Trial Prodigies

"Essence Lake, east, 2,800 li..."

Across the wilderness of grasslands and sand dunes, Su Bo seemed to be walking on the wind. Each step carried him dozens of meters, and in an instant, he vanished into the barren plains.

Only a faint breeze lingered and slowly dispersed.

According to the opportunity Liu Yue had mentioned, he truly needed to hurry and complete the Nine Body Temperings.

Time waits for no one. I need to move even faster! Su Bo thought to himself, and the speed beneath his feet abruptly increased by more than thirty percent.

A distance of 2,800 li would take at least three to five days if he relied solely on running.

So...

"Moo... moo..."

Half a day later, a massive wild bull covered in jet-black scales and bearing a single horn snorted streams of scorching air from its nostrils.

It carried Su Bo as it charged wildly across the plains, racing toward the Earth-Cang Mountain Range.

Through the swirling dust, the running wild bull could vaguely be seen. Its enormous head seemed two sizes larger than those of its kin.

Cows really did run much faster than people.

In just half a day, it had covered more distance than Su Bo could have run in two days.

It was just a little hard on the cow.

By the riverbank, the cow's face was full of exhaustion. It panted heavily, unable to drink any more water or eat any grass, its body twitching uncontrollably.

Su Bo stood beside it, looking at the cow with deep concern.

"Cow, you can't die!" Then he stuffed a fruit into its mouth. It was a natural treasure he had picked in some forest.

It was nothing particularly valuable, only capable of restoring a little vitality and blood.

The wild bull, panting heavily and barely clinging to life, sensed something in its mouth. It instinctively chewed and swallowed it.

Streams of warm essence surged through its body, pulling its half-lost bull life back from the brink.

The wild bull barely recovered and opened its bovine eyes, gazing at Su Bo with gratitude. Just now, it had truly thought it was about to die.

Even if it did not die, losing its ability to move in a wilderness filled with demonic beasts would leave it as meat on the chopping block.

"Good, I saved it..." The cow raised its head just as Su Bo spoke. "If it really died, where would I find such a good mount again?"

"..." The wild bull's huge eyes filled with astonishment.

Born a demon beast, its intelligence was truly not low. Otherwise, it could not have become a demon beast.

So it genuinely understood what Su Bo had said.

The light faded from the wild bull's eyes. It lowered its head and lay on the ground, numbly chewing grass. It really was starving.

As for resisting?

Heh. Even at its peak, it had been unable to resist and had received a brutal beating.

Let alone now.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Black Armor truly deserved to be called a demon beast comparable to an Eight Body Tempering martial artist. Once its four massive hooves got moving, it was unbelievably fast.

A vast mountain range stretching for an unknown number of li appeared before Su Bo.

As he drew closer, an endless savage aura rushed toward him, transforming into a heavy and terrifying mountain pressure that bore down upon him.

Bang...

Su Bo leaped aside to evade the impact.

The savage aura terrified the wild bull, which had lived on the plains its entire life. As if suppressed by its bloodline, its four massive hooves went limp, and it crashed to the ground.

It nearly sent Su Bo flying.

"This fellow..." Su Bo looked at Black Armor, its four hooves kneeling and body curled into a ball... Oh, Black Armor was the name he had given the wild bull.

The creature had been frightened so badly by the mountain pressure that it could not even stand, its entire body trembling.

Su Bo looked toward the enormous mountain range sprawled across the earth. An indescribable mountain pressure surged forth, carrying an invisible, boundless "intent" that suppressed everything.

It seemed as though it wanted to pass through his body and suppress his soul and mind.

Yet the feeling lasted only an instant. The divine form condensed from Bixi Divine Intent let out a soft cry within his sea of consciousness.

The "intent" formed by the mountain pressure was crushed.

"Humans can cultivate martial divine intent. Can mountain ranges also form a peculiar kind of 'intent'?" Su Bo shook his head and cast aside those thoughts.

They were not things he should be exploring. His goal was the Essence Lake and the Five-Viscera Yuanchen Tree.

Thinking of the great opportunity Liu Yue and Yi You had mentioned, Su Bo smiled faintly. The opportunity is mine!

Su Bo headed straight into the depths of the mountain range.

The Earth-Cang Mountain Range stretched for more than ten thousand li from east to west and several thousand li from north to south. The Essence Lake was said to lie deep within the range.

Its actual location was only seven to eight hundred li from Su Bo.

In about a day, he arrived at the outer region where the Essence Lake was located.

People appeared.

According to what that kid Yi You had said,

The Essence Lake and the Five-Viscera Yuanchen Fruit were the greatest opportunities available to the prodigies participating in the Starry Sky Trial, apart from the forbidden lands.

Not every trial prodigy had a background comparable to his own, Liu Yue's, or Yi You's.

Their Five-Viscera Yuanchen Fruit had been prepared by their clans. Once they obtained the Soul Vine and strengthened the source of their souls, they would immediately begin tempering their internal organs.

They would rapidly raise their strength to the peak of Nine Body Temperings.

Then, they would participate in the final trial on the Trial Star and compete for spots in the advancement sequence.

According to the estimates of their clan elders, as long as they obtained and refined the Soul Vine, strengthening the source of their souls, they would most likely rival the prodigies of the Federation's first-tier sequence.

Mm... the weakest tier, at best!

But as long as they achieved that, even the weakest first-tier sequence would be stronger than the current second-tier sequence.

They could participate in the final trial, seize a first-tier sequence spot, then use the starry sky teleportation array to travel from Beast Planet to the Trial Star where the first-tier sequence was located.

There, opportunities and natural treasures better and more powerful than the Soul Vine awaited.

Su Bo's eyes burned at the thought...

The martial path was one of contention. He was not like those two wealthy bastards, Yi You and Liu Yue. He was poor—poor, and burdened with the shackles of a so-called criminal citizen.

So, he had to make himself stronger. Stronger, faster.

Su Bo was determined to obtain the Five-Viscera Yuanchen Fruit.

"Who is it?" As soon as Su Bo reached the area not far from the Essence Lake, figures suddenly shot out and swiftly surrounded him completely.

The newcomers included both men and women. Every one of them possessed an extremely powerful aura and a murderous presence.

Clearly, they were all prodigies from the various Federation human races who had descended upon the Trial Star. None of them was weak, and several could even be compared to the previous Liu Yue.

In terms of strength, the weakest among them had reached Six Body Temperings.

"Ancient Human Race?" Someone recognized Su Bo's origins.

"Did any Federation prodigies from the Ancient Human Race descend among our batch?"

"Apparently not..."

"Then where did he come from?"

"No idea..."

"Who cares where he came from? No one gets to covet the Five-Viscera Yuanchen Fruit of the Essence Lake..."

"Right!"

When their own interests were involved, everyone stood united against outsiders.

Each round produced only so many Five-Viscera Yuanchen Fruit, not even enough for this group to divide among themselves. Adding another person was clearly against their interests.

Even if Su Bo was not especially powerful.

Most of the people here were Six Body Tempering martial artists.