Thunder Fire

On the platform, Wang Ziang said blandly, "The Flowing Light Trial is worth 200 points in total. Anyone who scores below 120 will be eliminated!"

As soon as he finished speaking,

thirty names on the giant screen dimmed.

"Another thirty people eliminated!"

"There are fewer than forty left."

Jiang Ye glanced around. As expected, the school's trial was no easy thing.

If just as many people were eliminated in the final trial, fewer than ten would pass this time.

And this was the lowest-level trial. The pass rate was frighteningly low.

"I wonder what form the Thunder Fire Trial will take?" Jiang Ye thought, looking forward to it.

The first two trials had both been virtual. The Thunder Fire Trial alone would take place in the real world.

Wang Ziang had said earlier that the longer they endured the Thunder Fire Trial, the greater the benefits they would gain.

Clearly, this trial was no ordinary challenge.

The other surviving participants were also eagerly awaiting it.

Just then,

Wang Ziang said blandly, "The final trial: the Thunder Fire Trial!"

He pressed a button on the wall.

The next moment,

the virtual pods beneath everyone sank into the ground.

Rumble! Metal walls rose from all four sides, enclosing the entire hall.

Hundreds of metal nozzles were mounted on those walls, packed tightly together and all pointed at the participants in the center.

At the sight of this, everyone felt their scalps go numb.

"Don't tell me the Thunder Fire Trial really means roasting us with lightning and flames?"

Jiang Ye felt a little spooked too. Wasn't this a bit too extreme?

Just as everyone was growing tense and uneasy,

whirr!

All the hundreds of metal nozzles blasted out a dense gas at once.

The gas was a pale purplish red. The instant it appeared, it actively burrowed into every participant's pores.

Wang Ziang explained:

"This gas contains a trace of Starry Sky Energy with thunder and fire attributes. It can temper your bodies."

"The longer you endure it, the more benefits you'll gain."

"Of course, the process will be very painful!"

Wang Ziang gave them a slightly malicious smile. "For anyone whose Star Martial Cultivation Method hasn't reached perfection, the pain will be multiplied several times over."

He didn't need to say more.

Everyone present could already feel it.

Not a single student in this trial had mastered the cultivation method to perfection.

As the purplish-red gas seeped into his pores, Jiang Ye suddenly felt a sharp pain.

It was as though countless scorching ants were biting into every cell in his body, then rubbing salt into the wounds.

Some students were already wailing.

"Mom!"

One student screamed, unable to bear the pain any longer.

Wang Ziang said blandly, "If you can't take it, you can press the button beside you at any time to withdraw from the trial."

"But"

"You must endure for at least fifteen minutes to pass."

"Endure for an hour, and you'll get a perfect score!"

His words made everyone feel as if they'd fallen into an icy pit.

They had to endure this pain for fifteen minutes?

Still, everyone gritted their teeth and held on. Not one person pressed the withdrawal button.

They had struggled all the way to the third round. How could they give up so easily now?

For a moment, the entire hall fell into deathly silence.

Everyone gritted their teeth and endured.

Jiang Ye's expression remained calm. Perhaps because his Martial Will was strong, this level of pain was still within what he could bear.

Not far away, Zeng Xueqing, Xu Lei, and the others were just as composed.

They were close to perfecting their cultivation method, so their pain was less intense than everyone else's.

And beside Jiang Ye,

the benefits of Li Zhichao's persistent drug injections over the past six months were becoming clear. Having endured the torment of the drugs, he could withstand more than the others.

Only Lin Xuan looked utterly miserable.

After all, he was still a first-year student, and he had only recently reached Great Accomplishment in the cultivation method.

The pain he suffered was much worse than everyone else's.

"Hold on! I absolutely can't lose to Chao!" Lin Xuan gritted his teeth.

Time continued to pass.

Five minutes, then ten.

At last, someone could no longer endure the pain and pressed the withdrawal button.

The ground beneath that person sank straight down, carrying him out of the trial area.

The giant screen ahead kept updating the number of people remaining.

[Remaining: 39 people, 38 people, 37 people.]

At last, fifteen minutes had passed.

Most of the participants let out a huge sigh of relief, then quickly withdrew from the trial.

They had passed!

There was no need to stay if they weren't competing for the top three.

Soon, fewer than ten people remained in the hall.

"If this is all the pain amounts to..."

A hint of madness flickered in Lin Xuan's eyes. "Then maybe I can keep going for another hour!"

As the top student at Ancheng First Middle School,

his Martial Will was indeed strong.

By now, he had gradually adapted to the pain!

He had even found a subtle thrill in the endless agony, sinking into it and savoring it.

But just as Lin Xuan planned to keep enduring,

on the platform,

Wang Ziang suddenly gave a wicked smile, then pressed a button.

Boom!

The next moment, in the trial area,

the hundreds of metal nozzles blasted out purplish-red gas several times denser than before!

The sharp increase in the gas's concentration brought with it even more horrific pain.

"Ahhh!"

Lin Xuan finally couldn't take it anymore and let out a beastlike roar.

Even Jiang Ye was struggling to hold on. If the pain before had been like rubbing salt into a wound,

then now it was like pouring strong liquor and chili oil over it!

The sensation was simply too terrifying!

Not far away, Zeng Xueqing, Xu Lei, and several other students from the second-year Key Class also twisted their faces in pain.

Even Zeng Xueqing, who was closest to perfecting her cultivation method, was beginning to struggle.

"The trial difficulty will rise by one level every fifteen minutes,"

Wang Ziang said with a smile. "Good luck, everyone!"

His words fell like a demon's whisper, making everyone's expressions change.

One level every fifteen minutes?

That meant the pain would intensify again in another fifteen minutes?

"Hold on!"

Jiang Ye took a deep breath. He could still barely endure this level of pain.

But he wasn't sure whether he could last through the next fifteen minutes.

For now, though, he had to make it through this stage.

Elsewhere, Lin Xuan's expression had grown utterly grim.

He was the only first-year student among them.

His lower cultivation level meant the pain he endured was many times worse.

"Damn it, is this really my limit?"

"Am I really going to lose to Chao, to the Ordinary Class?"

Lin Xuan's body trembled as he roared inwardly, "Hold on, you bastard!"

Time continued to pass.

Gradually, amid the even more intense pain, Lin Xuan found that familiar thrill again.

He had held on!

In the blink of an eye, the trial had lasted half an hour.

Only the final five remained in the arena.

Jiang Ye, Zeng Xueqing, Xu Lei, Li Zhichao, and Lin Xuan.

On the platform, Wang Ziang smiled faintly and said, "Third stage, activate!"

Boom!

The hundreds of metal nozzles in the trial area erupted again, spraying out an even denser purplish-red gas.

With the arrival of the third stage, all five participants felt an unprecedented pressure.

But surprisingly, Lin Xuan wasn't the first to drop out.

It was Li Zhichao.

After seeing Li Zhichao drop out, Lin Xuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as well, and withdrew from the trial right after him.

Only the final three remained, still struggling to hold on.

Zeng Xueqing, Xu Lei, and Jiang Ye.

The top three had been decided!

But who would take first place? The answer would soon be revealed.