Trial of the Divine King

"Let go!" Luo Qingxue's voice was kept very low, wrapped in a bone-chilling coldness.

As soon as the words fell, Qin Hao felt an irresistible force suddenly surge from under his feet. It was as if a giant, invisible hand had grabbed his ankles, yanking him fiercely downward. He was still holding Luo Qingxue's hand, and they both lost their balance at the same time, their bodies falling uncontrollably.

The world spun around them.

The dark red sky and the cracked earth before their eyes all vanished instantly, replaced by a pure, stagnant darkness.

He didn't know how long had passed. Perhaps it was just a moment, or perhaps it was a whole day, but finally, they felt solid ground beneath their feet. Qin Hao landed on both feet, bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact of the fall.

"You can let go now, right!" Luo Qingxue's voice rang in Qin Hao's ear. Qin Hao felt a bit awkward; he had been thinking that if Luo Qingxue went missing, being with her would allow him to protect her.

Instead, he had ended up dragging her along with him to this unknown place.

"I will naturally let go once we reach a safe place," Qin Hao said, his voice uncharacteristically lacking its usual laziness.

His gaze swept across their surroundings, discovering that they were standing in a desolate wasteland. The ground was grayish-black and completely barren of life. The air was filled with a scent of decay, a smell that made even Qin Hao's soul involuntarily tremble.

This could not help but make Qin Hao raise his guard to the absolute maximum. After all, he possessed multiple top-tier physiques and the bloodline of the Primordial Dragon Emperor. His level of existence was extraordinarily high. What kind of entity could make him shudder from just its leaked aura, before even showing its face?

"Those... seem to be the missing people!" Luo Qingxue's voice was a bit tense. Qin Hao looked in the direction of her gaze and indeed saw Chen Ping and the other missing individuals.

Those people also noticed Qin Hao and Luo Qingxue. Chen Ping jogged over to Qin Hao:

"Brother Ye, you guys were teleported here too."

Saying this, Chen Ping looked at Luo Qingxue and asked, "Miss Luo, you are the Holy Maiden of the Jade Pool. I want to ask, what exactly is going on here? Why is this Jade Pool Secret Realm different from the intelligence we received earlier?"

Luo Qingxue shook her head, indicating that she was also unsure.

"I find it very strange as well. After entering the secret realm today, I found it to be completely different from the descriptions given by my senior sisters who entered before."

Only Qin Hao rubbed his chin, a faint suspicion forming in his mind. Could all of this be his mother's doing?

Outsiders just thought this was an ordinary trial, but only Qin Hao knew that it was all merely a stage set up for his own conquests.

Just as everyone was discussing this, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently. It wasn't an earthquake; rather, something was breaking out from underground. The grayish-black earth began to crack, and the fissures spread rapidly from a distance.

Everyone retreated in terror. Qin Hao grabbed Luo Qingxue's arm and pulled her back.

"Let go! I don't need you to pull me, Young Master Ye. I will tell you solemnly one more time: you and I cannot even be considered friends. Furthermore, I have a man I am going to marry. Even though I have never met him, I do not want him to misunderstand because of any entanglement I might have with other men."

Luo Qingxue pulled her arm out of Qin Hao's grasp with a look of disgust.

Seeing Luo Qingxue trying so hard to distance herself from him, Qin Hao could not help but chuckle lightly:

"How can you be so certain you want to marry someone you've never even met? At least you and I have met a few times. You don't even know what love is, yet you're sure you want to marry him?"

Luo Qingxue snorted coldly, "My affairs have nothing to do with you!"

Boom—

As they spoke, a giant skeletal hand burst forth from the ground. Its five finger bones were each as thick as an adult man's waist. The skeletal hand slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and sending grayish-black debris flying in all directions.

Immediately after, a massive skeleton slowly rose from the earth. It was a hundred zhang tall, blotting out the sky and the sun. The moment it stood completely straight, everyone felt a suffocating sense of oppression.

It was a crushing weight that transcended cultivation realms, stemming from a higher level of existence.

"The Undead Race! This is an Undead from the Source Realm! An innate God-Demon! However, looking at his appearance, he shouldn't be at his peak; his strength is greatly diminished!" Luo Qingxue recognized the skeleton's origins at a glance.

The giant skeleton glanced at Luo Qingxue and actually nodded in approval. "Correct. I am the last Undead of this world. During the Ancient Immortal War, I was saved by the Patriarch of the Jade Pool and luckily managed to keep my life."

"In truth, I should have died long ago. I have only held on until now to find a suitable inheritor. Little girl, with your Primordial Dao Physique, you are qualified to inherit my legacy."

"No, no, no, I am not compatible with you. If you can pass my upcoming trial, I will pass on the inheritance of my elder brother, the Primordial Genesis Supreme God-Demon, God King Cangyan, to you as well."

"My elder brother was born before the Primordial Chaos was divided, during the silence of the Genesis. He was formed from a wisp of innate Primordial Origin even earlier than the birth of the Chaos Fiendgods!"

Saying this, the skeleton turned its head to look at the others, then shook its head with a hint of disappointment. "Aside from this Primordial Dao Physique, what kind of trash are the rest of you? What is the Jade Pool doing? Are they allowing any random riffraff to participate in my trial?"

Qin Hao's mouth twitched. This was the first time he had been described as riffraff. However, he couldn't blame the giant skeleton. Qin Hao was currently wearing a mask, and this mask could isolate the perception of even an Immortal Emperor. Under the giant skeleton's probing, Qin Hao appeared to be nothing more than an incredibly ordinary person.

"You all should withdraw. My trial is extremely dangerous; people will die. Aside from this Primordial Dao Physique, the rest of you have absolutely no hope. Participating rashly will only result in a miserable death."

The Undead God King's words left Chen Ping and the others feeling highly dissatisfied. Which of them wasn't a top-tier genius from a major Holy Land? They would even dare to clash with the Mandate of Heaven itself. How could they possibly retreat without a fight just because of a mere trial?

"An innate God-Demon, heh, your judgment isn't that great either. So this is what the innate God-Demons of the Three Realms and Nine Heavens are like. No wonder, no wonder the God-Demons of the Source Realm have all vanished without a trace, leaving only Venerable Tianji behind."

Qin Hao scratched his ear nonchalantly, his tone identical to that of the Undead God King: arrogant and disdainful.

"What did you say? Without our sacrifices, do you think the current Three Realms and Nine Heavens would still exist?"

Qin Hao shrugged. "I wouldn't dare deny your contributions, but as for your judgment, I can't compliment it."

"Heh heh, I only advised you because I didn't want to waste the strength of the new generation of the Three Realms and Nine Heavens. But it seems you are very unappreciative. Fine, then come. When you are about to die, I won't save you."