Lyu Liang was in deep anguish—his sister would recover, but that his best friend should betray him, caused him the greatest pain.
The time he spent with the old man and Zhang Ran were the happiest, during those years of cultivation! But why had everything changed so much, within a thousand years?
The founding father of Sword Character placed his hand on Lyu Liang’s shoulder, and said softly, “Junior sister Xuan Nyu did not want to tell you, because it will be dangerous if you are distracted when you’re in the relic. But I know if we continue to conceal it, you will not find relief. However, these events have passed now. I hope that you can put them aside, until the exploration ends, and focus on something more important at this moment!”
With a deep breath, Lyu Liang nodded and replied solemnly, “Master, I see. I just couldn’t take it, initially. But I’m fine now. I plan to have my closed-door meditation tomorrow, until we explore the relic, three months later. All my friends have extraordinary backgrounds. Please take care of them for me!”
The founding father lowered his head slightly and said, “Don’t worry. Even if you did not ask me, I will still do it. I can see that your strength is immense now, but owing to your fame and those battle videos, some people may already know your moves very well. I hope you will watch out for that, and try not to give others, any more chance of snooping.”
It was the second time that someone had reminded him about this. Lyu Liang had already known the seriousness of this problem, so he nodded respectfully at once.
Then, Lyu Liang took a careful look at the cannons discovered in the relic, and came back to his cave residence, with a thoughtful look. After that, he suppressed his emotions, and began the three-month, closed-door meditation.
During his cultivation, White also gave him a thorough introduction to the functions of the Tianxuan Holy Rattan. Only then did he know how awesome it was!
The Tianxuan Holy Rattan was a rare artifact, even in the Heaven Realm! And the reason was quite simple—it had many functions and was a very important relic.
Restoring one’s Divine Soul was just one of its functions. For example, it could enable one’s broken arm or leg to regrow or recover, and the time of recovery was up to his Divine Soul and Spiritual Qi. As for curing or life-saving skills, it was just a piece of cake.
It also had the most desirable function, which was, any cultivator at any stage could break through to the next level, as long as he took a small bite of the Tianxuan Holy Rattan.
Even the best Bottleneck-breaking Pill would be of no use for those who had reached the Tao Master level. But the Tianxuan Holy Rattan could help one break through even the bottleneck at the Divine Ancestor level!
According to White, there were two rattans. Lyu Liang could reserve the longer one and break the shorter one into three pieces, one for Lyu Liang himself, one for Fatty, and the last one to be put aside.
Lyu Liang followed White’s words unconditionally and did as he instructed, in no time. He gave the first piece of rattan to Fatty, who, after swallowing it, glowed with a red light all over, and flew to the Heaven-Burning Xumi Formation. He reached the layer with the thickest Spiritual Qi, lay down directly, and didn’t move anymore.
Lyu Liang also ate a piece of rattan, and just as he swallowed all of it, he felt as if his body was burning. He dashed to the same layer of the Heaven-Burning Xumi Formation directly, just like Fatty.
Golden and Ape were very curious and followed Lyu Liang inside the formation, while Black took the chance and sneaked into the Virtual Land, to find Xuanli Feiwu.
There was only White staring at the ripples in the cave residence, seemingly in deep thought. His eyes were glittering, yet with a hint of solitude, in them.
Two months later, the qualification competition for entering the relic, began officially. Zhu Yan, Liu Jiahao, Liu Jiawen, Zheng Xuan, and Yang Ying, attended it.
The competition was divided into three parts, and the first part was about velocity. Bluntly speaking, it was to test your capacity to escape. The rule was quite simple—enter a secret realm with a small puppet, who could move extremely fast and start running with it, at the same time.
The time limit was two and half an hours, and the one who reached the tape first, would pass the test. One could use any move to stop the puppet, or even destroy it. But one should take note that the puppet was at the Peak of Almighty Immortal and would retaliate, under attack. It was good at trapping its opponent. If one could not reach the finish line in time, even if he had destroyed the puppet, he would still be out.
The second part was about defense capacity. It was also set in a secret realm, and the time limit was five hours, during which, numerous gusts of Sword Qi would shoot from different directions, and their intensity and density would increase gradually. The one who could stay inside for five hours without being harmed, would pass the test. If someone could not hold on any longer, he could come out any time, because the Sword Qi might cause him harm, or even death.
The third part was about attack capacity. This test was the most flexible, and its rule was also simple—the ones who killed the most enemies, within the given time, would be qualified to enter the relic. It was set in a secret realm, and the enemies were the images created by powerful figures. Just as the rule showed, no specific number was required, and the seven people who killed the most enemies, would pass the test.
There were 47 people altogether, participating in the competition, and all of them were elites from different realms, with the cultivation at the Peak of Almighty Immortal.
Zhu Yan had planned to take part in the competition, but the powerful figures of the Immortal Allies noticed him, before he could even take the first test. As a Saint Emperor of the Demon Clan, he had the chance to enter the relic directly, without having to pass these tests.
The Immortal Allies also wanted to invite the powerful figures of the Demon Clan to explore the relic, but it was too dangerous inside. They had already offered so much help in the war. As such, the Immortal Allies couldn’t ask them for more.
Now there was a Saint Emperor offering to enter the relic, which was so fortunate. So how could the Immortal Allies require him to take the tests?
Therefore, no matter how Zhu Yan begged them, the Immortal Allies insisted on including him on the list directly.
Undoubtedly, the result was that Zhu Yan was listed, and only six quotas were left.
When the first part ended, 32 people passed the test. The puppet’s speed had surpassed the general level of the Peak of Almighty Immortal and could even rival Lyu Liang’s, after he stimulated the Kun Peng Skill to the fullest. But there were still 32 people who passed the test, which showed the high level of skills of these particpators.
The second test was much more difficult than the first one. Yang Ying was the first to take the test, and when she came out, she messaged to her companions secretly that they should watch out for the Sword Qi, which would increase to the Early-stage of Tao Master, four and a half hours, after the test began.
After the second test, only 16 people passed. The number had been cut by half.
Just as the third test began, some of the 16 people were already feeling quite helpless.
The first young man had killed over 90 thousand enemies, which would have won him the qualification, if it were several years ago. He was also pleased with himself, and thought that he would finally pass the test.
But the performances of the four people after him, startled him greatly, and even the powerful figures of the Immortal Allies wanted to check whether they had cheated or not.
The numbers of the enemies they killed were as follows,
Zheng Xuan: 161,800
Liu Jiahao: 154,000
Liu Jiawen: 153,700
Yang Ying: 149,900
……
After them, the numbers became normal again and maintained the range of 80,000 to 100,000. None of the rest of the people could outstrip the four.
In the end, Lyu Liang’s four companions, not surprisingly, obtained the qualifications to enter the relic. And the other two people, were a green-skinned, young man from the Spirit Clan and a robust man, who was nearly seven meters tall.
Nearly a month later, when the founding father was drinking tea and chatting with Xuan Nyu Fairy, Black’s figure appeared suddenly, and his brief words alarmed the two immediately, “Liang is about to break through.”
Half an hour later, Lyu Liang’s cave residence was covered with layers of restriction formations. Although he was in the Heaven-Burning Xumi Formation, it was still wise for the others to be prepared for it.
After another 90 minutes passed, Lyu Liang’s cave residence fell apart suddenly and turned into ashes. Then, a Colorful Barrier emerged in the air, from which numerous colorful beams and gusts of destructive Sword Qi, shot out.
A moment later, Fatty, whose figure had become larger, appeared first and muttered, “Is Boss mad?”
Everything quieted down three days later, and Lyu Liang appeared peacefully, with disheveled hair. He smiled sincerely at the people who were waiting for him outside, exuding the aura at the Peak of Fairy Immortal.
At the same time, in a mysterious barren land, where sands mingled with the air, stood four vague figures of varying heights.
The robes they were wearing, were of different colors—golden, blue, green, and red. At the moment, they were standing around two ancient crystal balls, watching attentively. One of the crystal balls showed the awesome figure of Lyu Liang, with his hair hanging down. And the other revealed the scene, where Zhu Yu was fighting with something.
The golden-robed man said, “I was hoping that Lyu Liang could bring us some surprises after he enters the relic. Water has given him the Tianxuan Holy Rattans. That is such a big stake!”
The blue-robed man: “Ho ho, Water has never made such an unworthy deal. I trust his judgment. Zhu Yu has entered the last, but one layer, of the seal. I believe that he could make it, but I never expected that it would be so fast.”
The red-robed man said, “Ho ho, we only gave those greedy ones some sweet temptations, and they followed our instructions accordingly. They are such good pawns!”
The blue-robed man said, “Yes. If things run smoothly, Zhu Yu will help us break the first seal. As for the second seal, it depends on Lyu Liang. Moon has messaged that he will give Lyu Liang and his companions, the Remote Antiquity Divine Fruit, if necessary. I hope that we can count on Lyu Liang to achieve our aim.”
The green-robed man said, “Whatever the results may be, we must protect Lyu Liang’s life. That is what we have agreed on. I don’t want to cause any other trouble!”
The golden-robed man said, “Wood, are you still holding on to that illusion? Don’t forget what’s most important to us! Moon will protect Lyu Liang, but if any accident occurs, you don’t need to take it too seriously.”
The green-robed man said, “Not only I, but Sun is also for this idea. So, that’s settled! I will remind Moon again, that he must ensure Lyu Liang’s safety!”
After saying this, the green-robed man’s figure disappeared gradually.
At this moment, the golden-robe man sighed slightly and said, “Wood and Sun are the most loyal among us, or Sun would not have sacrificed himself to protect us, and Wood would not have gone down to the Mortal World for tens of thousands of years, to trade a living place for us. Alas, just follow what they say!”
The blue-robed man lowered his voice and said, “Goddess Nyu Wa, Pan Gu, and those families in hiding, when the core realm of the forbidden area of Remote Antiquity appears again, all your debts will be repaid! Fight! Break! Destroy! We, Seven Luminaries Emperors, will get everything back one day!”
