A dense fog filled the air, as countless cultivators let out agonizing, heart-rending screams.
They could clearly feel the cultivation they had painstakingly accumulated within their bodies melting away, flowing out.
Even more terrifying was the maddening itch on the surface of their skin.
It was like a seed sprouting—at first, just a tiny bump on the skin, but as it swelled, a plump mushroom pushed its head out, growing vigorously.
Unlike Yuan Tiangang, who, after taking the pill, had Jiang Ke’er to help suppress the mushroom’s growth—causing the pill’s power to be forced outside his body, growing only on the surface through a layer of air—the cultivators present were truly sprouting mushrooms all over their bodies.
They frantically tried to activate their spiritual power to shake off the mushrooms, not realizing that the mushrooms actually thrived on spiritual energy—the more spiritual power they used, the faster the mushrooms grew.
What was even more terrifying than death itself was the despair of being gradually devoured and dissolved, bit by bit.
All the infected cultivators were utterly panicked.
Never having experienced such a bizarre event, they were completely unprepared for it.
And the more panicked they became, the faster their spiritual power circulated, and the faster the mushrooms grew.
“Quick, charge!”
Jiang Ke’er hurriedly reminded them.
The entrance to the Secret Realm had already shrunk to where only one person could squeeze through sideways.
Clearly, only the last team’s slot remained.
None of the Taiming Sect Members had mushrooms growing on them… This was because they had already witnessed Jiang Ke’er’s methods and understood the principle behind it.
To counter this mushroom poison, one simply needed to keep all spiritual energy still throughout the body and hold their breath—then there would be no effect whatsoever.
By now, all the nearby cultivators had been infected by the mushroom poison.
None of them had realized yet that this toxin was actually easy to counter; it just looked frightening.
As a result, they were all in disarray, not in the mood to stop the Taiming Sect Members.
This finally gave the Taiming Sect squad a chance to break through.
A team from the Dan Sect Alliance had just arrived and hadn’t been poisoned.
They also tried to take advantage of the chaos to slip into the Secret Realm—one of them was already halfway squeezed inside.
Fortunately, Xuanyang mercilessly reached out, yanked that person out by force, and gave that whole team a fierce beating before kicking them far away.
“Go!”
The petite Jiang Ke’er was the first to jump in, followed by Qian Yue and Xiao Ri…
When it was Xiao Ming’s turn, he got embarrassingly stuck in the gap due to his overly rotund build.
Thankfully, Xuanyang gave him a good kick and shoved him in, though it cost Xiao Ming two chunks of skin from his belly and rear.
Lastly, Xuanyang squeezed in as well.
“Boom!”
With a thunderous sound, the entrance slammed shut.
That was close—they had almost missed the last ride.
“You’re all too slow,” the entire Fireblade Squad sneered, looking at the Taiming Sect’s team.
“Too late! There’s nothing left anymore!” the elite team hastily cobbled together by the Dan Sect Alliance jeered with glee. “Too bad for you guys, you’ll just have to pick through the trash!”
Jiang Ke’er resumed her human form and glanced around.
She found that everyone had been directly transported to the inside of the tower.
Looking out the window, she could tell that this was the first floor of the tall tower.
All the teams that had entered the Secret Realm had gathered here.
Moreover, Jiang Ke’er could distinctly sense that many people’s auras were completely different from before they entered.
For example, the Fireblade Squad—their entire bodies radiated a suffocating aura of strength. With every gesture, they could even scorch the air with ease!
Even from a distance, Jiang Ke’er could feel a heat that made the fur on her tail stand on end—it felt as if she might ignite at any moment!
What was going on? When did they become so strong?
And that Dan Sect Alliance team—why did every one of them now have a slick, shiny tail sprouting from their behinds? Not only that, but fine, dark green scales had grown across their skin… So your true forms are Lizardfolk?
“Welcome to… Emperor Jiang’s Tower.”
An aged voice rose from among the crowd.
The crowd parted to reveal a short, gnome-like old man.
The old man was expressionless, his movements and speech mechanical. Clearly, this was a Guardian Golem forged by some mighty power, not a living being.
“Now, choose your Initial Treasure.”
As he spoke, the old man unfurled a long scroll.
Light shimmered across the scroll, and the silhouettes of treasures projected upward in three-dimensional form.
The first treasure in line was called [Soul of Infernal Fire].
As Jiang Ke’er stared at the treasure’s projection, a line of text suddenly popped up above it!
Jiang Ke’er was startled. This wasn’t the result of an appraisal technique—it was a built-in function of the old man’s scroll!
[Soul of Infernal Fire: After acquiring, fuse with the Soul of Infernal Fire. All team members’ attack power is doubled.]
“???”
Attack power doubled? What kind of insane ability was this… If it really worked as stated, that would be way too overpowered!
But apparently, it did exactly what its description claimed.
If she guessed right, the Fireblade Squad had chosen this treasure, and the destructive power they were exuding right now was truly terrifying.
Suppressing her shock, Jiang Ke’er continued looking down the list.
After reading the description of the second treasure, she glanced over at the Dan Sect Alliance cultivators and immediately understood.
[Lizard Spirit: After acquiring, all team members fuse with the Lizard Spirit. During exploration of the tower, if you receive fatal damage, you lose the Lizard Spirit and immediately revive at full status on the spot.]
It was clear that the Dan Sect Alliance elites had chosen the Lizard Spirit.
Jiang Ke’er then looked at the third treasure.
[Tower Store VIP Card: You will become a VIP in the tower’s store. When you enter the shop rooms, you can use more store services. Each time you enter any room, you receive one Shop Token.]
Jiang Ke’er scanned the room and found that the cultivators of the Heavenly Gate Sect each had a gleaming gold card hanging from their waists.
After that came many more treasures, each with all sorts of strange abilities. Jiang Ke’er was able to match each one to the corresponding teams.
Now, only the Taiming Sect team had yet to choose a treasure, but most of the treasures on the scroll had already been picked clean.
All the good and powerful treasures already had owners.
Only one remained: a treasure called [Regret Button], clearly left over as someone else’s castoff. The Taiming Sect Members had no other choice.
No wonder everyone was gloating, mocking the Taiming Sect.
[Regret Button: First, set a location. After pressing, you will be teleported to the previously set room—can only set location once and use once.]
Helplessly, the Taiming Sect Members had to accept this seemingly useless treasure, not knowing what use it could possibly have.
At this point, seeing that everyone had selected their treasures, the gnome-like old man began to explain the rules of this Emperor Jiang Trial.
Jiang Ke’er was quite curious, and listened intently. After all, the format of the Emperor Jiang Trial was unlike any Secret Realm—no one had ever heard of anything like it.
Just the opening selection of treasures was already something novel.
“Welcome to the first round of the Emperor Jiang Trial. Your goal is to advance layer by layer, reach the top of the tower, and claim your clearance rewards.”
The old man’s introduction was concise.
“On each floor of the trial tower, you will encounter different situations—For example, treasure chest rooms with all kinds of treasures and rewards, deadly trap rooms that could instantly eliminate you, battle rooms containing Primeval Giant Beasts, shop rooms where you can buy treasures and pills, and bizarre rooms that might trigger all sorts of random events…”
“And each time you clear a room, you move up to a higher floor. You can only go forward, never back… No matter what room you encounter, there will be no chance to regret.”
“The tower’s treasures will grant you great aid as you climb, helping you break through otherwise impossible predicaments. And the bonuses from the treasures will carry over to the next round after you clear… So you should gather as many treasures as you can.”
“In summary.”
The old man paused, sweeping his gaze across everyone present.
“I hope you don’t all die halfway through.”
“I’ll be waiting for you at the top of the tower.”