Chen Fan was standing in the Challenge Pavilion inside the Heavenly Court Hall, facing two ancient Bronze Gates. They looked identical, and their material was almost exactly the same as that of the Heavenly Court Token. Most of each gate appeared to be cast from bronze, and strange Monster Beasts were carved across the top. Chen Fan couldn't make out what they were.
Above one of the gates were the words "Immortal Qi," while the other bore the word "Realm." Chen Fan didn't think much of it and pushed open the gate marked "Immortal Qi."
It wasn't hard to guess that this was the Challenge Pavilion where challenges were based on Immortal Qi. But when Chen Fan pushed open the Bronze Gate, he paused in surprise. Behind such a massive gate were dozens of Teleportation Arrays.
Some of the arrays already held cultivators who had just arrived. One of them took out his Heavenly Court Token and placed it in a groove in the array. The formation activated instantly, and after a flash of white light, the cultivator disappeared before Chen Fan's eyes.
"Heavenly Court Token..." Chen Fan's brow furrowed slightly. His token had long since shattered, and he'd heard that each Divine Soul could bond with only one token. In other words, even if he found a new token, he might not be able to bond with it.
He slowly walked toward an empty array. If lacking a Heavenly Court Token meant being restricted at every turn in this place, that would be more loss than gain. After all, he'd heard the Green-feathered Bird mention that most of the precious resources in the Heavenly Court came from its various trials and missions.
"I should give it a try!"
Chen Fan stepped into the Teleportation Array and sent his Divine Sense toward the groove...
"Whoosh..."
He heard the formation activate. A powerful force yanked at his body, and the next moment he appeared on a Martial Arts Arena.
"It actually worked." Chen Fan was astonished. This would make things much easier for him in the Heavenly Court.
He glanced around. Darkness still reigned, and silence blanketed everything, making him feel as though he were adrift in the void.
It reminded Chen Fan of his trial in the First Layer of the Heavenly Court. The place was exactly the same as it had been then.
Only this time, his opponent didn't appear as quickly as before.
"Looks like 110 Immortal Qi is still too little," Chen Fan murmured. One-Star Heavenly Soldiers with only a small amount of Immortal Qi rarely took part in challenges, because they were too likely to face a strong opponent of similar strength. Once they lost, they would lose all their Immortal Qi. It was a cruel rule.
But no matter how cruel it was, people still took part. The flip side of that cruelty was a generous reward: a win would double their Immortal Qi.
"Whoosh!"
The formation on the Martial Arts Arena flashed white, and a burly figure appeared in front of Chen Fan.
"Qi Refining Layer 4? Ha, lucky me." As soon as the man was teleported over, he took up a defensive stance. But when he saw Chen Fan, he froze, then burst out laughing. His guard relaxed a little.
"Has it started?" Chen Fan asked calmly.
"Hm? Of course. It started ages ago. You can make the first move." The Burly Man was at Qi Refining Layer 6. He looked at Chen Fan as if he were prey already in his grasp—or a duck cooked and ready to eat.
Chen Fan's figure swayed slightly, and his whole body suddenly blurred.
"Whoosh!"
A sharp whistle cut past the Burly Man's ear. At the same time, a streak of white flashed across his vision like a shooting star, gone in an instant.
"Ugh..." The Burly Man stared, shocked and confused. What had happened?
"Whoosh!" The formation activated again. Two beams of white light flashed across the Martial Arts Arena, and Chen Fan and the Burly Man vanished at the same time.
Chen Fan was sent back to the Challenge Pavilion, but the Burly Man was nowhere to be seen. He was probably from another city.
Against Qi Refining Layer 6, one sword was all Chen Fan needed!
When he saw the number on his jade pendant change to "240," Chen Fan pushed open the Bronze Gate marked "Immortal Qi" again.
The Burly Man's defeat had earned Chen Fan "130" Immortal Qi. This time, if he was lucky enough to encounter someone with more Immortal Qi than him, he might be able to reach 500 in a single fight.
He activated the formation with his Divine Sense again, and a force instantly yanked him out of the Challenge Pavilion.
But this time, someone was already waiting on the Martial Arts Arena.
"Whoosh!"
A figure flashed past Chen Fan's eyes, followed by a blade of sword light.
Chen Fan's expression turned cold. He raised his sword to block. A sharp clang rang across the silent arena as the two blades struck, sparks flying—bright and piercing in the dim light.
"Hm? That's a fine sword." After his surprise attack failed, his opponent swiftly retreated, evidently impressed by the toughness of Chen Fan's sword.
"A sword cultivator?" Chen Fan gave a cold smile. These days, most cultivators in the Cultivation World pursued the Dao. After Foundation Establishment, Dao Cultivators wielded all kinds of spells and Magic Tools, with astonishing power. As a result, sword cultivators were far rarer than Dao Cultivators.
But the young man in front of him had considerable skill in Sword Art, which piqued Chen Fan's interest.
"Qi Refining Layer 4?" His opponent was just as surprised when he saw Chen Fan's cultivation, but he didn't let his guard down.
He knew perfectly well that a Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivator with over two hundred Immortal Qi couldn't have gotten there by luck. What's more, their brief exchange had made him grow wary.
"Qi Refining Seventh Layer? No wonder." Chen Fan had also seen the young sword cultivator's cultivation level. If this body were at Qi Refining Layer 6, like his body on Earth, the man wouldn't be worth mentioning.
But right now, he was at Qi Refining Layer 4, making this man a worthy opponent.
"Underworld Sword Slash." The young man gripped his sword, took two light steps, then leapt into the air. His long sword swept out a cross-shaped burst of Azure Underworld Sword Qi.
Facing such a violent Sword Qi, the long sword in Chen Fan's hand began to tremble slightly.
A clear sword hum rang out. His sword swung through the air, trailing a long streak of white light.
"Bang!"
After a dull thud, the two stood facing each other with swords in hand. Then they blurred and charged at one another.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
In the instant they met, three waves of Sword Qi collided.
A cold glint flashed in the young sword cultivator's eyes. He'd realized Chen Fan's sword skills were even more refined than his own. Dragging things out would only put him at a disadvantage.
"Azure Underworld Sword Qi!" he shouted. A vast surge of True Qi poured into his sword, and its blue glow flared brilliantly, like a spark in the night that now set the wilderness ablaze and illuminated a vast stretch of darkness.
"Ha!" He let out a roar, his sword rushing forward wrapped in tremendous, violent force.
Chen Fan's gaze sharpened. True Qi surged through his body and flooded into the sword in his hand like a river bursting its banks.
"Buzz..." As the True Qi flowed in, the blade began to vibrate uncontrollably at high speed, emitting a piercing sword hum.
"Blazing Heaven Sword Qi!" Chen Fan cried coldly. He stepped with the Formless Step, sweeping his sword through the air in an arc.
Boom!!!
A dazzling yellow Sword Qi burst from the blade. In an instant, the radiance of the Blazing Heaven Sword Qi swallowed the young sword cultivator's blue glow.
"Whoosh!"
A bolt of yellow lightning flashed before the young sword cultivator's eyes!
No!
It wasn't lightning!
"So fast!" A line of blood appeared across the young sword cultivator's neck. He'd seen it clearly: the bolt had been Sword Qi, Sword Qi as fast as lightning.
Whoosh!
The Teleportation Array sounded again, and the two vanished from the Martial Arts Arena.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound rang out as a fissure appeared across the arena.
"510 Immortal Qi." Chen Fan smiled faintly. His opponent had 270 Immortal Qi, and now every last point belonged to him—enough to challenge the Second Layer of the Heavenly Court.
This time, he confidently headed toward another passage in the Heavenly Court Hall. There was no need to find the Heavenly Soldier in charge of the Heavenly Court again. He remembered that beside the passage where he'd first taken the trial stood a Bronze Gate marked with two copper stars.
Following the same steps as before, Chen Fan sent his Divine Sense into the groove in the Teleportation Array. The array flashed white and instantly sent him away.
A cultivator standing in the neighboring array paused, then muttered in confusion, "Strange. I didn't see him put in a Heavenly Court Token, but the array still activated. Was I seeing things? I guess I'm not in the right state to take a trial today!"
With that, the cultivator pulled back the hand holding his Heavenly Court Token and turned to leave the passage.
"Whoosh!"
The sound of the array activating flashed past Chen Fan's ears. The scene before him had changed completely. He was no longer on a gloomy, dark Martial Arts Arena, nor among a dazzling array of Teleportation Arrays.
"A forest?" Chen Fan paused in surprise. The terrain looked a little like Demon King Valley. He also found a Jade Token in his hand. It was several inches larger than the jade pendant at his waist, about the size of his palm, and bore two lines of numbers.
The first line was written in red: 3000.
The second line was written in green: 500.
Chen Fan was puzzled. He hadn't received any instructions. What did the numbers mean?
But what surprised him even more was that five cultivators—three men and two women—stood beneath a large tree not far away. All of them were staring at him with wide eyes.
"It's over!" A woman in green immediately looked crestfallen and shook her head with a sigh.
"Qi Refining Layer 4? Are you kidding me? Could the Teleportation Array have malfunctioned?" said another cultivator, a bald man. He looked stunned, though anger was hard to hide in his eyes.
"Nothing's gone right today. As if getting stuck with the hardest trial weren't bad enough, now we've got this useless fool too. Looks like we're going to fail again." The bald cultivator slapped his forehead hard and cursed under his breath.
"Maybe not. He may only be at Qi Refining Layer 4, but he managed to get in here with 500 Immortal Qi, so he must have something going for him," said the Yellow-Robed Woman calmly. She was clearly the most composed of the five.
At her words, the other four seemed to think she had a point. They stopped grumbling and slowly walked toward Chen Fan.
"Listen. I don't care what your reason is for being here. Just protect your Jade Token and run for your life. Don't drag us down." When the bald cultivator reached Chen Fan, he spoke coldly.
Chen Fan noticed that he carried no sword or blade. He looked like a Dao Cultivator, and his cultivation had already reached Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
"Run? Why would I run?" Chen Fan said coolly. His expression was indifferent. There wasn't even a hint of a question in his voice when he asked why he should run. To the others, it sounded more like he was saying, "I won't run."
"Ha. Forget it. We're just unlucky, that's all." The green-clad woman's astonishment turned into a bitter, disappointed smile. She didn't spare Chen Fan another glance. Turning to the other four, she said, "The six of us have 3,000 Immortal Qi now. We can write off this fellow's 500 Immortal Qi. That leaves the five of us, and over the next three days, no more than two of us can fall. Otherwise, we'll fail."
"We've got another hour. So now, we split up and run. Do everything we can to survive these three days..."
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