Tell Me Why This Is Happening

The boy who fell off the pier had long since vanished in the storm. No one knew what became of him; would he be teleported out of the Empress Secret Realm? Or did he simply die?

The younger the person, the stronger their fear of death. A young man shrank back, his face pale, and said, "Never mind, as long as I can cross the bridge safely, I can at least see what's inside the God Descending Tower..."

With one person taking the lead, more and more people retreated. Those at the back could focus on saving their own lives and stop attacking, thus the pressure would fall on Gongsun Hong and the others.

Many young talents felt that there might be more opportunities in the God Descending Tower, and that the Emperor's Mark in the Storm was just a useless item, not only scarce but also too difficult to obtain.

Lin Yu was among those who retreated.

Lin Yu was self-aware enough; he was not like Gongsun Hong, who would be courting death by walking ahead of him.

Back in his original spot, he noticed that Yi Yun was still walking slowly behind him; Yi Yun hadn't gone up at all from beginning to end.

While the fighting raged on, he acted as if nothing was wrong, looking relaxed and carefree.

This made Lin Yu's lips twitch violently. This kid! While others are fighting for their lives, he's acting like he's on vacation.

Lin Yu had thought he could finally show off his skills and outdo Yi Yun, but he ended up bruised and battered, gaining nothing and only making a fool of himself. This made Lin Yu so angry that he was practically seething with rage.

Why is he so unlucky!

Yi Yun didn't care much about Lin Yu's thoughts. He seemed relaxed, but he was actually observing his surroundings. In this storm, Yi Yun had Energy Vision that allowed him to see further.

At this moment, only a handful of people, including Gongsun Hong and Lin Xiaodie, remained at the very front of the pier.

Even the young Beast Taming Sect had been carrying a bag earlier stepped down. He was confident in his own strength, but he had been seriously injured in the first trial.

Within the Empress Secret Realm, those who pass a trial will be healed by the Empress Secret Realm's energy. However, this healing effect is limited, only restoring a portion of the injuries. If the injuries are too severe, there is no way to restore them.

"It's good that these good-for-nothings have stepped down."

The Leopard Girl licked her nails and chuckled, saying that this way she would have more opportunities to kill wild beasts and obtain the Emperor's Mark.

"They've retreated, so how much will you get?" Gongsun Hong replied calmly. The Leopard Girl was taken aback and speechless for a moment.

"I'm walking in front not to prove my strength, but for real benefits, but this reward is far too little."

Gongsun Hong left those words behind, sword in hand, and continued onward. Of all the people present, Gongsun Hong killed the most wild beasts.

Even so, Gongsun Hong has only condensed about 70% of the Emperor's Mark in his hand so far. He has killed so many wild beasts and expended so much energy, yet he has not even condensed a single Emperor's Mark. It is far too little!

"Low-level wild beasts offer too little reward."

Gongsun Hong squinted at the blurry figures of the wild beasts in the storm. Most of the wild beasts he killed were metal wolves with wings on their backs. These low-level wild beasts were easy to kill, but their contribution to condensing the Emperor's Mark was pitifully small.

"At this rate, by the time I reach the God Descending Tower, I'll probably only be able to condense one or two complete Emperor's Mark, which is meaningless. If I could kill a high-level wild beast, like the giant eagle that attacked that boy earlier..."

Gongsun Hong was not satisfied with such a slow pace of accumulation. He wanted to take a risk. That giant eagle beast was extremely powerful. Killing just one of them would probably yield several Emperor's Mark as a reward.

But... could I kill such a being?

Gongsun Hong had no confidence whatsoever. The difficulty of the Empress Secret Realm was too great. In front of the Ancient Empress, many peerless geniuses of the Tianyuan Realm could only be considered ordinary people.

Gongsun Hong didn't know if the giant eagle had any weaknesses, and even if it did, he didn't know where they were. He didn't expect to have the same luck as Yi Yun.

"Luck! Humph!"

Gongsun Hong glanced back at Yi Yun, a cold glint in his eyes. The Empress Secret Realm was too unfair! Yi Yun had been timid and hesitant, yet she had received a reward of thirty-six Emperor's Mark, while he had fought desperately and only received one and a half Emperor's Mark so far.

The difference is like night and day! There's no way this makes sense!

As Gongsun Hong was pondering this, he suddenly heard a muffled roar from within the storm. Startled, he focused his gaze and saw a blurry figure amidst the storm.

The shadow slowly approached, Gongsun Hong could see its size clearly. It was seven or eight zhang tall, like a giant tiger, with countless bolts of lightning covering its body.

Its fangs are as terrifying as spears, and its claws are sharp and gleaming.

"Hmm? It's the Ancient Savage Beast we encountered during our first trial!"

Gongsun Hong's eyes lit up. This wild beast was exactly the same as the Ancient Savage Beast Yi Yun had killed before, only slightly smaller in size.

It appears that each type of wild beast in the Empress Secret Realm has many heads, and they are distributed across different levels.

Without a doubt, this Ancient Savage Beast was many times stronger than the metal wolf; they were not even in the same league.

If we can kill this Ancient Savage Beast, there will surely be amazing rewards, perhaps even comparable to what Yi Yun received before!

Thinking of this, Gongsun Hong's heart pounded with excitement. Most importantly, he already knew the weakness of this Ancient Savage Beast, which was... its mouth!

"Hmm? That's the guardian beast from the first trial!"

On the pier, some young talents also spotted the giant tiger and called out.

However, they were behind Gongsun Hong in position and discovered the wild beast later than Gongsun Hong. By the time they discovered it, Gongsun Hong had already unleashed his full power and was ready to attack.

"Finally, I'll get a huge reward! It's like heaven is on my side!"

Gongsun Hong laughed loudly. After suppressing his anger for so long, his luck had finally turned. The wild beast guarding the pass was now his for the taking!

Knowing the weakness of the Ancient Savage Beast, it was nothing to fear. Even Yi Yun could kill it with a single blow, let alone himself.

"Snap!"

The Longsword thrust straight out, cutting through the storm and emitting a piercing shriek.

Behind Gongsun Hong, many people finally saw what had happened. They were all extremely envious, especially the prodigy Leopard Girl. They were confident that they could kill this Ancient Savage Beast instantly, but now, due to the distance and slow reaction time, it was too late for them to compete with Gongsun Hong.

"He found it!"

"I'm not happy about this, "the Leopard Girl said. At that moment, Gongsun Hong's sword had already pierced right in front of the Ancient Savage Beast!

Enraged by Gongsun Hong, the Ancient Savage Beast roared and lunged at him.

"This is the opportunity I've been waiting for!" Gongsun Hong was overjoyed. He deliberately attacked the head of the Ancient Savage Beast so that it would open its mouth and bite him, thus exposing all its weaknesses!

Gongsun Hong shouted, Longsword gleamed with a dazzling crimson light. As a genius of the Lihuo Sect, his forte was the fire element law.

Flames pierced the sky!

Although he was confident of victory, Gongsun Hong held nothing back and unleashed a trump card he rarely used.

Gongsun Hong concentrated all his vital energy on the tip of the sword. The Sword Qi and flames roared and converged into a flaming sword Sword Light only as thick as a little finger. This was a manifestation of the high concentration of fire-type vital energy.

This straight Sword Qi pierced directly into the gaping maw of the Ancient Savage Beast.

"Die!"

Gongsun Hong's face lit up with joy; his fiery Sword Qi had successfully pierced the mouth of the Ancient Savage Beast!

"Boom!"

A violent explosion rang out, flames merged into the storm, and a sea of fire appeared in front of Gongsun Hong.

A Sword Qi only as thick as a little finger, once unleashed, created such an earth-shattering spectacle that onlookers were secretly astonished. Gongsun Hong's attack power was simply too strong!

None of them could withstand such a terrifying fire attack.

"He actually killed an Ancient Savage Beast! His reward must be the same as Yi Yun's!"

"What a pity, if only I had been ahead of him back then. But even if I had been ahead, I still wouldn't have been able to outmaneuver Gongsun Hong."

These thoughts flashed through people's minds, but before they could utter them, their expressions froze.

They stared in disbelief at the fiery storm before them, which seemed to be pushed aside by some force as a giant claw crackling with lightning swung down!

The claw was so fast, and it was obscured by the firestorm, that people couldn't react in time when it suddenly appeared.

"What!?"

As the giant claw hurtled towards him, Gongsun Hong's expression changed drastically!

The Ancient Savage Beast, which he thought was dead, launched a deadly attack without any warning, as if the sword strike had failed to harm it at all!

How is that possible?

"Ah!"

Gongsun Hong shouted and flew backward at high speed, activating the Shadow-Stealing Sword Steps at the same time!

However, he only used his movement Movement Technique when the Ancient Savage Beast's attack was about to hit him, which meant he had already lost the initiative.

Snap!

A claw as sharp as a blade grazed Gongsun Hong's chest, and the gust of energy it generated tore through Gongsun Hong's Protective Vital Energy like paper.

Then, the powerful wind pierced into Gongsun Hong's flesh without any obstruction. His chest was torn open, seven or eight ribs were severed, and his right lung was completely ruptured. Blood gushed out like water, and the powerful force sent Gongsun Hong's body flying backward.

Why...

Gongsun Hong's face turned pale, his expression filled with disbelief.

Both Yi Yun and himself attacked the mouth of this Ancient Savage Beast.

Yi Yun killed the wild beast, yet he received this fate in return?

Can anyone tell me why this is?

Gongsun Hong's mouth was full of blood. He screamed inwardly. Not far from Gongsun Hong, people who saw this scene were stunned. Their mouths were wide open and they couldn't close them for a long time.

What... exactly is going on?

[Recommending a friend's book: <The Strongest Chef>, by Da Liangpi. A reborn protagonist builds a massive catering empire. Currently topping the charts, check it out if you're interested. Book ID: 1003499298.] (To be continued~^~)