Chapter 1969 - Ivory Spirit Pill

The Matriarch Cradle Peak resembled two lovers clasped in an embrace.

The name Liu Wuxie had already disturbed Shui Yao's composure. When the immortal crane returned with her report, disbelief filled her eyes. As an Immortal Emperor, she had witnessed enough wonders to grow accustomed to the extraordinary. Even so, the sheer number of Liu Wuxie's immortal roots left her deeply shaken.

......

The platform remained in an uproar. Above it, the ten elders shared the spectators' astonishment. Not one had ever encountered fifty immortal roots in a single person.

Farther off, naked greed filled the eyes of watching Immortal Kings. They longed to kill Liu Wuxie on the spot and extract his immortal roots. Their sheer number was not the only remarkable aspect. Their purity and brilliant radiance were equally extraordinary.

The third trial concluded with another uncontested victory for Liu Wuxie.

More than five thousand one hundred applicants had passed, but only three thousand could enter the Azure Jade Palace. A final trial would decide who earned those spots.

"There is also a reward in the final trial. Everyone who has passed will enter the Mystic Spirit Sanctum, where we've hidden an Ivory Spirit Pill. Any Divine Immortal who consumes it is guaranteed to advance one level. Whether you obtain it depends on your fortune. The first three thousand to leave the Mystic Spirit Sanctum will become Azure Jade Palace disciples," Elder Kong announced.

Admission was not the fourth trial's only prize. The Ivory Spirit Pill was so precious that even a Golden Immortal would have a seventy percent chance of advancing by an entire level.

Divine Immortals rubbed their hands in anticipation. Those at the pinnacle of the Divine Immortal Realm were especially eager. With the Ivory Spirit Pill, they could break through to the Golden Immortal Realm.

Determination kindled in Liu Wuxie's eyes. He meant to take that pill. There was only one, and only one participant would claim it. Everyone else could hope for admission to the Azure Jade Palace, but nothing more.

"Your results in the first three trials determine your order of entry. The highest-ranked participants will enter the Mystic Spirit Sanctum first," Elder Kong explained.

Although the earlier trials had appeared separate from the fourth, they were closely connected. Those who entered earlier had a greater chance of locating the Ivory Spirit Pill.

Those whose previous results had been poor began to regret them. Going in later would make it harder still to distinguish themselves.

The Azure Jade Palace had built merit into the assessment. If its strongest performers entered the Mystic Spirit Sanctum alongside everyone else, their achievements would not grant them any advantage.

Having finished his explanation, Elder Kong formed a succession of seals. A light screen appeared at the platform's center, opening the way into the Mystic Spirit Sanctum.

"You may enter," he instructed, gesturing to Liu Wuxie. His first-place results in all three trials left no room for objection.

Liu Wuxie flashed into the light screen and disappeared. Long Yuanxiong followed.

Those who tried to force their way in before their turn struck the barrier and reeled back, coughing blood. They could enter only when Elder Kong called their names in the order recorded on the crystal sheet.

The moment Liu Wuxie crossed the light screen, he felt himself plummeting. It was a teleportation array that transported him directly into the Mystic Spirit Sanctum.

A pleasing fragrance welcomed him on arrival. This treasured land appeared far larger than he had anticipated. The instant he landed, he spread his divine sense, only to discover that even his first impression fell short of its true size. Locating the Ivory Spirit Pill would not be easy.

He needed to secure the Ivory Spirit Pill and leave quickly, or risk elimination despite obtaining it. Liu Wuxie immediately activated his footwork technique and sped deeper into the Mystic Spirit Sanctum. Passages split into a bewildering maze, with nothing to indicate which led out.

"Ghost Pupil! Divine Tribulation Pupil!" Liu Wuxie activated both divine pupils without hesitation. The Ghost Pupil pierced the stone walls, while the Divine Tribulation Pupil carried his mental energy outward like flowing mercury, encompassing everything within a kilometer.

The Celestial Weave Domain's rigid laws limited the Ghost Pupil to roughly the same distance.

Long Yuanxiong arrived soon after Liu Wuxie vanished. He likewise sped into the sanctum's depths.

The other applicants entered in succession. By the time the last stepped through, Liu Wuxie had already been inside for fifteen minutes. Brief as that might sound, it was a substantial head start among cultivators of comparable cultivation.

The light screen did not vanish after the final entrant. Instead, it slowly transformed, displaying the Mystic Spirit Sanctum's interior and the five thousand participants navigating it.

Spectators turned their attention toward Liu Wuxie. "Why is that brat turning back? What's he doing?" Everyone else was pressing deeper, but he had begun retracing his route toward the entrance.

The ten elders watched without explaining.

"So this is an artificially created lesser realm combining illusion arrays, spiritual arrays, and the Labyrinth Array. One wrong step could trap someone inside. I didn't expect that," Liu Wuxie murmured. Working together, Ghost Pupil and the Divine Tribulation Pupil had exposed the Mystic Spirit Sanctum's secret.

Ordinary reasoning urged a person onward. Liu Wuxie instead withdrew more than a hundred steps, then looked up and smiled.

"Could someone have leaked the Mystic Spirit Sanctum's secrets?" Xu Rui asked. The other nine elders shook their heads. The details of the assessment were strictly confidential, and even they had learned them only that morning. None could have leaked them.

Liu Wuxie leaped into a cave overhead and started climbing. Many routes led out of the Mystic Spirit Sanctum, but none was faster than this one.

"Those two million immortal stones at the Mystic Pavilion were well spent after all," Liu Wuxie murmured. The booklet from the Mystic Pavilion contained a complete map of the Mystic Spirit Sanctum, including the location of the Ivory Spirit Pill.

Reaching the pill ahead of everyone else would spare him unnecessary complications. Why the Mystic Pavilion had given him that booklet, however, remained unanswered. Revealing such information exposed the organization to enormous risk.

Liu Wuxie moved swiftly through the passages without encountering any genuine obstacle. To avoid arousing suspicion, he deliberately took several wrong turns and wandered into illusion arrays, spending over a dozen breaths to free himself.

"His talent for spiritual arrays is excellent as well," Elder Kong remarked with an approving nod. Whether or not Liu Wuxie obtained the Ivory White Pill, passing this trial wasn't difficult.

Elsewhere, Long Yuanxiong also advanced rapidly. His powerful divine sense as a Golden Immortal ranged over a vast area, steering him through another passage toward the exit.

The Ivory White Pill most likely lay waiting there. The first to arrive would take it.

Liu Wuxie kept weaving left and right through the maze, leaving the watching crowd unable to understand his route.

"Why keep wandering? There's a closer exit right there!" Many applicants had companions watching from outside, and their anxiety grew as the trial continued.

Liu Wuxie gradually reduced his speed. Every wrong passage he selected tightened Elder Kong's heart.

Time kept ticking. Dusk drew nearer, and the assessment approached its end.

"Unless something unexpected happens, Liu Wuxie should place in the top ten," Xu Rui observed.

His current pace made that outcome seem easily attainable. None of the elders realized he was deliberately restraining himself. Had he traveled at full speed from the start, he would already have left the Mystic Spirit Sanctum. He slowed only to keep his abilities from seeming too extraordinary.

His first-place entry had provided him a head start, and he had memorized every route mentioned in the booklet.

"An hour is the previous record. I wonder whether anyone will beat it today," Elder Kong murmured. He hoped Liu Wuxie would produce another miracle and break yet another Azure Jade Palace record.

An incense stick's worth of time later, Liu Wuxie had covered most of the route.

"That should do. Time to get out before someone else takes the Ivory Spirit Pill," he murmured, suddenly doubling his speed.

"He's accelerating!" spectators cried as Liu Wuxie passed through the spiritual arrays as though nothing stood in his way.

At the nearest exit, a light screen came into view. A porcelain bottle waited in front of it, surely holding the Ivory Spirit Pill.

"Come to me!" Liu Wuxie called, drawing the bottle into his palm with a wave of his hand. The moment he opened it, a refreshing fragrance filled the air.

"What a treasure this is!" he said with a smile, then quickly placed the bottle in his interspatial ring and crossed the light screen, vanishing from the Mystic Spirit Sanctum.

The light screen on the platform flashed. Liu Wuxie emerged, claiming first place once more, now in the fourth trial. The spectators could only stare and shake their heads with wry smiles.

He had escaped the Mystic Spirit Sanctum in less than an hour, breaking another Azure Jade Palace record. No one had foreseen a mere Profound Immortal taking first place and the highest honors in this year's assessment.

"Congratulations, Wuxie. You are now a disciple of the Azure Jade Palace. Your token will serve as proof of that status," Elder Kong said, approaching him.

"You have my thanks, Elder Kong," Liu Wuxie replied with a respectful bow. Without the elder's support, his passage through the assessment would have been far more troubled.

The registration token already contained an imprint of his soul energy. It would now permit him to enter and exit the Azure Jade Palace. He would keep it until he became an inner disciple and received a replacement.

"Fifty immortal roots make you an exceptional talent. With your agreement, I recommend a master to you. It would make life within the Azure Jade Palace easier," Elder Kong offered. He did not consider himself qualified to guide Liu Wuxie and hoped to recommend someone more suitable.

Liu Wuxie furrowed his brow. He was not opposed to having a master. The difficulty was that no one in the Celestial Realm was qualified to teach him.

In the Mortal Realm, Hua Feiyu had taken him as a disciple only to protect him, never directing his cultivation. In the strictest sense, neither Elder Madman nor the others could be considered his masters.

"Do not let him take a master. Have him start at the bottom," a voice instructed within Elder Kong's soul sea. The immortal crane had rejoined the crowd in human form.

Startled, Elder Kong instinctively looked toward the woman. She met his glance with a nod.

The exchange did not escape Liu Wuxie's notice. He turned toward her, his frown deepening. Ghost Pupil and the Divine Tribulation Pupil revealed her true identity at a single glance.

Why would she stop him from taking a master? He could not understand it. Had Shui Yao given the order?