Legend has it that the Primordial Era was an age dominated by demonic beasts, a time when the human race was weak and demonic beasts ran rampant.
The Crocodile Dragon and the Golden Lion were both true Divine Spirits of the demonic beast race in that era, immensely powerful. They each ruled over the Tian Du Continent for long periods during the Primordial Era, until later when the human race rose to glory on the continent.
The Scaled Golden Lion was a trueborn variant demonic beast, carrying within it a trace of the bloodlines of both the Crocodile Dragon and the Golden Lion. It inherited the strengths of these two great Divine Beasts, combining them into one body, possessing extraordinary growth potential.
Therefore, Ye Chen did not wish to kill the Scaled Golden Lion. Moreover, on this unfamiliar Trial Path, nothing was more familiar than the original inhabitants of this path. Furthermore, such a variant beast would inspire more awe and fear among the local ferocious beasts or demonic beasts that had always lived here than an outsider like him, which could save him a lot of trouble in intangible ways.
The Scaled Golden Lion roared and snarled. Although its opponent was powerful, it instinctively did not want to submit at his feet. It struggled fiercely, trying to break free, causing the earth to tremble.
However, Ye Chen's expression remained impassive. His foot suddenly stamped down, applying an unimaginable force from above onto the Scaled Golden Lion. The entire patch of earth shook violently. The Scaled Golden Lion had chunks of its black scales shatter, blood flowing, and even the faint sound of bone cracking could be heard.
This was the might of the Human Yuan Golden Body. The force of a single kick could severely injure a Xiantian fifth-tier variant demonic beast; it was simply impossible to contend against.
"Submit to me!" Ye Chen still uttered the same phrase. Then, his second foot came down. The entire earth trembled urgently, cracks spreading in all directions. The Scaled Golden Lion was directly driven into a massive pit, countless scales on its body shattered, blood flowing freely, making it difficult to move.
The Scaled Golden Lion wanted to roar and struggle, but it found it all futile. The more it struggled, the greater the pain it suffered.
Moreover, the seemingly tiny human standing on it exuded an astonishing aura, making it instinctively feel a terrifying pressure far greater than its own, by who knows how much.
In the end, it instinctively chose submission, ceasing its struggle.
Ye Chen nodded. "Good. Since you've submitted to me, I naturally won't leave you covered in wounds."
Streams of golden light flowed from his body, then merged into the Scaled Golden Lion. Visible to the naked eye, the wounds on the Scaled Golden Lion's body began to heal at an astonishing speed. In less than half a day, they were completely restored, with not a single injury remaining—truly miraculous.
But this only made the Scaled Golden Lion feel Ye Chen's supreme power even more keenly. It lowered its lion head, letting out a docile, low roar, and affectionately nuzzled close to Ye Chen.
With a whoosh, Ye Chen mounted the back of the Scaled Golden Lion. Light immediately bloomed from between his eyebrows, emitting subtle fluctuations. A moment later, he suddenly looked in a certain direction because he sensed a human presence. Pointing in that direction, he said, "Go, over there."
The Scaled Golden Lion roared, spread its wings, and shot toward that direction like chasing stars and the moon.
...
The sun set in the west, night fell, and stars dotted the sky.
Within the endless ancient forest, in an ordinary valley, over a dozen figures were currently gathered. All were young, but their cultivation was powerful, having reached the Xiantian realm or above. At this moment, these people were resting in the valley, replenishing their strength to prepare for further battles.
These people were not young elites from a single faction; they had simply gradually come together later, adopting a group approach.
The competition on the current Trial Path was too fierce. Wanting to enter the Tian Du Academy was not like before, where reaching the eighth level of Houtian began to qualify one to participate in the trial. Now, even reaching the Xiantian realm still carried an extremely high elimination rate.
Of the fifteen thousand participants on the Trial Path, over half had been eliminated in just under three months, enough to show the staggering elimination rate. Moreover, this rate was intensifying.
All of this was because of a rumor surrounding this trial competition: it was said that a young generation king would be decided, causing all the young elites to fall into a frenzy, desperately snatching identity tokens from others, plunging the entire trial competition into an unprecedented level of white-hot intensity.
To truly pass the Trial Path, many had now begun choosing to participate in groups, especially those with slightly weaker strength.
In this situation, even being at the Xiantian realm was no longer an advantage, because the participants on the Trial Path were basically the outstanding young talents from various major factions, with at least over forty percent having reached the Xiantian realm.
Moreover, a considerable portion were not just newly stepped into Xiantian; they had already advanced sufficiently within this realm, possessing the qualifications to look down upon the vast majority of trial participants.
Facing these super-powerful individuals, those at the Xiantian realm could only band together for self-preservation, not striving for the so-called king title, but merely hoping to complete the Trial Path. Because even wanting to obtain enough points was currently quite difficult.
One identity token was only worth two points. To accumulate over fifty points, one needed to obtain identity tokens from at least twenty-five people. How easy was that? Unless one was among the truly outstanding elites.
This valley was relatively safe compared to the rest of the Trial Path. Demonic beasts were also rare here, so this group could finally relax a little.
There were thirteen people in total here, seven men and six women. Their cultivation levels generally fluctuated around the second or third tier of Xiantian—not too strong, but not too weak either.
A bonfire was lit, illuminating the dark mountain forest, particularly conspicuous. Everyone took out the flesh of demonic beasts they had hunted from their packs—naturally, it couldn't be from Xiantian demonic beasts, as those were often extremely ferocious, and hunting them in the mountain forest was no simple matter.
Now, they were all roasting the demonic beast flesh, preparing to eat and replenish their stamina.
During the long trial, it was a tremendous drain on anyone, not just physically, but especially mentally, requiring high alertness and constant vigilance, which should not be underestimated.
Lighting a bonfire in the night might seem obvious, but with a group of thirteen, few would provoke such a gathered force.
"How many identity tokens did we get today?"
While roasting the meat, one of the women spoke up. Her voice was crisp and melodious, pleasant to the ear.
Among the thirteen, seven men and six women, this woman subtly stood as the central leader of the group.
She was a remarkably beautiful and outstanding young woman, around twenty-one or twenty-two years old, with jade-like beauty in her prime. Her blue hair cascaded like a waterfall, her skin as smooth as fine jade.
Her figure was graceful, with full, ample breasts and a slender waist as supple as a willow, seemingly graspable with one hand. Under her thin clothing, her curves were well-defined, outlining a captivating and fiery silhouette that drew frequent glances.
Her clear, straight blue hair was like a clear spring, a bright scenic line in the mountain forest.
It could even be said that the gazes of the seven men here toward the young woman all held a hidden, fervent, and barely concealed admiration. The few women looking at the blue-haired young woman showed not a trace of jealousy, only envy and admiration.
Now, hearing the blue-haired young woman speak, everyone took out their identity tokens. Added together, there were over a dozen.
This was from another team that had attacked them today, trying to snatch their identity tokens. However, in the end, under the blue-haired young woman's leadership, they emerged victorious. The opponents' identity tokens were all taken by them, resulting in the current pile of tokens.
Unfortunately, even so, this number of identity tokens was still insufficient for any one person to qualify for passing the Trial Path; at least twenty-five were needed.
It had to be said, this was a rather despairing number.
"Miss Qingxue, why don't you take all these identity tokens? It's too difficult to gather enough tokens for all thirteen of us to pass the trial. It would be better to concentrate them on just one person; the possibility would be much greater. And you are the strongest among us. It's only because of your actions and care these past days that we've managed to remain uneliminated until now. It's only right that you take these identity tokens."
At this moment, a handsome young man spoke up, though the fervor in his gaze toward the young woman was unmistakable.
His suggestion was also met with agreement from the others.
Gathering enough identity tokens for thirteen people to pass the trial was too difficult, nearly impossible. The required number was even greater than that needed for the king qualification competition.
Moreover, as this person said, while they might be considered quite strong among the younger generation of their respective factions, even seen as prides of their families, looking across the entire Trial Path, they were a dime a dozen. If not for the blue-haired young woman's assistance and leadership during this period, there was a high likelihood they would have been eliminated long ago. How could they have lasted until now?
But even so, they deeply understood that the possibility of passing the Trial Path was too slim. It would be better to give all the tokens to the blue-haired young woman; perhaps they could help her pass the trial.
Miss Qingxue gently shook her head, her blue hair fluttering, displaying a uniquely moving charm. "Let's talk about that later. For now, we should avoid provoking anyone or any team lightly. Just being able to complete this Trial Path would be good enough."
However, everyone wore bitter smiles. How difficult it was to complete this Trial Path! Because the later it got, the more intense it became. Even every trial participant's identity token would become a coveted treasure in the eyes of other participants. It was basically impossible to complete; generally, one would be eliminated midway.
For now, they could still adopt a group approach to resist strong enemies, but it was hard to say about the future. It was inevitable that true young elites might target them. Against such powerful individuals, numbers alone might not be enough to completely suppress them.
"Who's there?!"
Suddenly, everyone's expressions changed slightly because at that moment, the sound of faint footsteps was heard. A presence was approaching from the forest, making everyone instinctively wary.
Everyone even assumed combat stances, ready to enter battle immediately if anything seemed amiss.
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
A figure emerged from the dark forest, tall and slender. However, when they clearly saw the newcomer's appearance, everyone couldn't help but stare in surprise, because this was actually a youth.