Chapter 727 – The Red Woman
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There were nine shifting realms within the God Transforming Mirror. But, none of the martial artists present knew just what this meant.
The martial artists from the lower realms looked at the four trial challengers standing in front of the God Transforming Mirror, a disturbed and anxious expression crossing their faces. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this test was related to lives.
If they passed, they could continue through the smelting trial and even have a chance at approaching the Realm of the Gods.
If they failed then they would be eliminated. In the future, they would be stuck at the Divine Sea realm, only kings of the lower realms.
After reaching Timeworn Phoenix City and experiencing the limitless possibilities of the Realm of the Gods, none of them were willing to give up this chance. This was similar to a mortal country bumpkin visiting the royal capital and then not wishing to return to the countryside. After experience all that the capital had to offer, they would rather work hard there instead of returning home to become rich farmers.
Time passed a minute, a second at a time. After an incense stick of time passed, two of the four trial challengers standing in front of the God Transforming Mirror suddenly shook, drawing back with pale expressions.
The red-robed Elder indifferently waved his hand, “The two of you…fail!”
They had failed!
The two young martial artists were stricken. In their own worlds, they were peak Emperor level talents that stood above all others. But now, after arriving at the smelting trial of the Ancient Phoenix Clan, the so-called ‘Emperor level talents’ of the lower realms were now nothing more than a joke. Dropping from the top to the bottom, this left a horrible taste in their mouths!
After another incense stick of time passed, the other two trial challengers also gave a pained cough as their connection with the God Transforming Mirror was cut off. At this time, there was still a bit of time before it reached the required quarter hour.
“The two of you also fail!” The red-robed Elder mercilessly said.
“This test is too difficult!” All of the present martial artists, especially those that came from the Mortal Corridor, were becoming increasingly nervous.
At this time, the red-robed Elder coldly snorted and said, “Crossing the test of the God Transforming Mirror is not difficult. If you failed, then that only proves that you have a tenuous grasp of Concepts and Laws and that your cultivation is also far too lacking. There is no one else to blame but yourselves!”
“The God Transforming Mirror smelting trial has nine different shifting Concepts. If you can persist through the first one for just a quarter of an hour then you have passed. Half an hour is an outstanding result. Every year, over 60% of the trial challengers can pass the first test but less than 10% can achieve an outstanding result. As for those that can last three hours or even pass through the first Concept, that might not even appear once in 50 years.”
“Pass through the first Concept?” The four trial challengers who had just failed felt their hearts jump. The four of them had personally experienced just how terrifying the Concepts of the first level were, and yet someone who was in their twenties could still pass through it in a single go? Was that even humanly possible?
“Now then… Yellowright Min, Feng Xiaotian...” The red-robed Elder began to list out the names of four more people.
“Good luck in there.” Lin Ming cheered Yellowright Min on. He had a good impression of this fellow.
“Mm!” Yellowright Min pumped his fists, his inner tension palpable.
The four eliminated martial artists had come from the Mortal Corridor. As martial artists that could only enter the Mortal Corridor, their strengths weren’t too great to begin with, so the chances of them being eliminated here were also correspondingly high.
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At this time, within the very center of Timeworn Phoenix City, there was a grand tower that stood nine levels high. At the highest balcony of the tower, there was a woman dressed in red, looking down over the entire Timeworn Phoenix City.
After some time, the red dressed woman turned around. In front of her, the great doors had opened and a tall man in a cloak strode in. On his shoulders there was a great flaming bird that looked like a red parrot; it was obviously this old man’s contract beast.
“Great Elder, you seem to have plenty of free time, to come and visit me here.” The red dressed woman tranquilly spoke as she faintly smiled.
“Haha, I was just finishing some minor errands. It just so happens that the new little children have come into the city and are participating in their first test. Do you have any interest in going to take a look?” The tall old man laughed, his voice vibrant and rich with life.
The red dressed woman smiled and shook her head, “There’s far too a low a chance that any of those children will grow up into someone useful. There’s no reason to go fuss over them. If there’s an exception, then the Council of Elders will naturally send over a battle array disc.”
Every few years, Timeworn Phoenix City would select a batch of extraordinary youths from the countless worlds. In all fairness, because the Ancient Phoenix Clan of the lower realms had passed through tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years of dilution, their bloodline purity was far inferior to the Ancient Phoenix Clan within the Realm of the Gods. Thus, the chances of a true genius arising from that pack of youths were very small.
It was certainly easy for those young elites to reach the Divine Sea, but going any further than that would not be easy. As for entering the Realm of the Gods Ancient Phoenix Clan and joining another family clan there, the chances were simply far too low.
“Hehe, you’re not wrong, but there is an exception this time. There’s a little boy called Nuyan Ming whose fire compatibility is even higher than yours used to be!”
“Oh? Really!?” The red dressed woman’s eyebrows shot up. “Is he from the lower realms?”
According to the traditions of the Realm of the Gods Ancient Phoenix Clan, if a genius from the Realm of the Gods had such a high compatibility with fire then they would have already been sent to the smelting trial site in the Realm of the Gods. It was impossible for them to be sent to Timeworn Phoenix City which was situation in the lower realms.
“Of course it’s real. He is indeed from the lower realms. It is extremely rare for a martial artist from the lower realms to have such a high compatibility. But… unfortunately, his comprehension of the Laws is too poor. When he gazed upon the Ancient Phoenix Testament it took him a full half incense stick of time before he was able to fuse with the Laws.” The tall old man said as he shook his head in regret. A martial artist's perception represented their ability to comprehend the Laws; it was often more important than one’s degree of compatibility.
“Half an incense stick of time?” The red dressed woman was bewildered. That result was just too poor. Even the most basic child from the Realm of the Gods Phoenix Clan would have such a result.
“That’s too bad.” The red dressed woman lamented. One’s compatibility with fire and ability to comprehend Fire Laws had little to do with each other. Compatibility looked at one’s physique, but comprehension of Laws looked at a martial artist's soul force and perception. If their compatibility was high but their perception was low, it was still a waste. The further one walked down the road of martial arts, the more emphasis there was on the soul, will, battle spirit, perception, and other such factors.
“That’s right, but we should look at this little fellow first. If his perception is too poor and there’s no value in training him then that’s fine too. But, if he’s worthy of some help, then we can wait until he reaches the Divine Sea and then recommend him to join the main clan within the Realm of the Gods.”
“Mm, let’s go.” The red dressed woman said. As she spoke, the space in front of her easily split apart, revealing a black hole in the void, and the two of them stepped inside…
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In the testing hall, before the God Transforming Mirror, Yellowright Min gave a stuffy cough as he stepped back, his face white.
Without bothering with this minor injury, he spun around to look at an hourglass in the corner of the room. There, the sand within the hourglass indicated that a quarter of an hour had passed!
“Yellowright Min, pass!”
The red-robed Elder blankly exclaimed.
Yellowright Min was overjoyed. He punched the air as he laughed, “Haha, I just managed to pass, what great luck!”
“Great luck? That might not be true.” As Yellowright Min was celebrating, a rude and sobering voice suddenly sounded out. The one who spoke was Huo Ping, one of the martial artists from the Realm of the Gods’ Huo Clan. “There is more than one test in Timeworn Phoenix City. Just because you passed this time doesn’t mean you won’t be eliminated in the next one.”
Huo Ping poured cold water all over Yellowright Min’s parade. Yellowright Min’s face sunk, his expression becoming gloomy and his originally cheery demeanor suddenly reduced by half.
What Huo Ping said was true. But still, to a lower realm martial artist like Yellowright Min, every single step they took was always good. If he could obtain some insights then that was a major harvest for him. It would have an inestimable impact as he continued to walk his path of martial arts.
“Humph, if you had any skill then you wouldn’t have come to Timeworn Phoenix City. How was it like being kicked out from the Realm of the Gods?” Yellowright Min venomously lashed back. As Huo Ping heard this, his expression immediately turned ugly.
After Yellowright Min, the other martial artists from the Mortal Corridor completed their own tests own after another. The final elimination rate for them was around 80%.
Next up were those from the Earth Corridor. The heroic youths from the Earth Corridor were much stronger. Besides one, everyone else passed.
Especially those outstanding youths from the Realm of the Gods; their results were even better.
When Huo Ping drew back from the God Transforming Mirror, all blood drained from his face, the red-robed Elder announced his result, “A total of over half an hour. An outstanding result!”
This was the first outstanding result. As Huo Ping stepped back from the God Transforming Mirror, he glanced over at the hourglass and then looked over at Yellowright Min, his face filled with satisfaction. Even though he wasn’t considered too good within the Realm of the Gods, he could still look down on the lower realm martial artists in Timeworn Phoenix City.
As for Yellowright Min, his ability was inferior so there was nothing he could say.
After Huo Ping, two other martial artists from the Realm of the Gods also obtained an outstanding result. As for the Sky Corridor’s Huo Yu, she lasted for nearly forty minutes, breaking the current record.
At this time, only two people still hadn’t been tested. They were Lin Ming and Huo Wenlong.
Everyone’s eyes focused on them.
Huo Wenlong looked at Li Ming and smiled, “Brother Nuyan, how about we go together?”
“Alright.”
Lin Ming calmly nodded. He wasn’t sure what sort of test lay within the God Transforming Mirror. In terms of just the comprehension of Law, he didn’t have full assurance that he could defeat Huo Wenlong. Although the Heretical God Seed was powerful, the time that Lin Ming had been comprehending the Fire Laws was simply too short.
Lin Ming stepped in front of the God Transforming Mirror. Stretching out a hand, he touched the surface of the mirror. Then, he immediately entered into a strange trance….
Everyone’s vision remained on Lin Ming and Huo Wenlong. No one knew that in the space outside of this hall, there were also two pairs of invisible eyes paying attention to Lin Ming and Huo Wenlong. These two pairs of eyes belonged to the tall old man and the red dressed woman that had been talking atop the Nine Layer Tower in the center of the city. Both of them were high level figures within Timeworn Phoenix City.
“Nuyan Ming, that’s him?” The red dressed woman’s voice echoed in the void.
“Mm… that’s him…” The old man nodded.
“What a faint Ancient Phoenix bloodline. Moreover, it seems that it was transplanted during the Houtian realm. If I’m not wrong, hasn’t the Nuyan Family perished? Where did this Nuyan Ming come from?”
Although the Ancient Phoenix Clan had countless branches, the red dressed woman had still completely memorized each and every one of them. The Nuyan Family had been exterminated 100,000 years ago.
“I’ve already asked the Nuyan Family Protector about him. After the Nuyan Family was exterminated, the ruins of their family were accidently obtained by a mortal sect within the Sky Spill Continent. Afterwards, it was used to establish a sect called Divine Phoenix Island. This sect has taken the Vermillion Bird and Blue Luan as their totem. As for Nuyan Ming, he was a disciple of Divine Phoenix Island. Because of his outstanding talent, he was able to participate and ultimately complete the general level smelting trial. After the Temple Spirit saw that he had made excellent results throughout, he was gifted a single blood drop of the Ancient Phoenix.”