Amidst the shouts of soldiers fully armed with firearms, Li Xiu and others came out of the room and proceeded along the narrow and chilly passage under the dim lights.
Numerous similar rooms lined the passage, and the people inside were also driven out, moving slowly toward the end of the passage.
After a few turns, the scene before them suddenly opened up to reveal a vast, brightly lit underground space to Li Xiu.
Steel frames and wooden beams served as the primary supports for the underground space. Through the steel frames, irregular gray-black rocks were visible overhead, with many of them draped in droplets of moisture, and even some moss clinging to the rocks for growth.
At the place where the light was most dazzling, a towering Blue Stone Gate, over a dozen meters high, was embedded in the rock wall. The natural rock wall contrasted sharply with the stone gate, which was carved with various exquisite and mysterious patterns, making it appear particularly eerie and terrifying against the backdrop of those bizarre symbols, grooves, and designs.
"Is this the Trial Gate?" Li Xiu muttered as he gazed up at the Blue Stone Gate.
"It should be called the Demon Gate," a brawny man following Ah Fei sneered. "Kid, you're really unlucky. Who knows what those guys were thinking, opening the Demon Gate early. You've just arrived here without even a day's training and already have to face death. It's pathetic. But even with training, it wouldn't help much. You'd better pray for the Goddess of Fortune's blessing."
"Everyone shut up!" A cold voice echoed through the loudspeaker, quickly silencing everyone. In the vast underground space, the quiet was so profound that even the sound of water droplets could be heard.
On a high platform made of wood, a man held a loudspeaker, standing beside two figures resembling Iron Man, whose bodies were entirely covered in some strange armor.
Those were Magic Armor Masters, war machines capable of contending with magical spirits, representing the pinnacle of human combat power.
In the eyes of Li Xiu, who was also a Magic Armor Master, these two were unremarkable figures, but for ordinary people, their deterrence was akin to nuclear weapons.
"Some of you know me, some don't. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Old Gu, and I'm in charge here. I won't say much else. You know why you're here and what you want to gain better than anyone else. I'm waiting for you to return, to come out alive from the Trial Gate, hand over the items to me, and exchange them for everything you want. It's your only way out," Old Gu said, and without waiting for a response, he shouted toward the Blue Stone Gate, "Open the gate."
Following Old Gu's command, a few soldiers carrying boxes approached the Blue Stone Gate, placed the boxes before it, and took out blue Gemstones, fitting them one by one into the slots of the Blue Stone Gate.
Once all the slots on the Blue Stone Gate were filled with gemstones, they seemed to be activated by some force, emanating a strong blue light from themselves without needing to reflect any external light.
Ka-chak! Ka-chak!
As the blue light flashed, the Blue Stone Gate slowly opened, releasing a mysterious and enchanting white light from the crack.
No order from Old Gu was needed; some people were already running towards the open Blue Stone Gate.
Experienced "old-timers" like Ah Fei and the brawny man were also running forward, while some newcomers remained frozen in place.
Ka-chak! Ka-chak!
The sound of rifles being cocked came from behind, making the newcomers turn their heads to see that all the soldiers around them had their guns pointed at them.
"Anyone still outside once the Trial Gate closes... will die..." Old Gu's sinister voice echoed once more.
This time, no one hesitated anymore, and everyone, including Li Xiu, rushed feverishly toward the opening in the Blue Stone Gate.
The Blue Stone Gate had not even opened halfway when the blue light began to fade, and the gate started to close slowly.
People rushed frantically toward the interior of the gate, and just as it was about to close completely, everyone had already entered through it.
Boom!
The stone gate shut completely, and the underground space returned to its previous chilly and silent state.
Amid the crowd, Li Xiu surveyed the surrounding environment. Although he had heard some things about what was inside the Trial Gate, he was experiencing it firsthand for the first time.
This place, accommodating over a hundred people, was an enormous structure resembling a stadium, surrounded by layer upon layer of ascending circular stone steps, with an oval field in the center.
At the center of the field was a goalpost, approximately ten meters from which was a cross mark, and at the center of the cross mark, there was indeed a soccer ball placed.
Li Xiu glanced around at everyone, then checked himself, realizing that irrespective of what they wore when they arrived, now everyone was dressed in identical white tight-fitting suits covering their bodies, and everything else they had was gone. On their left wrist was a red bracelet with numbers on it.
Li Xiu looked at his wristband and saw the number 49 on it.
"Unlucky, it's a C-level difficulty test!" The brawny man who had been following Ah Fei all along looked up at the sky above the field and swore softly.
Li Xiu looked up to see a giant screen hovering there, displaying a large "C" character.
"Welcome to the Sea Heaven Trial Ground, Trial Difficulty Level C. The trial rules are as follows..." Some text appeared on the large screen, accompanied by a voice resembling an electronic synthesis.
After listening to the trial rules, some people seemed excited, but most had ugly expressions on their faces.
The trial rules were quite simple. All participants in the trial were divided into teams of two, with one person standing before the goal to defend and the other to kick the ball. Each had two chances: scoring a goal counted as one point, and saving a goal also counted as one point. Simply obtaining one point was considered passing the trial. Everyone got one opportunity to defend and one to kick. Scoring one point ensured survival, while scoring zero meant death.
However, there were only two rewards, and if someone managed to score two points, they could take all the rewards.
But if someone scored two points, the other would inevitably score zero, meaning failing the test, with death as the only outcome.
Whichever way one looked at it, the rules were somewhat similar to a penalty shootout in soccer, with each goal a matter of life and death.
"Now, you can start choosing your teammates. Simply shake hands to exchange wristbands, and you must find a teammate before the countdown ends." The synthesized voice echoed again, and a six-hundred-second countdown appeared on the screen.
People scanned around, some looking confused, others confident, some showing despair, and others hesitating.
"According to these rules, as long as two people cooperate, they can both leave with the reward alive. But if your teammate doesn't cooperate, then it's hard to say. Choosing a teammate is the key to this trial." Li Xiu pondered silently.
In fact, everyone understood this logic, but human nature is unpredictable. In such a place, who is truly worthy of trust?
"Hey kid, want to team up with me?" Just as Li Xiu was contemplating, he suddenly saw the brawny man walk up to him, smiling and extending a hand adorned with a red wristband.