Chapter 1180 - Rewards

The moment Liu Wuxie unleashed his blade, his two remaining opponents and even the surrounding cultivators froze in shock. The blade ray swept across the battlefield, stirring storms of dust and air. The compressed atmosphere rumbled like thunder, echoing with the force of his strike.

It wasn't the technique itself that shook them but the aura pouring from Liu Wuxie. In that instant, he seemed like an invincible deity descending into the mortal world.

At the center of the battlefield, Mu Heng and Shen Yue's expressions darkened. Everyone knew the four slain attackers had ties to them, even if the men had acted on their own. Liu Wuxie's brilliance had stolen the glory that was supposed to be theirs, and now, their plan to remove him had backfired spectacularly.

"Die!" Liu Wuxie's cold voice rang out. The temperature plummeted across the arena, and frost spread in a thin veil over the sky. His strike bent the very laws of heaven and earth, a force even Transcendent Realm cultivators could never hope to match.

His blade intent exploded, flooding the arena in a tide of murderous will. At that moment, he resembled an ancient god of war. The first man's body burst into a bloody mist, while the last froze in terror, too afraid to move. A cold gleam flashed, and his head fell with a single stroke.

With that, Liu Wuxie had killed all four attackers.

Liu Wuxie calmly bent to collect their interspatial rings as though he had done something trivial. Gasps of disbelief spread across the arena. In only five breaths of time, he slew four seventh-level Transcendent Realm cultivators. Those who stood closest scrambled backward, desperate to avoid provoking him further.

"He's too ruthless!" someone exclaimed. Liu Wuxie's strength intimidated the other participants, and they didn't dare step forward to target him.

"Let's leave. There's something about him we can't handle," another said. The crowd cleared a wide perimeter around him, and no one dared draw too close.

Though other seventh-level Transcendents fell, ninth-level experts felled most of them. Yet Liu Wuxie, a mere seventh-level Heaven Profound cultivator, had slain them outright.

After pocketing the rings, Liu Wuxie lifted his gaze to meet Mu Heng and Shen Yue's eyes.

"I don't want trouble, but I'm not afraid of it. If this happens again, I won't show mercy," he said, his voice booming across the battlefield. He had never really acknowledged them as threats from the very beginning.

So what if they were children of planet lords? In his eyes, even immortals were nothing.

The onlookers gaped in disbelief. To speak so openly against Mu Heng and Shen Yue was no different from courting death. But when they pieced together the truth, mocking smiles spread across their faces.

"Brat, you're courting death!" Mu Heng roared, his face twisted in rage. Never before had anyone dared address him in such a tone.

"If you say another word, you'll end up like them," Liu Wuxie said, pointing his blade at the corpses at his feet. His eyes gleamed like icy blades of soul energy, stabbing into Mu Heng's mind.

Mu Heng staggered as Liu Wuxie's soul energy rattled his dao heart. He hadn't expected Liu Wuxie's soul energy to be so fearsome.

In the past, Liu Wuxie would have killed them without hesitation, but now, his thoughts were elsewhere—Han Feizi and the True Martial Continent, which teetered on the brink of destruction.

He had no time to waste. Joining the Heavenly Dragon Sect was his top priority, and killing Mu Heng and Shen Yue would only create endless trouble.

Still, Mu Heng's face burned with humiliation. He wanted nothing more than to crush Liu Wuxie.

"Let it go," Shen Yue tugged at him, her voice calm. "Why stoop to his level? We don't even know if he'll pass the assessment. Why waste energy on him?"

She was right. If Liu Wuxie failed, he wouldn't even be able to leave the Dragon Expanse Mountain Range alive with such pitiful cultivation.

"He's too aloof," the northern elder muttered. To call out Mu Heng and Shen Yue so openly was foolish. He'll only bring powerful enemies down on his head.

"Cultivation requires pressing forward without hesitation," Elder Ding countered with a smile. "One who always hides will never go far. Repressing feelings only breeds inner demons."

Unlike the other elder, he felt optimistic about Liu Wuxie, who acted straightforwardly. Pent-up emotions only gave birth to inner demons.

Though Liu Wuxie had chosen not to pursue Mu Heng and Shen Yue further, the matter was far from over. When he fulfilled his greater purpose, he would surely settle accounts.

"Brat, I'll remember you," Mu Heng snarled.

"My name is Liu Wuxie. Remember it well," he replied, voice calm yet sharp. His gaze swept the arena, forcing those around him to retreat instinctively. The aura he radiated was overwhelming.

"There's something about him I can't see through," Elder Ding murmured, frowning. It felt as though an invisible force surrounded Liu Wuxie, one that could even disturb Primal Origin Realm experts.

Soon, Liu Wuxie's name spread across the arena like wildfire. He had declared it deliberately, to draw the attention of the sect's upper echelons, especially Elder Ding.

The fighting continued, the number of participants dwindling by the minute. Yet none dared come near Liu Wuxie again.

Two hours later, Elder Ding announced the end of the segment; only thirty thousand people remained in the arena, after all.

Corpses littered the battlefield, the stench of blood suffocating. Tens of thousands had died in this second trial. No assessment had ever proved so brutal before.

"How cruel... why would anyone still want to join the Heavenly Dragon Sect?" He Yingwu whispered, face pale. Even the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy's recruitment had never been so bloody.

"If they can't join, they'll only die faster," Liu Wuxie said calmly. He understood the truth of the cultivation world. Survival required strength, and only powerful sects could provide resources and protection.

Transcendent Realm cultivators outside were little more than guards and expendable retainers. Death awaited them daily. Joining the Heavenly Dragon Sect meant a relatively peaceful life. Cruel as it seemed, the sect was heaven itself compared to the outside world.

He Yingwu had yet to truly grasp the cruelty of the astral domain. In the Fleeting Cloud Celestial Realm, competition was even harsher.

The injured withdrew from the valley, while others left the dead where they fell and would only clear them away later.

"What's the meaning of cultivation at all? Is this path worth it?" He Yingwu muttered, shaken by the carnage.

"Everyone yearns for eternal life," Liu Wuxie sighed. "But they've forgotten that it is a path paved with corpses. Mountains of bones line the road to immortality."

In the eyes of powerhouses, the lives of others were comparable to the lives of mere ants.

"You may rest for fifteen minutes before the third segment begins," Elder Ding announced. "During this break, I will reveal the rewards for this year's top ten."

Excitement rippled through the crowd. They hadn't risked everything just for admission—they wanted resources such as astral stones, spiritual pills, arts, and treasures.

"The true assessment begins now," Elder Ding declared. "Those ranked seventh to tenth will receive a Heart Purification Pill. Fourth to sixth will receive both a Heart Purification Pill and a Great Clarity Divine Pill. Second and third will receive both pills plus a copy of the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms."

His gaze swept the arena. Many at the peak of the Transcendent Realm gasped, their breathing ragged. Any one of those pills could raise their cultivation a level unconditionally.

A faint smile curved Liu Wuxie's lips. With those pills, he could reach the ninth-level Heaven Profound Realm. More importantly, the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms was one of the sect's ten supreme arts.

Though the reward was likely incomplete, the Heavenly Dao Book and his comprehension would allow him to restore it.

"If I could just make it into the top ten..." many cultivators whispered. For most, admittance was uncertain. The rewards seemed even further out of reach.

"That's strange," others muttered. "Why would they include the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms? Isn't it useless without the Heavenly Sacred Dragon Scripture?"

The Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms needed the scripture to unleash their full might. Alone, its power diminished.

Elder Ding's following words silenced them. "The first place will receive everything I have just announced, plus the Heavenly Sacred Dragon Scripture itself."

The revelation stunned the arena.

Mu Heng's lips curved into a cold smile. His goal had always been the sect's ten supreme arts. The Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms was one, and it could evolve into a mythical art, the Great Heavenly Dragon Art.

The Great Dragon Aspect Art that Liu Wuxie had mastered was derived from that very mythical art. If he could obtain the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms, it would help him evolve his dao technique into the Great Heavenly Dragon Art.

"The first place will surely belong to Mu Heng or Shen Yue," many said, sighing. "For us, it's enough to aim for the top ten."

After all, even the lower rewards could propel their cultivation to the Origin Conversion Realm.

"Wuxie, you must fight for the rewards!" He Yingwu urged, eyes shining with hope. "With them, you'll reach the Transcendent Realm!"

He had no idea what exactly the pills would do, but the greed in every cultivator's gaze told him they were priceless treasures, even in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

They were weak at the moment. However, if Liu Wuxie could advance, they could truly establish themselves within the sect.

"Let's focus on passing the assessment first," Liu Wuxie replied calmly. The rewards were tempting, but obtaining them would not be easy.