Chapter 1575: The First Pass, Revealed

Even after many years, the matter of the Great Nothingness Fruit struggle was gradually revealed, and even the identities of the few survivors became known. However, Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui either kept their mouths shut about it or, when asked, would show looks of lingering fear in their eyes and wouldn’t reveal anything. The reason for this, apart from Li Yan and the other two being given a gag order by the Pure Yang Hall, was that the other two were not stupid. Whenever someone asked about it, they would show fear and terror. This was to make people feel that the outcome of that event was all due to Chongyangzi turning the tide, and they had just been lucky enough to escape with their lives.

This was not only out of fear of being hunted down by the Heart-Refining Valley but also related to the secret of them possessing the Great Nothingness Fruit. To this day, neither of them had used the two fruits. Apart from the preciousness of the Great Nothingness Fruit, they were also afraid that the time interval was too short, and it would easily attract the attention of others. If people found out that they had contributed a lot in that battle, then people would naturally think that the Pure Yang Hall must have rewarded them with benefits, perhaps even the Great Nothingness Fruit… Therefore, they did not know about Li Yan’s performance on the flying vessel at that time.

Apart from Li Yan, about whom the Bright Flame Sect had very little information, the suddenly appeared Mu Guyue was even more of a mystery. After various inquiries, they could only find out that this woman was of the Demon Clan, suspected to be a cultivator who had ascended from a lower realm. The reason for this speculation was that there were also Demon Clan cultivators in the Northern Pastoral Realm. Besides those who had ascended, there were also those who, an unknown time ago, might have crossed realms and stayed, giving birth to some Demon Clan descendants.

But the number of Demon Clan members in the Northern Pastoral Realm was not that of a large clan, so the possibility that this woman, Mu Guyue, was a native cultivator could not be ruled out. This was not because the Bright Flame Sect’s power was weak and they couldn’t find the relevant information, but because the time for Mu Guyue to report her participation was too hasty. The Bright Flame Sect was subordinate to the Spirit Subduing Manor and was also very far from the Broken Army Sect. By the time they learned that the other party had suddenly added a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, it was already almost time. There was simply not enough time to investigate. If they had a few more years, even if Mu Guyue was a rogue cultivator, they might have obtained more information about her than about Li Yan.

For these reasons, the Bright Flame Sect’s knowledge of the strongest combatants of the Broken Army Sect was half-known and half-vague. However, they were not too concerned in their hearts. These four people didn’t even have a single Mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator; they were all uniformly Initial-stage Spirit Transformation. As long as they didn’t interfere with their own sect’s promotion, they could do whatever they wanted. The Bright Flame Sect had no intention of obstructing their promotion. But if a situation like the known second pass occurred, they would certainly not be merciful.

After Shangguan Tianque led his group to the center, Chongyangzi did not continue to speak but glanced at Wu Gouzi. Wu Gouzi nodded upon seeing this, but he did not stand up. He just sat above, his gaze sweeping over the two sects. His cold voice rang out in the next moment, as if coming from the underworld.

“There’s no need for you to introduce each other. I imagine you have all gathered information on each other, and there’s no need for it. Just think about how you can win later. The first pass is crucial. If you don’t pass, you can just go back where you came from! The assessment of the first pass will be conducted by your two sects simultaneously. In principle, only Spirit Transformation cultivators can make a move. Of course, if among your people, there are heaven-defying disciples, even a Golden Core cultivator can participate if they wish, as long as they are not afraid of dying in the first encounter.

“During the assessment, each sect can only send one person at a time. After failure, the next person will enter and continue to try, until success, or everyone fails. And here, as long as one person passes, the pass is considered passed, and you will be congratulated on your sect’s successful promotion. You can then smoothly proceed to the second pass. The assessment time for the first pass is one day. After one day, this pass will end. Even if you still have Spirit Transformation cultivators who have not participated in the assessment, you can just go back.

“After breaking through the first pass, the Spirit Transformation cultivators who failed in the first pass can no longer participate in the second pass assessment. This is the general rule of this assessment. If you have anything you don’t understand now, you can ask. If not, I will now announce the content and details of the first pass assessment.”

Wu Gouzi’s voice was slow. As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the cultivators of the two sects below. This made the cultivators below feel a cold wind, but fortunately, the other party deliberately controlled his aura. Otherwise, those Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators might have all collapsed to the ground. It was just that when he spoke, his gaze lingered more on the Broken Army Sect’s side.

The Broken Army Sect was currently his strongest subordinate sect, but the other party was not as pragmatic as the Bright Flame Sect. They had lurked under the Spirit Subduing Manor for a long time before proposing a sect promotion. But this Broken Army Sect, in the years when Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu reached Spirit Transformation, he had given them territory and things. But the other party, just after having three Spirit Transformation cultivators, was eager to break away from the Blood Lantern Sect. Here, he had directly ignored Mu Guyue. When the Broken Army Sect proposed a promotion, they had just barely had three Spirit Transformation cultivators.

Their wings had just hardened, and they had not yet brought more benefits to the Blood Lantern Sect, but they had already set a bad example. This made the Blood Lantern Sect very unhappy. But you couldn’t stop such a thing. Fortunately, the Pure Yang Hall had considered their feelings and actually handed this assessment to them, which made things much easier.

Wu Gouzi had spoken so clearly, who wouldn’t understand? The two below, Shangguan Tianque and that Master Wei, both bowed. “This subordinate understands!” “This junior understands!”

Wu Gouzi nodded. He then flicked his large sleeve towards the sky, and a red object flew out. Li Yan and the others followed Wu Gouzi’s movement and looked at the red object that flew out. It was a blood-colored lamp. The base was round and blood-colored. The body of the lamp was covered by a semi-transparent lampshade, and it was unknown what material it was made of. The lampshade was slightly dark red, and through it, one could see a yellow wick in the center.

This wick was somewhat special. It was not just a small part exposed on the base, but like a pillar, it shot straight up to the top of the lamp. The tip of the wick was only five or six inches from the top of the lamp. And above the top of the lamp, there was a round hole, as if left for the wick to emit smoke.

This object grew in the wind. In just a blur, it had already grown to a size of a hundred zhang, and it was still growing. Although it was in mid-air, it seemed as if it wanted to burst through this heaven and earth. Then, after a few breaths, the lamp had grown to a height of one thousand one hundred zhang, but its base had only expanded to about a hundred zhang, like an isolated lighthouse. And the wick inside had already become a giant pillar that reached the sky. At this time, the gap between it and the top of the lamp, after the illusion, had also become fifty or sixty zhang in size.

Upon seeing this lamp, the group of people on the high platform, perhaps because of the presence of the five Void Refining cultivators, remained quiet, but their eyes flickered with various colors of light. And below the plaza, many sounds of shock and gasps immediately came.

“This is… the Blood Pagoda Lamp!”

“His Majesty the Sect Master actually brought out this object…”

“Senior Brother, you said this is the Blood Pagoda Lamp? I’ve only ever seen it in records and jade slips!”

“I’ve only ever heard of its name! After being in the sect for so many years, this is the first time I’ve actually seen the Sect Master take it out!”

“I heard this object can refine…”

“Shh, don’t talk nonsense. They’re going to use this lamp for the assessment. What are you pointing out…”

Li Yan, standing in the crowd at the center of the high platform, narrowed his eyes upon hearing those voices. ‘Blood Lantern Sect… Blood Pagoda Lamp. This lamp was brought out from Wu Gouzi’s hand. Could it be their sect-guarding treasure?’ And he also heard many people who were about to discuss the lamp’s function being stopped by others. It was obvious that too many people here didn’t want them to know the lamp’s attack method.

Others, of course, had their own thoughts. Some cultivators from the two sects even turned their heads to look down, trying to find the cultivators who had stopped the discussion about the lamp.

And just at this moment, Wu Gouzi’s cold, emotionless voice rang out once again. “For this pass, as long as one of you can fly upwards from the base and finally fly out from the round hole at the top of the lamp, then you will have successfully passed. Don’t worry about the difficulty of this pass. It’s a bit difficult, but this has been assessed by the Pure Yang Hall. A true Spirit Transformation expert can break through it all the way without any problem, hehehe…”

Although he chuckled at the end, anyone could hear that it was a real sneer, an undisguised, malicious laugh. He didn’t even explain the origin of this magical treasure, only stating the method of breaking through the pass. According to his words, it was just asking a cultivator to fly a distance of a thousand zhang. This seemed as simple as could be. A distance of a thousand zhang, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily cross.

But everyone here knew that under this kind of assessment, even Spirit Transformation cultivators could die. So inside this lamp, there must be something that could pose a fatal threat even to a Spirit Transformation cultivator. But some people also thought that the assessment rules stated by Wu Gouzi only required breaking out of the lampshade. That meant that during the process of breaking through, you didn’t necessarily have to fight. As long as you could defend yourself, escape in time, and fly past quickly, you could break through.

And just as Wu Gouzi’s voice fell, four cultivators immediately flew up from the crowd behind the high platform. With a flicker of their bodies, they had already flown towards the Blood Pagoda Lamp. As these four flew up, their auras were also unconcealed. They were all Late-stage Spirit Transformation auras, but their attire was that of the Pure Yang Hall.

When the four flew up, they split into the four directions of east, south, west, and north. With a flicker of their bodies, they had arrived near the huge base of the Blood Pagoda Lamp. And just as these four approached, “Clack, clack…” With four crisp sounds, four small doors suddenly appeared on the base. The size of each door could allow two people to pass through side by side.

The moment the small doors opened, the four of them didn’t stop at all. With a flash of their figures, they disappeared into the small doors. “Thud, thud, thud, thud!” Four more muffled sounds were heard, and the four small doors closed simultaneously.

And everyone on and off the stage was watching the scene unfold before them. Ninety-nine percent of the people here didn’t know what these four were going to do. Seeing these four enter the lamp base, Wu Gouzi above still didn’t continue to speak, just staring at the Blood Pagoda Lamp. This made everyone else’s gaze also fix on the lamp.

“Whoosh!”

In the silence, a loud sound suddenly came from the Blood Pagoda Lamp in the void. Subsequently, the yellow giant pillar wick inside the lampshade suddenly ignited from bottom to top. At this moment, a smile appeared on Wu Gouzi’s always-cold face!