162: Trial Realm

Early the next morning, a giant whirlpool appeared above the sea of clouds. The contestants felt their consciousness begin to blur, and when they opened their eyes again, Gu Yuchuan found himself in a tropical rainforest. He immediately transformed into his true form and hid in a nearby large tree. In such an unfamiliar environment, he had to be careful.

He looked at his body and felt that its strength and other attributes were identical to his Physical Body in the outside world. This was truly a mysterious technique; Gu Yuchuan could not understand at all how the Demon Venerable had achieved this.

In truth, building this Secret Realm had cost the Demon Venerable a great deal of effort. In previous years' selections, there had never been such a thing; they were always real fights, either in arena battles or in an actual Secret Realm, rather than this kind of illusory one. However, real fighting presented a problem: no matter how careful they were, people would die.

Currently, what they lacked most was talent, and the Demon Venerable could not accept the death of even a single talented individual. This Secret Realm and the extraction of consciousness were centered around a Spirit Treasure he used to form the space. Maintaining its internal space required a massive amount of resources every day; such a supply was something even a Nascent Soul Stage Demon Emperor could not afford.

After Gu Yuchuan checked his Physical Body, he slowly released his Divine Sense. Here, their Divine Sense was suppressed, allowing them to see only things within a hundred meters. This was something Gu Yuchuan was not used to. For now, he could only tell that there was no danger within a hundred meters. Suddenly, a voice rang out in the air.

"One hundred contestants, there are many resources in the wild that can help you in battle. You can improve your combat capabilities by collecting these resources. Killing a contestant will earn you their points; the default value is one point. Simultaneously, completing tasks will also increase your points. The final top eight contestants will win directly. The nights in the wild are full of danger; safety zones can keep you safe. A safety zone can only hold ten Cultivators, and there are only eight safety zones on the first day. The competition officially begins."

Gu Yuchuan's expression became quite grim. The level of bloodiness in this competition was high; every policy was designed to make them fight, and the competition was extremely fierce. The first thing to do now was to search for resources. Whether it was the Fox Immortal or the voice just now, both had mentioned the importance of resources, so these resources must allow a Cultivator to defeat a stronger opponent.

The second thing was to find a safety zone. Since such a thing had been set up, the dangers of the night must be very significant and difficult for them to withstand on their own. Even if someone with peerless talent managed to survive, it would have a major impact on their subsequent combat strength.

Gu Yuchuan transformed into a half-human, half-snake form and began his search. Before long, he saw something glowing green. After drawing it toward him with magic power, he found it was a Medicinal Pill.

"Three Blood Recovery Pills; each one can eliminate thirty percent of one's injuries after consumption."

His eyes lit up instantly. This was good stuff! Three of them together were equivalent to an extra life. It made sense; they were currently in illusory bodies that were Incarnations of rules, so they could naturally use rules to heal in this way. If all the resources were this useful, they would indeed have a huge impact on the battle.

Wait, this was only green. According to usual patterns—white, green, blue, purple, gold—there would definitely be even more powerful treasures later. Well then, he needed to search for as many resources as possible.

He looked around and chose to head east. He could feel that the air in that direction was slightly more humid, indicating there should be a water source. He was a water-attribute Cultivator, and his combat strength was greater near water, so it was natural to head that way.

After walking for a long time, he discovered a blue light. Holding it in his hand, he found it was actually a Long Spear.

"Blue Long Spear, Medium Grade Spiritual Artifact hardness; magic power passing through the spear is amplified by thirty percent."

He gripped the Long Spear tightly, the shock in his heart growing even greater. A thirty percent increase in magic power was enough for a Cultivator to fight above their level. This was only a blue item; if it were purple or even gold, how powerful would it be?

However, purple and gold items were extremely rare. On the first day, not a single gold item had been placed, and only a few purple ones were available. Only a very few Cultivators would be able to find them.

As Gu Yuchuan walked, he suddenly stopped. He had discovered an enemy in front of him: a tiger, also at the eighth level of the Foundation Establishment Stage. Naturally, he had to take action. They had only just arrived, and everyone had very few resources, so they would mostly be comparing their original combat strength. Fortunately, Gu Yuchuan was very confident in his own combat strength.

His Divine Sense was likely much more condensed than the tiger's; he had discovered the opponent, but the opponent had not yet discovered him.

He approached slowly, bit by bit. He definitely had to fight, as the final ranking was based on points, and only those with high scores could win. Finally, at this moment, the tiger also saw Gu Yuchuan, and its eyes were filled with Battle Intent.

"So it's the Azure Scale Demon General. Come, let's trade some blows."

Gu Yuchuan gripped his Long Spear and struck out with a wave of water. The water flow, amplified by the Long Spear, transformed into a Water Tornado in the air, swirling up a great deal of dust and leaves nearby.

The tiger instinctively retreated. Such power was a bit difficult for it to withstand, but it had no choice but to give its all. It let out a great roar, and the sound waves began to impact the Water Tornado. It continuously broke down the structure of the Water Tornado, so that by the time the Water Tornado hit its body, it had already weakened considerably.

However, Gu Yuchuan's Long Spear had already arrived before it. Gu Yuchuan's movements were extremely fast, stabbing dozens of times in the blink of an eye. The tiger tried its best to defend, but was still hit several times, leaving several bloody holes on its body. There was even a hint of fear in its eyes.

It took two steps back and leaped, its claws swiping down toward Gu Yuchuan's head. This strike was very forceful and swift, making it extremely difficult to dodge. At this moment, Gu Yuchuan's Long Spear was still in a forward thrusting position and couldn't be brought up in time, so he could only hurriedly whip his tail. His tail collided with the tiger's claws, and both sides were pushed back quite a bit.

In a nearby puddle, a frog watched their duel with wide eyes. Both of their strengths were above his, and watching them made his blood boil. He couldn't help but put himself in Gu Yuchuan's perspective; if he were to block a move from that tiger, he certainly wouldn't be able to hold his ground.

Now, he wanted to be the fisherman who profits while the snipe and the clam fight.

At this point, the tiger was indeed injured; several of its claws were broken, and it was spitting blood. Gu Yuchuan's tail was also bleeding, but his injury was much lighter.