Chapter 2268: Thrilling
The God of Food was not at all surprised to see the discrepancy between the disciples and the students, but the students themselves were shocked.
While all of the students currently challenging the trial were beneath the Explorer realm, the same was true of the disciples the Celestial Frost Sect had sent out at this time.
The students were genuinely being outperformed, which confused many of the students. Where was the friendliness and flattery they had been expecting? What was going on?
Many of the students had assumed the Celestial Frost Sect would demonstrate the same attitude as the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan, but they had been very wrong. The Celestial Frost Sect intended to completely suppress and outperform the students, and lure them in with the desire to become stronger rather than catering to their egos. How were their intentions any different from those of the Wang family and the White Dragon Clan?
Wang Xiaofan and Xia Shenguang glanced at each other with excitement in their eyes. They had long wanted to challenge the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, and they had never expected to receive this opportunity through Virtue Archives. They believed themselves to be no worse than the four Junior Progenitors of the previous generation, only missing out on the necessary luck. However, their luck had turned—not to mention the last four Junior Progenitors, but not even the Seven Heroes from further back had ever been allowed to challenge the Sky Beyond the Sky. No, Bai Shaohong clearly must have challenged it.
They could not wait to challenge it themselves.
"Student Bai, have you ever challenged this trial?" Lu Yin asked.
Bai Weiwei replied, "I did, but I failed. My greatest height was still very far away from the clouds, as I only climbed 10,000 feet."
"If even you are only able to climb 10,000 feet, then this trial must be extremely difficult," Lu Yin remarked in an impressed tone.
"Do you want to challenge it, Professor?" Bai Weiwei asked.
Lu Yin was taken aback. "Is that possible?"
Bai Weiwei replied with a hint of a smile. "I'll ask in a bit, but it should be fine."
Lu Yin's eyes flickered as he turned back to stare up at the sky. If he was given the opportunity, should he take it? He had never challenged this trial during the Seven Heroes’ era, but was that because he had not been allowed by the Lu family, or because of something else? There had to be a reason why the Seven Heroes had never challenged the trial, so was it a missed opportunity, or had they been protected?
As Lu Yin’s thoughts churned, youths fell from the sky, one after another. The Celestial Frost Sect’s best disciples were able to climb thousands of feet into the sky, allowing them to look down upon all others, but even then they were still far from reaching Bai Weiwei's record of 10,000 feet, let alone reaching the canopy of clouds.
Virtue Archives’ best students were only able to reach less than half of the altitude achieved by the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples, which left many of the students speechless.
Suddenly, there was a loud howl as a student plummeted to the ground while clutching his head.
The God of Food hurried over to check on the student, and Lu Yin did so as well.
However, no matter what the God of Food did, the student seemed to have lost his mind. His eyes were completely unfocused. At times he would laugh, and then he would start crying. Elsewhere, one of the sect’s disciples let out a scream of horror, claiming to no longer be capable of cultivating. He could not rouse any of the star energy within his body.
The other students from Virtue Archives were terrified by these developments, and many of them felt like retreating.
Lu Yin frowned, as he could not understand what had happened.
The God of Food spoke no words of blame to the Celestial Frost Sect. Both Wu Yao and Bai Su had given warnings before the youths had started the challenge, and along with the warning, there was also a requirement that anyone who challenged the Sky Beyond the Sky must promise to never reveal anything that they encountered during the trial.
Regardless of whether or not people remembered their experience, absolutely no rumors or information regarding the Sky Beyond the Sky were allowed to spread.
The student who had lost his mind was taken away. Then, the God of Food glanced at the rest of the students and softly said, "Cultivation is not always smooth sailing. Some of you are independent cultivators who have already gone through life and death experiences before entering the academy, but many of you come from powerful families and sects. Your path has always been smooth, but what would you have been able to achieve without the support that you’ve been given?”
"Whether you are training within the academy or facing risks in the outside world, it is necessary for all of you to face life and death experiences. I can see both fear and anticipation in your eyes. You can choose to stop here at the level that you have already reached. You will not be forced to take this trial."
Wu Yao and the others from the Celestial Frost Sect looked at Virtue Archives’ students with great interest after hearing the God of Food’s words. Meanwhile, the Celestial Frost Sect disciples looked over with arrogant attitudes and a sense of superiority. This was exactly what the Celestial Frost Sect’s goal was: to intimidate the students into refusing to compare themselves to the sect’s disciples, which would make them dissatisfied with their statuses as members of Virtue Archives. That would encourage them to join the Celestial Frost Sect.
Next, it was time for Explorers, Cruisers, and Hunters to challenge the Sky Beyond the Sky trial. They stepped forward with resolute eyes. They had already made their decision, and they would see it through and face the consequences, even if that meant insanity.
As for the Celestial Frost Sect’s youths, none showed any change in expression. They were far more informed about the Sky Beyond the Sky than the visiting students. The disciples knew the risks and that some of them would suffer catastrophic consequences, but they had already made their peace with their possible fates.
As for the disciple who could no longer use star energy, he would be abandoned by the sect. The world of cultivators was cruel and merciless.
One after another, the youths rose into the sky, their eyes glazed over. This time, the students were not nearly that badly suppressed. There were even a few students who were able to match or even surpass the sect’s disciples. Out of everyone, the short fatty stood out. He continued to climb higher and higher, rising above one challenger after another, including the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples, which made Bai Su and Wu Yao glance at each other.
It was very unusual for anyone to rise through the sky so quickly when challenging the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, and the little fatty was moving just as fast as Bai Weiwei had when she had first challenged the trial.
Bai Weiwei also had not expected the fat little man to rise so quickly, and she was rather surprised.
However, while the short fatty moved quickly early on, after reaching a height of a bit more than 5,000 feet, he slowed down considerably. At the same time, a female disciple was right behind the fatty.
The two were soon neck and neck, leaving all the rest behind.
In the end, the fatty surpassed that woman, though he stopped once he reached a height of 8,000 feet, which nearly matched Bai Weiwei's first record.
Out of this batch of youths, two of Virtue Archives’ students manifested complications. One kept meowing like a cat, clearly insane, while the other did not move and was as immobile as a corpse. The student’s eyes remained open, and he looked lost within his own mind.
Two of the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples also developed problems. One adopted a weird posture that he refused to move out of, and the other kept laughing. It was disturbing and chilling; he seemed lost in his own world.
Lu Yin let out a long breath. This challenge was simply too strange.
The Sky Beyond the Sky was not a trial where one’s cultivation would allow them to perform better, as even Semi-Progenitors routinely failed the trial, and they also might exhibit odd behaviors afterwards. Also, the youths had only just finished challenging the trial, and it was possible for repercussions to appear after some more time passed.
The God of Food observed the remaining students. The only ones left to attempt the trial were those at Xia Shenguang and Wang Xiaofan's level.
In reality, none of these students were truly part of Virtue Archives. Each of them represented the four ruling powers, Seed Garden, the Liu family, or other such behemoths. They were simply using the name of Virtue Archives to challenge the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, as it was something that they all wished to attempt.
Three people stepped out from the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples. Each of them was an Enlighter.
Seeing these three disciples shocked the students who had already finished their challenges. The appearance of these three disciples meant that the Celestial Frost Sect had three more youths who had already become Enlighters, which was a shocking achievement.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. The foundation of a ruling power was being put on full display right now.
Wang Xiaofan and Bai Weiwei were both at around the same age as the Ten Arbiters had been. The Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse and Innerverse had only had ten people who had even a hope of becoming Enlighters as youths. Even if the Neoverse was thrown into the mix, the number still would not exceed twenty. Some of those twenty had also stayed as Hunters by the time they turned forty, and they only became Enlighters after the fact. On the other hand, the Celestial Frost Sect alone was able to produce four such geniuses.
Bai Weiwei was even more exceptional, given the fact that she was an Enlighter Realmbreaker who could challenge Envoys. This was the foundation of the Celestial Frost Sect.
In comparison, the White Dragon Clan was truly too lacking. Their current generation did not have even a single true genius. It was possible that some of their outsiders were qualified, but if no true clan members was at that level, then it was best for those possible outside geniuses to not be revealed publicly.
When the three Enlighters saw Bai Weiwei, they all offered respectful bows. "Senior Sister."
Bai Weiwei casually glanced over. "Show me your progress."
The three disciples looked at each other. "Yes."
As soon as the trial started, ten people started climbing towards the canopy of clouds. Naturally, Bai Weiwei stood out from all the others, and her speed left the short fatty speechless.
The ones who followed close behind Bai Weiwei were not the Celestial Frost Sect’s three Enlighters, but rather Wang Xiaofan. A little further behind him were Xia Shenguang and the three Celestial Frost Sect disciples. After them trailed Qing Feng, Nong Siniang, and Jin Chongshan. At the moment, all eyes were locked on the last person, as they were shocked to see Liu Que in last place.
No one had expected Liu Que to be the slowest, not even Wu Yao.
Out of everyone in the current younger generation, Liu Que was regarded as the person closest to the four Junior Progenitors in terms of talent. He was clearly the greatest genius of his generation. He had instantly defeated Jin Chongshan with just the flick of a finger, and yet Jin Chongshan was surpassing Liu Que in the Sky Beyond the Sky trial.
This was not a sign of Jin Chongshan’s incredible talent. If he were truly such a genius, then he would not be evaluated as inferior. No, the fact of the matter was that Liu Que was performing incredibly poorly in the trial.
"Cultivation does not make a difference when facing the Sky Beyond the Sky. It’s impossible to know how anyone will react when facing it. It’s clear that Liu Que is not used to whatever he’s facing." Mr. Tang sighed.
"Not necessarily." The God of Food watched as Liu Que slowly rose into the sky. "Wait and see."
After some time, Bai Weiwei had risen to a height of 10,000 feet. A normal person would no longer even be able to see her in the sky. At that point, she stopped rising further. Xia Shenguang also came to a stop nearby, as did Wang Xiaofan.
Everyone was staring up into the sky. The clouds emitted a gentle white light, looking like beams of light hanging in the sky. They made Bai Weiwei look like a fairy, beautiful and untouchable.
Bai Weiwei was still slowly rising up, and Wu Yao's eyes were filled with anticipation. If the Celestial Frost Sect had one more person who became an immortal, it would greatly impact the future balance of things. They would move one step closer to replacing the Lu family.
The Lu family had been able to retain complete control of the Fifth Mainland not only because of Progenitor Lu Tianyi, but also because they had had other Progenitors. They had even been able to summon Progenitor-level champions, which was something that no other family could compete against. The only hope that others had was to produce their own Progenitors and hope that they would become as powerful as possible.
However, Wu Yao's ambitions failed soon after appearing. Bai Weiwei stopped climbing after approaching a height of 20,000 feet. The cloud canopy was still 10,000 feet above her. There was no way for her to reach it.
Wang Xiaofan and Xia Shenguang both stopped after reaching 13,000 feet, which was far beneath Bai Weiwei.
As for Qing Feng, he was thousands of feet further below, as he had not even reached a height of 10,000 feet. Nong Siniang was right beneath Qing Feng, and at the bottom were Liu Que and Jin Chongshan.
Before anyone realized it, Liu Que had passed Jin Chongshan and was approaching both Nong Siniang and Qing Feng.
As for the Celestial Frost Sect’s three disciples, they were a short distance beneath Xia Shenguang and Wang Xiaofan. Despite attempting the trial before, none of the three achieved results as good as the two men.
Almost everyone had reached their limits and stopped climbing. The only one still moving was rising very slowly, but Liu Que had not stopped yet.
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