Over the span of a few days, John and Jolyne managed to cause the deaths of more than twenty Shadow Clan warriors.
All of them had been goaded by Jolyne’s relentless verbal attacks, driven to fury and
humiliation, causing them to lash out in anger-only to be instantly erased by the rules of the Secret Area.
The two worked together so seamlessly that even John began chiming in with his own insults. Before they knew it, seven days had passed.
Although John’s main body was primarily focused on hunting down Shadow Clan warriors, he had still managed to kill quite a few elemental creatures, plundering their elemental affinities.
After merging with his three other clones, his understanding of the four basic elemental laws reached 100%.
His strength received a noticeable boost.
This was particularly evident in his gods’ clone and his human clone from Skyline Continent— both of which benefited from the elemental laws’ foundational boost.
“Let’s head back,” John called out, tearing open space and returning to the entrance of the Secret Area with Jolyne.
By the time they arrived, many powerful beings had already gathered.
Cand-Dragon and the others had also arrived and quickly approached John.
“How did it go?” John asked, looking over his group.
Tony spoke up, “No worries, we’ve all comprehended the laws of the four basic elements.”
John nodded approvingly. His attention was then drawn to a few others who were desperately pleading with stronger beings from other races, hoping to exchange for elemental Spirit Stones.
It was obvious that these unfortunate individuals hadn’t managed to gather enough Spirit Stones to comprehend all four elemental laws.
“Lord Blood Moon, it was Godslayer and this woman who caused the deaths of so many of our people!” A furious Shadow Clan warrior, trembling with rage, pointed at John and Jolyne.
However, bound by the rules of the Secret Area, he couldn’t make a move.
“Hm?” Blood Moon’s gaze landed on Jolyne, a hint of confusion crossing his face. He vaguely remembered her as someone associated with the Sea King.
Not wanting to provoke the Sea King, Blood Moon addressed her, “Young lady, I believe there’s no conflict between us, is there?”
Jolyne had returned to her usual cold and distant demeanor and completely ignored him.
Blood Moon frowned in irritation but turned his attention to John, his tone icy, “Human, you’d better hope you don’t end up in my hands.”
“Trash,” John spat, hurling the insult.
Jolyne had taught him.
“You dare seek death!” Blood Moon’s fury ignited. The shameful history of the Shadow Clan -full of disgrace and filth-was something he loathed being reminded of.
And now, a mere human dared to insult him.
“Master, don’t get angry, remember the rules of the Secret Area,” one of his subordinates quickly reminded him.
Blood Moon took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress his rage. He shot John a murderous glare and growled, “I’ll make you regret ever being born into this world.”
“Yeah, whatever,” John retorted with a scoff. “You’re nothing but a motherless bastard.”
“Damn you! I’ll tear you apart!” Blood Moon snapped, unable to hold back any longer. He let out a furious roar, about to strike.
His companions, horrified, immediately tackled him to the ground, shouting desperately, “Master, calm down!”
Blood Moon was the strongest among them, and if something happened to him, they might not be able to secure the final treasure.
“Pfft…” Jolyne couldn’t help but let out a laugh from the side.
She caught John’s glance, her expression turning a bit awkward as she quickly suppressed her amusement. Curiously, she asked, “Was I ever as bad as you are?”
John sighed and replied, “You were worse.”
Jolyne’s eyes narrowed into happy crescents, clearly pleased by the banter.
John couldn’t help but wonder what her face looked like beneath the cloak.
Blood Moon finally managed to calm himself down, sitting cross-legged with his eyes shut, clearly trying to ignore everything around him.
However, the slight rise and fall of his chest revealed the intense anger still boiling within him.
Jolyne glanced at him and casually taunted, “So spineless. Was that something your daddy taught you, or your granddaddy?”
“Ugh…” Blood Moon immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood, glaring at Jolyne with venomous fury.
“How dare you cross me? Do you want me to expose what I know about the Sea King?” he threatened.
He unable to strike but resorting to using the Sea King’s secrets as leverage.
Jolyne’s eyes lit up. She was bound by a soul contract with the Sea King, which prevented her from telling John anything directly about him, but perhaps she could use Blood Moon to her
advantage.
With a mischievous smile, she said lightly, “Go ahead, I’d love to hear it.”
“You!” Blood Moon was on the verge of revealing the secret but quickly stopped himself. He remembered the Sea King’s ruthlessness and the might of the Sea Clan. In the end, he calmed
down, albeit barely.
Jolyne was about to continue provoking him when the announcement of the Secret Area suddenly echoed through the air.
[The first trial has concluded. Any adventurer who has not comprehended the four basic elemental laws will be eliminated!]
Boom! Boom!
Thunderous sounds rang out as clouds of blood mist erupted. Over a dozen warriors were instantly wiped out, completely erased from existence.
Among the dead were even three powerful members of the Blood Clan.
Blood Moon seethed with hatred as he glared at John and Jolyne. It was because of their interference that many from his group hadn’t gathered enough elemental Spirit Stones.
His hatred for the two of them ran deep.
Whether Jolyne was connected to the Sea King or not, by the time they reached the final trial, Blood Moon was determined to kill her.
No, he wanted to make her life a living hell first!
At that moment, the announcement from the Secret Area echoed again.
[The second trial of the Secret Area has begun: Strength Challenge. Enter the trial space, kill puppets, and earn points. You may form teams.]
[Rule 1: Killing a demigod puppet earns 1 point, killing a lower-tier god puppet earns 2 points, killing a mid-tier god puppet earns 5 points, and killing an upper-tier god puppet earns 10
points.]
[Rule 2: Each trial space will spawn 10,000 puppets. Teaming up increases the difficulty according to the number of people in the team. Each person can only enter a trial space once.
Death ends the trial.]
[Rule 3: The trial lasts for seven days. Anyone with less than 10,000 points by the end will be eliminated. The top ten scorers will receive additional rewards.]
Before everyone, four pathways appeared, each leading to trial spaces corresponding to the demigod, lower-tier god, mid-tier god, and upper-tier god difficulty levels.
Upon entering, participants would find themselves in individual spaces, and only those who formed teams could enter the same space together.
Eager to prove themselves, most of the powerful beings from various races rushed to enter the trial spaces, with the majority choosing the lower-tier or mid-tier god difficulty levels.
Failure in this challenge wouldn’t result in immediate death, and as long as they earned 10,000 points, they would be safe.
Most people weren’t aiming to top the leaderboard; they just wanted to survive.
“Let’s go!” Blood Moon shot a cold glance at John and Jolyne before assembling a team of ten
and entering the upper-tier gods trial space.
Other Shadow Clan warriors formed similar ten-person teams, with most opting for the mid-
tier or lower-tier gods difficulty levels.
“Master, who should I team up with?” Tony asked quickly.
As a demigod, he would struggle against even demigod-level puppets, and with the need to
kill 10,000 of them in seven days to score enough points.
He knew he couldn’t manage it on his own.
“I’ll team up with Tony,” Cand-Dragon said. Since Tony had come under his protection, he
felt responsible for ensuring his safety.
“I have a suggestion,” Jolyne suddenly spoke up. “Why don’t the five of us team up? I have a Universal Order that can reset the trial and let us select a lower-difficulty challenge. This way, we can help Godslayer make a run for the leaderboard.”
John was taken aback and asked curiously, “The Universal Order can reset challenges in the
Secret Area too?”
Jolyne nodded and explained, “It can only reset the trial space to respawn weaker puppets.”
John was excited. He had collected several Universal Orders during this time but had never
found the right opportunity to use them in the Secret Area.
He hadn’t expected them to come in handy now.
“Not a bad idea,” Nine-Tails chimed in with agreement. “The five of us, except Tony, all have
upper-tier god-level strength. If we choose a mid-tier gods trial space, it’ll be no problem
for us.”
The others didn’t object to the plan.
“No,” John said firmly, “if we’re going to choose, we’re going with the strongest-the
upper-tier gods trial space.”
“Master, with just the five of us, we’ll be facing 50,000 upper-tier god-level trial puppets at once. Are you sure?” Nine-Tails asked, visibly concerned.
“It’s not just five of us,” John replied. He glanced around and, seeing that most of the
powerful beings from various races had already entered their trial spaces, summoned his
three clones.
The clones looked identical to John, but each had a slightly different aura.
The group was startled, as this was the first time they had seen John’s clones-except for Cand-Dragon, who was familiar with them.
“Let’s go!” John said, pulling everyone into his team. Without waiting for a response, he led
them straight into the upper-tier gods trial space.
Buzz!
The air shimmered with spatial power as they arrived in a vast, open realm.
“Master, you’re too reckless! We can’t hold off 80,000 upper-tier god-level enemies at the
same time,” Nine-Tails said, shaking her head with exasperation.
She had initially hoped to help John secure a place on the leaderboard.
But now, just surviving and earning 10,000 points seemed like a daunting task.
“Not necessarily,” John said with a confident smile.
At that moment, powerful forces began to gather around them as the trial puppets appeared
-every one of them an upper-tier god, and there were over 80,000 of them.
“We’re doomed!” Jolyne’s face showed her concern as she said, “Godslayer, my attacks focus
on the soul. They won’t work on these puppets.”
John was a bit surprised—this was the first time he had encountered someone whose main
strength was in soul attacks.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” John stepped forward, his body vibrating with a powerful sword
aura as the Immortal Sword flew out from within him.
Buzz!
In the sky, countless sword lights flashed, enveloping the army of upper-tier god puppets and descending like a roaring storm.
His ultimate move, Return of Ten Thousand Swords, was unleashed.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of fierce collisions echoed through the air as sparks flew, and several puppets were
instantly torn apart by the sword light.
John was slightly taken aback-his attacks didn’t trigger any damage numbers.
These puppets didn’t have traditional health; only by shattering them could they be killed.
This meant that his percentage-based damage skills were useless here. Nevertheless, John remained confident that he could slaughter these puppets.
With his first wave of attacks, he destroyed more than seventy puppets, while the rest were
severely damaged, greatly reducing their combat abilities.
Whoosh!
With a single thought, John merged his three clones back into his main body, significantly
boosting his attributes.
His sword aura intensified, and he unleashed another skill, Infinite Sword Array.
Swords filled the sky, their sharp clashes ringing out as hundreds more puppets were
shattered.
At this point, the puppet army had reached them.
“These things are a real pain!” John muttered, frowning as he unleashed a terrifying surge of
power from his body.
“Heaven and Earth Transformation!” he roared, his body swelling as he transformed into a
towering giant.
The energy radiating from him stirred up a fierce wind, sending Cand-Dragon and the others flying backward.