As the booming voice finished its words, it instantly vanished from Shun Long's mind, like a wisp of smoke being dispersed in the wind.
At the same time, shock had filled Shun Long's eyes when he heard the rules of the third test, while his mind instantly ruminated over the hidden meaning behind them.
''There are actually 1000 cities in this place, and according to that voice, all of them have been filled with death row criminals that the Holy sect has gathered for this test.
At the same time, according to that voice's tone, it is going to be almost impossible to gather even a single token without creating a massacre, and this is probably what the Holy sect wants as well. To nurture cultivators who are not afraid of killing and punishing evil-doers.
Hmm, this test also seems to have even more meanings as well!
On one hand, the Holy sect seems to be wary, that many of the disciples who are participating in this test may be talented but not prepared to kill. This can make sense since many of those disciples may have had very powerful backgrounds back in their own continents, but they may haven't stepped foot outside their homes due to this as well.
Thus the Holy sect is looking to either forcefully temper everyone this time, or weed out those who are not strong enough to do what the sect wants them to.
Although this test looks similar to the first test, but in reality, it's completely different!
Despite that voice saying that the main aim of this test is to obtain a token from a single city and just hold it for the remaining 25 days, there are many underlying meanings behind that.
What does it mean to hold the token?
It obviously means that anyone who manages to obtain a token, will then have to protect himself from those who are trying to steal it!
Otherwise, the Holy sect could simply allow the first person who grabs a token, to instantly pass this test!
After all, since there are only 1000 cities, and each city has a single token, there are at most 1000 disciples who will be allowed to pass this test!
There is no way that people won't try to steal the tokens that others have in their possession!
At the same time, it's going to be extremely difficult for a single person to exterminate everyone inside a city.
I suspect that the Holy sect has already foreseen how strong the disciples who are taking part of the test really are, and the strength of the strongest people inside the city won't be much weaker.
Besides, there is no way that those criminals don't know what's going on!
Although they may not be willing to willingly hold a token and wait for the disciples to come and kill them, it's very likely that the Holy sect itself will kill them if they leave the city.
And even if they willingly give up the token to the first person who comes into the city, what about the remaining people who will follow?
Hence, their best course of action is to band together and resist the disciples who will want to kill them.
Hmm, it's also possible that the Holy sect has promised to let them go if they managed to survive for a certain period of time, giving them even more hope for them to struggle in order to stay alive.''
As Shun Long reached this conclusion, he rubbed his temples with his thumb and his middle finger in frustration, as he understood that there were even more hidden meanings than he had originally expected behind the sect's test.
It was just a single test and yet, there were so many things going on behind the scenes and Shun Long wasn't even certain if this was everything!
After a brief moment of deliberation, there was a deep look inside his eyes as he mumbled in a low voice
''At the same time, the Holy sect seems to be warning its disciples, that it won't tolerate evil cultivators. Those who commit heinous acts may very likely find themselves in these cities in the future...?''
After coming to this conclusion, Shun Long immediately soared in the sky, as he ascended the mountain in front of him, flying all the way towards the mountain's peak.
Barely 5 minutes later, he had already arrived at the mountain's peak, as his eyes took in the scenery around him from the high vantage point!
A forest that spanned for a few hundred miles seemed to have surrounded the mountain that he was standing on from all sides, while past this forest, Shun Long could see the vast plains that spanned as far as his eyes could see.
At the same time, a few hundred miles away from the east of this forest, Shun Long saw a city being erected in the midst of the boundless plains.
This was definitely one of the thousand cities in this world!
After hesitating for a moment, Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes, as he flew directly towards the east, heading straight towards the city in the distance!
...
At the same time, at the peak of a small mountain in a somewhat narrow cave, Liu Mei was sitting cross-legged on the ground while a look of pain had appeared in her eyes!
Originally, she had intended to comprehend the 'Death's Chant' for the full 5 days before she passed the second test, but how could she expect that as she was comprehending the Saint low-grade martial skill, she would unconsciously enter a state of enlightenment and she would feel her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage arrive out of nowhere?
Without any other solution, her only option was to pass the second test as quickly as possible, before she attempted to complete her breakthrough during the third test!
Thankfully, the third test lasted for a much longer period of time than the second, giving ample time to Liu Mei who wanted to find an isolated place and try to complete her breakthrough.
After all, unlike her previous breakthroughs, Liu Mei knew that this breakthrough was going to be extremely dangerous for her, and it was even possible for her to lose her life this time!
The reason behind this was her own cultivation technique, the 'Blood Absorption art'!