Early the next morning.
A server-wide announcement had already gone out across Sect World 999.
[Sect World 999 announcement: The first week's sect trial will officially begin today at the hour of the dragon. All sects, prepare yourselves.] [All sects will be rated according to their performance in resisting the Demon Beast assault. The higher your rating, the richer your rewards. All sects, please hold out for as long as possible.]
Once the announcement for the first week's sect trial came out, every sect on Sect World server 999 prepared for battle early.
In previous years, most sects had been eliminated during the sect trials following each week's competition.
Compared to the tension and worry of ordinary sects.
Although the top ten sects faced greater challenges, their sect masters' eyes were filled with a thirst for battle, without any worry at all.
That was because, after the first week's competition, practically every top ten sect had disciples who had broken through to the Qi Refining Stage.
On top of that, they had received construction blueprints for mountain-protecting formations as rewards for becoming Qi Refining sects. Relying on those formations, they were still confident they could kill every invading Demon Beast!
Even if those Demon Beasts had entered the Qi Refining Realm.
But so what if the Demon Beasts had entered the Qi Refining Realm?
Based on past experience, these Demon Beasts would be at the Qi Refining Second Layer at most!
As everyone waited anxiously, the hour of the dragon arrived.
Countless Demon Beasts appeared out of thin air in Sect World.
Outside every sect, the roars of Demon Beasts, some more numerous than others, rang through the heavens.
Outside the Supreme Strength Sect.
Leading his sect's disciples, Lin Daqiang had already laid numerous traps outside the sect, waiting for the Demon Beast assault.
Although no one in the sect had broken through to the Qi Refining Realm yet, he had spared no expense this time, purchasing several low-grade Law Artifacts from the trading house.
According to past precedent, the strength of the Demon Beasts attacking sects like theirs, which had placed in the top hundred in the first week's competition, was set at 70% of the top hundred sects' average strength. They would be at the peak Houtian realm at most.
Although no one in their Supreme Strength Sect had entered the Qi Refining Realm yet, several disciples had reached the peak Houtian realm.
With Law Artifacts in hand, they would have more than enough strength to face a few Demon Beasts that were also in the Houtian Realm.
Soon, Lin Daqiang's expression turned somewhat grim.
Eleven Demon Beasts appeared in his field of vision one after another, and two of them were actually at the peak Houtian realm!
This made no sense!
During last year's senior high school cohort's first-week trial, the top hundred sects had faced only five or six Demon Beasts, with at most one at the peak Houtian realm.
Why had the number of Demon Beasts doubled for their cohort, and their strength increased too?
A hint of bitterness appeared on Lin Daqiang's face. They would probably face a fierce battle today.
"Those sons of bitches in the top ten sects! Every last one of them hid their strength so deeply! They've really cranked up the difficulty for sects like ours!"
At that very moment, every sect master in the top hundred could not help cursing as soon as they saw the number of Demon Beasts!
The Daoxuan Sect.
As the former number one on the first week's points leaderboard for recruited disciples' aptitudes, its strength could not be underestimated.
And the Daoxuan Sect's personal disciple possessed a supreme-grade spirit root and had already broken through to the Qi Refining Second Layer.
Two disciples had broken through to the Qi Refining Realm. Including the sect master himself, there were three of them.
But now, when the Daoxuan Sect's master saw the strength of the Demon Beasts approaching their mountain-protecting formation, he found it somewhat hard to believe.
There were more than twenty Demon Beasts, and three of them were actually in the Qi Refining Realm!
One at the Qi Refining Third Layer, one at the Qi Refining Second Layer, and one at the Qi Refining First Layer. There were also as many as four or five Demon Beasts at the peak Houtian realm!
Yet their entire Daoxuan Sect, including himself, had only three Qi Refining Realm cultivators.
These Demon Beasts were already stronger than their sect. How was that possible?
Almost instantly, the Daoxuan Sect's master figured it out.
His Daoxuan Sect ranked second, yet it was weaker than these Demon Beasts.
Then there could only be one truth: the first-ranked E-grade sect, the Evergreen Sect, might already have a cultivator who had entered late Qi Refining!
Otherwise, averaging out the strength of their top ten sects could not possibly have produced a Qi Refining Third Layer Demon Beast!
The Daoxuan Sect's master cursed inwardly, then immediately ordered the disciples to operate the sect's mountain-protecting formation at full strength and prepare for battle.
Without the mountain-protecting formation, even their Daoxuan Sect would probably struggle to resist these Demon Beasts!
Just how strong was this Evergreen Sect?
Compared to the Daoxuan Sect's encounter, none of the other top ten sects faced a Qi Refining Third Layer Demon Beast, but practically all of them had at least two Qi Refining Realm Demon Beasts appear outside their sects.
For instance, outside Lin Wan'er's fourth-ranked Azure Luan Sect, two Qi Refining Second Layer bear demons were trembling, not daring to approach the Azure Luan Sect's mountain-protecting formation.
That was because a blue-feathered immortal bird hovered above the Azure Luan Sect, eyeing the two bear demons like a tiger watching its prey. Its cultivation had clearly surpassed early Qi Refining.
Had Lin Feng been there, he would have recognized that blue-feathered immortal bird as one of the two spirit birds that had appeared when Lin Wan'er awakened her sect that day.
He simply would not have expected that spirit bird to possess mid Qi Refining strength.
At that moment, in Sect World 999's chat channel.
The sects outside the top ten had already begun complaining.
[Great Joyous Union Sect: Holy crap! You top ten sects, every last one of you hid your strength deeper than the next! You should've told us sooner that you were already this strong! I only ranked in the top 30% in the first week's competition, but the number and strength of these Demon Beasts have doubled compared to last year's!] [Azure Wood Sect: Exactly! The Demon Beasts suddenly became this strong, and we had no warning at all! Can you top ten sects act like human beings for once?!] [Cloud Cliff Sect: It's over! It's completely over! I thought I could hold out until the end and get into a better sect university, but now it looks like I won't even survive the first week's trial! In the end, I'm just not worthy!]
The small and medium-sized sects all began complaining, accusing the top ten sects of being inhuman.
Yet at that moment, the top ten sects being blamed had grievances they could not voice either.
[Supreme Purity Sect master: You're making it sound like we're having such a great time. My Supreme Purity Sect only has three Qi Refining cultivators including me. Well, guess what? Two Qi Refining Second Layer Demon Beasts showed up, along with one Qi Refining First Layer Demon Beast! If we didn't have the sect's mountain-protecting formation, even I, the sect master, would be running away!] [Daoxuan Sect master: Who isn't in the same boat? Your Supreme Purity Sect only has two Qi Refining Second Layer Demon Beasts. Guess what I've got? I've even got a Qi Refining Third Layer Demon Beast here, but where am I supposed to find a Qi Refining Third Layer disciple in my Daoxuan Sect?] [Dao Inquiry Sect master: Are all you guys having it this bad? I've got two Qi Refining Realm Demon Beasts here too. This isn't right! Whose sect is so strong that it's dragged my average up?] [Limitless Sect master: Do you even need to guess? It has to be that Evergreen Sect that pushed me out of the top ten!] [Evergreen Sect master Tiancan Tudou: Stop yelling for now. A lord-class Demon Beast spawned here. Looks like it's at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Once I slaughter this Qi Refining Sixth Layer Demon Beast, your difficulty will be cut in half.]