Chapter 209 Tian Ji, A Relic of Times Past

Chapter 209 Tian Ji, A Relic of Times Past

Tian Ji, A Relic of Times Past

"The second trial is complete. Losers can go out and explore the forest outside the palace!"

Regardless of how many students started to complain about Ling San's sudden emergence, the ghostly emperor's voice sounded once more. And like clockwork, he sent a gust of wind that picked up and sent ten students flying out of the throne room and wherever the forest he was talking about was.

However, unlike the last time, when the ghostly emperor would project a rune for all of the remaining students to learn, the third round was different.

"All the remaining children, please walk toward the white door. The third and final trial will take place on the other side." The ghostly emperor spoke. However, this time, deep in his voice, if one was paying attention, one could hear a deep exhaustion. Sadly, none of the students were that observant and missed it.

Following his words, a few meters away from the imperial throne at the center of the throne room, a flash of bright light appeared. It didn't last, though, as before long, the light soon took form and turned into a large, three-meter by three-meter door.

The only weird part was that no matter how hard the students looked through the door, they couldn't see what was on the other side. Most likely, they would only be able to find out if they walked through it.

Without any other options, all of the students weighed their options. This didn't take long, though.

They had already wasted so much time in this secret realm, following the orders of this ghostly apparition. How could they give up at the last mile?

Unanimously, every student stood up, choosing to comply with the ghostly emperor's words. Xue Bai, Ji Ruxi, and Lin Fu took the lead in the small group of ten, standing at the front of the pack.

Then, with high hopes, they stepped into the next area, waiting for the final trial.

—

Crossing the white door gave the students a weird feeling, one similar to going through a teleportation formation, yet also like they were walking through a waterfall at the same time. It was odd, but once they stepped through it, the foreign feeling left their minds as the new scenery they found themselves in occupied it instead.

In front of everyone now were five equally large martial fields, each about the size of a soccer field.

But like the previous teleportation, the martial fields were odd to look at. At this point, the group of students was teleported around 100 meters away from the martial fields. At such a close distance, it wouldn't take more than a few large strides for the students to reach it.

It was only when they got closer to the martial fields that they realized something was up.

The closer they got, the larger the martial fields got. Now, once the group reached the edge of the fields, they ballooned from a standard soccer field-sized one to three times the size of a soccer field, almost 350 meters in length and wide.

Such a size was rather big for a fight between Qi Sea realm cultivators, but everyone still remaining had some brain cells and stayed quiet. The ghostly emperor was a powerhouse with vast intelligence. Obviously, this was planned and not a mistake. After all, this was where he would select a successor. Messing up such a place would destroy his lineage, so how could he do that?

Sure enough, soon, the ghostly emperor started to speak and explain the next trial. Surprisingly, though, rather than being a disembodied voice, the ghostly emperor appeared in a physical form just a few dozen meters above where the martial fields were.

Still wearing his imperial robes, the ghostly emperor exuded an imperial aura that made all the students in attendance want to kneel down and worship.

However, everyone still in the secret realm was a top-tier genius in their own right. They wouldn't kneel to just anybody. So they forcibly resisted the feeling and stood their ground, looking up at the ghostly apparition above them.

Nonchalant, as if he weren't pressuring everybody here, the ghostly emperor survived his audience before starting a speech: "While I am a formation master at heart and love the art, I do know that this world is ultimately one where power rules over all. So the first two trials were only supposed to separate the wheat from the chaff and ensure that only formation masters made it to this trial."

"However, even if I must acquiesce on that part, I will not accept another. My name is Tian Ji! The fiftieth emperor of the Kan Empire! A world-renowned battle formation master and anyone who dares to eye my inheritance must at least be such a person!" Pride, anger, and even a bit of reluctance shot out from the incorporeal body of Tian Ji as he proclaimed his identity and occupation.

Yet, of all the things that Tian Ji said, nothing was as surprising as the title he gave himself. The Kan Empire was one of the eight empires of the Northern Empire. Of the eight trigrams, as the Gen Empire represented mountain, or how the Kun Empire did earth, the Kan Empire did water.

The Kan Empire, though, wasn't like the Kun or Gen Empires. It was an extremely high-ranking empire. In fact, it was in the top three, being just barely ranked under the second-placed Zhen Empire.

As for the first-ranking Qian Empire, that place was in its own league. Comparing the other empires to it would be like comparing fireflies to the moonlight.

But even the fact that Tian Ji was an emperor of the Kan Empire wasn't as surprising as the few words just before that.

The fiftieth emperor!

Those were the words that grabbed everyone's attention and held onto them firmly.

On the Baishen Plane, dates were organized simply. A year has 12 months, with 30 days in each month. Years would also continue to stack up, all the way until 999, where, after one thousand years, it would reset.

Xue Bai knew all of this, and he also knew what calendar year they were in at this point.

76,092 P.I.E., or Post-Immemorial Era

The current Baishen Plane was in an odd era. Right now, it is extremely hard to advance past the Spirit Transformation realm. In order to advance past that realm and continue onto the late stages of the Xiantian Great Realm, one needed Immortal Qi, a higher-level strand of Spiritual Qi only found in higher planes.

The only way to get this Immortal Qi would be at the turn of the millennia, but that wasn't for a while. So until then, no more late-stage Xiantian Great Realm experts would be born.

As the strongest sub-continent in the Baishen Plane, in order to be qualified to be an emperor, as long as there weren't any special circumstances like in Feng Fei's situation, one needed to at least be in the Spirit Awakening realm. This meant that, at the minimum, an emperor would have a lifespan of over one thousand years. nOve-1B.1n

Coupled with the fact that the Kan Empire was currently under its 103rd emperor, the age of Tian Ji could be seen at a glance. He was a fossil!

Becoming the successor of a monstrous powerhouse was the lifelong wish of any cultivator, even more so for a cultivator who lived so long ago.

Because of this, once Tian Ji revealed his identity, everyone still in the trial had wide ears, not wanting to miss a single syllable of his next speech.

Tian Ji was aware of the sudden atmosphere change following his words, but he didn't care much and continued his own speech.

"While this emperor doesn't know just exactly how much time has passed since his demise, I do know a lot has, so you all might not know of my profession, so I will take a second to explain it to you all."

"Battle Formation Masters are experts who use formations not as defense tools, or even auxiliary tools, but rather as weapons! Using our own talent and skill, we create formations in combat to enhance not only our own strength but even that of our allies. It was why, during my lifetime, I brought the Kan Empire to the greatest height possible, the leader of the eight empires!"

Not bothering to explain the groundbreaking news he subtly let out, the ghostly emperor swept his hand from behind his back out to his side, raising his shoulder level. Then, from out of nowhere, a four-foot-long sword came into his hands.

The sword was almost entirely black, apart from a few dozen white veins that started at the hilt and ascended all the way toward the tip of the blade like a human's nervous system.

Xue Bai and Ling San were calm once Tian Ji pulled out the sword, but everyone else, everyone who knew the history of the Northern Continent, was stunned into silence at the sight of the sword.

"The Profound Pale Sword Brush!" Ji Ruxi shouted out in astonishment and shock. Lin Fu and the other students were no different, as they all looked at the brush with one part greed and two parts reverence.

Seeing their gazes, Tian Ji didn't hide anything and continued with his words.

"You all are right. This is indeed the Profound Pale Sword Brush, but with how much time has passed since my death, I assume that the true abilities of my weapon have been distilled over the years, so I'll give a curt explanation."

"This is my natal weapon, the Profound Pale Sword Brush, a cultivation tool that not only allowed me to use my sword but also my formation skills in battle. It effectively combines the uses of an engraving brush and a sword, making it the perfect weapon for me."

Done explaining, Tian Ji waved the Profound Pale Sword Brush in his hands, showing a spectacular scene.

The white veins on the brush glowed for a moment before separating the once-whole blade into nearly one hundred hair-thin strands of metal. It went from a sword capable of sundering mountains to a brush that any scholar would use in their day-to-day life. The only difference was that this brush was a little bit too big to write with.

Giving the Profund Pale Sword Brush another wave, the few hundred metal bristles each started to move like they had a mind of their own.

A few seconds later, ten runes formed.

"In the final trial, using only your formations, defeat the opponent I chose for you!"

The ten runes created by the Profound Pale Sword Brush flew toward the chests of each student, engulfing them in a thin shield of light that pulled them toward a random martial field.

The final trial had begun.

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