Inside the blood-colored great hall.
Mu Yang introspected his own sea of consciousness and saw that beneath the hanging crescent moon—which symbolized the cultivation of his spiritual power—nine golden-red light screens appeared.
Among the nine golden-red light screens, one screen displayed clear and mysterious writing, while the remaining eight appeared dim, their contents indiscernible.
—First Asura Trial: Domain Mastery; Master the Killing God Domain; Time limit: Half a year.
"Master the Killing God Domain? Isn't this a freebie?"
Upon seeing the requirement for the first trial, Mu Yang thought to himself silently.
If nothing went wrong, the degree to which he and Shui Bing'er had already mastered the Killing God Domain should be enough to meet the standard required by the divine trial, right?
But then again, while this trial was a freebie for him, if it were someone else who had just obtained the Killing God Domain, they would likely fail.
"Bing'er, what's your trial?"
Opening his eyes, Mu Yang asked Shui Bing'er.
"To master the Killing God Domain within one year."
Shui Bing'er replied with a smile.
"One year?"
Mu Yang nodded silently to himself.
As expected, the higher the level of the trial, the more difficult the specific requirement.
Although the goal was the same—mastering the Killing God Domain—the time allotted to him was only half of Shui Bing'er's, which in effect made the difficulty higher.
Uh~, perhaps in the eyes of the Asura God, he was the true protagonist of the trial, while Shui Bing'er was just an added bonus? Not requiring much?
"Senior, may I ask, what is the standard for mastering the Killing God Domain? And how will it be determined whether the trial is completed?"
Retracting his wandering thoughts, Mu Yang slightly bowed and asked 'Shang'.
'Shang' returned a bow to Mu Yang and explained, "Your Highness, you are the chosen inheritor of the great Asura God. In the future, there is no need to bow to me.
As for the trial matters, they will be carried out within the Asura Secret Realm. Whether or not the trial is completed will be judged solely by the divine statue left behind by the great Asura God.
The Asura Secret Realm is an independent secret dimensional space attached to the Douluo Star."
"Douluo Star?"
Shui Bing'er caught onto a key point and couldn't help asking.
The world she lived in was called the Douluo Continent. Why did the senior in front of her refer to it as "Douluo Star"? What was a star? A twinkling light in the sky?
Could it be that the stars hanging in the night sky were each worlds like the Douluo Continent?
"Trial-taker, the world we live in is far vaster than you can imagine.
What you know as the world, excluding the vast seas, is collectively called the Douluo Continent.
The Douluo Continent, combined with the vast oceans, several other large landmasses similar to the Douluo Continent, and countless islands, together form the Douluo Star.
It is called a 'star' because the Douluo Star is a spherical body.
As for the world beyond the Douluo Star, it is currently of no relevance to you. If, in the future, you can transcend the boundary between mortal and divine, you will naturally come to understand."
'Shang' gave Shui Bing'er a brief explanation.
"Our world is a sphere?"
Shui Bing'er's eyes widened in disbelief.
If the Douluo Continent under her feet was part of a "sphere," then wouldn't the continents and oceans on the other side of the sphere fall off?
'Shang' chuckled and did not answer this question, instead saying, "Your Highness, trial-taker, please follow me."
As he spoke, 'Shang' made a gesture of invitation, then turned and stepped into the white light screen that led to the Asura Secret Realm.
Exchanging a glance, Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er followed.
The Asura Secret Realm was vastly different from what Mu Yang had previously imagined.
After passing through the white light screen, Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er appeared atop a mountain peak. Gazing into the distance, what greeted their eyes was no longer a dark and oppressive world like Slaughter City, but instead blue skies, white clouds, and forests.
Far off in the distance, there were even snow-capped mountains and the sea.
Shifting his gaze back to the front, Mu Yang saw that the two of them were standing on a vast plaza.
The plaza, paved with black stone tiles three feet square, was extremely spacious, covering at least tens of thousands of square meters. Apart from a few shadowy-style buildings erected along the plaza's edge, there was only a single towering Asura statue—several tens of meters high—standing at the center of the vast plaza.
"Your Highness, trial-taker, this is the Asura Secret Realm."
'Shang's' voice sounded, pulling Mu Yang and his Shui Bing'er's gazes back from surveying the surroundings.
"Senior, I see quite a number of soul beasts still living inside the Secret realm?"
Sensing numerous strong and weak soul power auras within the forest at the foot of the mountain, Mu Yang couldn't help asking.
"Of course there are soul beasts inside the Secret realm, and besides soul beasts, there are also some exotic beasts from other worlds."
'Shang' nodded slightly.
'Exotic beasts come from other worlds?'
Mu Yang raised his eyebrows, then impatiently asked, "If I'm not mistaken, the exotic beast Bing'er and I encountered inside the Hell Road back then should have been your doing, right, Senior? I wonder if there are any exotic beasts inside the secret realm suitable for Bing'er.
Exotic beasts were good things, at least the two exotic beasts he had encountered before were such.
And the inner cores of the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent and the Flood Dragon exotic beast had respectively allowed Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang, after refining them, to awaken their Martial Soul Innate Domains.
If there were an ice-attributed exotic beast compatible with Shui Bing'er, it might even allow Shui Bing'er to awaken her Martial Soul Innate Domain as well, and this inner core thing could also be used as a soul ring, much like Ma Hongjun in the original work.
If the exotic beast was strong enough, refining it might even grant a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
"Your Highness, the number of exotic beasts inside the secret realm isn't too many, and there are no ice-attributed exotic beasts."
'Shang' shook his head, then continued speaking: "Although there are no ice-attributed exotic beasts, the Asura secret Realm has existed for a long time. Other than previous trial-takers, no one else has come to hunt souls.
Over the many years, it hasn't lacked soul beasts whose cultivation years have reached a hundred-thousand. Although the vast majority of them have already perished under heavenly tribulation, at present there are still two soul beasts inside the mystic realm that are a hundred-thousand-years old or above. One of them is the overlord occupying that distant snow mountain: the hundred-thousand-year Ice Luan."
Speaking, 'Shang' pointed toward the tall snow mountain in the far distance.
"Senior, Bing'er's martial soul is the Ice Phoenix. She has currently just cultivated to Rank 70 and needs to advance with a soul ring, I wonder—"
Mu Yang said somewhat hesitantly.
The Ice Phoenix was a mutation evolved from the Fire Phoenix, and although the Ice Luan and Ice Phoenix were not exactly the same species, their similarity was extremely high and they were exceedingly rare; according to scholars, the Ice Luan was suspected to be a lightly mutated species of the Ice Phoenix soul beast. Not only were their attributes the same, but their bloodlines also originated from the same source.
Therefore, for Shui Bing'er, excluding the factor of years, the Ice Luan soul ring was not inferior to the Ice Phoenix soul ring or a god-bestowed soul ring.
"The soul beasts and exotic beasts inside the secret realm are all for candidates to temper themselves and enhance their strength. Except for within the range of the divine mountain beneath our feet where slaughter is forbidden, everywhere else is a place where the weak are prey to the strong."
'Shang' said with an indifferent expression.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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