Chapter 1751 – Heavenly Demon Trial
Tie Zhantian looked around the space as he nodded and said, “This is indeed a good place for a base. If we make a base here, nobody would be able to discover it.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Also, it would be good for those who practice fire-element cultivation methods.”
Tie Zhantian nodded, “Right. It’s really good. The fire element energy in this place is very rich. If those who practice fire-element cultivation methods cultivate here, the effect would be better.”
Spiritual qi also has attributes. But no matter what attribute, they would be converted when it enters a cultivator’s body. However, if the cultivator absorbs spiritual qi with the same attribute as their cultivation method, then their cultivation would be faster since there would be no need to convert the spiritual qi.
The people who came to the space below the Inferno Valley were all experts. Naturally, they understood the benefits of this place. Therefore, nobody opposed Zhao Hai and Tie Zhantian’s words.
The group spent quite some time on the space before going back to the sect. Upon returning, Tie Zhantian immediately arranged for people to get started building the secret base. Moreover, he made sure to select the most loyal subordinates of the sect as well as those who cultivate fire-element cultivation methods.
Meanwhile, Zhao Hai wasn’t doing anything. He no longer needs to worry himself about the subspace. Moreover, although he was now a Core Disciple who has his own base, he didn’t accept any subordinate of his own. He has no intention of gathering power and influence. This made him the most idle person in the entire Black Tiger Gang.
At this time, Tie Zhantian received a jade sword message. As soon as he read the contents of the message, his expression immediately changed. Then he immediately called over all of the upper-level figures of the sect. Naturally, Zhao Hai was included in this call.
When everyone arrived in the study, Tie Zhantian looked at everyone with an ugly expression before saying, “I just received a message from the Myriad Demons Sect. They want Little Hai to participate in the upcoming Heavenly Demon Trial.”
As soon as they heard the words ‘Heavenly Demon Trial’ everyone in the room turned quiet. Then they exploded with discussion. Zhao Hai, who had no idea, was also stunned.
Similarly with an ugly expression was Zhang Feng. Seeing that Zhao Hai was clueless, Zhang Feng explained, “The Heavenly Demon Trial is a united operation of the 9 Provinces. Its purpose was to deal with the Heavenly Demon Race inside their space. This Heavenly Demon Race was one of the strongest races in the foreign subspaces. Once in a while, these Heavenly Demons would open a spatial rift and invade the Great World of Cultivation. At the same time, the Great World of Cultivation would enter their space and attack. Entering the Heavenly Demon Race’s space was called the Heavenly Demon Trial. Killing a Heavenly Demon would elevate one’s prestige in the Great World of Cultivation. Although it sounded great, this was the most dangerous trial in the Great World of Cultivation. People who underwent the trial would have a small chance of surviving. Naturally, those who return would reap a lot of benefits.”
After speaking up to here, Zhang Feng looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Heavenly Demons can also be subdued. Subdued Heavenly Demons could be stored in spatial equipment and act as an aide during battle. Most importantly, subdued Heavenly Demons can provide faith power!”
Zhao Hai stared, he looked at Zhang Feng and said, “Faith Power?”
Zhang Feng nodded and said, “That’s right. Faith power. Once a Heavenly Demon surrenders, they would provide you with faith power. This is a good thing for any cultivator. But at the same time, Heavenly Demons aren’t easy to subdue. The Heavenly Demons also have experts among themselves. Their powerhouses are no worse than ours. Because of this, the trial was deemed as the most dangerous in the Great World of Cultivation.”
After he said this, Zhang Feng looked around him and saw everyone looking towards him. Naturally, they wanted him to explain more to Zhao Hai. So Zhang Feng continued, “Because of the danger, there are very few cultivators who volunteered to join the trial. Although faith power is important, there’s no use for it if you don’t return. Now, the super sects regarded the Heavenly Demon Trial as a way to suppress the other sects. As long as any young talent emerges, they would immediately be selected to enter the trial. A few of them come back. Fortunately, the trial only happens every fifty years, so the sects didn’t say anything. But the fifty-year cycle has come. It seems like the Black Tiger Gang’s actions have entered the sight of the super sects. They wanted to suppress us, so they selected you to enter the trial.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “How long is the Heavenly Demon Trial? Do they know that I can go in and out of foreign trials whenever I want?”
Zhang Feng shook his head and said, “I’m afraid that won’t work. All those who enter the Heavenly Demon Trial must stay for a full year. Everyone would be given a jade token upon entry to the trial. This jade token will record everything you did in the trial. If you leave, the super sects will punish the sect you belong to. People who have spatial abilities who return to their sect would have their sects suppressed by the super sects. Then the sect’s strength would immediately plummet.”
Zhao Hai knit his brows. He disliked the overbearing approach of the super sects. However, he couldn’t do anything about it with his current strength. It seems like he has no choice but to enter the trial.
Tie Zhantian looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Little Hai, I’m afraid you’ll have to participate in the trial. With the Black Tiger Gang’s present strength, we wouldn’t be able to defend against the suppression of the super sects. These sects have more than one Supreme Elder-level expert. Fortunately, you can be mobile inside the Heavenly Demon Trial using your ability. However, you need to be guarded against the people from the other sects. If the nine super sects want to deal with you, they would certainly send their own people over. No matter what, you need to protect your life. There’s no need to subdue Heavenly Demons.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “There’s no problem with me going. I’m confident in my ability to survive. It just so happens that I’m at a bottleneck in my cultivation. I needed a trial to challenge my limits.”
Tie Zhantian nodded and said, “The jade sword message said that you should head to the Myriad Demons Sect in five days. I will send a few transcending tribulation experts with you. However, they can only escort you to the Myriad Demons Sect. They can’t follow you inside the Heavenly Demon Trial.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “There’s no need for that. I can go there myself. The sect needs all the manpower it has. I think they won’t do anything to me until I enter the trial.”
Tie Zhantian looked at Zhao Hai for a moment before he gave a nod, “Alright, then we’ll go with your plan. Do you have anything you need before you go to the trial? As long as we can provide it, the sect will give it to you.”
Zhao Hai shook his head and said, “I have everything I need, there’s no need for the Gang Leader to worry. Gang Leader, I’ll head back first. I’ll leave for the Myriad Demons Sect five days later.”
Tie Zhantian nodded. Zhao Hai gave everyone a bow before leaving. Tie Zhantian looked at Zhao Hai’s departing back and said, “Everyone, the suppression from the super sects has begun. We need to make preparations.”
Hu Liangchen nodded and said, “The main culprit should be the Myriad Demon Sect. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have called Zhao Hai to participate in the trial. Little Hai became famous during our fight against the Wandering Soul Group, the Myriad Demons Sect should have heard of him then. What I want to know is whether the Myriad Demons Sect wanted to suppress us fully or are they just sending us a warning?”
Tie Zhantian nodded and said, “I think we should consider what they would do next. If they really intend to fully suppress us, then there would definitely be a follow-up. If they just want to send a warning, then we won’t be hearing from them in the short term. Let’s see which one they choose.”
Everyone nodded. Although the Black Tiger Gang doesn’t have enough strength to defend against the Myriad Demons Sect, it has to be said that its strength increased after swallowing the Roaring Flame Sect. Otherwise, the Myriad Demons Sect wouldn’t have taken notice of them. They would definitely pressure the Black Tiger Gang. If the sect is able to wade through this, then their development would be limitless in the future.
In the Great World of Cultivation, the strength of a sect relies on many factors. Firstly, there should be powerful experts on the top echelons. These experts would become deterrents against other people who wanted to attack them. Secondly, the peak powerhouse of the sect. If the sect doesn’t have a noteworthy expert, then it wouldn’t be a powerful sect. Thirdly, the sect needs to be wealthy. For a sect’s gears to turn, it needs money. The wealthier the sect, the more resources it would have. And the more resources a sect has, the more experts it could nurture. Therefore, wealth was one of the most important metrics to a sect’s strength. And lastly, a powerful sect would need territory.
The territory of a sect doesn’t only require a rich spirit vein. A sect must also have a vast territory. If a sect has more territory, then its production capabilities would increase. Moreover, the larger the sect’s territory, the more spirit veins it would have. Also, a large territory would have a large number of people living in it. This would increase the chances of a genius to be born inside the sect. This was also why sects wanted to expand.
In the Great World of Cultivation, the Central Province would naturally have the richest spiritual qi. It also has the most resources. Because of this, sects in the Central Province would have greater strength compared to sects of the same scale in the other provinces.
As for the Northern Divergent Province, it wasn’t as prosperous as the others. Compared to the Central Orthodox Province, the Northern Divergent Province was a barren wasteland.
However, for the Black Tiger Gang, the Northern Divergent Province was good enough. Since they swallowed the Roaring Flame Sect, the Black Tiger Gang’s territory has increased. Besides a few large sects, none of the other sects could compare to the Black Tiger Gang.
It was the Black Tiger Gang’s territory that attracted the Myriad Demons Sect’s attention. The Black Tiger Gang was famous for their beast pills while the Roaring Flame Sect was famous for their refining. Inside the Black Tiger Gang’s territory was the Black Tiger Mountains that’s rich in beasts. The sect also has a portion of the Green Plains Mountains in its territory. And now, the Black Tiger Gang has gained the Inferno Valley which was a good place for refining. Any one of these places could support a medium-grade sect. But now, the Black Tiger Gang has three of them. This caused the Myriad Demons Sect to feel a hint of envy.
The Myriad Demons Sect was aware that the Black Tiger Gang has now met the conditions to become a powerful sect. As for the requirement of a notable powerhouse, the Myriad Demons Sect heard that Hu Shan was still living. Thinking of Hu Shan, they couldn’t help but feel a headache. In the past, Hu Shan was able to walk wherever he wanted in the Great World of Cultivation. He was one of the feared experts of the realm. As long as Hu Shan wasn’t confirmed dead, any sect who wants to take action against the Black Tiger Gang would need to think hard.
As for powerful experts, the Black Tiger Gang has a lot of them. The sect has quite a number of transcending tribulation experts, and even more nascent soul experts. Moreover, the strength of the upcoming generation wasn’t any weaker than medium-grade sects. What does this mean? There were no problems with the Black Tiger Gang’s heritage.
The Black Tiger Gang also has no lack of money. Their beast pills are famous in the entire Great World of Cultivation. Every year, the beast pills brought huge income to the sect. And with the Inferno Valley falling into their hands, the Black Tiger Gang would become even richer.
As for territory, the Black Tiger Gang naturally has vast lands. The future of the Black Tiger Gang was very bright, to the point where it might threaten the position of the Myriad Demons Sect. Therefore, the Myriad Demons Sect decided to suppress them.
Hu Liangchen looked at everyone before turning to Tie Zhantian, “Gang Leader, we need to strengthen our defenses. In case the Myriad Demon Sect really intends to take action against us, then we would be prepared. At the same time, we need to improve our relationship with the other sects. This will make the Myriad Demon Sect more cautious when acting against us.”
Tie Zhantian nodded and said, “Leave the defenses to me. As for the matter with the other sects, I’ll leave that to you. I’m not as good at diplomacy as you. As long as we continue to develop, we would not need to worry about anybody.”
Hu Liangchen nodded and said, “Don’t worry, you can leave that to me. The Myriad Demons Sect has been running uncontested in the Northern Divergent Province for many years. They had offended a lot of people. I believe we can form an alliance with these people.”
Tie Zhantian gave a nod. He wishes for the Black Tiger Gang to get through this crisis.