Chapter 258

Chapter 258: The Trial Begins!

[Her?] Li Shuang froze for a moment, then understood and asked with a small frown: “When you say her… you mean the City Lord?”

You Lan’s gaze turned cold as she said, “You don’t need to show off in front of me. You were lucky to be taught by her. As for me, I’ll rely on myself to reach her side.”

With that, You Lan turned away, leaving Li Shuang only a proud, chilly back.

Li Shuang blinked, a little helpless as she thought: [Is the top genius of the human race jealous right now? And the person she’s jealous of… is the City Lord?]

She suddenly realized something. She had only recently learned about a peak expert like the City Lord after coming to the Nanlan Continent. But people like You Lan might have grown up hearing the City Lord’s legendary stories from the very start of their cultivation.

Myriad Arts City’s City Lord was a true idol for everyone.

A weight pressed on Li Shuang’s heart. To protect her, the City Lord had told the world that Li Shuang was personally taught by her. On one hand, that gave Li Shuang shelter. On the other hand…

[Now it feels like envy and jealousy are coming at me from every direction, not just from You Lan.] She fell silent.

Every talented cultivator among the human race wanted the City Lord’s attention. Before, they could not get close. Now they thought they’d found a shortcut: surpass her. If they beat “her,” the City Lord’s secret ace, then naturally they would draw the City Lord’s gaze.

Li Shuang did not know whether to laugh or cry. One thing was certain though: in the coming Golden Soul Altar, she might become the enemy of everyone.

Just then, a distant voice sounded from the sky.

The moment Li Shuang heard it, she recognized the owner: it was the mysterious City Lord, Ember. But this time, the City Lord did not show herself. Only her voice carried from far away as she said, “The Golden Soul Altar is about to open. The number of participants this time: one thousand one hundred twenty three. While the Golden Soul Altar is open, the Soul Prison will be closed. Anyone not part of this trial is forbidden to enter.”

“After ten breaths, transmission begins.”

As her voice faded, the giant golden ranking in the sky vanished and turned into a single huge number: Ten!

Then the number changed.

Nine!

Eight!

Li Shuang felt a small knot of nerves. Among these thousand plus people, most had likely joined the Golden Soul Altar before. Even those who hadn’t should have had a sect senior explain the basics. Only she truly knew nothing.

There were no records about the Golden Soul Altar in any book she had found. All information was spread only by word of mouth, and with no background, she had no way to learn it.

She drew a deep breath and looked up again.

Five!

Four!

The Supreme Emotionless Art moved through her body, and her heart grew steady. No matter what the trial was, whether blades or fire, she would walk this path.

Three!

Two!

One!

As the final “One” faded, light fell from above and touched every person whose name was on the list.

The instant the light landed, Li Shuang felt a brief wave of dizziness. Then Myriad Arts City was gone.

When she opened her eyes again, she stood upon the Golden Soul Altar.

She glanced around, pupils tightening. She had thought “Golden Soul Altar” was only a name. She had not expected it to be literal. She was standing on a golden dais.

The dais had no support. It floated in the air. All around it, countless runes glowed with soft golden light, flowing slowly with a mysterious rhythm.

Looking outward, she saw that under the feet of all the other participants, there was also a golden dais.

One altar after another gathered together to form a massive circle. At the center of the ring stood a single Sky-Piercing Pillar.

Patterns covered the pillar from bottom to top. Li Shuang glanced at them and felt dizzy. Clearly, her current level wasn’t enough to read them.

She raised her head and tried to see the top. Yet the pillar seemed to have no end. No matter how she looked, she could not see the peak.

“Whew, it’s finally starting again,” someone said with a grin.

“Last time I was eliminated on the first layer,” another person muttered. “This time I’ll set a small goal and make it to the second.”

“The second layer is already good, hah.”

“Getting knocked out on the first layer isn’t the worst. Last time, one poor guy actually cleared the first layer. But when his altar rose, he didn’t stand firm and fell right off. It was ridiculous.”

“Hahaha, that’s rough.”

“Careful with big talk. Every time there are always a few who fall.”

“Each time you clear a layer, your altar rises. The higher you go, the stronger the pressure gets. Some people clear a trial but still get forced off by the pressure up high.”

“True.”

While the trial hadn’t officially started, people whispered back and forth.

Quietly, Li Shuang gathered information. No one imagined she would know nothing about the altars, so no one hid anything.

After sorting through what she heard, she grasped the most basic rules. First, there was no direct competition between participants inside the Golden Soul Altar. Everyone had their own dais. When the trial began, different tests would appear. If you fell from your dais, you were out. If you endured, you moved on. Each cleared layer made your dais rise higher.

The legendary seventh layer was said to be at the top of the Sky-Piercing Pillar. Among the people here today, the best record belonged to You Lan, who had reached the fifth layer before. Counting all past geniuses, someone had once reached the sixth. But as for the seventh… no one had ever publicly claimed to reach it. Maybe someone did and kept it secret.

This setup eased Li Shuang’s mind. With no rivals interfering, all she had to do was face the altar’s trials.

The voices died at once when a single character appeared upon the central pillar: “One.”

The test was about to begin.

Li Shuang’s whole body tensed. In her Sword Dao Space, Li Li had already taken her battle stance.

“Here we go, the first trial is the Thousand Mechanisms Hammer Array!” someone cried.

Before the words faded, huge Blackiron Warhammers unfolded from the central pillar and began to spin at high speed along strange paths.

They came without warning. Even though everyone was ready, screams sounded across the altars. In an instant, several dozen people were eliminated.

Some dangers cannot be avoided just because you know they are coming.