Life and Death Trial Begins, the Cruel Spirit Road Opens!

"You really deserve to die!"

Zhao Chen grabbed the ice-blue essence soul of the Sixth-Level Spirit Beast before him. Looking at the Ice Spirit Bear's corpse on the ground, he complained.

If it had not roared so loudly that the thick snow accumulated over countless years on the entire Ice Spirit Peak turned into an avalanche torrent and dealt him a heavy blow, he really would not have found it so easy to kill it.

Luck had played a part, more or less.

"Good heavens, this Ice Spirit Bear was way too powerful, wasn't it?"

Wu Yingying and Song Yuqing arrived at the scene. When they saw the Ice Spirit Bear's corpse, they clicked their tongues in amazement.

Who could have imagined that such an incomparably powerful Sixth-Level Spirit Beast would die like this?

"Good sister, lend me a hand. Let's hurry up and deal with the Ice Spirit Bear. That way, we can return to the Guardian Land sooner and turn in the mission."

Besides, she could find a place to absorb the Third-Level Spirit Beast essence souls that were relatively useless to Zhao Chen and raise her Spirit Body.

"Okay, okay."

It was Song Yuqing's first time handling a Spirit Beast of this level. At first, she could not even skin it.

It was only with Wu Yingying's sufficiently sharp Snow White Dagger, along with a few tricks, that they managed to process it smoothly.

While the two dealt with the corpse of the Sixth-Level Spirit Beast Ice Spirit Bear, Zhao Chen did not idle around either.

"Ding! Successfully killed a Sixth-Level Spirit Beast. Obtained one sign-in opportunity."

Zhao Chen decisively muttered inwardly, "Sign in!"

"Ding! Signing in. Signing in at Spirit Beast—Ice Spirit Bear. Sign-in successful."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully signing in. You have received the sign-in reward—Ice Sword Spirit Array!"

Zhao Chen was slightly stunned. Another Spirit Array Disk?

However, compared to the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array Disk, this Ice Sword Spirit Array Disk was clearly an offensive Spirit Array.

He fell silent for a moment, then decided it was acceptable enough.

On this Spirit Road, few people could withstand the attacks of a Spirit Array.

After all, even the Sixth-Level Spirit Beast Ice Spirit Bear had been unable to break through the defensive barrier of the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array. That roughly showed how powerful the Ice Sword Spirit Array was.

"I'll have to find a chance to test it out."

Zhao Chen examined it and found that this Ice Sword Spirit Array Disk was similar to the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array Disk. Before its spiritual energy was depleted, it could be used three times.

At the same time, it could be replenished by absorbing the spiritual energy within Spirit Beasts or spiritual herbs.

Having just used the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array Disk once, Zhao Chen looked at the portions of the Ice Spirit Bear's corpse that held little value and placed the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array Disk beside them.

A vortex appeared, and the portions of the Ice Spirit Bear's corpse instantly turned to ash. A strand of white light entered the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array Disk.

"Not bad. It actually replenished it completely."

Zhao Chen sensed the current condition of the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array Disk. It had more or less returned to its original state.

This meant the Dust-Avoiding Spirit Array Disk did not require much spiritual energy.

"Interesting."

Zhao Chen immediately developed an interest in Spirit Arrays.

Perhaps after leaving the Spirit Road, he could cultivate Spirit Arrays as well and become a Spirit Array Master.

Or perhaps he could become a Spirit Tool Master.

Spirit Array Disks themselves were the perfect fusion of Spirit Arrays and spirit tools.

Without a sufficiently powerful backing, he could only make himself stronger—ideally an all-round powerhouse without a single weakness.

Guardian Land.

After Zhao Chen thoroughly completed the Fourth-Level Mission, he casually chose a room. After activating the protective array within using his Crimson Token, he began absorbing the Spirit Beast essence souls he had obtained from completing missions over this period.

Three Fourth-Level Spirit Beast essence souls, two Fifth-Level Spirit Beast essence souls, and one Sixth-Level Spirit Beast essence soul.

"A Sixth-Level Spirit Body is in the bag tonight!"

Zhao Chen looked at the many Spirit Beast essence souls and estimated that they should be enough.

Even if they were not, he still had a Dark Green Water Python Fruit on him, one that could allow the Fifth-Level Spirit Beast Dark Green Water Python to break through to the sixth level.

It was absolutely guaranteed.

The spiritual herbs and Spirit Beast essence souls he gave Wu Yingying would probably allow her to break through to the peak of the Third-Level Spirit Body, or even reach the Fourth-Grade Spirit Body.

Everyone had a different constitution.

Zhao Chen could improve at an absurd pace, but for others, their progress might refuse to budge no matter what.

As for Song Yuqing, he would give her a little something.

The peak of the Second-Level Spirit Body.

With another batch, she would probably be able to reach the Third-Level Spirit Body.

Of course, the same saying still applied.

People had different constitutions, and the effects of raising one's Spirit Body varied accordingly.

"A Fourth-Level Mission involving one Sixth-Level Spirit Beast is worth around three thousand points."

Zhao Chen calculated his points and muttered, "Then I have over thirteen thousand points now."

Next, he would have no time to take on missions.

After all, the true trial of this Guardian Land was about to begin!

All the fighting and killing until now had only been minor skirmishes.

The next day.

When Zhao Chen left his room, he discovered that the number of people in the Guardian Land had clearly increased compared to a few days earlier.

It seemed that the Spirit Road trial participants within the range of this Guardian Land had already overcome countless dangers to arrive here.

In truth, whether one could reach the Guardian Land was itself a test.

When the true trial began, anyone who had not yet arrived at the Guardian Land would be erased by the rules and lose their qualification for the Spirit Road.

This was the first round of elimination in the Spirit Road Trial, selecting the elites who would enter the next stage of testing.

The cruelty of the Spirit Road Trial would officially begin here.

After the five Guardian Lands each determined their own trial winners, they would then face another brutal test against one another.

Surviving until the end of the Spirit Road would not be easy.

Even those who had already been preselected by the Five Great Academies would have no other choice if they failed to survive these cruel trials.

It was said that those with powerful willpower could still revive in reality even if they died on the Spirit Road.

This rumor about the Spirit Road had existed for a long time.

Yet there seemed to be no news of anyone who had truly been confirmed to revive.

No one dared gamble on whether, after dying on the Spirit Road, they could still revive in reality.

According to Zhao Chen's guess, this was likely due to the special nature of the divine artifact Mirror of Judgment and the Spirit Road Trial Space itself.

A powerful will could break through the restrictions of the divine artifact and allow one to revive.

Everyone who entered the Spirit Road Trial Space seemed to do so in their actual bodies, yet there was also a subtle difference.

It could only be said that the exact details were known solely by the Five Great Academies.

"I wonder if Mu Chen has come here."

Zhao Chen still cared quite a bit about this fellow student from the Northern Spiritual Academy.

The other guy could not have been unlucky enough to die on the Spirit Road, could he?

The thought flashed through his mind, but he promptly dismissed it.

No matter what, Mu Chen was not someone who could be dealt with so easily.

There probably would not be much of a problem.

If he was not in this Guardian Land, then he was in one of the others.

Zhao Chen looked toward Wu Yingying and Song Yuqing in the room next door. Their auras had clearly grown much stronger.

Especially Wu Yingying—she had definitely reached the Fourth-Grade Spirit Body!

As for Song Yuqing, her luck was fairly good. Perhaps she had good things on her as well, because she had directly advanced to the Third-Level Spirit Body.

Just as Zhao Chen was about to speak, multicolored rays of light suddenly shot out from the City Lord's Mansion in the Guardian Land. They exploded in the sky, resounding throughout this stretch of heaven and earth.

Even those outside the Guardian Land could see the multicolored fireworks!

Seeing this, Zhao Chen murmured, "The Life and Death Trial—the show is about to begin!"