69: Divine Sense Strength Test

On the central platform, nine figures stood imposingly.

Their aura was restrained, yet they were like nine slumbering ancient god mountains. Their mere existence caused the time and space of the entire Myriad Worlds Platform to stagnate. The Divine Thoughts of the million Prodigies instinctively curled up, and a primitive impulse to prostrate and worship surged from the depths of their Souls!

"Mo Xuan, the Six-Star Great World under your jurisdiction has actually produced an interesting 'little grass'." The Hall Master, dressed in luxurious purple robes, leisurely stroked his beard, a trace of appreciation like discovering a novel toy flashing in his eyes. "Seventh-rank Divine Thought, the bone structure is indeed rare. Unfortunately..."

His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest carved from a star core, making a crisp yet cold ticking sound. "The Realm is as low as an ant's, otherwise, it might have barely squeezed into the top hundred. Now... the top ten? Heh, wishful thinking."

Beads of cold sweat instantly seeped from the forehead of Supervisor Mo Xuan. He hurriedly bowed: "Hall Master Ling has a Wisdom Eye. Although this child is only at the first level of the Realm, but..."

"But what?!" Another Hall Master, whose figure was as burly as a god-demon and whose voice resonated like Chaos thunder, rudely interrupted. His tiger eyes were wide open, his gaze striking Mo Xuan like two tangible bolts of lightning, carrying indisputable pressure.

"What waves can a first-level thought power stir up? A seventh-rank Divine Thought falling into his hands is no different from casting pearls before swine, a waste of heaven's gifts! Mo Xuan, report his bone age immediately! I want to see what kind of rotten wood has cultivated to this point with such meager attainments!" The tone was full of disdain and impatience for "wasting talent."

The clothes on Mo Xuan's back were already soaked with cold sweat, his voice carrying a hint of imperceptible annoyance and panic: "Reporting... reporting to the Hall Master, at that time... it was too shocking, the bone age determination... this subordinate... was negligent. After the competition ends, I will definitely make up for it!" He inwardly cursed his own carelessness for forgetting this key link.

However, the silent Vice Hall Master, gently rubbed the hilt of the wooden sword at his waist, which looked rotten yet contained endless sharpness. His gaze penetrated endless space, accurately falling on the lone figure in the Green Pillar area: "Realm is like floating clouds, which can be raised by external forces. The rank of Divine Thought... is a talent mark branded deep in the True Spirit, which cannot be forced."

His voice was flat, yet carried a power that saw through the essence. "If this child can survive the life-and-death tempering of the Soul Ruins Secret Realm... the future..."

"Growth?" The purple-robed Hall Master sneered, the pity in his eyes deepening, as if looking at an insect about to be crushed. "Vice Hall Master is too optimistic. How dangerous is the Soul Ruins Secret Realm? The Soul Spirits Lords wandering inside could extinguish a Spirit Refining Realm expert with a single breath! With his meager cultivation entering, I fear he won't even survive the first wisp of the Soul-Extinguishing Wind!" The palm in his sleeve clenched subconsciously, as if recalling some extremely terrifying scene, his knuckles turning slightly white.

...

In the Green Pillar area, Feng Tianxiu's anxious, almost distorted voice transmission rang in Lin Yuan's Sea of Consciousness: "Lin Yuan! Remember! During the test later, do not stand out! Being able to save your life and mix into the top one thousand is a massive stroke of luck! Do not! Do not!" Every word revealed despair and fear for his beloved disciple's situation.

A barely perceptible arc curled at the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth. His gaze was calm as water, slowly sweeping over the radiant, god-like figures on the central divine pillar. When his gaze, like the sharpest invisible blade, swept past Nine Nether Emperor, who sat high on the first cushion—

"Hmm?!"

Nine Nether Emperor, who had been closing his eyes to rest, suddenly opened them! Two pitch-black gazes, condensed like substance and seemingly containing mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and endless grievances, were like death rays from the Nine Nether, instantly tearing through space and colliding with Lin Yuan's gaze across the air!

"Zzz—!"

A silent explosion erupted between the two's thoughts! In the Void Realm, countless invisible electric sparks seemed to be flashing and annihilating crazily!

"Heh..." Nine Nether Emperor stuck out his scarlet tongue and slowly licked his thin lips. A kind of morbid, bloodthirsty excitement at discovering a novel prey suddenly erupted in his eyes. "A mere ant at the first level of the Spirit Refining Realm... dares to... look directly at this Saint?!" The nether black mist entwined around his fingertips, like an enraged poisonous snake, suddenly surged violently, emitting a fierce and devouring aura!

"Silence—!!!"

Nine figures descended onto the central platform like nine god mountains! A vast and boundless pressure permeated, instantly suppressing the boiling Divine Thoughts, restless Qi and blood, and even the disordered breathing of a million Prodigies! Between heaven and earth, only a suffocating, absolute silence remained!

The leader, in green robes with a wooden sword, was none other than the Vice Hall Master of the Spirit Martial General Hall—Vice Hall Master!

The might of a Hunyuan Realm powerhouse!

He stood there as if he were the Incarnation of the will of heaven and earth! No words or actions were needed; that supreme pressure originating from the life level made a million Prodigies bow their heads involuntarily, leaving only the purest awe and submission in the depths of their Souls!

"This final, three items will be tested." The voice of Vice Hall Master was flat and waveless, yet it was like the Heavenly Dao's scriptures, directly branded into the deepest part of everyone's Divine Soul, incomparably clear. He waved his sleeve casually—

Hum! Hum! Hum!

Three supreme treasures, emitting ancient, vast, and heart-palpitating fluctuations, floated out of thin air above the Myriad Worlds Platform!

The first item: The God-Testing Stele, pitch-black as ink and over ten thousand feet tall! On the stele body, ninety-nine dazzling golden Law rings circled in layers. Each time a golden ring lit up, it represented the terrifying thought power of one hundred feathers! The ancient runes engraved on the stele surface flowed with the power to suppress the heavens!

The second item: The Thousand-Mechanism Array Diagram, covering a thousand miles with array patterns so complex they were dizzying! Inside the array, a million Law Battle Puppets with ferocious forms, emitting cold metallic luster and destructive fluctuations, were like a sleeping army of slaughter, ready to go! Each one possessed the terrifying destructive power of a million star-level!

The third item: A piece of Dao-Enlightenment Stone that looked ordinary but was crystal clear, as if it could reflect the myriad Daos of the heavens! The stone seemed to contain scenes of Chaos first opening and the derivation of myriad Laws flowing endlessly!

"The first item, test the limit of Divine Thought strength!"

"The second item, test the reaction speed of Divine Thought!"

"The third item, test the depth of Law mastery!"

The gaze of Vice Hall Master was like a tangible breeze, sweeping across the shabby and eye-sore Green Pillar area, pausing slightly on Lin Yuan. In his deep eyes, a trace of indescribable deep meaning flashed and disappeared.

"Now, begin!"

"Dong—!!!"

The God-Testing Stele suddenly erupted with an ancient bell chime that shook the universe! Visible golden sound waves containing the power of Laws swept across all directions like a tsunami!

On the stele body, ninety-nine golden rings were awakened like slumbering dragons. From bottom to top, each one corresponded to a thought power value capable of collapsing mountains and breaking rocks! The light of the glowing golden rings even made the Eternal Scorching Sun hanging in the sky of the Central Continent pale in comparison!

"Central Great World, Nine Nether Emperor, come forward!"

The black-robed youth wore a cold sneer of disdain for the world, took a step, and his figure was already before the stele. The thousand-foot nether black sun above his head suddenly emitted the shrill screams of hundreds of millions of grievances. The sound waves were like tangible magic sounds, impacting the Divine Souls of everyone present. Many with weaker cultivation turned pale on the spot, their Divine Souls swaying!

"Divine Thought Skill—Nether Great Sun · Falling to Nine Nether!"

Boom—!!!

A pitch-black torrent of Divine Thought, seemingly gushing from the deepest part of the Hell, condensed to the extreme, like a world-destroying magic dragon, carrying the desperate aura of devouring all light, fiercely bombarded the golden rings at the very bottom of the God-Testing Stele!

Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!

The dazzling golden light climbed crazily upwards with unstoppable speed like ignited beacon fires!

One thousand feathers! Ten golden rings lit up!

One thousand five hundred feathers! Fifteen golden rings shone!

Two thousand feathers! Twenty golden rings illuminated the world!

Finally, the golden light, with violent residual momentum, fiercely broke through the limit of the twenty-fifth golden ring before reluctantly and slowly stagnating!

Two thousand five hundred feathers!

"Nine Nether Emperor! Two thousand five hundred feathers! Currently—First!" The Supervisor's voice carried unconcealable awe and shock, even cracking slightly! This number meant that the thought power he instantly erupted was enough to frontally crush ordinary Dharma Domain Realm powerhouses!

"Hiss—!!!" The entire spectator stand fell into complete madness! The exclamations drowned out everything like a tsunami! Two thousand five hundred feathers! What kind of Heaven-Defying power is this!

"Next, Chu Dust-Dispelling!"

The white-robed swordsman pointed like a sword, his eyes sharp as a drawn divine weapon! A pure sword thought, condensed to the extreme, thin as a thread but containing the will to cut down everything, silently pierced through the Void Realm!

Where the sword thought passed, space was like fragile cloth, silently torn into a pitch-black sword scar that could not be healed for a long time!

Eight hundred feathers... one thousand feathers... one thousand three hundred feathers!

The golden light finally stopped steadily at the thirteenth golden ring!

"Chu Dust-Dispelling! One thousand three hundred feathers! Currently—Second!"

The test proceeded like a torrent. The top one hundred were monopolized by the peerless Prodigies of the Central Great World without suspense. The lowest score of nine hundred feathers was a myth in ordinary worlds, but here it was just the threshold to enter the top one hundred!

When the seven hundred twenty-first contestant stepped forward, the "Star River Saint" from the Nine-Star Great World, with a score of eight hundred ninety feathers, barely squeezed into the one hundred and first place, only then tearing a tiny crack in the iron curtain of the Central World.

The discussions on the spectator stand were like a pot of boiling oil:

"As expected! The top one hundred are again the spoils of the Central World!"

"Star River Saint can be considered an anomaly, unfortunately... still a line short..."

"As for those from the Six-Star worlds... Heh, I'm afraid they can't even touch the edge of the top one hundred thousand? Bottom-tier stuff..."

When the names of the contestants in the Green Pillar area were called, a burst of undisguised, contemptuous, and mocking laughter rang out across the venue. In the eyes of these Prodigies from core worlds, these Cultivators from marginal corners were just humble dust setting off their brilliance.

"Six-Star Great World, Tianqing Domain, Lin Yuan!"

Under the focus of countless playful, pitying, and contemptuous gazes, Lin Yuan's expression was calm as water, his steps steady as a mountain, walking step by step towards the God-Testing Stele that was as towering as a mountain.

He knew clearly in his heart: With his own Foundation of one hundred feathers of thought power, even counting all bonuses, in a pure clash of power, it would be extremely difficult to compete with those Spirit Refining Realm sixth-level or higher Prodigies who easily had hundreds or even thousands of feathers.

The mystery of ninth-rank Divine Thought lies in qualitative change, in the ultimate control of Laws, in those unbelievable Divine Thought skills, not in the current brute force competition. Moreover, the first round of testing should not expose true trump cards.

"Hum—"

Lin Yuan did not mobilize the [Wheel of Time Devourment] capable of annihilating existence, and even the [Soul Destruction Slash] only operated at basic power. Divine Thought condensed, turning into a not-so-dazzling brilliant golden light, like an arrow off a string, slashing towards the bottom of the God-Testing Stele.

The golden beam of light began to climb, not fast, but exceptionally stable:

One hundred feathers...

One hundred twenty feathers...

...

Three hundred feathers...

Finally, the golden light stopped steadily at the three hundred thirty-eighth feather position! Corresponding to the third golden ring lighting up, the fourth golden ring's edge shimmered with light!

"Lin Yuan! Three hundred thirty-eight feathers! Current ranking—one hundred and second!" The Supervisor's voice was still flat, as if reading an insignificant number, showing no waves for this "miracle" from the Six-Star world.

However, this ranking was like a giant rock thrown into a calm lake!

"One hundred and second?! A first-level Spirit Refining Realm, ranked one hundred and second?!"

"The ones in front of him are all monsters from the Central World!"

"This... is there something wrong with the God-Testing Stele?!"

After a brief dead silence, unbelievable exclamations erupted from every corner of the spectator stand!

Distant high platform.

"Hmm?" The finger of the purple-robed Hall Master tapping the armrest suddenly paused, a trace of genuine surprise flashing in his eyes for the first time.

The Thunder Hall Master's thick brows locked tightly, staring fixedly at the golden light stopped at the three hundred thirty-eighth feather position, as if trying to see through it.

Vice Hall Master's fingers rubbing the wooden sword hilt paused imperceptibly for a moment. In the depths of his eyes, a very faint smile, as if he had expected it long ago, flashed and disappeared.

Top of the Central Divine Pillar.

Nine Nether Emperor's black robes fluttered without wind, hunting and making noise. His eyes, like an abyss, carried a trace of scrutiny for the first time. Like a poisonous snake stalking prey, he firmly locked onto the green-robed figure in the Green Pillar area, and the corners of his mouth slowly hooked into a cold and playful arc:

"Three hundred thirty-eight feathers... one hundred and second place... a mere first level... Heh... a little... interesting."

And Chu Dust-Dispelling, who was holding an ancient sword, frowned deeply. His sharp gaze seemed to penetrate space, landing on Lin Yuan, his eyes full of inquiry and confusion:

"His Divine Thought... obviously the strength is not high... but the 'intent' contained in that golden light... that is definitely not an ordinary Divine Thought skill! A seemingly simple slash, why... does it make me feel a trace of... dangerous aura?"