Third Floor

"Generosity!"

Upon hearing those two words, everyone gasped.

Once Cultivators reach the Heart Refining Realm, their abilities and strengths vary greatly. Those with powerful abilities can easily defeat those with weaker abilities, and some can even easily win against multiple opponents.

However, when it comes to the most fundamental aspect of vitality—energy quantity—it's difficult to create a significant difference.

The concept of "qi" (vital energy) is linked to Root Bone and spirituality. Most people are ordinary in these two aspects. With normal cultivation, even if one reaches the fifth level of the Body Refinement Realm, one's qi is only about 180 breaths. At the seventh level, one's qi is only about 200 breaths. But reaching the maximum level requires not only diligent cultivation but also one in ten thousand strokes of good luck.

Even considering survivor bias, most experts who reach the Heart Refining Realm are exceptionally talented geniuses. For most people, five hundred breaths is the Limit of their life's potential. Even for prodigies with outstanding Root Bone and spiritual growth, a thousand breaths is still a significant hurdle. Someone like Ling Yao, who carried the entire River-Cutting Dragon King's River-Sinking Stone all the way from the Redwater River in the North back to Lingyun City, is a rare and exceptional genius, one in several decades.

Therefore, there is a consensus in the cultivation community that rather than studying how to increase one's Qi, it is better to study how to enhance one's abilities and use limited Qi to achieve unlimited effects.

But things are different now. Not to mention their abilities, even their inner energy has been sealed. Now everyone can only use their vital energy for internal circulation, making the amount of energy crucial.

"What kind of test will it be?" The Lion King, who had just been arguing fiercely, was now shamelessly asking for information again.

Guan Hongyue glanced at him and said rudely, "Don't you have eyes? Look for yourself!"

"Why would I ask you if I could see it?" the Lion King said irritably. "There's nothing written on the field this time either."

Guan Hongyue sneered, "If it's not written on the field, can't you look for it elsewhere?"

At this moment, Xie Zi'ang discovered the rules. "They were written on the wall!"

Following Xie Zi'ang's perspective, everyone noticed large rules written on the wall opposite the Red Area. They hadn't noticed them when they entered from a slightly off-center angle.

"You are currently in the third level of the Trial Grounds, and your Qi power has been stripped away!"

"Trial objective: Resist the Netherworld Spirit."

"Trial time: 14 minutes and 24 seconds."

Number of participants: No more than three

"This trial can be activated once every six hours. Once activated, the trial participant enters the Red Area on one side of the Trial Grounds. On the other side, Netherworld Spirit will continuously spawn and drift towards this zone. The trial participant needs to consume energy to operate the Spirit Energy Emitter in the Red Area to attack the Netherworld Spirit. If no Netherworld Spirit reach the Red Area within the specified time, the trial is considered complete."

"Once Netherworld Spirit enters the Red Area, it will merge with that zone and cast Curse. This Curse will weaken the trial participant, and if it accumulates to a certain level, it will cause the participant's death. Therefore, even if you fail the trial, please continue to try to clear the Netherworld Spirit."

I see... The core mechanism of this trial is to make good use of vital energy to eliminate Netherworld Spirit...

These ethereal monsters are virtually ineffective against physical attacks, and this layer also seals off their protective energy, making them vulnerable only to attacks using so-called Spirit Energy Emitter. That's why the amount of vital energy stored is so crucial.

During the trial, participants must constantly monitor the time and remaining energy. To facilitate monitoring, text prompts are displayed opposite the Red Area for easy reference.

"How much energy does that Spirit Energy Emitter consume?" Rain Granny asked.

"About three to four breaths per second, no discount." Guan Hongyue's attitude was much better when facing Rain Granny: "When it's activated, it sprays like a water gun, but the effect is very strong; Netherworld Spirit basically dissipate upon contact."

"The energy consumption is very high. Even if three people work together, it's difficult to cover the entire time..." Xie Zi'ang analyzed.

"We've tried twice already." Guan Hongyue sighed. "The Netherworld Spirit appeared in large numbers and very frequently. The first time, we didn't control the amount well, and we consumed it very quickly. We only had a few minutes left before our energy was almost completely depleted. In the end, Uncle Chen used his unique Secret Method to transform blood into energy and survive the last stage, which saved us from being Curse Kill."

The so-called Uncle Chen is the third champion from the Frost Moon Troupe this time. He has Secret Method that converts life into vital energy, which can be used even by those at the Body Refinement Realm. However, judging from his appearance, he has not recovered even after treatment, and it seems that the life consumed by this Secret Method is irreversible.

"As for the second time, we tried to allocate our energy reasonably and alternate firing. Although we were able to cover roughly the entire range, there were too many Netherworld Spirit and they were too fast, so some often slipped through our net, and we still didn't pass."

"Don't you plan to try a third time?" Lu Kui asked.

"We only got to this level yesterday!" Guan Hongyue rolled her eyes at him. "We're exhausted and still have a small amount of Curse on us, so of course we have to wait until midnight to heal before we challenge it!"

"Where are those people over there?" Rain Granny asked.

"You mean the Clan Troops?" Guan Hongyue glanced at the person opposite her. "They seem to have given up. The purpose of sitting together is to monitor each other. If someone can't withstand the pollution and mutates, the others will rise up and kill them."

"To be honest, it's not that we're avoiding them, it's that they're deliberately keeping their distance from us, probably because they're afraid of dragging others into it."

"The Clan Troops truly live up to their reputation as the guild's elite force," Xie Zi'ang nodded in admiration. "Their integrity is commendable!"

"Tch, if you don't have the skills, you can only make up for it with your integrity!" The Lion King was as foul-mouthed as ever.

"Pah!" Guan Hongyue spat, too lazy to pay him any attention. "But according to the Clan Troops, the first batch has been here for ninety-seven days... It just past midnight, so it's already the ninety-eighth day. If we count every twenty-four hours as a day, in three more days, if no one passes the trial, we might..."

"Time is even tighter than we thought..." Rain Granny frowned. "These are all team members, where is their captain?"

"I heard that the two captains went to a lower level several dozen days ago... but they still haven't cleared the level after all this time."

"Tch, doesn't this just prove that the Clan Troops are nothing special...?"

"Shut up, nobody's going to think you're mute!" Facing the Lion King, Guan Hongyue really couldn't help but curse!

"I think he's right," came the arrogant Xuanyuan Wuji.

Guan Hongyue turned around and glared at him. "With such great skills, why didn't I see you use them during the challenge just now?"

Xuanyuan Wuji snorted coldly, "That's because you two siblings dragged This Heaven's Chosen prodigy down!"

"You!" Guan Hongyue rubbed her temples, muttering to herself, "I can't argue with lunatics... especially two lunatics, they might just lead me astray..."

"It seems we can only wait for now," Xie Zi'ang analyzed. "You're all severely weakened, and we just finished challenging the previous level, so we're not in great shape either... It would be best to wait until tonight to recover before attempting the challenge again."

"What else can we do?" Guan Hongyue shrugged, finally finding a normal person.

"I have a question," Luo Jun, who had been silently listening to the rules, suddenly spoke up, "If we only use one Spirit Energy Emitter, can we eliminate all the Netherworld Spirit?"

Guan Hongyue was taken aback by these words: "Only one? Based on our experience, it should be possible... but it would definitely have to cover the entire process, without stopping for a moment. The whole challenge lasts 864 seconds, which means it would require about three thousand breaths of energy... That's simply impossible..."

"Okay... I'll give it a try." With that, Luo Jun walked towards the Registration Desk.

Everyone: "?!?!"

(End of this chapter)