Plop!

The final ‘cultivator’ was exterminated in a flash of divine radiance.

A slight smile rose from the corners of Yu Lingkong's lips.

I’ve succeeded!

Only a thousand feet to the finishing line!

He was slightly out of breath after fighting for so long with his full strength. However, it was all worth it with hope finally in sight.

Yu Lingkong inwardly muttered, "Old Ancestor, you will finally obtain the treasure you’ve longed for..."

He rushed forward without delay, deciding not to be careless at this crucial juncture.

Dong!

However, when he was still a hundred feet from the end, a deafening sound resembling a morning bell or evening drum suddenly rang out in the misty gray world.

"This..."

Yu Lingkong was stunned as the smile on his lips turned rigid. His pupils widened as disbelief filled his handsome face.

"No, this is impossible. How could someone else have arrived before me?"

Yu Lingkong felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Never felt before frustration and anger began to flood his heart, causing him to lash out and roar at the misty gray world.

A hundred feet!

It was a distance that would have taken a split second to cross and would be insignificant if it were any other time.

However, that very distance had been crossed by someone else first!

It was a tremendous blow. No matter how strong Yu Lingkong’s mental fortitude was, he could not help but almost vomit blood in anger and feel a murderous impulse.

How is this possible?

A terrifying aura shot into the sky as his long hair danced around him as if he was an enraged god. His expression had turned frightful, and his presence was simply terrifying.

……

"The Realm of Limits is indeed a marvelous place. I can’t believe it managed to push me beyond my limits. Such excellent training is hard to come by."

In another Realm of Limits, Ji Xingyao's clear eyes flickered with illusory light.

She could clearly feel that she had benefited from the trial and her martial dao cultivation had advanced to the next stage!

Despite these thoughts, Ji Xingyao did not stop even for a moment as she rushed forward like a streak of light.

The end is just ahead!

Ji Xingyao had absolute confidence in her strength and was certain that she would obtain one of the top three rewards.

In fact, she was determined to take first place.

It wasn’t arrogance but confidence in her abilities.

Dong!

Right before she could reach the end point, however, the sound of a bell rang out across the area.

Ji Xingyao immediately stiffened, and her clear eyes shone brightly. "Is it Yu Lingkong? Impossible, although I’ve yet to fight him, my foundations are not the least bit inferior to his!"

Despite this, she could not help but feel a sense of frustration and disappointment that made it impossible for her to remain calm.

……

"It should be Ji Xingyao!"

Mu Jianting frowned as he inwardly sighed. As expected of the Unsolved Mystery Sword Alms’ saintess. She was indeed amazing, and it was impossible to not be in awe of her greatness.

……

"How is this possible?! Only half the allocated time has passed, but someone has already reached the finish line?"

Sha Liuchan let out an angry and frustrated roar.

……

"Is it Ji Xingyao? Or maybe Yu Lingkong?"

The Great Desolate Lightning Clan’s Little Lightning Marquis, Lei Qianjun, pulsed with raging battle intent. "However, this makes things more interesting. Life will be too boring without a few decent opponents."

…...

The same bell sound rang out in the many Realms of Limits and was heard by all the remaining heaven prides.

They immediately displayed varying reactions such as amazement, frustration, astonishment, and other emotions.

Outside Cangwu Mountain, the waiting cultivators also heard the bell and fell into an uproar.

"The first person has reached the finish line!"

"It's definitely Ji Xingyao. Only she is capable enough to beat the rest of the heaven prides and claim first place in less than an hour!"

"Agreed, Ji Xingyao is undoubtedly the most promising candidate to take first place in the second trial."

"Don’t be too hasty. The second trial is the fairest and adjusts its difficulty according to the strength of the participant. In my opinion, some of the other supreme heaven prides could have also taken first place like Demon God Lin, for example."

"Demon God Lin? Hahaha, you must be joking. How dare you compare him with Fairy Ji? That’s simply disrespectful toward her!"

"Yeah, even if we take a step back and assume it wasn’t Fairy Ji, it's unlikely for it to be Demon God Lin because there are still so many stronger supreme prides like Mu Jianting, Li Qinghuan, Lei Qianjun, and Zhongli Wuji."

Various discussions ensued, and some cultivators even became red-faced arguing over it.

The bigwigs were much calmer in comparison. However, they were uncertain of the result and were more reserved with their predictions.

However, most of them believed Ji Xingyao was one of the most likely candidates.

For a time, many bigwigs congratulated Granny Jin He one after another.

Granny Jin He merely smiled politely in thanks but did not express any opinion.

After all, the final result was still undetermined. It would be rather humiliating if she were to celebrate too early, especially over something that was still uncertain.

"I wonder which three participants managed to win the final prizes of the second trial."

"The allocated time is almost up, everything will be revealed soon!"

Everyone was looking forward to finding out the outcome.

……

An ancient stone monument inscribed with ancient dao text appeared soon after the bell sounded.

At this sight, Lin Xun was finally certain that he had reached the end point of the Realm of Limits!

"It's over just like that?"

Lin Xun was still in disbelief as he raised his eyes to look at the text on the stone monument.

"This realm has a shore but the dao has no shore!"

Although there were only a few words, they were very thought-provoking.

"It seems that this is indeed the end point..." Lin Xun was feeling a little unsatisfied.

Before arriving here, he had been immersed in polishing his martial dao and was gradually attaining a new high in his mastery of the Heavenly Yuan Six Slashes. However, he had reached the end point just as he was about to achieve a breakthrough...

It was a rather unpleasant feeling.

Wait a minute!

Suddenly, Lin Xun realized something was amiss. Although he had arrived at the end point, the second trial wasn’t over yet.

The allocated time of an incense stick wasn’t finished either.

Once he thought of this, Lin Xun suddenly began returning from where he had come from, hoping to test a certain hypothesis.

Crash~

Sure enough, Lin Xun wasn’t disappointed as ‘cultivators’ began to appear again in the misty gray world!

Unlike before, however, the ‘cultivators’ who appeared gave off extraordinary auras. There was an indescribable sense of untouchable elegance to them as if they were disciples from an immortal clan.

Moreover, although their appearances were blurred, their eyes gleamed with intelligence. It was a complete turnaround from how they mindlessly attacked previously.

Lin Xun was soon even more surprised when a youthful man stepped forward, cupped his hands together in an ancient greeting, and said, "Congratulations, Junior Brother, for understanding the principle behind 'the dao has no shore.' Although there is an end to this realm, as cultivators, our paths should never stop here. Junior Brother will definitely attain great heights in the future!"

His clear and friendly voice echoed across the area.

At the same time, all the other ‘cultivators’ that had appeared also smiled and cupped their fists together at Lin Xun in congratulation.

Lin Xun could not help but become somewhat dazed at this turn of events.

It wasn’t only because the ‘cultivators’ resembled actual people from the ancient era come alive, but more importantly, they were also calling him ‘Junior Brother!’

A woman in a flowing rainbow dress with bright eyes and white teeth smiled sweetly and said, "Our Junior Brother looks a little confused. I’m guessing it’s his first time participating in the sect’s dao trials. This makes me recall the time when I participated in them all those years ago."

The others also smiled and displayed various expressions as if reminiscing about their own experiences.

It was a rather serene and enchanting sight.

"Sect?"

"Dao trials?"

Lin Xun's heart began to churn and he couldn't help but ask, "Uh...Dao Friends, may I ask what is going on?"

"Junior Brother, we left the sect long ago. We merely awakened a wisp of our wills which we left behind."

The young man at the head of the group smiled and said, "As for what is going on, you will understand everything after you leave the sect and begin to seek your own Saint dao."

The other men and women nodded.

"Left the sect? Seek your own Saint dao?"

Lin Xun gasped. Could it be that all of these men and women possessed the foundation and cultivation to seek the Saint dao when they left the sect?

The young man’s expression suddenly became serious as he cautioned, "Junior Brother, the final test of the second trial is about to begin. Since we are merely phantasms generated from the will imprints we left behind, we won’t be holding back later and will attack you with the peak power of the Cyclic Derivation stage. If you wish to obtain the reward, you must use everything you have."

The woman in the flowing rainbow dress grinned and said, "Senior Brother Li, stop scaring our Junior Brother. He’s the first to reach the end point of the Realm of Limits and was able to quickly understand the principle behind 'the dao has no shore.' Such foundations and qualifications make him much stronger than we were back then."

The young man was rendered speechless. He soon recovered and said, "Enough chit-chat, we don't have much time, so let's begin."

"Wait..."

Lin Xun was feeling anxious. He still had so many questions to ask and was in no mood to take any ‘final test.’

However, before he could continue, the young man summoned a majestic and incomparably compact sword will with a wave of his sleeve. It released a mighty pressure that caused Lin Xun’s body to stiffen as he felt a pressure greater than anything he had ever felt before.

Shit!

Lin Xun's expression changed slightly. There was no time to think about anything else as he circulated his power to an unprecedented high and even activated the Sacred Combat Art!

It was something he had not used even in the earlier battles.

From this, it was easy to imagine how much the sword will pressured Lin Xun. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it was the strongest sword will he had ever encountered!