Chapter 414: Trial (End-of-Month Request for Moon Tickets)

The Ten Thousand Demons Realm.

Black Mountain.

Fang Xing lay sprawled within the expanded cave, silently contemplating the spatial laws.

"Above the material layer and the Grand Void layer, a third spatial structure… perhaps it could be named the 'Illusory Void Layer'?"

"There, space is wildly chaotic—forward might be backward, and one step could hurl you billions of miles away…"

A flash of light passed through his eyes, and the heavenly qi around him surged violently.

"According to Old White Ape's classification, my cultivation is at least at the ninth level of the Mortal Realm, right? I haven't really trained at all—just contemplated the laws, and suddenly my absorption efficiency of heavenly qi skyrocketed…"

Based on Fang Xing's perception, Old White Ape's cultivation was roughly around the seventh level of the Mortal Realm.

That toad was stronger, around the eighth level of the Mortal Realm.

No wonder Old White Ape wanted to find a powerful patron—it had labored for eighty years and still couldn't match the toad's eight.

This was the immense gap between talent and bloodline!

"Almost there… my understanding of spatial law is nearly breaking through the third stage—I'm about to condense a Spatial Law Core."

Fang Xing's expression was unreadable.

He had a premonition: right now, with a single thought, he could shatter the boundary of the third stage of Fire Law, draw in massive heavenly qi, and instantly ascend to the Soul Formation Realm.

'This is… a world especially favorable to those who deeply comprehend the laws.'

'But since I'm inside someone else's small world, I shouldn't stand out too much…'

'Moreover, the Soul Formation that forms by breaking through with different laws will surely differ… Compared to Fire Law, I'd rather condense my Soul Formation with Spatial Law…'

After all, the requirement to become a Law Lord is merely to fully comprehend one law—you must make a choice.

If you dabble haphazardly across multiple laws, you might end up like the Creator.

In the end, forced to bear offspring and sever your own law insights.

'I originally excelled only in Fire Law, but later realized Spatial Law suited me better…'

'As for Fate Law? I never wanted it—I merely stumbled into it while refining the Laplace Demon's essence with the Great Sun Tathagata Spell.'

'If I don't walk the path of the Creator—opposing laws aligning with the Dao—I must delve deeper into the law I've comprehended, eventually touching the Dao… or integrate multiple laws to forge a unique Dao. These are all teachings for achieving the Dao Lord Realm—far beyond my reach.'

At that moment, Fang Xing's expression changed abruptly—he sensed violent fluctuations in the heavenly qi.

"A battle? Is it from Old White Ape's side?"

"Has the Seven Kill Demon Palace's trial, held once every twenty years, begun?"

…

"Ribbit!"

Xiao Huang opened its mouth and spat out thick yellow mist, concealing both itself and Old White Ape within.

Old White Ape had been stabbed in the abdomen, its white fur drenched in blood.

"Extraterrestrial demons!"

It roared, trying to swing its iron rod, but lacked strength.

"Hah! Lucky day—we've got two big demons!"

The several Seven Kill Demon Palace disciples surrounding it laughed: "Extraterrestrial demons? Well… to you, aren't we just that?"

Demon beasts with Mortal Realm cultivation above the seventh level were called Big Demons—this was their target.

Actually, Big Demons weren't without advantages—first, their demonic bodies were extremely tough.

Some even possessed innate magical abilities.

Among them, those with the most superior bloodlines could awaken ancestral memories, gaining cultivation techniques and secret arts.

Such Big Demons were absolute nightmares for trial disciples.

And this time, these three Seven Kill Demon Palace disciples had just encountered one.

Within the yellowish mist, a golden toad phantom suddenly appeared.

It flicked its tongue, and three beams of light struck the three disciples instantly.

The three disciples screamed as colorful lumps erupted across their faces, necks, and hands.

"Bad! It's poison!"

"I have an antidote pill!"

They screamed and retreated—some tried to suppress the poison with their qi, others swallowed antidote pills.

But none worked!

As each lump burst open, the three lost their life force and fell from the sky as corpses.

Whoosh!

Before they hit the ground, a crimson tongue whipped out, skewering all three corpses and swallowing them into the giant toad's mouth.

"Hah! Xiao Huang, well done!"

Old White Ape stood atop the yellow toad's back, jumping with joy: "All those hundred-fruit brews I gave you weren't wasted…"

"Hmm, killing those three useless fools is indeed impressive."

"Mortal Realm eighth level, awakened Heavenly Toad bloodline… a decent pet beast."

Unfortunately, it was too early to celebrate.

A crisp voice rang out.

A red-clad woman floated midair, her waist slender as willow, a colorful ribbon drifting around her, smiling sweetly.

She gazed at the yellow toad, her face filled with satisfaction: "Go!"

She raised her hand, and a bronze bell materialized.

Ding ling ling!

As the clear bell chimed, Old White Ape screamed, its bones and sinews turning weak—it tumbled off the toad's back.

Instantly, despair filled its heart—it knew it had encountered an extraterrestrial demon beyond imagination!

"Go!"

The red-clad woman formed hand seals; a chain emerged from the bronze bell, binding the yellow toad's neck.

The bell hung from its neck, looking absurdly out of place.

But the next instant!

The yellow toad involuntarily activated its "Size Alteration" technique, shrinking to the size of a palm—yet the bell fit perfectly.

"Ribbit?!"

Xiao Huang was still stunned when a pale, jade-like hand seized it: "The white ape is yours."

"Yes, Sister Ning."

The two disciples behind grinned excitedly and advanced toward the white ape.

"Sigh… never thought Old Sun would die here…"

The ape's eyes shimmered with sorrow as it gazed greedily at the peach grove: "I'll never get to eat next year's peaches…"

Whoosh whoosh!

At that moment, a fierce wind howled.

A massive shadow dove down, its dragon claws snatching up the ape, then dodging several flying swords before soaring into the sky.

"Huh? It's you… Xiao Hei?"

Old White Ape, barely escaping death, cried out in delight.

"You can just call me Black Dragon. Call me Xiao Hei again, and I'll drop you."

Fang Xing said coldly.

"Sigh… grown up, and now you're not cute at all."

Old White Ape sighed, then added: "Xiao Huang… forget it. Since Xiao Huang's been captured, at least it has a chance to live. Each demon looks out for itself… fly faster!"

Fang Xing's soul force swept out—he saw the two black-robed disciples chasing behind.

They rode wind and thunder, their speed astonishing.

Of course… if he were to take even slightly seriously, he could easily shake them off—but that would draw too much attention.

He didn't know how many extraterrestrial demons were in the small world; attracting wave after wave of enemies was unwise. So Fang Xing deliberately held back.

The red-clad Sister Ning seemed to disdain them entirely, focused solely on subduing the Heavenly Toad bloodline demon beast: "That messy mixed-blood demon just flies faster. If you can't catch it, don't ever say you're under my tutelage!"

Hearing this, the two disciples pushed themselves harder.

One even activated a movement technique, his body vanishing into the gale, his speed surging!

"Huh?"

"Wind Law? Entry-level mastery?"

Fang Xing noticed this and was startled: "This truly is a high-tier world, comparable to Great Xia—warriors at the sixth or seventh level are already touching law energy…"

According to this world's ranking, the two disciples behind hadn't even reached Mortal Realm ninth level—their cultivation was roughly at seventh or eighth level.

Of course, Fang Xing always presented himself as Mortal Realm seventh level, so these two dared to pursue him.

"We've flown over thirty-six thousand li already…"

He spread his wings, gliding through the air for a long while, then spoke.

"Yes, we can't run too far—we might run into other extraterrestrial demons…"

Old White Ape said: "As long as we hold out for this month, we'll have another twenty years of peace."

'More like another twenty years in prison.'

Fang Xing silently rolled his eyes.

But for him, he had no intention of doing anything in this trial—just continue rigorous cultivation for another twenty years.

Even without attaining the Soul Formation realm, one can still continue to comprehend the Laws.

After all, twenty years in this world equate to barely ten days in the cultivation realm—he wasn't the least bit worried.

"Time to fight."

Fang Xing suddenly turned around.

"Hey hey… Black Dragon, what are you doing?"

The old white ape was startled.

"You can't keep running forever—it's easy to stumble into other dangers. Didn't you say that yourself?"

Fang Xing carved a graceful arc through the air, his tail lashing like a steel whip straight at the two pursuers behind him.

"Not running anymore?"

The two black-robed disciples beamed, drawing swords and blades; surging heavenly qi surged outward, carrying wind and thunder.

In the next instant!

BOOM!

Two figures were blasted backward, faces filled with disbelief: "Foundation Establishment ninth layer? Peak Great Demon? Sister Ning must've misjudged—this is a Peak Great Demon!"

"So what if you know? Die!"

Fang Xing roared to the sky, appearing utterly arrogant.

In truth, he was secretly activating the "Ten Thousand Hearts" secret art: 'Soul-searching them is simple—but doing it without their awareness, even leaving them with no sensation at all, is extremely difficult… The "Ten Thousand Hearts" contains a technique to extract spiritual fragments from an opponent's intense emotions, gathering incomplete information… Better than nothing.'

That's why he only unleashed Foundation Establishment ninth layer demonic power, showing no Law comprehension whatsoever—fighting like a beast, relying purely on instinct and claws.

"Roar! Roar!"

He slammed down a claw, heavy and powerful.

The opposing black-robed disciple wielded his sword with light, nimble movements, summoning the Wind Law to form an unknown blue flower.

The flower slowly unfolded and bloomed… each petal that fell drained away one layer of his force.

He was directly countering a ninth-layer technique with only eighth-layer Foundation Establishment!

This was the advantage of Law comprehension!

In that exchange, Fang Xing activated his secret art and caught faint spiritual fluctuations:

【Sister Ning's waist… is so slender…】

He cursed inwardly, yet knew such scattered thoughts were perfectly normal.

Life is full of constant, unceasing distractions.

SWISH!

Fang Xing's right claw tore through, blocking the other disciple's lightning-crackling long blade.

【Sister Ning will surely become a Core True Disciple… then we'll all rise with her.】

…

This harvest was somewhat interesting.

Fang Xing roared and lunged forward again.

Fragmented snippets and bits of information leaked out continuously during the battle.

【My technique's gotten stronger… Thunder Dao truly suits me better…】

【I secretly hid Sister Liu's incense pouch… it smells so good…】

【Outer Disciple, Inner Disciple, Core True Disciple… each step ascends to heaven…】

…

After dozens of clashes, no more information emerged.

This was the limit of this secret art.

Fang Xing immediately let out a "roar of rage," as if he'd just gained insight in battle, lunging forward with subtle nuances of "Beast Fist."

This wasn't even Law comprehension—just ordinary techniques.

Yet the precision of these moves became the final straw that tipped the scales.

Roar! Roar!

In the void, a shadow of a black tiger flickered briefly—the two disciples were instantly flung backward, blood trickling from nose and mouth: "No good… this Peak Great Demon's demonic power was crude before, but now his technique has broken through… Run! Get Sister Ning to deal with it!"

The two joined forces, forming a wind-thunder dash, fleeing desperately backward.

'Hm? Cultivators in this world seem more like martial artists—skilled in close combat… I haven't seen any who favor ranged attacks?'

Fang Xing judged silently and landed slowly.

WHOOSH!

A white shadow flashed— the old white ape, abandoned during the battle, rushed over: "Black Dragon… you're incredible! You scared off those two Celestial Demons… but Celestial Demons are cunning—kill one, two more come. You didn't finish them—they'll bring stronger ones to hunt us down!"

"No problem. We just need to hide."

Fang Xing's body flashed with black light, shrinking instantly to over two meters long.

"Huh? The Divine Art of Size Alteration?"

The old white ape blinked in surprise: "You know this too?"

"Learned it from Little Yellow."

Fang Xing shrugged: "What kind of demon would show all his cards when he's out in the wild?"

The old white ape froze, then his face turned as red as his buttocks: "You're right… sigh… I've lived eighty years, yet I'm less wise than you, who's only lived eighteen."

"Enough. Let's go—I dug some hidden underground dens earlier. Maybe we can hide there."

Fang Xing said.

"Huh? You've got this trick too?"

The white ape's eyes lit up, then shook his head: "Useless. My soul force can easily penetrate ten li underground. Celestial Demons would be even stronger. On open ground, without cover, they can scan hundreds of li effortlessly—after a few sweeps, we'd have nowhere to hide."

That was normal—this small world was for training disciples, not playing hide-and-seek.

There couldn't be glaring loopholes.

"You just don't know how to hide."

Fang Xing grinned, his dragon aura gone—his very presence vanished.

If one didn't see him with the eyes, and merely swept with soul force, he was indistinguishable from air.

The old white ape's eyes widened: "You know this too? Did you secretly awaken your ancestral memories?"

(End of Chapter)