Chapter 136: The Second Trial, Crossing the Sea God's Light

With the help of Lingxu Soul-Raising Soup, everyone's cultivation progressed with half the effort for twice the result, and with morning training combined with evening battles, everyone's rate of improvement was extremely rapid.

Among the nine, Xue Wu's trial was the simplest; her soul power had already reached level 40, and the trial requirement was merely to reach level 42. As long as she obtained a soul ring, she could rise to level 41, and perhaps she would be the fastest to complete her first God Trial.

However, Lingxu did not let her absorb a soul ring, telling her to wait a while longer; if she reached the speediest pace, it was highly likely she would be forced to face the Sea God's Second Trial all alone.

Lingxu wanted to ensure they completed their God Trials within a year as much as possible, and he wanted everyone to finish around the same time so that they could all attempt the second trial together.

If nothing unexpected happened, everyone's future trials would be almost the same.

Therefore, Lingxu had long since formulated a cultivation plan for everyone, with requirements for each person's progress, and ultimately, after eleven months, everyone successfully completed their God Trials.

Luo Yun'er, soul power level 55.

Luo Liu'er, soul power level 50.

Feng Xiaotian, soul power level 50.

Huo Wushuang, soul power level 47.

Xue Wu, soul power level 44.

Dugu Yan, soul power level 42.

Huo Wu, soul power level 42.

Shui Bing'er, soul power level 43.

Shui Yue'er, soul power level 42.

The time difference between everyone finishing was less than ten days, and all nine received the God Trial reward of a one-level increase in soul power; only Feng Xiaotian and Luo Liu'er had not absorbed soul rings, so the rewarded level increase could only manifest after they subsequently absorbed their soul rings.

Logically speaking, everyone could obtain a God-Bestowed Spirit Ring, but this opportunity only came once; after Lingxu discussed it with Bo Saixi, they decided to bring out the God-Bestowed Spirit Rings later, not now.

Lingxu also successfully obtained his Sea God Trial reward: 5% Sea God's Affinity. That was the only reward, nothing else; there wasn't even an increase in soul ring age. One had to say, this Sea God was a bit stingy.

Inside the residence, Lingxu looked at everyone and said, "The first trial can be considered passed. Actually, this was the simplest trial; the upcoming Sea God's Light will not be so simple."

"Tell me, for your Sea God's Light, how many steps do you have to climb?"

Feng Xiaotian spoke first: "For Sea God's Light, I must climb 72 steps, with a time limit of one year."

72 steps, is it?

Feng Xiaotian's soul power was only level 50 now, while the soul power of those in the original Shrek group was basically at the Soul Emperor level; logically, they should have had more than the 50-level Feng Xiaotian.

Huo Wushuang said: "I have to climb to the 63rd step."

"I am at the 49th step!" Huo Wu said.

Dugu Yan and Xue Wu said: "Ours are slightly fewer; we only need to climb to the 42nd step."

This time, Shui Yue'er finally let out a sigh of relief and smiled: "Mine is the 36th step!"

As for Luo Yun'er and Luo Liu'er, their soul power was relatively higher than the others, but their talent was limited, and it was a Purple-Tier Trial, so the difficulty was lower; thus, their requirements were 49 steps and 42 steps respectively.

When it came to the final person, Shui Bing'er, everyone looked over.

Because Shui Bing'er had received a Top-Tier First Trial, yet her soul power was only level 43.

"I... mine is also to climb to the 72nd step," Shui Bing'er said.

"The same as me? Then it can be passed just the same," Feng Xiaotian said directly.

"Big Brother Ling, how many steps are there in total?" Huo Wu asked curiously.

Lingxu responded: "There are 333 steps in total."

Thinking of when Shrek completed their trials, they were almost all Soul Saints; although their soul power and the steps were not yet comparable, these steps were still very difficult for them.

Hearing about the 333 steps, everyone sighed; they were still too weak.

As for Lingxu's God Trial task, it was still to climb 333 steps; this time, it was finally no longer based on the results of others' God Trials.

But this time there was a restriction: he had to do it while carrying a weight of 1,000 catties, and he could not use any soul skills or any soul bone skills, nor could he use soul power; he could only use the strength of his physical body.

Therefore, it was another great test for Lingxu's body, which showed that his body still had a lot of room for improvement.

The group prepared to head together to the forbidden area of Sea God Island for the God Trial, a distance of nearly 200 li, located in the center of Sea God Island.

After all, the diameter of Sea God Island exceeded 400 li; the place was truly not small.

And in the forests of Sea God Island, there were also some Spirit Beasts, though their ages were not high, at most millennium-level Spirit Beasts.

So before going, Lingxu took Feng Xiaotian and Luo Liu'er out for a trip, which delayed them for six or seven days.

They successfully found two fairly suitable Spirit Beasts for the two of them: one was a plant-type Spirit Beast focused on control, and the other was a Spirit Beast focused on strength and aggression.

Although they were sea Spirit Beasts, they were still sufficient, and it didn't have much impact on the two.

After obtaining their soul rings, both of their soul power levels successfully rose to level 52.

At this moment, Feng Xiaotian was only sixteen years old; level 52 soul power was already very good, but before them stood the Holy Master Lingxu and the Vice Saint Master Qian Renxue.

With them around, their current soul power was nothing at all.

If it weren't for Lingxu, they would probably still be at the Soul Elder level now.

Delaying for a few days didn't actually affect their second trial; after all, even if they didn't go, no one had let their cultivation slide.

Entering the forbidden area of Sea God Island, Lingxu had everyone set up tents nearby and settle down.

They managed all their own food and drink; after all, there was an inland sea right beside them, and there were still people delivering supplies to them, just like before, so they prepared for the trial with peace of mind.

Everyone stood below the steps and tried their limits with all their might.

Only by recognizing one's own strength clearly would one find the direction to strive for.

As soon as the nine stood up there, they felt the difficulty of the Sea God's Light, especially when walking onto the second step, where the difficulty increased once again.

Fortunately, Lingxu had everyone train their bodies for the past year, and their physical strength had improved no less than their soul power over this year.

But even with their best efforts, among the nine who climbed the steps, the highest was Feng Xiaotian, who reached the 29th step.

Lingxu remembered that the level 60-something Dai Mubai seemed to have only reached the 38th step the first time.

The 29th step was still considered quite good for Feng Xiaotian.

But to climb to the 72nd step was truly too difficult.

Besides him needing to climb seventy-two steps, Shui Bing'er also needs to climb seventy-two steps.

But currently, there is a huge gap between the two; Shui Bing'er only climbed twenty-four steps the first time, which is difficult for her, and even more difficult compared to Feng Xiaotian, after all, her soul power is one major rank lower.

Moreover, Lingxu discovered that among the nine people, there is still a lack of a support Spirit Master like Ning Rongrong and Oscar, so for the nine of them, perhaps this crossing of the Sea God's Light is even harder than it was for those few from Shrek.

Among the nine, the one who climbed the fewest steps is Shui Yue'er, who only reached the eighteenth step; one must know that her soul power is only two ranks lower than Shui Bing'er's, yet she is six steps behind.

"Come down!" said Lingxu.

Afterwards, everyone walked down, each with a look of difficulty on their faces, because this trial was truly too hard for them.

And Lingxu did not speak; he also wanted to try it, and incidentally set an example.

Taking a step up, Lingxu discovered that the pressure of this first step was actually even higher than that at the Angel Temple.

Is it stronger than at the Angel Temple?

The first step here is almost equivalent to the second step of the Angel Temple.

Furthermore, when Lingxu stepped onto the first step, he discovered that his soul power could not be used, and additionally, a weight of one thousand jin was actively added to his body.

All methods cannot be used; one can only rely on physical strength.

However, can Lingxu's physical strength be compared to that of an ordinary person? Even with a thousand jin of weight on his body.

He walked upward step by step.

"Look quickly, Brother Ling has already climbed past the one-hundredth step, so amazing!" said Shui Yue'er.

At the same time, Bo Saixi on the Sea God Hall watched Lingxu's performance and also said in a low voice: "Soul power of sixty-something ranks cannot achieve this; he has hidden a lot."

The more she watched Lingxu's performance, the more curious Bo Saixi became.

After all, this youth before her is only seventeen years old.

Lingxu's footsteps did not stop; he had always trained with weights before, and in a short while, he rushed to the position of the two-hundredth step.

And upon reaching the two-hundredth step, Lingxu also began to feel a bit strenuous.

"Do I still have such a large room for improvement?"

Originally, Lingxu thought he could at least rush to the position of the three-hundredth step, but by the time he reached the two-hundredth step, according to Lingxu's estimation, he would likely not be able to reach it.

"Two hundred and one."

"Two hundred and six!"

Every time Lingxu climbed a step, the nine people below would count, and Bo Saixi was even more surprised by Lingxu's performance, because by now she already knew the restrictions the Sea God's Second Trial placed on him.

He cannot use soul bones, cannot use soul power, and naturally cannot use his martial soul and soul skills.

What he is relying on now is entirely his own physical strength.

The key is that he still climbed two hundred steps while carrying over a thousand jin of weight; it seems that even those Title Douluo of the Seven Holy Pillars on Sea God Island would find this very difficult to do.

That is to say, Lingxu's physical strength is already at the Title Douluo level, and only that kind of powerful Title Douluo could do it.

"Two hundred and sixty-six..."

"Two hundred and ninety-eight!"

Bang...

At the position of two hundred and ninety-eight, Lingxu's physical strength finally could not hold on, and with a bang, he flew down.

Fortunately, when he came down, Lingxu's soul power returned, and he landed relatively safely.

"So amazing, two hundred and ninety-eight steps!"

"Brother Ling is truly amazing!"

"How many steps are we at?"

What everyone did not know was that these stairs also had extreme restrictions on Lingxu, but Lingxu did not mention it.

And Bo Saixi finally exclaimed to herself: "This Lingxu, his soul power is likely already very close to mine, or even about the same as mine!"

Lingxu looked at everyone and said: "For the next training plan, put on weights every day to train; this time there will be no sparring! Give it your all, I have prepared medicinal herbs for you, keep it up!"

"Thank you, Brother Ling!"

"Thank you, Young Master!"

Preparing the medicinal herbs was actually very simple; Lingxu finished it in one hour.

Most of the time, Lingxu was also training on it, and it was weighted training; on top of the thousand jin of weight the Sea God originally added to him, he added quite a bit more, and Lingxu continued to squeeze out his potential.

And the daily medicinal soup also increased everyone's soul power and bodies.

But what was different for Lingxu compared to them was that the medicinal herbs they used basically came from Sea God Island, mostly ten-year and hundred-year herbs, though of course, some thousand-year herbs were also mixed in.

Don't look at the low ages; when more than ten types of herbs are combined according to corresponding proportions, the effect is no less than eating ten-thousand-year herbs raw.

It is precisely because of the support of some medicinal power that they can spend a large amount of time training every day, almost breaking their limits every day.

As for Lingxu, his intake was different from theirs.

What Lingxu used were at least ten-thousand-year herbs to start, combined with thousand-year herbs, and even Immortal Grade Medicinal Herbs.

His body now absorbs medicinal power like a bottomless pit every day, and Lingxu's body is also constantly growing.

Taking large amounts of various medicinal herbs will inevitably produce some side effects, but Lingxu had already reduced the side effects to the minimum; compared to the slight side effects on everyone's bodies, passing the trial was the most important.

And after Lingxu took large amounts of medicinal herbs, he discovered that practicing the Lingxue Sacred Heart Art eliminates the side effects brought about by long-term medication; after trying it, he found that almost all side effects brought by the daily medicinal herbs could be eliminated using the Lingxue Sacred Heart Art.

At this point, Lingxu no longer worried.

Time passed very quickly, and everyone lived very fulfilling days.

Of course, Lingxu would sometimes let everyone balance work and rest, occasionally resting together, such as going to the seaside to play, having a seaside barbecue to relax their moods, and so on.

Eleven months later, there were ten days left until the deadline for the Sea God's Second Trial.

On this day, everyone stood before the steps very early, and they had all removed the weights from their bodies.

Lingxu said, "Everyone is taking the assessment together today, do you have confidence?"

"Yes!" the nine people said in unison.

"Good, then let's begin. This time, Bing'er, you go first and set an example for everyone," Lingxu said directly.

There would be no trickery in this assessment, because the nine people simply did not have that kind of support Spirit Master.

Shui Bing'er also did not expect that Lingxu would let her go first.

Stepping forward, she heard everyone starting to cheer for her; taking a look at the steps she had practiced on every day for nearly a year, Shui Bing'er let out a long breath.

Then she stepped upward; Shui Bing'er's speed was very fast, and in the blink of an eye, she had walked up thirty steps—one must know that when she first arrived, she had only reached twenty steps.

And today, Shui Bing'er was going to charge toward the seventy-second step.

At this moment, Shui Bing'er's soul power was still not low, having reached level fifty-one.

Having just broken through half a month ago, she was the one who had made the most progress this year; after all, to reach the seventy-second step, according to Lingxu's estimation, one had to reach at least the Soul King level to complete it.

Therefore, Lingxu could be considered to have taken special care of her, and sometimes the medicine she used was much better than that of the others.

Shui Bing'er was also the type who refused to admit defeat; after entering the thirtieth step, Shui Bing'er activated her martial soul.

Continuing upward, at the fiftieth step, Shui Bing'er's speed also began to gradually slow down.

This Sea God's Light was not only a test of soul power, but also an assessment of the body, as well as that kind of perseverance and an attitude of forging ahead courageously.

When Dai Mubai was at the Soul Emperor stage, he had only reached the thirty-eighth step when he first tried, and it was not until his Soul Saint stage that he climbed the hundredth step.

For a level fifty-one Soul King, seventy-two steps was difficult enough, not to mention that Shui Bing'er was still a month away from being twelve years old.

"Sister, go for it!" Shui Yue'er shouted loudly from below!