At night, in Zhu Ziyang's room at the Star Emperor Hotel, he sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed, his breathing smooth, and the Other Shore Flower on his forehead flickering, as if proclaiming something.
At this moment, he was already in the Path to Godhood, receiving the rewards for the first trial of the God of Death and the content of the second trial of the God of Death.
Zhu Ziyang stood on the tenth step of the Path to Godhood, his gaze falling on the god-locking pillars on either side of the steps. The content of the first trial of the God of Death on the god-locking pillars had disappeared, replaced by a line of mysterious runes.
Xiao Bai's voice came at the opportune moment: "Congratulations, you have completed the first trial of the God of Death. Now, the rewards will be issued."
As her voice fell, Zhu Ziyang's body trembled, and the reward content appeared in his mind: "First trial of the God of Death, trial successful. Reward: 10% affinity with the God of Death, a pair of god-locking pillars."
That's it? God Position trial reward? Is that all?
Zhu Ziyang muttered to himself, but soon felt relieved.
This was because Zhu Ziyang was unaware of Sea God Tang San's assessment rewards; otherwise, he would have been extremely unbalanced. The Sea God not only rewarded spirit power levels but also spirit ring age limits, practically giving the God Position to Tang San for free. Yet, when it came to the God of Death, it was truly stingy and not generous at all.
If Xiao Bai, the God Position assessor, knew Zhu Ziyang's thoughts, she would feel extremely wronged. The previous Sea God was still alive and well, so he could unscrupulously use his divine force to open backdoors for his chosen one. But the God of Death was different; he had fallen hundreds of thousands of years ago. Maintaining the inheritance of the God Position was already a struggle, so how could there be any spare energy to help the assessor cheat?
As the rewards began to be issued, Zhu Ziyang noticed that the misty steps before him began to clear, from the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, all the way to the twentieth step, where they finally stopped. At the same time, he was surprised to find that the god-locking pillars on either side of the tenth step began to shake violently, then rose from the ground and shot into the sky. To his astonishment, they shrank, and shrank again, until they transformed from a pair of hundred-zhang tall sky-reaching pillars into two embroidery needles the length of a finger, landing in his hand.
Zhu Ziyang instinctively found it very peculiar and wanted to inspect these two magical god-locking pillars, but he was informed that he currently did not have the authority to use them. This made Zhu Ziyang very frustrated, yet also somewhat expectant. Such magical pillars, he thought, must possess extraordinary abilities.
Without dwelling on the god-locking pillars, he began to ascend the steps, one by one, reaching the twentieth step. On either side of the twentieth step, there were naturally two god-locking pillars, and the content of the second trial of the God of Death, as expected, appeared on them.
Zhu Ziyang examined the content of the second trial of the God of Death.
"God Position Affinity: 20%.
Second trial of the God of Death: The God of Death's combat power is unparalleled; in one battle, he slayed three kings. As the successor of the God of Death, you should display powerful combat strength to prove your qualification.
Assessment Content: In a single battle, kill five Spirit Masters or Spirit Beasts whose cultivation is no lower than yours.
Assessment Requirements: Solo combat; no use of a second Spirit; no use of spirit tools; time limit not to exceed three years.
Assessment Reward: Unknown."
The content of the second trial of the God of Death was somewhat more difficult than the first trial, but not by much. Wasn't it just killing five opponents in one go? For Zhu Ziyang, this was hardly a challenge!
Could it be that Xiao Bai was intentionally going easy?
—
The next day, early morning.
When the first ray of sunlight illuminated Star Luo City, it signified the start of the exciting Pan-continental Elite Soul Master Competition.
All streets surrounding Star Luo Plaza were sealed off by soldiers in bright armor, especially near the Star Emperor Hotel, where over a thousand soldiers were stationed. The street leading from there to Star Luo Plaza was completely cordoned off, and only participating teams from various academies emerging from the Star Emperor Hotel were allowed to pass.
Although everyone knew that no one would be foolish enough to cause trouble at such a grand pan-continental event, dispatching troops to guard and block specific roads was absolutely necessary. Only the military could demonstrate the Empire's Pay attention to for this competition.
The competition arena for this year's competition was not built in the center of Star Luo Plaza, but on the south side of the plaza, directly facing the main gate of the imperial city. This arrangement ensured that His Majesty the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire could lead his civil and military officials to observe the competition from the top of the imperial city wall, enjoying both the best viewing angle and full security for the Emperor.
At this moment, Star Luo Plaza was empty, with no one on the plaza except for soldiers in the distance.
Due to a tragic stampede that occurred during the last Pan-continental Elite Soul Master Competition held in the Star Luo Empire, the Star Luo Imperial Family attached great importance to this event. Not only did they dispatch a large army to maintain order, but they also devised many new methods to prevent stampedes.
Star Luo Plaza was divided by iron fences into different, distinct areas, each with separate entrances and exits. With these fences, it was much easier for soldiers to maintain order, and the number of people allowed in each area was strictly limited.
The imperial city of the Star Luo Empire was located on the north side of Star Luo City, with its main gate facing the competition arena. To the west of the competition arena was a specially constructed resting area for participating teams from various academies. The resting area was luxurious and comfortable, yet it could only accommodate approximately seventy academies. Clearly, only those who passed the first round of elimination would be eligible to enjoy this lavish treatment.
Since the Pan-continental Elite Soul Master Competition changed its old format to the current new one, apart from the final stages of the competition, the most exciting part was undoubtedly this first stage of elimination. Its intensity could even be described as brutal, because all participating academies had only one chance!
The second stage, the round-robin tournament, might allow for tactical arrangements and a margin of error for tactical failures. But in the first stage, losing meant truly losing everything. Every participating academy had to pass this hurdle, even Shrek Academy, the perennial champion.
Early in the morning, the leading teachers from various academies had already arrived at the imperial city to draw lots with the participant number plates received during registration. At this moment, the drawing ceremony was fully completed. Officials from the Star Luo Empire would compile the results, and once the competition order was announced, the final preparations for this competition would be complete.
The sun slowly rose from the distant east into the sky, and the temperature within Star Luo City gradually increased. Sunlight shone directly on the imperial city tower, where a young man in a bright yellow robe and an eight-treasure purple gold crown stood with his hands behind his back, exuding the majesty of a monarch. He was Emperor Xu Jiawei, the current Emperor of the Star Luo Empire.
Beside Emperor Xu Jiawei were his Empress and the main ministers of the Star Luo Empire. Their gazes fell upon the plaza in front of the imperial city, their faces filled with excitement.
Emperor Emperor Xu Jiawei looked at the entering participating academies, a slight smile on his face, and said to his Empress, "Zitong, look quickly, the members of the various participating academies are already entering. However, they cannot use the resting area today; only those who win will be qualified to enter the resting area."
"It is said that Shrek Academy only brought ten people this time, and most of the participating members are very young. I truly look forward to their performance! Alas, originally Yueheng would have been among them, what a pity."
"I had intended to use this opportunity to have Dai Hao return to the capital to watch the competition, as it only comes to our Empire once every twenty years. But then I thought better of it, after all, nowhere is peaceful right now!"
As the young Emperor spoke, a hint of gloom flashed in his eyes. Seeing this, the Empress held his hand and said softly, "Your Majesty, this is not your fault, do not blame yourself!"
"Hmph! These treacherous villains who wave the banner of loyalty to the crown, I will clean them out sooner or later!" Emperor Xu Jiawei's voice was very soft, so soft that even the Empress could not hear him clearly.
Leaving aside the Emperor and his ministers watching from the city tower, Zhu Ziyang and the Shrek One line people had already arrived at the waiting area for contestants, awaiting the upcoming opening match.
Today, all the Shrek Academy members were dressed in their traditional dark green school uniforms, the standard color of Shrek Academy. Furthermore, their standing position was at the very front row of all academies. No other academy had any objection to this, as it was a position Shrek Academy had earned through centuries of strength.
However, the academy participants standing behind them couldn't help but show some surprise when they saw Shrek Academy's current lineup. Not only had only ten people come, but among these ten, the vast majority were far from twenty years old, their youth clearly visible even without bone age assessment.
This was perhaps a bit too arrogant!
Feelings of anger arose among some of the stronger academy teams, with the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy being the most furious. Although they had previously known Shrek Academy's lineup, knowing and seeing it with their own eyes were two completely different feelings!
They stood right behind Shrek Academy, allowing them to observe Shrek Academy's members most clearly.
In the Shrek team, the youngest members were Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao. Huo Yuhao was fine; having fused with the Ice Empress's torso bone, he had grown much taller and looked similar to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy. However, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were different; their faces still carried a hint of childishness, especially Xiao Xiao, whose petite figure made it easy for those who didn't know to mistake her for a little sister from a junior Spirit Master academy!
Such an unusual lineup left even Xiao Hongchen filled with doubt at this moment. What exactly was Shrek Academy trying to do?