"War God Black-Level Five Trial, First Trial: Kill a Monarch from the middle thirty-six Abyssal layers. Reward: Increase all Spirit Ring years by five hundred years. Note: All five trials of the Black-Level Five Trials have a time limit of one year."
Su Ming: ???
The other five War Gods: ???
What kind of trial was this?
Even Su Ming looked up at the statue emitting the dazzling white-gold light.
This War God was really something.
Even Su Ming was speechless.
If you don't want to give it, then don't. Why make it so hard for people?
In reality, the fact that such a trial could be issued meant it had already passed the God Realm's review.
To achieve a total increase of ten thousand years in Spirit Ring across all five trials was something only a Red-Level Trial could accomplish.
Wanting that from a Black-Level Five Trial naturally meant the difficulty had to increase drastically.
Moreover, since the trial-takers were the Spirit Master world's top combatants, the difficulty standard was raised accordingly.
Only Su Ming would dare claim he could definitely complete this trial, because he could forcefully charge into the Abyss and kill a mid-layer Monarch.
The others didn't have that strength.
All five trials of the War God's Black-Level Five Trials were issued simultaneously, not one after another; all five ran concurrently.
"War God Black-Level Five Trial, Second Trial: Kill ten eighth-rank Abyssal creatures, or one hundred seventh-rank Abyssal creatures, daily for one hundred days, without interruption. Reward: Increase all Spirit Ring years by one thousand years."
The Second Trial was somewhat reasonable. At least it was achievable, though it would take time.
"War God Black-Level Five Trial, Third Trial: Attract Abyssal Monarchs to the battle, requiring at least six Monarchs from the first Thirty-six layers to be stationed on the front line, lasting three days. Reward: Increase all Spirit Ring by two thousand years."
This trial was also a team trial. If any one of the six War Gods completed it, the other five would also count it as complete. But obviously, one person could hardly make it happen unless that person was Su Ming.
And even then, the reward for this trial was only increasing all Spirit Rings by two thousand years. With nine Spirit Rings, that was only eighteen thousand years total.
"War God Black-Level Five Trial, Fourth Trial: Condensate a second Spirit Core or possess a set of Four-Word Battle Armor. Reward: Increase all Spirit Ring years by five thousand years."
The Fourth Trial became a matter of individual cultivation.
Su Ming and Du Busi both breathed a sigh of relief. After reviewing this trial, the corresponding face of their light pillar lit up immediately. Their Spirit Rings each changed accordingly. Su Ming's Spirit Rings showed no visible age increase, but Du Busi's change was obvious: his configuration went from two yellow, two purple, two black, three red to three purple, three black, three red.
The reward was directly redeemed.
It was this that made the other four War Gods' eyes go wide.
Such an intuitive change—the last time they saw something like this was when Su Ming condensed his third Spirit Core.
The key was, Su Ming's change might not be replicable, but this time, Du Busi's change was right before their eyes.
These War Gods, one by one, had reddened eyes, each pondering how to condense a second Spirit Core within a year.
Then, they found it highly unlikely.
As for Four-Word Battle Armor...
They all looked at Su Ming.
Yan Shaozhe's expression was the worst, because he knew his own limitations. Su Ming likely wouldn't help him craft Four-Word Battle Armor.
The Fourth Trial was already this difficult. What about the Fifth Trial?
He was the first to turn back and view the Fifth Trial.
But with just that glance, his mind went blank.
"War God Black-Level Five Trial, Fifth Trial: Kill a Monarch from the first thirty-six Abyssal layers. Reward: Increase all Spirit Ring years by ten thousand years."
If, after the Fourth Trial's reward, there were still Spirit Rings below ten thousand years, the Fifth Trial would directly increase them by ten thousand years. Completing it would mean all Spirit Rings had a minimum age of ten thousand years, the lowest color being black!
But the premise for the Fifth Trial was clearly the Fourth Trial. Without peak combat strength, how could one kill a Monarch with Limit Douluo-level power?
No!
Yan Shaozhe's gaze flickered.
He quickly looked at the Fourth Trial again, then reviewed the Third Trial, getting somewhat excited.
It wasn't impossible.
These trials were all concurrent, with only one year to complete them, but they were actually interrelated.
The Fourth Trial stood alone, effectively skippable.
For example, complete the Fifth Trial first.
Who said you couldn't kill a peak Monarch without peak strength?
Cooperate!
With a coordinated plan and an unsuspecting target, cooperation gave a chance.
Once the Fifth Trial was completed, all Spirit Rings would increase by ten thous and years. Combined with the life energy feedback from the Abyss Bracelet absorbing a peak Monarch, there would be a real chance to impact a second Spirit Core!
However, the difficulty was immense. This was only the most ideal outcome.
But Yan Shaozhe was simply too covetous of this result.
He looked at Tianyang Douluo and saw him also reviewing the Fifth Trial's content, quickly realizing something.
The two locked eyes, a sense of mutual understanding passing between them.
Of the six, they were the two least likely to complete the Fourth Trial.
Of the six War Gods, one was Su Ming, three were close to Su Ming. Lei Zhen and the Eight-Arms Elder might not be able to condense a second Spirit Core within a year, but they could obtain a set of Four-Word Battle Armor.
For the two of them, their only option was to gamble on condensing a second Spirit Core.
The good news was that this Black-Level Five Trial had no penalty mechanism, only rewards.
The bad news was the difficulty was too high.
Freeloading fourteen thousand years of cultivation, Su Ming's expression was calm.
He glanced at the Fifth Trial's reward.
The five trials combined came close to twenty thousand years.
Even higher than the requirements he had proposed.
So what if the trial difficulty was high?
Just tell me: do you recognize my War God status or not?
Su Ming smiled.
He looked at the others and said, "Everyone, I believe Dai Mubai qualifies as the First War God of the War God Hall."
Du Busi was first puzzled, then agreed.
Whatever Su Ming was thinking, he'd follow suit first.
Lei Zhen and the Eight-Arms Elder also responded simultaneously.
Seeing this, Yan Shaozhe's expression was somewhat bitter.
The War God Hall was clearly established by Shrek and Xu Tianran working together, yet now the power to speak lay with the Body Sect.
It was still about strength.
Though disheartened, he didn't oppose Su Ming.
Because this was precisely the decision he, as Shrek Academy's representative, should support.
Tianyang Douluo naturally wasn't going to dissent at this moment either.
"Your Majesty, initiate the vote," Su Ming said.
Xu Tianran saw that all seven were in agreement and initiated the vote once more.
A message prompt appeared on the Abyss Bracelets of all Spirit Masters belonging to the War God Hall.
Since the six War Gods had no objections and explained the function of Dai Mubai's divine statue, the Spirit Masters of the War God Hall naturally had none either.
That's right. Su Ming acknowledged this as a divine statue, not a mere sculpture.
Once you became a War God, you could accept trials issued by the First War God. By passing them, you would receive rewards!
This was a good thing, so naturally, no one would refuse.
Thus, even though Dai Mubai hadn't participated in the war, he still held the status of War God—and was the First War God at that!
God Realm.
Dai Mubai finally felt the trickling stream of faith beginning to flow into his divine seat.
"Hahaha, the faith from this First War God position is yielding returns so quickly!"
Dai Mubai marveled, admitting Tang San's insight was sharp.
At this rate, he could recoup his investment within ten years.
Moreover, the major portion of the rewards for these six Black-Level Five Trials would likely not be disbursed, so strictly speaking, he might recoup his investment in five years.
As the War God Hall's influence grew and his role as First War God became deeply ingrained, this faith would only increase.
However, unknown to Dai Mubai as the faith converged, Su Ming, located on the Fourth Peak, also revealed a smile.
He could sense that the rate at which he was gaining faith from the War God Hall organization had more than doubled. The increase was incomparable to the mere trickle Dai Mubai was receiving.
"A deity brings a lot of faith, after all."
***
Dive deeper into the story with 50+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!