Chapter 80: Third Assessment

Meng Chuan and the others watched calmly. After all, there were still a full two hundred seventy-five people in the group, and only twenty spots available. The truly brutal elimination had yet to begin.

"The texts record that to become a Godfiend, one must enter the 'Godfiend Blood Pool' and brave the trial of life and death," Meng Chuan mused inwardly. "Each new Godfiend consumes a great deal of the Blood Pool's power. Disciples of Archean Mountain are only permitted to undertake this trial if they have absolute certainty of success. Those who haven't entered Archean Mountain must accumulate a very high level of merit to earn a single opportunity at the Godfiend Blood Pool."

The Godfiend Blood Pool was exceptionally precious, controlled only by Archean Mountain, Black Sand Grotto-Heaven, and Two World Island.

These three paramount sects recruited very few disciples each year.

The woman in green turned and walked among the group of Godfiends, taking her seat. She quietly told King Donghe beside her, "Elder, it's your turn now."

"Understood." King Donghe nodded slightly before rising.

With his mere ascent, the entire world rumbled and trembled, and the sky grew even darker.

"Don't look."

Meng Chuan and all the other prodigies, along with their families and friends, dared not look at King Donghe anymore. It was like a mortal trying to stare directly at the sun! Even some newly advanced Godfiends among the relatives couldn't look directly at King Donghe in that moment, as he was no longer restraining his aura, but letting his natural power ripple forth. That inherent might... simply looking at it caused one's qi and blood to churn, and prolonged exposure could easily lead to instant death.

This was a Regressor Godfiend! A terrifying Godfiend truly standing at the peak of the mortal world, a being whose mere name made demon monarchs blanch.

King Donghe and King Anhai were also beings of the same caliber.

Though Meng Chuan and the others kept their heads bowed, not daring to look directly, they all heard King Donghe's voice.

"The third assessment begins now, and I will preside over it," King Donghe's voice was calm, yet carried an invisible pressure. "In life-and-death combat, every move involves survival. Even a fraction of a second's delay in reaction could cost you your life, so your reactions must be swift."

"This third assessment tests your reactions."

"Your reactions need to be extremely quick! The faster, the better," King Donghe stated.

Meng Chuan agreed, having heard his great-aunt speak of how Palace Lord Yuyang gave her opponents no opportunities when facing the siege of three demon monarchs. That was the way of a true powerful cultivator: denying opponents any chance and finding ways to slay them.

Like the Drawing Saber Form he cultivated...

The Drawing Saber Form emphasized speed, but also required the use of psychological tactics. It was about catching the opponent off guard when facing that strike! Making an opponent "unprepared" would slow their reaction time by just a fraction. That slight delay in reaction could be the difference between life and death. Archean Mountain found it difficult to cultivate a Godfiend, so their demands for a Godfiend's 'reaction' were extremely stringent.

"Hmm?"

Meng Chuan suddenly felt an irresistible force envelop him, lifting him directly into the air. He saw all the other prodigies around him also flying up, each looking somewhat stunned.

All two hundred seventy-five of them floated up, scattering uncontrollably to various spots across the palace courtyard, each roughly two zhang apart.

And a circle, one zhang in diameter, was drawn on the stone slab beneath each of their feet.

"Each of you must stay within your designated circle; you cannot step out even slightly," King Donghe continued. "Hailstones will descend from above, and you must avoid every single one! If you are hit by a hailstone, whether your body or your weapon... any hit counts as failure. Stepping out of the circle by even a trace also counts as failure. Failing to endure the first two rounds of hailstones also results in failure. The longer you last, the better."

Meng Chuan and the others all looked up.

They saw the gloomy sky, with snowflakes drifting down. Countless snowflakes suddenly converged in mid-air, forming dense masses of finger-sized hailstones, suspended about fifteen zhang above them. This height was comparable to the tallest buildings in Archean City.

All the prodigies nervously watched the countless hailstones obscuring the sky above.

They dared not look directly at King Donghe, but they could still focus on these hailstones.

"Begin." As King Donghe's voice fell, countless hailstones immediately shot downwards! Each hailstone was as fast as an arrow shot by an Unblemished Realm master.

Meng Chuan, however, was exceptionally adaptable.

For many years, he had endured half an hour of 'arrow rain' every day. As his strength increased, he had his guards shoot arrows from closer and closer distances. He constantly pushed himself with enough pressure! Thus, each time, Meng Chuan forced his movement techniques to be faster, his reactions quicker, and his saber defense more refined.

And now this assessment...

Movement technique was not important! Because within a circle of only one zhang, a slight step would suffice to dodge the hailstones, provided one reacted in time. The crucial factor was indeed reacting quickly enough! If one failed to react, they would be hit.

Saber technique was also not important! Because if a weapon was hit, it still counted as a failure.

The primary test was reaction!

One had to react.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh." Hailstones shot forth. In an instant, three hailstones entered Meng Chuan's circle, followed by two more, then another three...

Meng Chuan found it rather easy: "These hailstones aren't falling all at once; they're in batches, with only two or three at a time."

From his Marrow Cleansing Realm days, through daily arrow rain practice, Meng Chuan had no idea how far his 'reactions' had advanced. In short, he pursued his limits every single day! He sought the absolute boundaries of what he could endure.

At this moment, it was as if he were taking a leisurely stroll. With a simple step, two hailstones shot past from front and back, smashing into the ground and turning to powder.

Not only were his reactions extremely fast, but he also possessed a 'ten-zhang domain' born from his mind and soul. Within this ten-zhang domain, the trajectories of the shooting hailstones were incredibly clear, allowing him to genuinely handle them with ease.

Many people in the distant family and friends' area, however, watched with some tension.

They dared not look at King Donghe, only focusing on the group of prodigies and the countless hailstones in mid-air. Snowflakes continued to fall... growing heavier and heavier, and the drifting snow, to some extent, also affected vision.

"It's the third assessment."

"There are only three preliminary assessments in total, and rankings will be determined after them."

"You must endure," many people watched nervously, gazing upon the pride and hope of their respective families.

Meng Chuan was the hope of the Meng family, just as many other prodigies here were the hope of their own families.

King Donghe manipulated everything impassively. After a series of hailstones shot down, they suddenly stopped.

"Next is the second round," King Donghe stated calmly.

The hailstones in the sky paused for only a single breath before shooting down again.

"They're much faster," Meng Chuan noted. Leveraging the domain formed by his peak Saber Force, he could sense the hazy trajectories of the hailstones through the power of heaven and earth. Once they entered his ten-zhang range, his ten-zhang domain provided clear perception! He could clearly discern that the hailstones' speed had increased by twenty percent. Though only twenty percent... it drastically increased the difficulty of evasion.

All around Meng Chuan, he could sense people being hit repeatedly!

Some were too slow to react and were hit in the body, others were grazed on their clothing, or their weapons carried on their backs were struck!

"No..." One prodigy clutched his great hammer in despair; it had just been struck by a hailstone. Immediately, an invisible force enveloped him, lifting him into the air. Not just him, but other prodigies who couldn't withstand the second round were also lifted and flown directly into the distance.

"You cannot even withstand the most basic second round; your reactions are truly too slow," King Donghe's icy voice resonated in the ears of every prodigy. "If you were engaged in a life-and-death struggle with demon races of comparable strength, you would easily lose your lives."

When the second round concluded,

A total of thirty-six prodigies were "lifted" and flown away into the distance.

Archean Mountain had set this second round as the minimum threshold precisely because it could indeed filter out many prodigies.

This brought a sigh of relief to the remaining prodigies.

"At least we endured the second round and reached the minimum threshold," many prodigies, whose evasions had been perilous, felt fortunate, believing they still had hope.

"Whoosh."

After a brief pause, the countless hailstones suspended in the sky began their third deluge. Archean Mountain sought to select truly outstanding individuals, not merely those who met the minimum requirements.