Chapter 236 The First Trial

The moment Darren and other participants arrived at the spot, an elder's shadow suddenly materialized in front of them.

"Welcome to the Ancient Void Battlefield, young ones. The first trial is about to start," the shadow proclaimed loudly.

"Who..."

All the participants were astonished at the sight of the shadow. They could also sense it was stronger than the grand warriors they had met outside.

"You must be wondering who I am. I am the guardian of the Void Battlefield. Please, do not fear me. You have no reason to. The aura you feel is coming from my real body. I am just a spiritual intent and I cannot do any physical harm to you. You may call me Mr. Guardian," the shadow continued, noticing the alert look on the participants' faces.

"The test begins," the elder's shadow announced.

"Why did I lose my cultivation base?"

"What's going on with me? Why did my realm regress?"

Every participant's face turned panicked the second the guardian made his announcement. They could feel that their realm and cultivation base were regressing rapidly. Moments later, they had become ordinary people, and couldn't even recall the martial arts skills they had learnt.

"Calm down, young ones. The first test is called 'starting over'. Now, I shall introduce the rules and rewards to you. Listen attentively," the guardian said.

With a wave of his hand, a black stone wall fell from the sky and landed before all the participants.

Everyone looked up at this massive structure and observed that it was covered by a myriad of characters.

"These are all martial skills and formulas. Some of them are supernatural martial skills and some are about more powerful martial skills!" many exclaimed in delight, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"From now on, you have three years to master these martial skills. After that time, you need to fight each other. Only twenty-five of you can go through to the second test.

The participants who pass the first test will be rewarded," the guardian said.

As he waved his hand, many items materialized in mid-air. They were placed in the form of five-layer pyramid. The higher the level, the fewer the items were.

The crowd looked up and observed the floating objects.

"Isn't that a Talent-upgrading Elixir? Oh my gosh! That is really the Talent-upgrading Elixir. If a person consumes one pill, his talent will be promoted by one whole level."

"That's the supernatural martial skill. There are a dozen supernatural martial skill books!"

Those prizes they mentioned were at the fifth layer and drew their attention.

The Talent-upgrading Elixir was a rare pill, one that was heavily sought after in the real world. When Darren was in the Starry Tower back then, he had managed to find one Talent-upgrading Elixir which was much better than the one in front of him. That pill could increase one's talent by ten levels and he had chosen

one's talent. What's your talent degree now?" Boyce whispered to him.

Immersed in his own thoughts, Darren didn't hear what Boyce said.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Boyce nudged him.

"He's just a loser who had dumb luck with a strong physical body. I doubt whether his talent has reached the Earth Degree," Don ridiculed.

Facing Don's aggressive provocations, Darren was pissed off. Considering that the guardian said that fighting was not allowed, he forced himself to stay calm. Getting angry here would do nothing good for him.

"Level nine," Darren replied flatly, leaving Boyce stunned.

"Humph! You see? Turns out his talent is just at the ninth level of the Black Degree. He is just a loser. Boyce, you were wrong to think highly of this guy. You'll be in trouble," Don quipped.

"That's none of your business. Get the hell of here, or I will beat you up even if I am going to be disqualified," Boyce scolded angrily.

"You're really good. I will teach the two of you a lesson in the upcoming tournament. Just wait and see." After sneering spitefully at them, Don went towards the wall like other people did. They memorized the martial skill techniques and chose a secluded place to begin cultivating.

"Darren, don't lose heart. It's not easy to be at the ninth level of the Black Degree. You're such a strong cultivator. Even though you're not as talented as other participants, I believe you will surprise others with your other skills in the upcoming competition. Good luck!" Boyce tried to comfort Darren.

"Who told you my talent was at the Black Degree? My talent is at the ninth level of the Earth Degree," Darren explained nonchalantly.

"What... what did you say? Your, your talent is at the ninth level of the Earth Degree?" Boyce responded, flabbergasted. "You've gotta be kidding me. If your talent is really at that stage, you're supposed to have reached the middle stage of Wonder Realm by now!"