So yeah.
Turns out whispering "revenge" to yourself like a wannabe edgelord doesn't magically make you powerful.
Yun Wao learned that the hard way.
His bones hurt. His face hurt. His soul? Definitely crying in a corner.
That little boost of confidence from thinking about his tragic past?
Gone in exactly 2 seconds.
"Why do my kneecaps feel like steamed buns...?" he muttered, wobbling like a stick of butter in the sun.
---
Two Days Earlier
The pressure had exploded across the valley like a grumpy god stepping on a Lego.
5,000 disciples stood tall when it began.
Now?
Let's just say... even roaches wouldn't have survived what came next.
The pressure didn't care if you were a genius, a prodigy, or just some dude who memorized too many cultivation quotes off scrolls.com.
Willpower was the only thing that mattered.
---
And Yun Wao?
Spoiled rich kid.
Never starved.
Had a squad of bodyguards growing up.
One time, a servant handed him tea two seconds late and was sent to polish bricks for a week.
This same Yun Wao was now eating invisible soup and hallucinating that Han Yu's eyebrows were talking to him.
And Han Yu?
The boy with the high-grade spiritual root and smug aura?
He was biting his lip so hard, he could probably cultivate blood qi.
Even he was suffering.
And yet...
---
Somehow... the Three Remained
Han Yu, the "chosen one"
Yun Wao, the "revenge-powered pancake"
And one random mortal dude who no one remembered the name of, but man was he clenching through it
Everyone else?
Gone.
Mortals had collapsed ages ago.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators were still up, but barely.
They had better bodies — didn't need food, didn't need sleep.
But that didn't mean they weren't suffering.
Some of them were sweating so much it looked like their spirit roots were leaking.
---
Two Days In
The Nascent Soul elder — still floating silently in the sky like a final boss waiting for his theme music — had been watching the three mortals for two whole hours.
Maybe impressed.
Maybe amused.
Maybe just forgot how to blink.
Then...
Without a single chant, word, or warning…
---
The Final Minute Began.
The sky rumbled.
The pressure multiplied.
And someone at the back actually farted and passed out instantly.
This was it.
The last 1 minute.
> Survive even 10 seconds, and your physical power will increase 1000× more than before.
Sounds awesome, right?
Well, too bad.
Because it wasn't "power up" time.
It was "get stomped into mashed tofu" time.
---
The Chaos Begins
2 seconds in — BOOM. 70% of the people vanished. Only 30 remained.
One guy screamed, "I REGRET EVERYTH—" and poof. Gone.
5 seconds in — Only 13 left. Yun hao Han yu and the unknown mortal were already collapsed,but they weren't unconscious yet .They were still in the game. Barely.
8 seconds in — 5 left. Even the Foundation Establishment cultivators with their shiny cores were folding like paper fans.
11 seconds in — 1 person still stood. Or maybe they didn't "stand" so much as they just didn't get knocked out yet.
23 seconds in — Everyone was gone. Field = empty. Trial = over. Hopes = crushed.
---
And the only question that remained…
> Who the heck survived till 23 seconds?
Yun Wao?
Han Yu?
That guy who still hasn't been given a name?
The Nascent Soul elder slowly descended, eyes narrowing.
Fade to black.
---
[End of Chapter 11]
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