Eight Gates Assessment

At this time, there were about fifty or so young disciples from the four major sects and some third-rate small sects.

These young disciples all had bloodlines of the third or fourth grade, and it was already very rare for them to be able to open eight spiritual apertures.

The majority were martial artists over thirty years old, who had opened at least nine spiritual apertures and possessed formidable strength.

As for Lu Ren, he could be considered the only one who dared to come to the Tuoshe Cave Mansion with only seven spiritual apertures opened.

And at this very moment!

Rumble!

A violent sound erupted, and the massive stone gate of the cave mansion slowly opened. Blinding light surged out from within, making it impossible to see what was inside.

A deep, hoarse voice echoed from the depths of the Tuoshe Cave Mansion.

"Those who hold the Tuoshe Blood Jade and are Aperture Opening Realm martial artists below the fourth-grade bloodline may enter the cave mansion and undergo assessment. If the assessment is passed, they shall receive my master's inheritance!"

Before the voice finished speaking, many martial artists rushed into the stone gate.

"Master, I'm going in too!"

Lu Ren called out to Yun Qingyao, then his figure flashed, and he also rushed through the stone gate.

Buzz!

As soon as Lu Ren entered the cave mansion, he felt the world spin and a wave of dizziness washed over him.

The next moment, Lu Ren found himself in another space.

This place appeared to be an Eight Trigrams Altar, with eight portals corresponding to the eight directions.

On these eight portals were inscribed the eight characters: Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui.

Upon seeing this, Lu Ren asked in confusion, "What does this mean?"

"Hahaha, Zhao Kun is really lucky to be teleported to the same Eight Trigrams Altar as you!"

Suddenly, a middle-aged figure appeared before Lu Ren. Upon realizing it was Lu Ren, he burst into laughter.

Once they entered the Tuoshe Cave Mansion, they would be randomly teleported to an Eight Trigrams Altar.

This time, with two to three hundred people entering the Tuoshe Cave Mansion, his ability to directly encounter Lu Ren was indeed great luck.

"Oh? By luck, you mean the opportunity to kill me?"

Lu Ren inquired.

"Of course!"

Zhao Kun smiled and continued, "By killing you, I'll have one less competitor! Moreover, for you to dare to provoke Tang Hao, it's simply laughable!"

"Are you sure you can kill me?"

Lu Ren frowned and asked.

"Hahaha, Lu Ren, I've cultivated for over thirty years, broken through my limits, and opened eight spiritual apertures. I can unleash a strength of eight thousand jin. I've also cultivated a Yellow-grade low-grade saber technique to perfection. Killing you would be as easy as turning my hand!"

As he spoke, he took out a Golden Silk Great Ring Saber from his storage bag and pointed it at Lu Ren, saying, "Lu Ren, tell me, do you have any last words?"

Lu Ren's expression was calm as he asked, "What do these eight portals mean?"

"Since you're about to die, I'll tell you!"

Zhao Kun retracted his great ring saber, seemingly in no hurry to kill Lu Ren. He pointed at the eight portals and said, "These eight portals, each one entered will lead to an assessment. Passing the assessment will teleport you to another altar. If you fail, you will be teleported out of the cave mansion. If all eight assessments are passed, you can proceed to the final assessment, and upon completion, you will receive Ancient Emperor Tuoshe's..."

However, before he could finish his sentence.

Whoosh!

Lu Ren suddenly lunged forward, his long sword piercing towards him like a nimble snake, its speed so great that he couldn't dodge.

Puchi!

Lu Ren's Fire Spirit Sword directly pierced his heart, splashing a large amount of blood.

He stared at Lu Ren, his eyes filled with terror, and exclaimed, "You... you're not playing fair!"

"You were going to kill me, so why should I play fair with you?"

Lu Ren sneered and thrust his sword forward again!

Puchi!

Zhao Kun spat out another mouthful of blood before falling heavily to the ground, completely dead.

After killing Zhao Kun, Lu Ren searched his body and discovered a dark ring on Zhao Kun's finger. Upon touching it, a faint spiritual energy fluctuation could be felt.

"Is this a storage ring?"

Lu Ren rejoiced.

With that thought, Lu Ren took it off and put it on his hand.

Although his Nameless Treasure Pagoda could also store items, it was his secret and couldn't be easily revealed. With this storage ring, his Fire Spirit Sword and other items could be stored at any time.

Lu Ren inspected it and found quite a few items within its spatial dimension.

Copper Coins, five hundred thousand!

Ten Human Tier Low-grade Martial Skills, three Human Tier Mid-grade Martial Skills, and one Human Tier High-grade Martial Skill.

There was also a secret manual. Its cover was very ancient and simple, and Lu Ren could vaguely make out a few large characters on it.

Lu Ren took it out and exclaimed in surprise, "The Spirit Burst Secret Art!"

This manual was actually a rare secret art martial skill, and it was a Human Tier Low-grade secret art at that.

Secret arts were different from the scope of martial skills and cultivation techniques; they were extremely rare, and each secret art could unleash powerful effects.

Once unleashed, it could boost one's combat power.

Some geniuses, by relying on powerful secret arts, were truly able to challenge opponents of higher cultivation levels!

However, cultivating secret arts was very difficult and required a lot of time for dedicated practice.

Fortunately, this was a Human Tier Low-grade secret art, considered the most basic level. With Lu Ren's talent, as long as he practiced diligently, he would be able to cultivate it.

Lu Ren took out the Spirit Burst Secret Art and began to study it page by page.

Lu Ren flipped through it, becoming more and more astonished. He said, "This Spirit Burst Secret Art can gather the spiritual energy within the spirit apertures and unleash power more than twice my own. The more spirit apertures opened, the stronger the power!"

This secret art was most suitable for him to cultivate.

Lu Ren continued his exploration. In a corner, Lu Ren saw over a dozen milky white stones, emitting a faint glow, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Could these be Low-grade Spirit Stones?"

It was said that these Low-grade Spirit Stones contained very dense spiritual energy. Once absorbed and refined, cultivation would be ten times faster than normally absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

A single Low-grade Spirit Stone could save an ordinary martial artist a month of hard practice!

However, Lu Ren had not yet advanced to the Spirit Stream Realm, so he couldn't use Low-grade Spirit Stones for now.

"Although this person hasn't entered the Spirit Stream Realm, he has quite a few resources on him!"

Lu Ren smiled and put all those resources into the Nameless Treasure Pagoda.

"If I have enough Spirit Rice, I can cultivate this Spirit Burst Secret Art, and then I'll have enough confidence to defeat Tang Hao, even if I face him!"

Lu Ren mused to himself.

Afterward, his gaze fell upon the thirteen Low-grade Spirit Stones.

When he consumed Spirit Rice, he was merely drawing the spiritual energy contained within it to replenish the spiritual energy in his spirit apertures.

The spiritual energy contained within Low-grade Spirit Stones was even more refined. Would it have the same effect?

With this thought, Lu Ren used the Fire Spirit Sword to cut off a corner of a Low-grade Spirit Stone, about the size of a thumbnail, and swallowed it directly.

Instantly, Lu Ren felt a surge of majestic spiritual energy erupt within his body, sweeping through him. His seven spirit apertures frantically absorbed it, and soon reached saturation.

Lu Ren was overjoyed. The spirit stones could indeed replenish his internal spiritual energy.

In fact, in the future, he might not even need to eat Spirit Rice. Just absorbing a fingernail-sized piece of spirit stone would be enough to sustain his needs for several days.

Just as ordinary people would starve to death without food, martial artists would also "starve to death" if they lacked spiritual energy within their bodies.

"I wonder how long these spirit stones will last me!"

Lu Ren murmured to himself.

If any martial artist in the Spirit Stream Realm knew that Lu Ren was using Low-grade Spirit Stones as food, they would definitely be so angry they'd spit out a mouthful of blood.

It was a complete waste of a precious resource.

One must know that Low-grade Spirit Stones were not cheap; a single Low-grade Spirit Stone would cost at least two hundred thousand Copper Coins.

Disciples in the Spirit Stream Realm could only exchange for them using contributions within the sect to speed up their cultivation.

They wouldn't even dare to dream of using them as food!

But Lu Ren wasn't thinking that far ahead. Resources could be earned again; only by improving his strength would he have more confidence in passing the Ancient Emperor Tuoshe's trial.