Chapter 931: Second Trial: Test of the Soul!
After taking a look at the massive pile of top-grade spirit stones he had gathered, Shun Long's lips finally curved up into a satisfied smile, before he turned his attention back to the white hall and focused on absorbing the immortal qi in the air around him.
Although he didn't know what kind of test the second trial would contain, it was better to fully replenish his qi reserves beforehand and be thoroughly prepared.
After all, just the first trial alone was already far beyond the level of what average peak rank 9 Dao Kings could handle!
Even the first stage, where they had to fight a single 'Ravenous Earth lizard' paired with a 'Red Lightning sparrow', would most likely eliminate the vast majority of Dao Kings who attempted the trial, let alone the stages following after that.
After all, a single rare-rank magic beast was powerful enough to obliterate an average peak rank 9 Dao King all by itself. Pairing two of them together made the trial borderline impossible for most people, thus eliminating the majority of Dao Kings from the get-go!
''So this is the method the 'Imperial Mandate sect' used to convey its message... As long as you can't deal with two peak sixth-stage magic beasts at the same time, you are not even qualified to become an outer disciple of the sect, huh?''
As he came to this conclusion Shun Long lightly shook his head, realizing it made sense.
After all, the 'Imperial Mandate sect' was almost certainly a sect from the 'Immortal Dimension'. Would such a sect possibly lack disciples begging to join it? Of course not. Even third-tier sects of the 'Immortal Dimension' ruled over vast amounts of land and had countless powerful kingdoms and families under their influence. As for second-tier and first-tier sects... those ones controlled entire worlds! So why would such sects send a relic like the 'City of Immortals' to a mortal world to find potential disciples? It was obviously because they were looking for the cream of the crop among disciples in those worlds!
Sure, magic beasts were inherently stronger than cultivators of the same level, but that wasn't an absolute rule either. Cultivators who were born with powerful unique physiques or those who possessed extraordinary bloodlines could easily deal with common and even rare-rank magic beasts relatively easily. They wouldn't struggle against a single 'Ravenous Earth lizard' or a 'Red Lightning sparrow'.
In fact, Shun Long was certain that he hadn't been the only Dao King who had managed to kill that many 'Ravenous Earth lizards' and 'Red Lightning sparrows' during the first trial either. Most likely, the successors of the powerful factions of the central continent, and those ranked in the 'Heavenly Rankings' would have managed to do the same as well! Even if they hadn't killed as many beasts as he did, they wouldn't be that far off either.
...
A full day later, Shun Long finally opened his eyes and stood up before turning his gaze towards the distant silver door. His golden balls of qi were filled with essence again and his exhausted body was more or less recovered after an entire day of resting, allowing him to turn his sights towards the second floor.
After a brief moment of contemplation, a subtle smile formed on his lips as he muttered in a curious tone ''I wonder how Mei'er and the others are doing...'' Then, without any further delay, he ignored all distracting thoughts and walked towards the mysterious silver door.
...
At this point, Shun Long wasn't overly worried about the second floor or what type of trial it would contain.
After spending an entire day in the white hall, he had heard plenty of conversations around him and inadvertently learned a lot of things.
The first was about how people outside the 'Heavenly Tower' seemed to have known so much about the interior of the tower without entering inside.
Apparently, once someone failed the same trial three times in a row, they would be kicked out of the 'Heavenly Tower'! This was also why people outside the tower seemed to know so much about those who had passed the 4th and 5th floors already. After all, those who had reached the cusp of the 4th floor previously would interact with each other in the resting areas, just like Shun Long right now, so it was only a matter of time before information about the tower spread to the outside world!
However, the most important thing that Shun Long had learned during this time was definitely about the second floor of the tower! Apparently, the second trial had something to do with a person's soul. Although Shun Long didn't know whether it involved raw spiritual strength like some Dao Kings had mentioned, if it tested one's fine-tuning of their spiritual strength and its different applications as others described, or if it was something as simple as expanding one's soul sense and seeing how far it could reach, the core of the trial remained the same.
Still, as far as his soul was involved, Shun Long wasn't worried in the slightest about any tests. Although the soul was indeed the most mysterious and fragile part of a cultivator's body alongside their dantian, it was, without a doubt, Shun Long's most terrifying asset! At this point, Shun Long was confident that his soul strength could practically rival an early-stage Sovereign realm expert, and after being struck by the 'Heavenly Tribulation' again and again in the 'Endless Desert', it had been tempered to such a degree, that even a full-out soul attack from an early-stage Sovereign couldn't harm him.
...
Without any hesitation, Shun Long took a couple of steps forward, arriving right in front of the mysterious silver door. Under the watchful gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings, his right hand then nestled on the silver door, causing the previously dormant runes on the door's surface to suddenly flare to life!
In the next moment, Shun Long's entire body was covered by a familiar silver light, completely obscuring him from the surrounding Dao Kings, before his figure suddenly vanished from the white hall.