Chapter 471 - Hunting (Part 4)

Chapter 471: Chapter 224: Hunting (Part 4)When contact with one of the signal sources was disrupted, Lapik accelerated his pursuit. The joy from killing Barpu had also faded, as the mountain range around the fourth checkpoint was vast. He was very worried that his men might lose Lu Hong, which would result in him wasting a lot of time

In those three days, besides Lapik, many other powerful individuals and forces ventured into the mountains searching for Lu Hong, but alas, these people continuously disappeared, never to return.

What seemed like an ordinary mountain range now appeared to be a deep abyss that mercilessly devoured any life that entered.

Barpu, Lapik, and many other renowned figures in the Vale of Strength kept disappearing, eventually making the powerhouses of the Vale of Strength acknowledge Lu Hong’s strength. They became cautious about pursuing him and no longer ventured lightly.

Meanwhile, Lu Hong, leveraging the blood and energy of these greedy seekers of the Divine Child Command, continuously strengthened himself, and now, he possessed the combat power comparable to a Third Transition Peak warrior.

"Today, no one has entered the mountains; they... are all scared off by you!" The Space Mage transmitted the signal, "You are now safe in the mountains."

"Safe?" Lu Hong chuckled, a blood-red ghastly face emerging behind him, exuding an endless thirst for blood.

Since nobody wanted to enter the mountains, he decided to leave.

It took him two days, but Lu Hong walked out of the mountains and arrived at the city outside the fourth checkpoint.

This city, initially not very prosperous, suddenly became popular after foreign forces occupied the subsequent five checkpoints. Many trialists from the Vale of Strength brought their own forces and stationed them here, and the city expanded several times over three days to become a super-large city.

Of course, this city did not yet have a dependable master, hence no force could station and guard its gates, and passing through was entirely free.

Lu Hong did not enter the city but headed towards the nearby fourth checkpoint. With his bloodthirst power still potent, he hoped to use it to try and break into the fifth checkpoint and kill the foreign invaders.

Having agreed to join the Vale of Strength at the request of the Hall Master, Lu Hong was now technically part of it. He disapproved of the foreign invasion, especially since these people had been commissioned by Sotu to assassinate him. Not sending them off to their deaths would really be unreasonable.

Surrounded by swirling blood energy and an awe-inspiring aura, Lu Hong caught the attention of passersby trialists.

When most of the powerful figures recognized Lu Hong, their expressions became complex. The two major forces at the seventh checkpoint had been utterly destroyed, deterring them from confronting Lu Hong directly.

Blood Eagle also received the news and rushed to the city outskirts, looking at Lu Hong with considerable wariness.

Like Lapik and Barpu, this fellow had been driven to the fourth checkpoint by foreign powers. He harbored ideas about Lu Hong, but having been defeated by a warrior of the Silver Radiance Path previously, his injuries had not fully healed, so he refrained from taking action. Following the news of Lapik and Barpu’s disappearance in the mountains, he dared not act rashly.

Life is the most precious, and once a person dies, everything else becomes irrelevant.

"Brother, it’s him! He’s the one who injured me outside the second checkpoint!" At that moment, Blood Eagle’s younger brother pointed at Lu Hong not far away and shouted, "Help me kill him!"

This bold statement caught Lu Hong’s attention, and he turned to look at the two men.

As Lu Hong glanced sideways, the blood-red ghost face behind him also focused intently on the Blood Eagle, sensing its master’s will and erupting with overwhelming murderous intent.

The Blood Eagle felt a chill down his spine, knowing that any slight misstep would lead to his being swiftly slain by his opponent.

What to do? What to do?

The Blood Eagle’s mind raced frantically, his anger rising uncontrollably as he glared at his younger brother before slapping him across the face.

The poor younger brother was knocked unconscious on the spot, his mouth spilling out countless blood-stained teeth.

After dealing with his younger brother, the Blood Eagle bowed with a fist to Lu Hong, "My foolish brother has been unruly, I beg you to show mercy and forgive his minor transgressions."

In response to the Blood Eagle’s gesture of goodwill, Lu Hong withdrew his gaze, "Boring."

He then ignored them and walked straight into the fourth trial.

The fourth trial of the Force God Path was not difficult.

Named Bearing Heaven.

Upon being transported, Lu Hong instantly arrived at a high platform, similar to the terraces of the once Ambra Kingdom, with one hundred steps.

"Contestant Tu Kulu, please ascend the steps to undertake the challenge, passing ten steps will be considered clearing the trial, standing still for three minutes on the steps will be regarded as voluntarily quitting."

The trial announcement clearly articulated the rules, passing merely ten out of a hundred steps would suffice. In the Ancient Era, those prodigies who reached the top in one go clearly showed the disparity among their peers.

This trial by the Force God Hall aimed to train endurance against pressure, without isolating magic power, also hoping that the trialists would use their full strength to continuously break through, integrating their magic power, physical strength, and various resources, and refine them into gold.

Although the intention of the Temple was good, no specific explanation was given, leading to very few truly understanding the depth of this trial.

As Lu Hong stepped onto the first stair, with his blood energy fully unleashed, he felt no pressure at all.

"How weak the pressure is."

After lamenting, Lu Hong took strides three steps at a time, quickly reaching the twenty-second step.

Only then did he start to feel a slight weight on his shoulders.

"Still too weak!"

Lu Hong continued forward, passing the fiftieth step in a moment.

Now, facing a pressure more than ten times his own strength, Lu Hong still encountered no trouble.

Moving on, standing on the ninetieth step, the descending pressure was now equivalent to the full force of a Third Transition Peak practitioner.

"I can still go further."

Lu Hong took another step, and the pressure instantly doubled.

Taking another step forward, the pressure quadrupled on his shoulders, and in a rush, Lu Hong dropped to one knee but then slowly stood up again resisting the pressure.

Another step forward, and an eightfold pressure swept over him, nearly blasting Lu Hong off the platform.

With every step, the pressure doubled; by this logic, one hundred steps would equal the simultaneous pressure of five hundred twelve peak practitioners exerting force on Lu Hong.

Could he really withstand it? Lu Hong wasn’t sure but, regardless, continued forward, challenging his limits!

Taking another step, a sixteenfold pressure crashed down like a tsunami, causing Lu Hong to spit out blood and roll down, falling to the forty-eighth step.

"Cough cough!" The pain seared through Lu Hong’s innards as he coughed up blood profusely, and the blood-colored ghost face, which was almost dispersed at the ninety-fourth step, re-solidified.

"Is this my endpoint?" Looking at the ninety-fourth step, Lu Hong felt unwilling to give in and climbed the stairway to heaven again, returning to before the ninety-third step.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Hong mobilized all his strength, gritted his teeth, and stepped onto the ninety-fourth step again.

With preparation from his first attempt, this time Lu Hong was not flipped down but instead hit his knees on the ground, propping himself up with his hands, unable to even lift his head.

Continuously adjusting his breathing, Lu Hong struggled desperately, yet he could only maintain this posture, unable to move.

And just like that, unknowingly, three minutes had passed.

"Congratulations, trialist, challenge completed!"

As the announcement echoed again, Lu Hong was transported to the exit of the fourth trial, the pressure on his body suddenly lifting.

And before the fourth trial, on the magic public screen, Tu Kulu’s name leaped high, displacing Augustus to become the first on the leaderboard.

"Ninety-four steps?!"

"Is he even human?!"

Looking at the huge public screen before him, the Blood Eagle was very relieved about his decision earlier. The fourth trial was different from the third; after all, in the third trial, the level of the sandy rabbits changed with the challenger’s level and was not uniform, but the fourth trial was different; each step had a fixed level of pressure that did not vary with the challenger’s level.

If it were the old site of the Force God Path, the passing rate would be very low, but in the newly established sector at Canglan Path, it was extremely simple because during the relocation of the divine path, a slight error occurred causing the pressure of the front stairs to weaken, nearly to half its original level, but the pressure after the ninetieth step remained unaffected.

The number ninety-four had surpassed all trialists of the Force God Path, rightfully earning the title of the first of the divine path!