Planet Ninth Order (Seeking Collection, Follow-up Reading)

After some inquiry, Wu Sheng had already grasped the rules of the Trial Ground more or less.

Originally, the specifics of the Blood Trial were absolutely confidential for all trial takers. But for people like He Na who had connections, it was no different from an open-book exam.

In the Eastern Domain where they currently were, there were dozens of gathering points, each with at least a hundred people, and the larger ones probably several hundred.

Right now, everyone's focus was on consolidating their own forces, slaughtering isolated trial takers, and occasionally targeting enemy factions. This period generally lasted about two years.

After two years, only the people from these gathering points would remain, and then they would start killing each other.

Whether through alliances or backstabbing, anything that benefited oneself would happen. And as time went on, things would only get crazier.

So aside from true super geniuses who could rampage through the Blood Trial, most people were racking their brains to prioritize keeping themselves alive.

Even He Na couldn't guarantee that someone wouldn't secretly strike her down to save their own skin.

This chaotic period usually lasted six years. In the final year, the tenth, a small area in the Central Domain of the Trial Ground would slowly open—the so-called "prize" scramble.

And this final battle would not only decide which faction ultimately claimed the "prize," but also determine the outcome of the outside bets.

Hearing this, Wu Sheng rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Even though he now knew the so-called "prize" was a fellow human from his homeland, he didn't necessarily have to get involved.

After all, he was like a clay Buddha crossing a river—barely able to save himself. Did he really have the saintly heart to go rescue someone he didn't even know?

That would be too much to ask!

"I'll just take it one step at a time."

Wu Sheng knew that what he lacked was time. Whether it was cultivating secret techniques, improving his strength, or raising his will, all of it required massive amounts of time.

"Mm, Di Fei is almost here!"

He Na looked up from her smart optical brain and said with a smile.

Their group was currently hiding in a concealed cave, partly to recover their internal energy and partly to wait for Di Fei.

"Jin An, go meet him." He Na gave the order directly. Among the Elite Trial Takers, only Jin An was completely unharmed; the others were either severely injured or had heavy losses of internal energy and psychic power.

"Alright!" Jin An didn't refuse and headed straight for the cave entrance.

Before long, Jin An returned, leading a man dressed in an ordinary green robe with an exceptionally handsome face.

"Di Fei, your aura is unstable. Did that group of Rhinobeasts chase you for a long time?" He Na noticed his pale complexion and fluctuating aura and asked with concern.

"No, I ran into Xuan Tong and Xuan Ming, those two brothers, on the way. I didn't expect Xuan Tong had also advanced to Sky Grade. They saw I was alone and tried to kill me."

"But I dragged them back into that Rhinobeast herd, and they suffered heavy losses. I took the chance to escape. I got a little hurt in the process, but I've mostly recovered."

Di Fei smiled gently and gave a brief account of the matter, as if those dangers had happened to someone else.

Even Wu Sheng was quite surprised to see his calm and composed demeanor, and couldn't help but admire him.

Someone like that was clearly a person of great perseverance, especially with a very steady mentality. If he could become a friend, it would definitely be a good choice.

"You must be Brother Wu Sheng. I heard about your exploits not long ago. Haha, I never thought that Yu Yan, with all his scheming, would get shut out by you. Next time I see him, it'll be fun." Di Fei's eyes lit up when he saw Wu Sheng, and he said cheerfully.

"Just luck. I only wanted to take out their base back then. I didn't expect it would help you all."

Wu Sheng smiled as well. The other party was at least a Star Grade existence, likely stronger than him, and had a high opinion of him—who wouldn't be happy about that?

"Haha, luck is also part of strength. Our Blood River Squad is just missing an expert like you, skilled in soul arts. With you here, you'll be the bane of those Sky Grade martial artists."

"I heard you're in urgent need of some Cosmic Crystals. I happen to have some here, so take them and use them. Train well, and sooner or later, you'll be our Blood River Squad's trump card."

"Alright, I'll recover first. We'll talk later."

With that, Di Fei tossed Wu Sheng several spatial rings, then said apologetically before preparing to restore his depleted internal energy.

Wu Sheng took the spatial rings and gave them a quick probe, then was stunned.

Good heavens, what a generous move. Nearly 10 million Cosmic Crystals, handed over without a sound.

Adding the 30 million Cosmic Crystals he'd gotten from He Na and the ones he'd looted from Tuo Meng and the others' spatial rings, the total was over 50 million.

Though it was still a far cry from his 1 trillion shortfall, having such a huge fortune in hand was still dazzling.

"Sigh, since I took the money, I'll have to do the work later!"

Even though Wu Sheng knew they were deliberately courting him, he couldn't refuse. He could only see this path through to the end.

As for success or failure, that was another matter.

"Forget it, improving my strength is the real priority. With this many Cosmic Crystals, I'll keep a small portion to boost my power and dump the rest into the Time-Space Shop."

Wu Sheng was helpless. Unlike He Na and the others, who could bring large spatial rings into the Blood Trial, he could only use the ten-meter spatial rings provided by the Trial Ground to store things.

So each spatial ring could hold at most 1 million Cosmic Crystals—that was the limit.

Having over 50 million Cosmic Crystals split across dozens of spatial rings was a hassle, so he might as well send them all into the Time-Space Shop.

He found a separate cave, had Man Gu and Bai Yu stand guard outside, and first stuffed the unused Cosmic Crystals into the Time-Space Shop's micro black hole, then prepared to study the new secret technique he'd obtained.

A few days later, Di Fei, He Na, and the others finished recovering and came to find Wu Sheng. They said they wanted to reestablish the Blood River Squad and planned to go out looking for isolated trial takers to recruit, hoping he would join them to bolster their numbers.

To that, Wu Sheng said he didn't want to go out. His primary goal was to study the secret technique and improve his strength and will.

Going out to recruit people wasn't worth his distraction.

So he volunteered to stay behind, ostensibly to guard the place, but in reality, he was still squeezing out time to focus on his own matters.

And so, Di Fei and He Na went out cautiously every day, occasionally bringing a few people back.

If these people were Elite Trial Takers, they could serve as members of the Blood River Squad. If they were only ordinary or excellent-grade Trial Takers, they could only be assigned under the command of these squad members.

Take Jin An, for example—he had previously been the seventh member of the Blood River Squad, so Man Gu and Bai Yu could only call themselves the Seventh Squad.

However, after the Beast Baptism orchestrated by Yu Yan, Jin An had now risen to third place, while Wu Sheng ranked sixth (since He Na had only managed to escape with four Elite Trial Takers back then).

As for Di Fei and He Na, they held the positions of captain and vice-captain.

As time passed, the Blood River Squad's numbers slowly recovered.

Correspondingly, their traces gradually became exposed.

With the lone Trial Takers nearly all slaughtered, a new storm had already brewed to a head.

Just as Wu Sheng had been in seclusion for a year and a half, Bai Yu and Man Gu were confronting several Prison Clan Members in front of the cave where he was cultivating.

Inside the cave, Wu Sheng also opened his eyes—but unlike before, nine miniature planets spun within his gaze.