Chapter 411: Luck

"Brother Dong, long time no see."

"Brother Zhang, long time no see."

The Seventh Tier expert who entered from the Heavenly Yang Star Palace, upon seeing Dong Zhao, was surprised but still cupped his hands in greeting.

Dong Zhao, amidst his astonishment, carefully signaled for his group to retreat behind him, and he also cupped his hands and smiled, though his smile carried a hint of bitterness.

It was very clear: they were old acquaintances, and there was a history between them.

After the two finished their greetings, Zhang Lin, the Seventh Tier expert from the Heavenly Yang Star Palace, asked again, "May I ask, Brother Dong, did you see the Hall Master of our Heavenly Yang Star Palace's Yanzhou Branch, Kang Jie, when you arrived?"

"I have not!"

"Oh, that is strange. Why did I discover signs of battle and burning outside the Seven Kill Secret Realm star gate?" As soon as Zhang Lin, who was at the early Seventh Tier, said this, the elites of the Heavenly Yang Star Palace behind him all surged with star power.

The Chen Guo Dao Academy side, naturally unwilling to show weakness, saw the atmosphere become tense in an instant.

"I am also curious. Three disciples from our Chen Guo Jin Shan Dao Academy had been guarding outside this Seven Kill Secret Realm star gate, and for some reason, they have also gone missing. I would like to ask Brother Zhang if you have seen them?" Dong Zhao shouted.

"I have not!"

"Then this is truly strange!" Dong Zhao returned the words exactly as they were given, but Zhang Lin's aura had already locked onto Dong Zhao, and Dong Zhao was equally unyielding.

On the other side, outside the invisible spatial barrier, Ju Xuan of the Jin Zhu alien race stood with his arms crossed, looking like someone watching a show.

It would be best if these two sides fought first and bled each other dry; that would be ideal.

Zhang Lin glanced at the alien Ju Xuan watching from afar and suddenly smiled, "Long time no see. I wonder how much Brother Dong has improved? Another day, let us arrange a duel. I wonder if Brother Dong dares to accept?"

"A defeated opponent from years ago, why would I not dare!" Dong Zhao said proudly.

"Times have changed."

Zhang Lin waved his hand while chatting, and the elites of the Heavenly Yang Star Palace behind him immediately withdrew their aura, becoming amicable, "I came today for the Seven Kill Secret Realm; there is no need to let these extraterrestrial aliens laugh at us, Brother Dong, would you not agree?"

"That is exactly right!"

Dong Zhao laughed heartily, and the Chen Guo Dao Academy disciples behind him also breathed a sigh of relief.

In terms of numbers, the Heavenly Yang Star Palace still held a significant advantage.

The Chen Guo Dao Academy side had brought a total of over sixty people, while the Heavenly Yang Star Palace had over a hundred.

Not only did they have the numerical advantage, but the Heavenly Yang Star Palace had a Seventh Tier expert, and eight Sixth Tier experts, while the Chen Guo Dao Academy side only had four Sixth Tier experts.

If a fight were to break out, the defeat of the Chen Guo Dao Academy would be inevitable.

However, those who could come here were the elite of the elite from the Dao Academy, and their will to fight was extremely resolute.

Once a fight truly started, even if it meant the entire force was wiped out, they could still make this group from the Heavenly Yang Star Palace suffer heavy losses!

Zhang Lin, the Seventh Tier expert from the Heavenly Yang Star Palace, also chose to coexist peacefully with the Chen Guo Dao Academy after weighing various factors.

Especially since he saw Qi Qi Tian Sheng—that is to say, Xu Jin!

Intelligence on Qi Qi Tian Sheng had long since been placed on the desks of every Star Palace.

In this world, there are no walls that don't leak.

Xu Jin, in the guise of Qi Qi Tian Sheng, had acted so many times that he would inevitably attract the attention of all parties.

The Heavenly Yang Star Palace's assessment of Qi Qi Tian Sheng was: Fifth Tier cultivation, Sixth Tier mid-to-late stage combat power; when encountered, be extremely cautious!

"Eh, why aren't you fighting? Fight! I was just preparing to watch the show!" In the distance, Ju Xuan's disappointed voice rang out.

Zhang Lin coldly glanced at Ju Xuan, "When I was Fifth Tier, I slew Sixth Tier aliens; when I was Sixth Tier, I slew late Seventh Tier aliens!

Although I am only at the Fourth Layer of the Seventh Tier now, I might just be able to slay you!

And complete my record of challenging across tiers!"

Upon hearing this, Ju Xuan laughed loudly, "Good, I will wait. Inside the Seven Kill Secret Realm, there will surely be an opportunity for us to slaughter each other. I hope you, brat, won't be a coward then!"

"I will be waiting!" Zhang Lin was extremely confident.

Afterward, both sides gathered on their respective sides to wait in peace.

In the spatial barrier area in the distance, starlight fell from time to time.

Those who entered from the same star gate were all in the same spatial region.

There were no major conflicts.

Moreover, the star power within this Seven Kill Secret Realm was extremely dense.

It was one or two times denser than a Fourth Tier star power secret realm, making it a sacred place for cultivation.

Those who came here were all strong-willed, and one by one, they began to cultivate on the spot.

At the same time, Xu Jin finished his telepathic exchange with his teacher, Liu Qingzhu, and learned some of the past between the Academy Head Dong Zhao and Zhang Lin.

Academy Head Dong Zhao and Zhang Lin were both top-tier geniuses twenty years ago, and their ages were similar.

At that time, Dong Zhao's teacher was the former Grand Master Pei Gang; he was high-spirited and possessed high cultivation talent.

Several times when he encountered Zhang Lin, he had always suppressed him.

Hence the saying about him being a defeated opponent.

But afterward, their situations were worlds apart.

The former Grand Master Pei Gang died in battle, and Dong Zhao, the disciple of the Grand Master, immediately became a child without a mother. At that time, the position of the new Grand Master was undecided, and Dong Zhao, as the disciple of the former Grand Master, became a target for suppression by all sides.

Because legally speaking, Dong Zhao, as the disciple of the former Grand Master, was qualified to inherit the Grand Master's political legacy.

But Dong Zhao had only been cultivating for a short time back then, and his cultivation was quite low.

He was deliberately suppressed by all sides and wasted several years.

It wasn't until several years later, when Cheng Yuexiao took the position of Grand Master, that his situation improved slightly.

But the gap had already widened.

Zhang Lin, as a top-tier genius of the Heavenly Yang Star Palace, received focused cultivation from the Heavenly Yang Star Palace and soared all the way, his cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds.

Now, at the same age, Zhang Lin had already stepped onto the Seventh Tier Heaven-Ascending Path.

But Dong Zhao's cultivation was only barely at the Third Layer of the Sixth Tier.

When old friends met, their cultivation levels were already worlds apart.

Dong Zhao had all sorts of feelings in his heart.

Xu Jin listened and also felt inexplicable emotion; this was perhaps how fate toyed with people.

His teacher, Liu Qingzhu, also chatted a lot with Xu Jin, and finally, she began to tell Xu Jin about the precautions.

Among the strong experts of the Heavenly Yang Star Palace already seen, besides the Seventh Tier expert Zhang Lin, whom Xu Jin needed to be wary of, there was one more person Liu Qingzhu specifically pointed out, telling Xu Jin that he must be extremely careful if he encountered him.

The top-tier genius of the Heavenly Yang Star Palace, Sun Fujia.

He was the top-tier genius with the fastest cultivation speed in the history of the Heavenly Yang Star Palace.

Unless Xu Jin's cultivation speed was revealed, Sun Fujia was the fastest-cultivating supreme genius in the history of the current world.

Not only his cultivation speed, but Sun Fujia's combat power was also of the super-strong variety; starting from the Third Tier, he began challenging across major realms.

Although his cultivation was only at the Seventh Layer of the Sixth Tier now, he possessed Seventh Tier combat power.

Liu Qingzhu knew Xu Jin's true combat power.

Anyone Liu Qingzhu specifically pointed out had to be treated with caution.

Xu Jin specifically sized up Sun Fujia a few times and memorized the appearance and aura of this person.

If they were to encounter each other in the future, he must be extremely careful.

In the distance, starlight continued to fall.

Besides the multiple star gates appearing in the current world, multiple star gates had also appeared on the Star River Battlefield.

Therefore, the number of people participating in the competition for the Seven Kill Secret Realm would definitely not be small.

In any case, the silhouettes vaguely visible at this moment already exceeded a thousand people.

This could also be considered good news.

Even if the alien race had Eighth Tier experts, the human race in the current world held a significant numerical advantage.

Of course, it still depended on whether the human race in the current world could unite as one.

If they continued to fight amongst themselves, it would only let Ju Xuan laugh at them.

If based on the selection criteria, Ning Yuchan and Ji Hongli would also likely participate in the battle, but if they did, they would most likely be at the star gate on the Star River Battlefield side.

At this moment, one could only see silhouettes, but not clearly.

And it was impossible to contact them.

In any case, with Ning Yuchan and Ji Hongli's strength, it shouldn't be a big problem, so Xu Jin simply focused on cultivating.

The cultivation efficiency within this Seven Kill Secret Realm was quite good.

It was several percentage points higher than the cultivation efficiency in his Fifth Tier Star Gathering Array; it was indeed a good place for cultivation.

However, when Xu Jin had been cultivating for four days, with one and a half days left until the countdown for the opening of the Seven Kill Secret Realm, the light curtain in the sky suddenly changed. 【The number of people entering the Seven Kill Secret Realm has reached the upper limit of 2,100; the Seven Kill Secret Realm will begin ahead of schedule.】

【The first trial of the Seven Kill will begin in one hundred breaths.】

【Seven Kill First Trial: Fate】

【The Great Dao of Heaven's Secrets is obtained by those with fate. Before you are forty-nine Seven Kill Star Paths, with seven types of paths: Life, Death, Struggle, Injury, Illusion, Surprise, and Repel. You may choose one Seven Kill Star Path to step into, each relying on your own fate. Those who successfully cross the star path may enter the second trial of the Seven Kill.】

Lines of text emerged, making everyone present excited.

After waiting for several days, the Seven Kill Secret Realm had finally opened.

Everyone was both excited and astonished.

The sensation this Seven Kill Secret Realm gave them was actually similar to the Star Picking Tower.

Could it be that the Seven Kill Secret Realm also had an existence similar to a Star Spirit?

Or perhaps, was there someone manipulating it from behind?

Doubts were doubts, but immediately, people began to study the forty-nine Seven Kill Star Paths before them.

Each star path was filled with various colors of starlight, and no pattern could be found.

Moreover, Xu Jin discovered that in front of each different star gate region, forty-nine star paths emerged.

In other words, regardless of which side, the difficulty faced was the same.

If one were to use the trial-and-error method to attempt it, the star gates with more people would have the advantage.

The forty-nine star paths were fixed.

If the person who walked into this star path before was safe, then the next person to enter should also be safe.

Among the seven types of star paths—Life, Death, Struggle, Injury, Illusion, Surprise, and Repel—the Life star paths were definitely the best.

No one wanted to step into the Death star path.

The four types of star paths—Struggle, Injury, Illusion, and Surprise—judging by their names, might have twists and turns, and one would have to rely on their own ability to cross them.

The Repel star path, however, was hard to infer.

Those who came here were not stupid people.

For a time, everyone looked at each other, even observing the elites in other star gate regions to see how they would break through the star paths, so as to accumulate time for their own breakthrough.

For a time, it formed a strange sight.

The Seven Kill Secret Realm had opened, but not a single person had stepped in yet.

Just as everyone was sizing each other up, starlight emerged in the sky again.

【The first trial of the Seven Kill has opened and will close in two hundred breaths. After two hundred breaths, those who have not stepped into a Seven Kill Star Path will be eliminated.】

As soon as this starlight appeared, everyone became anxious in an instant.

Immediately, people began to attempt it.

By comparison, the hundred-plus people from the Eight Desolations alien race, because they had Eighth Tier experts and unified command, were faster.

Very quickly, the first batch of thirty Eight Desolations aliens stepped onto the Seven Kill Star Paths.

The moment they stepped in, the character for "Life" appeared, and some aliens disappeared at the end of the star path in an instant.

The character for "Death" also appeared.

The moment the character for "Death" appeared, it transformed into incomparably massive starlight, strangling toward the intruder.

In an instant, the Fifth Tier elite of the alien race who stepped into the Death path was directly shredded into a puddle of flesh!

This scene made everyone tremble in an instant!

It was uncontrollable!

This kind of death was completely uncontrollable!

Those who stepped into the Illusion star path wandered around like headless flies.

The Repel path was also tested.

Those who stepped into the Repel star path were directly kicked out by an inexplicable great power, disappearing from the Seven Kill Secret Realm in an instant, their life or death unknown!

But combined with the situation of the Death star path, it was highly likely they were alive; nine times out of ten, they were just directly sent out of the Seven Kill Secret Realm and eliminated.

The alien elites had paved a way for everyone, but it only had reference value.

Because the star paths in each star gate region were different.

At this very moment, the countdown in the sky had reached one hundred and seventy breaths.

"Brother Dong, let our two sides each choose a side."

"We take the left, you take the right, how about that?"

"Agreed!"

Following the agreement between Dong Zhao and Zhang Lin.

Both sides began to arrange for ten people each to step into the star gates.

On the other side, the second wave of people from Ju Xuan's side also began to step into the star gates.

But what was different was that when the first wave of people stepped in, the star gate shown was a Life gate, but when the second wave stepped in, it had turned into a Death gate.

In an instant, flesh and blood were shredded all over the ground, and two died miserably on the spot.

On this side, someone who was just about to step into a star path that the previous person had tested as a Life gate suddenly stopped, cold sweat streaming down!

This star path was constantly changing.

Every time someone entered, it would change once.

In just this short while, with only two waves of people having entered, the elimination rate on the alien side had already reached as high as thirty percent.

On the Chen Guo side, the first wave of ten people entered, and actually, two stepped into the Death gate and died miserably on the spot, making everyone's complexion look incomparably ugly!

On the Heavenly Yang Star Palace side, two also died miserably, and three were eliminated.

For a time, the speed of stepping into the star paths slowed down abruptly, but the countdown in the sky was constantly decreasing.

Xu Jin took a deep breath, chose a star path, and slowly stepped forward, sensing with his Mingji Star Pattern for a long time, but gained nothing.

Just as he was about to step in, Xu Jin's heart suddenly stirred.

Why not try that star technique?

The next instant, the star technique "Heaven-Man Induction," newly obtained from deducing the Mingji Star Pattern, was instantly activated by Xu Jin!

The moment the star technique Heaven-Man Induction was activated, the feeling the twenty-four Seven Kill Star Paths before Xu Jin gave him instantly became different!

Among them, three star paths gave Xu Jin an extremely dangerous feeling.

When he slowly stepped past the front of these three star paths, Xu Jin actually had a feeling of blades and axes falling upon him.

The other star paths gave Xu Jin different feelings.

But none were as dangerous as these three.

Xu Jin judged that these three star paths were highly likely to be Death star paths.

Xu Jin's heart stirred, and he quickly explained the situation to Academy Head Dong Zhao via telepathy, then stepped back.

While Academy Head Dong Zhao showed surprise, he quickly arranged and commanded.

Immediately, twenty-one people, under Dong Zhao's command, stepped into the star paths before them; only the three star paths Xu Jin specifically pointed out had no one arranged to step into them.

The next instant, starlight flickered.

Some stepped into Life paths, some into Illusion, some into Surprise, and some were directly eliminated and sent out of the Seven Kill Secret Realm by Repel.

But no one stepped into the Death star gate.

This made Xu Jin pleasantly surprised.

This newly obtained star technique, Heaven-Man Induction, was too overpowered.

It actually still had some effect!

Moreover, Xu Jin memorized all the sensations those star paths gave him while activating Heaven-Man Induction.

Among them, the four star paths of Illusion, Surprise, Injury, and Struggle felt very blurry.

But the Repel path was very clear.

The next instant, Xu Jin stepped forward again; this time, Xu Jin not only excluded the Death star paths but also excluded the Repel star paths!

When he informed Dong Zhao of the result, Dong Zhao arranged for fifteen more people to step in.

Afterward, Xu Jin remained still, only activating Heaven-Man Induction to sense carefully, and then had Dong Zhao send in another wave of people; Xu Jin even directly chose a Life star path for Dong Zhao.

Watching Dong Zhao pass the trial directly, Xu Jin activated Heaven-Man Induction again; among the Chen Guo Dao Academy disciples, currently only Xu Jin and Liu Qingzhu had not entered.

The next instant, after Xu Jin activated Heaven-Man Induction, he pointed out a direction to Liu Qingzhu via telepathy, and then he and Liu Qingzhu stepped into a star path separately.

Two large "Life" characters emerged.

Xu Jin and Liu Qingzhu disappeared directly at the end of the star path!

Zhang Lin and the group from the Heavenly Yang Star Palace who had not yet stepped into the Seven Kill Star Paths were stunned!

And Ju Xuan, who was observing from the other side, was also incomparably astonished.

This luck?

It was just too good!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 412 =====