Chapter 4137: Zhang Tian Jiao
It was calm in the Myriad Laws Academy.
For ordinary students, they knew that the Trial of Gods had nothing to do with them. It was a place for the most outstanding young prodigies from the heavyweight supreme-rank forces, including the Myriad Laws Academy, in the Profound Energy Land. Although they, as students of the academy from ordinary supreme-rank forces, were qualified to compete for a chance to enter the Trial of Gods, they knew that the academy only had a few places for students to enter the Trial of Gods. As such, only the most outstanding students would be selected.
As for the other 80 places, it was up to the other heavyweight supreme-rank forces how they decided to divide them.
Over the past few decades, most, if not all, of the top prodigies from the other heavyweight supreme-rank forces in the Profound Energy Land had arrived at the Myriad Laws Academy. Even those who arrived later had already accumulated enough points to enter the Trial of Gods. Needless to say, most of them were Emperors of Gods.
Several young Emperors of Gods from the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion, which only had female members, had also been sent to the Myriad Laws Academy. One of them was Tuo Ba Xiu, whom Duan Ling Tian was briefly acquainted with in the past.
In the past, despite her different surname, Tuo Ba Xiu was a member of the Yuwen clan in the Underworld Mansion, one of the Seven Mansions. She was also the strongest female cultivator during the Seven Mansions Feast, in which Duan Ling Tian ranked first in. Although she did not rank in the top three in the end, no one underestimated her strength. Moreover, apart from Duan Ling Tian, she was much younger than those who ranked above her.
After the Seven Mansions Feast ended, before Tuo Ba Xiu returned to the Yuwen clan in the Underworld Mansion, she was brought away by the people from the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion, a heavyweight supreme-rank force in the Profound Energy Land.
At that time, Tuo Ba Xiu was facing a certain crisis. A group of Emperors of Gods had come to kill her. At that time, although she had a group of Emperors of Gods protecting her as well, she was still in danger. At the critical moment, an advanced Emperor of Gods from the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion arrived and defeated the opponents before bringing her away.
After joining the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion, she became the disciple of a Supreme God. Although the Supreme God's cultivation base was average, a new intermediate Supreme God, the Supreme God had a high status in the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion. This was because the Supreme God's master was an advanced Supreme God in the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion.
Since Tuo Ba Xiu's grandmaster was an advanced Supreme God, she received special treatment as soon as she joined the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion. Without special treatment, it would have been impossible for her to become a rudimentary Emperor of Gods in just 100 years.
At this time, Tuo Ba Xiu had also accumulated enough points to obtain a chance to enter the Trial of Gods. Whether she would be able to successfully enter the Trial of Gods in the end would depend on her performance during the competition between the other heavyweight supreme-rank forces.
The other three disciples of the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion who came to the Myriad Laws Academy with Tuo Ba Xiu were also the most outstanding young prodigies in the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion. Among them, two were intermediate Emperors of Gods and one was a rudimentary Emperor of Gods.
At this time, one of them, an intermediate Emperor of Gods, came to Tuo Ba Xiu's courtyard to chat with her. She was the disciple of Tuo Ba Xiu's senior uncle.
"Junior Sister Xiu, you and Duan Ling Tian came from the Seven Mansions and participated in the Seven Mansions Feast at the same time. Are you familiar with him?"
Tuo Ba Xiu shook her head gently. A complicated expression could be seen on her face as she said, "Senior sister, I'm not very familiar with him."
Previously, Tuo Ba Xiu assumed that her progress would be fast enough to catch up to him or even surpass him due to her special treatment in the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion. She did not expect that she would be inferior to him. Although he had yet to break through into the realm of an Emperor of Gods, he was capable of killing Wang Yun Sheng, a Holy Son of the Lone Primordial Spirit Congregation, and four other disciples of the congregation in the past. At that time, he was just an intermediate Lord of Gods, but he possessed strength that was not any weaker than that of most rudimentary Emperors of Gods. Since that was 100 years ago, she thought that it was highly likely that he had already become an advanced Emperor of Gods. With that, he would definitely be stronger.
"I heard that he's only about 800 years old. He's not even 900 years old," the young woman said. She was beautiful and had a graceful figure. Her eyes flashed with curiosity when she spoke about Duan Ling Tian.
She had been born and raised in the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion and did not have much interaction with men. When she grew older, she left the pavilion and met a number of men. However, she felt those men were too mediocre. Some of them were even weaker than her. In fact, even some of those young prodigies from heavyweight supreme-rank forces were weaker than her. As for those young prodigies from prime supreme-rank forces, even if they were stronger than her, she was not convinced of their strength since she felt that they were only stronger than her due to the superior resources they received. As such, she had yet to find a man worthy of her respect.
However, she thought Duan Ling Tian from the Myriad Laws Academy was different. He came from a humble background. He relied on himself and climbed all the way up from the mundane realm. He was not even 1,000 years old, but he had already achieved so many things. She truly thought that he was an extremely talented person. In her opinion, only such a man was worthy of her. It was also the first time she fell in love with a man even though she had never met him and had only seen him through recordings on Floating Image Pearls.
"The pavilion's information can't be wrong," Tuo Ba Xiu said as her expression remained complicated. Like many others, she thought Duan Ling Tian was under the age of 3,000. She did not expect that he was not even 1,000 years old.
Zhang Tian Jiao, the young woman, the intermediate Emperor of Gods who was the strongest among the younger generation in the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion, smiled and asked, "Junior Sister Xiu, Duan Ling Tian is so outstanding. Are you interested in him? If you're in love with him, then I'll give up on him."
Upon hearing Zhang Tian Jiao's words, Tuo Ba Xiu's heart moved slightly. However, she shook her head and said, "Senior sister, what are you talking about? I've only met him a few times. How can I be in love with him?"
Tuo Ba Xiu sighed inwardly when she recalled the information the Rainbow Phoenix Pavilion obtained in the lower realms regarding Duan Ling Tian. As it turned out, he already had a family. He had two wives and two children.
"Junior Sister Xiu, if you're not interested in him, then I'll make a move on him," Zhang Tian Jiao said. Her smile was bright and beautiful. It was as though she had already successfully captured Duan Ling Tian's heart.
Tuo Ba Xiu smiled wryly. She assumed Zhang Tian Jiao did not read the information so she asked, "Senior sister, didn't you read the information about him? He already had a family in the lower realms. He has two wives and many partners. Moreover, his two wives also bore him children..."
Zhang Tian Jiao did not seem to care at all as she said, "I've read it, and I know he has a family. So what? I'm Zhang Tian Jiao, not a woman from the mundane realm. A woman from the mundane realm only has a short life. At most, they could live for about 100 years. Perhaps, that's why they're jealous and narrow-minded. On the contrary, for cultivators like us, as long as we continue to get stronger, we can live for tens of thousands of years, even hundreds of thousands of years. So what if he has many women? Even if a man loves only me, I won't like him if he's weak."
Zhang Tian Jiao did not hide the fact that she did not care that Duan Ling Tian already had a family.
Tuo Ba Xiu was stunned by Zhang Tian Jiao's words. After a moment, various emotions rose in her heart. She felt that Zhang Tian Jiao's words were reasonable. Similarly, she would not like a weak man even if he only loved her alone. The only man she had taken a liking to was Duan Ling Tian.
After a moment, Tuo Ba Xiu asked, "Senior sister, if that's the case, why does it matter if I'm interested in him or not?"
Earlier, Zhang Tian Jiao had said she would give up on Duan Ling Tian if Tuo Ba Xiu was interested in Duan Ling Tian.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tian Jiao smiled and said, "Junior Sister Xiu, I was only worried you wouldn't want to share a husband with me. Needless to say, if you don't mind, then I won't mind."
"Senior sister..." Tuo Ba Xiu felt both speechless and helpless. She did not realize until now that her aloof and icy senior sister had this side to her.
Zhang Tian Jiao chuckled before she said, "Junior Sister Xiu, I'm serious. Don't miss out on such a good man."
...
As the days passed, those who were going to enter the Trial of Gods had also been determined.
100 people were allowed to enter the Trial of Gods. Out of 100, 20 were from the Myriad Laws Academy, and out of the 20, eight were from the Legacy faction and two were from the Inner Palace faction.
Under normal circumstances, nine people from the Legacy faction and one person from the Inner Palace faction would be sent into the Trial of Gods. However, when the Trial of Gods opened 10,000 years ago, the Inner Palace did not send anyone while the Legacy faction sent ten people. This time, the Inner Palace faction was allowed to use its unused quota from before. However, unused quotas could only be carried forward once. As such, the maximum number of people from the Inner Palace faction allowed to enter the Trial of God was two.
In any case, the Legacy faction did not have any objection regarding this matter.
As for the remaining ten places, they would be given to the best students in the Myriad Laws Academy. Those from the Legacy faction, who were not chosen by the faction, could compete for these places providing the quotas for the faction had already been filled.
The other heavyweight supreme-rank forces also selected 80 people using their own methods. Some of the forces won seven to eight places while some only won three or four places. All heavyweight supreme-rank forces were given a minimum of three places, which they did not have to compete for. Otherwise, there would definitely be dissatisfaction among the heavyweight supreme-rank forces whose young prodigies were not chosen.
...
On the day before the Trial of God opened, a thunderous voice rang in the Myriad Laws Academy.
"Students who have been selected to enter the Trial of Gods must gather in the central square tomorrow at noon."