267: Hidden Spirit Array

At the same time, in the skies above Liangzhou City, a massive scroll slowly unfurled.

It was none other than a model of the Liangzhou Trial Grounds!

Everyone who entered the Trial Grounds would have their specific location displayed on the scroll. This was to make it easier for those watching from the outside to determine where the people they cared about were located and whether their surroundings were safe or dangerous.

Although the trial tested individual strength, information passed from the outside was also very important.

In Liang Province, upstairs at the Hua Clan Merchant House.

Madam Hua and Lu An'an sat by the tea table, drinking tea.

Lu An'an was also very curious. "Master, you wouldn't say before, but now that the trial has started, you can finally tell me how strong Dieer is."

Madam Hua smiled. "Actually, it’s not that I didn't want to say, but rather, as for what her current abilities are, not only do I not know, even she herself doesn't know."

Lu An'an was stunned, her face full of confusion. What kind of answer was that?

Madam Hua said with a smile, "Because there is a Spirit-Concealing Formation inside Dieer's body. I found someone to plant it in her when you went back to Qian Prefecture with her, specifically to hide her strength."

"You also know that our Hua Family's current situation is not good, and her strength cannot be allowed to show any clues. That's why I planted this Formation in her. However, once she enters the Trial Grounds, this Formation will no longer be needed."

"Based on previous estimates of her strength, she's probably around the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul Stage now. I don't know for sure if that's the case. Just wait and see; once the Formation is undone, she'll be able to display her true strength."

Lu An'an realized that, according to Madam Hua, the Golden Core Stage was something from eight or nine months ago. So now, being around the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul Stage was about right, especially with the bonus of the Innate Charm Body.

Inside the Trial Grounds, at the foot of a hill!

Hua Dieer appeared there. She checked the surroundings and, after confirming no one was around, immediately sat cross-legged and activated the Formation inside her body, clearly intending to undo it.

In the next second, the Formation operated, and a layer of golden light emerged over her entire body!

A moment later, a crisp "crack" was heard.

The golden light instantly collapsed, and almost simultaneously, the fluctuations of Hua Dieer's true strength surfaced.

However, when she felt her own strength fluctuations, she couldn't help but be stunned.

"My strength... how can it be like this?"

"It's been eight or nine months, how can my strength still be stuck at the ninth level of the Heavenly Mansion Realm?"

"Just what is going on?"

Hua Dieer was completely bewildered. She could feel that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in her body had already exceeded the limit that the Golden Core Realm could contain.

But her Realm had not broken through; it was indeed at the ninth level of the Golden Core Realm. This meant her strength exceeded her level, but her Realm was stuck.

A moment later, Hua Dieer reacted because she remembered what Feng Ming had said. Could she really have developed a Heart Demon?

"Feng Ming! It's all because of your jinxing mouth!"

A Heart Demon is actually a kind of obsession. In its Early Stages, it causes a person's Realm to stagnate, just like the Pill Obsessive back then.

His own Alchemy skills were already comparable to a Ninth-Rank Alchemist, but because of an eighth-rank two elements pill, his Realm had been stuck at Eighth-Rank Alchemist, unable to break through.

After Feng Ming guided him to refine a perfect two elements pill, his Realm naturally stepped directly into the ninth rank.

And because he had accumulated years of Alchemy experience, stepping into the Ninth-Rank Alchemist level wasn't as simple as being at the Early Stage; he was a bona fide Ninth-Rank Alchemist.

Hua Dieer's current situation was similar. Although her strength had been stuck at the Peak Golden Core Realm for eight or nine months, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in her body had long since surpassed that level.

Now, all she lacked was to resolve the Heart Demon. Once the Heart Demon was undone, her strength would surely skip several levels in a row.

But resolving a Heart Demon—how could it be that easy!

"The one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it. My Heart Demon was caused by Feng Ming, so I'll go find him!"

Hua Dieer immediately identified the direction and rushed toward where Feng Ming was located.

On the other side, on a mountain ridge.

Feng Ming finally appeared.

The moment he appeared, he began to examine an extra item in his hand—a specific communication stone.

After Feng Ming injected a wisp of True Qi into it, a light screen appeared before him.

At the same time, a reminder voice rang out in his mind.

"Please note: the communication stone can only be used within the Liangzhou Trial Site! It will automatically disappear upon leaving the trial site! It will also fail if you enter a dangerous zone!"

"You can contact other participants through the communication stone. It provides a full-map broadcast function once per hour, allowing your words to spread throughout the entire trial site!"

"Other information can be obtained by viewing the trial map!"

Hearing the voice, Feng Ming hurriedly looked up at the sky, where the map scroll of the entire Trial Grounds was displayed.

The scroll depicted countless mountains and rivers, along with many small red dots. Clearly, these red dots were the participants.

Feng Ming saw that on both sides of the ridge where he was located, there were actually a dense number of small red dots.

Clearly, there were quite a few participants around the place where he had entered.

Feng Ming discovered that by carefully checking a red dot, he could see the corresponding participant's information.

For example, when Feng Ming checked his own, his information surfaced.

【Participant: Feng Ming!】

"Only the name, no strength level. I guess this is only useful for getting an idea of who is around me!"

Feng Ming felt it was quite useless, so he didn't bother with it further and instead looked at the two rankings next to the map!

The two rankings next to the map were the 【power ranking】 and the 【heaven ticket ranking】.

The information on the power ranking had already been refreshed, but the heaven ticket ranking was still unknown.

It was likely because the heaven ranking tickets hadn't been distributed yet.

Feng Ming glanced at the power ranking and couldn't help but be stunned.

Because he found that his name wasn't in the top ten at all, and the people appearing on the list were mostly those Feng Mian had provided information on earlier.

This meant that in the Liangzhou Trial alone, there were over a dozen Nascent Soul Stage experts, and the strongest was actually already at the sixth layer of the Nascent Soul Stage.

But Feng Ming didn't care, because in his view, these people who fought alone weren't the most difficult to deal with; the truly formidable ones were those who brought subordinates and acted as a group.

Feng Ming focused on at least four targets, such as Zhang Bai, Li Cheng, Zhao Peng, and that Mobei Mercenary Group!

Whether it was fighting or the speed of seizing heaven ranking tickets, these people with teams would clearly be more efficient!

Feng Ming gave this information a quick scan and didn't delay any longer.

He took out the communication stone and began adding friends one by one, adding Jiang Shuwan, Feng Mian, and Lu Qianqian.

After hesitating for a moment, he searched for Hua Dieer but didn't add her to his friend list yet.

"After all, I took so much advantage of her before. I'll bring her along this time and see if I can work hard to win her over later."

While speaking, Feng Ming had already sent out a message.

"I have an Opportunity. Close in on me quickly. Reply when received!"