"Storming the War God Hall?"
Lei Zhan looked at Yellow-Haired Great Bear. "My strength has improved tremendously since before. Of course I'm going to storm the War God Hall!"
"Mm." Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded. "Do you plan to challenge the second level of the War God Hall, or the third?"
"The third?" Lei Zhan was taken aback. He knew that he could choose the difficulty of the challenge. The third level offered even more precious Earth-rank magic treasures and other items.
Could it be that Senior Big Bear thought he had a chance of passing the third level?
Lei Zhan tamped down the eagerness stirring in his heart and looked at Yellow-Haired Great Bear. "Senior Big Bear, what are my odds of passing the second level right now? And what about the third?"
"You're a cautious little fellow."
Yellow-Haired Great Bear glanced at Lei Zhan. "After five years of preparation, you now have a seventy percent chance of passing the second level. As for the third, your odds are less than half a percent."
"Less than half a percent?" Lei Zhan said helplessly.
And he still expected him to try? Wasn't that just setting him up?
After all, Xiantian Beings, Purple Mansion cultivators, Myriad Phenomena cultivators, Primordial Spirit cultivators, and Void Return cultivators each had only two chances to challenge the War God Hall.
That meant every cultivator had at most ten chances before undergoing the heavenly tribulation!
And Lei Zhan had entered the Water Mansion at the Purple Mansion level, so he had only eight chances left!
Every single attempt was precious beyond measure!
"The first and second levels ultimately test whether you possess the strength of a Purple Mansion-level divine demon. The third and fourth test whether you possess the strength of a Myriad Phenomena-level divine demon," Yellow-Haired Great Bear explained.
"Passing the third level of the War God Hall lets you exchange directly for an Earth-rank magic treasure. Naturally, its difficulty is worlds apart from the first and second levels. And with every level you advance, the difficulty of the War God Hall doubles!"
"In that case..." Lei Zhan gave Yellow-Haired Great Bear a faint smile. "Senior Big Bear, I'll challenge the second level."
"Good." Yellow-Haired Great Bear said no more and waved his hand.
Whoosh!
Space shifted, stars wheeled.
Lei Zhan and Yellow-Haired Great Bear vanished from the Hall of Treasures, packed with magic treasures and other precious items, and appeared before a bronze gate.
"We've arrived at the War God Hall." Yellow-Haired Great Bear turned to Lei Zhan.
Lei Zhan raised his eyes.
"The War God Hall."
Before him stood a gigantic bronze gate, carved with battle-axes and spears.
A hazy red glow veiled the whole gate, adding a bloody, slaughterous air to the bronze doors, already steeped in the aura of battle.
"Lei Zhan, this is your first time challenging the War God Hall," Yellow-Haired Great Bear said. "The War God Hall is meant to test and temper you, and your God-Devil Body Refining has reached the Rebirth from a Drop of Blood stage. So there's little chance you'll die here. But a test always carries danger."
"Don't actually lose your life."
"Yes. I'll remember that." Lei Zhan nodded.
Though Big Bear had said he had a seventy percent chance, Lei Zhan wouldn't gamble with his life, even if it meant giving up this opportunity.
Across the boundless land, the soil was dark red as blood.
A towering pagoda stood in silence, seemingly untouched by the passage of time.
Lei Zhan strode forward toward the towering pagoda, toward the tower gate glimmering faintly with white light.
"Whoosh."
Two steps.
Three steps.
Lei Zhan reached the gate in an instant and stepped inside.
The familiar spatial shift came again, and Lei Zhan was transported to a hazy space.
The space was vast, stretching a thousand zhang in every direction and rising a thousand zhang high.
"The second level of the War God Hall." Lei Zhan looked around. "I wonder what kind of trial Senior Big Bear has arranged for me."
Even on the same second level, some trials were harder than others. It all depended on the mood of Yellow-Haired Great Bear, the Water Mansion's Magic Treasure Spirit.
Yellow-Haired Great Bear valued Lei Zhan's demonstrated talent, but that didn't mean he would go easy on him and let him pass without a struggle.
Even though Lei Zhan had inherited Daoist Sanshou's divine ability, Star-Plucking Hand, he still wasn't the true master of the Water Mansion until he had survived the heavenly tribulation.
If he died during the tempering... then he died. The Magic Treasure Spirit would simply wait for its next master.
Lei Zhan gave a slight shake of his head, put aside his tangled thoughts, and cautiously braced himself.
Suddenly—
Whoosh!
A streak of black light flashed through the entire space. It quickly gathered, condensing into a figure in the blink of an eye.
"Mm? Here he comes!" Lei Zhan looked over.
It was a bald elder, smiling warmly, empty-handed and seemingly harmless. Yet the aura he exuded made one's heart tremble.
"Oh?" The Bald Elder narrowed his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings. At last, his gaze settled on Lei Zhan.
"Why, it's a little brat at the Purple Mansion level..."
"Mm? A divine demon? They sent out a divine demon for the second level of the War God Hall?"
Lei Zhan sensed the Bald Elder's aura, and his expression changed. Alarm stirred in his heart.
"Wasn't I supposed to have a seventy percent chance of passing the second level? The aura this divine demon gives off is far beyond even the pressure my master puts on me..."
Whoosh!
Lei Zhan's body shifted, and he instantly manifested Three Heads and Six Arms and the Law of Heaven and Earth.
The towering giant, nearly five zhang tall, gripped three icy long spears tightly in six arms.
"Three Heads and Six Arms? Law of Heaven and Earth?"
"You're that little fellow Lei Zhan, the one at the Purple Mansion level?"
The Bald Elder spoke casually. "Don't worry! What came here is only one ten-thousandth of a wisp of my divine power. As long as you defeat me, you'll have passed the second level!"
"One ten-thousandth of a wisp of divine power?" Lei Zhan's heart leapt into his throat.
Even if it was only an insignificant wisp of divine power, it came from a terrifying divine demon at least at the Void Return level, and possibly stronger.
After all, Lei Zhan's God-Devil Body Refining was only at the Purple Mansion level.
"This trial... really is meant to temper me to the brink of death!" Lei Zhan gritted his teeth.
Inside the Water Mansion's main hall.
Immortal Juhua stood beside Yellow-Haired Great Bear. Before them floated a huge round mirror. Its surface reflected Lei Zhan facing the smiling Bald Elder.
"Senior Big Bear, isn't the trial on the second level of the War God Hall... a little too difficult?"
Immortal Juhua turned to Yellow-Haired Great Bear, his expression dark. "That divine demon in the form of a bald elder may only be a manifestation of an insignificant wisp of divine power, but the aura it gives off is at least that of a late-stage Void Return cultivator, if not one at the peak..."
A divine demon at the late Void Return stage, or even the peak, could easily kill a Celestial Immortal.
With that kind of strength, even an insignificant wisp of divine power could kill a Purple Mansion cultivator as easily as a mortal crushed an ant—if anything, even more easily.
"Difficult?" Yellow-Haired Great Bear glanced at Immortal Juhua, whose face had darkened like still water. "Your disciple is an utterly monstrous genius. He's about to reach the crucial age of ten. Without putting some pressure on him, it'll be difficult for him to obtain the divine ability my master left behind."
"Besides, with his cultivation, he'll soon be heading out to make his way in the world, won't he? Jade must be carved to become a useful vessel. Even if divine demons are rarely seen in this era, he could still run into some powerful ones out there. Think of this as an early taste of what's to come."
"True..." Immortal Juhua fell silent.
No strong cultivator could emerge from a hothouse. He understood that well enough.
And with Lei Zhan's strength, he would have to venture out by the Myriad Phenomena level at the latest. For a genius who comprehended the Dao so quickly, reaching that level was only a matter of time.
Yellow-Haired Great Bear watched the round mirror. A faint look of anticipation appeared on his face as he gazed at the young man facing the Bald Elder.
"Don't worry. Jiuya is a Void Return divine demon preparing to undergo the heavenly tribulation, but he knows his limits. He won't do anything to your precious disciple."