Chapter 2039 — Tian Yuexing’s First Trial

It took almost an entire day, but Tian Yuexing finally defeated all of the masked men.

"This is just the first trial, but I am already sweating. Why’d they make this year’s qualification so difficult? Is it because of my reputation?" Tian Yuexing wondered out loud as he waited for the portal to appear so he could leave, unaware that the trial had yet to end.

However, he would soon learn the truth when nothing happened for several hours.

"The trial’s still ongoing? In that case, where are the enemies?" Tian Yuexing considered flying around, but just as he took to the sky, he noticed thousands of semi-transparent swords appearing in the sky above him.

His eyes widened with surprise, and he instinctively used a martial technique to attack all of the swords at once. However, his eyes widened even more after witnessing his martial technique unexpectedly shatter from clashing with the swords.

"What?!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with disbelief.

Soon, the sky above Tian Yuexing darkened as the swords descended upon him.

Refusing to even consider retreat, he chose to face them head-on, unleashing his full strength in a barrage of powerful strikes. Yet no matter how much force he poured into his attacks, his blows couldn’t even graze the falling swords, much less destroy them. It was as if the blades were untouchable, immune to brute strength alone.

After narrowly evading the descending swords, Tian Yuexing’s eyes narrowed. He noticed that the aura surrounding these swords was different from that of the masked men he had faced earlier.

Realization began to stir, but with the swords relentlessly pursuing him, he had little time to think. Forced to dodge while piecing together the puzzle, he racked his brain, desperately trying to decipher the key to passing the trial.

Eventually, Tian Yuexing uncovered the trick. Piece by piece, the puzzle came together, and he began destroying the swords one at a time.

Unlike Yuan, who possessed the skills and control to dismantle them all in a single sweeping motion, Tian Yuexing had to take a more methodical approach. He focused first on the swords imbued with Supreme Sword Aura, the type he was most familiar with.

After hours of relentless dodging and careful strikes, he cleared those away and shifted his attention to the blades carrying Enhanced Sword Aura. These proved more troublesome, often requiring multiple attempts to break through, each failure costing him precious energy and time.

After two more days of nonstop movement and relentless effort, Tian Yuexing finally destroyed the last sword. Despite his cultivation, exhaustion weighed heavily on him, and every fiber of his being longed to collapse onto the ground and sleep.

But then he remembered that his every movement was being watched by countless spectators across the Nine Heavens.

’I am the Heavenly Son—the number one genius in the Nine Heavens! I must not disgrace myself!’

With sheer willpower, he straightened his posture, composed himself, and stepped through the portal that appeared before him with graceful movements.

When Tian Yuexing returned to the platform outside, he glanced around and saw that no other participants had finished the first trial yet—a result he fully expected.

However, there was something off about the atmosphere, and the audience was oddly quiet.

But Tian Yuexing didn’t question it and turned to look at Senior Bai, who was standing not far away.

"I get a week to rest, correct?" he asked.

"That’s right." Senior Bai nodded his head, confirming it.

Without wasting another second, Tian Yuexing sat down and began to cultivate, not to recover his spiritual energy, but to calm and steady his mind.

As a cultivator in the God Ascension Realm, it would take years of constant battle to deplete his spiritual energy. However, the trial had been mentally grueling, pushing his focus, perception, and discipline to their limits. Moreover, the constant swapping of sword aura depleted his soul strength much quicker than anticipated.

Shortly after, Tian Yuexing’s name jumped to the second rank with a score of 95. Of course, Tian Yuexing didn’t even bother to look at the ranking since he was convinced that he was first.

As Tian Yuexing focused on his cultivation, the spectators mumbled to each other.

"Seeing the Heavenly Son in second place always invokes a weird feeling."

"Right? He’s usually first at whatever he does."

Although Tian Yuexing was immersed in his cultivation, he had a strange feeling in his gut that prompted him to open his eyes, and when he saw the weird looks the spectators were giving him, he subconsciously tilted his head to look at the ranking, and when he did, he was left in disbelief.

Tian Yuexing’s eyes widened after seeing the name.

"Yuan!" he uttered, his voice laced with disbelief.

He then turned to ask Senior Bai, "There must be some sort of mistake. How is he above me when I am the only one here?!"

Senior Bai cleared his throat and calmly responded, "He’s not here because he already started his second trial."

"When?! When did he finish?!" Tian Yuexing demanded answers.

"A little over two days ago."

"Over two days ago?! He finished the first trial in less than a day?!" Tian Yuexing couldn’t believe what he was hearing, nor could he fathom how Yuan had accomplished such a feat.

’Damn it! I don’t have the time to rest if he’s already two days ahead of me!’

He immediately stood up and ran toward the second door, quickly disappearing from the platform after resting only for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the rest of the participants had reached the end of the path and started fighting the thousands of masked men. Unfortunately for them, barely anyone was paying attention to their trial, as everyone was focused on Yuan, who was in the lead, and the Heavenly Son, who was playing catch-up—a rare sight for many.

As for Yuan, who was now two days deep into the second trial, he had killed tens of thousands of sea beasts and traveled dozens of miles on the path, but the end was still nowhere in sight.