"Ayun? Who is that?"
The World-Ending Spirit Fire heard a strange name from Ye Ling's mouth and asked him.
"Ayun is an elder of Tianyun Island. She is the culprit behind my manifestation of the Heavenly Mandate," Ye Ling explained to the World-Ending Spirit Fire without any concealment.
"An elder of Tianyun Island actually appeared here? It seems that Shangqing Palace truly has a significant connection with Tianyun Island." Hearing Ye Ling's explanation, the World-Ending Spirit Fire became even more convinced that Shangqing Palace was brewing some kind of conspiracy.
Soon, the World-Ending Spirit Fire fell into thought again, muttering, "But what exactly are they trying to screen out here?"
Now that all the trial-takers heading to the Sacred Spring had been annihilated, and the Sacred Spring had gradually calmed down, the World-Ending Spirit Fire couldn't guess Shangqing Palace's true purpose.
However, not long after that batch of trial-takers was wiped out, the entrance to the Sacred Spring became noisy again.
The World-Ending Spirit Fire heard the sound and looked over, only to see another large group of trial-takers with extremely high talent entering the Sacred Spring, once again beginning their journey through it.
"Another batch of trial-takers?" The World-Ending Spirit Fire's eyes flashed with surprise as it saw the new group of trial-takers entering the Sacred Spring.
The trial-takers heading to the sacred land had all perished. The other trial-takers who hadn't chosen to come to the Sacred Spring should, by all rights, be cultivators who were honestly undergoing trials according to Shangqing Palace's rules.
The World-Ending Spirit Fire couldn't understand for a moment where this new batch of trial-takers had come from.
Ye Ling also scanned the new batch of trial-takers carefully, then closed his eyes to recall everyone he had seen in the resting area, and said, "This batch of trial-takers is not the same group that entered Shangqing Mountain with us. I haven't seen these people."
"Not the same group?" The World-Ending Spirit Fire hadn't paid attention to such details and asked in surprise, "Then you mean these trial-takers came from another place?"
"It should be said they came from another spacetime," Ye Ling corrected.
"Another spacetime?" The World-Ending Spirit Fire looked surprised again. "Why do you say that?"
Ye Ling pointed to the cultivators who had stepped into the Sacred Spring and said, "Look at the jade tokens worn on their waists. Their tokens are the same as ours, bearing the emblem of Shangqing Palace. This means they are also trial-takers who wish to join Shangqing Palace."
"And the entrance trial for Shangqing Palace is only held once every three years. All the cultivators who participated in the trial this year were teleported in with us. The appearance of new trial-takers here now can only mean that the spacetime these people were in before coming here is not the same as the spacetime we were in before."
"Therefore, the Shangqing Mountain we are currently on is an independent spacetime separate from the Origin Upper Realm, making it convenient to gather trial-takers from various spacetimes here."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the World-Ending Spirit Fire suddenly understood and said, "In other words, this current batch of trial-takers is from other parallel spacetimes?"
"They could also be trial-takers from the past or future," Ye Ling added. "Shangqing Palace should be trying to select a certain type of person and requires a large number of trial-takers. The number of trial-takers who registered to join Shangqing Palace in a single session cannot meet their needs..." "We should not be the first people to enter this place. Most of the dismembered limbs seen along the way should be from trial-takers from other spacetimes. It is estimated that the Shangqing Palace trials began after I manifested the Heavenly Mandate on Tianyun Sacred Island."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the World-Ending Spirit Fire smacked its lips and sighed, "Shangqing Palace is making such a grand display, what exactly do they want to do? They're not trying to create another Heavenly Mandate, are they?"
"It's possible... after all, the Heavenly Mandate on me has been destroyed," Ye Ling nodded slightly, agreeing with the World-Ending Spirit Fire's guess.
"Of course, it's also possible they have other purposes."
While Ye Ling and the World-Ending Spirit Fire were talking, the new batch of trial-takers was completely annihilated in the first Sacred Spring, with no one even reaching the second.
"Tch! The quality of this batch of trial-takers is too poor, a waste of time. Bring on the next batch..."
Ayun's voice sounded again from the depths of the Sacred Spring, and soon, a new batch of trial-takers arrived, stepping into the Sacred Spring.
This batch of trial-takers was slightly better in quality, with two successfully reaching the second Sacred Spring. However, before they could enter the third Sacred Spring, they all fell.
The World-Ending Spirit Fire saw another batch of trial-takers fall into the Sacred Spring and couldn't help but say, "Looking at it this way, the quality of the trial-takers who entered with us is quite high. Three people actually reached the third Sacred Spring, while the next two batches of trial-takers didn't even have one..."
"Next batch."
Ayun's indifferent voice sounded again, followed by a new batch of trial-takers entering, all of whom eventually died in the Sacred Spring, repeating this cycle.
Ye Ling and the World-Ending Spirit Fire hid in the shadows, watching batch after batch of trial-takers appear, yet not a single one successfully walked out of the Sacred Spring.
"This is already the twelfth batch of trial-takers. What kind of people does Shangqing Palace want? Seeing those geniuses fall here makes even me feel a bit heartbroken," the World-Ending Spirit Fire couldn't help but complain to Ye Ling, seeing those supreme powerhouses being cut down like leeks, only to reappear one after another.
Among those trial-takers, the World-Ending Spirit Fire had already seen several monstrous geniuses who were one in ten thousand and possessed the talent to reach the pinnacle of supreme power.
But those geniuses only lasted a little longer than the other trial-takers, and the end result was the same: they could only fall in the Sacred Spring, losing their precious lives.
The World-Ending Spirit Fire even suspected that if it went itself, it might not be able to pass through all three Sacred Springs.
Ye Ling watched until the last trial-taker of the twelfth batch fell into the Sacred Spring, then took a deep breath and said to the World-Ending Spirit Fire, "Let's go, World-Ending Spirit Fire. These trial-takers should keep coming. There's no point in us staying here any longer."
"Huh? Are we going to the deepest part of the Sacred Spring?" the World-Ending Spirit Fire asked. "Aren't we going to see if anyone can successfully pass the Sacred Spring?"
"We don't have that much time to waste. Tianxing is still waiting outside... Besides, if we want to know if anyone can successfully pass, we'll know once we go to the depths."
After all... Ayun was there.
Ye Ling glanced at the thirteenth batch of trial-takers that appeared, no longer paying attention to them, and transformed into a beam of light, heading towards the depths of the Sacred Spring.
At the same time...
In the depths of the Sacred Spring on Shangqing Mountain, Ayun, dressed in white, seemed to sense something, her eyes slightly narrowing as she looked in Ye Ling's direction.
"He... is here?"