novelraw Chapter 978 978 The Trial Officially Begins
Chapter 978 978 The Trial Officially Begins
Jun Xiaoyao's spiritual senses were extremely sharp, and he had a keen instinct for detecting danger.
On top of that, his mind was quick and clever.
He had a feeling that the three imperial clan prodigies standing before him harbored ill intentions.
By now, Jun Xiaoyao had made quite a few enemies in the foreign realm.
But he believed that the likes of the Black Peacock Royal Clan from before would never have the guts to provoke him again.
As for these three in front of him, if they truly meant him harm, then they must have been instigated by someone.
"Is it the Mingzhao Imperial Clan, the Mojie Imperial Clan, or... the Fufeng King?"
In just an instant, Jun Xiaoyao's thoughts had cycled through thousands of possibilities.
With three lifetimes worth of primordial spirit, his mind worked like a supercomputer.
He had a grudge with Li Jiuming, but logically speaking, Li Jiuming was at least still alive.
He wouldn't be so reckless.
That left only the Mojie Imperial Clan and the Fufeng King.
Either of them was a possibility.
The Fufeng King in particular — Jun Xiaoyao had already seen through his narrow-mindedness.
Upon learning that he was one of the Six World-Destroying Kings, the Fufeng King would naturally be even more displeased.
On top of that, he was still an ancient supreme being of the academy, a quasi-immortal, with considerable influence and resources at his disposal.
Jun Xiaoyao was speculating.
But he didn't take the matter too much to heart.
Although these three imperial clan prodigies were all supreme beings,
wanting to kill him in the Borderlands was still a pipe dream.
"Nothing more than empty titles, hardly worth mentioning."
Jun Xiaoyao smiled faintly and replied.
"I hope you, our Chaos War God, can carve out a fearsome reputation for our realm here in the Borderlands." Ji Meng, the imperial son, said with a smile.
"Likewise." Jun Xiaoyao said.
The exchange seemed calm on the surface, but undercurrents were swirling beneath.
It was just difficult for outsiders to detect.
Afterward, more imperial clan prodigies appeared, each radiating a powerful aura.
Even the weakest among them was a quasi-supreme.
This made Jun Xiaoyao quietly furrow his brow.
Sure enough, the strength of the immortal realm still fell somewhat short compared to the foreign realm.
If it weren't for the dormant seed-level figures still hidden within the immortal realm,
relying solely on the current generation of prodigies would make it hard to stand on equal footing with the foreign realm.
"Alright everyone, no need for more words — let's set out."
Elder Mu appeared and announced.
He would be leading the group this time.
Ancient warships stretching hundreds to even a thousand zhang long floated suspended in the void.
There were also various ferocious flying ancient beasts and bronze war chariots pulled into formation, all ready to depart.
This Borderlands expedition wasn't a true all-out war between the two realms, but the spectacle was still breathtaking.
Under Elder Mu's lead, Jun Xiaoyao and the others departed from the War God Academy, sailing in a grand procession toward the Borderlands.
Beyond the War God Academy, the ten great provinces of the foreign realm were also fully mobilized.
The great warrior clans, royal clans, quasi-imperial clans, and imperial clans all dispatched large numbers of their people, including their young prodigies.
The War God Academy was merely one force among many.
Of course, the immortal realm couldn't possibly field only the Nine Heavens Immortal Academy — the Nine Great Immortal Lineages of the Immortal Court, the Jun Clan, the various ancient primordial families, the primordial imperial clans, the super divine dynasties, the immortal daoist traditions, and more would all be sending their forces.
Though this was not yet the decisive battle, it could be called the first great mobilization of both realms.
Jun Xiaoyao gazed at the vast foreign realm army that blotted out the sky, and a deep solemnity settled in his eyes.
The foundation and strength of the foreign realm were even greater than he had imagined.
No wonder it posed such a tremendous threat to the immortal realm.
Jun Xiaoyao was deeply curious — what exactly was the origin of the foreign realm?
As the foreign realm mobilized, the immortal realm's army was likewise marching in a grand procession toward the border passes, then through them and into the Borderlands.
Near the edges of the foreign realm's great provinces, there were massive teleportation arrays that could send forces directly to the Borderlands.
On the foreign realm's side, there was no border wall like the one in the immortal realm.
Because the foreign realm was the aggressor by nature, and had no fear of invasion from the immortal realm.
Moreover, the dark matter of the foreign realm was not something the beings of the immortal realm could easily endure.
After stepping into the teleportation array,
Jun Xiaoyao felt the surrounding space convulse violently.
The scenery around him instantly warped.
At one moment, flames blazed across the sky and lava covered the land everywhere, as if returning to the earliest days of an ancient star taking shape.
Then came dense, impenetrable mist stretching across countless billions of miles, all permeated with primordial magnetic energy.
After that came poisonous miasma swamps, thunderstorm zones, fierce wind domains, and more.
He had no idea how much time had passed, nor how many regions he had crossed.
Finally, the chaotic space around him came to a halt.
Jun Xiaoyao looked out and immediately drew a deep breath.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but an endless desert.
Lone smoke rising over the vast sands, the sun setting over a long river — it resembled a desolate Gobi wasteland.
Even sweeping it with divine sense, he could not detect the desert's end.
Above, the sky was not blue, but a pitch-black, deep starry expanse.
Various celestial bodies glimmered, and stars shone down.
This was a desert beneath an endless starry sky.
"So this is the Borderlands..."
Jun Xiaoyao murmured.
Not just him — the vast majority of the young foreign realm beings present were visiting the Borderlands for the first time.
They were all struck with awe by the sight before them.
The skeletal remains of nameless colossal beasts, as massive as mountain ranges, towered up into the starry sky.
Collapsed ancient mountains, and celestial bodies that had fallen from the stars, had carved out ancient craters across the ground.
This was a desolate, lifeless, and chaotic land.
Jun Xiaoyao stepped forward and scooped up a handful of sand from the ground.
The sand was a pale, bone-white color.
"These aren't grains of sand — they're the dust left behind from the weathering of skeletal remains." Jun Xiaoyao said.
The other prodigies all noticed it too, each one stunned beyond words.
This boundless Borderlands desert was entirely composed of the weathered remains of fallen beings!
"Just how many lives were lost here?"
One foreign realm prodigy stood there in a daze, murmuring.
Even though the foreign realm revered the iron law of the strong devouring the weak, witnessing this scene still shook them to the core.
"Loyal bones lie buried across green hills everywhere — why must one return wrapped in horsehide? Our realm's forebears fell in battle here, and that is their glory."
"And what we must do is carry out the will of those forebears — shatter the border passes and trample the immortal realm beneath our hooves!" Elder Mu bellowed.
"That's right — shatter the border passes and trample the immortal realm!"
A great crowd of foreign realm beings erupted in a roar.
Jun Xiaoyao quietly furrowed his brow.
What exactly was the foreign realm so obsessively pursuing in its invasion of the immortal realm?
Was it truly only for the land and resources of the immortal realm?
Jun Xiaoyao had a vague feeling that there were deeper secrets hidden within all of this.
"Alright, from here on, our realm's army will engage the immortal realm's forces in a standoff and in battle."
"But your mission is not to join the army on the battlefield — it is to venture deep into the various regions of the Borderlands and fight the immortal realm's prodigies."
"Kill as many of the immortal realm's prodigies as you can, cut off the path of growth for their younger generation, and create a generational gap." Elder Mu declared loudly.
The true great war had not yet begun, so the major figures of both realms were each holding their ground and would not make a move lightly.
The armies below were merely probing.
The main focus was on this trial for the younger generation.
"Young friend, are you sure you don't need anyone to look after you?" Elder Mu looked toward Jun Xiaoyao.
He had originally intended to have a few imperial clan elites accompany Jun Xiaoyao, so there would be someone to watch his back.
Even if danger arose, those imperial clan elites could serve as a buffer — as long as Jun Xiaoyao came out unharmed, that was all that mattered.
After all, his identity was special and of great importance to the foreign realm.
"True gold must be tested by fire. If I carry the title of War God and still act timid and hesitant, wouldn't that just invite ridicule?" Jun Xiaoyao said with an easy smile.
But in truth, he simply didn't want to be constrained.
Elder Mu heard this and gave a nod.
"My lord, I wish to train on my own."
Beside him, Su Hongyi hesitated for a moment before speaking.
She hoped to grow stronger and not hold Jun Xiaoyao back.
"Alright." Jun Xiaoyao replied.
Su Hongyi carried secrets within her, and her natural talent was formidable.
She simply lacked the tempering that came from brushes with life and death.
Jun Xiaoyao believed that if Su Hongyi truly was one of the Six World-Destroying Kings, then she would not easily come to harm.
"I wonder how everyone in the immortal realm is doing."
Jun Xiaoyao murmured inwardly, took a step through the void, and his figure tore through the air, vanishing from where he stood.
The Borderlands trial had officially begun!