Chapter 301: Final Trial
Fei Si cooperated actively.
In his view, Chuitaoke was clearly an elite of the No-Void Sect; otherwise, in the battle with Qi Bai, the latter wouldn’t have risked his life to rescue Sun Lingtong.
The No-Void Sect was the common enemy of both Zhu Xuanji and Meng Kui.
If they wanted to investigate the No-Void Sect, it could also tie up Zhu’s family resources and time, achieving two goals with one action—how could he not cooperate?
Two days later.
Zhu Zhen hurriedly went to find Zhu Xuanji, reporting his two findings.
"The City Lord's Mansion discovered many strands of Flowing Cloud Silk from the Ruyi Rope.
Upon investigation, it was found that some of these silks were a specialty of Flying Cloud Country."
"Although I didn’t find any clues regarding the Wanli Youlong, I did discover that a large group of cultivators were secretly trying to contact the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit.
After further investigation, I confirmed that these cultivators were all from the Meng family!"
Zhu Xuanji’s brows furrowed deeply.
The first finding from Zhu Zhen didn’t catch much of Zhu Xuanji’s attention—it was at best a corroborative piece of evidence.
It was the second discovery that was crucial.
Zhu Xuanji pondered for a moment before immediately realizing, "It seems Meng Kui already knew the secret of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit."
"In that case, he probably never went all out in the fight against the Red Flame Beast Tide!"
Meng Kui, using divination techniques, had sensed the secret of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit through its fate and had concealed it until now.
Now, through investigating the second golden furnace, Zhu Xuanji had circled around and uncovered part of Meng Kui’s truth.
"Good, good, good! As expected of the Meng family’s intelligent general!" Zhu Xuanji looked up at the layers of clouds and smoke overhead.
At this moment, his heart was filled with anger: "These great feudal clans!"
But immediately, Zhu Xuanji suppressed this anger deep within his heart.
He instructed Zhu Zhen to continue investigating the Wanli Youlong, while he himself sent a flying message to contact Meng Kui, requesting a meeting.
Meng Kui made a move, responding to Zhu Xuanji and coming to meet him.
At present, with two Nascent Soul-level Red Flame Demonic Beasts participating in the beast tide, frequently appearing, the Lava Immortal Palace had almost become an isolated island.
For a Golden Core cultivator like Zhu Xuanji, leaving and entering the Lava Immortal Palace alone would be risky.
Only with Meng Kui’s assistance and protection could he safely leave.
When Zhu Xuanji met Meng Kui, he pretended not to notice Meng Kui's little moves, his face heavy as he spoke of the urgent situation: that the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had grown a rebellious heart and was trying to escape.
Meng Kui naturally displayed a look of surprise, but in his heart, he guessed that Zhu Xuanji likely knew about his secret actions.
Zhu Xuanji knew about Meng Kui’s secret actions but pretended not to know.
Meng Kui guessed that Zhu Xuanji had figured out his moves but also pretended not to know.
Both sides were aware that the other was putting on a performance, and both were willing to continue acting.
Zhu Xuanji said, "The volcanic eruptions have placed us on the brink of catastrophe.
With the slightest misstep, the entire Immortal City and countless citizens will face extinction."
"The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s bombardment of Mount Huoshi is an attempt to force us into a difficult position, creating an opportunity for it to escape."
"From today onward, we must seal off the space within a ten-mile radius, forbidding all teleportation methods.
Activate the array’s ability to observe the heavens and earth, marking the presence of all Nascent Soul-level beings to guard against a sudden attack on Huoshi Immortal City by Nascent Soul demonic beasts."
Meng Kui hesitated slightly, saying, "The Locking Void Domain and Heaven-Observing Earth Array are the most guarded means of the city protection array.
If we activate them too early, the loss of spirit stones will be too great, putting us at risk of exhausting resources later.
Lord Zhu, how did you determine that it is time to use such methods?"
Zhu Xuanji smiled slightly, taking out a royal decree and displaying it openly: "I do not need to explain anything to you.
Lord Meng, you only need to cooperate."
Meng Kui's pupils shrank.
Even as a Nascent Soul cultivator, he couldn’t override a royal decree.
The Meng family was one of the pillars of the Southern Dou Kingdom, and Meng Kui, as a court official, naturally had many constraints placed on him by the Zhu family’s royal house.
The royal decree in Zhu Xuanji’s hand was undoubtedly authentic.
To see the decree was to see the King.
Meng Kui didn’t want to defy it, sighing, "I disagree with Lord Zhu's judgment, but since you insist and have brought out the royal decree, I will follow orders."
"However, once the Lava Immortal Palace affair is over, I will report everything in full detail.
I hope Lord Zhu won’t take offense."
"Of course," Zhu Xuanji replied as the royal decree in his hand officially took effect, turning into specks of dust and scattering with the wind.
The royal decree was extremely valuable, with powerful effects.
Once used, it was exhausted.
But Zhu Xuanji’s plan was aimed at blocking the Wanli Youlong at all costs.
He knew very well that forcibly activating the city protection array would be a massive drain, full of risks, but he had no other choice!
Regarding the matter of the Wanli Youlong, Zhu Xuanji didn’t mention a word to Meng Kui.
In the past, Meng Kui had hidden the secret of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit from him.
Now, Zhu Xuanji was keeping the existence of the Wanli Youlong from Meng Kui.
It wasn’t impossible for the two to cooperate openly and sincerely, but it was certainly difficult.
As Zhu Xuanji had anticipated, the second round of the final trial had already come to an end, with the announcement made after the twenty-seventh test question.
The results of the second round were immediately ranked.
None of the cultivators were surprised.
They had been keeping track during the trials, carefully tallying points while participating.
Most of the time, the ten arenas were visible, and some cultivators were given byes, watching the matches from below, making the results of most arena battles observable.
Even if they couldn’t investigate, the outcomes could roughly be inferred based on the differences in strength between the participants.
What the cultivators didn’t know was how the results of the second round would be combined with the overall ranking.
They were unsure of the exact weight the second round’s results would carry in the final tally and how it would be calculated.
The truly tense moment arrived.
The new overall ranking was announced!
First place, Zhu Xuanji.
Second place, Booklord.
Third place, Zheng Jianlian.
Fourth place, Meng Family Cultivator A.
Fifth place, Zheng Shuanggou.
Sixth place, Golden Core True Disciple of Zixiao Pavilion.
Seventh place, Ning Jiufan.
Eighth place, Yang Chanyu.
Ninth place, Entry Standard.
Tenth place, Zhou Nongying.
Eleventh place, Ning Zhuo.
Twelfth place, Meng Chong.
Thirteenth place, Song Fuli.
As the second round trial rules dictated, ten more were eliminated, leaving only thirteen cultivators to enter the third round of the final trial.
Once the results were announced, the expressions of the cultivators on the main hall square varied.
Those who were eliminated looked heavy-hearted, while those who made it onto the list breathed sighs of relief, no longer as tense.
Upon closer inspection of the ranking list, many observations could be made.
Zhu Xuanji being in first place was no surprise to anyone.
He had already been ranked first in merit, and he also had the most victories in the second round of trials.
Booklord taking second place was also understandable.
After all, he had been at the top of the previous merit ranking, and this time, he performed well in the second round, only losing more to Zhu Xuanji.
The Zheng family’s two Golden Core cultivators took third and fifth place respectively, which wasn’t surprising given that the Zheng family, being focused on artifact crafting, had many advantages in mechanism-based competitions.
As for the Meng family, only two representatives remained: the fourth-placed external aid, Cultivator A, and the twelfth-placed Qi Refining genius, Meng Chong, indicating some fatigue.
The Zixiao Pavilion’s Golden Core True Disciple held the sixth position, and no one was surprised.
Zixiao Pavilion and Taiqing Palace were both super sects.
Since Zixiao Pavilion had sent a Golden Core True Disciple to compete for the position of palace lord, they had surely chosen their candidate carefully.
From Zixiao Pavilion’s Golden Core True Disciple, one could speculate that if Taiqing Palace’s True Disciple hadn’t died, he would likely have been on the list too.
In this regard, many of the cultivators
on the list had to thank Zheng Jianlian.
Ning Jiufan and Ning Zhuo both made it onto the list.
Entry Standard and Yang Chanyu did as well.
In terms of overall ranking, the No-Void Sect and the Ning family were on par.
Some cultivators, upon seeing this, remarked that Ning Zhuo had contributed greatly.
In the later stages, he severely injured the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, causing Entry Standard Sun Lingtong’s performance to plummet, leaving him in ninth place.
Zhou Nongying fell to tenth place, which was somewhat awkward.
From this, it seemed that the Zhou family suffered the most losses in the second round of the final trial.
Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zhenshen were both eliminated, leaving only one Golden Core representative.
In fact, many Golden Core cultivators were eliminated.
For example, Zhu Zhen from the Zhu royal family.
He also sensed his impending elimination and withdrew early, focusing his efforts on completing the tasks Zhu Xuanji had assigned.
Likewise, two Golden Core cultivators from Yunshang were eliminated.
Several from the Meng family were also eliminated.
The second round of the final trial revolved around mechanical competition, with all cultivators’ cultivation suppressed to the Qi Refining level, greatly minimizing the differences in cultivation.
Overall, most of the remaining cultivators were Golden Core-level, with only one Foundation Establishment cultivator—Sun Lingtong—and two Qi Refining stage cultivators, Ning Zhuo and Meng Chong.
Meng Chong’s extraordinary talent had been fully displayed in the second round of the trial.
In the arena, many of his opponents voluntarily conceded, including Golden Core cultivators from the Meng family.
From this, it could be inferred that perhaps supporting Meng Chong had cost the Meng family considerable Golden Core strength.
Ning Zhuo’s ranking even surpassed Meng Chong’s.
At first, many cultivators were surprised, but they quickly understood.
In the second round of the trial, Ning Zhuo had showcased exceptional skill, leaving a deep impression by severely injuring the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng.
The five-element figurines he created seemed ordinary at first glance, but they were balanced, with no obvious weaknesses in any aspect.
Many cultivators lost to Ning Zhuo, and anyone who fought him came to realize that this young genius was no simple figure.
Considering that Ning Zhuo’s talent hadn’t been measured, and even the prodigious Meng Chong was overshadowed, many began to speculate even more about Ning Zhuo’s potential.
“The Ning family has produced an excellent junior.”
“Although there are deep conflicts between the main and branch families of the Ning clan, Ning Zhuo has gained Ning Jiufan’s favor.
His future prospects are limitless!”
“He has the potential.
In a few decades, or a hundred years, he will definitely become a key figure in Huoshi Immortal City’s upper ranks.”
Ning Zhuo’s reputation soared.
What the public didn’t know was that Ning Zhuo’s true ranking was even higher.
Just one day later, the teleportation circle brought the thirteen remaining cultivators back to the square in front of the main hall.
"The third round of the final trial begins!"
Boom.
To the astonishment of all, the doors of the main hall, after being closed for hundreds of years, slowly opened.
At the entrance, the Five Elements Spirit Qi surged, weaving a magnificent vortex of colors.
A powerful force erupted from the vortex, pulling all the cultivators into it.
(End of Chapter)