Three days had passed since Xiao Yan and Qingtan entered the Nine Nether Secret Realm, yet the raging thunder had not stopped for a single moment. As the final fifth of the third day began to pass, Qingtan finally stepped onto the summit of the ten-thousand-zhang mountain. Through these three days of torment, she had come to realize just how beneficial this Nine Nether Secret Realm was to her.
Having recently broken through to the Sovereign Stage, she then relied on the power of the Sky-Reaching Pill to leap to Second Grade Sovereign. While she achieved the realm, her Spiritual Energy remained unstable and hollow. Normally, it would have taken her considerable effort to stabilize her foundation. But under the oppressive pressure of this secret realm, her once-fluctuating Spiritual Energy had been fully refined and solidified.
Yet, she had no time to celebrate the resolution of her internal troubles. On the contrary, she was growing increasingly anxious—because Xiao Yan had yet to ascend the mountain peak. Since the moment he was engulfed by that sea of lightning, he hadn't taken a single step. If Elder Tianling hadn't confirmed that his life aura still existed, she would have believed he had been completely incinerated by the thunder.
"Only half an hour left… what the hell is that guy doing?" Qingtan bit her lip lightly. Even if Xiao Yan began climbing now, it would already be too late. It had taken her almost three whole days to reach the summit; even if Xiao Yan's strength far exceeded hers, it would take him at least a day. At this point, failure seemed inevitable.
"Boom!"
Just then, a roar thundered out from within the lightning sea. Qingtan's eyes shot open as a towering blood-red pillar of light erupted from its core. Even Elder Tianling's expression shifted slightly upon seeing it. "What intense blood fiendish aura… what did that kid do?"
That blood-colored beam came from Xiao Yan, who had activated his Void Demon Body. He drew in a deep breath, then stomped heavily on the ground. In the next moment, his body shot forward a full kilometer. Under normal conditions, that distance would have been trivial—but in this realm of ten-thousand-fold gravity, and while bearing the weight of the Heavy Xuan Ruler, it was anything but ordinary.
And that was only the beginning. Xiao Yan's pace accelerated dramatically, until he became a blur of blood and shadow charging toward the summit. The road that had taken Qingtan nearly three days to walk was cleared by Xiao Yan in mere minutes. The sheer disparity between them left Qingtan stunned.
Although she had always known the gap between them was vast, this was the first time she truly understood how monstrous Xiao Yan's strength was. She had been lamenting his apparent failure just moments ago, yet in the blink of an eye, he had turned the tide completely. After a moment of shock, she could only mutter one word to herself.
"Freak…"
"A rather refined body-forging technique," Tianling commented as she watched Xiao Yan's figure solidify. With her sharp eyes, she easily discerned that Xiao Yan's success hinged on his overwhelming physical body—a result of years of forging and cultivation, and the power of his Void Demon Body.
What puzzled her, however, was the origin of his technique. While the Nine Nether Hall did possess some body-tempering arts, she had never seen one like Xiao Yan's. Could it have been brought from the lower realm? Could the lower realms actually produce such freakishly powerful techniques?
Though curious, she didn't pursue the matter. Instead, she swept her gaze across the two and spoke coldly. "Congratulations on passing the first trial of the Nine Nether Secret Realm. But don't celebrate too early—this is just the beginning. What awaits you next is far harsher."
"Elder Tianling, how many levels are there in this secret realm?" Qingtan quickly asked after hearing that warning.
"There are three levels in total," Tianling replied indifferently. "You've only passed the first one. That level was the easiest. The second is a hundred times more difficult than the first. As for the third… even the Clan Leader himself, a high-rank Earth Sovereign, risks death entering it."
"The Clan Leader is a high Earth Sovereign? Even he might die in the third level?" Qingtan was shocked. Was this elder trying to kill them by sending them into something even an Earth Sovereign could die in?
"There must be something special about the third trial, right?" Xiao Yan didn't let her words unsettle him. From his perspective, although the first trial was indeed difficult, its core purpose had been to help them grow stronger through pressure. He suspected the remaining trials would serve a similar function. Besides, with Tianling's strength, if she truly wanted to kill them, she wouldn't need to go to such lengths.
"You'll understand when the time comes," Tianling replied, offering no further details. She then raised her hand, and the scenery before them distorted once more.
Suddenly, Xiao Yan felt the ground beneath him vanish. They were no longer standing on a mountain but instead hovered above a boundless sea.
Although the terrain had changed, the ten-thousand-fold gravity had not. Both Xiao Yan and Qingtan plummeted downward once again. But just before they hit the water's surface, two towering stone pillars surged up from the ocean and caught them. The pillars rose steadily until they stood a hundred zhang above the waterline before stopping.
"Where is this place?" Xiao Yan looked around. Even with his soul perception, he couldn't sense the edges of this vast sea. Furthermore, he could feel a piercingly cold aura in the surrounding energy. It wasn't merely ice—it also carried a unique kind of poison. If inhaled too much, that cold poison would surely corrode one's body from the inside.
"This is a simulation of a corner of the North Sea—where the first ancestor of the Nine Nether Bird Clan was born," Tianling's voice rang out from above. "Back then, that ancestor achieved spirit awakening and ascended to the Great Thousand World from within this extreme environment, leaving a renowned legacy behind."
As Xiao Yan observed the surroundings with caution, Tianling continued calmly, "Others who enter this trial only need to remain atop these pillars for ten days. But you two came from the lower realm, which means you hold the potential to rival that ancestor. Your training will be harsher. You will need to endure for fifteen days."
(End of Chapter)
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