Chapter 534: [ Ancient Warrior Trial ]

—Ooooooohhhh!!!

—Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh!!!

The moment the Elders announced the opening of the Despair Grieving Mountain, almost all the people within the Ridge screamed and cried out loud in excitement one after another. This time the atmosphere became thoroughly boiled, the people were screaming as if they got chicken blood injected into them.

"There's only one road ahead of you guys, and it is the advance bravely!"

“Put your spirit and will, run forward with your own two feet!”

“Grasped the power before you and the future that awaits you with your own hands and grabbed the opportunity to stand above the heavens!!”

"The entire Continent is watching you guys! And the future your Sect depends on you!"

Huuuu~

When the portal was activated, the giant army of over a hundred cultivators from different Sect entered, full of excitement and glee. The Passing Cloud Sect were Allen and the others were located was coincidently in the middle, but the ones at the very front are those cultivators that were ranked low in power levels. After all, in the extremely dangerous extinction trial, putting the weakest at the front was meant for them to be used as decoys, or one should say those used to test waters. Thus, Nangong Liuyun and all the famous people within the Divine Martial Continent were at far back, still calm and indifferent.

“Everyone charge!”

Everyone excited rushed into the glowing tunnel, never thinking about this danger. And then, after a few minutes where most of the front had finally entered the portal tunnel, led by Ximen Wu and Bu Fangyi, all of the disciples of the Passing Cloud Sect hurriedly rushed towards within, chasing the other people before them. However, there was an exception—Si Mulan and Lan Ling ‘er both glanced at each other, smiling wryly and shrugged, before standing behind Allen who was looking curiously and full of interest towards the purple tunnel.

Allen’s expression was calm and unhurried. In this kind of trial where going into unknown places with unpredictable dangers and threats, Allen would try to be last as possible. In the extremely dangerous situations like this, if there’s a danger, then the front people can be used as sacrifices.

From what Allen had heard from Venerable Passing, the Mountain was extremely dangerous. If not cautious enough could surely spell one’s doom!

But at this moment, everyone has all been dazzled by the bright future portrayed by the treasures that they would find within the Mountain, thus each of them had ignored the danger like idiots. They would not shed tears before they could see the coffin… such saying was always true!

Now, no one could stop them, and they were all fighting to get in first. No one realized that in the past exploration events, the survival rate was never higher than 50%. In other words, out of the 100 people, at least 50 of them will die inside the Mountain—why need to be hasty? Afraid of not being able to find a coffin they could lie the moment they die…?

How laughable…!

Si Mulan looked at Allen and said, “Master, from what I had heard, after we enter this door, we’ll be sent to a random place, not certain where we would end up with.”

Allen’s brows wrinkled, “Random transportation?” Well, that is indeed a problem…

“That’s right, random transportation.” Lan Ling ‘er paused before continuing, “All of us will be separated from each other…”

“… …” Allen’s brows furrowed. Well, it was not really a problem for him though… but Allen turned his head at the two girls and sighed. He wasn’t worried about it but for the two of them… their cultivation can be said to be the lowest among all the participants.

Si Mulan was only chosen because of Allen, wanting to temper the young lady, he asked for her to be allowed to enter the trial, in which the Passing Cloud Elders reluctantly agreed due to giving him face… while Lan Ling ‘er was given a pass by the other Elders of the Sect, favoritism whatsoever...

Not like it concerns him even if there was nepotism in play within the Sect…

The thing is…

Should he have kept them in the Ruinos Castle beforehand…?

Haa… why did no one tell me about this?

That damn old geezer!

If Venerable Passing heard about Allen’s complains, he would surely scream injustice! He had told him about it but it was Allen who was not listening at all! More like, he wasn’t interested at all!

How could a mere Despair Grieving Mountain be a danger for Allen? Even if it was Hell, Allen was confident he can make out of it alive…!

Thus, due to his arrogance, he doesn’t put Despair Grieving Mountain in his eyes. Truly so, but the two girls in front of his were considered to be his people and Allen didn’t want something bad to happen to them. However, sending inside for safety reasons is something troublesome at the moment as he would need to deploy the Ruinos Castle. And if he did it, these perceptive old geezers would surely eye on him…

Should I use Domain and deploy Ruinos Castle and then call them…?

Nah, too much work—alright, this should also be a form of their training~

“… Whatever, no use to cry over spilled milk…” Allen sighed. He turned around and faced the two girls. “Hey,” he called out.

“Is something wrong master?” Si Mulan asked. While Lan Ling ‘er just stared at him.

Allen flipped his hand and a rectangular metallic slim box appeared… in the mortal realm, they would surely recognize it easily. A Smartphone!

He gave each of them to Si Mulan and Lan Ling ‘er, in which the two accepted it with a confused expression, not knowing what it was or how to use it.

“This is?”

“A communicator as well as a tracker…” Allen responded. “Using that, you can both find my whereabouts as long as we are in the same world… now, I advised you, don’t push yourselves too much. If you can’t win or have a hard time surviving then, find me immediately and don’t be so stubborn. Sometimes life is more important than pride.”

“… ..”

Allen bitterly laughed and said “…though, it would be better if the moment you arrived at the Trial Grounds, you won’t wander around by yourself and immediately come to find me. But I guess you won’t do that even if I say that. This Trial, after all, is a good opportunity for you to raise your powers and gathered experience in life. That way, you would grow and mature… just, don’t overdo it~”

“…Do you understand?”

“Yes, master!”

“Yes…” Si Mulan nodded obediently while Lan Ling ‘er only answered with a faint voice. Her gaze full of complexity stared at Allen. Hearing Allen’s reminders, Lan Ling ‘er felt a little touched, of course, she knew this man truly cared for her, at least. But she had her own stance and circumstances. Thus, with her situation, she decided not to get too intimate with this man.

And yet…

“What?” Allen turned towards Lan Ling ‘er, noticing her gaze, he smiled. “Something wrong in my face…? Or probably do you want to say something?”

“… …” Lan Ling ‘er hesitated for a moment since she felt embarrassed. She then bit her red lips, and sigh, shaking her head in an awkward manner.

“…??” Damn! She’s a heartbreaker indeed! She looked so appealing with that ‘lip biting’! Allen groaned inside. His mind had started to run-off by the time he hastily stabled it. His noble heart managed to suppress his wild desires.

Restoring his tranquility, he said while extending three fingers to indicate a time of three days, “Oh well, three days, if both of you didn’t appear before me within that time span, I will look for you myself. And if I found out that you’re playing truant… you will be punished, understand?” A mischievous smile appeared on his face.

The two girls nodded their heads in understanding.

*** ***

The true Despair Grieving Mountain within the sealed dimension covered the span of nine enormous mountains in a chain, rising and falling and all covered with verdant growth.

Among them were secret undercurrents, waterfalls and strange rocks, quiet and deep secluded valleys with tall peaks in disorderly confusion. As its image suggested the moment you saw it, the terrain brought a feeling of being ‘pressed to an impasse,’ but in the next moment letting someone see a road that showed that the heavens wouldn’t seal off all exits.

In Allen’s view, even if one was the strongest under the heavens, everyone would still deem it a dangerous place to live.

The moment Allen entered the infamous Despair Grieving Mountain, the people behind his back, both Si Mulan, and Lan Ling ‘er, suddenly disappeared. He then noticed that his surrounding had apparently changed—the view and sound, all disappeared. The temperature dropped by 10 degrees, as his view became dim and dark. Even with his supernatural senses and draconic eyes, he still couldn’t see anything clearly.

This was a dark space of emptiness!

Profound and mysterious, open and deadly silent, enough to inspire the ancient fear of all men, but for Allen whose fear had already gone numb long ago, it wasn’t anything new as he carried on walking without knowing the exact direction.

He just felt under his feet, was like a boat floating in water, cold, swaying, and creepy feeling surging through you. While walking, Allen created a pathway within his mind, the path he was taking all this time and although he couldn’t see anything, he could feel every slight turn his feet and legs made as if he was someone else was controlling his body.

Something like this is unnoticeable for normal beings but Allen was different, he clearly felt every changed within his body. As if someone was engraving your mind with a misconception that nothing was going on, that it was normal walking this way, that everything has no problem.

The force that was affecting him was clearly that of an ancient aura… powerful magic that even he couldn’t rebel…

Along the way, Allen his body being inspected and examined. It’s not with proof nor confirmation but just feelings. Instincts told him so, and although it seemed like just baseless anxiety or concern, a sense of paranoia that birthed from being surrounded by pitch black darkness, Allen would never doubt his intuition and the so-called bestial instinct.

However, sadly, unlike the usual, the power that wanted to see through him was just too strong, undeniable impossible to block or intercept. Thus, although he abhors this kind of conduct, Allen could only sigh. Now, his interest in the Despair Grieving Mountain deepened.

What kind of secrets does this place have…?

Maybe he was approaching the exit but Allen felt a strange power surrounding him the more he walks forward.

It was as if the surrounding air became a lot denser.

Then, suddenly Allen’s draconic eyes dilated. Damn it! He couldn’t help but cursed out loud.

[ Special Intruder found! Base Bloodline…Earthman… mortal… dense…48% human bloodline. Age… 19 years old… Cultivation; Complex… unknown…validating… Cultivation… Half-Saint… main level… 1st Mid God… Talent Evaluation; Outstanding… Offensive Capabilities; 3rd Grade Mid God… Excellent… Defensive Capabilities; 2nd Grade Mid God… Exceptional… Secondary Bloodline; Monster 14%… Dragon 18%… Demon…11%... God 9%... Warning… Special Intruder… First-rate… Initiating Hell-Mode…! ]

The heck is this…?! Allen’s pupils narrowed as he read the constant popping prompt windows appearing in his retina. It should be said that this game-like occurrence was already quite long ago since it last appeared.

But what is this?

Hell-mode? Is this some kind of a Dungeon…?

Despair Grieving Mountain is a Dungeon…?!

A Dungeon in the Celestial Realm…? I was never told about this…!!

- Hello, and welcome to the Ancient Warrior Trial!

Suddenly, as Allen was filled with utter confusion and disbelief, a sweet female voice entered his ears. This sudden voice caught him off guard and made him suddenly froze for a moment.

Although the sweet synthesized voice was pleasing to the ear, it was missing a sense of humanity, which was breaking the emersion of the sudden reality that had appeared before him.

The voice was beautiful but it lacks emotion. As if the speaker was in a play or something, it doesn’t have any emotion within it … or so what Allen thought the moment he heard the voice.

“Who?” Allen frowned as his power immediately urge within him, activating his battle position. His aura exploding in force causing the space around him to start distorting, as something was forcefully breaking it.

“…show yourself, or I will make you come out forcefully…” Allen muttered coldly.

—Please be at ease, oh warrior coming from the distant land… I meant no harm…

As a response to Allen’s threat, not far from him, a beautiful young woman was standing while looking at him, with a faint smile. Although she was beautiful but for Allen, her beauty seemed ethereal.

She had a sculpted figure which was twine-thin. Her waist was tapered and she had a fair, like that of the color of snow, complexion. Her white skin was so exquisite any man would really want to touch it, Allen wasn’t an exception.

Her facial features were aligned as if somebody calculated their placement and shape with a super-computer. Though, in human views, it can be considered unbelievably beautiful.

For example was the pair of beautifully arched eyebrows that was looking down on sweeping eyelashes. Her delicate ears framed a button nose and a set of dazzling, angel-white teeth gleamed as she looked at Allen, smiling genially is what one would say but for some unknown reason, Allen can’t think it like that.

Contrary to the beautiful smile of her lips, she had a mean pair of glossy black eyes unlike Baishe or Laura or the other’s gentle eyes when looking at him—this girl’s piercing eyes scanned him with cold, indifferent gaze. Everywhere she looked at felt uncomfortably like Allen was being stabbed with a sharp knife. Thus, upon seeing her eye’s expression, her rosy lips that were smiling beautifully like a goddess, were now like a blade, forming into the shape of a strange meaningful smile.

As opposed to saying that she was glad to see another person after a long time, it’d be more accurate to say that she was looking at a fun pet to play with. Really, it irked Allen for some unknown reason…

She didn’t wear a skirt or formal clothing. Instead, she wore a very simple and unadorned blue one-piece dress. The buttons right at the top of her collar were done up tightly, but her bosom looked like it was going to burst forth from underneath her clothing.

Even Allen who had prided himself on seeing and possessing great beauties of varying aspects, this girl before him was like a real work of art that would never fade even after millions of years and will still be glorified as the image of a goddess.

Perfect actually, as if it were a statue with her features carved that way deliberately. But at the same time, her face lacked the compassion a statue lacks.

“You are?”

—I am the spirit of this place… the initiator of the Ancient Warrior Trial Grounds left behind by Her Majesty; Romeia Luminous Eltrade.

The beautiful young woman answered with an indifferent voice. —You are the first challenger in these past thousand years.

First?

*** ***