The sound of a bell suddenly rang out as the morning sun first shone down, five days later.
Chou Jiuqian and the others in the house moved in unison, appearing in the courtyard. Everyone’s gaze turned towards Li Xuan’s pavilion.
At this moment, a trace of nervousness appeared on everyone’s faces. Li Xuan, the commander, still showed no signs of emerging from seclusion.
“Brother Chou, what should we do?” Gong Hanfeng withdrew his gaze and asked Chou Jiuqian.
Chou Jiuqian smiled bitterly and shook his head, then said, “I presume Commander Li has reached some critical juncture, otherwise he wouldn’t remain in seclusion. If Commander Li cannot participate, our team will likely only continue to receive the lowest allocation ratio.”
“For us spiritual masters, seclusion can last for years or even decades, or as short as three to five days or months. Commander Li’s strength should have reached some bottleneck.”
“Even if we cannot obtain a higher allocation ratio in this disciple trial, I, Bai Xinghan, have no complaints. Without Commander Li, I would likely not be standing here alive,” Bai Xinghan said immediately.
“Exactly! If Commander Li cannot emerge from seclusion before the disciple trial begins, then it’s fine to give up this trial. Commander Li alone has won us three months of cultivation resources previously, so we should be content,” Wen Qing agreed, nodding.
“Yes, yes,” the others echoed in agreement.
“It’s rare for you to have such thoughts. Then, I must lead you to secure the lower allocation ratio this time.” As soon as everyone finished speaking, a voice suddenly sounded from behind them.
Chou Jiuqian and Gong Hanfeng and the others quickly turned around, expressions of surprise and excitement on their faces. The person standing behind them was Li Xuan.
“We greet Commander Li!” Wen Qing and the others, seeing this, hurriedly bowed to Li Xuan and shouted.
“Commander Li, when did you emerge from seclusion?” Gong Hanfeng bowed and then asked Li Xuan with confusion.
Wen Qing and the others, hearing this, also looked at Li Xuan with curiosity. Although they had been consolidating their cultivation in their rooms these past few days, they would not have failed to notice any significant commotion.
Li Xuan had been in seclusion in the pavilion all along, and yet he had suddenly appeared behind them, clearly having just returned from outside.
“I finished my seclusion last night, and then I went out to take care of some matters. It seems everyone is ready. Let’s go, the disciple trial is about to begin,” Li Xuan said with a smile.
“So that’s how it is. It seems your strength has improved again, Commander Li. So many of us didn’t even notice you emerge from seclusion,” Gong Hanfeng said with emotion.
The sound of a bell rang out again from the wooden pavilion palace.
“It seems it’s about to begin soon. Alright, let’s go.” Li Xuan withdrew his gaze, then waved his hand and moved towards the wooden pavilion palace. Seeing this, everyone followed suit.
“Sister Su Xin, your foresight is incredible. Li Xuan has actually reached the limit of the Nine Extremes. After this disciple trial, he will likely break through to the Divine Transformation realm,” Mo Ningxiang said, taking a sip of spiritual tea on Su Nu Peak.
“As for that, I’m afraid I don’t know either. Last night, he said he felt that he hadn’t reached his limit yet and might need some more time. This disciple trial can be considered as accumulating further for his Nine Extremes limit,” Bai Su Xin Bai Zun replied.
“He has already reached the limit of the Nine Extremes, and yet he still feels some incompleteness?” Mo Ningxiang’s eyes flickered with a trace of surprise.
“He said so himself, and I can’t sense it. However, perhaps this is also why the scribe chose him,” Bai Su Xin Bai Zun nodded slightly.
…
“All teams have arrived. Next, the rules for the disciple trial will be announced!”
When Li Xuan’s team of twenty arrived at the square, Elder Geng Tian waved his hand and announced.
“All teams will enter according to their current ranks. Apart from the ten teams with the highest allocation ratio, all other teams will need to complete corresponding missions to maintain their current allocation share.”
“The mission for each team will be released after entering the trial space. After completing the mission, all teams can proceed to the subsequent challenges.”
“Teams in the four tiers, apart from those with the lowest allocation share, all have their own team emblems. If they are robbed by a lower-tiered team, their rank will drop accordingly. The team that successfully robs will take their place.”
“The robbed team cannot attempt to reclaim their rank, but they can choose to challenge other teams. Teams that successfully challenge will not only be able to continue challenging the previous tier’s teams but will also face challenges from other teams.”
“Each team can only challenge one other team at a time. The duration of this disciple trial is one month, and the final rank will determine the allocation share for the next three years.”
“In summary, do you all understand?”
“We understand!” As Elder Geng Tian’s voice fell, everyone on the square bowed in response.
After listening to Elder Geng Tian’s announcement of the rules, Li Xuan understood the disciple trial.
Currently, there were a total of five hundred teams in the wooden pavilion. Excluding the ten teams with the highest allocation ratio, Li Xuan’s team, belonging to the lowest allocation share, accounted for three hundred teams.
The lower-tier teams accounted for one hundred and twenty-five.
The mid-tier teams numbered sixty-five.
According to the rules, teams in the four tiers – highest, middle, lower, and lowest – apart from the ten highest-tier teams, would all need to complete certain missions to maintain their rank and qualify for challenges.
After completing the mission for maintaining their rank and qualifying for challenges, they could then launch challenges against higher-tiered teams. If the challenge was successful, they would take their place. However, this also meant facing challenges from more teams. As for the higher-tiered teams that lost, they could only choose to challenge other teams.
Although the rules seemed simple, the difficulty was actually very high. If Li Xuan’s team succeeded in a challenge, then the remaining two hundred and ninety-nine teams could challenge Li Xuan’s team.
Within this month, they might not even have time to rest.
Moreover, the pressure would only increase as time went on.
“Disciple trial, commence now!”
Elder Geng Tian nodded slightly and, along with the four elders behind him, made hand seals. Five streams of spiritual light, as thick as arms, merged. A spatial array gate slowly appeared above the square.
With the appearance of the spatial array gate, the ten highest-tier teams immediately rushed in. Following closely behind were the mid-tier allocation teams. After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Li Xuan and his team finally began to enter the spatial array gate.
With a flash of white light, Li Xuan and his team members appeared on the mountainside.
“Such a vast area, I wonder what our mission is.” Li Xuan immediately sensed the surroundings, but found that even with his divine soul and spiritual sense, he could not perceive the boundaries of this space.
And during his perception, Li Xuan only detected the presence of one other team, which was a thousand miles away.
Just then, a humming sound echoed. Li Xuan and the others looked up.
“Your team must work together to slay ten Poison Butterfly Snow Sound Beasts. The time limit is one hour.”