Chapter 539

Chapter 539: It Was Just a Joke, Why Did You Take It Seriously
“Ahhh! Can anyone hear me? Is anyone there?”

Not far away, Huo Shao Yan cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down.

The three people sharing a boat with him all had their brows tightly knitted.

On another boat, two cultivators gripped their oars and were pounding them on the sea surface again and again, as if trying to attract everyone’s attention.

Some people had not noticed anything strange at all. They kept their heads down and rowed with all their strength, yet after a long time they were still spinning in place.

Others lay on their boats hugging their oars, looking relaxed, as if they would just drift wherever the current took them.

All kinds of reactions appeared.

Yu Zhao observed for a while. When she felt sure that she was the first to break the formation, she glanced at the endless sea ahead, took up her oars again, and began rowing.

Very quickly, her boat pulled far ahead of the people behind her.

“She’s moving, she’s moving. Finally someone is moving!”

The people watching the trial all sat up a little straighter.

They did not know that the candidates had fallen into a formation, but seeing all those strange, abnormal actions, even an outsider could guess most of what was going on.

Many of them were curious about who would be the first to break the formation.

The Buddhist cultivator Zizai, the Nan Gong Clan’s Young Heir Nan Gong Yin, Zhen Jiuyuan from the Bi Fang Realm, and the Saintess of Shura Prison were the most popular guesses.

The result today was both outside their expectations and within reason.

Yu Zhao was unknown, yet she had been placed first in the selection order. It was not strange that she would have abilities others could not predict.

“Hahahahaha! I won! Pay up, pay up! You bet, you lose!”

Old Jin spread out his hand at the people around him. The golden Primordial Treasure hanging on his neck swung back and forth, eye-catching and bright.

The people he called out to all looked unwilling as they shoved Spirit Jade into his hand, muttering sourly that he had “just gotten lucky.”

Old Jin did not mind at all. Hugging the newly gained Spirit Jade, he smiled so hard his mouth almost would not close.

Then, with a bold wave of his hand, he shared the Spirit Jade with Ancestor Sui Bian and the others who had placed the same bet as him.

Black Old Daoist watched, eyes burning with envy, and regretted it so much he almost bruised his own thigh from slapping it.

When everyone had been placing bets earlier, he had wanted to join in too.

But when he reached into his robe, he remembered that all his Spirit Jade was with Linglong.

Because he knew he could not keep money safe, he had specially given it to Linglong to hold. Now that he needed it, he naturally could not pull any out.

Ancestor Sui Bian happily stuffed the Spirit Jade into his Storage Space. Seeing how Black Old Daoist’s eyes were turning red, he became even more smug and showed off on purpose.

“How is it? Want some? Want me to share a little with you?”

“Heh heh, how could I dare…”

Black Old Daoist rubbed his hands together and gave a slightly flattering smile.

Ancestor Sui Bian twisted his backside and said: “I was just joking. Why did you take it seriously?”

Black Old Daoist flew into a rage. “You’re messing with me?”

As he spoke, he lifted his foot, ready to kick Ancestor Sui Bian’s rear.

The fat Ancestor twisted his waist and dodged nimbly. He was just about to throw out a few more mocking lines when his expression suddenly froze.

“You still want to mess with me…”

Black Old Daoist thought Ancestor Sui Bian was still joking with him. But then he saw the faces of the people around them change too. He quickly looked up and almost cried out loud.

“W-what is that!”

On the deep, dark sea, a black shape the size of a small mountain had suddenly risen up.

Countless thick tentacles stretched out around the shadow, slowly writhing in a twisted way.

Not far in front of that shadow, a single lonely boat floated on the water.

Yu Zhao stood on the boat with an oar in her hand. Against the huge shadow, she looked as small as a speck.

She slowly let out a breath, her eyes staring unblinking at the black shape in front of her.

She had known the second trial would not only be that formation.

She stared at the shadow for a long time. At last, her gaze seemed to pierce through the surface of the sea, and she finally saw its true body.

It was a giant octopus sea monster. What was showing above the water was not even one-tenth of its full size.

Each of its tentacles was as thick as a sky-supporting pillar.

If several of those tentacles moved together, they could grind a small mountain to pieces.

If this were an ordinary sea, Yu Zhao would still have the confidence to fight it for a while.

But right now, she was in the Dead Sea, and the only thing she could stand on was this small boat.

If the boat was destroyed in battle, even if she did not die in the sea monster’s grasp, the Dead Sea would swallow her.

Thinking it through, she could not fight it head-on. She could only rely on her wits.

She flipped her wrist and opened her hand, revealing more than ten short gray stone pillars.

Then she poured Spirit Power into the pillars.

The fallen pillars all stood upright, then kept changing position as they spun quickly in her hand.

Soon, a strange ripple spread rapidly in every direction.

Yu Zhao’s figure grew blurry on the boat, like a reflection in water, slowly blending into the surroundings.

Outside the Daqian Alliance.

When Yu Zhao took out the stone pillars, countless gazes all turned to the Tu Clan’s Patriarch, Tu Zhen Yue.

Anyone who had dealt with the Tu Clan before could recognize them as the Tu Clan’s signature Magical Artifact, the Heaven Pillar. Even the way Yu Zhao arranged them into a formation felt strangely familiar.

Tu Zhen Yue’s face could no longer be described with the word “ugly.”

The moment the Restriction Ward in the Storage Bracelet was broken, he had already sensed it.

But after his last failed attempt to provoke her, he could only swallow that bitter result by himself.

He had never imagined that Yu Zhao would dare to openly use the Tu Clan’s Magical Artifact.

What he also had not expected was that Yu Zhao’s skill in the Dao of formations was in no way inferior to Tu Xiao’s.

This was nothing less than a slap across the Tu Clan’s face.

“Patriarch Tu, what is going on here? How did your Tu Clan’s Heaven Pillar end up in Yu Zhao’s hands?”

On the surface, the Eight Great Clans seemed close and friendly. In truth, they were always thinking about how to step on their rivals.

Now that they had something on the Tu Clan, someone immediately spoke up in gloating tones.

Tu Zhen Yue snorted coldly and ignored their teasing. His eyes, however, were as dark and poisonous as if they had been soaked in venom.

Yu Zhao had better pray she passed this selection. If she did not, he would make sure she died a miserable death.

The Dead Sea.

The Heaven Pillars in Yu Zhao’s hands stopped moving. Her figure on the boat was now faint and indistinct, as if it had merged with the world around her.

While hiding her aura, she was also ready for the sea monster to attack at any time.

Her Spirit Power wrapped around the boat’s hull. She was prepared to grab the boat and flee the instant she needed to.

“Hahahahaha! That Yu Zhao is really sly. She even prepared two plans.”

“No wonder she was the first to break the formation. Old Rascal, you picked well this time.”

“This girl has a real chance to reach the Great World.”

“…”

High above, on the thick clouds, a group of people was commenting on Yu Zhao.

They talked for a long time before they noticed that the one who usually loved to talk the most, Old Rascal, was actually quiet for once.

They all turned to look at him and asked: “Old Rascal, are you thinking up some sneaky idea again?”

“Huh?”

Old Rascal snapped out of his thoughts like waking from a dream. He waved his hand lazily and said over and over, “Nothing like that, nothing like that,” but his mind had already started to spin.

This was a very good seedling.

Their Supreme Purity Palace was definitely going to take her.