On the White Jade Plaza, Xu Yang waited while constantly drawing the Heaven-Locking Divine Chain from the surface of the Tripod of Heaven and Earth, fusing it into his soul mark.

No matter how much he worried about whether Xueming and Shi Hu would succeed in the end, it was useless; it all depended on themselves.

Time slipped by quietly.

Suddenly, at a certain moment, upheaval erupted.

Bang!

A disheveled figure appeared out of thin air.

Xu Yang’s eyes snapped open like lightning; he was momentarily stunned: "Shi Hu."

The second to appear was actually Shi Hu!

This made him surprised and delighted!

He didn’t expect Shi Hu to be so fast.

Shi Hu panted heavily, his whole body quickly shrouded by immortal light.

His weak presence soared and surged at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Dozens of breaths later.

Xu Yang’s eyes flickered with shock.

Shi Hu’s transformation was immense.

In terms of improvement, it was greater than his own!

That aura made Xu Yang feel that if he didn’t use the Heaven-Locking intent, it wouldn’t be so easy fighting Shi Hu now.

Sensing the subtle changes in Shi Hu, Xu Yang smiled.

He genuinely felt happy for Shi Hu.

At the same time, the stronger Shi Hu was, the better.

After all, they were not enemies!

When Shi Hu had almost finished digesting the gains, Xueming appeared out of thin air as well, in even worse shape, miserable beyond words!

Seeing this, Xu Yang finally set aside all worries.

All three of them had cleared the stage!

An hour later.

Xueming was in high spirits, exclaiming excitedly, "The immortal way reaches the heavens! I feel like I’m about to break through the shackles of the Shenxiao Realm."

As a peak-level Shenxiao, just how deep was his accumulation over a thousand years?

Yet, due to the constraints of the Spirit Realm and the depletion of his spirit river, he was unable to break through to the Celestial Human Realm.

Now, with the sublimation of immortal energy, it was like a new world had opened before him.

"With my spiritual patterns reaching nine feet at their peak, almost half my foundation has been transformed; in the second phase of training, I reckon I’ll break into the Shenxiao Realm." Shi Hu was equally excited.

This month’s improvement felt almost unreal to him.

But, living on the edge of life and death every day was not something ordinary people could endure.

The next phase of training... Xu Yang felt within: if all went well, it seemed possible for him to break through to Shenxiao in the next stage.

However, it all depended on what the next phase bestowed.

Swish!

A young Immortal appeared out of thin air.

"He’s here."

Xu Yang’s expression grew solemn.

"Congratulations on passing the first stage of training."

"Next will be the special trial: within the one hundred and eight Immortal Soldier Training Towers, there remain a total of 32,544 participants!"

Hearing that number, Xu Yang clicked his tongue inwardly.

Of a hundred thousand Immortal Soldiers, just the first stage had eliminated nearly seventy thousand!

That was truly terrifying!

By the final stage, likely very few would be left! Even having several thousand survive would already be much.

But, the Spirit Realm only had three thousand Martial Artists.

The rest had already perished.

Even in just this first stage, it was likely that more than half of the three thousand Spirit Realm participants had been eliminated!

This kind of brutal training meant that the fallen Immortal Soldiers’ strength must have far surpassed that of the Spirit Realm Martial Artists.

"Those who survive, nourished by immortal energy, will be able to break through your current cultivation level."

"The top ten in the rankings will receive rewards—immortal elixirs you have dreamed of."

"Are you all ready?"

The three remained silent.

All of this had happened before; they didn’t need to respond.

As expected.

In just a few breaths.

The young Immortal waved his sleeve.

Whoosh!

This time, the immortal light was even more brilliant and intense than it had been all month.

The stars spun, the heavens and earth trembled!

The three vanished from the White Jade Plaza at the same time.

They were transported directly to the foot of an ancient, immense, boundless mountain range.

"Where is this place?"

"Hiss, what an ancient mountain! Even Ancient Dragon Mountain pales beside this place."

"There seems to be a sect up there..."

...

All around, voices of discussion rose up.

Xu Yang quickly opened his eyes and swept his gaze over the area, spotting the prodigies and experts of all the great factions.

It was clear that if the War King Family could find the Abyss and descend by bone boat, other forces could do the same, possibly even earlier than the War King Family.

"So many died." Shi Hu muttered softly.

Xu Yang nodded slightly.

From three thousand people, now only a bit more than a thousand remained!

Some familiar faces were missing as well.

Of course, although eliminated, it didn’t necessarily mean death!

But, Xiao Ming, Chen Xuanji, Men Long, Zuo Guangchen, Yie Vajra, Ning Wuyang and the other familiar prodigies were all still present.

Compared to the beginning, all of them had undergone massive transformations!

Their intangible auras were already different from the Spirit Realm Martial Dao.

"Hmm, where’s Lan Yue?"

Xu Yang suddenly called out softly.

"Lan Yue?"

"Hiss, really can’t see him. That’s the Bright Mirror Grotto Heaven’s team over there... Could it be?" Shi Hu’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

Lan Yue’s strength was far from weak.

He actually failed?

That was truly shocking.

"And Jun Baimu, he’s not here either!"

"The Immortal Soldier training really is terrifying!"

Shi Hu sighed in shock, inwardly full of relief.

The fact that he had made it this far was surprising to everyone!

At this moment, many eyes were also sizing up Xu Yang.

"That guy’s really here too." Killing intent flashed in Xiao Ming’s gaze.

Chen Xuanji narrowed his eyes, swept his line of sight over Xu Yang, and when he saw Shi Hu, his eyes were full of shock.

Xu Yang being here was no surprise!

But Shi Hu making it too?

That was truly astonishing.

Especially considering that prodigies like Lan Yue and Jun Baimu had failed and been eliminated.

Shi Hu’s strength was supposedly not even on par with those two.

More than half of the War King Family’s four hundred or so participants had been eliminated!

But given their numbers, they still made up the largest group left among those who survived.

"Let’s stop worrying about them."

Xu Yang’s eyes flashed as he turned his gaze towards the mountain’s interior.

Faintly, he could see immortal light and ethereal mist, buildings hidden among them.

It appeared to be an ancient immortal sect!

"What is this trial about? We’re actually beneath an immortal sect?" Shi Hu frowned slightly.

Xueming lifted his head a bit: "We should get an explanation very soon."

Just as his words fell, a mighty wave descended from the sky.

"This is Desolate Heaven Sword Sect, which colluded with ancient immortals and is considered traitor; today, your trial’s objective is to wipe out Desolate Heaven Sword Sect!"

Whoosh!

A dazzling wave of immortal light surged forth, coiling above Desolate Heaven Sword Sect, gradually manifesting as a mystical ancient plate, brimming with primordial charm!

"All of Desolate Heaven Sword Sect’s Immortal-level cultivators have their powers suppressed by the Immortal-Suppressing Ancient Plate, leaving them only at third and second-rank Immortal Soldier level!"

"According to your Immortal Soldier rank, you will hunt Desolate Heaven Sword Sect’s enemies; killing those of your own rank earns one point, slaying those of a higher rank earns two points. Scores are automatically tracked by your Immortal Soldier Token."

"Only kills made by your own abilities count; assistance from others is invalid!"

"The trial begins in fifteen minutes!"

With those words, the great wave faded away, leaving the mighty ancient plate suspended above the Sword Sect, glowing brilliantly, suppressing the heavens and earth.

At the foot of the mountain, a deathly silence fell.

Everyone was digesting the announcement.

The enemies’ cultivation and power were all suppressed, but their true foundation far exceeded the Immortal Soldiers—they were real immortals.

Their roots and means, unimaginable!

And, no help was permitted from others!

"This trial is unimaginably difficult!"

Xu Yang’s face was grave.

Everyone present realized this, and all earlier ease vanished instantly!

This past month, though they hadn’t fought real immortals, it was clear: the Shenxiao Realm was only the second-rank Immortal Soldier, above them was first-rank, which undoubtedly corresponded to the Celestial Human Realm!

A True Immortal beyond the level of Immortal Soldier, even if suppressed to Immortal Soldier level, was still not to be underestimated!

"Surviving is the greatest fortune!"

"No matter how hard, we can’t retreat!"

"What I’m most curious about now is, if we die here, will it be true death?"

Xueming’s tone was especially heavy.

Eliminated in the training tower, you wouldn’t die!

But if you died here for real, that would be far too brutal.

After this battle, who knew how many of the thousand or so participants would fall?

Xu Yang took a deep breath, speaking in a low voice, "At this point, there’s no other choice!"

"If you seek the immortal path, you have to accept consequences like this!"

He swept his gaze around and said coolly, "Anyone who came here should already be prepared!"

Even if you weren’t ready, you must force yourself to be.

When you truly face death, regret is useless!

Fifteen minutes flew by in the blink of an eye!

On the ancient mountain above, a sudden roar rose up.

Immortal light shattered and the mountain gate flew open.

Countless figures rushed out, surging like a tide.

"Kill!"