Peerless Empress: One Woman, One Sword, Slaying Through Myriad Realms

As soon as he finished speaking, a large white gate slowly appeared in the center of the front of the open space, similar to the one he had entered through. The exit had opened!

Liu Yu'er and her disciples were overjoyed and immediately used their fastest movement techniques to rush into the exit.

"Damn it!" Jiang Chen and Yuan Xin couldn't help but curse.

Yuan Xin asked cautiously, "Should we go out?"

Jiang Chen said angrily, "Guard the exit, grab whatever you can, and then leave last..."

Yuan Xin bit her lip and said, "What if those two come over later..."

Jiang Chen snorted coldly, "What's there to be afraid of! The exit is right in front of us anyway. If they come, we'll just go straight out!"

Yuan Xin nodded, and the two of them stood in front of the exit, quietly waiting for the other disciples to arrive.

Guarding the cave entrance proved effective; Jiang Chen and Yuan Xin successfully raided several groups of cave dwellers.

Soon, Fang Tao and Hua Zhou arrived as well. They had also gone to hunt down many demonic beasts, which was why they were a little late.

Seeing that the two were blocking the exit, Hua Zhou said calmly, "You two have quite a plan!"

Jiang Chen had no intention of starting a war with them, and slowly said, "Are you two just going to watch Ye Wuxi and Duan Hong take the top two spots? Even Liu Yu'er's demon core might surpass ours..."

A complex emotion flashed in Fang Tao's eyes, but then he suddenly thought of something else, "They haven't arrived yet, could it be that they've obtained the treasures within the Vermilion Bird's territory!"

At this point, the group hesitated. Jiang Chen said uncertainly, "Impossible, right? Even if they are strong, how could they be strong enough to deal with a Vermilion Bird who is close to the Earth Rank?"

Hua Zhou scoffed, "Even if we get it, so what? It only proves they have some hidden, formidable methods. Even if the four of us join forces, we still can't defeat them..."

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashing within them. "Those two probably won't be able to get it. I've almost finished getting my demon core, so I'll take my leave first!"

After saying that, he quickly entered the portal, with Yuan Xin following closely behind.

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Fang Tao and Hua Zhou were both lost in thought before they too entered the exit.

On the outer gate plaza, a huge long table was set up, with the ten outer gate elders seated behind it. Above the plaza was a massive portal of light.

Disciples emerged one after another. When the elders saw Jiang Chen, they all nodded with satisfaction. These top geniuses were still alive; they should be able to secure the top spots in this trial.

As time passed, Liu Yu'er, who had returned to the square earlier, looked anxiously towards the portal, thinking to herself, "Could something have happened..."

Inside the secret realm, Duan Hong and Ye Wuxi had just arrived at the exit. Seeing that no one was around, they didn't hesitate and quickly entered the portal.

Shortly after the two appeared in the plaza, the portal of light slowly closed.

Liu Yu'er quickly came to their side, smiling, "You two are finally out! You scared me to death!"

Ye Wuxi chuckled twice, "That's already very fast!"

The exit was closed. One of the elders looked at the number of disciples who had come out and said in a deep voice, "There were 560 disciples who participated in the trial this time, but only 300 came out. The loss rate this year is very high!"

"Peng Hui, one of the five geniuses, has also perished?" another elder murmured, looking at the crowd.

The other elders all looked rather grim. Elder Wei sighed softly, "I imagine quite a few have died at the hands of the Vermilion Bird. There's nothing we can do about it. Alright, let's see how it goes!"

Among the fifth-grade sects, the Heavenly Sword Sect already recruited relatively few disciples. Now, with the loss of over two hundred more during the trial, they are finding it difficult to explain to their superiors...

Elder Wei said with a stern face, "Congratulations to everyone for successfully completing the trial. Regardless of whether you gained anything or not, the fact that you came back alive has already proven your martial spirit. Now, all disciples who believe they can rank in the top fifty, please come forward one by one and take out your demon cores for us to verify!"

Following Elder Wei's words, the newly arrived disciples lined up in order and retrieved the demon cores they had obtained from the secret realm. Then, the elders scored them based on the quantity and level of the demon cores.

There weren't many disciples who could participate in the evaluation, and it was soon Jiang Chen and the others' turn.

With a wave of his sleeve, Jiang Chen conjured a pile of demon cores before the elders.

"With so many demon cores, Senior Brother Jiang should be able to get first place..."

"Not necessarily, have you forgotten who else is there..."

"Humph……"

As soon as Jiang Chen took out the demon core, gasps of surprise rang out from the surrounding crowd. Of course, many disciples still looked quite grim. How could they not have gotten more after theirs was snatched away?

Ye Wuxi, who arrived late and was at the back of the line, raised an eyebrow and said, "He still has so many left, isn't he impatient..."

Liu Yu'er said indignantly, "Wu Xi, you don't know, while we were waiting for the exit to open, he and Yuan Xin were trying to rob us. Luckily, the exit opened in time, and we escaped. It seems they were guarding the exit from behind and took quite a lot..."

Ye Wuxi stroked her chin, "I see..."

Despite the envious looks from many disciples, Jiang Chen showed no joy. He put away the demon core and gave Ye Wuxi, Duan Hong, and the others a cold glance.

He knew in his heart that although he had many demon cores, they were definitely not as many as those others...

Soon, Yuan Xin, Fang Tao, Hua Zhou, and the others stepped forward to check their results. Although they weren't as good as Jiang Chen, they were close. The specific ranking was Hua Zhou, Fang Tao, and Yuan Xin, followed by...

The disciples stepped forward one after another, and soon it was Ye Wuxi and a few others who were at the end of the line. Liu Yu'er stepped forward first, smiling as she waved out a bunch of demon cores.

"This...this looks like there's even more than Jiang Chen."

"Oh my god..."

Upon seeing the demon core that Liu Yu'er had taken out, those around her, who were unaware of what was happening, gasped in surprise, even the seated elders were astonished.

In their view, Liu Yu'er's cultivation level wasn't the highest, and she didn't have anything special about her, so it was impossible for her to have obtained so many demon cores! But after careful examination, they confirmed that these were indeed demon cores brought out from the secret realm.

"How strange!" Seeing nothing unusual, the elders still noted down the scores, but their faces remained puzzled.

Liu Yu'er walked to the side with a grin, looking forward to the outcome for Wu Xi and Duan Hong. She had completely benefited from their success this time, and the result for these two would be a real surprise to everyone...

Duan Hongxian stepped forward, and Elder Wei and the others were surprised to see that he was also at the fifth level of the Xuanwu realm. They had overlooked this; judging by his age, he was a promising talent, likely no less than the five great geniuses! ...

Elder Wei said with considerable satisfaction, "Take it out..."

Duan Hong nodded, and with a wave of his hand, a mountain of demon cores appeared before the elders.

"sharp……"

"Today was truly unbelievable..."

Seeing the demon core that far surpassed that of the disciples before them, the surrounding people couldn't help but sigh in amazement. However, when they saw the level of cultivation, they understood...

However, upon seeing this scene, Jiang Chen and the others couldn't help but grit their teeth in hatred! This was all their doing!

With Duan Hong's demon core revealed, everyone, even the elders, felt that the trial was essentially over; first place belonged to Duan Hong...