Chapter 305: The Fifth Trial, the Valley of Destruction

Jiang Chen’s spirit ocean had just endured the baptism of tumultuous waves and became as beautiful and impressive as a rainbow after the rain.

“Is... is this the allure of the earth spirit realm?” Jiang Chen could feel the spirituality and strength of his spirit ocean and how it embodied endless life force.

Compared to the previous small spirit realm, there was a noticeable increase in quality.

Wham, wham, wham.

Jiang Chen briefly deployed his spirit ocean and could feel the subtle accents of both thunder and wind in his spirit ocean.

It seemed that the level of one’s spirit ocean in the earth spirit realm was indeed quite extraordinarily different!

Jiang Chen could feel that the level of his spirit ocean was twofold, or even threefold what it’d been before.

He could feel vigorous vitality suffuse his entire body and boundless life force surging and flowing within his body, as if a slowly awakening beast wanting to burst out of the bonds of its imprisonment.

“Good, good! To make a breakthrough in the midst of battle, this ought to sweep away all the dejection of the past couple of days!” Jiang Chen felt a wave of heroism rise when he felt his strength increase.

He deployed the Seal and threw out a seal.

Wham wham wham!

This seal actually carried with it the breath of a dragon and roar of a tiger, vibrating with spirit energy, giving others a suffocating feeling as it broke through the air.

The earth spirit realm had indeed brought Jiang Chen a noticeable leap forward in the quality of his spirit ocean.

Bam!

The golem took a few steps backwards when it was struck by that seal.

Jiang Chen was in his element, akin to a duck taking to water. Enormous inspiration suddenly surged in his mind as his comprehension of the “Obscure Seal of Life and Death” was suddenly elevated. He delivered blows that were as powerful and unconstrained as a heavenly steed soaring across the skies. Each seal was as if executing a freehand brush stroke, fluid and natural.

Jiang Chen handled all movements dexterously, like an immortal from another realm, ethereal and intangible, but as impressive as the myriad scenes of nature beneath the heavens.

The “Obscure Seal of Life and Death” encompassed all beneath the heavens, and all its hand seals were formed from the heart through comprehending all scenes upon the world.

The seal suddenly seemed like the ancient mountain ranges of old, repressing monsters and evil.

The seal then seemed as if the boundless, raging oceans devouring the earth.

It abruptly became the dragons soaring through the nine heavens, and then a tiger howling through the mountains.

One moment like the crack of thunder, another the arrival of the aurora borealis.

Such a seal of life and death brimming with an immense aura suddenly gave rise to all various phenomena in the universe, indicating that Jiang Chen had deployed the Seal to a realm that he never had before.

The power behind this attack had also risen by two to threefolds since Jiang Chen had broken through to the earth spirit realm.

Add to that the restraining force from the magnetic force field, the golem sank into the role of passively suffering a beating in the span of a second.

This scenario was like the golem was Jiang Chen’s training tool, and solely existed to be pummeled by Jiang Chen.

Countless numbers of seals blasted into the golem. Even though the materials making it up were heaven defying and its defensive capabilities utterly astonishing, it still wasn’t enough to bear up beneath this destructive assault.

Bam!

The final seal crashed into the golem like a blow of thunder and wind, completely destroying the golem.

Jiang Chen slowly wound himself down and looked down at the remains of the golem on the ground, also thinking that he’d been lucky.

Based on his own calculations, it’d been almost ten days. If he hadn’t been decisive in the last moment and achieved a tangible breakthrough, he wouldn’t have had a single hope of destroying this golem.

The joy of breaking through to the earth spirit realm and passing the test in the last second brought about the result of two joys descending upon Jiang Chen at the same time, resulting in great gains.

When he opened the door, countless pairs of eyes focused on him in the same instant.

“What? He... he’s emerged?”

“This... this means he’s defeated the golem?”

“Isn’t the time not up yet? The golem will naturally stop when time is up. The golem hasn’t stopped, so what is he doing out here?”

“Can it be that he really defeated the golem?!”

According to the rules, the door to the secret chamber wouldn’t open before the golem was defeated. The golem would only stop and the doors open when time was up.

However, there was still half an hour until the final deadline. According to the rules, the golem shouldn’t have stopped yet.

The doors naturally wouldn’t open if the golem hadn’t halted.

After all of the organizers’ brains had hiccuped with shock, they suddenly recalled something.

“The golem won’t stop before the time runs out. This means that this candidate actually passed the tenth level of difficulty? How, how can this be?”

“Tsk tsk, he’s the freak with the boulder’s heart alright. A true genius! And we were saying that three people had passed the eighth level of difficulty. It seems that they are destined to be the backdrop for this genius. The most preeminent of geniuses must trample over the bodies of others to become the most brilliant star in the sky!”

“This was the tenth level of difficulty! This freak of the boulder’s heart not only has a strong strength of heart, exceptional talent, but his ability in practical combat is at such a frightening level! This was the equivalent of the peak of the fifth level spirit realm. Can this young man’s level of training already be at this level?”

“I had thought all the remarks saying that he had the right to challenge the the most preeminent geniuses of the four great sects were hyperbole, but now it looks that he truly does have the right to do so.”

“Indeed, don’t forget that there are three years for the second selection. If this time is utilized well, then this genius will surely soar to the heavens.”

“I have no doubt that this genius isn’t the slightest bit less than any of the sect geniuses. It was a pity that he hadn’t been discovered by the sects before. If he had been on the same starting line as the sect geniuses, he may be the first amongst the younger generation now!”

The compliments cascaded down upon each other with increasing degree.

Of course, they didn’t think that their praise was too high. For a secular genius to reach this level, they were well aware of what this meant.

If such a genius had received the sect’s full resources from the very beginning, then he truly would be on par with all the sect geniuses.

The main organizer didn’t dare put on any airs now when he accepted Jiang Chen’s token.

No matter what the future was, the organizers all knew that this young man was destined to soar to the skies, unstoppable in his momentum.

Therefore, even though he was an organizer, he didn’t dare treat this genius lightly.

The three who had passed the eighth level of difficulty were all privately depressed to see Jiang Chen walk out from the secret chamber.

However, they all had to admire him as well. This kind of ability did indeed give them the feeling of gazing upon a high mountain.

After recording these results, the organizer returned the token wreathed in smiles. “Congratulations, passing the tenth level of difficulty has truly opened our eyes. You are the first amongst the secular disciples, and your placement cannot be challenged by any.”

This wasn’t mere praise, but purposeful flattery already.

Jiang Chen smiled as he accepted the token, “This one is unworthy of the organizer’s regard.”

After Jiang Chen had emerged from the secret chamber, the fourth trial was officially announced to have come to a close.

What followed then was a tense period of ranking. Of course, there was no doubt about who was at the top.

The top eight thousand candidates were quickly ranked.

Those below the top eight thousand were all sent out of the legacy territory of ancient times. The victors triumphed and losers were discarded. Such was the cruel reality of this selection, with no room for the slightest bit of personal relationships.

The ones who remained, particularly those who ranked further to the back, all breathed silent sighs of relief.

However, they knew that competition would only become greater in the remaining challenges.

The sects would only select three thousand in the end, this meant that five thousand out of their group were destined to pass by the doors of the great sects.

However, if any of those rejected had given a stunning performance in the second trial, they would still receive particular attentions going forward and still had a ray of hope.

“Alright, four of the five trials have now passed. You eight thousand are quite lucky to make it into the fifth trial. I will tell you now that no one will be disqualified in the fifth trial.”

“What? No one will be disqualified?”

“No one is eliminated in the fifth trial? That means all of us are qualified to enter the four sects and receive the boundless glory of being a sect disciple?”

The candidates were all beyond themselves when they heard that no one would be eliminated in the fifth trial.

“Don’t be too excited too early, there are only three thousand slots to enter the sects. The fact that no one is being eliminated in the fifth trial doesn’t mean that all of you have entered the four sects. The fifth trial tests fortune. Fortune and luck are intangible and mysteriousness. Whether or not you believe it, fortune and luck are present in the path of martial dao. The stronger one is and higher the comprehension, the more one will sense their existence.”

“In this trial you will enter a place called the ‘Valley of Destruction’ for ten days. In this trial, all of you will encounter various fortuitous encounters, challenges, and even danger. How your life will be will materialize in this trial. If your luck is strong and fortune steady, then the lucky star may shine upon you and you may pick up a treasure even by bending over. If you lack good fortune, then you may run into disaster every three steps and a calamity every five steps. You make sprain your ankle when you walk and choke when you drink water...”

Of luck and fortune, Jiang Chen was a devout believer.

In his understanding of everything in his past life, he naturally had a deep understanding of fate and the heavenly law. He also knew that whether it was ordinary folk or the Celestial Emperor, none could escape the being affected by fortune.

“I was the son of the Celestial Emperor from the moment I was born, so it has to be said that my luck was quite good. However, my meridiens were crippled from birth and I couldn’t train, this meant that I was lucky but with no fortune. With this reincarnation, setting aside the matter of luck and fortune, at least I can train. At least I grasp my destiny in my hands. If I happen to be blessed with luck and fortune as well, then it would make perfection even more perfect. If I lack this in this life, then I will use my strength and abilities to triumph over this destiny. The ancient adage goes that man’s will, not heaven, decides, and that the world is determined by man. Fate exists, but it is not incontrovertible. Within the operation of the heavenly law, the most inferior fortune will have a silver lining, and the best destiny will always have some flaws. I have obtained the Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice in this life and the magnetic golden mountain. Who says I have no fortune? This is obviously not that case. But if this had landed on anyone else, then they may not have been able to make it their own. Thus, it can be seen that opportunities are only given to those who are prepared.”

Jiang Chen’s thoughts became even clearer when his thoughts traveled here. “I believe in fate and fortune, but cannot lose myself in this. In the end, destiny is held in one’s own hands.”