Chapter 288: Relic Assessment

When Xiao Han followed Jiang Yu into the vortex, the scene that met his eyes made him frown.

Upon entering, Xiao Han was stunned to discover that everything before him was gray and hazy, and his usually infallible Soul Power could only extend within a few hundred zhang.

With his Heavenly Realm Great Perfection Soul Power, he could normally cover an area of tens of thousands of miles in the outside world, yet now it was compressed to one-ten-thousandth of its original range!

At a distance of a few hundred zhang, given his level of strength, it was almost a matter of a single thought; if someone were to launch a sneak attack, the threat level would likely rise in a straight line.

Thinking clearly of the danger, Xiao Han could not help but quietly circulate his Dou Qi, observing his surroundings with vigilance.

However, when he inadvertently glanced at Jiang Yu, he was astonished to find that the latter appeared completely unprepared, with a calm expression!

Sensing Xiao Han's gaze, Jiang Yu turned his head, their eyes meeting. He felt equally strange about Xiao Han's cautious appearance, then, as if thinking of something, he gently tapped his own head and said with an apologetic smile:

"My apologies, there is one thing I have yet to make clear to Ice Saint."

Under Xiao Han's displeased gaze, he spoke slowly, "This relic has no traps whatsoever; we only need to wait for the examiner to appear now."

"Therefore, Ice Saint need not be so cautious."

Xiao Han was suspicious in his heart; a place storing a large amount of a sect's treasures, yet it had no traps or snares? Not even a single protective measure?

However, when the examiner Jiang Yu spoke of appeared before the two of them, Xiao Han finally understood the underlying reason.

About ten minutes after Xiao Han and the other entered this mysterious space, a strange middle-aged man appeared within the space.

"Disciple of the Wan Kui Sect, do you accept the assessment?"

Xiao Han frowned as he observed the middle-aged man in the hemp robe before him. Although every action of the other party was completely normal, it gave him a sense of disharmony. After examining him carefully, he was finally shocked to discover that this middle-aged man who brought him a faint sense of threat was actually a Puppet!

No wonder there were no defensive measures here; a Nine-Star Dou Sheng Puppet was enough to easily resolve all intruders.

If the intruder's strength exceeded Nine-Star, then for the Wan Kui Sect, all methods would be in vain.

Compared to Xiao Han's thoughts, the look in Jiang Yu's eyes as he gazed at this Puppet was filled with fervor; if he could take it for himself, he would instantly rank among the strongest on the continent.

However, Jiang Yu quickly restrained all such emotions, replacing them with a gaze as calm as water.

The two looked at each other, then answered in unison: "We accept!"

Hearing their reply, the middle-aged Puppet remained expressionless, and with a light wave of his sleeve, two identical vortexes appeared before them:

"Examiners, enter!"

Then, a chilling voice followed: "Those who fail, die!"

The corners of Xiao Han's mouth lifted slightly; he would like to see if there were any other relics on this continent, besides the Ancient Emperor Cave Mansion, that could pose a threat to his life!

And Jiang Yu had clearly reached this point only after wandering for many years, having experienced countless life-and-death situations, so how could he be intimidated by mere threatening words?

With a cold laugh, he walked slowly into it without changing his expression. Seeing this, Xiao Han also darted inside.

Watching the two figures enter, the Puppet's eyes returned to darkness, his eyes vacant, and the vortex gradually closed. Apart from one figure sitting cross-legged on the ground, there was no one else in the entire space.

………

The sudden brightness Xiao Han encountered through the vortex made him frown. When he saw the scene before him clearly, his eyes widened abruptly, and he drew a sharp breath.

Densely packed, endless Puppets were neatly arranged in the massive plaza below, and their auras were quite powerful, at least at the Dou Zong realm, while the dozens of figures at the very front had reached Peak Dou Venerate, only one step away from advancing to Half-Saint.

Just then, a stiff voice suddenly rang in Xiao Han's ears: "First round, Puppet repair. Find the damaged Battle Puppets belonging to our sect and repair them all. Time limit: three days!"

"Those who do not complete it within the time limit will be considered to have failed the assessment!"

Hearing this voice, Xiao Han was shocked, while simultaneously grumbling to himself. Only then did he discover that a large portion of these Battle Puppets did not belong to the Wan Kui Sect, but the manufacturing techniques were extremely similar, and their states of preservation varied.

Added to the terrifying number of Puppets in the plaza, even in the heyday of the Wan Kui Sect, it was feared that few people could meet the requirements of this assessment task.

However, these were naturally child's play for Xiao Han. Just as he walked into this space, he felt the shackles on his soul lifted; finding the target Puppets was easy!

Xiao Han closed his eyes slightly, and his vast Soul Power swept across, directly covering the entire plaza; everything about all the Puppets was clearly presented in his mind.

Half an hour later, the corners of Xiao Han's mouth curled up slightly. With a thought, hundreds of Puppets left their positions and floated into mid-air, pulled before Xiao Han.

The number of problematic Puppets looked significant, but Xiao Han did not care. When he used to study arrays while multitasking, those dense runes were even more of a headache.

Moreover, many of these Puppets were not severely damaged; they were simply unable to fight due to various reasons.

Looking at these silent Puppets before him, Xiao Han could not help but reveal an evil grin. Finally, there was something to dismantle. He swept up a large pile of Puppet materials from behind him, and dust rose up...

One day later, the same voice rang out leisurely again, "Assessment complete. Time taken: one day. Grade: Excellent!"

"Permission to enter the next round granted!"

Before Xiao Han could make any reaction, the scene before him shifted...

………

While Xiao Han was undergoing the assessment here, the Central Plains was not peaceful either.

Within the Beast Spirit Cover of the Creation Saint Relic.

Heiqing was looking at the group of gorgeously dressed people before him with a fierce expression. Compared to Heiqing, although the latter were numerous, they did not feel relaxed at all; instead, they were as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Hehehe~" Heiqing said with a cold, sinister laugh as he looked at the few, "What, you Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan also want the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit of our Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan?"

Hearing these words, the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Elder Huang Xuan, who had been struggling with the fact that the reclusive Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan would actually appear in such a relic, and that they had coincidentally met in this Beast Spirit Cover, was instantly furious:

"Heiqing, you are too shameless! This Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit was clearly discovered by our Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan first."

Heiqing picked his ear and said indifferently, "What, do you have an opinion?"

"Heiqing, are you not afraid of becoming enemies with our Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan?"

"Pfft!" Heiqing could not hold it in and mocked aloud on the spot, "Hahahaha..."

Finally, as the expressions of the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan group grew increasingly ugly, Heiqing stopped laughing, patted his own chest, and looked sideways:

"What, I, Old Hei, am staying right here. Why don't you Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan come and deal with me!"

"Hmph!" Huang Xuan looked unwillingly at the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit, which was within reach. The importance of this item went without saying, but even if they all died here, they feared they could do nothing to this Heiqing. It would be better to wait for the experts of the clan to come and deal with him.

"I hope you still have your life to keep this Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit!"

"Let's go!" Huang Xuan flicked his sleeve and turned to leave, and the other Heavenly Demon Phoenix clansmen could only leave unwillingly.

"Heh, next time I won't let you off so easily!" Heiqing watched the backs of the few as they left, intense killing intent dancing in his eyes.

If it were not for the fact that collecting the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit required some time and he was worried about complications, Heiqing would definitely have finished off these people from the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan on the spot.

However, he was not worried; the ruins were only so large, and he would sooner or later encounter those few people again. Moreover, reinforcements from Ancient Dragon Island were already on the way, and with the instructions from that lord, these people...

Will not survive!