Sovereign of Stars

Chapter 50 – The second stage of the hunt

On the training grounds, Su Xin and Duan Yunfeng stood together, watching the powerful figures from various factions busily moving about.

"Young friends."

An elder in a white robe approached them.

"I am Elder Mo from the Tianye Sect," the elder introduced himself.

"Tianye Sect?" Su Xin's heart stirred.

The Heavenflame Dynasty was vast, with numerous sects and factions.

Among them, three sects were renowned and considered the strongest.

The Tianye Sect was one of these three major sects.

It was said that the Tianye Sect had existed for hundreds of years, with deep roots. In the current Tianye Sect, there were as many as four Nirvana Realm experts.

In the Heavenflame Dynasty, a family with even one Nirvana Realm ancestor was considered a top-tier noble house. Having four Nirvana Realm experts, along with such deep foundations, made the Tianye Sect a colossal presence in the dynasty.

As long as they didn't rebel or provoke the Heavenflame Imperial Family to take action, the Tianye Sect could walk unchallenged within the dynasty.

"Young friend Su Xin, I am here to ask if you would like to join our Tianye Sect," Elder Mo smiled.

"If you are willing, you can directly become a core disciple of our Tianye Sect. The resources and training you would receive would be second only to the Heavenflame Palace and the Imperial Family. Moreover, our Tianye Sect currently has four Nirvana Realm Supreme Elders. I can promise that one of them will take you as a disciple and personally guide you."

"Additionally, I have heard that your Su Family has been facing some crises recently. But as long as you become a disciple of our Tianye Sect, I assure you that no one will dare to touch your Su Family."

Elder Mo came with an offer right away.

And it was a very sincere offer.

Resources second only to the Heavenflame Palace and the Imperial Family.

Being taken as a disciple by a Nirvana Realm expert.

And protection for the Su Family.

Even Su Xin was momentarily stunned by these conditions.

It was Duan Yunfeng who reacted first, somewhat dissatisfied, "Old man, what do you mean by this? Su Xin and I are standing together, and your Tianye Sect only invites Su Xin and not me. Are you looking down on me?"

Su Xin was startled.

A dignified elder of the Tianye Sect, a peak Void Shattering Realm expert, and Duan Yunfeng dared to call him an old man so disrespectfully... Was he not worried that Elder Mo would be angered?

But hearing Duan Yunfeng's words, Elder Mo showed no anger. Instead, he smiled, "If young friend Duan also wishes to join our Tianye Sect, I would naturally welcome you. I'm just afraid our Tianye Sect might be too small for you."

"Hmph, you're right. I really don't think much of your Tianye Sect," Duan Yunfeng pursed his lips, unconcerned.

Su Xin understood.

Duan Yunfeng had a significant background, which Elder Mo of the Tianye Sect was surely aware of. Therefore, even though Duan Yunfeng was highly talented, Elder Mo had no intention of inviting him.

In fact, it wasn't just Duan Yunfeng. There were many other geniuses at this hunt.

For instance, Xia Mang and Tu San...

They were well-known, one being a member of the Imperial Family and the other from the Qi Prince's Mansion. Even if their strength was likely to get them into the Heavenflame Palace, they wouldn't join other factions. So these factions and sects naturally wouldn't waste their breath.

At most, they would just try to befriend them a little.

"Elder Mo, thank you for your kind offer. I will first try to see if I can make it into the top ten and enter the Heavenflame Palace for training. If I can't get into the Heavenflame Palace, then I'll consider the Tianye Sect," Su Xin said.

"Of course," Elder Mo smiled. "In that case, we'll wait until this hunt is over for you to make your decision."

With that, Elder Mo left.

After Elder Mo, several other sects or powerful figures approached Su Xin.

Among them was another sect, also one of the top three major sects, offering very high conditions.

Of course, these factions and sects knew that Su Xin wouldn't immediately agree but would first try to enter the Heavenflame Palace, so they were just extending an olive branch in advance.

As for Su Xin's final decision, it would have to wait until the hunt was over.

"These invitations from sects and factions are a good thing for me."

"Even if I'm extremely unlucky and can't make it into the top ten, I can still choose to join these factions or sects, at least ensuring some safety for my family."

Su Xin thought to himself.

An hour quickly passed.

A thousand geniuses had already gathered together again.

The person hosting the second stage of the hunt now held a mysterious white bead in their hand.

The person tossed the white bead into the air, and it immediately expanded, emitting a dazzling white light that enveloped all one thousand geniuses on the training grounds. Then, the thousand geniuses disappeared from the field.

"The Heart of Heaven Realm?"

"Is it the Heart of Heaven Realm used by the Heavenflame Imperial Family for training their members?"

Some of the powerful figures from various factions and sects recognized the origin of the white bead.

The Heart of Heaven Realm was a training space specifically for the Imperial Family.

And the white bead was the guide that sent these thousand geniuses into the Heart of Heaven Realm.

After the geniuses were sent into the Heart of Heaven Realm, the white bead floating in the air emitted beams of white light, and soon, mirror-like images appeared in the air above the training grounds. These images showed scenes of the geniuses within the Heart of Heaven Realm, though only some of them.

"Using the Heart of Heaven Realm as the second stage of the hunt? Interesting."

Elder Mo stood with his hands behind his back in a corner of the training grounds, smiling as he watched the images in the air.

...

This was a vast trial space.

The ground was made of bluestone, nearly a hundred meters long and wide.

At the end of the bluestone, the surroundings were shrouded in a white light curtain.

Su Xin now stood in the center of this trial space.

A grand voice echoed in the ears of the thousand geniuses in different trial spaces.

"After ten breaths, from the white light curtain around this trial space, your opponents will appear one after another to attack you. These opponents will vary in type and number, and your task is to withstand the waves of opponents."

"The more waves of opponents you withstand, the greater your chances of passing the second stage of the hunt."

It was a simple explanation.

No detailed rules were announced.

"In the first stage of the hunt, the rules were detailed, and it was directly announced that only a thousand people would pass. But in this second stage, they didn't tell us how many would be left, only that we should withstand the attacks of the opponents as much as possible?" Su Xin frowned slightly.

The ten breaths passed quickly, and from the surrounding white light curtain, two black shadows darted out.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two black shadows moved incredibly fast, like two gusts of wind, attacking Su Xin from two directions.

As they approached, Su Xin saw their true form.

"Not humans, but demonic beasts?" Su Xin's eyes narrowed.

The two black shadows were clearly two large black wolves over two meters long.

The two black wolves had blood-red eyes and exuded a bloodthirsty aura as they pounced.

Su Xin instantly drew his sword.

Swish! Swish!

The sword light hummed softly, but it was unbelievably fast.

The two wolves had just reached him when their heads were severed. They howled in agony before turning into white light and dissipating in the trial space.

"Not real demonic beasts, but avatars created through some special means?" Su Xin was secretly amazed. "Truly remarkable methods."

It was clear that the creator of this trial space was extraordinary.

After the two wolves dissipated, several more figures emerged from the surrounding white light curtain.

This time, four strange birds with incredibly sharp, sword-like beaks appeared.

In terms of speed, these four strange birds were even faster than the wolves.

Su Xin continued to fight, quickly killing the four strange birds and making them disappear.

Next, waves of opponents continued to emerge from the surrounding white light curtain. These opponents were strange and varied, including demonic beasts, strange birds, and flying insects.

Although these opponents were powerful, they posed little threat to Su Xin.

Su Xin quickly dealt with five waves of opponents and was now in the sixth wave.

The sixth wave consisted of two human assassins.

Both wore black robes, and their speed was not the only thing remarkable; their movement techniques were the most important.

Too bizarre.

The terrifying speed combined with their movement techniques made it difficult for Su Xin to capture their figures.

Their attacks were silent and hard to guard against.

If Su Xin were to take it seriously and use some sword techniques, he could kill them, but after fighting through six waves of opponents, he had noticed something strange.

"After six waves of opponents, my spiritual power has been constantly consumed, with no chance to replenish it," Su Xin frowned.

In the previous five waves, he had relied on his own strength to defeat the opponents, but it had consumed a lot of spiritual power.

Especially in the fifth wave, where he faced over a hundred flying insects.

Killing those insects consumed a lot of spiritual power, and the trial space didn't give him any time to recover.

The two assassins in the sixth wave were even more troublesome. Using real techniques would deplete more spiritual power, and he didn't know how many more waves of opponents he would face or what conditions he needed to meet to pass the second stage of the hunt.

"The rules announced earlier were to withstand the attacks of the waves of opponents, and the more waves you withstand, the greater your chance of advancing, not to kill as many opponents as quickly as possible."

"So..."

Su Xin's eyes focused, and he stopped moving.

He no longer bothered to chase the two assassins and just stood there, letting them attack him.

Swish! Swish!

Two cold daggers silently stabbed at him.

Su Xin drew his sword, his sword intent swirling, transforming into mountains and seas, casually blocking their attacks.

The two assassins continued to attack.

Clang, clang, clang~~~

Repeated attacks were easily blocked by Su Xin.

But after just a moment, without Su Xin making a move, the two assassins' figures dissipated on their own.

"Indeed."

Seeing the two assassins turn into white light and disappear in the trial space, Su Xin smiled.

He understood that the second stage of the hunt wasn't about fighting these opponents but about surviving their relentless attacks. As long as he endured for a certain period, the opponents would naturally disappear.

"The second stage of the hunt tests not only strength but also endurance and insight!"

"If you can't detect the trap in the second stage and blindly rely on strength to fight wave after wave of opponents, consuming a lot of spiritual power, even if you have the strength to pass the second stage, you might still be eliminated," Su Xin thought.

Knowing the real rules, Su Xin found it much easier to handle the situation.

...