Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 417: Trial Point

Chapter 417: Chapter 417: Trial Point

Heh, who believes that!

Shi Hao immediately said, "You’re always thinking about killing me, and now you’re offering benefits?"

"Hmph, you think I want to?" Yue Ying responded with a mixture of pride and coyness, "Every time you break through a major realm, I can lend you strength once, allowing your combat power to surge by two major realms, but you bear the consequences."

That good, and she’s willing to lend her strength again?

Without showing any joy, Shi Hao asked, "What consequences?"

"Although you’ve cultivated the first layer of the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture, forcibly enduring power beyond two major realms still carries a great risk of your body exploding and dying." Yue Ying’s voice suddenly became a bit excited.

You really still want me dead, damn it!

Shi Hao snorted. His life was tougher than iron; wanting him dead wasn’t so easy.

"Once is too little, what about three times?" He bargained, willing to grit his teeth and accept these consequences. Even without the Deadly Escape Pill, after having experienced a brush with death, he still had some confidence he could survive it.

Of course, he had no guarantees and there really was a possibility that he might not come out alive.

Normally, he wouldn’t be forced to a point where he’d need Yue Ying to pump power into him.

"Tch." Yue Ying just scoffed and then ignored him.

Fine, you win!

Shi Hao sighed. How exactly was this Artifact Spirit formed? It was so capricious, not sharing any of his worries at all, always thinking about how to trap him to death.

Alas, he didn’t know when he would be able to truly wield the Spiritual Artifact. When that time came, he definitely wanted to summon Yue Ying out and beat her a hundred times over.

Even though he had received Yue Ying’s promise, he hadn’t made a breakthrough yet and naturally couldn’t borrow strength from Yue Ying. So, that odd-looking house in front of him remained a major threat.

He approached slowly, then scanned it with his Soul Tentacle.

Huh, it’s empty.

Shi Hao was surprised; he didn’t detect any energy fluctuations.

Of course, it was also possible that someone far stronger than him was inside, completely suppressing their energy, making him completely unaware.

"Let’s check it out. What if there are gains to be had?"

They say the timid starve, while the bold burst at the seams.

Shi Hao picked up his pace and soon arrived at the doorway.

The door was open. Shi Hao walked through and found the place empty. Ahead, there was a stele with words inscribed on it.

"Congratulations on discovering a Trial Point. You can choose to enter or leave. If you choose to enter, then there are four levels of difficulty to choose from: Easy Level, Normal Level, Hard Level, and Hell Level."

"Easy Level, as long as your cultivation isn’t built on elixirs, you can pass unscathed and gain one point."

"Normal Level, being careful should see you through, though you may suffer some injuries, rewarding three points."

"Hard Level, there’s a great chance of death, rewarding ten points."

"Hell Level, you’re always on the brink of death, rewarding twenty points."

"Reward Points can be exchanged for items in the store later, and your total points will be ranked. The top ten will receive generous rewards."

All this verbose explanation was actually very clear.

Huh?

Shi Hao was surprised. There was such a mechanism?

He saw that the stele had four handprints, each marked with two characters, from Easy, Normal, Hard, to Hell.

Shi Hao did some calculations. Reward Points could be used to purchase items, and the total acquired could affect rankings, potentially leading to another windfall at the end.

Therefore, the more Reward Points, the better.

From this perspective, he should choose the "Hell Level" difficulty.

However, it’s also mentioned above that Hell Level challenges can easily lead to death, and without any prior experience, how could Shi Hao judge the difficulty based solely on the introduction? How challenging could it possibly be?

After some thought, Shi Hao still placed his hand on the difficult level.

He believed there would be many more trial points like this, so he might as well test out the waters first.

Huh?

The moment he placed his hand on the stele, he found himself transported to the inside of a melting cave.

The temperature here was extremely high, with red-hot magma flowing on both sides, seemingly capable of vaporizing a person instantly.

Not far ahead, two red lizards were lying down.

Shi Hao took a closer look, and a smile couldn’t help but spread across his lips.

These two lizards were only of Nine Islands level.

Is that it? How is this supposed to be difficult?

Shi Hao strode over confidently. His movement immediately alerted the two fire-colored lizards, which charged at him with their short legs.

"Scram!" With a punch from Shi Hao, boom, the two fire-colored lizards were sent flying, and by the time they landed, they were already two dead lizards.

Now, nothing in the Other Shore Realm could stand in Shi Hao’s way—unless it was as monstrously talented as he was, but was that likely?

A few steps later, he saw another two lizards lying ahead.

Bring it on.

Shi Hao charged forward with unstoppable might. How could the lizards appearing in pairs, still of Nine Islands level, stand a chance against him?

Soon, he reached the deepest part of the melting cave, where six lizards were guarding a red plant.

Spirit Fruit!

Shi Hao smacked his lips—the aroma was so enticing that just sniffing it made his soul feel invigorated.

And these six lizards... were still of Nine Islands level.

Had it been a Seven Islands level challenger, even geniuses like Zhang Santian would’ve needed to strategize, using themselves as bait to lure out a few lizards, then eliminate them one by one.

But did Shi Hao need to do that?

He marched forward, and upon seeing him, the six blood-colored lizards charged towards him with all four legs.

With a thought from Shi Hao, the Dark Thrust Sword was activated, and in an instant, purr purr purr, the six lizards died, their souls mercilessly severed.

Without their souls, the ferocious beasts couldn’t possibly survive.

Shi Hao harvested the Spirit Fruit, and before he could take any action, his vision blurred, and he found himself back in the original room. And there, the stele in the room had crumbled into pieces.

Did it break after he entered, or when he was leaving?

There was a distinction, as the former meant that the melting cave he had just been in was accessible only to him, while the latter meant it was accessible to others as well.

"So-called difficult level is actually this easy!"

"Had I known, I would have chosen the Hell Level and gained ten more Reward Points, and perhaps, the Spirit Fruit at the end would have been even more precious."

"Well, now I know for next time."

In reality, the level of difficulty was quite substantial, but Shi Hao was too much of an anomaly. So, if the difficulty was based on the Cultivation Realm, then even a "Hell" level would hardly be a challenge for him.

Shi Hao looked at the Spirit Fruit and did not hesitate to refine it with the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture.

——Others might worry about side effects from directly consuming it, but did Shi Hao need to care?

After the fifth revolution, the energy essence within the spirit fruit had been completely extracted.

"There’s progress, but it’s small," he muttered to himself.

If he could get twenty or thirty more of these, he might be able to reach the Peak of the Seven Islands.