The First City and the Second City were not directly connected. A Small World lay between them.
That Small World was called the Nine Heavens Divine Demon Spirit Realm. Only by fighting their way through its Demon God Battlefield could trial-takers truly enter the Second Pass.
From Ding Yi, Jiang Yun learned roughly what lay within the so-called Nine Heavens Divine Demon Spirit Realm.
Most trial-takers pressed ahead with their heads down, knowing none of the details. They knew only to keep moving forward.
The specifics of each Small World and trial ground were known only to those who held power on the Ancient Road, such as the reception envoys and commanders. This was precisely the information Jiang Yun wanted to gather.
The Nine Heavens Divine Demon Spirit Realm held four major powers. Their names told the story: the Nine Heavens Kingdom, Spirit Kingdom, Divine Kingdom, and Demon Kingdom.
The powerful beings who made up these kingdoms were all foreign races that had lost to Human Race experts. In exchange for their lives, they had been imprisoned in that world to temper the Human Race's younger trial-takers.
At first, it had only the Divine Kingdom and Demon Kingdom and was called the Demon God Battlefield. Later, for various reasons, two more powers were added: the Nine Heavens Lifeforms and the Spirit Race.
The Human Race First City controlled when that world opened and closed. Even the Second City had no say in it and could only receive the trial-takers who made it through.
Within that world ran a vast ore vein, an entire Nine Heavens Divine Jade Ore Vein. It was peculiar, having nurtured many spirits that had taken form from Nine Heavens Divine Jade.
Those creatures were not Saint Spirits like the Purple Jade King Jiang Yun had subdued