Cultivation Kill

Shen Zige appeared in the endless fog, unable to discern any direction.

"Is this the upper level of the Sword Palace Secret Realm?"

As soon as he entered the stone tablet, he noticed that the sky above was full of smoke.

"The Heavenly Sword Palace disciple trials have begun. This time, two disciples will be challenged." A emotionless female voice came from the mist, and Shen Zige felt that it didn't sound like a real person.

"who are you?"

Shen Zige was worried about a trap and dared not move rashly. She used her divine sense to explore the surroundings, but her divine sense was bounced back as if it had hit a wall.

"I am the manager of the Trial Palace, and people usually call me the Trial Palace Spirit," the female voice replied. "You need to pass through the mist within ten days to become an inner disciple of the Heavenly Sword Palace."

"After passing through the mist, there will be a platform where you can rest temporarily. Behind the platform is the Path of Ten Thousand Beasts. You can continue to challenge it or choose to quit. After passing the trials of the Path of Ten Thousand Beasts, you can become a disciple personally taught by the Palace Master."

Shen Zige thought to herself that the Heavenly Sword Palace had long been destroyed and its treasure trove had been emptied, so becoming a disciple would not bring any benefits—wait, it seems that there is a fragment of the statue man's consciousness here, so perhaps she can learn some powerful moves.

"Error, warning!"

A cold female voice announced: "The two individuals who entered did not bear the spiritual imprint of a Heavenly Sword Palace disciple; they have been confirmed as unauthorized intruders!"

"The Sword Palace enforcement team has been notified to intercept and kill them—"

"Notification failed, enforcement team not responding!"

"All elders of the Sword Palace have been notified—"

"Notification failed!"

"Notify the Sword Palace Enforcement Team again—"

"Notification failed again!"

……

The spirit of the Trial Palace is stuck in a loop. It has never encountered this situation before, but unfortunately, it is only equivalent to a program or a low-level script, and it does not know how to deal with things it cannot understand.

Shen Zige breathed a sigh of relief: "Obviously, this artifact spirit doesn't know that the Heavenly Sword Palace has been destroyed for a long time. No one should have entered this information into it, so no matter how it notifies or calls out, no one will come!"

Where did the man in the floral shirt learn the sacrificial formation technique?

Shen Zige felt that the man in the floral shirt was too good at disguising himself. Everyone thought he would set a trap outside the secret realm, but they didn't expect that his real purpose was to sacrifice two Spirit Condensation cultivators to forcibly activate the formation!

For him, it didn't matter who he sacrificed. At first, his goal was definitely to sacrifice Shen Zige and Hua Mulan, who had the lowest cultivation levels, which is why he suggested splitting into two teams to search for treasures.

The three men in floral shirts had planned to sacrifice Shen Zige and her companion at the Spirit Plant Garden, which led to the sneak attack by the man with the buzz cut.

Unfortunately, like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, the young man in black, who used the alias Zhao Ritian, and the man with the buzz cut never expected that they would become the victims in the end.

Throughout the journey, Shen Zige failed to discern the man in the floral shirt's disguise or his hidden strength. This guy was a formidable character. Shen Zige felt the stone ground beneath her feet and slowly moved forward.

Although it's impossible to distinguish east from west in the fog, and visibility is less than half a meter, you can still tell which way to go by the path you're walking on.

The path beneath their feet was only twenty centimeters wide, with endless mist on both sides. If they lost their footing or stepped into the air, they would fall directly into the mist below. In the past, disciples of the Heavenly Sword Palace could wait for someone to rescue them, but now, falling down meant certain death!

"I wonder if flying on a sword would be enough to get through?"

Shen Zige took out the guiding sword.

"No, if you fly on a sword, you won't even be able to see the path beneath your feet. It's no different from falling."

Shen Zige pondered for a moment and abandoned this method. If there were teleportation or chaotic formations in the mist, then flying on a sword would be tantamount to suicide.

However, the road is not always straight; after walking for a while, the road ends!

Because of the low visibility, Shen Zige guessed that there must be a road ahead, but she didn't know if it was on the left or right, or even in the middle.

How to do?

Since we can't see with our eyes and our divine sense can't detect anything, are we left with no choice but to gamble on luck?

It would be foolish to entrust one's life to the ephemeral nature of luck, Shen Zige pondered.

Got it!

Shen Zige took out some silver from her storage ring, crushed it into pieces the size of her thumb, and tossed them forward.

It's like a stone sinking into the sea!

Keep throwing it a little to the right—

There was still no response.

After trying about seven times, Shen Zige heard two "tap-tap" sounds.

Once she was sure of the ten o'clock position, Shen Zige leaped up, swayed slightly, and then landed steadily.

"How did the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Palace find their way when they didn't have any money?" Shen Zige wondered. "Could it be that they knew the rules in advance, tied a long rope to a rock, and swung it around until it hit the road ahead?"

If everyone knows the rules and everyone adds ropes and stones, then what's the point of the trial? Shen Zige believes that the content of the trial is forbidden, and the disciples cannot know it in advance.

Using her silver-sprinkling technique, Shen Zige went further and further away.

"Not here yet?"

Shen Zige doesn't have many copper coins and silver left in her storage ring, so she'll probably have to throw in spirit stones later!

He had just discovered a way to save money: instead of tossing, he would swing the object horizontally at an angle, like skipping a stone on water. From a geometric point of view, this would allow him to explore the widest possible area.

Two hours later.

The road is blocked again.

Shen Zige threw the copper coin forward, and this time she was lucky; she hit the road ahead on her first try.

"Two o'clock position, two and a half meters away."

Shen Zige quickly judged from the echo and was about to jump when she suddenly had a whim and thought it would be safer to throw two copper coins, so she threw another one over—

"despair!"

Upon hearing the sound, Shen Zige frowned. This time, the sound came from the direction of one o'clock, about 3.1 meters away!

He threw it twice more, his face gradually turning pale, using the same technique, but each time the location of the sound changed.

"The landing point on the other side is moving..."

As the difficulty increased, Shen Zige closed her eyes and calculated, obtaining the time, distance, and angle from the four echo points. She quickly constructed an equation and solved the problem in her mind, though the answer was constantly changing.

"Three, two, one, leap!"

Shen Zige leaped and landed steadily on a moving foothold, which was only the size of a car wheel, and kept moving back and forth in the mist.

This section consists of various points of contact for movement.

Shen Zige continued to calculate as she moved forward, which slowed her down considerably. Several times she almost lost her footing and fell into the fog.

The silver and copper coins finally ran out.

When Shen Zige had used up twenty spirit stones, she finally jumped onto the resting platform.

There are only two stone chairs on the platform for the disciples to rest during their trials.

"No one has come here for so many years, yet there's not a speck of dust on the chair." Shen Zige wiped it with her hand, feeling its smooth, cool surface.

He didn't know how many rest areas there were.

If the man in the floral shirt appears, what are the chances of a successful sneak attack?

Fortunately, he hadn't used much spiritual power earlier, and he's still at 90% of his strength, which is enough to deal with any danger.

When I meditate and cultivate, I can't absorb any spiritual energy from the surroundings!

Shen Zige had no choice but to hold two spirit stones in her hands, close her eyes, and absorb them to replenish her meridians and acupoints.

After waiting for a while, the man in the floral shirt did not come over.

The surroundings were so quiet that Shen Zige was almost having distracting thoughts and hallucinations.

"No wait."

Shen Zige walked into a rotating, twisting light gate in the middle of the platform.