By the time the battle was over, the scene inside the sphere was tragic. Including the injured cultivators in the Spirit-Storing Pouch, Gong Chenying's team had only fifteen people left, and every single one was injured.
In this battle, Gong Chenying was heavily wounded. Of the few people Li Yan knew, Yu Yiyong had died in battle, Hu Ziyi had died in battle, Qi Busheng and Mi Yuanzhi had died in battle. Wu Shixi was heavily injured, and Ding Yiwei was heavily injured. Mei Bucai and Cheng Jingnian were lightly injured. Of the fifteen people, only six retained their combat strength. By the time they emerged from the yellow sphere and arrived at the fifth trial, all of them were in a weakened state.
After a brief recovery, Gong Chenying's jade-like face was pale and bloodless. She looked at the crowd, her hand barely rising to put away the most severely injured. She left Mei Bucai and the other six outside. As it happened, the Spirit-Storing Pouch was now filled to capacity with the heavily injured, but that did not include Gong Chenying herself. Of those outside, apart from herself, all were only lightly injured.
Gong Chenying looked at Mei Bucai, Cheng Jingnian, and the other six who were still meditating and recovering, and she couldn't help but sigh internally. In this final trial, with her in such a state, it would be difficult to hold on until the end. Looking at the environment of the final trial ahead, she frowned, her thoughts in turmoil.
'How can I lead them through this final trial? Even if I can barely fight my way to the ten-li mark, inside that sphere, I can only hope the enemy has suffered as heavy losses as we have. Otherwise...' Gong Chenying held her abdomen as she looked ahead, her body still standing as tall as a mountain, but the waves of twisting pain from her gut made her frown from time to time. She had been severely injured in the last trial. Although she had applied the sect's spirit medicine "Ghost-Soothing Balm" externally and swallowed pills to recuperate, it was not something that could be recovered from in a short time. The Celestial Bull demonic beast's final spear thrust had nearly pierced through her abdomen, stopping only a few inches from her Dantian's Purple Mansion. If it had been just a few inches lower, Gong Chenying would be a cripple right now. At this moment, the best thing for her was to rest and recover for two or three months. Otherwise, if she circulated her spiritual power to fight, her wound would surely tear open, only adding injury upon injury, and her condition would only worsen.
'I wonder how Little Junior Brother is doing now. Has he found Senior Brother Baili and the others? If he returns, will he have a solution?' For some reason, as Gong Chenying stared blankly ahead, Li Yan's figure appeared before her eyes, and she felt a moment of trance.
'Sigh, it's better that Little Junior Brother isn't here. Otherwise, in the last trial, he might have ended up like Ziyi and the others. Then I would have no way to explain it to Eldest Senior Brother.' At this thought, Gong Chenying's expression dimmed. So many martial nephews had died in battle in the last trial. Although she knew demonic beasts were formidable in combat, and that a single beast could often fight two or three cultivators of the same rank without being at a disadvantage, with the Malevolent Spirit Sect's methods, they usually wouldn't be at a disadvantage. But she had never expected to encounter the dream team of the Celestial Bull clan and the Saintly Light Moth clan. Not only were they incredibly fast, but what was more terrifying was that most poisons were useless against these two types of demonic beasts. The Saintly Light Moth clan even had a natural healing talent. The battle had been a stalemate for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and her side had suffered extremely heavy losses.
'My Malevolent Spirit Sect is skilled in using poisons and insects, in assassination and sneak attacks. Unexpectedly, our weaknesses are also obvious. Even the three sects like the Ten-Pace Courtyard would have a headache facing them and would rarely be willing to engage when our strengths are roughly equal. But when the opponent has a poison-avoiding body or method, our combat strength drops by more than a notch. Truly, nothing in this world is invincible. Only absolute strength can overwhelm everything. This trial, I can only give it my all.' Just as Gong Chenying was thinking, the scene before her suddenly changed. The originally normal space was suddenly pulled by a great force. All the structures, including the sky and the earth, were instantly stretched and twisted, pulled forcefully toward one place.
Gong Chenying and the six who were meditating didn't even have time to react before their bodies were pulled from the ground, flying higher and farther. In the sky, only the distant, startled cries of Mei Bucai and the others remained.
After a wave of dizziness, Gong Chenying and her group appeared in a mountain hollow amidst a range of lofty peaks. This left everyone stunned, not knowing what had happened. Just as they were cautiously on guard, not understanding the situation, an ancient voice echoed through the heavens.
"Here, there will no longer be any restrictions on team battles. Reaching the central sphere will be considered completing the mission of the Wheel of Life and Death." The voice, like rolling spring thunder, boomed across the sky, exploding in everyone's ears, before slowly fading away. It startled the birds in the forest into a panicked flight and sent rocks tumbling down.
At the same time, under this sky, a savage-faced Wang Lang stood on a high peak with three others. From his initial confusion to the disappearance of the ancient voice, Wang Lang's face twisted as he muttered to himself, "Could this be the consequence of us using the rhomboid crystals? Now even the final trial has changed." At this moment, Wang Lang was in a semi-frenzied state.
Seven hundred li from Wang Lang, in a dense forest, a weary-faced Qiu Jiuzhen led eleven others, also listening to the ancient voice rolling through the sky. Although she was very tired, she looked up at the patches of blue sky visible through the dense, tall canopy, lost in thought. Behind her, eleven people looked at their slender, fairy-like team leader with respect.
'I wonder how Jiuxing is now. Why does this last trial seem to have changed so suddenly? I was teleported here without even fighting Baili Yuan from the Malevolent Spirit Sect. But from that ancient voice just now, "no longer restricting team battles, the first to reach the central sphere," that means I need to hurry to the center. The fighting will happen along the way. It's just that the fighting will no longer be one team against one team, but possibly one against many. Could it be that the Wheel of Life and Death has changed its rules on its own because of our three sects' actions? Then will I be able to meet Jiuxing? Then we can go to the center together.' A smile appeared on Qiu Jiuzhen's snow-white, pretty face.
"Baili, what in the world is going on? How did we suddenly come here?" Likewise, a thousand li from Gong Chenying, on a boundless grassland, Gan Shi looked at his surroundings and then at Baili Yuan beside him, asking the question.
"How would I know? Weren't you swept here together with me?" Baili Yuan was just withdrawing his gaze from the people behind him. He had scanned them and saw that no one was missing, which set his mind at ease.
Then Baili Yuan also looked around. At that moment, the ancient voice rolled in like thunder, lingering for a long time. Even after the voice disappeared, everyone still looked confused.
"Junior Brother Gan, it seems the rules here have changed. I have never seen such a trial in the texts," Baili Yuan said after a moment of thought, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
"Baili, I've never heard of it either. In that case, we'll just fight our way directly to the center. I'd love to meet the people from the Ten-Pace Courtyard, the Pure Land Sect, and the Supreme Mystery Teachings," Gan Shi said, a murderous intent shooting from his eyes.
"I wonder where Junior Sister Gong is? And has Junior Brother Li also entered this place?" Baili Yuan, however, looked toward the boundless grassland in the distance, his eyes filled with worry. A moment later, he and Gan Shi, in unison, spread their Divine Sense out in all directions.
Beside a small stream, a team of demonic beasts was advancing rapidly. The leader was a second-tier, late-stage, peak Thunder Lion. He was shouting, "Children, the reward for first place might be a pill that could allow all of you to directly advance to the second tier! We'll strike straight for the center!" Hearing this, the dozen or so demonic beasts behind him roared in unison, their bodies erupting with a fierce aura as they shouted, "Kill!"
Similar events were happening all over this world. The few remaining teams were all charging straight for the center.
Gong Chenying was currently leading her six people out of the mountain hollow. She had not acted rashly just now but had carefully observed her surroundings for a long time. Her Divine Sense swept out, but apart from some wild beasts in the grass and woods, she found nothing else. She slowly walked to one side, with the six behind her maintaining a certain distance. But this was clearly not the situation within the previous passage. No attacks appeared from the surroundings, and at the same time, their range of movement was not restricted.
After walking for a distance, although Gong Chenying was still on full alert, she had already confirmed in her heart that people could move freely in this space, and there should be no more restrictive attacks around. So, after a moment's hesitation, she forced herself to gather her spiritual power and flew into the sky. During her ascent, Gong Chenying's powerful Divine Sense expanded again, wary of any strange movements. But nothing happened during this process. When she had flown to about a hundred zhang, she had already discovered that about five hundred li in one direction from them, there was a shining metal sphere on the top of a sky-piercing mountain. After looking around, she confirmed that that area should be the center of this region.
'It seems this is the final place to clear the trial. Reaching there means passing the trial of the Wheel of Life and Death,' Gong Chenying thought to herself. But just as she was observing, a powerful Divine Sense suddenly swept toward her from all directions. She was startled.
'What a powerful Divine Sense, at least at the Pseudo-Core Realm. I don't know if it's Senior Brother Baili and the others, but I can't be reckless. Otherwise, if I'm discovered by others, with my current condition, I truly have no strength left to fight.'
But things were not as simple as she thought. Just as she withdrew her Divine Sense and was quietly descending, a heart-pounding sensation rose from behind her. She couldn't help but whip her head around to look. She saw that on the side of the mountain hollow directly opposite the central metal sphere, in the forest and on the grass, wisps of black gas were slowly rising, and they were showing a tendency to gather and thicken.
"Not good! Why are those shadows from the sky still here?!"
Gong Chenying felt a chill run through her body. The heart that had just relaxed was now in her throat again. In her previous scan, she had originally discovered that there were no more restrictive attacks here. After confirming the direction of the center, she knew that her team just had to advance toward the central sphere as quickly as possible. She had also planned to hide her aura as much as possible along the way and not get into any more fights, just to ensure that these dozen or so people could enter the central sphere. But who would have thought that there were already unknown powerful enemies nearby, and especially that the life-chasing dark shadow had appeared here again. This was undoubtedly not giving any team much time, but forcing them to advance rapidly. In that case, how would there be time to hide their tracks? The probability of their tracks being exposed would undoubtedly increase greatly, which would only lead to one slaughter after another.
But Gong Chenying could not control this outcome. She had no time to think now. As she rapidly descended, her cool voice fell into the ears of Mei Bucai and the others below.
"Advance rapidly toward the exit of the mountain hollow." Then she had already staggered to the ground. The movement aggravated her injury, and a layer of sweat beaded on her smooth forehead.
Mei Bucai and the others had been watching Gong Chenying in the air. Seeing her suddenly descend rapidly, and with a grim expression on her face as she stared at a certain side of the mountain hollow, they all turned to look there. A single glance made their hearts pound in terror. In the grass about two hundred meters from them, wisps of black gas were rising, like a soul-reaping hand from the Nine Serenities of the underworld, as if it were weaving a life-reaping net, approaching them with a savage, sinister smile.
How could the six of them dare to delay? With a flash, they all shot toward the exit of the mountain hollow. After landing, Gong Chenying took a deep breath and also hurried over, but her movements were somewhat sluggish as she floated.
Just as Gong Chenying and her group were flying toward the central metal sphere of this world, cries of alarm rose from all directions. Clearly, everyone had discovered that the haunting, massive dark shadow behind them was slowly condensing, like a fisherman driving a tide, forming a large circle and constantly herding the prey toward the center. Those who were slow would be the first to fall into the net.