Fourth Trial, Monster in the Shadows

Everyone was taken aback and looked up.

Behind the three trial grounds, where there was nothing before, a Magnificent Hall suddenly appeared out of thin air, exuding an ancient and alluring aura.

Chu Wujiu frowned and immediately asked, "When did the Wandao Academy add Fourth Trial?"

Elder Liang stroked his long beard, his smile deepening, "It was just added this year, and only the prodigies of the Ten Directions Immortal Court Prodigy are qualified to participate."

He paused, then added, "But please note that this trial is not perfect and will not affect the outcome of the trial; it is merely for everyone to practice."

Chu Wujiu raised an eyebrow, and the fighting spirit that had just subsided in his eyes was reignited.

Any new challenge, especially a trial marked "exclusively for the geniuses of the Ten Directions Immortal Court Prodigy," is enough to ignite his boundless fighting spirit.

"The Fourth Trial, interesting." Chu Wujiu's fighting spirit ignited once more. He was the first to stride forward and declared in a deep voice, "I'll give it a try!"

Under the curious and inquisitive gazes of the crowd, Chu Wujiu did not hesitate at all and reached out to push open the heavy palace door.

The interior was not the luxurious scene one might have imagined, but rather a deep, swirling Chaos Vortex, as if connected to another unknown space-time.

With a flash, he disappeared inside, and the palace doors slammed shut, isolating all traces of the outside world.

A murmur rippled through the square.

What could be inside?

"Have no idea."

"It's supposed to be practice, but it's probably not that simple..."

Everyone stared intently at the tightly closed palace door, wondering what trials Chu Wujiu would face inside.

With his strength to reach the top of the Heavenly Ladder, even if this trial is extremely difficult, he should at least be able to endure it for a while, right?

However, to everyone's surprise...

Only about five breaths had passed!

The palace door was then violently pushed open from the inside with a loud "bang".

Chu Wujiu took a step forward and reappeared in everyone's sight.

He went in full of vigor and high spirits, brimming with fighting spirit.

But at this moment, the boiling Qi and Blood around him, which had been like a volcano, had calmed down, and the burning fighting spirit in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.

It even carried a hint of indescribable heaviness.

Chu Wujiu seemed completely oblivious to the stares around him. Without uttering a word, he walked straight to the side, found an open space, and sat down cross-legged.

"Young Master Chu, what's the situation inside?" Zhao Lingyun was the first to step forward and ask.

Chu Wujiu no reaction, as if he hadn't heard at all.

"Hey, Chu Wujiu, what's inside? Why did you come out so quickly?" Yan Wujin couldn't contain his curiosity and shouted loudly.

Silence remained.

Chu Wujiu didn't even lift his eyelids.

Xiang Haoran crossed his arms, instinctively wanting to make a sarcastic remark. "Heh, did you get humiliated inside and are too ashamed to say anything?"

Normally, Chu Wujiu would have already retorted, or even attacked.

But at this moment, he simply raised his eyelids slowly, sweeping his gaze over Xiang Haoran with an extremely complex expression—carrying an almost heavy warning:

"Xiang Haoran, I advise you not to go in."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was like a silent thunderclap, exploding loudly in the otherwise quiet silence.

I advise you not to go in.

Everyone was doubting their ears.

Is this really something Chu Wujiu, the fearless man who just ascended the Heavenly Ladder and whose Dao heart is as firm as a rock, would say?

I'm filled with nothing but confusion.

What's inside?

However, Xiang Haoran didn't fall for it. He took a half step back and said, "You're trying to trick me again. If you're telling me not to go in, then I won't go in."

After saying that, he sat down.

However, her heart was not as calm as her face suggested.

'What exactly is hidden behind that door in this Fourth Trial?'

'Perhaps it's just another trick by Chu Wujiu; I don't believe he can hold back.'

Thinking it over, Xiang Haoran assumed Chu Wujiu would continue to say something.

Unexpectedly, he didn't say anything.

Xiang Haoran tolerate it, but Yan Wujin couldn't!

"What can't be said? Stop playing tricks!" Yan Wujin muttered irritably. He couldn't stand this kind of pretentious mystery.

He strode forward, pushed open the palace door, and disappeared into the chaos.

All eyes immediately focused on the palace doors that had closed again.

However, this time, the time was even shorter than Chu Wujiu's time!

Just three breaths!

The palace doors burst open again, Yan Wujin staggered out.

His signature wildness and unruliness had vanished without a trace, replaced by a blank stare mixed with shock and bewilderment.

He glanced at Chu Wujiu sitting to the side, then walked over silently, mimicking Chu Wujiu's posture, and sat down cross-legged, falling into the same Deathly Stillness silence.

This scene sent chills down everyone's spine.

One Chu Wujiu is one thing, but even Yan Wujin, the Flame Clan Prodigy, has become like this?

Immediately afterwards, Yun Zexuan, Zhao Lingyun, Ye Lingchuan, and the others exchanged glances, all seeing surprise and determination in each other's eyes.

They refused to believe in superstition and chose to take on the challenge one after another.

The result was, without exception.

Each person's time inside was extremely short, at most five or six breaths.

When they came out, everyone silently walked to Chu Wujiu and Yan Wujin and sat in a line.

Without uttering a single word, they displayed an astonishing level of understanding—everyone remained silent, not uttering a single word.

This extremely bizarre scene finally aroused Xiang Haoran's suppressed curiosity to the extreme.

He stared intently at Chu Wujiu again, but the other party remained unmoved, offering no hints or attempts to stop him.

"Hmph!" Xiang Haoran snorted coldly, suppressing the ominous premonition in his heart, and strode to the palace gate. "Chu Wujiu, you win. I want to see what's inside."

He took a deep breath and flung the door open!

The interior of the hall was not resplendent with gold and jade, but rather a pure, all-consuming darkness.

Xiang Haoran on high alert, his Spiritual Power surging, as he cautiously explored forward.

In the endless darkness, he vaguely saw a glimmer of light, like a flickering candle in the wind, its glow uncertain.

"The light source? Is it the core of the formation, or..."

Xiang Haoran thought to himself, his whole body on guard, as he cautiously approached the point of light step by step, trying to see its true form.

As he drew closer, the point of light gradually magnified and distorted in his vision... until he finally realized with a start—

That wasn't a point of light at all!

Instead, it was a pair of cold yet dazzling Golden Eyes that slowly opened!

Before he could recover from that utter shock and horror...

"Whoosh--!"

The instant he met those Golden Eyes, an irresistible force slammed into him!

In that instant, with a deafening roar, the heavy palace doors, along with their frames, shattered into dust as if made of paper!

Amidst the exploding stone fragments and choking dust, Xiang Haoran's figure, like a kite with a broken string, was kicked out of the hall at ten times the speed he had entered!

He crashed to the ground like a tattered burlap sack, rolled several times on the hard bluestone slab, and finally came to a stop sprawled out on his back.

His clothes were torn, his hair was disheveled, and he looked utterly wretched.

His face was drained of color, only his pupils trembled violently with extreme horror, as if his soul remained in the palace.

At this moment, Chu Wujiu and the others, who had been sitting in a row and remained silent the whole time, seemed to finally snap their last string. Unable to suppress the wild joy in their chests any longer, they burst into earth-shattering laughter.

"Hahahaha! Xiang Haoran, you idiot! I've been holding back for so long, and you still fell for it!"