Illusory demons continued attacking them as they traveled. They attacked in groups, and every time they struck, they managed to bite pieces off Cha Ming, Gong Shuren, and Huxian and his friends. It was only a small loss, but judging by the speed at which they were approaching the portal, it would take months to get there. Every piece of lost energy took time to recuperate, time they didn’t have.
After the seventh wave, Gong Shuren sank into a deep silence. It was only once the eighth wave finally reached them that she spoke up. Something’s wrong. They’re much stronger than they should be. You, your five friends, and I should have been able to blaze through this trial in less than a week. But here we are at the eighth wave, and we’re suffering wounds. Wounds! Even a late-marrow-refining noble and his champion should be able to survive easily at this point.
Cha Ming struck out with Crushing Chaos, destroying four demonic carps in the oncoming wave while Huxian and the others fought with tooth and claw. Gong Shuren erupted in a whirlwind of watery blades as they attacked her. She was their primary target, after all. Cha Ming rushed through the water and plunged his hand into a carp’s head, and it burst into violet mist. To his surprise, Huxian came floating by and absorbed the violet mist.
You can do that? Cha Ming asked.
I guess, Huxian said. This place is scary, but the demonic energy is thick. His actions, though unusual, bought them time. The demonic attacks became less frequent, as the violet mist didn’t return to the pool that surrounded them. But despite the less frequent attacks, their intensity increased. The carps grew larger and larger, and soon they became tiny flood dragons.
The mists come from a transcendent demon called the Dreamweaver Kraken, Gong Shuren said. The demons in the first trial are manifestations of his illusory powers.
More like manifestations of delicious demonic energy, Lei Jiang said as he finished swallowing another bundle of mist in his area. With enough of this mist, we might just break through to peak core formation.
Like Huxian, the little mouse was a glutton. His small round shape managed to put away enormous amounts of violet mist in every fight.
We might need them to break through if we want to get through this first trial, Cha Ming said. Why is it so different than described? Is it because we brought in more champions to support you?
Gong Shuren shook her head. I don’t know. In the past, this trial would just slow competitors down. It wouldn’t be lethal like it is now. If we don’t fight with everything we have, we could die. And that’s not even counting how difficult it gets near the portal.
Another wave of tiny flood dragons appeared. They spouted flames that mixed in with the transcendent waters and ate away at their skin. The difficulty had increased substantially in this wave. Cha Ming could feel that both his qi and vital energy stores were being depleted faster than he could regenerate them. A casual inspection of Gong Shuren revealed this was also the case for her.
Sister Shuren, come here, Cha Ming said. Hold still while I work.
What are you doing? she asked as he summoned his Clear Sky Brush and began painting blue-and-white runes on her skin. He painted until her face, arms, and legs were fully covered before moving to the rest of her body. There, he painted on her clothes; the runes sank through her clothes and latched on to her body. Huxian and his friends defended them as he worked. One hour and fifteen waves later, he finished the formation. It pulsed and began drinking in energy from the transcendent ocean. He repeated the process for himself as Huxian and Gong Shuren protected him.
Cha Ming sighed in relief as he finally felt his energy stores increasing and his blood vitality replenishing. At least now we’ll be able to fight nonstop, he said. How long until you gain enough energy to break through?
A breakthrough is difficult to achieve at this point, Huxian said. We need to consume enough demonic energy for all four of us at once, since we’re linked. Fortunately, we haven’t added Mr. Mountain to the formation yet. Otherwise we’d have to split the energy five ways. Since we don’t need to feed him, it should only take two weeks. Lucky.
Their group proceeded at a slow but steady pace. The waves came once every hour as dictated by a large ticking sound that permeated their surroundings. It echoed through the dark waters as though trying to drive them mad. Each wave grew increasingly large and powerful. Fortunately, they had Huxian on their side. His devouring and purifying powers roamed the battlefield like locusts as they swam.
After one more week, the flood dragons changed into violet ones twice the size of the originals. They spewed not fire but golden acid that passed through their skin and attacked their bones. After the second week, they changed to violet-gold ones. These violet-gold flood dragons didn’t dissipate as easily as the first ones, requiring direct strikes to their heads to break apart. They inevitably bit through skin and bit off limbs using their razor-sharp teeth, making all participants thankful they’d cultivated their bodies—any qi cultivator would have been doomed to a violent and painful death.
Thousands upon thousands of illusory demons perished every day. At the two-week mark, once Huxian and his friends had consumed over five hundred thousand illusory demons, their cores finally reached their limits and broke through. Lei Jiang stayed the same size, though his weight and the density of his lightning increased. The four other demons, however, grew from their initial size of 300 feet to a healthy size of 330 feet. It was only three feet from mortal limits, but these three feet made
