15: Sect Trials

"Senior Brother, are you there? The trial is about to begin."

"Alright, I'm coming."

Zhou Yan, who was reading in his room, heard the voice transmission from outside the magical array and rolled up the bamboo scroll, placing it back on the bookshelf.

After ending these few days of being waited on hand and foot, where he didn't even have to leave his room, Zhou Yan felt a bit dazed for a moment.

He had spent these past few days in this room reading, passing the time with casual books, eating healthy and delicious food, and occasionally opening the window for ventilation, allowing the thick, mist-like Spiritual Qi to pour into the room, making Zhou Yan feel physically and mentally refreshed.

If it weren't for the various cultivation elements reminding him, he would have treated this place like a health resort.

The bamboo scroll was also quite marvelous; it was truly a product of the cultivation world.

It looked like a small scroll, but upon opening it, there was actually a 3D projection.

The content of the scroll was also special; it transmitted knowledge directly into the brain. As he read the content, his brain would simultaneously translate it; it seemed that even an illiterate person could understand the principles within.

This was far more exciting than reading novels, causing him, who rarely read physical books, to become deeply immersed in reading.

The content he had just been reading was simply to popularize cultivation knowledge for people from small places, giving them a channel to understand the cultivation world.

Through the bamboo scroll, he learned that the Realm divisions of this world were very simple.

The current mainstream Realms were: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Body Integration, Void Refining, Undergoing Tribulation, and Mahayana.

This Qingxu Grotto-Heaven had several Mahayana Old Ancestors presiding over it and was one of the three major forces in the cultivation world.

As for other top forces, whether it was the Desire Realm he had indirectly encountered before, or the unknown Yao Race, they all had Mahayana experts presiding, just not as many as the three major forces, so the current landscape of the cultivation world was similar to the "Big Five" of his previous life on Blue Star.

The difference was that compared to Blue Star, the top three here rarely interfered in affairs, and there weren't just two below them, so the world was even more chaotic.

Calculating it this way, Zhou Yan was really lucky to have come to such a good place, though the atmosphere still felt a bit strange.

Pushing open the door, Zhou Yan stumbled as he collided with someone.

He had been too busy recalling the content of the bamboo scroll just now; it seemed that having knowledge transmitted directly into the brain had side effects, making it impossible to concentrate.

"Um, brother, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going just now."

Zhou Yan got up and was about to apologize properly, but a large foot kicked toward him.

"Ah, that hurts like hell!"

The crowd looked toward the source of the sound and saw a young man in luxurious clothing performing a split in the hallway. It was clear he wasn't in serious trouble, but he probably wasn't completely unscathed either, right?

Fortunately, Zhou Yan was a veteran gamer in his previous life. Besides his favorite game, "Seeking Dao," he also dabbled in other games. For instance, some side-scrolling fighting mobile games, which gave him terrifyingly fast reaction times, allowing him to even react to "bullets."

Just as the large foot was about to kick Zhou Yan, he subconsciously activated the Time Pocket Watch that had long been welded into his equipment slot, accelerating the flow of time around him by 18 times.

Once the 18x acceleration was activated, Zhou Yan felt like the Flash, as if everything around him had frozen.

Zhou Yan brushed off the dust and stood up to look at the man. He was dressed very lavishly; the fabric of his clothes was unrecognizable and must have been a product of the cultivation world. A jade pendant hung from his waist, and a sachet hung on his right side. These two items were definitely not ordinary. Zhou Yan felt inexplicably comforted just by smelling the scent of the sachet; these things must be quite expensive.

This person was somewhat handsome, but his ferocious expression was frozen so perfectly at this moment that it became quite comical, greatly reducing his attractiveness.

Other Prodigies in the hall were either crossing their arms, ready to watch the show, or indignant and preparing to intervene.

It seemed that the 18x time acceleration was very reliable; now, he truly had a trump card among Prodigies of the same level.

Ignoring the ferocious young man, Zhou Yan walked straight out of the hall, and once Zhou Yan dodged, he was the one who suffered.

However, Zhou Yan didn't notice that when he passed by a corner, a Prodigy who had originally not been paying attention to the matter began to slowly close her eyes, and fear gradually grew in her gaze.

After walking out of the hall, Zhou Yan stopped the acceleration. The sudden appearance of someone really startled the receptionist Disciple, but he still professionally led Zhou Yan into the cabin.

Upon arriving at the cabin, Zhou Yan spotted a seat, walked over quickly, and sat down. Seeing that Zhou Yan had found a seat, the Disciple returned outside to continue his reception work.

This flying boat was a public flying boat, which Zhou Yan had seen in the bamboo scroll; it was similar to a bus in the cultivation world.

Because the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven was simply too large, it was not recommended for Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm to travel on their own. After all, their mana was insufficient, and flying by controlling a Magic Treasure was slow. It was easy for a simple visit to a friend within the Sect to count as a long-distance journey, which was why this public flying boat existed.

It was through this that Zhou Yan learned he could actually take the public flying boat to the resting area, which proved that Jiang Hongyue was truly flustered, having forgotten even such a small matter. Fortunately, the building complex for the guest resting area was already close to the main gate, and the Prodigy resting area was located relatively near the front of the complex.

It also showed that he truly trusted that small badge. Furthermore, binding that thing had actually unlocked the full map of the Grotto-Heaven, so that item's background was not small either. It seemed he would have to find a chance to unbind it and return it to him.

"That's him!"

Zhou Yan had just intended to think about strategies for the assessment when someone came to cause trouble.

Looking at the red dot marked on the mini-map, Zhou Yan felt the urge to finally see a monster in the safe zone and wanted to slap him to finish him off, but once he thought about the fact that this was the Sect, he dismissed the thought.

Why would I have such an evil thought? It must be the Path of Slaughter influencing me, it must be! The naturally evil Path of Slaughter title!

During his free time these past few days, Zhou Yan had equipped the Path of Slaughter title. After all, this thing had attributes and could provide the attribute values equivalent to a small piece of fine equipment, which was naturally good for Zhou Yan, who was a blank slate.

Of course, Zhou Yan's thoughts came entirely from his nature as a Fourth Calamity, having nothing to do with the title. If the title could speak, it would probably say: "Character behavior, do not escalate to the title."

Title [Path of Slaughter (Fine)]: +15% Lifesteal, +15% Stamina Absorption.

Seeing the map indicator, Zhou Yan knew that they were coming for him, and they were up to no good, but Zhou Yan was not worried.

Looking up, it was indeed as expected: it was the ferocious man from before, but his standing posture was a bit strange now. His originally flamboyant temperament combined with his pigeon-toed stance made him look even more comical.

"You bastard, you dared to run after bumping into me. Don't think that just because you can run fast, this young master can't find you! Do you know who this young master is? This young master is the only son of the Niu family of the Great Yu Dynasty, Niu Zhiyuan!"

"Little calf?"

"Niu Zhiyuan?"

"What kind of weird name is that? I might as well be Ma Shitu."

Hearing the mockery, Niu Zhiyuan became even more agitated, his face flushing red; he really did feel a bit like a little calf.

However, seeing the somewhat cowering appearance of the people around, it seemed this guy was quite famous among them?

"You still dare to mock me? Now I will let you see this young master's methods!"

[Niu Zhiyuan]

[Rank: Qi Refining Level 3]

[Health: 970/1000]

[Mana: 100/100]

The young man channeled his mana, his fists shrouded in a light red ripple, his muscles bulging; he had the feeling that he was about to turn into a Super Saiyan in the next second.

However, it was a pity that he couldn't see this young master's methods, as a large hand rested on his shoulder. A cold aura radiated out, and Niu Zhiyuan, who had been undergoing some changes, returned to his original state, even shivering from the cold.

"Little friend, stop playing tricks. You'll have plenty of time once you enter the trial later. For now, come have a cup of tea with me to cool off."

[???]

[Rank: ???]

The mini-map was a good thing; it could show hostile red creatures like this, as well as friendly green NPCs.

When he saw this string of question marks, Zhou Yan knew he had encountered a big shot. Ever since the panel updated, unless the Realm was two major Realms higher than Zhou Yan, he could at least see some information.

Therefore, after knowing that this was definitely an expert above Foundation Establishment, with Core Formation as the minimum, he chose to sit near him just to prevent any trouble he might encounter later.

The book also introduced this; this should be the manager on the public flying boat, whose main duty was to maintain order. As long as he sat here, he wouldn't be afraid of being bothered.

And those who had seen Zhou Yan show off his skills in the hall earlier, upon seeing Niu Zhiyuan's outcome, also put away their thoughts of testing him, easily resolving the potential for endless trouble.

Reading changes destiny; who would have thought this saying would also work in the cultivation world? Now, at least before the trial, he was safe.

The flying boat traveled very fast; from the reception area to the destination, Zhou Yan had only finished three cups of tea.

And after getting off the flying boat, all of this was just the beginning.

This place was a plaza with a large number of people, who seemed to have all passed the first trial. Zhou Yan even caught a glimpse of Buwen and Buyu.

He had thought they had directly become Utility Disciples, but he didn't expect them to have come to participate in the trial. Although he didn't know the difficulty of the first trial, just passing the trial with that kind of physical condition was truly not easy.

With the last flying boat that had carried the Prodigies sailing away, everyone had arrived.

A young man in green clothes stepped on the Void Realm, teleporting with every step, flashing from the distance to the sky above the plaza. Then, a clear voice was transmitted into the minds of everyone in the plaza.

"The second trial of the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven officially begins."

The Cultivator in the sky showed off a little, demonstrating his profound cultivation and powerful Divine Sense.

Zhou Yan just used his panel to scan him, and it was another string of question marks. Besides knowing this guy was very strong, there was no useful information at all.

"The Secret Realm for the trial has been opened. Once you enter, you will naturally know the content of the trial."

A huge door frame instantly appeared before everyone. Its material was similar to crystal, emitting seven-colored light under the refraction of sunlight.

As the person finished speaking, a light like a starry sky slowly emerged and filled the entire door frame, adding a touch of dreaminess to this gate.

Zhou Yan was just planning to squeeze in and enter first, but unexpectedly, the next moment, the originally dreamy crystal gate turned into a huge vortex.

It began to continuously suck the preparatory Disciples in the plaza into it, without giving them a chance to react.