True Martial World - Chapter 456: Enemies Meet

As the participants approached the God Advent Tower, they could feel the powerful aura it emitted clearly.

As they were covered with the aura, the terrifying storm in the world became weaker, till it eventually disappeared.

When they were right in front of the God Advent Tower, the participants looked up. The top of the tower was like a sharp pin, piercing the black sky.

Seeing this scene, they felt an inexplicable pressure. It was as if the God Advent Tower exuded a demonic presence, making them feel jumpy.

"What sort of person was the ancient Great Empress… ?"

Yi Yun squinted his eyes. As he explored the Great Empress mystic realm, he got a greater understanding of the scariness of the ancient Great Empress.

For the mystic realm to have such a vast setup, it already far exceeded the power level of people like the Shentu Patriarch.

The Shentu Patriarch and the Lin family's Grand Elders were nothing in front of the ancient Great Empress.

And such a figure had left behind very limited records in history. People only knew she had naturally terminated Yin meridians, and she became a peerless Great Empress after she joined up her terminated meridians with unfathomable strength.

No one knew anything about her, things like what she did in her life, or whether she was evil or not. People did not even know where her final resting place was. Was she murdered or did she break through the confines of this world, going into another world?

The ancient Great Empress was filled with mystery and the unknown.

Maybe, one could gain some basic insight of the Great Empress' secrets inside the God Advent Tower?

With this in mind, Yi Yun walked down the long bridge and arrived at a small square in front of the God Advent Tower.

The square was made of black stone. When he stepped into the square, Yi Yun could feel his blood boiling faintly.

He looked at Lin Fengyue and Lin Xiaodie subconsciously. He realized that they had slightly surprised expressions. Clearly, they had the same feeling.

Yi Yun looked at the ground. The black stone was a material that he did not recognize. It was likely that even after a long time, there wouldn’t be a single mark on the rock surface despite the passage of time.

The floor tiles were as dark as ink. In the middle, there were mysterious dark red patterns. The patterns looked like blood patterns had solidified in the tiles.

It could even be made of a certain biological creature's blood.

Yi Yun felt that the feeling of his blood boiling was most likely due to the stone. These mysterious blood patterns had resonated with the blood in his body.

"Someone is coming."

Lin Fengyue suddenly said. Yi Yun's heart thumped, because at that moment, he could also feel a powerful aura approaching.

He looked up and there were about a dozen people walking over from the storm.

These people were clearly older. They were aged from 27 to above 30.

And walking in front of them, there was a person Yi Yun was very familiar with, Shentu Nantian.

Yi Yun looked at Shentu Nantian and Shentu Nantian did likewise. When he saw Yi Yun, he was first surprised and shocked. Following that, his face sunk as murderous intent appeared in his eyes.

"You are still alive!?"

Shentu Nantian's voice was cold. His gaze swept past Yi Yun and moved behind him. Behind him was the youth that came from the Shentu family clan and he had a terrible expression.

Shentu Nantian had given him the task of killing Yi Yun. But now, Yi Yun had appeared in front of the God Advent Tower completely fine.

"Trash!"

Shentu Nantian squeezed the word out from his teeth. The Shentu family clan disciple behind Yi Yun looked bitter. He felt that he was not Yi Yun's match at all.

He could only transmit his voice, "Young Master, we were tricked by this kid. His strength is really scary. He has been playing the sucker. Back then… "

The Shentu youth gave an account of Yi Yun's performance, and he exaggerated it at certain points to Shentu Nantian. He also emphasized how the ancient desolate beast that nearly killed Gongsun Hong was killed by Yi Yun with one arrow.

However, after he finished speaking, Shentu Nantian only sneered, "I said you are trash, yet you don't believe it. That Gongsun Hong is also a retard!"

"Ah?"

The Shentu youth was stunned. He did not know the meaning behind Shentu Nantian's words.

At that moment, Shentu Nantian ignored the youth. He then looked at Yi Yun and said with a sinister voice, "You obtained 37 Empyrean Marks?"

Shentu Nantian's words attracted the attention of everybody. At that moment, they had just passed the first trial. They naturally knew the value of Empyrean Marks, and they also knew how crazy a concept 37 Empyrean Marks meant. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"What?"

Everyone was stunned as they looked at Yi Yun in alarm. He had obtained 37 Empyrean Marks? Was that even possible?

"You used your energy eyes to find the ancient desolate beast's weakness and you killed it with one hit! It might look simple, but the angle of the attack and the strength of the attack were all very precise. It isn't that you are that strong. It is just that your ability just happens to be suitable for the first trial."

"Yet some idiots think that by imitating you, they will be able to attack the ancient desolate beast's weakness as well. In the end, they suffered, and they were f**king lucky to not have died from it."

Shentu Nantian then turned his head to look somewhere into empty space. He said with a sneering tone, "Gongsun Hong, stop hiding. Come out!"

With Shentu Nantian's strength, how could Gongsun Hong's illusion technique hide him from his eyes?

The space turned volatile. Hearing Shentu Nantian's words, Gongsun Hong felt his blood surge up. He was extremely embarrassed.

Despite his identity, he had been scolded in public as a fool, yet he had no way of refuting it.

Energy eyes? What was that?

Gongsun Hong did not know anything about Yi Yun's energy vision, but Shentu Nantian remembered this deep down. He had stumbled because of Yi Yun’s ability. Hence, when the Shentu youth described how Yi Yun passed the trial, Shentu Nantian immediately thought about Yi Yun's energy vision.

"You think you can depend on your energy eyes to pass the trials later on? It's good that you were lucky to pass the first trial. This way, I can kill you with my own hands!"

Shentu Nantian said with a sinister voice. Yi Yun frowned slightly. With a wolf staring at him from behind, this feeling was naturally very uncomfortable.

As for how Yi Yun had passed the first trial, Shentu Nantian had hit the nail on the spot. Compared to Gongsun Hong, Shentu Nantian was an enemy who knew him very well. But the crux of the issue was that Shentu Nantian's cultivation level was too high. Yi Yun was in no way Shentu Nantian's match.

The gap between the two was extremely great. This difference gave Yi Yun no choice but to be on high alert. If Shentu Nantian seized the opportunity, he would be doomed for eternity.

At that moment, Yi Yun's heart thumped. He turned his head and looked nearby. He saw a girl dressed in white slowly walking to the square from the storm.

The storm that could tear rocks gently blew the white-dressed girl's clothes and hair. Her movements were like flowing water, relaxed and composed.

When the girl landed on the black stone square, her feet was not stained by the dust.

Lin Xintong!

Yi Yun's mouth curled upwards. He smiled because he felt an inexplicable feeling of peace seeing Lin Xintong in this situation.

True Martial World - Chapter 455: Magical Weapon

After killing the ancient desolate beast, Yi Yun saw a bright point of light, shining from within the scattering rain of light.

It was another ancient relic!

Only some of the strong desolate beasts in the Great Empress mystic realm had such an ancient relic within their body's energy core. It contained huge amounts of energy.

Yi Yun's body flashed and his body pierced through the sky, catching the ancient relic in hand.

He naturally would not miss such a benefit.

"Eh?"

People were shocked when they saw Yi Yun pick something up while withstanding the storm.

"Is it a treasure?"

People were alarmed. Did a treasure drop from the ancient desolate beast? They had not noticed that before.

"What is the matter?"

The item disappeared with Yi Yun wiping his ring without any exaggeration. This made many of them curious.

The treasures within the Great Empress mystic realm was naturally not a small amount. And they only realized it now..

"This ancient desolate beast dropped a treasure after it died. Then there must have been a treasure inside the desolate beast from before. Yi Yun must have taken that one away as well."

People recalled the scene when the first ancient desolate beast was killed, Yi Yun had flown out, hundreds of feet away. Back then, they did not know what Yi Yun was doing.

Now, they learned that Yi Yun had already obtained two treasures.

Many of them were jealous, but also helpless, upon realizing this.

Although they coveted the treasures, no one dared to reveal this in front of Yi Yun. They were in no way able to handle such a fearsome person who managed to consecutively kill two ancient desolate beast, despite the methods he had used.

The way people looked at Yi Yun now contained some fear.

At that moment, a divine beam of light pierced through the storm from high up in the sky, illuminating Yi Yun's body.

This divine beam condensed onto Yi Yun's arm, forming into a purple tattoo. It was a Empyrean Mark!

"Empyrean Mark, he got another one!"

Seeing the tattoo appear on Yi Yun's arm, it was unknown what many of them were feeling.

However, this time, only one Empyrean Mark condensed on Yi Yun's arm. If there were another 36 marks, then the blow to the many young elites present would probably cause them to give up on this Great Empress mystic realm trial.

"Just one Empyrean Mark. It looks like the Great Empress mystic realm is very strict with its settings. If not, just finding a weakness of an ancient desolate beast, and then killing sufficient numbers of ancient desolate beasts would result in a large number of Empyrean Marks. If that happened, then the trial would lose its meaning."

Yi Yun guessed. The Great Empress mystic realm tested various aspects of cultivators.

Finding the weakness of an enemy was just a test of a cultivator's insight and judgment, so there could not be too many rewards.

Now, Yi Yun had 37 Empyrean Marks. His existence in the group had immediately become extraordinary.

When people looked at Yi Yun, their expressions were quite ugly. Just four hours ago, these people were in discussions of how to kill Yi Yun to receive the rewards, but now, they were all praying that they would not to fall in Yi Yun’s hands.

"This sick..." The youth with the bag from the Beast Control Sect gritted his teeth and transmitted his voice to Panther Lady, "Didn't they say that he was a Desolate Heaven Master apprentice, and came from the Backwater East? Why is he so powerful?"

The Beast Control Sect youth realized that he was not only weaker than Yi Yun, even the opportunities he could obtained inside here were incomparable to Yi Yun's. And in the end… for Yi Yun, martial arts was just a secondary focus. In the Desolate Heaven technique, Yi Yun was a peerless talent too.

It was really an exasperating comparison.

Panther Lady shook her head. She did not want to pay attention to Yi Yun. The more she did, the greater a setback she felt.

"Gongsun Hong, that scum. Don't let him fall into my hands!"

Panther Lady swore. She had transferred her hate onto Gongsun Hong. Just now, when Gongsun Hong led the ancient desolate beast to attack Yi Yun, Yi Yun had cut his flaming rope. As a result, Gongsun Hong had changed directions, implicating her.

If not for Lin Xiaodie being implicated as well, Yi Yun would definitely not have made his move so quickly. Then, she would have been in real danger.

Looking around, Gongsun Hong had seemingly disappeared into thin air. Ever since he hid with his illusion technique, he no longer had any plans to appear again. In fact, Gongsun Hong no longer had the face to show himself.

After failing so horribly with the ancient desolate beast, he had only managed to escape the crisis by using a mystic technique and the despicable means of diverting the danger. In the end, the formidable desolate beast had been easily killed by Yi Yun.

With Gongsun Hong's pride, how could he accept that?

...

"Little Brother Yi Yun, thanks!"

As the group began to make their way forward, Lin Xiaodie said while grinned at Yi Yun.

Yi Yun halted in his steps and glanced at Lin Xiaodie. He then lightly said, "Even if I did not make a move, you should have been able to avoid the ancient desolate beast's pursuit, right?"

"Indeed I could, but it would have been troublesome." Lin Xiaodie flung her long hair and smiled, "It would also have forced me to use some mystic techniques. Then it would no longer have been worth it."

After the encounter with the ancient desolate beast, people lacked interest in killing the desolate beasts in order to obtain Empyrean Marks.

They had gone all out to kill desolate beasts, yet all they had killed were low-grade desolate beasts. On the other hand, Yi Yun had killed a super desolate beast with a single arrow. The gap between them was frustrating.

The stormy winds continued to howl. People focused on handling the desolate beasts in the storm. Under normal circumstances, they would dodge when possible. If they could not dodge, they would kill it.

As such, the group walked for two hours.

The storm became weaker. People raised their heads. Not far ahead, there was the expansive God Advent Tower. It was like a black pillar that towered over the horizon. Its wide base seemed to cover the entire horizon.

In the middle of a world of ruins, filled with storms, stood such an enormous divine tower. This scene made people distraught.

And at that moment, people could see that the surroundings of the God Advent Tower were covered in faint threads. These threads went out in all directions, disappearing into the vast storms.

People drew their breaths upon seeing this scene.

They realized that the countless threads were actually bridges!

And the bridges they had used to approach the tower were just a small number out of the numerous bridges.

Maybe, every bridge was attached to another spatial entrance. And maybe every spatial entrance had a corresponding trial.

Upon thinking of this, people marveled at the vastness of the Great Empress mystic realm.

In the presence of this ancient Great Empress, who had left a name for herself through the ages, they were indeed tiny.

"This God Advent Tower might be a magical weapon that the ancient Great Empress used when she was still alive."

Lin Fengyue suddenly said when he looked at the God Advent Tower. People were stunned upon hearing this.

A Magical weapon?

This humongous divine tower was the ancient Great Empress' magical weapon?

This sounded unbelievable, but it was highly possible after some careful thought!

True Martial World - Chapter 454: A Familiar Scene

"Where did Gongsun Hong go!?"

Many of the cultivators were alarmed. In this situation, Gongsun Hong had used an illusion technique to disappear in front of everyone's eyes.

And the ancient desolate beast had also lost sight of Gongsun Hong.

Although the ancient desolate beast was strong, its perception, reaction, speed and other factors were largely limited.

For example, now, Yi Yun could see Gongsun Hong clearly, but the ancient desolate beast could not find Gongsun Hong. As such it also lost its target.

Yi Yun was not in the least surprise about this. When the ancient Great Empress created this ancient desolate beast, she had limited a lot of its abilities. If she had placed a desolate beast that was flawless in every aspect as a guardian for the first trial, then probably no cultivator would be able to pass it.

When the ancient desolate beast could not find Gongsun Hong, its gaze switched to other cultivators. And that included Yi Yun.

The ancient desolate beast growled as it slowly approached. In the middle of its forehead, its third eye had already opened. There were purple lightning bolts surrounding this eye. The blazing divine light hurt the eyes of the cultivators.

Pressure!

People held their breaths. No one dared to breath out as they were afraid that any extraneous move would cause them to become the next target of the ancient desolate beast. On the bridge in the storm, most would be given a death sentence if they were targeted by the ancient desolate beast.

They did not have life-saving means like Gongsun Hong.

"Gongsun Hong, that bastard!"

Many people began cursing in their hearts. Gongsun Hong had attacked the ancient desolate beast in a bid to earn Empyrean Marks, but after he caused trouble, he hid himself, letting them bear the brunt of it.

This shameless method made many cultivators feel hate and disdain.

However, now was not the time to think of this. The crux of the issue was how to avoid this calamity.

The ancient desolate beast growled as it slowly approached them.

There were three people that were immediately facing the ancient desolate beast, Lin Xiaodie, Panther Lady and the youth that was from the Li Fire Sect just like Gongsun Hong.

"Heh, my luck sure is bad."

Lin Xiaodie wiped her nose. She never expected for the ancient desolate beast to choose the direction facing her.

Although Lin Xiaodie said she was unlucky, she was not panicking. She touched her interspatial ring and stared at the ancient with eyes lit up. Clearly, she was planning to have a round with the ancient desolate beast.

As one of the top young geniuses of the Lin family, Lin Xiaodie was not to be trifled with.

As for Panther Lady, her expression was much uglier. She glanced at the Gongsun Hong's junior brother, and noticed his face was pale. He was at a loss what to do.

"Trash!"

Panther Lady cursed in her heart. Gongsun Hong sure was cold blooded. With his junior brother before the desolate beast's jaws, he had no intention of appearing.

At that moment, the ancient desolate beast roared and charged towards the three of them!

Its speed was extremely fast. It opened its jaws, its fangs and claws were used together to attack the three people simultaneously. Its body was humongous, so it could easily launch an attack on three bridges. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Lin Xiaodie was in the middle of the three. Her eyes flashed and leaped backward. At the same time, she pulled out a sword from her interspatial ring. Sword Qi rang as they protected her body!

Naturally, she did not dare to confront the ancient desolate beast head on. She had many combat techniques that allowed her to circle around the beast, as well as an ingenious movement technique. She could handle the current situation temporarily.

Boom!

The bridge began to shake violently. The three people dodged at the same time when the ancient desolate beast attacked. Lin Xiaodie leaped up high into the sky and flew above the ancient desolate beast's head. Panther Lady stepped aside and rolled on the floor. The youth from the Li Fire Sect was most miserable. His body was bruised by the fluctuations of the ancient desolate beast's attack. He nearly fell off the bridge.

"So tricky!"

In the air, Lin Xiaodie clenched her sword tightly. She did not know what to do next either.

Dragging this any further was not an option. She had considered attacking the desolate beast's mouth, but she knew that since Gongsun Hong had failed at it, she would probably also end up failing if she tried.

While Lin Xiaodie was still unsure of what to do, all of a sudden, a golden beam appeared in the corner of Lin Xiaodie's eye!

"Whew!"

A golden beam flashed past her at an incredible speed, heading straight for the ancient desolate beast's mouth!

Lin Xiaodie had first felt the sharp and strong air fluctuations coming from the golden beam. When it grazed past her, her cheeks felt pain. Only then did she hear the ear-piercing shrill.

And at that moment, a tremendously fierce and potent pure Yang Qi exploded from the golden beam. It accelerated and entered straight into the ancient desolate beast's mouth!

"Boom!"

The golden beam immersed deep in. At that split moment, Lin Xiaodie saw it clearly. It was an arrow!

It was a four-foot long arrow that was less than the thickness of a pinky finger. It had shot straight into the mouth of the desolate beast that was two storeys tall. This out of proportion blow was like sticking a needle into a tiger.

However, when the ancient desolate beast was hit, its body suddenly stopped. It stopped from its frenzy attacking state...

It's ferocious aura became like a deflated ball, then it suddenly disappeared.

Following that, the killing intent and luster in its fierce eyes disappeared. Its body began to tremble violently. The lightning energy stripes began to change in color and shape. This lasted for a few seconds, and right after hearing a "Peng" explosion, the ancient desolate beast exploded into a rain of light before disappearing...

"Died? It died again!"

Seeing the energy rain scattering in the sky, people stared straight at the scene as their throats twitched.

This scene seemed very familiar.

They realized something, and slowly turned their heads with great difficulty. They looked at Yi Yun, who was at the rear of the group. Yi Yun had just shot the arrow. The bowstring on the Tai Cang Bow was still shaking gently, issuing a vague twang.

He flipped his hands and stored the Tai Cang Bow in his interspatial ring. The entire process seemed relaxing.

Seeing Yi Yun's movements, many of them swallowed mouthfuls of saliva as a very odd look appeared on their faces.

This wasn't shooting an ancient desolate beast to death, this was like shooting a rabbit to death!

Back when Gongsun Hong met with failure after attacking the so-called 'weakness' of the ancient desolate beast, people began to suspect that Yi Yun's attack had been sheer luck. On the surface, the ancient desolate beast's weakness indeed seemed to be inside of its mouth, but it was probably extremely well-hidden. Even if one attacked the desolate beast's mouth, it was not enough to kill it.

And now… Yi Yun had once again killed the ancient desolate beast easily. This proved that killing this ancient desolate beast was indeed as easy as turning his hand. This was a crushing blow to the pride of many of them.

This blow was actually the second one...

They were absolutely no match for the ancient desolate beast, and could hardly survive in front of it, but when Yi Yun killed it, it looked as simple as someone slaughtering chickens and dogs. This was too abnormal!

True Martial World - Chapter 453: Withdrawing Fuel from a Boiling Cauldron

People never expected that Gongsun Hong would be heavily injured by the ancient desolate beast's claw attack. They thought that Gongsun Hong would receive plenty of rewards after easily killing the ancient desolate beast.

Panther Lady, who was jealous of Gongsun Hong for striking first, had now turned pale. She did not know what to do.

She was glad that she had not attacked, because her outcome would probably be worse than Gongsun Hong's.

Realizing this, many of them subconsciously glanced over at Yi Yun. At that moment, Yi Yun was dawdling right at the back of the group. He was a hundred feet behind Lin Yu and company, who were already lining at the back. He did not look like he was in the Great Empress mystic realm to compete for opportunities, but rather here to mess around.

However, even so, Yi Yun began to appear mysterious in the eyes of many of them. They originally believed that Yi Yun managed to kill the ancient desolate beast out of luck, but now, with Gongsun Hong attempting the same thing with disastrous effects, people were shocked. They did not know what sort of method Yi Yun had used to kill the ancient desolate beast.

"Senior brother Hong!"

Seeing that Gongsun Hong was about to fall off the bridge and into the vast storm, a youth dressed in a flaming robe took out a rope-like magical item from his interspatial ring. He wanted to throw the magical item at Gongsun Hong to save him.

However, at that moment, the ancient desolate beast roared and carried on charging straight at Gongsun Hong!

It extended its sharp claws and, with purple lightning bolts surrounding it, grabbed at Gongsun Hong's head!

Its move made the flaming robe youth's face turn white. He did not dare make a rescue. He was not sure if he too would end up incurring the wrath of the ancient desolate beast by trying to save Gongsun Hong. If he was attacked as well, then he would only end up dying with Gongsun Hong.

Gongsun Hong was just a fellow disciple. How could Gongsun Hong's life be more important than his?

"Ka-cha!"

The lightning flashed and the serpent-like, purple bolts seemed to stick close to Gongsun Hong's face. The ancient desolate beast was overwhelming. Its immense pressure caused people to retreat.

Amongst the people retreating was Yi Yun. Although he was already at a sufficient distance, his retreating speed was much faster than anyone else.

This made many of them speechless. What the heck was this kid doing here?

Actually, when Yi Yun retreated, his hand was already pressing on his interspatial ring. His mental energies had locked onto the Tai Cang Bow.

He could attack at any time, but… didn't the fun just begin? How could Yi Yun save a person like Gongsun Hong who was thinking of taking his life?

It was already not bad that he did not kick Gongsun Hong while he was down.

Of course, this was also because of the rules of the Great Empress mystic realm, which prevented Yi Yun from attacking Gongsun Hong. If that wasn't the case, and if Yi Yun wanted to be evil, he did not even know his bottom line.

Having suffered a heavy blow, Gongsun Hong's eyes flashed fiercely. He bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. As his blood essence burned, a strange fog appeared on Gongsun Hong's face. It looked a bit sinister!

"Ha!"

Gongsun Hong shouted as his bones began to emit crackling sounds. His chest, which was heavily injured, was slowly beginning to heal due to a strange energy,

Accompanying that was the squirming of Gongsun Hong's muscles. The veins on his forehead also began to bulge out one by one!

"Oh? He still has something up his sleeve?"

Yi Yun was shocked. He thought that Gongsun Hong would definitely be eliminated, he never expected that, even when Gongsun Hong was at the end of the rope, he could still use such a mystic technique to temporarily restore his battle power.

People from many of the large sects had mystic techniques as an insurance. These mystic techniques were mostly demonic cultivation techniques, so they caused significant damage to one's body. However, who would care about that in a life-threatening situation?

"Whew!"

Gongsun Hong reached out with his hand as a thick flame whip was thrown out from the middle of his palm, wrapping tightly onto a bridge.

The flame whip became taut like a rope. From the fact that Gongsun Hong was already able to control flames well enough to condense them physical items, it clearly showed how deep his insight into the fire elemental laws was.

The power of the fire elemental laws abruptly stopped Gongsun Hong's body from falling further down.

And at that moment, the ancient desolate beast lunged forward. Gongsun Hong's pupils constricted, burning his life energy and using a mystic technique, he grit his teeth and used the Sweeping Figure Sword Steps.

"Whew Whew Whew Whew!"

More than ten Gongsun Hong sword Qi avatars appeared. These sword Qi avatars were torn apart by the ancient desolate beast with a claw attack, causing a burst of Yuan Qi.

However, at that moment, Gongsun Hong pulled on the flame rope, causing it to rapidly shorten. Gongsun Hong's body shot up like an arrow. As he resisted the terrifying storm around him, he flew towards a bridge!

The target area he flew towards was the far end of the group. It was close to where Yi Yun was!

This direction included Yi Yun, Lin Yu and four other cultivators. Other than Yi Yun, they were all relatively weak.

"F**k!"

Lin Yu cursed vulgarities. Clearly, Gongsun Hong was thinking of diverting the danger!

At that moment, a saber had already appeared in Yi Yun's hand. This saber was completely red in color. There was a life-like ghost head engraved onto the saber’s handle which looked extremely evil.

This was the treasured saber Yi Yun had obtained when he robbed the Thousand Hand Granny, Blood Red Lotus!

Yi Yun's handled matters quickly. Aiming at Gongsun Hong's flame rope, he cleaved down with his saber without any hesitation.

Momentarily, a faint blood light flashed and murderous intent surged. This was the blood Qi the Blood Red Lotus had naturally. It would emerge automatically even without Yi Yun stimulating it.

At that moment, Yi Yun was worried about the Great Empress mystic realm's rules. However, if he was just cutting Gongsun Hong's rope, but not attacking Gongsun Hong's actual body, this should probably not be a violation of the no-killing rules, right?

"You!"

Gongsun Hong's eyes turned blood red. He looked at Yi Yun full of murderous intent.

Although Gongsun Hong's body was still flying upwards due to inertia, he still needed to withstand the terrifying storm under the bridge. Once Yi Yun severed the rope, he would have nowhere to act his force on, which would result in his body dropping backward again!

However, why would Yi Yun care about Gongsun Hong? He slashed cleanly with his saber.

Get lost!

"Cha!"

The flame rope broke with a snapping sound!

The long rope was like a broken bowstring. With the sound breaking boom, it rebounded back at Gongsun Hong!

Gongsun Hong's eyes seemed to be exploding. The flame whip was originally sent by him, so of course it could not hurt him. With a wave of a hand, he absorbed the flame energy, but at the same time, his body was pulled by the storm. His speed reduced and he dropped downwards once again!

And at that moment, the ancient desolate beast had already realized that it had been fooled by the sword Qi avatars. It chased after Gongsun Hong with even greater rage.

Gongsun Hong was facing imminent danger, and with Yi Yun withdrawing fuel from a boiling cauldron, he no longer had any methods left but to bite his own tongue and burn a mouthful of blood essence once again.

He forcefully gathered Yuan Qi and forced out the mystic technique for a second time. He had already hurt his core vitality, but he could not care less.

"Whew Whew Whew Whew!"

Four flaming whips were shot out by Gongsun Hong. They locked onto a bridge. But this time, Gongsun Hong avoided the bridge Yi Yun was on. However, he still chose a direction where there were people lining at the back.

Sou!

Gongsun Hong rapidly shot up and flew towards a bridge.

Yi Yun was slightly stunned. Gongsun Hong had suddenly shot out so many flame whips, so it was impossible to cut all of them.

In a split second, Gongsun Hong had landed on the bridge!

He gave Yi Yun a murderous glance. And with his body moving, a light beam covered his body, and the next moment, he had completely disappeared.

"Huh!?"

They were all suddenly stunned. Gongsun Hong suddenly disappeared into thin air. Was this invisibility?

Illusion techniques?

Yi Yun knew. Gongsun Hong may have disappeared, but in his energy vision, Yi Yun could still see Gongsun Hong clearly.

This illusion technique was not related to fire-elemental laws. Gongsun Hong had several hidden techniques. As a top under-18 disciple in the Li Fire Sect, Gongsun Hong was indeed very powerful. Even in such a situation, he could still survive!

"Roar!"

A deafening roar sounded. The ancient desolate beast followed Gongsun Hong and leaped onto the bridge!

Its huge body could fill 12 of the bridges placed side by side, so the huge impact caused the bridge to violently shake, causing the elites present to not be able to stand steadily.

Their expressions changed. In the first trial, they had not received any interference, yet it was still extremely dangerous to face the ancient desolate beast.

Now however, in the terrifying storm, with their strength restricted, they had no way of escaping when facing this ancient desolate beast!

True Martial World - Chapter 452: Tell Me What This Is

The youth that fell off the bridge had long disappeared into the storm. No one knew what his fate was. Would he be transported out of the Great Empress mystic realm? Or would he just die like that?

The younger the person was, the more they feared death. A youth retreated cowardly. He said with a pale face, "Forget it, I'll just cross the bridge steadily. At least, I will be able to see what's inside the God Advent Tower… "

With one person taking the lead, more people began retreating. They could ensure their safety if they stayed behind and not attack the beasts. As such, the pressure would be borne by Gongsun Hong and company.

Many young elites believed that there would be even more opportunities in the God Advent Tower. The Empyrean Marks obtained from the storm were of little value. Not only could they get only a few, they were also difficult to obtain.

Lin Yu was one of the people who retreated.

Lin Yu was at least self-aware. He did not dare compete with Gongsun Hong, for he would be courting death if he went in front.

Returning back to his original position, he noticed that Yi Yun was still slowly walking behind everyone else. From the beginning to the end, Yi Yun had not gone to the front.

The killing was intense at the front, but he looked like he was not involved with it. There was a pleasant and relaxed look on his face.

This made Lin Yu's mouth twitch hard. This kid! Others were breaking their necks fighting, but here he was, appearing like he was sight-seeing.

Lin Yu thought that he could show his strength this time and overshadow Yi Yun, but he ended up with a figurative black eye. Not only did he obtain anything, he had ridiculed himself. This made Lin Yu so mad that his intestines began to twist.

Why was he so unlucky!?

Yi Yun was not overtly concerned with Lin Yu's thoughts. He may look relaxed, but he was constantly observing his environment. In the storm, Yi Yun had his energy vision which allowed him to look even farther.

At that moment, in front of the group, there was only a few people left. They included Gongsun Hong, Lin Xiaodie, etc.

Even the Beast Control Sect's youth, who carried a bag on his back, had retreated. He was confident in his strength, but he had suffered too many injuries in the first trial.

In the Great Empress mystic realm, the people who passed any trial would be healed by the Great Empress mystic realm's energy. However, the healing effects were limited. Only a small portion of the injuries would be healed, so having too many injuries would leave them with no choice.

"It's also good that that bunch of trash have retreated."

Panther Lady licked her nails and hissed. As such, she could have more opportunities to kill desolate beasts, obtaining the Empyrean Mark.

"With them retreating, how many can you get?" Gongsun Hong said lightly. Panther Lady was shocked and she was left speechless.

"I am not proving my strength by walking out in front, I'm doing it for the real benefits. However, these rewards are too little."

Gongsun Hong said this and carried on with his sword out. Amongst the whole group, Gongsun Hong had killed the most number of desolate beasts.

But even so, the Empyrean Mark on Gongsun Hong's arm was only about 70% formed. After killing so many desolate beasts and consuming so much Yuan Qi, he had gathered less than one Empyrean Mark. It was too little!

"Low-grade desolate beasts give a really small reward."

Gongsun Hong squinted his eyes and looked at the blurry figures of the desolate beasts in the storm. The desolate beasts he killed were mostly the metallic wolves with wings. Those low-grade desolate beasts were easy to kill, but the amount they contributed to forming the Empyrean Mark was pathetic. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"If this carries on, I'll probably only form two complete Empyrean Marks when I reach the God Advent Tower. It's meaningless. If I can kill a high-grade desolate beast, for example, the huge eagle that attacked the youth from before… "

Gongsun Hong was not satisfied with the turtle-speed pace of accumulation. He wanted to take a risk. The huge eagle desolate beast was extremely strong. If he could kill one, he could probably obtain a few Empyrean Marks as a reward.

But… could he kill such an existence?

Gongsun Hong did not have any confidence. The difficulty of the Great Empress mystic realm was too high. In front of the ancient Great Empress, many of the peerless geniuses of the Tian Yuan world were considered ordinary people.

Gongsun Hong did not know if the huge eagle had any weaknesses. Even if it had one, he did not know where it was. He did not expect himself to be as lucky as Yi Yun.

"Luck! Hmph!"

Gongsun Hong turned around and glanced at Yi Yun. His eyes flashed cold. The Great Empress mystic realm was too unfair! Yi Yun was so timid, and yet, he had obtained 36 Empyrean Marks as a reward. However, after Gongsun Hong had desperately killed so many, he had only obtained about one and a half Empyrean Marks.

It was a heaven and earth difference. This did not make any sense!

As Gongsun Hong was thinking, he heard a dull growl in the storm. He was surprised and focused his gaze in the direction of the growl. In the storm, there was a fuzzy shadow.

The shadow slowly drew closer allowing Gongsun Hong to see it clearly. It was about 70-80 feet high and it looked like a huge tiger. Its body was covered with countless numbers of lightning bolts.

Its fangs were as long as lances and its claws were extremely sharp. They reflected cold beams.

"Oh? It's the ancient desolate beast we encountered in the first trial!"

Gongsun Hong's eyes lit up. This desolate beast was identical to the ancient desolate beast Yi Yun killed from before. It was only slightly smaller in size.

It was apparent that there were many desolate beasts of every type in the Great Empress mystic realm. They were distributed at different points.

There was no doubt that this ancient desolate beast's strength was many times stronger than the metallic wolves. They were not on the same level at all.

If the ancient desolate beast was killed, there would definitely be an amazing reward. It could perhaps compare with what Yi Yun had received!

Upon thinking this, Gongsun Hong felt his heart palpitate. The most important thing was that he already knew where the weakness of the ancient desolate beast was. It was… its mouth!

"Oh? It's the desolate beast guardian from the first trial!"

On the bridge, some of the young elites also discovered the huge tiger and shouted out.

However, they were far behind Gongsun Hong, and they had discovered the desolate beast later than Gongsun Hong. When they noticed it, Gongsun Hong had already exploded his Yuan Qi, in preparation to make attack it.

"Finally, I can obtain a large reward. The Heavens are really helping me!"

Gongsun Hong gave a long laugh. After being repressed for so long, he had finally had a reversal in luck. The desolate beast guardian in front of him was already in the bag!

Since he knew where the ancient desolate beast's weakness was, he had nothing to be afraid of. Even Yi Yun could kill it in one strike, let alone him?

"Cha!"

His long sword stabbed out, cutting through the storm, emitting a jarring sharp shriek.

Behind Gongsun Hong, many people had already seen what was happening. They were extremely jealous, especially the elites like Panther Lady. They were all confident that they could instantly kill the ancient desolate beast. But due to the great distance and their slow reaction, it was already too late for them to vie for it with Gongsun Hong.

"He got it!"

Panther Lady said indignantly, but at that moment, Gongsun Hong's sword had already stabbed his sword towards the ancient desolate beast!

The ancient desolate beast was angered by Gongsun Hong. It roared as it opened its mouth to bite Gongsun Hong.

"I was waiting for this opportunity!" Gongsun Hong was overjoyed. He had purposely attacked the ancient desolate beast's head so the ancient desolate beast would open its mouth to bite him. By doing so, its weakness would be exposed!

Gongsun Hong screamed loudly and a bright red light appeared on his sword. As a genius of the Li Fire Sect, he was most proficient in the fire elemental laws.

Piercing Inferno!

Although he was confident, Gongsun Hong did not hold back. He used a killer move that he seldom used.

Gongsun Hong's Yuan Qi was gathered on the tip of his sword. The sword Qi and the flames roared, forming a thin inferno sword beam about the thickness of a pinky finger. This was the appearance of highly condensed fire elemental Yuan Qi.

This straight sword Qi flew directly into the ancient desolate beast's mouth.

"Die!"

Gongsun Hong's face lit up. His inferno sword Qi had successfully entered the ancient desolate beast's mouth!

"Boom!"

An immense explosion rang out, as flames stirred in the storm. A sea of flames emerged in front Gongsun Hong.

For such a thin sword Qi to produce such a earth-shattering scene when it exploded made the surrounding people secretly horrified. Gongsun Hong's offensive power was too strong!

This terrifying inferno attack was not something any one of them could resist.

"He managed to kill an ancient desolate beast! The award he receives will probably be the same amount as Yi Yun's!"

"Such a pity. If I was walking in front at that moment, it would have been great. But even if I was walking in front, I would not have been able to vie with Gongsun Hong."

Such thoughts flashed across the people's minds. However, before they could say anything, their expressions were suddenly frozen.

They looked disbelievingly at the inferno storm in front of them. The storm had been pushed aside by a certain energy, while a claw surrounded by lightning bolts swiped down!

The speed of the claw was too fast. As it was concealed by the inferno storm, it had suddenly appeared, causing people to fail to react in time.

"What!?"

Seeing the huge claw attacking him, Gongsun Hong's expression greatly changed!

The ancient desolate beast that he thought he had killed had launched a deadly attack at him without any warning. It was as if the sword attack from before had not managed to hurt it at all!

How could this be possible!?

"Ah!"

Gongsun Hong let out a cry as he retreated as fast as he could. At the same time, he used his Sweeping Figure Sword Steps!

However, he had used his movement technique only after he saw the ancient desolate beast attack, so he had already lost the upper hand.

Cha!

A blade like claw swiped across Gongsun Hong's chest. The Yuan Qi force wind set off by the claw tore through Gongsun Hong's protective Yuan Qi like paper.

Following that, the wind force broke through Gongsun Hong's flesh without any impedance. His chest was lacerated and seven or eight ribs were broken. Even his right lung had been cut open. Blood sprayed out like water. The powerful blow had sent his body flying backward.

Why… !?

Gongsun Hong's face was pale. His face was full of disbelief.

Both he and Yi Yun had attacked the ancient desolate beast's mouth.

Yi Yun had killed the desolate beast, but he ended up with this outcome?

Can anyone tell me why?

Gongsun Hong's mouth was covered in blood. He was screaming in his heart. And not far from Gongsun Hong, people were stunned seeing this scene. Their mouths gaped, and did not close for a long time.

What... the hell... happened?

True Martial World - Chapter 451: Twelve Bridges

"There are twelve bridges here. Everyone choose one and go!"

Gongsun Hong said. He then leaped up and, like a brisk swallow, floated about a hundred feet out before steadily landing on one of the bridges in the middle.

He looked back at everyone, his gaze momentarily stopping on Yi Yun, "It is your turn now."

Yi Yun clearly felt the warring spirit in Gongsun Hong's eyes.

Yi Yun could understand Gongsun Hong's thoughts. He was a proud person, so he could not accept that he had been completely overshadowed in the first trial. Besides, Gongsun Hong believed he was the strongest person in the group. Gongsun Hong was indignant having lost to Yi Yun who had used trickery.

He wanted to win the number one place back.

"Let us go on up."

The young cultivators leaped onto the bridges. Some were full of confidence, while others were very careful.

Yi Yun was also one of them. When Yi Yun landed on the bridge, he could feel many gazes landing on him.

Clearly, Yi Yun's performance in the first round had attracted too much attention. Although people no longer thought that Yi Yun would be easily eliminated, no one believed that he would achieve any more amazing results.

Yi Yun was unaffected by this hostility because they could not attack him inside the Great Empress mystic realm.

On the bridge, the strong winds blew. Gongsun Hong was in the lead. He was using Sweeping Figure Sword Steps, so three of his afterimages were in front of him, paving the way. More than a hundred sword Qi beams were flying around. These sword Qi cut through the wind, reducing the pressure on Gongsun Hong. This resulted in him being able to proceed easily without needing to spend much effort.

This scene made many people secretly horrified. Even Yi Yun felt that Gongsun Hong's abilities were indeed exceptional.

And Gongsun Hong was older than Yi Yun by a bit. If Yi Yun really fought Gongsun Hong, he was not sure who would win as there was no way of estimating. He had several hidden killer moves, but Gongsun Hong, who was the best amongst the internal disciples of the Li Fire Sect, probably had quite a number of killer moves as well.

"Ah!"

At that moment, there was a shrill scream. The storm in front of them exploded and a two-meter long black shadow charged from the storm, heading straight towards Gongsun Hong who was leading the way!

This black shadow suffused a metallic sheen. It looked like a wolf, but there was a pair of metallic wings on its back, allowing it to fly freely in the storm.

Metallic desolate beast!?

Gongsun Hong was alarmed, but he was strong and he had fast reactions. While he shrank backward, three sword Qi beams whistled forward!

"Chi! Chi! Chi!"

The sword Qi cut the metallic desolate beast at its four limbs, and soon, it was torn apart!

"Peng!"

The corpse of the metallic desolate beast exploded.

Gongsun Hong gave a sigh of relief. If his reactions were not fast, the metallic desolate beast would have succeeded in its attack. The results would have been disastrous.

The metallic desolate beast's speed may be fast, but its defenses were inadequate. As long as one dodged its attack, it was not difficult killing it.

Gongsun Hong was secretly rejoicing. At that moment, a light dot separated from the remnants of the metallic desolate beast, landing on Gongsun Hong's arm.

Gongsun Hong only felt a prick on his arm. The light dot entered his skin, and became a tiny pattern, like a tattoo.

"Oh? This is..."

Gongsun Hong was slightly surprised. What was this?

Everyone's eyes landed on Gongsun Hong's arm. The Shentu family clan's youth pondered for a while before saying, "Young Master Hong, this tattoo looks like a small portion of an Empyrean Mark."

The Shentu youth's words reminded Gongsun Hong. He compared the tattoo with an Empyrean Mark on his arm and indeed, he noticed some similar patterns on the Empyrean Mark.

Gongsun Hong was overjoyed. This could mean that killing every metallic desolate beast would reward him with a tiny portion of the mark. These portions would slowly form a full Empyrean Mark.

Then if this went on, as long as he killed enough desolate beasts, he could obtain a new Empyrean Mark.

It seemed like there were plenty of opportunities to earn Empyrean Marks in the Great Empress mystic realm.

Upon thinking of this, Gongsun Hong glanced at Yi Yun. Yi Yun had only 36 Empyrean Marks, so Gongsun Hong felt he could catch up with Yi Yun eventually.

"So this bridge actually is also an opportunity!"

"I wonder how many desolate beasts needed to be killed in order to obtain an Empyrean Mark. From the size of the small tattoo, it probably needs tens of desolate beasts to form one."

The elites present quickly made their analysis. It was clear that the further one was in front, the easier it was to fight a desolate beast This also meant more Empyrean Marks. But it was also more dangerous. If one was careless, it was possible that they could fall off the bridge.

It was definitely not a simple task to kill enough desolate beasts to form one Empyrean Mark.

"There are so many martial geniuses in the Tian Yuan world. If I don't fight for it, I will vanish amongst the crowd. I have risk it!"

A youth from a large family clan jumped forward and chased after Gongsun Hong.

"I have the same thoughts as well!"

The Shentu family clan's youth chuckled and charged forward as well.

Behind him, Lin Xiaodie and Lin Fengyue also kept up. Even Lin Yu wanted to give it a try.

"Yi Yun, are you going forward?"

Lin Xiaodie looked at Yi Yun.

Yi Yun smiled and said, "I'll be watching first."

Just now, when the metallic desolate beast charged at Gongsun Hong, Yi Yun had instantly turned his energy vision on. He had probed the body structure of the metallic desolate beast.

It was not a real desolate beast, it was a metal puppet. It was made of metal whose shape was changed by the ancient Great Empress using arrays and energies.

Its body had an extremely small energy crystal core. It could not be compared to the ancient relic that resided in the huge desolate beast from before.

Besides, Yi Yun had discovered that the metallic puppets did not have any weakness. One had to use absolute power to kill them.

As such, Yi Yun could no longer resort to trickery. So he decided to observe first.

"The Great Empress mystic realm considers every aspect. It can't just test one's judgment. Although I have the Purple Crystal, I cannot always rely on it to find weaknesses to obtain the core heritage of the Great Empress mystic realm… "

Yi Yun secretly thought. Although he had perfectly completed the first trial, he was still very serious about the situations he encountered in the future.

He could not be reckless. He had to carefully analyze the situation, so as to find a path to the Great Empress' vault amidst the Great Empress mystic realm that was fraught with danger.

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun's speed naturally slowed down. In contrast, many young elites had charged forward, including Lin Yu.

"Yi Yun, you won't always have good luck!"

Seeing Yi Yun not intending to rush forward, Lin Yu gave a scornful laugh. He then plunged into the debris storm.

Yi Yun looked at Lin Yu's back without any expression. What sort of figure was the ancient Great Empress? One had to pay a sufficient price in order to obtain great rewards in the mystic realm she created. It was definitely not a place filled with easy benefits for the picking.

...

Gongsun Hong was extremely powerful. He was rushing at the front and he had unsheathed his sword. He was fully using his Sweeping Figure Sword Steps, so there were 36 sword Qi avatars in front of him.

Every place the avatars passed, the sword Qi flashed past.

"Peng!"

Gongsun Hong's sword Qi hit another metallic desolate beast and it was torn apart!

After the metallic desolate beast died, it formed an energy tattoo that engraved itself on Gongsun Hong's arm.

Gongsun Hong took a deep breath. He no longer had any joy in his eyes. Compared to the complete Empyrean Mark, the two tattoos he had earned so far combined were far from it.

This way, to form a complete Empyrean Mark, he had to kill about 30-40 metallic desolate beasts. This would consume large amounts of Yuan Qi, and when he was exhausted, he probably would not even be able to form two Empyrean Marks.

This could not work!

Gongsun Hong was considered to be in a better state. Behind Gongsun Hong, there were people already struggling to move forward. Resisting the storm was not easy, so fighting the metallic desolate beasts in the storm was even more difficult. If they were not careful, they would fall off the bridge.

Wo! Wo! Wo!

The storm roared and it became even more intense. People were already approaching the core of the storm. More and more desolate beasts arrived here.

"Roar!"

A beast roar sounded out like thunder. A bridge on one side vibrated violently, as if it was going to completely tear apart.

On this bridge, a youth cried out as his body was hit by a tremendous force!

“That is!?"

The pupils of people constricted. They saw a huge eagle, that was more than a hundred feet in length, flap its wings, sending the youth flying!

The eagle's wings were as sharp as knives. The youth's body was covered in blood, dyeing the sky red. It was shocking.

"Ah–"

The youth screamed but his body was caught in the turmoil of the storm. He was like a kite that had its string cut off. His voice was shredded by the storm as it became staccato.

"He’s dead?"

People looked at each other. They did not know what the youth's outcome would be, but they felt a chill.

And at that moment, the huge eagle no longer attacked anyone else after sending the youth flying. It flapped its wings and flew off.

"Terrifying… "

People secretly gave a sigh of relief. They were still shocked out of their wits. A desolate beast of that grade was not something they could handle.

In the area around the core of the storm, there were not only desolate beasts like the metallic wolves. There were many types of desolate beasts, with varying sizes and strength.

Some desolate beasts would not take the initiative to attack the youths. But if one was to accidentally provoke them, then the outcome would be like that youth killed by the eagle.

"When we attack the desolate beasts in the storm, not only do we need to withstand the pressure from the storm, we still need to distinguish which desolate beasts we can't defeat in such a chaotic environment. If we attacked indiscriminately, there is possibility of death… "

Many of the youths had ugly expressions. Such a trial was too difficult.

It was a simultaneous test of strength, insight, reaction and stamina.

What made people most speechless was that according to what the Great Empress mystic realm said, this was not even a trial. This was just a passage from the first trial to the second trial.

A passage itself was already so difficult!

Many people looked at the Empyrean Marks on their arms that were not even a fifth done and they had the mind to retreat.

It was very difficult to obtain even a single Empyrean Mark in the Great Empress mystic realm!

The thoughts they had before were too naive.

True Martial World - Chapter 450: God Advent Tower

"More than thirty!?"

The Thousand Hand Granny yelled, nearly biting her own tongue.

People looked at each other, feeling a bit dazed. The Empyrean Marks were especially precious. It would be impressive for a person to obtain two-three marks.

Amongst the different factions, their juniors had also obtained Empyrean Marks, but they had less than a handful. Yet this damn fatty said that Yi Yun received more than thirty marks, did he think Empyrean Marks were freely sold on the streets!?

Especially those who had entered the mystic realm but were eliminated, failing the first round. When the fatty said that Yi Yun obtained Empyrean Marks as easy as picking them up, how could they accept it?

"Little fat bastard, what nonsense are you spouting!?"

"Damn fatty, have you woken up!?"

Many family clans' younger generation were indignant as they scolded him.

The scolding from these people came from all directions. The little fatty was initially a bit taken aback after being questioned by so many people, but then he got angry. He did not mind people calling him "little fatty", but he hated people calling him "little, fat bastard" or "damn fatty".

Little fatty felt angry and immediately shouted his curses, "You bunch of trash, do you think others are like you just because you can't do it? Yi Yun obtained more than thirty Empyrean Marks, I saw it with my own eyes!"

The little fatty was willing to jump out because he knew that those who had been eliminated in the first round were all weak trash. He was not afraid to offend them, as not one of them were stronger than the others.

Those who were scolded by the little fatty who had lost his arm, immediately were like cats who had their tails stepped on when they heard him call them trash. They had already felt a blow to their self-esteem after being the first to be eliminated, so they were extremely furious.

Just as the argument was about to begin, a person beside the little fatty, another large faction elite who had been eliminated with him stood forward.

A girl said, "It was 36. I counted very carefully. There was no mistake."

The girl said and sighed, as if she was sighing over the difference between her and Yi Yun.

Following that, a few youths also confirmed it. There were in total eight youths, all from different family clans and factions. Now, with all of them giving the affirmation, these elites could not have collectively counted wrongly. Besides, there was no meaning for them to gang up to play a joke on the masses. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

As such, Yi Yun had really obtained 36 Empyrean Marks!

Upon realizing this, everyone fell into a daze. All of them looked like they had seen a ghost, especially the people from the Shentu family clan. Their faces were the ugliest.

Is that possible?

The Thousand Hand Granny's face was distorted. Her sparse white hair stood up, and with her stiff skinny body she looked like a tombstone with overgrown grass sticking out.

She had previously patted herself on the back when she found out that Shentu Nantian had obtained five Empyrean Marks, and she was also overjoyed over the chance to see the terrible state of Yi Yun's corpse. However, in a blink of an eye, reality had given her a heavy blow. Her old face had been smacked to pieces. Yi Yun was not dead, and his results had trumped everyone. What was originally not a bad result from Shentu Nantian, was not even in the singles digit of Yi Yun's number!

Her intestines were all twisted together as she grit her yellow teeth, "Impossible! There must be a reason! This kid can't have such talent. He must have used a loophole!"

The Thousand Hand Granny was very sure. Even the people from the Lin family were amazed by this, not to mention the Elders from the Shentu family clan.

Shentu Nantian represented the standard of a top genius in the Tian Yuan world, so if Yi Yun's talent was similar to his, they might have become shocked, but could still accept it. However, it seemed impossible that Yi Yun could leave such a huge gap between them...

"Junior. Tell me. How did Yi Yun pass the first trial?" The person who spoke was the Shentu family's Grand Elder Shentu Jue. He was like a skeleton draped with a layer of skin and his face was gloomy. No one could tell what he was thinking.

Shentu Jue's words contained his will and seemed to have some magical power to it. It made the youth who heard his voice answer him obediently, "Senior, the matter was like this. The first trial we encountered was to pass a bridge guarded by an ancient desolate beast. The others only dodged the ancient desolate beast's attacks, but Yi Yun found the ancient desolate beast's weakness and killed it in one hit..."

"He found its weakness?" People were stunned. " Yi Yun alone found the weakness?"

The person who spoke was an internal Elder of the Li Fire Sect. He stared at the youth who spoke, for he felt discomfort in his heart. He knew that the number one person of the last three years in his sect, Gongsun Hong was grouped together with Yi Yun. His trial was of similar difficulty as Yi Yun’s.

However, Yi Yun managed to find its weakness, yet Gongsun Hong did not?

"Yes, Young Master Hong said that Yi Yun's luck was good. It was by luck." The youth said truthfully.

By luck?

As it was not seen with their own eyes, it was hard for them to tell if it was really by luck. However, it was true that Yi Yun was extraordinary. After all, this mystic realm was created by the ancient Great Empress, so it could not have such big flaws.

"So that is how it is." The Thousand Hand Granny's expression turned sinister as she spoke hatefully, "That little bastard's eyes can see through energy. He must have used it to find the ancient desolate beast's weakness!"

The fact that Yi Yun had energy eyes was not something many of people present knew. So when she said this, people were astonished.

"This little bastard is best at being sneaky. To think that he really managed to find a loophole. However, that would be all. The Great Empress mystic realm will not have loopholes for him to exploit all the way."

...

After all the failures had been transported out of the Great Empress mystic realm, a huge pillar of light fell from the boundless sky in front of Yi Yun, Gongsun Hong and company.

This pillar of light was like a divine sword. It had split the endless white plains into two!

People were alarmed. They saw the white endless plains slowly separating from each other as if a large stage curtain was being pulled apart. And behind the curtain, was another completely different world.

Seeing this world, be it Yi Yun, Gongsun hong, Lin Xiaodie or Lin Yu… All of the young elites were stunned.

This world looked like a ruin, it was immense, and above the land were countless numbers of wreckages. There were broken buildings, bones of dead desolate beasts. There were also fragments of magical weapons and armor.

All the wreckage was swept up by an unknown force, gathering into a terrifying storm. And in the core of the debris storm, there was a faint black tower that pierced towards the sky. It was a great distance away from where Yi Yun and company stood.

This tall tower looked like a divine pillar that held the heavens up. It was vast, ancient and exuded a infinitely powerful aura.

And the place where Yi Yun and company stood was thousands of meters up in the sky. They stood in a gap that seemed to be like a tiny window high up in the sky. Through this tiny window, they could see the vast and mysterious world.

And what made their heart palpitate, was the twelve one-foot-wide bridges right in front of the tiny window. They stretched out into the sky, to the limits of one's vision, disappearing inside the vast debris storm.

These bridges had no support. They were like rainbows stretching across the sky! Far into the distance, where the fierce storm was brewing, the bridges were also shaking due to the storm, as if they would break at any time.

Seeing this scene, people were amazed. The visual impact of this scene was too great.

Gongsun Hong's expression was dignified as he said solemnly, "I guess that this leads all the way to the faraway tower."

Gongsun Hong's words made everyone look at each other. The bridges were too narrow. And they were suspended amidst that strange storm. It could not be seen well nor could their perception probe it.

As for the tall tower in in the horizon, it was too far away. As such, these bridges were probably much longer than they imagined.

At that moment, the cold voice of the Great Empress mystic realm sounded out in everyone's ears, "Step onto the bridge to reach the God Advent Tower and open the second level's trial!"

"God Advent Tower? That black tower's name is the God Advent Tower?"

Gongsun Hong squinted his eyes and looked at the black tower in the horizon.

God Advent! A tower where Gods appeared!

What would the tower have inside of it to have such a name?

Although passing the bridge was not the second trial, but seeing the horrifying storm in the distance, it was probably not going to be an easy task.

If they slipped off the bridge, something horrible might even happen.

As for using their own strength, or magical items to help them fly, it seemed impossible. All the elites present could faintly feel a powerful force field in this mysterious world. It was a force that was distorting space itself!