Third Trial: Secret Realm Assessment

At Tian Yi's command, the more than thirty thousand people who had passed the first trial quickly headed up the Heavenly Staircase. According to the rules Tian Yi had stated, anyone who climbed three hundred steps could become an outer disciple.

Ever since entering Spirit Immortal Palace, they had known that its strength was anything but ordinary. Setting other matters aside, they had never heard of any sect with spiritual energy as dense as that of Spirit Immortal Palace.

Naturally, everyone wanted a higher status, for it represented the amount of cultivation resources they would receive in the future. Outer disciples were unquestionably far better off than menial disciples.

Yet reality was cruel. Once the candidates stepped onto the Heavenly Staircase, they discovered that everything about them had been suppressed, reducing lofty Saints to ordinary mortals.

They could not use their cultivation or Mana; even their divine souls and physical strength were suppressed. That alone would have been manageable, but the deadly part was that a strange force on the Heavenly Staircase was acting upon them.

Not only did it increase the burden on their bodies, it also felt as though countless ants were crawling over them. While enduring a certain amount of gravity, they also had to suffer an unbearable, indescribable itch.

"Keep an eye on their assessment and make sure they are registered. I'll be back shortly."

Seeing the candidates struggling to climb the Heavenly Staircase, Tian Yi gave Wu Xing an instruction before walking toward the city lord, Mu Ren.

"City Lord Mu, I apologize for keeping you waiting. I will take you to meet our Sect Master now."

"Deacon Tian, you are too courteous."

When Tian Yi had previously introduced himself, he had said that he was the deacon overseeing this assessment, so Mu Ren could