Chapter 3496 — Treachery in the Trial
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"The Five Baleful Dragon? What manner of thing is that?" Kang Jingming was briefly taken aback.
"The Five Baleful Dragon is the king of spirit beasts in the Five Baleful Wildlands. Its strength is immense—it stands at the peak of the late Heavenly Tier, at the grand perfection of that stage. It ranks among the top spirit beasts, and breaking through to the Heavenly Dao is not beyond the realm of possibility!" Ancestor Xuanchen explained. "Within the Five Baleful Dragon's cave lies the legacy light of the five elemental powers. It can reinforce the attributes within the bodies of the five-element inheritors, making the opening of the Cloud Terrace Isle all the more perfect! Otherwise, the constitutions of the inheritors might vary greatly due to certain discrepancies. If the power of one particular element proves too weak, all could be undone at the final step, dragging down the other inheritors and causing the opening of the Cloud Terrace Isle's entrance to fail! So, to ensure this matter proceeds smoothly, we must dispatch trial participants to hold the Five Baleful Dragon at bay while the inheritors receive the legacy's blessing!"
"Oh, but then who contributes more and who contributes less—there will be no way to judge that at the time. If one trial participant simply hides in the back the whole time and never lifts a hand, never helps hold the beast back, he could still slip through, couldn't he!" Kang Jingming asked, somewhat perplexed.
"Indeed. But to prevent such a thing from happening, and to protect the inheritors' safety, I originally intended for Little One to serve as the trial's overseer. Only later he vanished without a trace, his fate unknown, so I thought to send Little Two along with you, having him secretly act as a recorder and film the entire process, which I would then use to grade the participants," Ancestor Xuanchen said. "But now that mishaps keep cropping up one after another, I have changed my mind. I intend to supervise the battle myself."
"Father-in-law, I actually have a fine idea," Kang Jingming said. "In truth, what does it matter whether there is one more or one fewer participant in the Heavenly Tier Assembly? When the Cloud Terrace Isle opens, we all go up together—it costs us nothing, after all."
"That may be so, but the Cloud Terrace Isle is exceedingly difficult to open, and once opened, the time the passage remains is not fixed—it may be long or short. What if, with so many people, there is not enough time to get through?" Ancestor Xuanchen shook his head. "The present circumstances are all unknown, and moreover, once we reach the Cloud Terrace Isle, will the resources up there for breaking through to the Heavenly Dao be limited? If they are limited, then the more people there are, the more there will be fighting over them, and the less each person receives. This is precisely what I have always worried about!"
"I see." Kang Jingming looked somewhat troubled upon hearing this. "But when the time comes, we can draft a set of rules at the Heavenly Tier Assembly—who passes first, who passes after, and how the resources are to be divided once we reach the Cloud Terrace Isle! Legend says the Cloud Terrace Isle's guiding envoy will make contact with me soon, but that is only a legend—whether such a guiding envoy even exists is hard to say. If one does, and I can ascertain the situation on the Cloud Terrace Isle, then there is no problem—everyone can go. But if the resources truly are limited, then we can only restrict a portion of the people."