Time passed quickly.
When all the trial participants on the Spirit Road saw their Blood-Colored Tokens shining red, they knew the selection had arrived.
At that moment, the selection rules were also revealed, and they were no different from what Yun Mo and the others had discussed.
"The selection at the Third Guardian Land of the Spirit Road will determine the final hundred trial participants. Afterward, they will enter the final stage of the Spirit Road, where they will no longer need to fight to the death and will directly become students of the Five Great Academies."
This announcement from the Tokens did indeed excite some of the trial participants.
But the next piece of information made some of their expressions change.
"There are no tricks to this selection, only strength, only slaughter. When the fighting leaves just a hundred people in the Three Martial Combat Arenas, the selection will end."
"..."
"Three Martial Combat Arenas, a hundred survivors-that means only thirty-odd people can remain standing here. Nearly two hundred will be eliminated in the end, reduced to withered bones." A clamor rose from some of the groups.
Although they had been fighting and killing for over a year and had long since grown numb, encountering such rules at the final moment still left them pale.
After all, every remaining Spirit Road trial participant had grown, becoming far stronger than when they first entered the Spirit Road. That also meant this final selection would be brutally cruel.
Dong...
The lingering toll of a bell echoed through heaven and earth, deep and ancient. It was the signal for the selection to begin.
An old man with white hair and a white beard slowly spoke. "Those who wish to take part in the selection, enter."
At that moment, most of them suppressed the trace of fear in their hearts and, yearning for the Five Great Academies, descended into the magnificent circular Martial Combat Arena.
But a small number, either because their wounds had yet to heal or because they knew their own strength and believed they could not remain standing at the end, chose to abandon this opportunity altogether.
Seeing that the gates were about to close, Yun Mo and the other three exchanged glances before descending into the Martial Combat Arena as well.
The instant they entered, a faint blood-red glow radiated from their bodies. It was the distinctive radiance of level-seven Blood-Colored Tokens, dazzling to behold.
"I never thought the Tokens had this use, too." Wu Ling raised the arm holding his War Staff and grinned. "Find the people with high-level Tokens and snatch them!"
But barely had he finished speaking when a group of six landed around the four of them.
"Level-seven Tokens!"
Without a doubt, they immediately understood the meaning of that radiance and charged straight at Wu Ling.
Anyone who dared enter this selection would have no doubts about their own strength. Killing whoever they saw was perfectly normal.
"Looks like we'll do what we always did-just fight our way from start to finish!" Carrying her scarlet Crescent Blade, Wu Yingying darted forward alongside Wu Ling to meet them.
In an instant, astral gales and sword energy spread, filling the entire area.
Just as Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan were about to join the fight, finish it quickly, and collect the Tokens, another group of five appeared on the battlefield, right before them.
Likewise, the moment they saw Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan, they charged straight at them with weapons in hand.
At the sight, Yun Mo smiled faintly. His black-and-white Battle Halberd appeared, and a terrifying aura erupted in an instant as he cleaved toward the five with a trace of bloodlust.
Watching Yun Mo's sky-filling aura, Wen Qingxuan gave a soft huff. The golden spear in her hand shone just as brilliantly. With a flick of her delicate hand, its radiance slashed toward their enemies in an instant.
"How is this possible?!"
Their opponents' expressions changed drastically, however, and they roared at the sight of that immense astral energy and spear radiance.
They could not believe anyone on the Spirit Road possessed such terrifying power. They tried to resist with their lives on the line, unleashing every scrap of strength they could muster, but the result sent an uproar through the onlookers.
Boom!
The two sides collided. Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan's power swept through their resistance like a tempest crushing rotten wood, shattering the five opponents' combined attack in an instant before crashing down on them without seeming to weaken at all.
"Pfft..."
Without exception, all five spat blood, their vision went black, and they never moved again.
And by the time Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan had finished those five, Wu Ling and Wu Yingying had likewise swept through their six opponents in an instant with overwhelming strength.
"..."
The spectators outside erupted. Shocked cries rose one after another, and almost no one could remain calm.
"Those four..."
"Are our eyes playing tricks on us?"
"Fuck, good thing I was smart enough not to go in. Not even a few breaths, and eleven people died on the spot. They died faster than anyone else."
"If we'd gone in and run into them, wouldn't we have ended up just like those people?"
"How could there be people this terrifying on our route? Why hadn't we heard anything about them before?"
"Could all their bodies have reached the Spirit Wheel Realm?"
"It's definitely more than that. Even people with Spirit Wheel Realm strength couldn't unleash power like this. Their strength must be close to the Divine Soul Realm, or at least the peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm. Whoever runs into them dies-and there are four of them!"
"Have we gone mad?"
The small number who had given up on the final selection stared at the battlefield, unable to stop their cries of astonishment. With the pressure gone, their minds had instead become much calmer.
Some rejoiced at their own good fortune, while others marveled at Yun Mo and his companions.
Even the eyes of the three white-haired, white-bearded elders flickered.
"Why hadn't any news come out before? Did no one observe them through the Mirror of Judgment?"
"Three have bodies at the peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm, and two of those are even a little stronger than that. And that boy holding the Battle Halberd has physical strength fully at the Divine Soul Realm."
"Extraordinary. This Spirit Road Trial has produced four little monsters who far surpass everyone else."
"And they've actually gathered together..."
Unaware of the uproar outside, Yun Mo and the other three simply picked up their opponents' Blood-Colored Tokens.
The Tokens were good. Almost everyone had a level-six Token.
"Should we merge them now?"
"Sure. Afterward, we can just fight our way toward the center. That should be where the most people have gathered. Kill them all."
As Yun Mo reached the end of his sentence, his voice gradually deepened. Killing intent actually radiated from his entire body, and his expression unknowingly turned cold, even more oppressive than before, as though he harbored endless hatred and sought to annihilate everything.
Those words
Made Wu Ling and Wu Yingying look at him with strange expressions. They could clearly sense that something was wrong with Yun Mo.
"What happened to your eyes? The mark between your brows seems even more silvery-white." Wen Qingxuan fixed her phoenix eyes on Yun Mo's pitch-black pupils. Suddenly, she seemed to sense an aura of intense hatred.
"Hm?"
At her words, Yun Mo froze. The icy killing intent surrounding him slowly dissipated, returning him to normal.
"What... happened to me?"
Yun Mo slowly raised his hand and touched the space between his brows. The icy hatred there remained.
He frowned slightly. A moment ago, towering hatred had suddenly surged within his heart, and his mind had seemed completely controlled by it, giving rise to endless killing intent.
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