Chapter 594: This Dragon Won't Make Things Hard for You—Who Would Believe That?

Entering the Dragon King Hall, all sorts of auras came rushing toward him.

Jiang Chen sensed various elements within them, and mixed into those elements was the aura of the Dragon Race.

These auras intertwined with each other in utter chaos.

"This Instance isn't normal!"

Jiang Chen felt an unusual aura.

This Instance was different from other Instances.

It didn't seem to be an Instance specifically designed for people to conquer.

Moreover, obtaining the Dragon King Certificate was extremely difficult; very few in the history of the Human Race had ever managed to get one.

That meant very few people were qualified to enter the Instance.

So what was the point of the Instance's existence?

An Instance, by definition, could create countless branches at the same time, allowing countless people to enter simultaneously while remaining independent and non-interfering with each other.

But this Instance allowed so few people to enter that almost no two people would ever enter at the same time.

Not to mention at the same time—even over several years or decades, it might not see two people enter together.

So the purpose of the "Dragon King Hall" Instance didn't quite add up.

Yet it existed nonetheless, and existence itself was reasonable.

Jiang Chen's mind raced with many thoughts all at once.

He loved to probe the root of things, to get to the bottom of everything—it had become his instinct.

Roar!

A dragon's roar interrupted Jiang Chen's train of thought.

Amid the roar, Jiang Chen saw a green dragon flying toward him.

The dragon was over twenty meters long, and with its wings spread, it exceeded forty meters—truly enormous.

It circled in the air, each breath spewing green dragon breath.

This was a true dragon, not a member of the Dragon Race.

"A body like a lizard, with a pair of wings!" Jiang Chen murmured to himself. This wasn't his first time seeing a dragon.

He had seen them several times when his Skill awakened.

He had also seen dragons die at the hands of Skeletons several times.

So he felt no fear toward dragons at all.

The green dragon stared at him, and he stared back at the green dragon—both locking eyes.

"Human!"

The green dragon roared.

From just those two words, Jiang Chen could tell the dragon looked down on the Human Race.

There was also a hint of hatred in its voice.

This guy wasn't easy to get along with.

Jiang Chen had already slapped the appropriate label on the green dragon.

But on the surface, Jiang Chen still spoke politely, "Greetings, esteemed dragon."

The green dragon glared at Jiang Chen with its huge eyes. "No matter how polite you are, I won't go easy on you."

Jiang Chen chuckled inwardly. He hadn't even thought about asking it to go easy.

The green dragon's voice boomed through the Instance. "Now I'll tell you the rules of the Dragon King Hall's first trial."

"In this trial, you will face six rounds of challenges, consisting of myself and four other dragons."

"Only by defeating us can you advance to the next trial."

"You are currently Level 70, so I will control my power to the Level 75 level."

Listening to its words, Jiang Chen roughly guessed that the Dragon King Hall seemed to be a kind of assessment-type Instance.

Moreover, it wasn't simply about fighting monsters to clear stages; there were intelligent dragons that could think and speak guarding the trials.

Seeing that Jiang Chen hadn't spoken, the green dragon added, "Although I don't like the Human Race, and even hate them somewhat, I will still act according to the Dragon King Hall's rules. I won't go easy on you, nor will I deliberately make things difficult for you."

"Do you understand what I've said?"

Jiang Chen hummed in acknowledgment. "I understand, but I have a question. Where did the monsters outside the Instance go?"

The green dragon's eyes narrowed slightly, seeming a bit displeased. "That was the first trial for entering the Instance. If you couldn't pass even that trial, you wouldn't be qualified to enter."

At that moment, a blob of mud-like substance appeared atop the green dragon's head.

This mud blob wasn't very big—just a bit larger than a normal person's head—soft and bouncy, shimmering with flowing colors.

When it saw Jiang Chen, it shrank back again, as if somewhat afraid.

After all, Jiang Chen had just injured it; if it hadn't escaped quickly, it might have been beaten to death.

Jiang Chen recognized at a glance that this mud-like thing was the same flowing light that had been running around with the Instance outside earlier.

Its true form was actually such a thing—from a distance, it even looked a bit cute.

But in reality, it was a terrifying monster that could eat anything.

If it hadn't been Jiang Chen, getting past this trial wouldn't have been easy for anyone else.

The green dragon's patience was clearly not great. "Alright, you can now walk to the arena ahead. I'll be waiting for you there."

With that, the green dragon turned and flew away, its dragon wings beating with a deafening boom.

Gale-force winds howled through the Instance, strong enough to blow Level 80 professionals off their feet.

But on Jiang Chen, they had no effect at all.

After all, Jiang Chen's stats were simply too high, and he was immune to all sorts of negative statuses.

The green dragon was slightly surprised to see Jiang Chen unharmed.

Jiang Chen saw through it clearly—this guy kept saying he wouldn't deliberately target him, but just those two moves were already targeting him.

He said the assessment would be based on his own level, but who knew if this guy would secretly pull something? Better to be cautious.

Jiang Chen could tell that the green dragon was actually very strong, likely surpassing the Divine Level.

From its words, he could gather that it was in charge of the first stage of the assessment.

The level it displayed was about five levels higher than the examinee's.

If someone at Level 89 came in, or even a Divine Level professional,

and the green dragon's own strength wasn't enough, what would it do then?

Jiang Chen guessed the green dragon might secretly pull some tricks, but he wasn't too afraid.

At worst, he'd turn the place upside down.

He touched the Dragon Scale in his pocket—it was given to him by Antares before he left.

If real danger arose, he could leave at any time through the Dragon Scale.

The Dragon Scale contained Antares's supreme power, and Jiang Chen believed that in the Lower Space, no one could overpower Antares.

So Jiang Chen wasn't worried about his life at all.

Even if that failed, he had ways to fight to the bitter end with the other party.

Before him was a staircase; Jiang Chen swept his eyes over it—exactly one hundred steps.

His mind stirred, and Jiang Chen summoned the Lightning Nether Spirit Wings to fly up.

But the Lightning Nether Spirit Wings did not appear.

At the same time, Jiang Chen couldn't fly either.

When he tried to fly, a law force descended upon him.

"Forbidden Void?"

Jiang Chen felt the power of the Forbidden Void.

No choice—he could only walk step by step.

"If they won't let me fly, these steps are probably rigged too."

Having been through many assessment Instances and Secret Realms, Jiang Chen realized these steps were definitely part of the assessment.

Even before entering the Instance, it seemed the assessment had already begun.

Jiang Chen stepped onto the first step; the moment his foot touched the surface, the step lit up, and an Aura rose from it.

The Aura carried a tremendous pushing force that slammed into Jiang Chen's foot, trying to shove him off entirely.

Jiang Chen exerted a little force, instantly crushing the Aura and planting his foot firmly on the step.

The Aura shattered, and the step dimmed along with it.

"Just as I thought—walking the steps is also part of the test."

"If I'm not mistaken, the pushing force will get stronger and stronger."

"But this little bit of force..."

Jiang Chen didn't take it seriously at all.

With his stats, this amount of pushing force was nothing.

If it were another Mage Class profession, with their inherently weak Strength stat, they'd have to use Spiritual Power or rely on equipment to resist the push.

But for Jiang Chen, his Strength stat had already reached 300,000, fully comparable to a Level 70 Warrior.

Add the Monarch Scepter's 500,000 Strength stat bonus,

and even a Mythological Class Warrior decked out in divine gear wouldn't have Strength stats much higher than his.

A mere Aura was nothing at all.

Jiang Chen's steps were exceptionally steady, one after another as he ascended.

Every Aura was crushed under his foot, with no Difficulty whatsoever.

The 100 steps—the further he went, the greater the pushing force; by the 100th step, it was about three times stronger than the first.

But faced with Jiang Chen's immense strength, it was still stamped out with a single step.

Jiang Chen effortlessly walked onto the Combat Platform. On the massive Combat Platform, the green dragon had been waiting for some time.

It had originally wanted to see Jiang Chen in a sorry state, but instead saw him looking completely unruffled.

Jiang Chen's performance baffled it, and for a moment it felt its dragon brain wasn't quite up to the task.

Jiang Chen was clearly a mage—why was he so relaxed?

Shouldn't a mage's Strength stat be very weak?

This staircase test was purely about Strength.

Although this amount of force was nothing in its eyes, for a Level 70 mage, it was quite a challenge.

"Could it be that all his equipment is Strength-boosting?"

"But I don't see him wearing any gear."

"Can't figure it out—dragon brain hurts!"

The green dragon's brain wasn't too sharp; thinking too much gave it a headache.

So it simply stopped thinking and said to Jiang Chen, "If you can last one minute under my attacks, you pass the assessment."

"Don't worry, I'll follow the Dragon King Hall's rules and only use attack power five levels above yours."

"I'll give you ten seconds to prepare. After ten seconds, I'll start attacking."