The Shadow War Between the Six Great Powers

In a narrow mountain path, Wu Sheng frowned as he looked at the group of Prison Clan members before him.

They wore blood-red battle robes, their expressions arrogant, and several even bore looks of disdain.

"What's this, my dear little sister? I heard that your fiancé Li Hu was killed by people from Thunder Star Mountain? Our Blood Sun City spent so much resources training you, and this is how you serve Blood Sun City?"

One of them, a beautiful woman who resembled a catgirl, stepped forward with long legs moving in an elegant catwalk, coming before He Na of the Blood River Squad, and spoke with a smile.

But no matter how you listened to her tone, it was full of schadenfreude.

"Then she'll be a grass widow. Will this cause any trouble for our Blood Sun City? If it breaks the alliance between Blood Sun City and the Nine Spirits Society, that would be disastrous!"

"Hmph! Just like her dead mother—a useless creature who can't accomplish anything but can ruin everything."

Their words grew more and more cutting, making Wu Sheng frown continuously, let alone He Na standing at the very front.

She was trembling all over, her delicate face cold as ice, and the pretty colorful fish scale at the center of her brow was now turning toward an eerie black.

The mountain paths at the edge of the Core Land were a tangled maze. Trial takers like them weren't freaks like Leo's race—even walking was exhausting, let alone flying or using psychic detection.

So no one knew what they would encounter as they followed these mountain paths.

It could be trial takers from the same faction, or hostile factions, or even the ferocious beasts that had followed them in later.

This was the second trial these four regional trial takers had to face... finding the correct path to the flatlands from countless mountain paths.

Ever since they got separated from Li Long and the others, He Na, Di Fei, and Wu Sheng had gathered together, traversing over a hundred mountain paths and encountering nearly a thousand dead ends.

Along the way, they had killed dozens of small waves of ferocious beasts and several waves of trial taker squads, finally reaching this place after two days.

They never expected to encounter not other trial takers or ferocious beasts this time, but another major force also from Blood Sun City.

But judging by appearances, these people seemed to have some kinship with He Na on the surface, but their actual relationship was hardly good!

No, it should be said it was terrible!

"You Qian, don't be so smug. In this trial, we joined forces with Li Long to repel several joint attacks from Thunder Star Mountain and Cangming Valley."

"What about you? I heard that Pesili alone suppressed you and the Extreme Flame Realm completely. Blood Sun City's main force must have suffered heavy casualties, right? So how will you explain that to the clan elders?"

He Na ultimately chose not to start a fight, but she still retorted coldly with a sneer.

Hearing He Na's mockery, the catgirl-like woman in red robes froze her smile.

In the Western Domain, that Special Elite Pesili, who led the various Realm Lord Clan forces, was a ruthless talent whose natural gifts were hardly inferior to Li Long's.

Even though the main force of Blood Sun City joined with the Extreme Flame Realm's Special Elite Yan Yu to resist desperately, they were still routed by Pesili, crying and wailing.

In the end, they had to retreat en masse back to the Southern Domain to save some trial takers' lives. Otherwise, if Pesili kept killing, these Imperial Clan descendants would have become leaders without any troops.

"What's there to explain? Those old geezers didn't even assign a single Special Elite to our side for the sake of competing for the first Prize. Losing was only natural."

You Qian, who resembled a catgirl, snorted coldly.

"Is that so? Our side fought one against three and still won a great victory. If the clan elders had given me command of Blood Sun City's main force, our achievements would have been even more brilliant."

"So the fault lies with you. There's no excuse." He Na finally found a way to strike at You Qian and laughed heartily.

And this was indeed the truth. He Na had been pushed by You Qian and the others to the Eastern Domain, relying on her own resources to recruit people everywhere, and in the end, she had carved out her own territory.

In contrast, You Qian and her group, holding the massive amount of Cosmic Crystals and cultivation treasures given by the clan elders, backed by Blood Sun City's main force, and with the help of the entire Extreme Flame Realm's trial takers, were slaughtered left and right by that amazing woman named Pesili, suffering heavy losses.

The comparison made it clear.

"Hmph, there's still a year left. What's the rush? You just got lucky, pulling in a super genius who could kill Kadi as your helper. But he's too flashy. Not to mention whether he can keep his own life from Leo, you won't have it easy either."

"Once we leave the Trial Ground, you'll have a hard time. I really don't see why I should follow you!"

Then You Qian sneered again: "Leo is already the strongest in the Trial Ground. You'd better think about how to avoid Leo for this year. Let's go!"

After that, You Qian led her trial takers into a fork, and their figures were quickly blocked by the mountain rocks.

"That woman is pretty enough, but why is she so vicious? Daring to mock me? Fine, when you run into Leo, let's see who he tramples!"

Wu Sheng was also holding a bellyful of anger. If it weren't for the Realm Lord's World Projection watching over them at all times, he would have already given her a "Soul Thorn" and sent her off.

In another mountain path somewhere else.

Li Long's Ice Snow Domain clashed with a hazy domain radiating golden light.

Bang!

A slender, agile figure was sent flying backward from the impact, but she merely turned slightly midair and stabilized herself.

Her form was like an elegant leopard.

Gradually, the figure revealed her true appearance. She was a humanoid woman, only about one meter seven tall, wearing a gleaming golden battle armor that made her look very dashing.

"Li Long, your Ice Snow Domain is about to step into the fourth level. Impressive!"

The humanoid woman moved as nimbly as an elegant leopard, quickly dodging several sweeping strikes from Li Long's cold spear, then stood atop a tall rock and spoke with a smile.

"Pesili, are you Realm Lord Clans really going to join hands with Thunder Star Mountain? That Leo has already grasped the Wind Domain and advanced to Sky Grade Tier Two. He's probably the strongest among us now."

Li Long stopped his attacking movements and frowned as he spoke.

"You mean me? Doesn't matter to me. Our Realm Lord Clan isn't interested in that human Prize anyway, so helping either side is the same to me. It's just that Yan Yu's too much of a pushover—couldn't take a hit and retreated to the Southern Domain early on."

Pesili said with a smile: "I've been bored out of my mind these past few years. If you'd spar with me a few more times, I wouldn't mind helping you deal with Leo either. It's not like I can take him down alone anyway."

"Didn't you complain before that we from the Nine Spirits Society didn't sell the Star Beast 'Cang' to your Realm Lord Clan?"

Li Long asked again.

"That thing's body is so huge and clumsy—who'd want to buy it? Besides, if our Realm Lord Clan really bought it back, they'd probably make me perform Body Possession on it. But it's too ugly. I'm this beautiful—I really don't want to possess that big lump."

"So you not selling it? I'm the happiest one about that."

As she spoke, Pesili even took out a large mirror from her spatial ring and admired herself again and again.

That coquettish, vain look of hers left Li Long completely speechless.