Rolling thunder spread in every direction.
Since the Saint Tribulation descended upon the northern Black Tortoise Vein of the Four Symbols Secret Realm, the Azure Dragon Vein had refused to fall behind. A massive, dark cloud mass slowly rose there as well.
The sight once again made every trial-taker's heart pound in terror.
"Someone else is undergoing tribulation?"
"What exactly is going on with this Holy Palace Trial? Are we even supposed to be allowed to continue the trial?"
"It was outrageous enough that someone was achieving sainthood here. Now it seems there's more than one?"
"No, brother, look at those clouds. They don't look like tribulation clouds. They look more like... mushroom clouds?"
"I don't care whether they're tribulation clouds or mushroom clouds. We're south of the Vermilion Bird Vein, yet we can still see traces of battle from the Azure Dragon Vein. Is that supposed to be part of the trial too?"
The trial-takers were collectively silenced.
They had been in the Four Symbols Secret Realm for some time. Ninety percent of the trial-takers had stopped suppressing their cultivation realms, each displaying their own divine abilities as they broke through into the Master stage.
Among the most monstrous of them, some had even advanced directly into the Throne Realm.
But the Throne Dao Realm was already the limit. The Cutting Path Realm was simply impossible.
After all, between the two lay the enormous threshold of "comprehending the Dao," requiring vast amounts of time to settle and accumulate.
Not everyone was Cen Qiaofu, who could gain enlightenment in the morning and cut the Dao by evening.
Even Cen Qiaofu, though he seemed to have achieved it in one stroke, had in truth accumulated half a lifetime's worth of foundation.
Most trial-takers were young and had yet to reach such