For disciples who had collected quite a few tokens, this was even more painful than being eliminated outright.
At least if they were eliminated outright, they could still keep half their tokens.
Now they had to start over and search for tokens again, and they weren't even sure they'd find more.
Even if they did find some, they weren't sure they could hold on to them.
For disciples who had only managed to collect half their tokens, it was different. As long as they hadn't been eliminated, there was still hope.
In any case, regardless of Chen Xuan's behavior,
the disciples who had heard about it had all become more wary.
More and more people began to travel in groups.
Of course, traveling in a group was no use either.
Chen Xuan was still quick and merciless: one person came, one person got tied up; two came, both got tied up.
Another two days passed.
With half the trial over, all the disciples in the secret realm had heard that there was a sinister little fellow sneaking up on his fellow disciples everywhere.
He was also very strong, and only tied people up to take their tokens.
One unlucky fellow had even been tied up twice in a row. That was enough to drive anyone mad.
Inside a certain cave.
Chen Xuan sat cross-legged atop a boulder.
The spiritual energy around him abruptly shifted, and his cultivation broke through from the third layer of Qi Gathering to the fourth.
The spiritual energy in the Floating Cloud Secret Realm was about the same as that around the Sect Main Hall.
In any case, both were better than Hundred Herb Valley.
So after just five days, the Flowing Cloud Technique had successfully cultivated Chen Xuan to the fourth layer of Qi Gathering.
Although Chen Xuan didn't know that beams of light above the plaza were observing the disciples taking part in the trial,
he could guess that the sect elders were certainly able to investigate what was happening in the secret realm.
So, to cover his tracks a little, he had pretended to be cultivating before his breakthrough.
His cultivation had broken through. Time to get moving!
Chen Xuan left the cave and began searching for targets.
But as time went on, targets became harder and harder to find.
Quite a few people had already been eliminated.
And because of Chen Xuan, quite a few people he had caught had found more tokens, then simply torn up their Teleportation Talisman.
They would rather lose half their gains than get caught again. They were terrified of being captured.
Most of those still around were searching for tokens in groups of several or even a dozen.
Besides them, there were also disciples strong enough to operate on their own.
All three Spirit Body disciples traveled alone.
They weren't worried about failing to find tokens by themselves. For powerful disciples, their goal wasn't to find tokens, but to seize them from others.
On the eighth day of the trial, the final three days would begin. The hundred people holding the most tokens would have beams of light shoot from their bodies straight into the sky, marking them out.
So they only needed to find people and fight them during those final three days, taking their tokens for themselves.
Besides, if they waited until the last three days to make their move, the disciples still in the secret realm would have collected plenty of tokens by then.
As for why Chen Xuan had started attacking people on the very first day—
he hadn't known about this.
No one had told him.
Neither Senior Brother Li, who had already returned home from Hundred Herb Valley, nor Song Tao from the Medicine Hall thought he could make the top hundred, so neither had mentioned it.
Over the next two days,
Chen Xuan made quite a few more gains, bringing his total to nearly a thousand tokens.
Each token could be exchanged for ten Contribution Points. A thousand tokens meant ten thousand Contribution Points.
And with the rewards for his trial ranking on top of that... barring any surprises, he was going to make a fortune in this Floating Cloud Trial.
In the blink of an eye, dawn broke on the eighth day.
As soon as it did,
Elder Zhang, outside the secret realm, activated its Formation Arts.
The next moment, beams of light shot skyward from the heads of the hundred people in the secret realm who held the most tokens.
On the plaza,
some of the disciples Chen Xuan had tied up were watching the light screen showing him.
Quite a few of them laughed gleefully at the sight.
"Let's see how that guy ties people up now!"
"Forget tying people up. With that beam over his head, people are bound to come looking for him. I hope someone gives him a good beating."
"That'll be hard. I've been watching him for days. He may be a bit underhanded, but he's genuinely strong, too. Aside from those three, most people probably can't beat him."
"There are still three days left. Those three might well come looking for him."
Many people began looking forward to the moment Chen Xuan was eliminated.
Whoever had been tied up by Chen Xuan wanted to see something happen to him.
Outside the main hall,
three elders sat chatting.
"Senior Brother Xie, that boy has made enemies of everyone."
Elder Zhang smiled as he spoke to the old man beside him.
"No matter. Those disciples aren't strong enough. They have no one to blame but themselves."
Elder Xie chuckled softly.
"He broke through to the fourth layer of Qi Gathering two days ago. How could a Mortal Body cultivator progress so quickly? Could the original assessment have been mistaken, or could he have a hidden constitution that went undetected?"
Elder Song looked at the two of them and brought up another matter.
The two men pondered for a moment.
Elder Zhang said, "The Myriad Dao Stele used to assess constitutions was passed down from the Holy Land. It can detect even a hidden Saint Body, so the assessment probably wasn't mistaken."
"Whatever the reason, it's a good thing that he has such talent."
Elder Xie didn't want to probe further. The three of them could all sense that Chen Xuan had likely encountered some fortuitous opportunity.
Chen Xuan would belong to Danxiao Peak in the future.
Naturally, he didn't want anyone else digging into Chen Xuan's secrets.
Seeing this, Elder Song said no more.
Inside the secret realm.
Chen Xuan stared at the beam of light above his head, utterly bewildered.
What was going on?
What was this thing?
Then he saw beams of light rise in every direction.
Chen Xuan immediately began to guess.
Could these beams be marking the locations of the remaining disciples?
Chen Xuan's eyes lit up.
If that was the case, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Did they really think that because he'd been sneaking up on people, that was all he could do?
Now that everyone's positions had been revealed, he might run into others coming after his tokens. But on the flip side, this was good for him, too.
It would be easier to seize tokens.
"Let's do it!"
Chen Xuan immediately locked onto the nearest beam and charged toward it.
His guess wasn't entirely right.
He thought everyone's position had been revealed, but only the hundred people holding the most tokens had been marked.
But it didn't matter. That wouldn't stop him from seizing their tokens, and taking on the top hundred would bring bigger rewards.
Not far away,
a disciple noticed a beam of light rapidly approaching him. He didn't panic. Instead, he drew his Floating Cloud Sword, readied his Dao Technique, and prepared for battle.
He was already at the third layer of Qi Gathering. Aside from the three Spirit Body disciples, he feared no one.
Even if he couldn't win, he could still run.
If it really was one of the Spirit Body disciples, he could only accept his bad luck.
Before long, he caught sight of Chen Xuan.
The disciple took a closer look and realized Chen Xuan wasn't one of the Spirit Body disciples. His confidence immediately returned.
"Junior Brother, I'm Feng Ran of Azure Sky Peak. May I ask who you are?"
Feng Ran cupped his hands.
"Li Feiyu of Yellow Maple Valley!"
Chen Xuan made up a name and immediately summoned his Floating Cloud Sword. The long sword cut through the sky, heading straight for Feng Ran.
Before you continue