Half a month passed, and the three Sages Bai Yao, Guan Yue, and Jin Hui had departed.
The Sages had numerous affairs to attend to, and during this special period, they had to personally oversee their respective nations, guide strategies, explore ruins, investigate the Evil God's faction, and communicate with ancient beings, among other tasks.
They could not linger long in the City of Burning Fire. However, each of the three Sages left behind a special avatar that roamed within the Burning Fire Oasis.
Sage Bei Feng did likewise.
Sage Cang Tu, who had the fewest trivial matters, simply remained in the City of Burning Fire. He wished to witness the strength of the Kindling organization firsthand. However, during this time, Sage Cang Tu found himself indulging in the various restaurants.
"The food in Kindling is truly amazing!"
"I've eaten more in these few days than I have in the past few hundred years."
"If there's a need later, I'll lend a hand to Kindling."
It wasn't that he believed the Kindling organization couldn't withstand the trial of promotion.
Kindling possessed three ninth-tier high-level beings, and the strength of Kindling's Tutor Fang and Sword God Liu Feng far surpassed his own. Furthermore, Kindling held a grand ninth-level oasis within this Falling Star Domain.
This strength was nearly unparalleled among all of humanity.
It was even a notch stronger than the Winterless Empire.
Typically, an oasis ascending to the ninth level only faced one or two high-level insidious beings. With the power of the Kindling organization, they could safely pass this trial.
But passing safely did not mean there would be no losses.
The trial of promotion could not be without its cost.
Firstly, there was the surging tide of insidious beings, not only high-level ones but also an endless stream of ordinary ones. No matter how formidable the high-level combatants were, they sometimes found themselves spread too thin; defense was always more difficult than offense.
Secondly, during the trial of promotion, the Gates of the Infernal Realm would open within the oasis.
This was the most dangerous phase.
No matter how thoroughly an oasis prepared, it could not avoid losses when insidious beings appeared directly within the city.
To say nothing of the collateral damage from battles involving Mythical Realm or higher beings, even a slight ripple could devastate a city block. Only if their combat strength was ten or a hundred times that of the insidious tide, overwhelming and controlling them with sheer force, could the spread of aftershocks be avoided.
But even then, the city's inhabitants would still face the corrupting impact from high-level insidious beings.
This corrupting impact, capable of causing the degeneration and mutation of ordinary people and low-level awakeners in mere seconds.
Especially since the promotion of the City of Burning Fire was made public for guests from various factions to learn from, making it even more complex.
During times of peace, the awakeners of each group could naturally abide by the rules and discipline set by the City of Burning Fire. However, when danger struck and casualties occurred, many awakeners would find it difficult to maintain their composure.
At that time, the order of the City of Burning Fire would be challenged.
It could lead to chaos upon chaos, which could not be underestimated.
Sage Cang Tu mused that he would offer his assistance for free then, earning a favor from the Kindling organization.
...
Today was the day the City of Burning Fire would commence its ninth-level oasis promotion.
The moment of promotion was set for ten in the morning.
There was still an hour until then.
On the streets, only a few figures could be seen. The entire City of Burning Fire had fallen into a state of quietude, far more desolate and deserted than during the tide of disaster.
This was naturally not because the city's residents and visiting awakeners had evacuated the oasis.
Only a very small number of people had left.
Yet, many awakeners were continuously arriving at the city.
At this moment, the population of the City of Burning Fire was even greater than it had been two weeks prior. The vast majority of them had entered the underground shelters.
Although the Kindling organization had promised to make this battle public, they could not allow awakeners to roam freely on the streets.
During wartime, one engaged in wartime affairs.
Only representatives of super-powers and the leaders of a very few major factions were qualified to linger outside.
They could observe and learn, but they too had to remain in designated viewing platforms. If they ran about carelessly and interfered with the defense of the city, Kindling warriors would execute them on the spot for endangering the city's safety.
No one dared to test whether the Kindling organization would follow through on its word.
For the vast majority of factions, they were unaware of Kindling's true strength or its possession of high-level beings. However, the reputation of the Kindling Academy as a dominant force was enough to ensure everyone's obedience.
The representatives of various factions ascended the viewing platforms, gazing at the assembled and battle-ready defenders not far away, and swallowed hard.
"It's about to begin."
"There's still half an hour."
"The promotion of a ninth-level oasis… we'll see high-level insidious beings, right… *gulp*!"
"Oh my, I haven't even seen an eight-star insidious being, let alone a high-level one. What should I do if I'm a little scared?"
"Coward… alright, I'm a little scared too, just a little."
"High-level insidious beings… it seems they could kill us with a single glance, right? Are we really safe standing here?"
"We are safe, indeed. Kindling's arrangements will not be flawed. The corrupting impact dispersed by high-level insidious beings is something we couldn't withstand under normal circumstances, but after being weakened by the City of Burning Fire's defensive rituals, we can easily endure it.
"All of you here are, after all, sixth-awakened experts. If the ordinary soldiers of the Kindling organization can withstand the corrupting impact, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to, right?"
They meant no disrespect to the Kindling soldiers.
However, they were, after all, the high-ranking members of various factions, top-tier experts of the sixth awakening.
Even if they were not as powerful as Kindling's experts and elites, they were certainly far stronger than Kindling's most ordinary soldiers, right?
The soldiers on the city walls stood tall and straight, their weapons gleaming with a cold sheen, their eyes bright and sharp.
They were clearly elite troops.
However, there were hundreds of soldiers on this section of the wall alone. The total number of soldiers across all defensive lines of the city was at least tens of thousands.
The construction and design of the defensive rituals had to consider the weakest point, meaning the endurance capacity of the weakest individuals.
The representatives nodded in agreement, their hearts slightly eased.
"But somehow, these tens of thousands of Kindling soldiers don't seem like they have any weaklings? Is it an illusion?"
The sky seemed to grow even dimmer.
The conversations of the representatives grew quieter and quieter until no one spoke at all. The section of the city wall fell into absolute silence, and people seemed to lower even the sound of their breathing.
*Dong—*
A loud bell chime rang out, resounding nine times and spreading to every corner of the city.
The promotion battle had begun!
Dark clouds gathered, and the entire sky grew dangerously dark. An icy wind howled, like the wailing of ghosts.
The war had not yet begun, but an atmosphere of desperate stillness had already permeated the air.
The representatives gasped, "Is this the calamity a ninth-level oasis faces? It's too terrifying. The pressure during the final moments of a seventh-level oasis promotion was likely not this great."
However, the darkness lasted only a very short time.
The next moment, golden light diffused outwards, like a gentle warm sun, dispelling all impurity and evil.
"The sun has appeared again?"
"Nine, nine suns! There are nine suns hanging in the sky!"
"No, it's not the sun. The dark clouds still shroud the sky, not a single crack visible. This golden sunlight is some kind of method employed by Kindling, emanating from the tip of the pure white tower in the distance."
The light was not merely light; it also contained an uplifting power.
It dispelled the palpitation and fear brought by the dark clouds.
The representatives, with their extensive experience, immediately realized the special nature of the golden radiance.
This was a structure specifically targeting the tide of insidious beings and negative states.
Would they have the opportunity to purchase this structure and technology from the Kindling organization?
They had no time to ponder.
The ground began to rumble.
At the edge of the oasis, a thick wall of gray mist began to writhe and surge. Terrifying figures emerged from it, roaring and rushing towards the City of Burning Fire.
Then came the second, the third, the thousandth, the tenth thousandth…
In the blink of an eye, the emerging gray-black figures converged into a writhing black tide, its numbers impossible to estimate with the naked eye.
"It's this intense right from the start? I heard the promotion trial of a ninth-level oasis lasts for two to three days!"
"Not only the quantity is large, but I seem to have spotted a seven-star insidious being, oh my!"
"City of Burning Fire, can… can it hold them off?"
They had faith in the Kindling organization, but at this moment, they were truly afraid.
No one could remain unafraid.
The tide of insidious beings was too ferocious, and it likely contained a thousand, ten thousand terrifying insidious beings that could defeat them in a one-on-one fight. Even if all of them, these representatives, were to rush forward, they would be like a small splash of water, swallowed by the tide in an instant.
And this was merely the beginning of the promotion trial.
If the City of Burning Fire could not resist;
If the city walls were breached;
They would be annihilated in an instant, with no chance to escape. Who wouldn't be afraid?
"But the defending soldiers of the Kindling organization don't seem to be afraid; they aren't even blinking."
A genuinely honest person remarked.
The others looked and fell silent.
Some with keen eyes could even discern looks of eagerness from the soldiers' eyes and faces.
… This was definitely an illusion!
The representatives had no time to pay attention to much else. They gazed at the approaching tide of insidious beings, which brought with it an immense sense of pressure, and swallowed hard, unable to suppress the growing fear in their hearts.
"Is the Kindling organization not preparing to act yet?"
"They are still quite far away. After all, there is a considerable distance between the city walls of the City of Burning Fire and the edge of the oasis."
"Not much further, not much further! The closer it gets, the lower the margin for error!"
However, they only dared to whisper their discussions.
Kindling would not alter its battle plan because of them. Their level of expertise was unlikely to surpass that of Kindling's tactical experts.
They were simply terrified.
Fortunately, most of them were afraid, so it was not embarrassing.
The representatives tried to control their fear, their eyes wide as they peered into the distance.
Finally, the defending soldiers took action.
More precisely, the weapon emplacements set up not far away officially opened fire.
Thunderous roars echoed through the heavens and earth.
Brilliant radiance erupted from the black tide in the distance, like multiple small suns ascending.
It was so dazzling it threatened to scorch the eyes of those who gazed upon it.
As the rolling smoke and dust gradually dissipated, what appeared before the many representatives were regular circular craters, and within and around them, the shattered remains of insidious beings.
The surging, seemingly unstoppable black tide had been gnawed away by dozens of segments at this moment, becoming sparse in the blink of an eye.
The power of these Crystalline Cannons…
*Hiss—*
Crystalline Cannons were not unique to Kindling; they were the most common war machines.
All families, countries, and oases had conducted research on Crystalline Cannons.
Some of their own self-developed Crystalline Cannons in super-oases could also produce resplendent light with a single shot.
However, no matter how bright their Crystalline Cannons were or how large their coverage, they could only blast away weaker insidious beings with a single shot.
From the lingering smoke and energy waves, large insidious beings would emerge.
Unlike now, when the light faded, only a few brittle bones remained.
Yes, the majority of the insidious beings' remains had been annihilated by the energy cannon fire, reduced to the smallest dust.
"If I'm not mistaken, just now, a beam from a Crystalline Cannon annihilated a seven-star insidious being."
One shot, eliminating a seven-star!
The representatives couldn't help but gulp again.
Then, a look of fanaticism appeared on their faces.
"Can we get our hands on Crystalline Cannons like these? If we could deploy two or three outside our own oasis, the safety of the oasis would be greatly enhanced!"
"Indeed, especially now, with insidious beings attacking cities so frequently, the importance of these Crystalline Cannons has increased."
"I doubt it. These Crystalline Cannons are clearly Kindling's trump card."
The representatives fell silent.
Facing the trial of promotion for a ninth-level oasis, it was normal for a dominant power to reveal its foundation.
At this moment, a representative from a neighboring domain spoke, "These are M-series annihilation behemoth cannons, and actually… they can be purchased within the City of Burning Fire."
Other representatives: "???"
Such powerful weapons could also be purchased?
The representatives became frenzied.
The tide of insidious beings continued to surge forward relentlessly.
The Crystalline Behemoth Cannons also continued to fire without pause.
M-series, S-series, Z-series behemoth cannons, various models of behemoth cannons were presented before everyone.
There were also many specialized plant-based defensive weapons.
Vinewood Giant Walls.
Blood-sucking Vines.
Pea Giant Cannons.
While these special plants individually might not have been as awe-inspiring as the Crystalline Behemoth Cannons, upon closer inspection, the representatives could discover that the special plants had also achieved a significant number of kills.
They had also blocked and slowed the charge of the insidious tide.
After two to three hours, the overwhelmingly surging black tide, without even touching the city walls, fell one by one.
The representatives exclaimed, "Holy crap!"
From initial fear, to stunned disbelief, to current fanaticism and numbness, their expressions shifted constantly, and they mumbled incessantly.
Was this a terrifying promotion trial?
Was this the promotion trial?
But looking at the ferocious, grotesquely shaped, and enormous insidious beings surging forward, they understood clearly that it was not that the tide of insidious beings was too weak, but rather that the defensive power of the City of Burning Fire was too strong, and the technology of the Kindling organization was too formidable.
To this day, the defending soldiers had barely acted, only picking off stragglers.
"There's an eight-star insidious being!"
A colossal silhouette slowly emerged from the mist wall.
Its tentacles writhed, and wherever they passed, they crushed smaller insidious beings, which were large in size but appeared minuscule in front of this being, into mincemeat.
It advanced, carving a bloody path.
The corrupting impact it dispersed, even after being significantly weakened by the light barrier, caused some representatives to hallucinate.
Eight-star, Calamity Source-level insidious being!
It was a mobile source of disaster!
At this moment…
On one side of the city wall, a defensive device hummed, erupting with myriad strands of golden light.
Then came the second, the third, the fourth.
Four beams of light shot up into the sky.
They intertwined and converged, forming a colossal golden sword that pierced the heavens.
Defensive Structure: Sword of Radiance!
This was an ultimate Sword of Radiance that integrated multiple foundation arrays.
The moment the giant sword formed, it slashed down from the sky.
*Swish—*
Golden light filled the entire expanse of heaven and earth.
Black fissures spread for hundreds or thousands of meters.
The roaring behemoth froze in place.
Innumerable golden lights penetrated its body from within, riddling it with holes.
It exploded with a resounding crash!
On one side, a roar louder than thunder;
On the other, a dead silence where a falling needle could be heard;
Regardless of whether they were faction representatives or Mythical beings and demigods observing at this moment, a preposterous thought arose.
This wasn't a promotion trial.
This was a Kindling arms and equipment exhibition, wasn't it!