Wuuu...
The rapidly spinning deep teal wind pillar let out a series of furious howls, like the roar of a demon god, as if it would shake every soul into oblivion.
This was a transformation of Wu Sheng's Inner World after refining the Wind Chime Fruit—a sublimation of his soul.
The moment the refinement was complete, Wu Sheng opened his blood-red eyes, a hint of satisfaction still in his gaze.
"The soul energy contained in the Wind Chime Fruit suits me pretty well. If I can refine all these Wind Chime Fruits, my soul should be better able to withstand the backlash from 'Soul Devour.'"
"Hmm, I can't neglect my cultivation, either. Over the next year, I'll have to spend half my time studying these secret arts. I'll use the rest primarily to refine Wind Chime Fruits, but I should also spend twenty percent of my time improving my cultivation."
"A year may be a little short, but I still have a good chance of achieving my initial goal. Just watch—will I be killed as soon as I enter, or will I last until the middle, or even make it out of the Trial Ground alive? This year will be the most important turning point!"
Wu Sheng's blood-red eyes shone with hope: a longing to survive and a yearning for strength.
That was right. At present, he was just a tiny nobody, not even worth the Primordial Universe's attention.
But he still had to fight hard to survive and grow stronger. That had nothing to do with the Primordial Universe.
The moment he chose the Soul-Devouring Demon Tank, it showed that he had a heart set on becoming stronger.
He would prove to all the Soul-Devouring Demon Tank predecessors that he could become an Ultimate Demon Tank who would shock the universe's many races. And this was the first step.
Time passed slowly. The dull days of cultivation were enough to drive anyone mad with boredom, but with the countdown to their deaths looming over them, all the participants in the trial pushed themselves to become stronger.
This was a struggle between life and death. In the face of death, every living thing had boundless motivation.
Ding!
"Less than one minute remains until the one-year limit. Attention, trial takers: when the countdown ends, a door will open in your trial chamber. It leads to the Trial Ground."
"Your simple Optical Computers will now receive a map of your assigned Trial Ground, as well as a list of the winners from all of the Blood Sun Tribe's Trial Grounds over the past 1,000 trials."
"We hope you will learn from them and become one of those who make it out of the Trial Ground."
Wu Sheng closed his eyes and listened quietly.
He had to find his former self from eighteen years ago: the assassin who had killed again and again just to survive.
"Countdown: 30, 29... 3, 2, 1."
"Begin!"
Crash!
The enormous screen shattered with a bang, revealing a three-meter-wide black opening. At the far end, a sliver of white light shone through.
"Interesting. They want us to kill each other out in the wilderness? They've even put some ferocious beasts in there. Heh!"
Wu Sheng walked slowly toward the opening, his eyes fixed on the screen on his arm. It showed a general map of the CKHX-3819 Blood Trial Ground.
The Trial Ground covered nearly three million square kilometers, about the size of India in his previous life. It was mostly forest, with some low mountain ranges.
In the Prison Clan's Perilous Land, people at their Planetary Level could not fly very far, even with Telekinetic Weapons. The place was large enough that having one million Planetary Level Prison Clan Members together would be a little cramped, but there was still plenty of room for slaughter.
"Hmm, each Blood Trial held by the Blood Sun Tribe has one hundred rounds, so theoretically ten thousand people could survive. But fewer than five million have made it out in these 1,000 trials. That's insane!"
Wu Sheng looked over the names on the list again and noticed a few things that contradicted what was being publicized outside. He was secretly alarmed!
"Hahaha, it's finally started! Let's see how much the total stake is across all the betting pools!"
In a luxurious yet extraordinarily vast hall, a black giant with a pair of wings on his back lounged on a stone chair more than six hundred meters long. Hundreds of servants were massaging him.
But when he heard that the Trial Ground had opened, he shot upright, revealing his two-hundred-meter-tall upper body and sending nearly half the servants flying.
He paid them no mind, instead roaring at a screen several hundred meters wide in the hall.
"Reporting to the young master: this round's total stakes are around 1,200 trillion Cosmic Crystals. Betting Pool No. 1 alone has over 700 trillion Cosmic Crystals, while Pools No. 2 and 3 each have over 200 trillion. All the other betting pools combined hold less than 40 trillion."
A graceful woman in a white robe, also with wings on her back, replied respectfully beside the black giant. She was less than two meters tall, not even half as tall as his head, and looked positively tiny.
"Hmph. That old Blood Sun dares to fight our Thunder Wing Giant Clan? Does he think he can create a body for Cang and raise an Immortal helper with vast divine power? What a pipe dream. Never mind whether he can succeed—the Thunder Wing Giant Clan will never allow him to take even the first step."
"But those are matters for the ancestors to consider. We just need to follow along, take our share, and make a little money. Heh, 1,200 trillion Cosmic Crystals! Even if you cut that in half, Blood Sun's side still put up nearly 600 trillion. If our Thunder Wing Giant Clan wins all that money, I bet the old man's expression will be priceless!"
The black giant rubbed his massive forehead and grinned. His purple wings fluttered involuntarily, unleashing two enormous gusts that sent the servants—and even the winged woman in white—staggering in every direction.
Inside a huge tower, a group of Prison Clan Members in red battle suits had gathered. They had various forms, but their clothes clearly marked them as members of the same faction.
"Hmph. The tally is in. There are eighty-three Special Elites in this MX31-003 Trial Ground, and over ten thousand Elite Trial Takers. Excellent! Simply excellent!" An aged voice rang out through the tower.
"Those factions must have brought out everything they'd saved up over the past few hundred years. Heh. Counting the Special Elites in the other Trial Grounds, there must be nearly a hundred."
"Crazy. Ordinary elites can be produced by pouring in enough resources, but Special Elites with Domains are hard to come by."
"Looks like the God Lord's plan is nearly halfway to completion. This time, we're not only going to capture that Star Beast and win the betting pool, but also wipe out all the Earth Grade prodigies Lei Xing has painstakingly raised. We'll teach him that the Blood Sun Tribe is ultimately under Lord Blood Sun's control!"
"Hahaha, exactly!"
The Prison Clan Members laughed as if they had just pulled off an elaborate, flawless plan.
"What about the other two places?" a voice suddenly asked, sounding concerned.
"We'll see how it goes. It'd be best if we can take them, but if not, so be it."
"Right. The bigger plan comes first. As for the other two places, the Three Great Organizations and those Realm Lord Clans may have their own little schemes."
"Mm. But Lord Blood Sun's move was brilliant! The Nine Spirits Society has already submitted to us, but he's kept that hidden until now. With nothing but a lesser Star Beast, he's got Lei Xing and the others completely at his mercy. Brilliant—truly brilliant!"
"Of course. This is only the beginning. How could Lei Xing, an outsider, possibly compare to Lord Blood Sun?"
"Exactly. Let's make him bleed a little first. The real show will be the later Blood Trials for Sky Grade and even Nirvana Level participants."
Whoosh!
A flash of azure light appeared, and Wu Sheng materialized with a longsword in his hand. Behind him, a Prison Clan Member in green armor fell to the ground, his face filled with unwillingness.
The green armor peeled away from his body and turned into a green orb the size of a palm. The Prison Clan Member's true appearance was finally revealed: a strange humanoid life-form, with thick long hair covering his upper body and high protrusions on both shoulders. A green orb sat atop each one.
"Woodborn Clan. Not bad talent, but a little weak—only Planetary Level Seven."
Wu Sheng sighed, then his eyes suddenly flared, and two beams of blood-red light shone down on the Woodborn Clan Member's corpse.
A green speck of light about an inch tall was forcibly dragged out of the corpse by the blood-red beams. Only when it had floated before Wu Sheng did the beams abruptly fade.
He looked at the remaining green speck of light. Inside it was a humanoid shadow that looked exactly like the Woodborn Clan Member.
Wu Sheng gritted his teeth and spat out a stream of azure light, sweeping the green speck into his mouth just as he had refined the Wind Chime Fruit.
He quickly gathered the Woodborn Clan Member's weapons, battle suit, Space Ring, and other belongings into a bundle formed from his own battle suit, then left at once.
Less than ten minutes later, he returned to a concealed tree hollow he had picked out in advance and immediately sat down cross-legged.
Innate Secret Art... "Soul Devour."
At a thought, red light blazed across his body. In his Inner World, the deep teal tornado formed from the Primal Force core instantly turned blood-red. Above its eye, the green speck Wu Sheng had swallowed slowly began to merge with his seven Miniature Planets.