551 Strength Plateau Trial

Alex and the others started walking through the trial before picking up some pace after knowing the trick behind the trial. It would seem that the first hundred contained energy of foundation rank, and they noticed that the next a hundred planks were for Martial Master.

This actually made Alex confused. After all, the minimum requirement for this trial was Martial Emperor. By going with the requirement, the pressure from the Martial Emperor would be from 501st to 600th planks.

Looking at each participant's power, people should only start dropping around the Martial Emperor Planks. The problem would be what would happen if they stepped onto the 601st plank, would they get Martial Monarch's pressure?

And what would they get after entering the next a hundred and so on? Alex couldn't say anything though, considering he only stepped onto the 300th plank while the other had arrived at least the 400th mark.

"Master, are we going to catch up with them?" Sherry asked innocently.

"Do you want to catch up?"

"No. I'm fine as long as I can walk beside Master until the need to stop. Besides, I am sure Master doesn't want to do that because it will just bring you trouble. I just wanted to know if Master is going to meet Elder Sister Song Yu."

"I am better not." Alex shook his head before continuing, "Although our relationship is good, I want to draw a line with her and Blackwade Clan. There are a few reasons for this. First, we wouldn't know how the other first-rate influences would react, especially after causing a big ruckus in the continent. If we get too friendly with them, they might attack us for no reason.

"The second reason would be our identity. I want to retain our identity as an independent influence. If we get too close with them, they might even call us a vessel of the Blackwade Clan or whatever. And lastly, I am a bit uncomfortable since I feel the Blackwade Clan is also plotting something…" Alex said mysteriously, narrowing his eyes.

It might not be Song Yu, Song Jia, or Putri that would plot against him. However, they couldn't stop the other family members from plotting something. In the end, if they are going to war against the Blackwade Clan, he might even need to kill Song Yu, Song Jia, or Putri. That was something he didn't want to imagine.

"Well, Sherry doesn't know anything, so she will just follow Master. Even with Elder Sister Anya, the strategist of our Spirit Nest, told me the plan, I wouldn't understand half. I will only go according to the other with caution." Sherry grinned, revealing the cheerful side, albeit the mask hid it.

Alex also smiled behind his mask as he patted her head before glancing at Song Yu then turned back to Stina and Kyle.

'How about Stina and Kyle, do you feel anything change within you?' He asked the duo with a thought transmission.

'I am the same. However, just like what Stina said, I could somehow feel something other than Phoenix Aura. If what she said is right, then it should be a Dragon Aura.' Kyle nodded.

'Yeah. I can confirm it now. It is truly a Dragon Aura. Although it has been blended with Spiritual Energy and Phoenix Energy, I can differentiate them easily.' Stina nodded, confirming everything Kyle said. 'Can't Master see it with your Spirit Eyes?'

'No. I still have another stage for Spirit Eyes. After refining it one more time, I can see blended energy like this more clearly. As of now, I can't.' Alex looked down, weighing something on his mind. He had a certain feeling after walking for so long.

The energy around him slowly entered his body and the scepter. He could see it with his Spirit Eyes, and he assumed the Phoenix Energy entered his scepter while the Dragon Energy entered his body. The phoenix energy aside, the dragon energy tried to refine his Dragon Strengthening Technique to lock the second stage.

Alex was wondering what kind of benefit he would get the moment he opened the second stage. He looked up and saw many people outside the barrier. With the illusion that masked the inside trial was lifted, the people could fly outside and peek.

Almost all eyes were on him, treating him like a zoo's animal. Alex quickly sent a thought transmission to the trio. 'We will be advancing without talking. I will ask you a couple of questions later by using thought transmission.'

'Understood.' They answered at the same time and nodded.

Alex's group started advancing again.

Meanwhile, many people started getting displeased because of the caution that Alex showed. They couldn't even hear them, and with Alex seemed to talk with a thought transmission, they now couldn't try to decipher their talk just by looking at their lips movement. In the end, they decided to give up and observed them carefully.

"What do you think, Patriarch?" One of the elders from the Blackwade Clan asked.

Song Lei glanced at him while narrowing his eyes. "Nothing. You can think whatever you want, but I don't have an obligation to share mine. I just want to say they are dangerous. That's all."

Even the previous patriarch, Song Yu's grandfather, Song Qiang, furrowed his eyebrows. He had seen these two kids, Sherry and Kyle, on the battlefield previously. Unfortunately, he was too focused on Alex and Jeanne, and missed these two kids.

Judging by their cultivation and strength alone, they might be able to break through from the Blackwade Clan's encirclement even if they moved the entire family. After that, they would certainly come back and attack the clan after getting enough strength. He wouldn't want to see something like that because it would be the end of their clan. Besides, Alex also had the mysterious VIP card, which he had little knowledge of.

At this time, he was just grateful to Heavenly Sword Sect's sect master for making Song Yu his Senior Sister. Even though their relationship was not like a lover or something, it was still enough to receive some benefit and lower the potential to become an enemy.

In the end, he only warned his son, Song Lei, to not do anything about this Spirit Nest, resulting in Song Lei not answering the elder's question.

He muttered himself, "Should I go back to the main clan for a while to search about the VIP card? Although I have been exiled, I still can ask some elders or friends that I knew back then. Or maybe I should send Song Yu there and ask my acquaintances to take care of her? Her talent is far above me, and I am sure with her intelligence, she could make it big there. On the other hand, Song Jia can become the next successor…"

Many thoughts came into his mind, making him look down to ponder the pros and cons.

On the other hand, the others also had some thought about this Spirit Nest before someone broke the silence.

"Look, someone just fell!"

"!!!" All leaders quickly glanced to the side, searching for that person.

It turned out to be the first man that stepped inside the trial. He looked extremely exhausted as he fell on his butt before spitting blood.

His body was swaying around, feeling very weak as he couldn't stand the pressure. He had been walking non-stop as soon as he entered. He might be comfortable or whatever, but staying in front made him proud. Unfortunately, he walked too fast, and the trial drained his energy.

He didn't know why, but the trial started lowering his physical body. There was a period where his legs went limp and felt he couldn't walk anymore. Not long after that, his mind slowly became tired. He began losing his consciousness and, in fact, a few planks before he fell, his eyes were blurry, and he lost track of his direction. Not knowing the left and right made him lose hope. Although he walked straight, he felt he had been walking to the left and right.

The last attack was on his Spiritual Energy. It slowly drained his Spiritual Energy that had been keeping him from going. Even if his legs went limp, or he couldn't see anymore, he could still use his Spiritual Energy to strengthen his legs and somehow guessed the direction he needed to take.

Unfortunately, after reaching 544th plank, he couldn't do it anymore and decided to give up.

"Hmm… 544th plank… Not bad for a reckless one." Song Lei appeared beside Song Qiang and uttered his input.

"Yeah… Unfortunately, he is too old." Song Qiang shook his head in disappointment.

"Indeed. I had tested myself there when I was young. Although the pressure was heavy, as long as you are prepared, it shouldn't be able to hinder you. I mean… if you are prepared, even a nobody could march to 700th planks."

"Oi oi. You have set your bar too high. If it's a nobody like that Spirit Nest's leader, he surely can. However, if he/she was one without help and unique skill, I am afraid they would only last until 670th planks. Usually, if they are not too old, it would be a talent worth acquiring."

Song Qiang nodded before continuing.

"Then, we could see someone's unique ability on 601st to 700th planks. The energy was crazy there and would even hinder you greatly. As far as I remember, you even need to halt your step every time you go to another plank."

"It was to adjust my body to the pressure. After all, it was like the pressure from you, Father, but without any intention of attacking." Song Lei protected his pride by an excuse.

"Haha… Indeed. In any case, if you can pass the 700th mark, I believe many people would start to recruit you." Song Qiang continued. "Then, there is this 800th mark. If the peerless genius from first-rate influence couldn't pass this mark, they should be ashamed…"

"Haha… What if Song… I shouldn't say that." Song Lei stopped from talking about something sensitive and chose to change the topic. "I mean. If you managed to pass the 800th mark, you might find something special there."

Song Qiang nodded in agreement. "Indeed. You can gain some enlightenment or something, but I still prefer the 900th mark. As long as they could step inside the 901st plank. I am happy with the result. After all, it would surely give something special to them.

"If I am not wrong, the Joyful Union Sect first elder reached the 905th step while you reached 923rd. I hope Song Yu and Song Jia could surpass you in this event." Song Qiang sighed.

"I have no qualms about that." Even the prideful Song Lei would melt while talking about his daughters. These two daughters were his pride and joy as he promised his late wife to take care of them. He loved his wife too much to even push other women away from his life even after she passed away. That was why even with the risk of the entire family, he would truly fight it out.

"Haha… In any case, we only need to observe the heir of other influences and this Spirit Nest." Song Qiang laughed before patting Song Lei on the shoulder.

"Father. If we become the enemy of the Spirit Nest, what would you do?"

"Song Lei… That question… can't be taken lightly." Song Qiang suddenly said with a chilling tone. He looked at Song Lei's serious expression before answering, "They might be the most dangerous influence in this continent. I haven't started talking about their strength. The lack of information alone stops us from doing more to them.

"After all, the most dangerous opponent was not the stronger one, but the mysterious one. With information, you can turn a one percent chance to one hundred percent. For me, I want to discern what kind of terrifying monsters they have sent, including their sect master."

"..." Song Lei paused for a moment before nodding his head. "You are right."

They didn't talk anything more and just continued to observe the trial.

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