Breaking Through
Now with the corpse of a Qi Sea Realm demonic beast, Xue Bai didn't need to do any more hunting to pass the trial, so after finding a relatively nice cave to rest in, Xue Bai sat down, waiting for the end of the trial.
However, even if he didn't have the lion's corpse in his spatial ring, Xue Bai also had 2650 points to his name from all of the Organ Tempering Realm demonic beasts he had killed. So even if he didn't have the lion's corpse, Xue Bai could pass the second trial.
All in all, Xue Bai was more than content with this trial. The only thing he was slightly regretful of was that he didn't find any Natural Treasures within the hunting grounds.
His guess on why he couldn't find anything was that either the Inner Disciples who rear the demonic beasts take them for their own use or that last year's trial takers picked the hunting grounds clean.
However, it didn't bother Xue Bai that much, as he still had a wealth of Natural Treasures in Senior Huli's spatial ring.
Finding a comfortable spot in the cave, Xue Bai set up a few protection and detection array formations to protect himself before pulling out a meditation mat.
There was still a day before the trial would be over, so Xue Bai hoped that he could advance a stage before leaving the hunting grounds.
He had been at the 2nd stage of the Bone Strengthening Realm for about a week now and was feeling more than confident that he could finally advance to the 3rd stage tonight.
The myriad of fights he had gone through had made him thoroughly understand his strength and even slightly strengthened his skeleton. So all he needed to do was to complete the final push.
Pulling out a Middle Yellow Grade Natural treasure from Senior Huli's spatial ring, Xue Bai swallowed it whole before starting to cultivate.
The Natural Treasure peacefully went down Xue Bai's throat and eventually turned into a mellow ball of Spiritual Qi that ran along his skeleton, nourishing it from the inside out.
Suppressing the feeling of letting out a moan of contentment, Xue Bai quickly concentrated and began to circulate the Spiritual Qi that ran throughout his body, along his bones.
The feeling was sublime, and more often than not, Xue Bai would almost lose his focus from the pleasure, but thanks to his experience in the Realm, Xue Bai was able to keep his concentration all throughout the day.
Xue Bai's cultivation session would last the entire morning until deep into the afternoon when Xue Bai felt something in him pop.
Opening his eyes at the distinct sound, Xue Bai stood up, pleased with his progress.
Standing up, Xue Bai decided to give his limbs a stretch. However, as he did, the cave was soon filled with sounds of crackling and popping sounds. It was almost like the sounds of cooking popcorn being played through a speaker.
After making sure his body was in good condition, Xue Bai started to make his way out of the cave.
The second trial would end at sunset, and currently, it was around 5 PM, which gave Xue Bai around 3 hours to make it back to where they were dropped off. If one couldn't make it back to where they were dropped off before the airship left at 8 PM, they would be either disqualified or labeled as dead.
Either way, staying in the hunting grounds any longer gave no advantages to Xue Bai, so he wanted to leave as soon as possible. And after making sure he collected all of the array formations he set up in defense, Xue Bai started to make his way out of the hunting grounds.
Once again, taking to the tree canopies, Xue Bai, using his knowledge of the hunting grounds, made his way to where they were dropped off. However, since he was only a kilometer out from the core region of the hunting grounds, Xue Bai knew he was going to take a long time to reach his destination.
So putting more effort into his sprint, Xue Bai ran full speed to the meeting area.
Meanwhile, at Xue Bai's destination, participants started to gather up, marking the end of the second trial.
"Senior Brother Luo Ye, in your previous experience, what was the minimum amount of points needed to pass this second trial." A participant asked Luo Ye, who comfortably sat at the bow of the ship.
"I don't know, Junior Brother. This year is the first time we have had something like this before." Luo Ye replied simply.
If it weren't for the fact that the youth talking to him was in the Organ Tempering Realm and was almost guaranteed to enter the sect, Luo Ye wouldn't even have bothered to acknowledge the question.
"Then, Senior Brother Luo Ye, which of the participants do you think is going to take home first in this trial?" The youth followed up, not sensing Luo Ye's rising displeasure.
Hearing the question, while he might've been annoyed by the conversation, got Luo Ye thinking. However, very quickly, he got his answer which he was very confident in.
"The Wang Clan members." Luo Ye confidently spoke.
"Why do you say so, Senior Brother Luo Ye." The youth curiously asked.
"It's simple. They have the strongest group." Luo Ye explained, "Both Wang Lin and Wang Xiang are at the peak of the Organ Tempering Realm. Adding onto Wang Che and Wang Xiao, who are in the Late stages of the Organ Tempering Realm, their team is a force to be reckoned with."
"Senior Brother Luo Ye, no one has heard from the Wang Clan members." But then, the youth suddenly remembered, "They made some noise in the first hour, but they suddenly disappeared after threatening Xue Bai."
Stunned, Luo Ye could only speak out, "Xue Bai?"
"Yes, Senior Brother Luo Ye, Xue Bai. One of the Young Dukes of The Great Xuan Empire. The one who awakened the High Black Fire Element Grade Martial Vein." The youth reiterated.
"I know who you are talking about, you half-wit." Luo Ye scolded, "I was just remembering who Xue Bai was for a second."
"I remember talking to him during the first trial. He was extremely confident in becoming a Core Disciple right from the start. His confidence was something to look at." Luo Ye admired.
"So you're telling me that Xue Bai, a child in the 2nd stage of the Bone Strengthening Realm, killed two cultivators at the Peak of the Organ Tempering Realm and two at the Late Stages?" Luo Ye asked, skepticism in his voice.
"I never said anything like that but instead pointed out the facts. And after they threatened Xue Bai, no one has heard from them since." The youth explained hurriedly.
"Xue Bai, huh?" Luo Ye could only speak out the name as a myriad of emotions riled up in him.
He, of course, could tell that something had most likely happened to the Wang Clan members. However, he still couldn't bring himself to suspect Xue Bai. After all, the strength gap was too apparent.
'Looks like this year isn't going to be peaceful.' Luo Ye mentally thought.
"Then Senior Brother Luo Ye, what place do you think Xue Bai is going to get?" The youth asked, seeing that the conversation had changed.
"I think he'll either struggle to even enter the top 1000 and be let in dishonorably. Or shock us all." Luo Ye replied without much thinking.
"Why do you think that he'll struggle? Isn't he the greatest talent in this batch, even rivaling Wang Yu from a few years ago." The youth asked.
"It's because this test is too hard for the weaker participants and greatly favors the older ones. While Xue Bai is definitely one of the continent's greatest talents, he is currently too young and weak. The 2nd stage of the Bone Strengthening Realm is something unheard of from a 13-year-old youth, but in this trial, it's only in the top half of strength." Luo Ye explained.
"Then why do you think he'll shock us all? While he is a talented youth, no matter how many stages he can cross to fight, he surely can't fight an Organ Tempering Beast?"
"I don't know either. I just have a feeling that Xue Bai doesn't want to be average and is planning to shock us all." Luo Ye simply replied.
After he finished talking, Luo Ye also closed his eyes, seemingly finished with speaking for the day.
The youth also stopped disturbing Luo Ye and went back to his group to wait for the rest of the participants to arrive.
As the time became closer and closer to 8 PM, more and more participants arrived, making the originally desolate area lively.
However, more people also meant more eyes, so very soon, someone eventually noticed that there were several important figures missing. Mainly Xue Bai, the greatest talent in the Southern Continent's history and the Wang Clan's next generation of talents.
Thankfully just before the 8 PM time limit, one of the two missing groups arrived.
Xue Bai.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢