Black fog would seep into Meng Chuan’s body every step he took up the altar. The illusions continued to increase in potency.
Countless illusions attacked his mind, yanking Meng Chuan’s consciousness so that he would fall into an abyss.
No one can stop me. If I can’t even destroy illusions, how can I kill all demons? Meng Chuan’s condensed will was like a saber. This saber was for demon-slaying, so he wanted to slice through the obstructions on his cultivation path.
He continued to advance with great difficulty, but as he advanced, the black fog grew thicker. The illusions’ influence on his body and consciousness grew stronger. Even though his will was like a blade, his consciousness was shrouded by the illusions.
When his memories were muddled up, the illusions became more realistic. He gradually lost his perception of his body.
Boom!
An invisible force appeared in his mind.
Oh? Power of the Soul? Meng Chuan suddenly sobered up. He had completely recovered his memories, blocking the illusions’ influence over him. Although he didn’t use the Power of the Soul actively, it had expelled the black fog from his body just before he succumbed to the illusions.
The Power of the Soul is impressive. It can easily block these illusions. But if that’s the case, how would I temper my willpower? He immediately restrained the Power of the Soul, preventing it from helping him. The illusions attacked his mind once again, causing his consciousness to sink into the abyss. However, the Power of the Soul ultimately allowed him to keep a sliver of consciousness.
This sliver of clarity allowed him to identify the illusions, however, he was unable to break free of them. Furthermore, he couldn’t sense his body. His consciousness seemed to be trapped in a cage of darkness.
Although he could destroy the cage of darkness with his Power of the Soul, Meng Chuan didn’t do so.
I can’t sense my body at all. I can’t move any further. I should have failed.
...
Outside.
King East River and company watched from afar. After Ji Yuantong stopped, they paid even more attention to Meng Chuan.
If Ji Yuantong was a rare genius that appeared once a decade, then Meng Chuan’s spiritual perception talent was simply inconceivable. Such talent had only appeared once in recent centuries. Therefore, all the Godfiends present placed great importance on Meng Chuan. If Meng Chuan lacked willpower, it would be ten times worse than Ji Yuantong failing at the 17th step.
30 steps, 40 steps, 50 steps, 60 steps.
Seeing Meng Chuan slowly advance, the Godfiends gradually relaxed. To pass the sixtieth step meant that he had outstanding willpower.
On the 66th step, Yan Feng stopped. Meng Chuan stopped at the 68th step.
“Oh? Meng Chuan is about to stop?”
“The 68th step is not bad. He’s ranked 10th for this assessment.”
“To become a Great Solar Godfiend, one needs to reach the 103rd step of the Darkness Altar! He has reached the 68th step at the age of 18. He will naturally grow. In ten years, he will easily reach the top of the altar.
The Godfiends were quite satisfied with Meng Chuan’s results.
Meng Chuan stopped on the 68th step for a few seconds, his eyes gradually turning pitch black. However, his eyes soon returned to normal. Meng Chuan continued to move upwards. Meng Chuan was angry at his powerlessness, so his willpower and resilience improved. His willpower was a blade that cut through illusions, which is why he continued to move upwards.
“Oh? He was about to fail, yet he managed to escape the illusion? Having breakthroughs at critical moments is very rare,” said Elder Yi with a smile.
King East River nodded. “His inner will is very powerful. After encountering trouble, his heart will become more resolute. His will can be even more resilient.”
Under the Godfiends’ watch, geniuses gradually stopped.
Zong Sha stopped at the 71st step. He ranked 8th among the hundred geniuses! He was extremely outstanding.
At the 75th step, Meng Chuan stopped again. The black fog enveloped his head again, and his eyes gradually turned pitch-black. Although he struggled midway, his eyes eventually turned black. His entire body remained motionless like a statue.
“75th step. Very good.” King East River smiled and nodded. An invisible force enveloped Meng Chuan and dumped him in an empty area. The black fog quickly separated from his body and receded into the Darkness Altar.
Without the black fog in his body, Meng Chuan quickly regained consciousness and his control over his body.
I was moved down? Meng Chuan looked up. There were four people left—still struggling to climb higher.
The only genius with an extremely strong Godfiend foundation left was Yan Jin. The other three didn’t enjoy much fame.
“Meng Chuan, you reached the 75th step.” Princess Li Ying smiled as she walked over. Her eyes glimmered, and she became much more endearing. “You’re fifth amongst the hundred of us. However, the ranking isn’t important. A strong will is needed to become a Great Solar Godfiend. All you need to do is reach the top of the Darkness Altar. Since you’ve already reached the 75th step, you’ll probably reach the top in three years or so.”
Meng Chuan sighed. As expected of the princess of the imperial family. She knew a lot. He didn’t know much about Great Solar Godfiends. His father was a Body Tempering Godfiend, and the Body Tempering Godfiend lineage stopped at the Great Solar realm.
“But, I’m in much worse shape. I only reached the 39th step. I’ll have to spend more effort on my will in the future,” said Princess Li Ying with a smile. “Thankfully, reaching the Great Solar realm usually takes 20-30 years. I have plenty of time to increase my willpower slowly. By the way, do you know that Ji Yuantong stopped at the 17th step?”
“17th step?” Meng Chuan was shocked.
“Yes, I believe the Archean Mountain Godfiends have headaches,” said Li Ying.
Meng Chuan and Li Ying chatted until they saw Yan Jin finally stop on the 81st step. After he left the Darkness Altar, only two geniuses remained.
Zuo Xiao stopped on the 85th step.
Zhang Lie stopped on the 93rd step.
Zhang Lie’s results in the previous assessments were very mediocre. He was ranked 99th during the preliminaries. However, he ranked first in the final trial. He reached an unbelievable height of 93 steps. He wasn’t far from reaching the summit.
Zhang Lie and Zuo Xiao had never consumed any rare treasures. They were all from ordinary family clans, and they had suffered much hardship.
They only lack opportunities. They didn’t have any family help. Meng Chuan looked at Zuo Xiao and Zhang Lie and sighed inwardly.
This was human fate.
If he had grown up in a large family clan, living in luxury since a young age—thus being an elite with excellent cultivation conditions—he wouldn’t have experienced much hardship. That would’ve probably prevented him from reaching the 93rd step today.
“All the assessments have come to an end,” said King East River in a clear voice. “You can rest for an hour. After a discussion, the final twenty will be announced.”
The final name list is going to be decided.
Will I be included?
I wasn’t ranked at the top for the preliminaries, but I wasn’t too bad either. My performance was very average. I should be able to enter the top 20.
Many geniuses were extremely nervous as they thought about how Archean Mountain would decide the final twenty.
To many of them, obtaining a spot was a leap in status! If they couldn’t obtain a spot, they would have to accumulate credit on the battlefield slowly. Furthermore, they wouldn’t have any good teachers to guide them. In Archean Mountain, powerful Godfiends would guide disciples, and they were allowed to learn the strongest Godfiend legacies. They would also enjoy rare resources as nourishment. Most of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s Great Solar Godfiends came from Archean Mountain.
Meng Chuan walked to Meng Dajiang. Yan Jin came as well.
“Both of you did well,” said Meng Dajiang happily. “From what I’ve seen, both of you will definitely get a spot.”
“Yan Jin, you ranked ninth in the preliminaries, and can be considered to be in the top five for the final selection.” Meng Chuan nodded. “You’ll definitely get a spot.”
“You should be number one,” said Yan Jin with a smile. After years of hard work, his first goal was to enter Archean Mountain. From the looks of it, nothing unexpected would happen.
...
The Godfiends discussed the geniuses’ performances.
As for King East River, the sloppy man, the cyan-clothed woman, and Elder Yi, they were busy discussing the top twenty.
“Ji Yuantong’s inner will is flawed, but his spiritual perception talent is extremely high. As long as he can make up for his lacking willpower in the future, he will become a powerful human Godfiend. We definitely have to give him a spot,” said the sloppy-looking man. “The other disciples will need to spend some effort to temper their wills at the Darkness Altar. For Ji Yuantong, let him spend more effort on this aspect.”
“We need to come up with a special plan to temper his will,” said the cyan-clothed woman. “We can make plans for him according to his childhood experiences. For example, a turning point in life, a desperate escape from despair, silver linings, marrying a wife and having children... I’d rather delay him for ten years to make up for his lacking willpower.”
“Yes.” King East River nodded. “I agree with giving him a spot, but in regards to his inner will... that requires a detailed plan.”
“There’s no need for you to waste your efforts on these matters,” said Elder Yi with a smile. “There are many old fellows on the mountain who can make proper plans for him. In the history of our Archean Mountain, we have had peerless geniuses with weak willpower.”
People with certain outstanding aspects could be recruited directly.
For example, Liu Qiyue had a Phoenix Divine Body bloodline. She didn’t take any tests and was directly admitted. Even if her cultivation were lacking or flawed, Archean Mountain would think of ways to make up for it.
For ordinary geniuses, wasting too much time would delay their cultivation in other aspects. It wasn’t worth Archean Mountain putting in too much effort to nurture them.
However, they made exceptions for certain geniuses.
“Ji Yuantong’s spot has been decided. What about Zhang Lie? Zhang Lie came in first at the Darkness Altar, but he’s very mediocre in other aspects,” said the cyan-clothed woman. “He only has a strong will. Without sufficient strength, how will he fight demons in the future?”
“He is really mediocre.” The sloppy man nodded. “We can let him try the Mirage Fiend lineage.”
“He might not be suitable for the Mirage Fiend lineage. I’m afraid only the Sanguine God lineage is suitable for him,” said King East River.
“Let’s give him a spot. We can give Illusion Fiend and Sanguine God a try. If he doesn’t become a high-grade Godfiend in ten years, then expel him from the inner sect,” said Elder Yi. Archean Mountain had rules too. If a disciple wanted to become a Godfiend, they would at least be a high-grade Godfiend! This was one of the reasons why the Archean Mountain Godfiends were powerful. If they didn’t become a high-grade Godfiend in ten years, they would be expelled from the inner sect and become an outer sect disciple.
King East River and the others discussed one genius after another. Every spot was extremely precious, so they had to take it seriously.