Chapter 55: Xuan Jian City in Turmoil

As the sky gradually darkened, more and more people entered the trial space.

But a group had already been eliminated.

Ten consecutive failures without lasting ten minutes—such cultivators have no place in the final trial.

To them, it all felt like a nightmare.

Many passed the trial, and the fastest was Lin Qiu Xian.

He passed on his first attempt, killing his opponent with only three sword strikes.

Of course, not every Xian Sect disciple was as fortunate as him.

【Enemy: Cultivation Base Level 9 Sword Cultivator, Introduction to the Grand Void Sword Scripture, Minor Mastery of Flowing Cloud Sword Technique】

【Objective: Eliminate】

Jiang Yujio stared at the approaching sword cultivator's phantom and fell silent.

Never mind how disadvantaged a low-rank charm cultivator is against a sword cultivator—this thing doesn't even have a face; can her charm arts even affect it?

This is unfair!

She was filled with grief and fury.

"The trials I designed do not contain unfairness." Xu Xing's eyes swirled with countless images.

Not only are the opponents drawn completely at random, but their temperament and soul strength are at normal levels, using Fang Lin as the benchmark.

Thus, these cultivator phantoms can feel pain, can feel fear, and charm arts, illusion arts, and other mental techniques are effective against them.

"Uncle, what are you scheming now?"

Chi Jiuyu descended from the second floor; she had just communicated with her life-sword within the Secret Realm, then scrolled through the Spirit Net for hours but found nothing interesting.

Bored, she came downstairs and saw Xu Xing sitting motionless on the sofa.

"You want to know?" Xu Xing turned to look at her.

For a moment, their gazes met.

Meeting those eyes swirling with light and shadow, Chi Jiuyu felt a torrent of chaotic information and images flood her mind; her head spun, and she nearly stumbled off the step.

What's going on? Uncle must be up to something again! Shaking her head, she quickly ran down the stairs.

"Mmhm! I want to know!"

"Very well."

Xu Xing extended a finger; screens of light rose, automatically shrinking to palm-sized, overlapping and interweaving until they filled the entire living room, each screen showing someone battling a cultivator phantom.

Thousands? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Chi Jiuyu stared in shock—was Uncle really going this big?

"How many people is this?"

"All below Soul Transformation enter."

"So if I go to sleep now, can I still…"

"You're excluded."

This is blatant targeting! Sigh~ It's all my own fault for being too strong.

"Huh? Can these old men participate too?"

Chi Jiuyu pointed to a palm-sized screen on the coffee table.

Inside was an elderly man with white hair and patches of age spots—clearly his foundation had been damaged.

Yet his spear techniques were razor-sharp; a few thrusts shattered the opposing magic cultivator phantom.

"All below Soul Transformation may participate."

…………

The same thing was happening in Xiao Fan's home.

"Brother Dao's nature remains as domineering as ever."

Huo watched Xiao Fan enter the trial and sighed helplessly.

Of course, expecting Brother Dao to show favoritism in such matters was impossible.

Though Xiao Fan now possessed a trace of Cang bloodline, its full effect would take time to manifest, and combined with his lack of combat experience, he might very well be eliminated in the first round.

That would be embarrassing.

Huo watched him and chose not to interfere.

Assisting him in restoring his Dao path and participating in Brother Dao's trial could be explained as manipulating the Cang Clan—but further intervention would be excessive. All he could do now was hope he didn't draw a formidable opponent.

In Brother Dao's trial, the Cang Clan's fortune cannot be invoked.

First, Xiao Fan drew a body cultivator.

Unsurprisingly, he was instantly crushed.

Second, a sword cultivator.

Same result.

Third, a charm cultivator.

Xiao Fan simply ignored the charm cultivator's arts and finally won.

Good—he had decent luck; the third draw was the perfect opponent.

Huo nodded slightly, then vanished.

The trial continued; for all cultivators below Soul Transformation in Xuan Jian City, this was destined to be an extraordinary night.

…………

The next day, Xuan Jian City erupted.

More accurately, since the late night, discussions about the trial on the Spirit Net had never ceased.

If only one person or a small group had participated, it might have been manageable—but the number entering the trial was simply too vast.

In the city hall conference room, the Soul Transformation cultivators of Xuanjian City gathered once again.

After an entire night of investigation, the general situation had been clarified.

This was a trial involving all cultivators below Soul Transformation; every cultivator meeting the criteria would be drawn into a dim, gray trial space, then forced to battle a random virtual shadow of another cultivator.

The types of these virtual shadows were extremely diverse—sword cultivators, body cultivators, spell cultivators, charm cultivators, and more—nearly encompassing all cultivator professions.

There were ten opportunities total; rankings would be determined by final performance, and the top three thousand would advance to the second round of trials.

Upon learning the full details, the mayor was utterly stunned—who was this elder, playing such a massive game?

What troubled everyone even more was that the elder seemed to have no intention of concealing this, so none of them dared to suppress the news; now even other cities had heard of it.

"What do you all think should be done about this?"

No one replied.

No one could offer a suitable suggestion—what if acting rashly angered the elder? Who would take responsibility then? Just as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense,

"You need not interfere in this matter."

As the voice sounded, a blade of light appeared from nowhere and landed inside the conference room—a young man dressed in the robes of a Xiang Jianzong elder.

The newcomer was none other than the Void Return elder who had accompanied Li Qingyang.

"We pay our respects to the elder."

"We pay our respects to our Master's Uncle."

Everyone rose to bow, their hearts finally easing.

Someone who could resolve this had finally arrived.

"Is this trial opened by the elder?" the mayor asked hurriedly.

In his view, only this elder from the Xiang Jianzong, Master Li, could possibly possess such power.

"No," the Void Return elder scanned the room, "but my Xiao Shu Zu has instructed me to convey this to you: rest easy—this trial is not a harmful thing."

In truth, Li Qingyang had also gone to observe last night, but found he could not penetrate it at all…

Afterward, Li Qingyang patrolled the entire city of Xuanjian and saw no deaths resulting from it; the worst case was merely sudden awakening.

Moreover, there were no signs of damage to the soul, body, or foundation—this led him to conclude the sudden appearance of this trial carried no malice.

If not Master Li, then who else could orchestrate such a grand scheme?

But even the Xiang Jianzong's own elder had said so.

The mayor bowed deeply.

"Yes, we humbly obey the elder's command."

As long as any problem later arises, it won't be blamed on us.

Please collect, please follow!! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone!! (End of Chapter)