"All right, line up as you arrived and take the trial one by one." Now that he knew they weren't from Spirit Hall, Seahorse Douluo wasted no time.
He slowly raised his hands devoutly, palms half a foot apart, a soft blue light gathering between them—the same light Ning Rongrong sensed from the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.
As the blue light intensified, it bathed the Seahorse Pillar in azure radiance. Then, a blue light shot up the pillar's patterns to the top in an instant.
Seahorse Douluo turned to look at Oslo—the fastest among them, and the only one at this level with full soul bones—a miracle.
A blue column descended on Oslo, changing from blue to white, then yellow, then purple, deepening until finally turning black. Seahorse Douluo's expression never changed; for someone so young and equipped, a black-level trial was expected.
Six black lights shot out, turning into six golden cards with special gold text. A black six-pointed star appeared on Oslo's forehead—the mark of the Black-Level Six Trials.
Black-Level Six Trials: for an ordinary Soul Sage, it would be impossible, but with Oslo's equipment, there was hope.
Seeing his Black-Level Six Trials, Oslo was excited. Tianlin had briefed them on the trial levels before.
The trial colors matched soul ring colors: white, yellow, purple, black, red, gold. Black symbolized Title Douluo potential; Black-Level Four Trials for regular Title Douluo (like the 92nd rank Seahorse Douluo before them), Black-Level Six Trials for Super Douluo.
No wonder Golden Crocodile Douluo valued Oslo—he had the potential to be a Worship in the Hall of Worship.
"Look at you—there's no way I'll lose!" Yu Tianheng stepped up. "Please grant me the trial, senior."
Seahorse Douluo nodded. "Good. Young people competing isn't bad." He gathered blue light and shone it on Yu Tianheng.
The process repeated, ending in Black-Level Six Trials. Yu Tianheng's talent was now no less than Dai Mubai's in the original.
"Haha, see, Oslo? Even with only one soul bone gifted by my clan, my Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is just as good!" Yu Tianheng boasted. "That's why I'm the captain!"
Now Seahorse Douluo was truly unsettled. Two Black-Level Six Trials in a row?
But he had yet to see the most shocking results.
Oscar: Black-Level Six Trials.
Dugu Yan: Black-Level Five Trials.
Shi brothers: Black-Level Five Trials.
Yu Feng: Black-Level Four Trials.
Zhu Zhuqing: Black-Level Four Trials.
All these were Black-Level Trials. Oscar and Zhu Zhuqing hadn't taken immortal herbs in the original, but Oscar was a food-type genius with innate full soul power and now had a celestial elixir from Tianlin, while Zhu Zhuqing had survived life and death, her mentality greatly improved, so she barely kept her Black-Level status.
Only Bai Chenxiang and Meng Yiran fell short—both got Purple-Level One Trial. Bai Chenxiang did a little better than in the original, thanks to Yang Wudi's help and sect resources.
Their faces fell at getting only purple trials—they really lagged behind.
"Xiangxiang, it's okay. Hongjun is working hard far away, and he carries your hopes too! Yiran, you as well—I believe you'll both forge your own paths!" Ning Rongrong comforted them.
Bai Chenxiang had given her celestial elixir to Ma Hongjun; otherwise, she might have gotten Black-Level.
Meng Yiran had always trained in poison with Dugu Bo; her true power couldn't be judged by level alone.
"Purple-level is fine. We'll work hard." Both girls were determined.
"That just leaves me and Sister Huanyin." Ning Rongrong led Huanyin to the pillar.
But when they stood ready, only one beam of light shone—on Ning Rongrong.
The light shifted rapidly, passing black and turning red.
"Red? A top-level trial!" Seahorse Douluo exclaimed. Red meant Limit Douluo potential—enough to inherit the high priest position.
The red light didn't stop, turning back to blue but tinged with gold.
The light split into nine, marking Ning Rongrong's forehead with a trident.
"What? I thought this was just a top-level trial, but what's this gold? In all Sea God Island's history, such a trial never happened!" Seahorse Douluo was at a loss—he didn't know of the Sea God's Nine Trials.
Ning Rongrong took out a mirror and touched the mark. "It's the same as Sword Brother's—this must be the Sea God's Nine Trials mark."
"Yes, that's the Sea God's Nine Trials!" a gentle voice called from afar, seemingly from the heavens—melodious yet full of benevolence.
As the voice neared, space seemed to twist, then a woman appeared before the pillar—no one saw when or how she arrived.
She was beautiful, draped in a red robe, long sea-blue hair flowing behind her, looking no older than thirty, with elegant bearing. In her right hand, she held a three-meter-long staff.
"Greetings, High Priestess!" Seahorse Douluo bowed deeply. "I failed to follow the Sea God's orders properly. Please punish me."
"It's not your fault. The Sea God's Nine Trials have never appeared before—I've never seen them myself." The woman smiled gently, showing no blame.