Second Trial
"Uh--If we happen to meet again, I'll ask you next time."
Wang Xingyu changed the subject, instead asking Qing Heng Lingxi Xi, "By the way, is there a time limit for the God Trial?"
"Yes, you must complete one exam within ten years," Lingxi replied.
Qing Heng added from the side, "However, since you are the successor to the High Priest, if an unforeseen event occurs, the ten-year term can be appropriately extended. As for how long it can be extended, I don't know."
The successors to the high priestship are usually guaranteed to pass the examinations, so that's not a concern.
Wang Xingyu asked this because the fact that the white Soul Ring couldn't increase its age reminded him of a rule.
The reward from the God Trial is an increase in the age of your Soul Ring. This increases the age of all Soul Ring simultaneously, regardless of whether you have four, five, seven, or eight Soul Ring.
Following this logic, the more Soul Ring you have, the more cost-effective it is when claiming rewards.
However, according to the plot, a full-scale conflict with the Spirit Hall is about to occur five years later. Da Ming, Er Ming, Xiao Wu have not revealed their identities, so they should be fine, but they still need to ensure their strength just in case.
Fortunately, the rewards for the first few assessments are only at the hundred-year level, so let's take the tests for now and then fix it when the rewards jump to the thousand-year level in the last few assessments.
Having figured this out, Wang Xingyu stopped worrying about it.
"Okay. So what's the Second Trial?"
My condition has almost fully recovered, and I don't need to rest any longer.
Qing Heng and Lingxi turned to look at the Ancient Tree of Life at the same time.
Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu followed their gaze—could the assessment be related to this giant tree?
Lingxi's explanation confirmed the guess. "The Second Trial is to climb the Ancient Tree of Life. The two of you need to climb to a height of 35,000 meters."
"Thirty-five thousand meters?" Xiao Wu looked up at the tree trunk that disappeared into the clouds. "How high is that? It must be able to touch the clouds, right?"
Wang Xingyu quickly did the math in his head—35,000 meters, 35 kilometers, is this practically climbing into space?
This finally makes up for my regret of never having flown...
Qing Heng explained, "We've measured the diameter of the Ancient Tree of Life to be approximately 1 to 1.5 kilometers. As for its height, no one has yet reached the summit. When we were assessing it, it was 25,000 meters, and it took us more than two months. It gets increasingly difficult as you go on, but there's plenty of time for the assessment; you just need to reach the top within ten years."
Now that you mention it, it's not really that urgent.
Ten years is too long; we don't have that much time to waste here.
The two nodded, indicating that they understood.
Lingxi smiled slightly, "Then I wish you both a successful assessment and that you achieve the results you desire."
"Okay!" Xiao Wu ran to the base of the Ancient Tree of Life and looked up at its trunk, which blocked out the sky.
"Xingyu!"
A tree 40,000 meters tall, taller than all the trees in the Star Dou Great Forest combined; she had never climbed anything that big before.
Wang Xingyu followed, a thought briefly flashing through his mind—should he get a spacesuit?
However, since we have plenty of time, let's go up and take a look first.
He walked to Xiao Wu's side, activated his Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone, unfurled a pair of blue wings from his back, and Blue Silver vines Entanglement around their waists.
Xiao Wu looked up and aimed at the branches above. Her Fifth Soul Ring lit up, and black light bloomed beneath her feet— Rabbit Leap Meteor.
With a whoosh, she transformed into a pink shooting star, shooting straight into the sky. The vines instantly straightened, carrying Wang Xingyu with them as they rapidly ascended.
When she reached 200 meters, Xiao Wu used the momentum in mid-air to push off, covering another 200 meters.
In the blink of an eye, the two figures disappeared among the layers of branches and leaves.
Qing Heng and Lingxi stood under the tree, looking up at it.
Qing Heng tilted his head back, following the pink trail, until the two were completely out of sight before asking, "What kind of skill is that? How could it be so fast?"
Lingxi analyzed, "It's similar to a skill that enhances jumping. They're much stronger than we were back then."
Qing Heng withdrew his gaze and shook his head helplessly. "Each generation is better than the last; even climbing a tree is so stylish."
The two sat on a thick tree branch. Xiao Wu plucked a leaf from the side and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing it with a crunching sound.
Wang Xingyu glanced down.
In less than half an hour, I estimated that I had climbed about 1.5 kilometers.
There is a marker on the tree branches every kilometer, presumably for assessment purposes to facilitate identification.
For the first kilometer, there were almost no obstacles, but once past that point, gravity began to increase subtly.
This is similar to the First Trial Sea God: climbing stairs.
However, he had already been forced to train under Zhao Wuji's Gravity Enhancement at Shrek, so this amount of weight didn't seem too difficult to him.
"Xiao Wu, can you feel gravity? How heavy is it?"
Xiao Wu chewed on a leaf and mumbled a reply, "A little. But it's alright, the Rabbit Leap Meteor used to travel 200 meters in one go, now it's probably 190."
She picked another leaf and handed it to her, saying, "This is quite delicious, you should try some."
It seems the impact is indeed not significant.
Qing Heng said it would get harder as it went on, and he didn't know how much the gravity would increase later on.
Wang Xingyu took the leaf and put it in his mouth. As he bit into it, a sweet taste melted on his tongue, almost like fruit. It truly lived up to its reputation as the leaf of Ancient Tree of Life.
After resting for a while, the two continued their ascent.
At the two-kilometer mark, Xiao Wu's Rabbit Leap Meteor could only jump 150 meters at a time.
When I reached the three-kilometer mark, there were only thirty meters left, and I couldn't do continuous jumps anymore. I had to rest for a while after each jump before I could try again.
As Support System, Wang Xingyu was even worse off; flying with his wings under this gravity was less efficient than crawling on his hands.
However, after these few trips, the two discovered that the leaves were not only sweet, but also had the effect of restoring Soul Power, and were extremely pure.
In addition, the concentration of Force in the Sacred Forest of Life is nearly twice that of the outside world, making the cultivation speed almost twice that of the Douluo Continent.
After climbing another hundred meters, Wang Xingyu, panting heavily, supported himself on his knees. "Xiao Wu, let's stop here. The gravity here is just right. Let's train and adapt for a while before going up again."
Development and growth.
Xiao Wu lay down on her back on the tree branch, exhausted as well.
She also felt that the cultivation speed here was much faster than outside, and said "Okay" with her eyes closed.
The two of them stayed in the tree for a week.
Her cultivation speed was almost three times that of the outside world, and Xiao Wu leveled up to level 52.
It's not that I don't want to continue cultivating, but I've already adapted to the gravity here.
Xiao Wu twisted her neck, stretched, and then the Blue Silver Grass was tied back between them. The Rabbit Leap Meteor was activated.
This time, it's back to 180 meters.
At four kilometers, I reached my limit again.
So the two began a cycle—climbing trees, practicing when they reached their limit, climbing again when they adapted, and practicing again when they couldn't climb anymore.
A month later, Xiao Wu reached level 53, and Wang Xingyu also felt that he was about to break through level 52. The two of them had already climbed nine kilometers.
No matter how well you adapt, it's impossible to remain completely unaffected by the gravity of a nine-kilometer radius.
Xiao Wu's Rabbit Leap Meteor has been reduced to 30 meters per leap, no longer shortening or recovering, and may take even longer to recover.
But after nine kilometers, the gravity stopped increasing. Instead, something stranger happened—a slight itch...