Chapter 768: The Biggest Threat (2)

Just over twenty breaths, and already more than half are dead?

Wu Yuan glanced over the ice plain, instantly grasping the general situation of the ice plain.

It didn't even take a quarter hour.

In this short time, of the ten thousand plus Archimmortals and Archdeities crammed into the tiny space, less than eight thousand remained.

As for Archimmortal Li Shu and her group, out of sixteen Archimmortals and Archdeities, eleven had survived. They were considered one of the groups with a relatively high survival rate.

"First, congratulations on staying alive," a cold voice rang out.

Whoosh!

Countless beams of light converged, and Big Devil once again appeared in the void, looking down at everyone.

Silence fell.

"However, many of you have no kill count, which disappoints me," Big Devil shook his head slightly, then a glint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes. "Therefore, you don't deserve to live."

Thud! Thud!

Silently, the eyes of over three thousand figures on the ice plains turned vacant simultaneously. They collapsed to the ground, their vital aura lost.

Their bodies remained intact, but their soul auras had dissipated. Their souls had been annihilated!

"This?"

"Instant kill?" The over four thousand powerhouses still alive on the ice plains all felt a chill down their spines.

What a terrifying soul attack, instantly killing thousands of Archimmortals and Archdeities.

Wu Yuan was equally shocked.

The remaining four thousand-plus powerhouses realized that getting eliminated in Sovereign Black Devil's inheritance trial was no mere false scare.

"To those remaining, congratulations on passing the first trial. You are each granted a Black Devil Token," Big Devil waved his hand. "Don’t lose them."

Whoosh!

A black token appeared before each of the four thousand-plus powerhouses.

Faced with Big Devil's iron-blooded killing intent, no one dared to question his instructions, and all reached out to accept.

Wu Yuan did the same.

His Soul Will began to probe it instinctively. The token was completely black, without text or Dao patterns, and without any designs. At first glance, it looked just like a piece of iron.

When he grasped it, it felt ice-cold to the touch, and he couldn't detect anything special about it.

Black Devil Token?

Wu Yuan pondered silently. Though he couldn't sense anything unusual, he carefully put it away.

“Twenty-six individuals have performed exceptionally well and are qualified to receive a second Black Devil Token," Big Devil waved his hand again.

Hum~

This time, under the watchful eyes of thousands of Archimmortals and Archdeities, black tokens appeared before twenty-six of the powerhouses.

They were all individuals who had achieved an extremely high kill count, including Wu Yuan and Astral Lord Ding Lie.

They each reached out to accept the tokens.

"They're all Astral Lord-level powerhouses."

"All of them are late-stage Astral Lords. And there’s also that High Immortal too."

"Right! That High Immortal is truly terrifying. His strength is frightening." The Devil Realm powerhouses discussed among themselves through telepathy.

They all sincerely acknowledged Wu Yuan's strength. These Devil Realm powerhouses had never seen such an extraordinary High Immortal before.

"Three individuals are qualified to receive a third Black Devil Token," Big Devil continued, waving his hand once more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A token appeared once more before Wu Yuan, a red-haired Archdeity, and a white-robed female Archimmortal. This time, only the three of them received it.

"That High Immortal."

"And Astral Lord Red Devil."

"I've never seen that white-robed Astral Lord before. She must be a super powerhouse from outside our realm." The Devil Realm powerhouses naturally paid close attention to these three mighty beings.

Without a doubt, on this trial ground, these three had shown the most dazzling performance and possessed the greatest strength.

My strength is close to that of a quasi-Astral Monarch.

Wu Yuan's gaze swept over the two distant figures.

They are probably not weaker than me, and are able to maintain their power in prolonged combat.

In a true life-or-death battle, I'm no match for that red-haired Archdeity or Astral Lord Xue Yao.

Wu Yuan analyzed.

The red-haired Archdeity was from the Devil Realm, so Wu Yuan didn't know his name, only taking note of his soul aura.

But Wu Yuan recognized the white-robed female Archimmortal. She was named Archimmortal Xue Yao, a highly renowned Astral Lord.

Though Wu Yuan acknowledged that he was weaker than the red-haired Archdeity and Astral Lord Xue Yao, in reality, the both of them did not see him as an easy opponent at all.

A High Immortal with strength comparable to mine? His movement technique is terrifying.

Astral Lord Red Devil, who had also received three Black Devil Tokens, felt immense pressure.

As expected of Ming Jian, the legendary monstrous prodigy.

Astral Lord Xue Yao felt the same. She had long heard of Ming Jian, but this was her first time truly witnessing his abilities firsthand.

Since there was such a large gap in base power, yet their strength was comparable, it showed that Wu Yuan far surpassed them in other aspects.

Competing against such a monstrous prodigy for Sovereign Black Devil's inheritance? The mere thought filled them with immense pressure.

"Possessing five Black Devil Tokens grants you the qualification to leave alive." Big Devil's voice once again resonated through heaven and earth: "When you obtain twelve Black Devil Tokens, you'll be qualified to advance to the final trial.

However, the upcoming trials will get increasingly difficult, so quickly demonstrate your potential and strength to acquire more Black Devil Tokens. Otherwise, you'll inevitably perish under the mounting challenges.

You have one hour. After an hour, the second trial will commence." Big Devil's voice remained cold and indifferent.

Then, he vanished once more.

Whoosh~

Mysterious raindrops began to appear in the sky, falling upon the bodies of the many Archimmortals and Archdeities.

"Hmm? My mana is rapidly recovering."

"Mine too." Soon, many Archimmortals and Archdeities were astonished to discover that these falling raindrops could swiftly restore their mana.

Instantly, almost everyone sat down in lotus position, beginning to recover their mana. Wu Yuan, Archimmortal Li Shu, and others did the same.

The previous battle lasted dozens of breaths, and the other Archimmortals and Archdeities likely spent far less than ten percent of their mana, while I expended over fifty percent.

Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.

As a mere First Tribulation High Immortal, his mana capacity was indeed too small, which was his greatest disadvantage. He couldn't keep up his power in prolonged battles.

With such massive mana consumption, Wu Yuan naturally focused all his efforts on absorbing and processing these mysterious raindrops, recovering to his peak combat strength.

Just twelve Black Devil Tokens are needed to qualify for the final trial?

Wu Yuan pondered.

His performance in the first trial was among the most stellar, yet he only obtained three Black Devil Tokens.

I wonder what the next trial will be?

Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.

While refining mana, he collected the numerous treasures around him, dropped by the Archimmortals and Archdeities whose souls had just been extinguished.

Though other Archimmortals and Archdeities coveted these items, none dared to provoke Wu Yuan’s ire. Wu Yuan had already proven his strength through the previous battle.

The bloodshed from this first trial has yielded quite a profit.

Wu Yuan took a quick inventory.

He had collected treasures from at least a hundred Archimmortals and Archdeities, with a total value exceeding thirty million divine crystals. Such an efficiency of wealth accumulation was astounding.

Of course, Wu Yuan understood that such opportunities were extremely rare, only possible in places like the trial grounds of a Sovereign where numerous Archimmortals and Archdeities were concentrated.

However! To truly amass vast quantities of treasures, one must slay Astral Lords.

Wu Yuan glanced at the various Astral Lord-level powerhouses on the ice plains through his peripheral vision.

These Astral Lords not only possessed abundant personal treasures and wealth, but during the recent battle, most had also acquired the possessions of other Archimmortals and Archdeities. Moving forward, slaying just one Astral Lord would yield at least several million divine crystals.

No need to rush. There are still more trials to come, and more opportunities.

Wu Yuan contemplated. To him, there was no such thing as excessive wealth.

His nine lifebound flying swords were merely low-grade celestial artifacts. To upgrade them to mid-grade celestial artifacts would require an astronomical amount of treasures and wealth.

Naturally, Wu Yuan had to seize every opportunity to garner more wealth.

...

Time flowed on.

Though Wu Yuan's mana consumption had been immense, his recovery process was equally swift. Under the effect of those mysterious raindrops, it took only a quarter of an hour for both his true self and mana body to fully recover their mana to peak levels.

"Daoist Ming Jian, this is all the intelligence we've gathered on powerhouses who obtained two or more Black Devil Tokens from the fifty-five trial grounds." Archimmortal Li Shu passed the updated information to Wu Yuan.

"Many thanks." Wu Yuan swiftly began perusing the intelligence.

Fifty-five trial grounds, thousands of Astral Lords, hundreds of late-stage Astral Lords. The majority were unfamiliar Devil Realm powerhouses. However, Wu Yuan also discovered several 'acquaintances', such as Astral Lord Gu Shou.

Nevertheless, what Wu Yuan paid the most attention to were the three super powerhouses mentioned in the intelligence, all of whom had displayed quasi-Astral Monarch strength.

Dozens of trial grounds, nearly a hundred thousand Archimmortals and Archdeities in total, yet only three quasi-Astral Monarch powerhouses?

Wu Yuan mused inwardly.

The probability was pitifully low. But undoubtedly, these three quasi-Astral Monarch powerhouses would pose a massive threat to Wu Yuan.

Strength is unlikely the sole criterion in obtaining Sovereign Black Devil's inheritance.

Wu Yuan thought to himself.

If it were purely based on power levels, there'd be no need for such a complicated assessment.

Comprehension aptitude, potential, whether one's comprehended Dao aligned with the inheritance, and so on, should all be key points of the inheritance trial.

...

"Ming Jian actually obtained three Black Devil Tokens as well?"

"His talent is too heaven-defying, he's definitely the biggest threat."

While Wu Yuan was reviewing intelligence on powerhouses from other trial grounds, information about him was similarly transmitted through the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm to Astral Lord Gu Shou and other Dao Realm powerhouses.

They quickly learned of his performance.

"The only High Immortal, his cultivation period must be very brief."

"Such a monstrous prodigy has never emerged in my Devil Realm's history! I truly have no idea how he cultivates."

"He's the greatest obstacle to our acquisition of the Devil Lord's inheritance."

"Find an opportunity to join forces and kill him!" Although the Devil Realm powerhouses were divided into different trial grounds, they had their own unique methods of communication. Thus, intelligence about Wu Yuan spread rapidly.

Even without knowing Wu Yuan's previous circumstances, the mere fact that 'a white-robed High Immortal suppressed Astral Lord Ding Lie' was enough to draw the attention of all Devil Realm powerhouses.

Therefore, even though most Devil Realm powerhouses had never seen Wu Yuan, over eighty percent of the late-stage Astral Lord powerhouses across dozens of trial grounds unanimously viewed Wu Yuan as the greatest threat to them obtaining the inheritance.

...

One hour passed in the blink of an eye.

"The second trial, begin teleportation." Big Devil's cold voice rang out, and unseen fluctuations enveloped everyone.

In an instant, Wu Yuan, Archimmortal Li Shu, Astral Lord Ding Lie, and other powerhouses vanished from the ice plain.

Hum~

Wu Yuan felt the world around him shift, and he found himself in an entirely new world.

Pill furnaces?

Wu Yuan immediately spotted the enormous pill furnaces floating in the distant expanse of void.