Pushing open the eighth Trial Gate was equivalent to qualifying to become a future leader of Tian Du Academy—wasn't that the future position of the supreme Academy Head?
This was the true master of a superpower, not like the rulers of the three great empires who were merely acting rulers handling state affairs, only nominal masters, while the true masters were still the Divine Spirit Ancient Ancestors.
And whether it was Tian Du Academy or the Martial God Hall, the true positions were held by Divine Spirit Ancient Ancestors. They truly stood above the Nine Heavens, overlooking the vast Tian Du Continent and its billions of living beings, revered by all under heaven—who could contend with them!
This temptation was simply too great; no one could resist it. No one had expected that merely pushing open the eighth gate would grant the position of future leader of Tian Du Academy.
In an instant, countless people in the square cast fervent gazes, especially this year's new students, who looked toward the highest point of the mountain peak at that ancient, majestic, and enormous stone gate, revealing unconcealed burning desire.
The future position of supreme Academy Head—who could ignore it?
However, some of the observing senior students were shaking their heads with cold smiles. Although the temptation was immense, the eighth Trial Gate had never been truly opened since ancient times. It was a relic from an even more ancient era. Since its discovery, it had been stored on Tian Du Academy's mountain peak for many years, and no one had ever truly reached the summit to open it.
It could even be said that, looking across the countless years of Tian Du Continent's history, only a handful of people had ever managed to ascend to the seventh Trial Gate.
One could say that wanting to open the eighth Trial Gate was fundamentally impossible.
The Supreme Elder swept his gaze over these new students, his expression as calm as an ancient well, and nodded faintly toward the Trial Elder. The latter understood and then called out loudly, "Since everyone is already clear, then the Trial Gate assessment begins!"
As the Trial Elder's voice fell, hundreds of young new students couldn't help but grow tense, though more than that, they were filled with anticipation.
Even if not for opening the eighth gate, no one wanted to only open the first or second gates so simply. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, that would only be embarrassing.
Beside the Trial Gate, the Trial Elder took out a roster listing all the new students and began calling people forward for testing.
"Gao Xu!"
As the Trial Elder's voice fell, from the crowd of new students, a man with a burly and tall stature strode forward.
The Trial Elder instructed, "If you cannot push it open, retreat immediately. Otherwise, the gate will close swiftly to avoid injury."
"This junior understands!"
Gao Xu nodded, took large strides directly to the first Trial Gate, placed his broad hands on the left and right stone doors—each one zhang tall and half a zhang wide—let out a light shout, and with a dull sound, pushed it open effortlessly without much exertion.
Everything seemed so relaxed and natural.
The first Trial Gate weighing a thousand jin was easily handled; it was no effort for him.
However, this was nothing to be proud of, as Xiantian cultivators possessed strength exceeding ten thousand jin. A mere thousand jin was nothing to them.
After pushing open the first Trial Gate, there was a mountain stairway leading to the higher second Trial Gate. Gao Xu ascended the stairs and appeared before the second Trial Gate a hundred zhang away moments later, still easily pushing open the second gate weighing four thousand jin.
He then ascended another hundred-zhang-long stairway. This time, pushing open the Trial Gate seemed somewhat strenuous, as the third Trial Gate was four times the weight of the second, reaching sixteen thousand jin. Even a powerful Xiantian expert like him couldn't completely ignore it.
But it was only somewhat strenuous; he could still push open the third Trial Gate.
All of this drew everyone's attention.
However, when Gao Xu arrived before the fourth Trial Gate, which was a full eight zhang tall, everyone couldn't help but focus their gaze, because once pushed open, it represented qualification to cultivate in the holy land for a day—a tremendous benefit no one could ignore.
Gao Xu didn't dare be careless in the slightest. He let out a light shout, suddenly releasing powerful True Yuan power that circulated over his surface as he began to push the gate.
But the fourth Trial Gate was like a great mountain, immovable. Although the burly man's strength was considerable, veins bulged all over his body as he erupted with vigorous True Yuan power, straining to push the gate, slowly inching it open bit by bit.
However, when the Trial Gate was pushed halfway open, Gao Xu was already exhausted and couldn't push it another inch, because the fourth Trial Gate was too heavy, difficult to truly open.
"Move quickly!"
The Trial Elder suddenly shouted a reminder. Gao Xu finally reacted, but it was too late. The two stone doors of the fourth Trial Gate swiftly closed together. With a thunderous crash, they slammed into Gao Xu, sending him flying to land behind the third Trial Gate, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood as the sound of breaking bones rang out before he finally fell unconscious.
It was evident that Gao Xu had suffered severe injuries.
The Trial Elder beckoned and guided Gao Xu back. Medical practitioners from the medical department were already approaching to treat Gao Xu's injuries, administering some healing liquid to quickly repair the damage, leaving him without major issues.
Then the Trial Elder swept his gaze over the numerous new students and said, "You've all seen it. When you cannot continue pushing, you should retreat immediately. Otherwise, the Trial Gate will close swiftly. Being knocked flying is one thing, but if you get caught between them, you'll be completely crushed to death."
Everyone looked and indeed noticed some bloodstains staining the closure points of some Trial Gates, having turned dark red over the long years, unnoticeable without careful observation.
This made people's hearts race—the Trial Gates weren't entirely safe either.
Following that, the Trial Elder began calling new students forward one by one according to the trial roster to undergo the trial test of pushing open the Trial Gates.
The first, second, and third Trial Gates were all simple, with the heaviest being only sixteen thousand jin. Basically, every new student pushed them open easily without issue.
After all, those who passed the Trial Path were all at least Xiantian cultivators. Anyone reaching the Xiantian realm possessed ten-thousand-jin strength, and those who ultimately passed from among fifteen or sixteen thousand trial-takers were the best among them. Naturally, sixteen thousand jin wasn't too outrageous for them; only a very few individuals couldn't push it open.
But when facing the fourth Trial Gate, almost all new students had to change expressions, because it was like a heavenly barrier lying before all new students. No matter how hard they tried, generally speaking, out of a hundred new students who attempted, fewer than two or three could truly push it open.
Because each Trial Gate increased fourfold in weight from the previous one—sixty-four thousand jin—very few could achieve that level of strength.
Only new students who were Hundred Strong Trialists possessed such strength. They were all at least high-level cultivators above the fifth level of Xiantian, with abundant and profound Xiantian True Yuan power rolling through their meridians. Yet even so, truly pushing it open required great effort.
The weight of sixty-four thousand jin was simply too heavy for them; pushing it open truly demanded immense strength and was quite strenuous.
In the end, basically every Hundred Strong Trialist successfully pushed open the fourth Trial Gate.
However, for the fifth Trial Gate weighing over two hundred thousand jin, each one who stepped forward exhausted all their strength without truly pushing it open even a sliver, filled with bitterness.
It wasn't that they didn't want to push it open; it was just too heavy, fundamentally impossible.
And the fifth Trial Gate was actually a checkpoint leading to the Heaven-tier Academy, because every elite disciple of the Heaven-tier Academy had the qualification to truly push open the fifth Trial Gate.
There was a rather unwritten rule in Tian Du Academy: as long as one successfully pushed open the fifth Trial Gate, they could enter the Heaven-tier Academy and receive all cultivation resources of the Heaven-tier Academy.
It sounded simple, but how difficult it was in practice! A Trial Gate weighing over two hundred thousand jin—how many among the younger generation truly had the qualification to push it open? It simply wasn't realistic.
Thirteenth Prince Xia Teng stepped forward. He was also a Hundred Strong Trialist. Similarly, in the Divine Spirit Small World, he had sat in cultivation on the Heavenly God Platform for a period, comprehending some profound Dao principles. Although his realm hadn't broken through, his skill had greatly advanced, and his insight into strength surpassed others, far stronger than ordinary Hundred Strong Trialists.
Now he successively pushed open three Trial Gates. Even the fourth Trial Gate was only somewhat taxing for him, but still easier than for other Hundred Strong Trialists.
Such strength made everyone's eyes gleam.
Could he push open the fifth Trial Gate?
Many were filled with anticipation, watching Xia Teng closely. Unfortunately, although Xia Teng was strong, he only managed to push the fifth Trial Gate open a small fraction before he could no longer move it any further. He retreated decisively without hesitation, appearing quite composed.
Even so, he still drew considerable attention. After all, among the two to three hundred people who had gone up for testing, he was the first who could push open the fifth Trial Gate, even if only a small part—it was absolutely worthy of pride.
Afterward, Princess Hong Rong stepped forward for testing and also smoothly pushed open the fourth Trial Gate. This was also due to her cultivation in the Divine Spirit Small World enabling her to ultimately become a Hundred Strong Trialist-level figure.
Vivian originally lacked the strength to push open the fourth Trial Gate, only capable of pushing open three gates. But unexpectedly, she finally pushed it open. No one had expected this seemingly gentle and delicate young girl to push it open, forcing everyone to look upon Xia Feng Kingdom with greater respect.
In Xia Feng Kingdom, in the end, only Yang Yi failed to push open the fourth Trial Gate; the others all reached this step.
"Next, Xia Yang!"
When the Trial Elder called this name, instantly countless gazes fell upon that cold-faced young man within Xia Feng Kingdom.
Xia Yang strode forth.