Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Duan Ling Tian was not even aware of the commotion that was caused by Ling Jue Yun earlier. He was fully immersed in comprehending the law of time after he had extended his Divine Consciousness to protect himself.
At this moment, including Duan Ling Tian, there were more than 40 people who were comprehending the law of time. They could be considered as the strongest participants among those who had entered the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm.
The others who were not in the Celestial Lord Temple were either dead or wandering around and killing each other while they waited for the exit of the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm to open. Before the exit opened, they could continue to kill to obtain points.
…
Meanwhile, a figure was hovering above molten lava at the foot of an erupting volcano.
He muttered to himself, “I wonder how Brother Duan and Jia Chao are doing…”
The handsome young man held a seven-foot-long spear in his hands, and he looked rather exhausted. His robes were tattered; it was clear that he had just won a battle.
If Duan Ling Tian were here, he would quickly recognize the handsome young man as Huang Jia Long. He was a good friend of Duan Ling Tian whom Duan Ling Tian met in the central area after leaving the borderlands.
Huang Jia Long smiled as he looked at his Accumulative Points Jade that contained 11 points. “I finally accumulated more than ten points…”
Although Huang Jia Long had accumulated more than ten points, he was not brought to the Celestial Lord Temple. This was because it was too late by the time he accumulated the necessary points.
Apart from Huang Jia Long, there were many participants who accumulated the necessary points too late and were not brought to the Celestial Lord Temple as well.
At this moment, the participants outside the Celestial Lord Temple continued killing, unaware that a group of people had a fortuitous encounter in a place called the Celestial Lord Temple. However, not everyone who was in the Celestial Lord Temple chose to undergo the trials. Instead, they chose to stay in a safe room since they did not think they were strong enough to survive the trials. Moreover, some of them only managed to enter the Celestial Lord Temple because they had help from others. Huang Jia Chao who had Duan Ling Tian’s help to obtain 10 points was an example of this. Such an act was considered cheating.
…
Meanwhile, Huang Jia Chao was cultivating in a safe room in the Celestial Lord Temple. He sighed in relief as he thought to himself, ‘I wonder how Brother Duan is doing… He must have left his room and ventured into the Celestial Lord Temple. It’d be fairly easy for him to survive with his strength.’
Unbeknownst to him, Duan Ling Tian did not only survive, but he was faring the best out of everyone who had chosen to venture into the Celestial Lord Temple.
…
In the center of the Scaling Cloud Lake where the portal to the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm was located.
“Yong’er!” A plaintive cry rang in the air, drawing a few people’s attention.
At this moment, the majority of people present on the scene had already grown numb to the mournful cries that would ring in the air from time to time. After all, many of the participants from various forces were dying every day in the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm.
Hu Lin Yi, the Emperor of the Supporting Fall Nation, would periodically scan through the names on the scoreboard to look for the name of his son, Hu Jin Yong. At this moment, Hu Jing Yong’s name had disappeared from the scoreboard. This meant that his son must have perished in the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. He was still mourning the loss of his brightest son when an exclamation rang in the air.
“There’s a change at the top of the scoreboard!”
Everyone, including Hu Lin Yi, instinctively turned to look at the scoreboard.
“Ling Jue Yun?” Hu Lin Yi’s heart skipped a beat as he saw Ling Jue Yun’s name had risen to the top, replacing Murong Xiao Xiao. His eyes moved below Ling Jue Yun’s name and saw Duan Ling Tian had dropped from second to third place. His expression turned unsightly upon seeing this. Not only did he lose his son, but Duan Ling Tian had even dropped to third place. He was about to look away when Duan Ling Tian’s name suddenly rose to second place again, kicking Murong Xiao Xiao down to third place.
Upon seeing this, the expressions of the two elders from the Murong Clan soured. “How’s this possible?!”
Everyone broke out in an uproar when the two dark horses occupied the top two places on the scoreboard.
“The top three rankings didn’t change for quite a long time. Who knew a drastic change would happen at this hour? Murong Xiao Xiao dropped from first place to third place just like that!”
“Ling Jue Yun and Duan Ling Tian are sectless cultivators from the Thousand Nation Territory. Since when did they have such talented sectless cultivators there?”
“These two sectless cultivators are truly extraordinary. They’ve achieved more than any sectless cultivators had achieved in the past.”
“That’s right, two sectless cultivators occupying the top two places are unprecedented in the history of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm!”
….
Half a month passed in just a blink of an eye.
The void above the center of Scaling Cloud Lake rippled before a gateway appeared.
Upon seeing this, many people who were waiting began to perk up.
“They’ll be coming out any moment now!”
“The gateway to the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm has appeared!”
“Seems like there are only 30% of participants left now… How tragic!”
Soon after, many people began to discuss the deaths of Sima Chun, Dongfang Jin Lun, Li Yuan, and Yun Zhan. Their deaths were the most shocking ones among all the participants who perished in the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. Sima Chun and Dongfang Jin Lun were the respective geniuses of their grade-seven clans. Li Yuan was also the first genius to appear in his grade-eight sect. Finally, Yun Zhan was an elder from a grade-eight sect who had deliberately suppressed his cultivation base so he could enter the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. Since four of them had comprehended two profundities from a law, there was no doubt that they were rather powerful. In fact, it should not be difficult for them to rank in the top ten with their strength. Alas, not only did they not rank in the top ten, but they were dead.
“A total of four people who had comprehended two profundities from a law had died in the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm this time. This is unprecedented!”
“Sima Chun, Dongfang Jin Lun, Li Yuan, Yun Zhan… They were some of the most famous peak Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestials in the regions under the Profound Nether Mansion’s control. No one expected them to die in the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm.”
“Who could’ve killed them? Ling Jue Yun? Duan Ling Tian? Murong Xiao Xiao? Or was it the collective force of a few people?”
“Who knows? Duan Ling Tian is only a few points away from Ling Jue Yun whereas Murong Xiao Xiao is short of roughly a dozen points. The point gaps are too small…”
“The point gaps after the fourth rank are very small as well. It’s really difficult to tell who killed Sima Chun and the others.”
“Perhaps, they were killed by a group of people. Or they could have died trying to obtain treasures or fortuitous encounters, and their points were given to those who were fortunate enough to be in the vicinity.”
“That’s possible as well…”
At this moment…
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
One by one, figures began to appear in the gateway.
Those with stronger cultivation bases could feel the powerful force sending people to the gateway.
The group of people who just appeared looked around in confusion, clearly disoriented. In fact, it seemed as though they had lost their memories and did not know how they left the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. This group of people was precisely the people who had entered the Celestial Lord Temple.
“Where am I?”
“How did I end up here? Wasn’t I in the middle of a snow mountain?”
“What’s going on? Why was I sent out? I feel like I’ve forgotten something…”
“What’s going on?”
Meanwhile, Duan Ling Tian who was looking around saw a figure he was familiar with in the midst of these people. “Jia Chao?”