With more than seventy percent of the students eliminated from the Spirit Hall Golden Generation's trial, the minds and bodies of those who remained were all on the verge of collapse.
If they couldn't bring themselves back into shape in time, they would face nothing but merciless elimination.
"Senior Sister, what kind of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast do you think Spirit Hall put in Traceless Valley?"
Ye Xuan was also considering their options. Since this was Spirit Hall's final trial, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast confined in the valley certainly wouldn't be an ordinary one.
"I'm not sure, either. But Soul Beasts that have lived for ten thousand years develop a certain degree of intelligence. Given the academy's way of doing things, they definitely wouldn't just catch any Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and bring it back for our trial."
Hu Liena had heard that during the Golden Generation's trial twelve years ago, the Soul Beast captured and put in the valley had been a Bloodthirsty Violent Bear that was nearly fifteen thousand years old.
It had nearly wiped out Spirit Hall's elite disciples. Thankfully, an elder had intervened in time; otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
The journey passed in silence.
The four of them hadn't had a particularly easy time of it.
But thanks to Spirit Detection, they'd been able to anticipate danger and eliminate every elite disciple hiding in the shadows.
At dusk,
they were only about two kilometers from the central valley.
After going hungry all day, they used Soul Beast meat to prepare their dinner.
Traceless Valley.
Calling it a valley was perhaps misleading. It looked more as though someone had cleaved the mountain in half from its midpoint with a power beyond imagining.
The cliffs were steep and the rocks jagged. Ye Xuan led the other three down into the valley.
"Nana, do you know the story behind the Traceless Mountain Range?"
Yan looked at the smooth cliff faces on either side, his eyes brimming with admiration and excitement.
His question piqued everyone's interest—not just Hu Liena's, but Ye Xuan's and Xie Yue's as well.
"Let's hear it."
Yan cleared his throat and began.
"More than twenty years ago, this place was called the Soul-Severing Mountain Range. It was one of the few small gathering grounds for Soul Beasts within a hundred miles of Spirit City."
"Back then, Sword Douluo's father, Chen Jianjun, challenged the Grand Pontiff with a peak cultivation of Level 98. Their battle took place right here."
At Yan's explanation, Ye Xuan lifted his gaze to the smooth cliffs around them and the canyon stretching down before them. An utterly absurd notion came to mind.
"Yan, don't tell me you're saying this mountain was cleaved in half with a single sword strike by either the Grand Pontiff or Sword Douluo's father, Chen Jianjun?"
"Exactly. Though the Grand Pontiff and Chen Jianjun fought in the sky, this Traceless Valley was carved out by the shock waves from Chen Jianjun's ninth Soul Skill."
Learning the story behind the place, everyone present couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
"My grandfather once said that during that battle, the Grand Pontiff showed Chen Jianjun respect by holding nothing back. In the end, Chen Jianjun broke through the Grand Pontiff's Angel True Body, but he himself was gravely wounded and left on the brink of death."
"Chen Jianjun named the Traceless Mountain Range before he died. I heard the name meant something like 'no trace of the past, no sign of the present.' Even when Chen Jianjun finally died, he never bore the Grand Pontiff a grudge. Afterward, this place was always known as the Traceless Mountain Range."
By the time Yan finished his story, they had reached the lowest part of the valley.
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was deeply moved.
"I never thought there'd be such a pure martial fanatic in the human world. If I had his strength, I'd already be living a cozy life with a wife and kids by the fireside."
Everyone there, Xiao Wu included, rolled their eyes at him.
They all thought the big white silkworm was as mood-killing as ever...
At the same time, Falling Devil Douluo, who was secretly protecting Ye Xuan, followed them down from a distance.
In his opinion, with the strength the four of them possessed, becoming part of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation was a sure thing.
There was no need for them to provoke the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast bound in the valley.
However, before Ye Xuan and the others had even reached the edge of the valley, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm keenly sensed a dangerous aura.
"Ye Xuan, watch out! It's a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast of the pure mental type—the Evil Eye Tyrant!"
At Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's warning,
everyone present shuddered.
A Ten-Thousand-Year Evil Eye Tyrant!
"Everyone, be careful. The Evil Eye Tyrant's mental abilities are incredibly powerful, but its true form is just an eye. Its defenses aren't that strong, so we need to finish this quickly!"
As he spoke, Ye Xuan and Tian Meng used their Spirit Simulation abilities almost simultaneously.
"Spirit Simulation!"
The Ten-Thousand-Year Evil Eye Tyrant might be extremely difficult for others to deal with, but to Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, whose mental strength far surpassed its own, it was like a father beating his son.
In an instant, with Ye Xuan and Tian Meng's help, they were all disguised as inconspicuous little stones.
The sun sank lower, and the moon slowly climbed into the sky.
Strands of moonlight streamed into Xiao Wu's body.
Her eyes, which had originally been faintly red, gradually turned silver as they were bathed in the moon's radiance.
Ye Xuan could also feel his first Soul Skill undergoing a transformation, empowered by the moonlight.
"Ye Xuan, the Evil Eye clan has far greater potential than our Ice Silkworm Clan. My strength is still too weak. Within fifty meters of the Evil Eye Tyrant, our Spirit Simulation will be completely useless."
Hearing Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's warning, Ye Xuan frantically considered their tactics.
Soon, he made up his mind.
"Yan, no matter what you see or what happens in a moment, just remember this: release all your Soul Power toward the Evil Eye Tyrant, no matter the cost."
"Senior Sister, Xie Yue, Xiao Wu, Tian Meng, in a moment, you..."
From learning their situation to laying out his entire plan took no more than thirty seconds.
But Yan, who was supposed to draw the enemy's fire, was feeling a little apprehensive.
"Ye Xuan, I know I treated you badly before, but that doesn't mean you can make me a living target..."
Yan looked at Ye Xuan with a hint of bitterness and pleading.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Ye Xuan or that he was judging him by his own petty standards. The main thing was that they were facing a Ten-Thousand-Year Evil Eye Tyrant, and he was genuinely nervous.
"Hehe, Big Brother Yan, don't worry. If we succeed, you'll be the greatest hero in killing this Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."
"Besides, my plan needs someone with the greatest destructive power to turn the whole battlefield upside down. Only then will we have a chance to strike a killing blow."
Hearing Ye Xuan call him the greatest hero of the battle, Yan finally felt a little more at ease.
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