From silence, to pride, to questioning life, the entire process took only a single day.
Even those who were merely spectators, having long since given up and resigned themselves to the idea that as long as they were weak enough, they wouldn't be targeted, were still struck down.
In reality, the myths from various domains had some psychological preparation for the gap between themselves and the "Four Hegemons of the Eastern Weird Realm."
Later, they further bolstered their mental fortitude, effortly placing the "Blazing Fire Merchant Guild" and the "Mysterious Force" into the category of "a vast difference, not worth comparing."
However, even so, some myths from ordinary backgrounds displayed talents and demeanors far exceeding their own, leaving those on the same level feeling complex emotions.
If they knew each other and were somewhat familiar, the sense of disparity would be even greater.
Hand of Dusk and Wing of Sunset, two myths from the Sunset Kingdom, were currently staring with wide eyes at a figure standing on the trial grounds in the distance.
The Night Court's Princess Yun Ji, the Flowing Water Princess!
Hand of Dusk was all too familiar with this newly emerged entity. He had previously been wary of Yun Ji's talent, believing that this young girl, having just ascended, could possess combat power comparable to his own. Yet, upon seeing her now, he felt utterly unworthy of being compared to Princess Yun Ji!
Water flowed around her, sometimes roaring like a waterfall, crashing down; sometimes sharp as a blade, cleaving through space; and there were also howling cold winds, invisible giant hands, and more.
She had obtained the inheritance of so many abilities! The Night Court truly held a great secret!
Hand of Dusk felt envy and jealousy, but recalling the confrontation within the Night Court a few months ago, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. At that time, he had greatly underestimated Princess Yun Ji and had had the urge to attack several times. Fortunately, he hadn't acted then, otherwise, he might have turned into a popsicle.
Watching Yun Ji easily pass the first trial and then struggle for a long time in the second, the two myths of the Sunset Kingdom sighed dejectedly.
The old myth, Wing of Sunset, said, "Find an opportunity to pay a visit and apologize."
Hand of Dusk's expression changed slightly. Unwilling, angry, and struggling, he finally nodded as if deflated.
Also feeling a mix of emotions was Bolai Zemeng, who had traveled from the City of Falling Stars to participate in this trial feast.
His trip was not entirely without gain; several geniuses from Falling Stars had performed well in the mortal trials.
Bolai Zemeng had never intended to compare himself to the Four Hegemons. His City of Falling Stars and the Seven Stars Alliance were, at best, distantly related. He knew too well the depth of the Seven Stars Alliance's foundation, and the others were similar. He had long since lost the desire to catch up.
Later, seeing the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild shock the world time and again, even causing the myths of the Four Hegemons to change color repeatedly, he gradually gave up the idea of comparison.
As a person, one must know contentment to avoid excessive pain.
From another perspective, the stronger the myths of the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild were, the more capable their Blazing Fire Great Domain would be in dealing with the evil god's servants still roaming within the domain.
Not bad, not bad.
Bolai Zemeng had already done his mental preparation, even imagining the scenario of his City of Falling Stars becoming the second-ranked city in the Great Domain in ten or twenty years. But... but what about the Black Stone Alliance!
The First Tower Master of the Black Stone Alliance failed to pass the first trial, which was normal... After all, Bolai Zemeng mused that if he himself were to attempt the first trial, he would only have a sixty-forty chance. He would be the forty.
However, there was a young, silver-haired woman from the Black Stone Alliance who had passed the first trial, passed the second trial, and was now attempting the third.
Bolai Zemeng happened to know this person.
The youngest Tower Master of the Black Stone Alliance! Yi Yueluoxi, who was hailed as having the demeanor of a myth!
The term "mythical demeanor" was merely mutual flattery among the great oases. Bolai Zemeng naturally disdained it. However, he had to admit that Yi Yueluoxi, who was already a Five Senses Commander at the age of just over twenty, was a genius.
Later...
There was no later. In the blink of an eye, this young girl with "mythical demeanor" had ascended to godhood and possessed terrifyingly peerless combat power.
What kind of dog-shit intelligence department was this? How did they gather their information?! He would definitely whip these incompetent subordinates with his belt!
Within the trial grounds, Yi Yueluoxi was like a deity bathed in moonlight. Elves of the silver moon surrounded her, bestowing her with a crown.
She had only just ascended, a brand-new myth through and through, yet she used the silver moon as her bowstring and the moonlight as her arrow, shooting out one radiant yet lethally damaging arrow after another.
Swish—
The silver arrow streaked across the sky and shattered before the Blade of Brilliance puppet, exploding into a shower of moonlight-silver radiance.
This blow was far from enough to obliterate the third-stage puppet. The puppet also flew at an extremely high speed, its light wings unfurling and leaving behind shining trails.
The myths outside the arena thought the battle would end soon, but upon closer inspection, they realized that the rapidly flying puppet had not managed to close the distance between them.
As the silver-haired woman simply drew her bow, the ripples spread and elongated the space.
After a long while, watching the powerful puppet finally crash to the ground, Yi Yueluoxi looked at her hands with a bewildered expression.
Instructor Fang also looked a little bewildered. What had happened?
Hadn't Yi Yueluoxi just ascended to godhood, yet she already possessed combat power equivalent to approximately 0.8 of Yiluoxi's? And he remembered not having given this girl any cheats.
Thinking of this, Instructor Fang opened his panel and filtered out the notification messages related to this girl.
—The panel didn't have this function, but there was still manual filtering. Immediately, Little Huan began to sift through the massive amount of notification information for relevant clues.
A few seconds later, the relevant clues were found.
It seemed that Yi Yueluoxi had undergone some kind of miraculous change upon ascending to godhood.
"Notification: Sub-apostle Yi Yueluoxi has ascended to godhood. Physique +..., Spirit +..., Talent/Awakened abilities enhanced."
"Notification: Sub-apostle Yi Yueluoxi's #&* power within has been revived, acquiring new abilities 'Moonlight Power' and 'String of Space'. Physique has been moderately enhanced, Spirit significantly enhanced."
Instructor Fang: "???" He pondered. It seemed this question was a bit beyond the syllabus.
Outside the arena, Xi Guang and Hui Gang, the two demigods, had long since fallen silent. Yao Cheng, the demigod of the Seven Stars Alliance, also rested his chin on his hand, looking contemplative.
Why?
They were clearly the overlords of the Eastern Weird Realm, the strongest force of humanity in the Eastern Weird Realm;
They were seemingly favored by fate, giving birth to more geniuses than in previous eras, yet why were they all surpassed? (T_T)
Demigod Yao Cheng fiddled with the strings of beads hanging on him. "Alas, this era seems to be getting more and more interesting. I can't bear to go into seclusion anymore."
"There are indeed too many geniuses, and..."
Not only the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild and the Mysterious Force, but even an ordinary great oasis force had produced a top-tier genius?
This was unreasonable, and even more so, not mysterious! Demigod Xi Guang mused.
Theoretically speaking, the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild having three top-tier members was also unreasonable. He knew the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild had a non-trivial background, with a great high-level existence standing behind them. But in the Weird Realm, who didn't have a major background?
If there was anything different, it was that the ancient existence supporting them had descended very rapidly, without any delay, making their mobility and presence very strong.
So, what about the Black Stone Alliance?
Looking at the silver-haired figure surrounded by moonlight radiance in the distance, Demigod Xi Guang suddenly trembled. "Could it be..."
The ancient existence behind the Ancient Moon Dynasty was the "Moon Lord," who wielded authority over moonlight, darkness, and many other powers. In the past, during the era of faith, He had even more revered titles.
The Ancient Moon Dynasty worshipped the Moon Lord and received His protection. They maintained a limited connection with the Moon Lord.
As someone somewhat familiar with the Moon Lord's power, Demigod Xi Guang looked at the figure in the distance, and a bold idea inexplicably arose in his mind.
The more he thought about it, the more shocked he became, and the more he felt it was possible.
The silver-haired girl from the Black Stone Alliance was very likely the reincarnation of a certain ancient god of the moon! A subordinate god of the Moon Lord. He was about to return from the river of time!
If that was the case, then perhaps... Demigod Xi Guang's gaze suddenly shifted to the three myths of the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild.
Qian Qiu, Xing Jinglei, and Yiluoxi. All three were young myths, and among them, Yiluoxi appeared much younger than Yi Yueluoxi, who was supposedly a "reincarnated ancient god."
Coupled with the fact that the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild had a strong presence of an ancient existence behind them, all the clues connected!
These three were also ancient gods who had once fallen and were about to return! Hiss— This conclusion made Demigod Xi Guang's hair stand on end.
But the more he organized the clues, the more he found that this conclusion was extremely likely to be true! Nothing else could explain it. Besides the successive returns of these fallen ancient gods, the emergence of so many geniuses in this generation also served as evidence.
The era was about to dance. The chaotic and intertwined fates would converge in the near future.
Demigod Xi Guang didn't know what would happen in the future, but he knew he had to make more preparations to cope with the impact of the tidal wave of the era.
"What do you mean, 'could it be'?"
Hui Gang, the demigod of the Red Lotus Empire, seeing Xi Guang's alternating expressions of sudden realization and solemnity, slowly typed a question mark.
"?"
However, Demigod Xi Guang did not answer. He buried this speculation deep within himself, as it involved the Moon Lord, whom their Ancient Moon Dynasty worshipped.
Seeing this, Demigod Hui Gang did not ask further.
They were old friends, but they also represented their respective countries. Private matters were private, and public matters were public. Even if Xi Guang didn't want to say, he wouldn't badger him about it.
However, not asking didn't mean he wouldn't think.
Xi Guang had clearly discovered some great secret. What secret could it be? Demigod Hui Gang pondered, his gaze sweeping across various parts of the trial grounds.
"Could it be related to the Mysterious Force? Did Xi Guang discover the identity of the Mysterious Force?"
They had been in the trial grounds for several days. During these days, although Demigod Hui Gang had not left his post, he had already ordered his subordinate myths to investigate the suddenly appearing Mysterious Force.
However, after several days of investigation, he still couldn't find any clues.
The three myths of the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild, at least, had records of their battles and activities. But the geniuses of the Mysterious Force? They had left no trace whatsoever, as if they had appeared out of thin air.
However, this was absolutely impossible.
"Western Weird Realm, Southern Weird Realm, Northern Weird Realm, where did they come from? Of course, it's also possible that this force is within our Eastern Weird Realm, but it's extremely well-hidden. However, no matter how deeply hidden, there would be traces, and such a powerful force would naturally be accompanied by a long history."
Although his investigation in the past few days yielded no clues, Demigod Hui Gang found a new line of thought.
—Since it's difficult to find traces in this era, let's trace back to earlier eras! Just like today, the Mysterious Force made a fleeting appearance. Perhaps a hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago, the Mysterious Force also made such brief appearances.
By searching for unusual events in ancient and long-established great domains, one might find clues related to this force.
Following the vine, one might discover some unknown secrets. This was absolutely feasible!
Xi Guang probably thought of this, but his expression control wasn't quite up to par, Demigod Hui Gang smiled with amusement. In front of the trial grounds, Yiluoxi was selecting rewards.
She was just a little short of passing the fourth trial, and she felt that the reason she fell short was due to her equipment.
She didn't have a legendary诡器 (guǐ qì - strange artifact)!
The organization's exchange list did have a few items, but not only were the contribution points expensive, but she also didn't find them appealing... Well, it was mainly because she hadn't found a suitable one, not because she was too poor to afford it.
Now, she could get a legendary 诡器 for free. Fortunately, she hadn't bought one.
Yiluoxi thought gleefully, her gaze fixed on the optional treasures listed by the trial officer. Fang You was also looking. It wasn't out of greed, but mainly to help his apostles choose and offer some suggestions.
The organization indeed didn't have many legendary 诡器. Typically, it might take a dozen or twenty gold items to produce one legendary 诡器. Most gold items were naturally skill training cards, golden skill seeds, and legendary materials. The former two were not bad.
Because legendary 诡器 were rare, their prices were naturally a bit higher.
Of course, compared to the outside world, the exchange price he set was less than a tenth, which could be considered very conscientious. It's just that Yiluoxi, Xing Jinglei, and others had been working for too short a time, so they naturally couldn't accumulate enough savings. This was very reasonable.
The first reward was 3 Divine Crystals; the second reward was 10 Divine Crystals + an Epic Ability Inheritance; the third reward was a Legendary 诡器 + an Epic-level Technique.
However, for the top geniuses who could pass the third trial, they didn't lack legendary 诡器 at all. In fact, each of them possessed two or three, making them walking treasure chests.
After all, the lifespan of a myth was limited, while the lifespan of a legendary 诡器 was almost infinite.
Throughout history, the older the oasis, the more legendary 诡器 it usually possessed. This was also a manifestation of its foundation. The bracelet and the azure robe on Yun Ji were both legendary 诡器. She was a true rich woman.
The geniuses from the Four Hegemons' backgrounds were more eager for the rewards of the second trial.
If they could completely learn an Epic ability, their combat power would be greatly enhanced in a short period. Of course, this ability must be compatible with their existing abilities.
Trial Officer Ruo waved her hand, and clusters of silhouettes appeared before her.
"For Trial Ground 404, there are a total of 16 types of Epic abilities available for inheritance. These inheritance sites are located on the 16 surrounding peaks. Once you select one, you will hold a card and go to a specific peak to receive the inheritance."
So, the sixteen peaks outside the trial platform were the 16 Epic ability inheritance sites! The myths realized this.
The extremely regular peaks around them had already attracted attention. Some had even tried to climb the peaks, but a white light screen blocked the semi-transparent staircase, making it impossible to cross. Even myths, when probing with their divine senses, hit an invisible wall.
At this moment, the myths looked at the distant peaks, their eyes filled with fervent desire. One inheritance only improved one genius.
But if they could take away an entire inheritance site, it would benefit their oasis for generations to come! More specifically, if they possessed an Epic inheritance site, ordinary geniuses would have the opportunity to become intermediate geniuses, and intermediate geniuses would have the opportunity to become advanced geniuses.
Even if the operation of an Epic inheritance site came with extremely high costs and consumption, they were still extremely covetous.
"Which trial must one pass to obtain an entire Epic ability inheritance site?" a myth couldn't help but ask. Ruo glanced at him. "Young myths only need to pass the fifth trial."
All the myths: "..."
Ruo didn't want to bother with these useless individuals. She looked at the adorable geniuses and introduced them in a gentle tone:
"Among these 16 Epic-level inheritances, 6 are cultivation-type ability inheritances, and the remaining 10 are combat-type/support-type ability inheritances."
"Among the cultivation-type abilities are: Dragon Snake Body Tempering Method, Thunder Bear Body Tempering Method, Flash Spirit Body Tempering Method... These three are physique cultivation types. The mental cultivation types include: Pure Heart Meditation Method, Stubborn Stone Meditation Method, Dream Entering Meditation Method."
"The remaining conventional ability inheritances include: Meteorite Fall, Gravity Technique, Nine Heavens Heavenly Thunder, Body Splitting Dance, Fire of Life, Four Symbols Barrier, Seal Lock, Eternal Ice Coffin, Glorious Blessing, Sword of Heart and Soul."
The 16 Epic inheritances were all highly versatile and developable abilities. Each one made people's eyes burn with envy! The geniuses wished they could choose two, three, or four.
"If you can pass the fourth trial, you can choose a second Epic inheritance~" Trial Officer Ruo said.
A group of geniuses: "..." They fell into deep decision paralysis. Fang, on the other hand, had no such difficulty.
There were only 16 skills in total, so why deliberate? Of course, they wanted them all!