would back him up no matter what.

"Most of you come from the great ancient clans and sects, so I will not dwell on the dangers of this trial in detail. Since you have come, you must already know them well, and I trust even the lone cultivators understand. The trial is full of peril. If you do not wish to die, you may withdraw now. Once you enter, your life and death are in the hands of fate!" Ancestor Xuanchen paused briefly here, his gaze sweeping over to where the inheritors stood, then continued: "The trial participants face danger, and so do the inheritors. But your task is to protect the inheritors and see that no harm comes to them. Otherwise, all of you are finished! Cloud-Tier Island will not open, and all the skill you have cultivated before will have been for nothing!"

Ancestor Xuanchen's words left the trial participants below rather silent. Indeed, they had come here for only one purpose: to ascend to the Heavenly Dao. If anything happened to the inheritors, then their dreams would all be shattered.

Many of them were still thinking of making a grand showing on Cloud-Tier Island, of gazing upon those legendary seniors who had gone there before. If all of it came to nothing, they would regret it to the death.

But then again, everything carries risk; so long as everyone did their utmost, that would suffice.

Ancestor Xuanchen looked at the expressions of the cultivators below and was well satisfied. This trial differed from all those before it. If something went wrong, everyone would be finished together, but from the look of things now, everyone had begun to take it seriously.

"Good. Since you all understand the importance of this trial, I will now speak of its rules! The trial will last three days, with a margin of five! This is likely the shortest trial you have ever taken part in. That is right, for if it went on too long, you could not endure it, and there would be no point anyway. So long as the inheritors' inherited attribute power is consolidated, the purpose of the trial will have been achieved!" Ancestor Xuanchen said. "The site of this trial is still the Five Wretched Wilderness that many of you have visited before, but this time the location within the Five Wretched Wilderness is different. To be precise, it should be called the Five Wretched Mountains!"

What Ancestor Xuanchen described differed greatly from the trials of the past, and everyone present listened with the utmost attention. When they heard that the trial was still to be held in the Five Wretched Wilderness, their expressions all turned grave.

Last time, when the tide of spirit beasts erupted, many had nearly died there. To go to the Five Wretched Wilderness again would surely be exceptionally dangerous.

"The destination of this trial is the lair of the Five Wretched Dragon in the Five Wretched Mountains! I imagine you have all heard of the Five Wretched Dragon? It is the king of all beasts in the Five Wretched Wilderness. According to my own investigation, it has now become a spirit beast at the peak of late Heaven-Tier, Great Perfection in strength, and has a very good chance of breaking through to the Heavenly Dao! So you must be exceedingly careful!"

"What you must do is lure the Five Wretched Dragon out of its lair, then let all the inheritors enter the cave! For within that cave lies the wellspring of the Five Wretched Qi. Once all the inheritors enter, they will absorb the demonic qi of their own inherited attributes, thereby empowering their inheritance. Likewise, by resisting the other four types of demonic qi and breaking through their oppressing force, the inheritors will break through their limits. Those who have not yet ascended to Great Perfection will advance a stage under that pressure as well! This process will last roughly two to three days, until all the inheritors have successfully empowered their inherited attributes and ascended to Heaven-Tier Great Perfection!"

"As for the rest of the trial participants, you must remember: you are no match for the Five Wretched Dragon. Do not entertain any foolish notion of fighting it or slaying it. Your goal is simply to keep it occupied, to draw it out of the cave and keep it from returning. That will be success."

"At the same time, under the oppressive force of the Five Wretched Dragon and the Five Wretched Qi, those of you who have not yet ascended to Heaven-Tier Great Perfection may seize this chance to advance to Great Perfection. This is a rare opportunity, and I hope you will not waste it!"

"During the trial, all inheritors shall follow Tianchan's arrangements and commands in all things! All trial participants shall follow Kang Jingming's commands in all things. Any who disobey orders will have their trial qualification revoked, and they may forget about landing on Cloud-Tier Island. There will be no chance for them!"

Ancestor Xuanchen's voice was exceedingly stern, making the trial participants below cautious and fearful. But when Wei Zhao heard that Kang Jingming was to command everyone during the trial, he immediately grew worried.

Kang Jingming bore a grudge against him. If the man cooked up some scheme during the trial, Wei Zhao would truly be hard pressed to guard against it. If Kang Jingming simply declared that Wei Zhao was uncooperative, what was Wei Zhao to do then?

But as matters stood, Wei Zhao could only grit his teeth and endure. If Kang Jingming really did revoke his qualification, then perhaps he would have to fight to the bitter end, make all the inheritors leave and halt the plan, and see what Ancestor Xuanchen would do then!

"Very well, those are all the rules of this trial. I must prepare to open the teleportation array. For now, you may talk among yourselves. If the inheritors have any questions, they may ask Tianchan; if the other trial participants have questions, they may ask Kang Jingming!" With that, Ancestor Xuanchen hurried off, clearly to prepare the teleportation of the inheritors to the Five Wretched Mountains.

Letting these inheritors simply walk into the Five Wretched Mountains was hardly possible. For one thing, there was no road; for another, it was so dangerous that they would be hard pressed even to get there.

Fortunately, the seniors of the Five Luminaries Sect had left behind a teleportation array. Once activated, it could send the trial participants and inheritors directly to the Five Wretched Mountains, near the lair of the Five Wretched Dragon.

After Ancestor Xuanchen left, the trial participants all gathered around Kang Jingming without a word being said. Naturally, apart from Zhong Yongliang and Zhang Naipao, who kept some dignity, the others were practically fawning on him, for Kang Jingming held the power of life and death over the trial participants. He could pass or fail whomever he pleased.

"Is that not Brother Liang and Brother Pao? Come, let us discuss how we will divide the work once we reach the Five Wretched Mountains!" Kang Jingming called out to Zhong Yongliang and Zhang Naipao. He wanted to be rid of Wei Zhao, so naturally he needed these two to cooperate.

The other trial participants were ready to fawn and curry favor with him, but the people of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect were not about to do so! For the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect was also one of the founders of the Cloud-Tier Island plan!