Chapter 194: First Selection Stage, Five Elements Space

Inside Heavenly Wasteland City, the Divine Son selection is about to begin, all disciples of the Dark God Temple have come to a wide square.

Although the Dark God Temple has been hunted by the entire Heavenly Profound Realm these years, at its peak it was the overlord of the entire Heavenly Profound Realm.

Countless forces in the Heavenly Profound Realm are members of the Dark God Temple.

Although it no longer enjoys its former glory, the number of temple disciples is still countless.

At this time, those able to come to Heavenly Wasteland City are mostly the elites of various factions, or personnel who need to participate in the Divine Son selection.

Ordinary disciples simply have no qualification to come.

Even so, the entire square is still packed with people.

All temple disciples at this moment are craning their necks toward the front high platform, silently waiting for the appearance of the temple's many elders and the temple master.

On both sides of the high platform, elders and leaders from various sects have already taken their places; then, several figures slowly walked out from behind the high platform.

Besides the president of the Ascension Immortal Society, Qi Shaoyu, there are four other figures with different attire.

These five people are all temple elders.

The Dark God Temple originally had seven temple elders, but in the years of warfare with the Great Expansion Dao Sect and various forces of the Heavenly Profound Realm, even those of the temple elder rank have suffered casualties.

Qi Shaoyu is the one who, after the seventh elder died in battle that year, was elected to become the new seventh temple elder.

The other two temple elders died in battle a few years ago and have not yet been replaced.

Just like the position of Divine Son, the positions of these two temple elders have always been closely watched by the high-levels of many factions.

Because, in a certain sense, the position of temple elder is higher than that of Divine Son.

Unless the Divine Son can smoothly become the temple master, the temple's authority rests solely in the hands of the temple master and the temple elders.

For many matters, the temple master must have them decided by a vote of the temple elders.

"We pay our respects to the temple elders!"

Below, upon seeing the five appear, all temple disciples clasped their hands in salute.

Among the five, an old man missing one arm raised his remaining hand to signal everyone not to be overly ceremonious.

Afterwards, he looked at Qi Shaoyu and spoke:

"Old Seven, the eldest brother is gone, we few old bones are also getting old."

"This Divine Son selection shall be entirely under your charge."

Upon hearing this, the many high-ranking members of the Dark God Temple on both sides of the high platform all furrowed their brows.

Their glances occasionally swept toward the five people behind them, as if expecting something.

"Second Elder, excuse me for interrupting."

"Temple Master... why hasn't he come to preside over the Divine Son selection?"

A sturdy old man dressed in fur robes clasped his hands toward the one-armed elder.

Below, many Dark God Temple disciples at this moment also harbor the same curiosity.

Logically, for such an important matter as selecting the Divine Son, the temple master should certainly preside over it personally.

In the past, it was always done this way.

But now the temple master hasn't come, and the Second Elder directly handed over the responsibility of conducting the selection to Qi Shaoyu, which many found surprising.

"Everyone, the temple master is indisposed and cannot come."

"He especially instructed me, saying that this Divine Son selection shall be handled by us five elders."

As he spoke, the one-armed elder's hand flashed with light, and he directly produced a bone staff flashing with mysterious light.

The bone staff is carved with mysterious patterns, looking quite eerie.

God Bone Scepter!

Upon seeing this bone staff, the many temple high-ranking figures on both sides of the high platform lowered their heads, daring not to question further.

The God Bone Scepter represents the temple master of the Dark God Temple.

The Second Elder being able to take hold of the God Bone Scepter proves his words are true.

At the same time, those present began to ponder the Second Elder's earlier words.

The temple master is indisposed...

The news of the temple master's old ailment flaring up is no longer any secret.

Many are clear that, in this Divine Son selection, whoever becomes the Divine Son is very likely to succeed the temple master's position in a short time.

But now it seems that even that extremely short time may not be needed.

The temple master's condition is such that he cannot even preside over the Divine Son selection.

This is enough to show that he has reached the brink of exhausted oil and waning lamp, even...

Only a very few speculate that the temple master may already have perished, but the temple elders fear that if the many temple disciples learned this news, it would cause an uproar, so they have concealed it.

But now all of this obviously no longer matters.

The Divine Son selection is imminent, and a new Divine Son is about to be born.

Once the new Divine Son appears, it also means the temple will welcome a new temple master.

Seeing that everyone had no objections, Qi Shaoyu turned, clasped his hands toward the four temple elders, took the God Bone Scepter from the Second Elder's hand, and raised it before the assembled temple disciples.

Upon seeing the God Bone Scepter, many temple disciples immediately lowered their heads, silently waiting for her to announce the start of the Divine Son selection.

Yet at this moment, Qi Shaoyu merely held the God Bone Scepter silently, without speaking.

"Seventh Elder..."

At this moment, a temple high-ranking figure beside her whispered, "We can begin."

Qi Shaoyu, holding the God Bone Scepter, glanced at him indifferently and said, "The candidates aren't all here yet; why the rush?"

Upon hearing that, he glanced at the stone pillars beside the high platform representing the various sects, carefully counted the numbers, and found that aside from Fang Xu, everyone was present; he then clasped his hands toward Qi Shaoyu and said, "Seventh Elder, we're only missing Xuangmen's Fang Xu, but he has already died in the Vast Sea."

"Who told you that?" Qi Shaoyu said with a light smile.

That person was left speechless by the question.

At this moment, Zhao Jie on the other side clasped his hands and said, "I don't know what time the Seventh Elder plans to wait until."

"We can't just let everyone wait here for him alone, can we?"

"Exactly, the Divine Son selection is a major matter; we can't waste everyone's time for one person."

"Isn't Fang Xu already dead?"

"Let's start quickly; we still need to rush back to the outpost to train."

……

Although the disciples below dared not shout loudly due to Qi Shaoyu's dignity, they nevertheless whispered among themselves below.

Qi Shaoyu naturally heard what they were saying and directly said, "The Divine Palace has a rule: the Divine Son selection begins this afternoon."

"We're only a quarter hour away from this afternoon; have I delayed things?"

Hearing her words, Zhao Jie blinked slightly and realized that, indeed, there was still about a quarter hour left until this afternoon.

But he felt that waiting that quarter hour would also be a waste.

At this moment, Qi Shaoyu held the Divine Bone Scepter and was herself an Elder of the Divine Palace.

He dared not invite trouble for himself.

A quarter hour is a quarter hour; we'll just wait a bit longer.

The crowd below also waited silently.

In the Divine Son candidate area, behind the stone pillar representing Fang Xu, Lao Yuan, Kong Jie, and the others stood there quietly, leading the Ghost Face Army and the barbarian warriors who had been selected.

Ever since Qi Shaoyu informed them that Fang Xu was not dead, they have been firm in their belief that Fang Xu will surely arrive at the last moment.

Even though they knew they had not been to the Divine Fall Land, their strength was somewhat lacking compared to the guards of the other candidates, possibly unable to help Fang Xu contend for the Divine Son position.

But they were unwilling to give up.

Time passed bit by bit.

Qi Shaoyu also occasionally glanced toward the distant mist.

"What the hell is this kid up to?"

In fact, from the moment Fang Xu reached the outskirts of the bloody mist around Heavenly Wasteland City, Qi Shaoyu had already sensed his aura.

But so much time has passed since then, and Fang Xu still hasn't arrived here.

Qi Shaoyu even suspected that Fang Xu had gotten lost in the blood-colored mist.

Clang!

Just as the time was about to reach this afternoon, a stream of light suddenly shot out from the distant blood mist and landed steadily on that stone pillar.

"Sorry for keeping you all waiting."

Fang Xu, who had landed on the stone pillar, clasped his hands toward the crowd.

Upon seeing Fang Xu arrive, Lao Yuan and the others behind the stone pillar instantly burst into cheers.

Qi Shaoyu's face also showed a faint smile.

But with the Divine Son selection imminent, she did not go ask Fang Xu what he had been up to.

"Dark Divine Palace, the Divine Son selection begins!"

"Offer!"

As her voice rang out, three statues carved from ink jade slowly rose from behind the platform.

They were the statues of the Ancient Tu God, the Moon God, and the Extension God.

These three gods are not the Extension God from the Ti Lan Shan Ruins.

The Extension God of the Ti Lan Shan Ruins is a human cultivator later promoted by the Dark Divine Palace.

But these three statues are genuine depictions of the ancient gods.

As the statues of the three gods appeared, all disciples of the Dark Divine Palace began to worship.

The divine spirit sacrifice is a complex process; the entire ceremony lasted until just before noon before ending.

Only after the sacrifice to the three gods was completed did the Divine Son selection officially begin.

Qi Shaoyu slowly walked to the edge of the platform, holding the Divine Bone Scepter, and said, "What follows is the formal segment of the Divine Son selection."

"Let me explain the rules."

"The Divine Son selection consists of three stages in principle; as disciples of my Divine Palace, we are not allowed to deliver killing blows."

"But since the selection of the Divine Son concerns the future of the Divine Palace, we certainly cannot allow opportunism, and casualties are inevitable."

"Because casualties in past selections have been too many, I have temporarily added a rule."

"That is, once a candidate admits defeat, no further killing blows may be inflicted."

"Otherwise, their selection qualification will be revoked outright!"

"All other rules remain as before!"

"Do you all understand?"

Qi Shaoyu's gaze swept over all the Divine Son candidates.

In the past, the Divine Palace's disciple selections were carried out by raising gu.

After the whole selection, aside from the team worthy of the Divine Son, few others remained alive.

A single selection indirectly caused tens of thousands of Divine Palace disciples to die miserably.

This time, Qi Shaoyu added this rule actually to favor the Profound Gate represented by Fang Xu.

Having failed to participate in the Three Gods Trial, his guards had never entered the Divine Fall Land, and their overall strength was only middling among the candidates.

If this rule were not added, I believe that in the end he and his guards would all be slaughtered.

There are indeed many members of the Ascension Society here; as its president, she cannot bear to see her own disciples die miserably.

Although this regulation clearly shows bias, it is excellent for some factions that have no hope of winning the god-son selection.

Because during the god-son selection process, they not only get the chance to spar with other talented youths of the Divine Palace, but also can preserve their lives, which is a good thing.

However, for those candidates whose strength is already strong, this regulation is somewhat restrictive.

After all, not being able to unleash slaughter is undoubtedly a weakening for them.

Qi Shaoyu didn't bother with their thoughts, directly waved his hand: "Let's begin."

The god-son selection consists of three stages total.

These three stages test perception, combat ability, character, and strategy.

The first stage examines perception.

As Qi Shaoyu moved, the three god statues behind him suddenly emitted strands of hazy light!

These hazy lights instantly enveloped all the candidates on the stone pillars, along with all their guards behind them.

Enveloped by the hazy light, everyone's consciousness was instantly transmitted to a special space.

Here, all candidates must bring their guards to comprehend the trial set by the three gods; the side that first escapes this space gains ten points, the second five points, the third three points, and the rest get one point each.

If time runs out and they still cannot break free from this space, they will be directly eliminated.

Among the over a hundred candidates participating in this selection, it is estimated that many will be eliminated in this round.

After Fang Xu and the others appeared in an unfamiliar world, everyone gathered around him.

"Brother Fang Xu, you earlier..."

"Now is not the time to talk about this; we'll discuss after the god-son selection ends." Fang Xu knew Changlong wanted to ask something.

But what I've experienced lately is truly bizarre, not something that can be explained in a few words.

For now, we should focus on clearing the first stage as quickly as possible.

Changlong nodded, then looked around.

Others also began to survey this space, seeking a way out.

"Split up to search; report any abnormalities immediately." Fang Xu said.

This stage being used by the Dark Divine Palace as the first round of the god-son selection suggests it won't be easy to break through.

Fortunately, my subordinates' guards are all the Ghost-Face Army, each bearing a Divine Servant Worm that is in tune with my will.

Frankly speaking, these Ghost-Face Army troops are, in a sense, his avatars.

A contingent of nearly five thousand immediately split up to probe this space.

After organizing, they discovered a total of five anomalous points.

After conducting on-site inspection, Fang Xu furrowed his brows.

"It seems to be the Five Elements." Gu Qiu said.

As a goddess of the barbarian tribe who cultivates the Witchcraft Path, she instantly noticed that the five relatively abnormal conditions in this space subtly hinted at the pattern of the Five Elements' operation.

"How to break it?" Fang Xu asked.

Gu Qiu shook his head: "Currently, it seems difficult to handle."

"These five positions are far apart, yet they maintain an extremely close connection, sustaining a certain balance."

"Since the Five Elements generate and overcome each other, destroying any one point first will break this balance, causing unknown danger."

"Moreover, I have found that this Five Elements formation seems to be the foundation sustaining this space; once the balance is broken, we cannot leave immediately..."

Gu Qiu's words trailed off, but everyone present understood her meaning.

Everyone who entered this space is in the form of a consciousness body.

If this space collapses, it is highly likely that they will all perish here.

When consciousness fades, the body becomes a walking corpse, no different from death.

"What if we break all five anomalous points at once?" Fang Xu said.

Gu Qiu hesitated: "If we break them simultaneously, that should be the key to leaving this place."

"But..."

"That will do." Fang Xu looked at Sha Tianrui beside him and said: "General Sha, have all the Ghost-Face Army split into five groups, each heading to one anomalous point."

Sha Tianrui nodded and immediately arranged the Ghost-Face Army according to Fang Xu's orders.

Fang Xu, meanwhile, checked the strength of the five anomalous points to ensure the Ghost-Face Army could destroy their targets.

After confirming everything was correct, he sank his consciousness into his body and directly issued orders to the Divine Servant Worm King. (End of chapter)