Cand-Dragon was startled when he heard Thunderstrike’s words.
He already knew the evil nature of Holy Spirit True Water. By pouring it into the water source, Thunderstrike was essentially poisoning all the strong warriors of Forest City, taking control of the entire city.
He glanced at John, furrowing his brows as he said, “But the snow mountain is part of Forest King’s World-in-Hand. Isn’t this a bit too risky?”
Thunderstrike, however, remained confident, a smile curling on his lips. “The two rivers contain Eight-Star magical beasts—Flood Dragons. You’ll fight in the water while pouring the Holy Spirit True Water. By the time Forest King realizes something is wrong, it will be too late. He won’t know who did it.”
Seeing that his companions were still hesitating, his expression hardened. “This first step is critical to my plan. I originally planned to handle it myself, but now it’s up to you. It must succeed!”
John sensed the threat in Thunderstrike’s words, but he knew now wasn’t the time to confront him.
“Don’t worry. Leave it to me,” he said calmly, directly storing all the wooden barrels into his spatial storage.
Thunderstrike’s expression softened, and he continued, “I won’t let anything happen to you. Once this plan succeeds, you will all be my greatest heroes.”
The others paid little attention to his words, and they left Dragon Ascending City, heading back to the accommodation assigned to them in Forest City.
Once they were sure no one else was around, Sini lowered her voice and asked, “John, are we really going to help this guy? If he controls the strong warriors of Forest City, even Forest King himself, he might actually succeed.”
She was reluctant to aid Thunderstrike in his scheming.
“A bit more chaos in Forest City will only benefit us,” John replied coldly. He had no particular affection for either Dragon Ascending City or Forest City—more chaos was to his advantage.
…
The next morning, all the participants of the King Selection gathered. A total of 130 individuals had come, with the weakest among them being peak Seven-Star Awakened Ones. Forest City, having seven spots, was more heavily represented than the other advanced cities, each of which sent three representatives.
John looked at the seven representatives from Forest City, and Ice Talker was among them. Except for her, all the others were at the peak of Eight-Star cultivation.
Especially the burly man leading them, who held a black long sword. His face was cold, and the aura he emanated was not at all weaker than a Nine-Star powerhouse.
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud rumble echoed through the air, accompanied by howling winds. The oppressive force spread across the area, and everyone fell silent.
All eyes turned to the tall figure that had just appeared, their expressions filled with reverence.
Forest King, the Great Bear!
John also looked toward the newcomer. The man resembled a giant black gorilla, his body covered in black fur. A gruesome scar ran across his cheek, and his terrifying aura was like a giant hammer, pressing down on everyone, making it hard to breathe.
So this is a Nine-Star powerhouse?
John couldn’t help but swallow nervously, shocked at the vast difference between him and the Great Bear. In direct combat, he had no chance of winning.
As the sun rose, the Great Bear’s shadow grew long, enveloping everyone.
His gaze was domineering as he looked down on the crowd, his voice vibrating with power. “The first stage of the King Selection—hunt magical beasts to gain points. Life and death are irrelevant. You have three days. The top fifty will move on to the next round. The event begins now!”
As his words echoed, the crowd surged into motion, immediately charging toward the towering mountains.
John and the others followed the crowd, heading into the forest.
Buzz!
Suddenly, the air trembled, and killing intent spread, with several attacks coming at them from all directions.
Someone had targeted them.
John frowned but remained unfazed. With a simple wave of his hand, an Earth Shield materialized, effortlessly blocking the attacks.
“Hmph, Dragon Ascending City is really overconfident, sending these weaklings to participate in the King Selection!” A cold snort echoed, and three figures appeared in the forest.
One was at the early stage of Eight-Star, and the other two were at the peak of Seven-Star.
The leader, a bald man wielding a dark iron staff, looked coldly at John and the others, a look of disdain on his face.
“John, they’re from Thunderstrike City!” Cand-Dragon’s eyes flickered with killing intent, and he whispered a warning.
He and Whitewave had been injured by these three when they first arrived in Forest City.
The King Selection had no restrictions, and these three seemed eager to eliminate John and his group before the competition even began.
“What happened to Whitewave?” The bald man glanced at the group, still sneering.
In his eyes, John and Sini posed no threat. Whitewave, who was considered Dragon Ascending City’s strongest fighter apart from Thunderstrike, hadn’t participated in this King Selection, which struck him as odd.
John frowned, not wanting to get involved in the rivalry between Thunderstrike City and Dragon Ascending City. He coldly said, “If you don’t want to die, get out of here!”
The three of them froze for a moment.
“Hmph! A weak human dares to speak so arrogantly in front of me? You’re asking for death!” The bald man shouted in fury and charged straight at John.
The two others followed closely behind, aiming their attacks at Sini and Cand-Dragon respectively.
John’s expression turned cold, and the United Sword appeared in his hand as he met the bald man’s charge.
Clang!
A loud, violent collision echoed through the forest. John felt a sharp pain in his palm and almost dropped his longsword, forced to retreat a few steps.
The bald man’s strength far exceeded his own.
“Heh, you’ve got some skill. No wonder you’re representing Dragon Ascending City in the King Selection,” the bald man said with an excited expression, his black iron staff howling through the air as he charged at John again.
John’s face turned serious. He couldn’t afford to be careless. The sword intent around him stirred, and a sword beam slashed downward.
“Heh, this level of strength dares to stand against me? Die!” The bald man sneered, swinging his staff in wide arcs, clashing with John’s sword.
The clash of energies caused the forest to tremble. For a moment, neither side could gain the upper hand.
Boom!
With a mighty strike, the bald man sent John flying backward.
His internal energy surged, and his complexion turned pale.
This guy was incredibly strong. If he wanted to kill him, he would have to use The Heaven laws. But doing so would reveal his identity as a The Heaven Enforcer.
He couldn’t use the powers of World-in-Hand either. If he used the Divine Skill Heaven and Earth Transformation, he could easily defeat this guy.
But the situation in Forest City was too complicated. He didn’t want to expose his trump cards in the first round.
Sini wasn’t faring much better. She couldn’t use The Heaven power either. Even with her Powers of the Underworld, she was no match for a peak Seven-Star powerhouse.
Only Cand-Dragon had transformed into his true form, holding his ground against the other peak Seven-Star, but he couldn’t defeat him either.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a light breeze blew, bringing a wave of coldness. Snowflakes filled the air, bringing with them a chilling killing intent.
John’s eyes lit up. This was Ice Talker’s ability.
Whoosh…
A snowflake sliced across the bald man’s face, leaving behind a bloodstain.
He was taken aback, alarmed, and looked around warily, shouting, “Who’s there?!”
The snowflakes froze in mid-air, then swirled toward him like a storm.
He didn’t dare be careless. Wielding his staff, he swung it with all his might to block the flurry of snow.
Buzz!
The cold air engulfed him, and in an instant, the bald man was encased in ice.
But the next second, he shattered the ice with a forceful strike, though the chilling cold still seeped through, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.
Ice Talker’s figure emerged from the dense forest, her eyes locked on the bald man. Coldly, she said, “Get lost!”
“Forest City’s powerhouses!” The bald man’s expression changed slightly.
He recognized Ice Talker, gritted his teeth, and muttered, “Retreat!”
The three of them hurriedly retreated. They weren’t afraid of Ice Talker, but they feared offending Forest City.
John didn’t stop them. He wasn’t ready to tear his relationship with them just yet.
“It’s been a long time!” Ice Talker spread her arms, joy clearly evident on her face as she ran toward John.
John opened his arms to reciprocate, but to his surprise, Ice Talker bypassed him and immediately lifted Sini into her arms.
“Sini, is it my turn to protect you now?” Ice Talker’s voice carried a hint of smugness.
“Hmph, I only hid my strength, it doesn’t mean I’m weak,” Sini retorted, clearly annoyed.
John looked at the two of them, awkwardly lowering his arms. He spoke up, “Alright, let’s focus on completing this assessment first.”
Ice Talker then turned her gaze toward him, a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her lips. “Godslayer, what are your plans after this?”
She had already gathered some information about Dragon Ascending City from Cand-Dragon, and knew about Thunderstrike’s scheme.
John wasn’t hiding anything from her, and he informed her about the plot to poison everyone in Forest City.
“Ugh! Thunderstrike is truly ruthless,” she hissed, taking a sharp breath.
If the people of Forest City fall for it, it might actually succeed.
But then, she seemed to have doubts. “Godslayer, isn’t Thunderstrike’s strength not that impressive? Even if he succeeds, how could he possibly suppress all the other Lords of the Advanced Cities?”
John froze, he hadn’t considered this question.
He replied, “That’s not our concern. My purpose here is just to rescue you and then head to the other king’s territories to find our people.”
Ice Talker nodded. She had no attachment to Forest City, and besides, when she was locked in The Heaven prison, she had been through quite a bit of torment.
“Let’s go. We’ll help Thunderstrike first and stir up chaos here.” John said, looking around to get his bearings. He was searching for the two rivers formed by the melting snow of the snow mountain.
The forest was dense, and there were many magical beasts around, most of which were powerful beings of six stars or above.
Along the way, they had already slain quite a few six-star and seven-star magical beasts.
As for eight-star magical beasts, they weren’t keen on provoking them just yet.
“Sini, take these magic cores,” Ice Talker said, having just slain a seven-star magical beast. She pulled out the magic core and handed it to Sini.
The second round of the assessment was about obtaining the Heart of the Continent and becoming its master.
She was already The Overseer and couldn’t participate in the second round of the assessment.
“Huh, Godslayer, why can’t I sense your Overseer powers anymore?” Ice Talker suddenly noticed the change in John’s aura, her voice tinged with surprise.
“It’s fine, I’ve hidden it. Thunderstrike has a plan for the second round, and he’ll need me to participate,” John explained briefly.
However, he didn’t elaborate on Thunderstrike’s specific plan, only mentioning that it involved destroying Forest King’s World-in-Hand, which was Forest City.
Ice Talker nodded and then asked, “Do you need any magic cores?”
Sini immediately looked displeased and said, “Ice Talker, you said you’d give them to me!”
“I also need magic cores…” Cand-Dragon muttered softly from the side.
“Don’t worry, we’ll all make it into the top fifty,” John said confidently, a smirk on his face. If necessary, he’d reveal a bit more of his strength.
Splash…
Suddenly, they heard the sound of flowing water ahead, and a wide river came into view.
This was one of the two rivers that flowed through Forest City, and there were traces of a battle along the shore. Someone had been hunting flood dragons in the river.
Flood dragons were eight-star magical beasts, and their strength was not to be underestimated.