Chapter 790: Ends of the Earth, the Young King from the North (Part 1)

The three Kings released a slight amount of their aura, and the Fifth and Sixth Rank contestants immediately fell silent as cicadas in winter, hurriedly standing in their respective positions and ceasing all talk.

As Pseudo-Kings, due to their Jade Bone, their resistance to aura pressure was significantly stronger, so they were not affected much.

However, no one would dare offend the chief and deputy examiners; that would be like an old man eating arsenic—tired of living.

"Everyone's time is precious, so I will skip the pleasantries. I am now announcing the recipients of the ten Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots for this session. If there are any objections, I will answer them on the spot."

Qingmu King Luo Yuanjun took out a list, which contained not only the names of each contestant but also the points they had earned this time.

"The following ranking is in no particular order. The recipients of the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots are Li Zhangsheng, Ning Bizhen, Xiang Yutian, Wu Zetao, Zhao Rui, Shen Jian, Chen Chu, Xiang Xiong, Sun Min, and Dou Yuanhua!"

Although it was stated on the surface that the ranking was in no particular order, in reality, looking at the list, it looked exactly like a ranking by points.

Among these ten spots, the others go without saying, but Shen Jian is a Senior Pseudo-King from a medium-sized country.

Sun Min, like Zhao Rui, is only a Sixth Rank contestant. If nothing unexpected happened, either her strength far exceeds that of an ordinary Sixth Rank, enough to rival a Pseudo-King, or her luck was simply good enough.

No matter how one looks at it, the latter probability is higher; it is very likely that, like Ning Bizhen, she found several Heavenly Dao Scrolls.

As for Dou Yuanhua, Chen Chu, and Xiang Xiong, they are all Pseudo-Kings, and their strength is not much different, so it is not a surprise that they obtained Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots.

After Qingmu King Luo Yuanjun's announcement, the contestants who obtained the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots could be said to be ecstatic, while the remaining eliminated contestants revealed expressions of disappointment one after another.

Upon hearing his name, Wu Zetao let out a light sigh of relief; even though he had obtained enough points to lock in a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spot, he could not truly rest easy until the dust had settled.

Compared to Wu Zetao's sense of relief, Zhao Rui could be said to be exceptionally excited, and he felt heartfelt admiration for his own foresight; if he hadn't taken the initiative to follow Li Zhangsheng, he asked himself, he would never have obtained a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spot and might even have lost his life.

Besides this, this also refreshed the lower limit of the Kailing Empire.

Previously, the Kailing Empire could obtain at least three Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots in past sessions, but now, they only managed to get two this time.

At the same time, this was also the first time the Kailing Empire had yielded the honor of being the country with the most Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots, having been overtaken by the Langya Kingdom with three spots.

"To ensure fairness and justice, I will now release the Demon Hearts and Heavenly Dao Scrolls harvested by these ten contestants; you may inspect them."

To ensure fairness, Qingmu King Luo Yuanjun exchanged words with the other two Kings, then took out the spoils of these ten contestants and piled them onto the high platform.

Most contestants still harbored a glimmer of hope and hurriedly released their Mental Power, carefully scanning the Demon Hearts and Heavenly Dao Scrolls, analyzing the aura remaining on them, and quickly calculating the points they had obtained.

Unfortunately, they were ultimately disappointed; no matter how they inspected them, they could not find a single error or omission, and in the end, they could only give up.

"Since no one has anything to say, their Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots remain unchanged."

Qingmu King Luo Yuanjun paused slightly, then fixed his gaze on Li Zhangsheng and continued: "Additionally, contestant Li Zhangsheng from Langya Kingdom killed and seized the heart of a Demon Commander. After discussion among the three of us, given that contestant Li Zhangsheng has already obtained a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spot, we have decided to gift him a Treasure King Token!"

After finishing, a token appeared in Qingmu King Luo Yuanjun's hand.

The token was only the size of a palm; on the front were the three large characters "Treasure King Token," revealing an aura, and on the back was a glowing pavilion.

Speaking of the Treasure King Token, one must mention the Treasure King, a Double-Character King who had fallen hundreds of years ago.

This was a universally acknowledged Double-Character King who collected countless treasures. At the time, to promote his name, the Treasure King introduced the Treasure King Token; as long as one activates the Treasure King Token, one can enter the treasure pavilion established by this Double-Character King in a certain sub-plane and choose one treasure at will.

Of course, the Treasure King Token also has limitations; only those below the rank of King can activate it, and it is ineffective for Kings and above.

This is also the reason why, even though the Treasure King has been dead for hundreds of years, the treasure pavilion still exists, and even after hundreds of years, no one knows the location of the treasure pavilion.

However, Treasure King Tokens were already rare, and now that hundreds of years have passed, the number in existence is exceptionally scarce.

The reason for gifting the Treasure King Token to Li Zhangsheng is, firstly, that Li Zhangsheng's killing of a Demon Commander was truly too shocking, and they also felt a sense of reflected glory; after all, it happened while they were the chief examiners, and perhaps their names might have the honor of appearing in the History Book.

Besides this, the Treasure King Token is of no use to them; it was originally meant to be given to outstanding younger generations, so gifting it to Li Zhangsheng now is nothing to feel pained about.

Even so, to the vast majority of contestants present, the Treasure King Token is still an extremely precious existence; after all, the treasures that could be placed in the treasure pavilion by a Double-Character King are all rare and precious, and it is rumored that the treasures collected in the treasure pavilion are at least Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure Grade, and it is even rumored that someone once obtained a fragmented World Wonder from it.

Under the envious gazes of the crowd, Li Zhangsheng went up to the platform to receive the Treasure King Token and a milky-white bead; the other nine people also received an identical bead.

According to Qingmu King Luo Yuanjun's explanation, as long as one activates this bead, one can be teleported to the Ends of the Earth.

Judging from the content recorded in books, the Ends of the Earth is a very special place, and it is also the location closest to the Heavenly Dao; the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm is right there.

Without the permission of the Heavenly Dao, even Emperors and Sovereigns cannot forcibly enter, and would instead be struck by lightning.

After awarding the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spots, Qingmu King Luo Yuanjun continued: "After you are teleported to the Ends of the Earth, remember not to leave the range of the Ends of the Earth, otherwise, you will bear the consequences yourself. Alright, you may activate them now; I wish you all the best in going further in the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm!"

Without hesitation, Xiang Yutian was the first to activate the bead; this was his fourth time entering the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, and it could be described as being completely familiar with the road.

Xiang Yutian's figure suddenly disappeared; Li Zhangsheng observed carefully, but there was no trace to be found, giving the impression that he had vanished into thin air.

The next moment, Li Zhangsheng and the other eight contestants activated their beads simultaneously, and their figures also disappeared.

In an instant, Li Zhangsheng entered a passage flowing with light and color, traveling through it rapidly; after a few breaths, light appeared ahead.

Amidst a dizzying spin, the surrounding scene changed completely, and Li Zhangsheng and the other contestants appeared on a small island.

The scenery of the island was quite beautiful, but there was nothing particularly outstanding about it. However, outside the island, the waves were surging, and in the distance was a vast expanse of darkness; large amounts of seawater poured backward, but as soon as it touched this darkness, it seemed to fall into it and disappeared without a trace.

The world of Spirit Beasts is round and flat; its boundaries can be said to be a piece of chaos, with countless dangers lurking in the dark. Without becoming a King, one cannot perform Plane Shuttle at all, because the space cracks alone would be enough for you to suffer, not to mention other things.

Even Kings must be sufficiently cautious when performing Plane Shuttle; otherwise, if one is not careful and encounters a Space Storm, it will most likely lead to death.

Besides the Heavenly Pride of the Southern Region, there were two other groups of Heavenly Pride from other directions who arrived one step ahead of them.

Heavenly Pride from different directions would be teleported to designated areas; for example, the area where the Southern Region Heavenly Pride were teleported to was located in the south of the Ends of the Earth.

From the designated areas, they were the Heavenly Pride from the East and the Heavenly Pride from the Northwest; the number of people was the same as the Southern Region Heavenly Pride. Most regions had ten spots, but there were also a few regions with more people, totaling 108 people.

The three parties were all sizing each other up, but just sizing each other up was of no use; after all, most were Pseudo-Kings on the surface, and before taking action, no one could sense the other's approximate strength, and could only judge through some information at most.

However, most people likely did not have information on the others.

The world of Spirit Beasts is very large, with a total of nine regions, each region composed of dozens to hundreds of countries, so the vastness of the area can be imagined.

During the process of sizing each other up, three more groups of people appeared in the other three areas, one of which had a group size reaching 15 people.

Among them, among the ten Heavenly Pride from the Southwest, there actually appeared a Fifth Rank; it is unknown whether his strength far exceeds that of an ordinary Fifth Rank or if his luck was simply too heaven-defying.

According to Li Zhangsheng's estimation, to obtain a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spot, one needs at least 60,000 points, equivalent to six Great Demon Hearts or six Heavenly Dao Scrolls, and even if one has 60,000 points, it does not necessarily mean one can obtain a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spot; it also depends on the spoils of the competitors.

Of course, if one obtains 100,000 points, even in the most fiercely competitive region, it is enough to lock in a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm spot.

Li Zhangsheng only glanced at the other person and did not continue to pay attention; the reason is simple: no matter how strong the other person is, they are ultimately limited to being a Fifth-tier Beastmaster, and at most, they could only contend with a New Pseudo-King, making it impossible for them to be his opponent.

His focus was mainly concentrated on several contestants suspected to be Top-tier Pseudo-Kings.

Li Zhangsheng could only judge through their aura; as for whether there were any omissions, that is hard to say, but with his strength, unless several Top-tier Pseudo-Kings joined forces, they would truly not be his match in a one-on-one.

Unfortunately, the rules of the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm dictate that it can only be a one-on-one.

Not long after, the final three groups of Heavenly Prides were also teleported over, and their numbers all exceeded ten people.

Yet the moment they appeared, almost everyone's gaze focused in unison on the Northern Region, because there was a Heavenly Pride there whose aura clearly exceeded the scope of a Pseudo-King.

A King!

Everyone present felt a shiver in their hearts, because for them, this was clearly not a good thing.

(End of this chapter)