"Hmm?"
Just as Chen Junting retracted his gaze from the pillar of light, he suddenly felt the Rakshasa God Seal emerge on his brow, and his expression instantly shook.
He then concentrated and calmed his breath, connecting his spiritual power with the imprint on his brow. The content of the trial bestowed by the God of Destruction, which had remained unspoken for so long, finally surfaced in his mind at this very moment.
[First Stage: Obtain the Scepter of Destruction in the Valley of Life, and obtain the Scepter of Life in the Forest of Destruction.]
[Time limit: one year.]
"Obtain the scepter? Wait..."
With a puzzled thought, he turned his head once again. Chen Junting's gaze focused on the stick standing upright in the center of the altar amidst the sky-reaching pillar of light, and his face suddenly became rather peculiar. "Don't tell me the so-called scepter is just this stick?"
Although he "questioned" it like this, Chen Junting wouldn't actually think that the so-called Scepter of Destruction would be anything else. However...
This "Scepter of Destruction" was truly perfunctory. Even if they had just pinched a little knob on top of the stick, it would better fit the word "scepter."
But inner complaints aside, his gaze was tightly locked onto the "Scepter of Destruction." Without hesitation, Chen Junting stepped onto the altar and walked up step by step.
The moment he stepped onto the stairs, the surrounding life energy completely vanished, replaced by the destruction energy that had reached the Ultimate attribute, comparable to that outside the Valley of Life.
However, this still didn't stop Chen Junting's pace.
He even had the leisure to split his thoughts in two. But when he tried to use his spiritual power to investigate the "Scepter of Destruction," his spiritual power was instantly torn to shreds by the surrounding destruction energy.
Seeing that this was impossible, Chen Junting didn't force it.
By the time he finished walking the stairs and completely stepped onto the altar's surface, he finally faced the "Scepter of Destruction" inserted in the center of the altar.
Although it was shaped like a stick, the body of the scepter shone with mysterious patterns. That pillar of destruction light enveloped the "Scepter of Destruction," covering a five-meter radius centered around it.
It was precisely at this moment, the moment he stepped onto the altar, that the pillar of destruction light seemed to be stimulated. A terrifying destruction energy, like the surging tide of a tsunami, swept over!
Seeing this scene, Chen Junting advanced instead of retreating.
With the formal step he took, his heart pounded like a mercury column, constantly mobilizing the blood essence within his body, combining it with his own soul power, surging through his meridians and blood vessels like a torrent.
Within a second, this massive destruction energy assaulted his body, causing his blood essence and soul power to violently fluctuate, like a candle flame in a fierce wind, seemingly about to flicker and fall at any moment.
However, the impact this time didn't stop there...
The destruction energy interfered with his spirit and shook his soul, causing Chen Junting's originally calm Spiritual Sea to stir up terrifying waves.
In the blink of an eye, it submerged the places where the four great soul spirits stood.
"Gulp, gulp—"
The massive waves in the Spiritual Sea crashed over, and the first to be submerged was Mad King. While making him stagger, it also poured a few mouthfuls of spiritual seawater into his mouth, and then he fell back into the Spiritual Sea through his soul power.
"Cough, cough—, Evil Emperor... gulp—, help me."
Eighty-one tentacles quickly stretched out from nowhere, securely binding Mad King who had fallen into the sea, and dragged him out of the water.
At the same time, the Snow Empress pointed from afar, instantly freezing the surging waves into blocks, which could be considered as making room for them to stand, and then allowing the four great soul spirits to land upon them.
After gaining such a foothold, the four great soul spirits—Snow Empress, Tyrant, Mad King, and Evil Emperor—faced the violent fluctuations of the Spiritual Sea without the slightest hesitation, and all took action to pacify it.
Besides this, some even wanted to directly rush out of the Spiritual Sea to help Chen Junting resist the destructive power from the outside.
To some extent, this could be considered treating the root cause.
But right at this moment, Electrolux's voice suddenly rang out in the Spiritual Sea, and he appeared to stop the four great soul spirits.
"Don't go out yet, and don't disturb him now."
His calm, unruffled gaze swept over the four great soul spirits, and also fell upon the turbulent Spiritual Sea. He pointed from afar, instantly quelling all the turbulence of the Spiritual Sea.
After doing this, he turned his head and said, "This level is still bearable for Junting. Moreover, this trial is also beneficial to him. You can only take action at the final critical moment."
Hearing this, the four great soul spirits felt slightly worried in their hearts, but they also deeply knew that Electrolux's words made sense. Thus, while doing their best to guard the Spiritual Sea to ensure it remained stable, they watched Chen Junting step by step towards that terrifying pillar of destruction.
Although walking this way, the excessive consumption of soul power and blood essence had already made Chen Junting's skin shrivel, he still braved the destruction energy rushing at his face and slowly approached the pillar of light.
It seemed that the act of approaching had "enraged" the "scepter"...
Whoosh— Whoosh—
A dazzling purplish-red light suddenly shone from the "Scepter of Destruction." Following that, the pillar of destruction suddenly erupted with flames resembling those from hell.
Upon the altar, clusters of sparks bloomed simultaneously. Its terror was such that wherever it reached, all life would be stripped away, and even the soul would suffer a devastating blow.
Faced with such a sudden change, Chen Junting's expression remained unchanged. He still wanted to step into the pillar of light and pull out the "Scepter of Destruction" inserted into the altar.
However, the moment he took a step into the pillar of light, clusters of purplish-red flames clung to him like bone-burrowing parasites, and the terrifying power of destruction instantly swept through his entire body like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.
As a result, in less than a single breath's time, the power contained within the pillar of destruction revealed an incredibly astonishing destructive force, and Chen Junting's blood essence and soul power were instantly depleted by more than half.
Moreover, even with the protection of his blood essence and soul power, his own life energy was rapidly stripped away. And under the dual devastation of the roasting from the purplish-red flames and the scouring of the storm of destruction, Chen Junting's physical body, which had originally stood at the mortal pinnacle, actually rapidly shriveled, with his skin cracking inch by inch.
His originally robust body now looked like a skeleton.
As for his face, it had also become extremely pale.
If an ordinary person saw this appearance, it would be quite terrifying.
At this very moment, Chen Junting's body, under the scouring of the destruction energy, was instinctively and uncontrollably trembling. Because in addition to the physical devastation, his soul was also under attack. Waves of pain, ten times worse than having his brain torn apart, caused Chen Junting's spirit to suddenly trance; the dizziness and blurred vision that popped up were already minor symptoms.
As for the rest... the only thing that could be mentioned was probably the beads of sweat on his forehead that hadn't even emerged before being instantly annihilated by the destruction energy.
At the same time, in Chen Junting's Spiritual Sea.
Originally, after Electrolux took action, his Spiritual Sea was suppressed by the four great soul spirits and temporarily regained its calm.
But the moment Chen Junting stepped into the pillar of destruction, those platforms frozen into blocks by the Snow Empress instantly shattered. The impact of the power of destruction made the Spiritual Sea look like an ocean upon the advent of doomsday.
Under lightning and thunder, the entire Spiritual Sea had become gloomy and turbulent, as if it could be overturned at any moment.
The four great soul spirits went all out, releasing their strongest power. In the end, it was by relying on their status as the masters of the four swords of the Zhu Xian Sword Array and mobilizing the Zhu Xian Array Map to suppress the Spiritual Sea that they barely managed to keep it from collapsing.
But the soul and spirit were temporarily stabilized; what about the physical body?
Chen Junting's current physical body had already reached the brink of collapse. Under such circumstances, it was only enough to support him in touching the "Scepter of Destruction."
He had to retreat!
In that instant, Chen Junting instantly understood.
This trial absolutely did not require obtaining the "Scepter of Destruction" first.
Because with this intensity within the pillar of destruction, let alone himself, even if Di Tian came here, he absolutely wouldn't succeed.
Thinking of the "Scepter of Life" mentioned in the first stage of the trial, Chen Junting already understood that to successfully obtain this "Scepter of Destruction," he probably needed the help of the "Scepter of Life"; otherwise, it would be difficult to succeed!
Unless...
He used the Life Gold to sustain himself.
But in his view, this was obviously not worth it.
Because relying on the Life Gold to sustain himself until he pulled out the "Scepter of Destruction" would inevitably consume a massive amount of life force. If calculated this way, "this deal" would be a massive loss.
Besides, it wasn't like there were no other methods.
So, as his thoughts swirled, Chen Junting decided to retreat first, and then head to the Forest of Destruction to obtain the Scepter of Life before anything else.
But just as he was preparing to use the life force of the Life Gold to retreat from the pillar of destruction and leave the altar... suddenly, a massive force grabbed Chen Junting's waist, and before he could react, it violently pulled him out!
Before Chen Junting could make any other reaction, the massive force disappeared from his waist.
At the same time, his spiritual power, which had been difficult to radiate on the altar of destruction earlier, quickly spread out, and he discovered the person who had rescued him from the altar of destruction.
And that person was exactly Di Tian.
It turned out that after parting ways with Chen Junting and the others, Di Tian had also explored the island alone, naturally discovering the land of divine miracles completely different from the Forest of Destruction—the Valley of Life.
And after entering the Valley of Life, Di Tian had discovered this purplish-red pillar of destruction below.
When he arrived here, he just happened to see Chen Junting's skeletal appearance. Feeling that he was in immense danger, he immediately took action.
Thus, Di Tian's figure flashed, and he boarded the altar like a phantom. His dragon claw suddenly reached out and grabbed Chen Junting.
But even though Di Tian was the number one expert of the Douluo Plane, a majestic fierce beast with over 800,000 years of cultivation, facing the methods of the God of Destruction, he didn't dare to be overconfident at all. He even went all out the moment he struck, using the divine skill "Dragon God Claw" to clear the way!
At that moment, Di Tian's body was surrounded by a powerful soul power brilliance. It could be said that he was braving the scouring of that terrifying destruction energy, using the Dragon God Claw to tear a slit in the pillar of destruction.
Then, Di Tian used his dragon claw to grab Chen Junting, pulling and dragging him out of the pillar of destruction with force. Afterward, Di Tian brought Chen Junting and quickly left the altar, thus saving Chen Junting "with shock but no danger."
"Thank you, Senior."
Chen Junting, who now knew the whole story, thanked Di Tian while already panting heavily, yet he still positioned his extremely weak body into the meditation posture with the Five Hearts Facing the Sky.
The next second, Om—
The surrounding life energy seemed to come alive, instantly triggering a "riot"!
The terrifying life energy gathered, directly forming a storm-like funnel above Chen Junting's head, pouring a massive amount of life energy into his shriveled body.
In just two or three breaths' time, Chen Junting's previous consumption was rapidly replenished, and he continued to greedily absorb, repairing his damaged Spiritual Sea and body completely.
He only barely stopped when he was almost fully recovered.
Seeing Chen Junting open his eyes from his cultivation...
"You brat, your guts are really big enough!"
Di Tian looked Chen Junting in the eye and suddenly said this, then inexplicably revealed a smile, saying, "But you're getting less and less easy to see through now. I can tell that even if I hadn't taken action just now, you could have retreated safely."
"Phew, it was okay."
Slowly exhaling a mouthful of turbid breath, a smile curled up on the corner of Chen Junting's mouth. "I wouldn't die so easily in there."
You're quite confident.
Di Tian faintly glanced at his own palm; the scorched black skin was gradually recovering under the nourishment of the life energy.
After flipping his hand to heal the wound, he said, "The attribute level of the destruction energy contained in that pillar of destruction has reached the divine level. I'm afraid your current physical and spiritual strength simply cannot bear it. With the slightest misstep, your soul would scatter and vanish."
Chen Junting nodded. He deeply knew that apart from the spiritual power part, Di Tian's description of his physical body was indeed true.
Although Di Tian's actions just now had been brief, he had seen them clearly.
Just think about it: even with Di Tian's divine-level physique, he was injured after using the Dragon God Claw, let alone him?
Even if his physical body had reached the mortal pinnacle, it still wouldn't do.
Therefore, to obtain the Scepter of Destruction, he had to rely on external force.
Coincidentally, Di Tian had seen Chen Junting trying to pull out that stick, and the thought he came up with was the same as his own. Moreover, Di Tian also brought a piece of news that Chen Junting wanted to know.
"Pillar of Life!?"
"That's right."
Di Tian raised his hand and pointed at the altar of destruction.
"Destruction is not like life; whenever destruction descends, it shows no mercy. It's impossible for you to cross the pillar of light and pull out the iron rod, and even I can't do it. You can only choose to rely on external force. And that iron rod on the altar of life is the best external force. After all, no matter what, that iron rod is always easier to take than this iron rod."
"Ahem—"
Just as Di Tian finished speaking, Chen Junting coughed dryly and reminded him, "Senior Di Tian, actually, these two are scepters."
"What!?"
Hearing this, Di Tian felt a rare moment of astonishment.
Calling an iron rod a scepter?
Since when did a majestic God King spout nonsense?
He couldn't help but inwardly criticize this for a moment, then said seriously, "Then let it be a scepter. If you want to pull it out, you'd best take a trip to the Pillar of Life. Coincidentally, I came across that Pillar of Life."
"What Senior says matches my thoughts exactly."
Chen Junting nodded slightly. After thanking him, he asked Di Tian about the specific directions. After all, the Forest of Destruction was not easy to traverse; if he dawdled too long, the danger of the forest would only increase.
Di Tian naturally didn't hide this either.
Immediately, he gave Chen Junting the route from his memory.
Next, the two parted ways. In Di Tian's words—he was going back to guard the Great Star Dou Forest.
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