“Dong.”
The Southern Heavenly Bell, a branch and avatar of the Eastern Emperor Bell, was struck heavily. The bell tolls resounded across the sky above the Demon Realm’s royal capital, their echoes rich and carrying exceptional penetration.
The demons coming and going throughout the royal capital all halted their steps, looking in the direction of the Eastern Emperor Palace with complex expressions.
Some were brimming with fighting spirit and full of vigor; some put on a facade of calm yet could not conceal their slightly trembling bodies; others wore haughty, fiercely provocative gazes.
Inside the Monarch Heaven Tower, Jiang Xu exhaled a breath of turbid air, bringing her half-month period of cultivation to a close. She stood up, looked toward the Eastern Emperor Palace, and her gaze wrote of a determination to win.
The Eastern Emperor Palace. The Young Venerable. The selection had begun!
Stepping out of the Monarch Heaven Tower and following the flow of demons, Jiang Xu walked up to the gates of the Eastern Emperor Palace. She took her station among the crowd of demons gathered before the palace gates, quietly waiting for the selection to begin.
“Rumble.” The sound was deep and heavy.
The gates of the Eastern Emperor Palace slowly swung open from within, and a squad of guards clad in battle armor marched out.
“The Black-Armored Guards!”
“They actually dispatched them?”
Beside Jiang Xu, a demon who knew the background of the guards whispered in astonishment.
From their murmurs, Jiang Xu learned the origin of the Black-Armored Guards.
The Black-Armored Guards were the premier guards of the Demon Realm, composed entirely of young geniuses with formidable cultivation within the demon race. Every single one of them had experienced the battlefield, making them the elite of the elite, answering solely to the Lord of the Demon Realm, Bai Hua!
“Silence!” shouted the Black-Armored Guards.
The previously chaotic crowd of demons spontaneously quieted down, automatically straightening their postures and standing tall as they earnestly prepared to listen to the address.
Standing among the crowd, Jiang Xu gained a clear understanding of the standing held by the Black-Armored Guards within the demon race.
One of the Black-Armored Guards stepped forward, casting a layer of barrier around the perimeter of the Eastern Emperor Palace.
“Now, those who have registered, stand inside the barrier. Those who have not registered, leave the barrier of your own accord, or bear the consequences,” the guard stated sternly.
As his voice fell, a massive group of demons filed out of the barrier to the outer circle, curiously peering inward.
Having finished speaking, the Black-Armored Guard stepped back into formation without any further action.
The crowd of demons inside the barrier likewise did not voice any questions, each standing quietly in their places.
An hour later.
Another Black-Armored Guard stepped out from the formation. “Time is up. Close the barrier.”
In a place unseen by Jiang Xu, the barrier slowly sealed shut, preventing any other demons from entering.
Some tardy demons came flying swiftly from afar, shouting loudly at the top of their lungs.
“My lord, Black-Armored Guard lord, wait for me! I registered!”
With a flash, one of them attempted to enter the barrier, only to be violently repelled by a rebound that sent them spitting blood.
“When you registered, it was already made clear that the tolling of the Southern Heavenly Bell marks the commencement of the selection. It has now been a full hour since the bell rang, and I have given all of you ample time.
Disperse immediately. Anyone daring to cause further disorder will be executed on the spot.”
The Black-Armored Guard spoke in a chilling tone, an aura of slaughter permeating the air.
With a mournful expression, the demon dared not speak another word. It silently retreated and dissolved back into the crowd of demons.
Meanwhile, those who had arrived just in time and squeezed into the barrier at the very last second patted their chests in lingering fear, their faces full of relief.
Jiang Xu felt a contemplative thought stir within her. Orderly and disciplined? Interesting!
“I will give you one more chance. Anyone inside the barrier who has not registered, step outside right now, or bear the consequences.”
Jiang Xu lifted her gaze to scan her surroundings. Some demons remained completely unfazed, while others wore expressions of inner struggle, locked in a fierce mental battle. In the end, five or six demons hung their heads and walked out.
“Very well. The selection now begins. The first trial: Secret Realm Trial!”
“In a moment, I will transmit all of you into one of the ten great secret realms of the demon race: the Qilian Secret Realm!
The transmission locations are completely random, and the duration is one month. Within the secret realm, there are one hundred specially crafted tokens issued by the Eastern Emperor Palace.
Each of these one hundred tokens is inscribed with a Spirit-Gathering Array. When hung upon your body during cultivation, the token can enhance the concentration of surrounding spiritual qi and accelerate the rate at which you absorb it.
Once you obtain a token, the Eastern Emperor Palace will not recall it. The token belongs to you entirely.
The distribution of the tokens is random; they might be inside the belly of a fierce beast, beside the rocks of a steep cliff, or simply hanging from a tree not far away.
You may rely on luck, or you may rely on strength. After one month, the one hundred individuals holding tokens will pass the trial and earn the qualification to participate in the subsequent selection rounds.
Everyone else will be eliminated.”
The Black-Armored Guard spoke, ignoring the shock rippling through the crowd of demons as he continued to lay out the rules.
“The Qilian Secret Realm is one of the ten great secret realms of the demon race, brimming with spiritual qi and countless treasures. The Eastern Emperor Palace does not restrict you from hunting for treasures, and anything you acquire belongs entirely to you.”
As he said this, a trace of envy stirred in the guard’s heart. He couldn’t quite fathom why the Demon Lord had chosen the Qilian Secret Realm as the site for the first trial, seeing as there were no shortage of treasures inside, including that sword itself.
If he weren’t already a Black-Armored Guard, he would have loved to enter the Qilian Secret Realm as well.
Even if one failed to secure a token, stumbling upon any treasure, be it a stalk of spiritual grass or a piece of profound crystal, would absolutely profit them.
Still, the fact that the first trial’s location was the Qilian Secret Realm, coupled with the rule not interfering with treasure-hunting, was something he had only just learned himself.
The demons registering beforehand had no inkling of this. Thinking about it now, those who hadn’t registered must be kicking themselves with regret.
With this thought, the Black-Armored Guard felt a touch of schadenfreude.
As his voice trailed off, the expressions of the demons inside the barrier varied, though excitement predominated.
The Qilian Secret Realm! Even if they couldn’t get a token, just managing to hunt down some treasures would mean they wouldn’t lose out in the least!
That thousand-spirit-stone registration fee was truly worth it! The demons thought to themselves with glee.
Outside the barrier, upon hearing the guard’s explanation, many demons heaved heavy sighs, their eyes brimming with envy and remorse.
“The Qilian Secret Realm! If I had known, I would have registered.”
“Ahhh, I want to go so badly.”
“I regret this so much.”
Wails of lament echoed continuously, while those who had registered but failed to arrive within the hour were practically turning their intestines green with regret.
As these lamentations drifted into the barrier, the demons inside grew even more thrilled, rolling up their sleeves in preparation for a grand endeavor.
In her heart, Jiang Xu mentally reviewed the rules once more. Truly, this is packed with substance!
The number of participants who had paid a thousand spiritual stones to register easily exceeded one million, and that was even after excluding those who lost their qualification by arriving late.
Yet the first trial would retain a mere one hundred slots, instantly filtering out over a million demons in a single sweep.
Not even the survival of the fittest among waves scouring sand could rival the cruelty of the Qilian Secret Realm trial. As expected, it was a world of the jungle where only the strong were qualified to reach the summit!
And she, Jiang Xu, would be that strongest one!
“Now, does anyone else have any questions? If not, I will activate the transmission array right away and send you into the Qilian Secret Realm.”
Watching the demons outside wailing in despair, the Black-Armored Guard flashed an amused smile.
“Yes, yes, yes! This lord, I have a few questions I’d like to consult you on.”
A demon standing near Jiang Xu stepped forward. Looking over, Jiang Xu saw it was a young male demon who made no effort to conceal his demonic aura. He possessed delicate, refined features and spoke in a leisurely, unhurried tone.
“First, you mentioned that there are one hundred tokens within the Qilian Secret Realm, meaning at most one hundred demons are qualified to pass.
However, what happens if the tokens are hidden so deeply that no one manages to find them? Are the hundred slots fixed, or do they depend on the number of tokens actually discovered?
Second, are the tokens meant to be found solely through one’s own efforts, or can we seize those found by other demons? If we snatch them from others, will they still count?
Third, if a dispute and fight break out between two parties while contending for tokens or treasures, and things escalate to the point where someone is killed because they couldn’t hold back their strikes, will we be held responsible? Does the Eastern Emperor Palace forbid this?
My lord, those are all my questions. Please enlighten me.”
The Black-Armored Guard gave him a deep look and replied calmly:
“First, the number of passing slots depends on the number of tokens discovered. I can state clearly that there are one hundred tokens in the secret realm.
However, if you fail to find all of them, say, only fifty demons find them, then only fifty demons will pass the first trial.
Oh, and when a token is discovered, a prompt will appear in the sky above the secret realm, so at that time you will all know how many tokens have surfaced.
Therefore, once you find a token, you must get away from the scene immediately.”
The Black-Armored Guard smiled cheerfully.
“Second, after one month, the demons holding tokens will pass. We look only at the results, not the process.
Third, the Eastern Emperor Palace neither forbids nor pursues it. If you kill a demon, as long as you are confident you can bear the pursuit and revenge of that demon’s clan behind them, then it doesn’t matter.”
“From the day each of you began your cultivation, to attaining human form, and up until today, which of you hasn’t climbed here through countless hardships? Though our demon race is weak, we do not fear battle, nor do we cower from challenges.
We do not practice that human-style guardian protector nonsense. You swallow the fruit of whatever karma you plant yourself.
The Qilian Secret Realm does not prohibit slaughter. Once you enter, the secret realm will not open before the one-month period is up. If you die, you die; the Eastern Emperor Palace will do nothing.
Now, if anyone still wishes to withdraw, step outside the barrier, and you will be deemed to have relinquished your qualification. Of course, your spiritual stones will not be refunded.”
Inside and outside the barrier, the demons were stirred to fever pitch by the guard’s words. Not a single demon inside the barrier chose to withdraw; every last one of them burned with fighting spirit.
The guard smiled slightly. In truth, when the Left Protector had suggested omitting the transmission array, preventing demons from escaping the secret realm at critical moments by shattering jade talismans, the Right Protector had opposed it.
The Right Protector had argued that these demons formed the backbone of the Demon Realm, and with so many registered this time, and the demon race already being the weakest among the six realms, losing another batch of demons would weaken their strength even further.
But what had the Left Protector said? The Black-Armored Guard narrowed his eyes.
Ah, the Left Protector had said that the demon race had lingered in comfort for far too long, nearly forgetting how His Majesty the Demon Emperor, Donghuang Taiyi, once swept across the myriad races with the might of thunder to establish the Eastern Emperor Palace and rule the Demon Realm.
At that time, the Demon Realm stood at the pinnacle of the six realms, possessing an unmatched, peerless grace.
The Left Protector believed that if a single trial could thoroughly ignite the unyielding tenacity and combat instincts carved into the bones of the demon race, losing a batch of demons was a price well worth paying.
This wasn’t a sacrifice; it was survival of the fittest. Those too weak were unworthy of continuing to drag down the demon race and burden the Demon Realm.
Besides, this was a trial to select the Young Venerable!
If the lives and blood of a million demons could pave a highway for the strong and find a qualified Young Venerable to lead the demon race to a resurgence, it would be their supreme honor!
At the time, the Black-Armored Guard had felt the Left Protector’s approach was far too cruel. Now, however, he felt that perhaps the Left Protector was right.
After all, the Demon Lord had been present at the time, and the Demon Lord had given approval to the Left Protector’s rules.
Furthermore, he had already given them a choice, allowing them to decide for themselves whether they still wished to participate.
Since they had chosen to enter, they had to bear the consequences, did they not?