Chapter 537

Chapter 537: Second Trial, Crossing the Dead Sea
The cultivator who had been about to step onto the last step instantly froze where he was, not daring to move.

Outside the Daqian Alliance, the crowd was also in an uproar.

“What tricks is the Daqian Alliance playing this time? How can someone die just for climbing the mountain?”

“Yeah, this is not a game!”

“Where are the people from the Daqian Alliance? Tell them to come out! They owe us an explanation!”

“…”

No matter how noisy the outside world became, not a single person from the Daqian Alliance came out to respond.

On the Path of All Beings, Yu Zhao’s brows tightened ever so slightly.

The Daqian Alliance had put a huge amount of effort into holding this selection. There was no way they were doing it just to toy with them.

If they wanted to pass this round, there must be some other condition.

What could it be?

Her gaze swept over the steps, then over the group of cultivators, and her heart suddenly stirred.

The cultivators with the highest ranks were all keeping some distance from the final steps. Instead, the ones at the bottom of the rankings were the ones rushing ahead.

If she remembered correctly, the cultivator who had just finished all the steps first and got struck by lightning had also been near the bottom.

Thinking again of the cultivator who had attacked others with malicious intent and ended up suffering the backlash himself, a look of understanding flashed through her eyes.

The Path of All Beings was testing not only one’s Dao, but also one’s heart.

It was just like what she had told Lu Jiu Yuan before: the more you try to rush, the less you get.

Steady progress and focus on oneself were the key to breaking this trial.

After she understood everything, Yu Zhao shut out all the noise from the outside world and continued to refine her Dao Intent.

Anyone who could stand on the Path of All Beings had already passed through many rounds of screening and stood out as an elite. Naturally, there were very few truly foolish people among them.

After a short panic, many of them noticed something was wrong. They forced themselves to calm down and think of a solution.

Ye Cong Xin’s method was much simpler than the others.

Although she held a lot of resentment toward Yu Zhao, in some areas she trusted Yu Zhao’s judgment a lot.

Just like now, she only needed to pay attention to Yu Zhao’s movements.

Whatever Yu Zhao did, she would do the same.

Of course, not everyone could stay calm and wake up in time.

This was especially true for a few cultivators who were only one step away from “victory”.

Their pupils trembled, their minds shook. After a long struggle, they still chose to stick to their original plan and keep climbing.

As expected, their ending was the same as that of the first person to reach the summit. Lightning fell from the sky and blasted their souls apart.

Day by day, the atmosphere on the Path of All Beings grew more and more silent. The restless and impatient ones had long been eliminated in the previous rounds of trials. Those who remained were steady and restrained, their joy and anger hidden deep inside.

Finally, when the young buddhist cultivator Zi Zai stepped onto the final step, brilliant light erupted. The chubby baby riding on his head turned into a ginseng root and fell into his palm.

The ginseng was as thick as an arm. Its skin gave off a faint glow, and a refreshing fragrance drifted from it. One look was enough to know it was no ordinary item.

A young woman with hair like a waterfall and an elegant air suddenly appeared in front of Zi Zai: “Congratulations. You have passed the first trial.”

Zi Zai pressed his palms together and bowed. Then he held up the ginseng to show her: “Senior, this item…”

“Since you passed the first trial, this will be your reward.”

The young woman smiled slightly, then went on: “Wait to the side for now. Everyone will take part in the next round at the same time.”

Seeing that the young woman did not plan to chat with him further, Zi Zai wisely stepped aside and quietly watched the disciples still taking part in the selection.

Not long after, people began to reach the top one after another. Yu Zhao, Lu Jiu Yuan, and Nan Gong Yin were all among them.

A few days later, Feng Jiu Si, Jin Yuan, Du Wu Xiang and the others also reached the summit one by one.

By this time, there were still seven or eight cultivators left on the Path of All Beings.

Just as everyone thought they would have to keep waiting, the young woman waved her sleeve. A raging gust of wind rose up around the Path of All Beings, and the remaining cultivators were swept away in an instant, disappearing without a trace.

Yu Zhao looked around, her eyes a bit complicated.

The first trial alone had eliminated nearly half of the cultivators, and most of them had not left alive.

No wonder people in the world said that nine out of ten died in the Daqian Alliance selection. It really was like gambling with your life.

“Time is up. Those who have not passed the trial are automatically out.”

The young woman tossed out this explanation in a calm voice. Then she turned and shot a spirit incantation into the sky.

The mist above them surged wildly, then slowly parted to both sides, revealing a vast sea that seemed to stretch on without end: “The second trial, crossing the Dead Sea.”

Everyone looked at the pitch-black water, which gave off a faint, ominous aura, and their brows twitched.

“There is a special restriction ward on the Dead Sea. Neither people nor objects can float on it. Only special boats can travel on its surface.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a row of wooden boats appeared in front of everyone.

Each boat had four oars and could hold at most five people.

The young woman continued to announce the rules: “You may row alone, or you may form a team. If you successfully reach the far shore, you pass.”

Form teams?

The faces of the cultivators all changed slightly.

Judging only from the rules she had said, forming a team seemed more helpful for passing the trial.

But after the lesson of the first round, they all knew there were hidden traps behind the simple rules. That meant forming a team might not be such a good thing.

“Yan elder sister, shall we team up?”

Faced with Dong Fang Yue’s hopeful gaze, Bei Ming Yan could not decide for a moment.

She was not worried that Dong Fang Yue would betray her during the trial. She was just afraid that teaming up would bring many problems.

Huo Shao Yan, straightforward by nature, immediately raised his hand: “Senior…”

He had only said one word when the young woman cut him off with a cold look.

“The rules are clear. Get on the boats quickly and do not delay.”

Everyone understood at once.

They were not even allowed to ask questions. Clearly, there were plenty of hidden tricks here again.

So now the most important question was whether they should form a team or not.

Yu Zhao hardly hesitated. She took three quick steps and jumped into a wooden boat. She grabbed an oar and began to row.

Among these people, she did not trust anyone. It was better to cross the sea alone.

She believed that since the rules said one person could go alone, then one person should be able to complete the task.

Ye Cong Xin moved at almost the same time as Yu Zhao.

She had been watching Yu Zhao’s every move.

Yu Zhao boarded a boat, so she boarded a boat too.

In the short gap while getting on, she did think about whether she should seize the chance to sit in the same boat as Yu Zhao and then find a way to kill her on the water.

But after thinking it over, she felt Yu Zhao was too strange and dangerous. She should choose a safer method so she would not end up capsized in this sea.

She wanted Yu Zhao dead, but she did not want to die with her.

“Someone has already started moving. You should hurry as well.” The young woman urged.

The remaining people looked at one another.

After a moment, Feng Jiu Si walked over to Jin Yuan: “Want to go together?”

Jin Yuan hesitated, then slowly nodded.

Their relationship was better than with most others, but it had not reached the level of sharing life and death.

The only reason they could form a short-term cooperation now was because everything they did here would be shown to everyone watching outside.

Unless one side wanted their two family clans to completely fall out, they would never dare stab each other in the back.

Huo Shao Yan and Shui Qiu Bai clearly understood this as well, and chose to join them.

So the four of them shared a single boat and rowed out onto the Dead Sea.