Chapter 265

Chapter 265: Dead End and a Way Out

High in the air, the City Lord’s eyes showed a flash of expectation.

This trial looked like it offered two choices.

In truth, you could only pick one.

Either you cut the source threads by force and carry Lesser Five Elements Crystals to the third level.

Or you use the three-day prep window to cram as many insights into your soul as possible so you can last the seven days after that, when the Five Element Tribulation takes form.

You had to choose at the start.

If you hesitated, both paths became almost impossible.

[So, which road will Li choose?] the City Lord wondered, curiosity rising for no clear reason.

On the altars, the Trialists had already decided.

Only the very top talents dared to choose the path of cutting the threads by force.

The rest gave up on that route at once. They tried to taste the five threads’ meanings instead, hoping to last until the end when the tribulation manifested.

You Lan, without a doubt, chose to cut by force.

A pair of Cold Jade Rings hovered at her sides. For the first time, she revealed her life-bound artifact. The rings spun faster and faster as wind blades fanned out before her, hacking at a Five Elements Source Thread.

Breaking law with power. That was You Lan’s path.

Feng Yu arched a brow. Strange talismans bloomed in his hands and burst with power all at once.

Cang Yin smiled lightly as a jade zither appeared in her grasp.

One by one, the peerless talents chose to cut the source threads.

Li Shuang did not rush. She tipped her head to the sky.

The sun burned high.

Her strength peaked at night.

At night, cutting the threads would be far more efficient.

Besides, she had a cheat.

She held her patience and asked the Heaven and Earth Furnace in her mind: [Give me the fastest way I can sever the Five Elements Source Threads.]

The Furnace spun for a moment, then answered: “Spend 10,000 Value Points to get a guaranteed answer.”

Ten thousand was just within her budget.

She paid at once.

A viable plan appeared.

After reading it, her eyes dimmed in thought. The method carried some risk, but if it worked, the payoff would be great.

Her gaze steadied. She would try.

Under many expectant looks, Li Shuang chose one thread and drew the tribulation in.

The golden altar turned into a boundless ocean. Ice-cold seawater spread beneath her feet in an instant. Floating above it, she released waves of chill; white frost formed in layers around her and wrapped her form.

Before the Water Screen, a buzz of voices rose.

“Looks like Li chose to endure ten days,” someone said.

Another nodded: “Not wrong. With her soul strength, lasting ten days shouldn’t be hard. That choice has a high success rate.”

A gambler groaned: “I am doomed. Why did I foolishly bet on Li to clear the fastest?”

A different watcher laughed: “Then this round should be fine for me. The fastest will be You Lan for sure. I can make a little profit.”

Yan Fan scratched his head. His ten Merit Points were probably gone. His heart ached. Ten might not be much for others, but he had only 1,000 Merit Points total. Every single point was precious.

[It’s fine. Treat it as broadening my horizons,] he told himself.

Up in the air, the City Lord was surprised. Li had chosen the safer path with less reward. Though she had barely met Li, the City Lord’s instincts said this choice did not fit the girl’s nature. [Does she have something else in mind?]

Expectation brightened the City Lord’s eyes. It had been a long time since she had met someone she could not see through.

Even more, Li was this young.

[Could the future of the Human Race rest on her? No. It is far too soon to say.]

She would watch and wait.

On the altar, Li Shuang cycled through the five tribulations one by one.

During the first three days, you could summon or withdraw the Five Element Tribulation at will, so there was no real danger.

Many watched their neighbors as they practiced. Word of Li’s choice spread quickly.

Cang Yin said to You Lan with a bright smile: “Sister You Lan, Li chose to endure ten days. It seems you will win this round.”

You Lan’s hands paused for a heartbeat, then the rings spun down again. She focused on one thread and hacked it over and over.

Time passed. Under the Revolving Wheel’s repeated cuts, the first thread had thinned to a strand. It looked ready to snap.

Cang Yin’s face changed. She stopped thinking about Li. Her fingers brushed the strings; notes like sharp Sword Qi shaved bit by bit at a thread that looked delicate yet was stubbornly tough.

Everyone used their own means.

Night finally fell. Li Shuang lifted her eyes to the sky, some light flickering deep within.

In front of the Water Screen, cries went up.

Right then, You Lan’s Revolving Wheel fell, and the first Five Elements Source Thread broke.

You Lan was first to sever a thread.

Cheers erupted for her, but she did not hesitate. She turned at once to strike the second thread.

Her expression was tight. She did not know what Li was planning. She only had one goal: to give her all.

She would not lose to Li again.

Cool moonlight poured down. A Lunar Mark surfaced once more on Li Shuang’s forehead.

She murmured: “That should do it.”

Her gaze sharpened. In a breath, sword rain roared down from the heavens while a vast ocean rose beneath her feet. Without a sound, flames burst across the sea’s surface. Then, above the burning waves, an island rose from nothing as endless vines lashed toward her.

Gasps rippled across the square: “What is happening?”

Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth appeared all at once. Li had drawn all five tribulations together.

She had summoned the Five Element Tribulation in full at the same time. Five disasters manifested together. Their power stacked and surged far beyond what they were alone.

People were stunned.

They had assumed Li was playing it safe.

It turned out she was a madwoman acting behind a calm face.

High above, the City Lord smiled.

“Summoning the Five Element Tribulation all at once? Interesting. Very interesting.”

The five elements multiplied each other’s strength. It looked like a dead end.

Yet inside this dead end, there truly hid a single way out.

[Li, did you see that path from the start?]