Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword-Chapter 622 - 599: Gravity Array (3/3)

Zhou Heng took out the last Order and opened the Restriction, and everyone entered one by one.

Hum!

Amidst a peculiar fluctuation, they arrived at the deepest part of the Nine Beasts Valley. The space wasn’t large, only about three hundred zhang in diameter, with a circular area in the center paved with bluestones and a radius of fifty zhang. At the very center sat a small pond, within which grew a silver-white Jade Lotus. On its crown bloomed a snow-white lotus flower, emitting a faint fragrance that one could smell upon entering, refreshing and invigorating.

Undoubtedly, that must be the Moonlight Lotus.

The goal of the crowd was right before their eyes. Could it be that no one was making a move?

It wasn’t that no one was taking action; in fact, everyone had already started to move. However, their speed was as slow as a snail’s, as if they had suddenly contracted a disease of the bones that made them soft, and some couldn’t even straighten their backs. Those who stepped on the bluestones were moving with difficulty, while the outer areas were empty of people.

Zhou Heng immediately concluded that these bluestones weren’t just for show but were the tenth trial for the adventurers.

The bluestones formed concentric rings, each one zhang wide. From any angle, any direction, the distance to the center was one hundred bluestones, a total of one hundred circles.

He looked around and saw that over seventy Moonlight Emperors had walked onto the stones from different angles. However, those at the front had only crossed fourteen stones and you could clearly see the beads of sweat streaming down their faces, their backs drenched in sweat as well.

Zhong Gufeng, Yuan Shaohuang, Zi Yingming, and Guo Yuhou were all standing on the first stone, yet they didn’t rush forward.

With their strength, it was impossible for them to stop at the first stone; they must have had their reasons to pause.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The competition for the Moonlight Lotus had reached its final moment. Most people couldn’t hold back and summoned their full strength, with moons of different phases appearing around them, some pure in color, some mottled and chaotic. They struggled step-by-step forward, their footsteps as heavy as if lifting a mountain.

They were elite competitors from high-tier Immortal Cities, many even capable of rivaling a Peak Moonlight Emperor with Seven Wheels, but in front of this final trial, they all seemed so pale and powerless.

"Ahh!" A scream ripped through the air as a young man barely managed to set foot on the fifteenth bluestone. As his foot landed, his lower leg bones suddenly fractured, with silver-white bone marrow seeping out against the flow of blood.

He collapsed to the ground with a thud. He tried to get back up, but with a crackling sound, his arms broke just as he propped himself up, white bones stained with blood, a gruesome sight to behold.

Everyone was horrified. Those who were on the fourteenth stone and contemplated the next step abruptly stopped in their tracks, realizing that taking that step might reduce them to the same fate as the young man!

He tried to heal his wounds with his soul’s radiance, hoping to heal and continue or retreat and plan anew. But no matter how he tried to channel his Spiritual Power, it was futile. Blood soon covered the ground, seeping across the stone he lay upon, flowing toward the other stones.

The blood he was losing was his life, his Cultivation Level!

"Save me! Save me!" His deity emerged, calling out to the people behind him, his own strength no longer enough to free himself. Although he would not die immediately, without someone to save him, he would be pressed to death alive on this spot.

He had a bright future; how could he die here?

No one offered a hand!

Everyone came to compete for the Moonlight Lotus. Aside from themselves, all others were opponents, enemies. Since they didn’t cause the injury, they wouldn’t incur karma or retaliation. Why would anyone bother looking for trouble?

Besides, although the young man was a Three Wheels Moonlight Emperor, his evident lack of Immortal Artifacts and the limited strength of his family meant there was no need to fear or require the good graces of such a minor clan.

That was the cold reality of the Immortal Realm.

If Huo Tian were to take action, whether it was Formation or mechanism, surely none would affect her, and she could easily pluck the Moonlight Lotus. But how could she miss out on such an interesting event without having a go at it first?

Zhou Heng said, "You guys wait here, I’m going up to have some fun!"

"We want to go too!" the women said in unison, determined.

They had all gained formidable physiques, and they didn’t want to always hide behind Zhou Heng; they wanted to ease their man’s worries and challenges! They also wanted to try out such a challenge.

"Let them go, I’ll keep an eye on them," Huo Tian said indifferently.

Zhou Heng initially disagreed, but since Huo Tian had assured and her word was guaranteed, he nodded and said, "Do your best, but don’t force yourselves!"

"Mm!" The women all nodded.

Zhou Heng and the women moved forward and stepped onto the first stone, feeling their bodies suddenly weighed down, as if their internal organs might be dragged out of their bodies.

A thousandfold gravity, no, perhaps even ten thousand times that!

Clearly, the gravity increased the farther forward one went, explaining why the young man’s limbs had been crushed on the fifteenth stone.

Ying Mengfan and the other women were only Moonlight Kings, and the pressure of the first stone was nearly their limit. Nevertheless, they gritted their teeth and persisted. Cultivating under such gravity could temper their Spiritual Power, making their Moon Wheels even purer.

The purer the Moon Wheel, the quicker the Spiritual Power it generates, and the stronger the Battle Power as a result.

It was largely because of his purer Moon Wheel that Zhong Gufeng had been able to dominate Zi Yingming and Guo Yu when he was at the stage of Four Wheels Moon, his attacks more frequent, thus easily gaining the advantage even when facing two opponents.

Black Donkey and Mu Tongtong were both too lazy to join the excitement, and neither Nangong Yuerong nor the Orchid Concubine had the ability to do so. They, having been treated differently by Huo Tian, didn’t possess high-tier physiques, nor did they have the qualifications or necessity to go up and temper themselves.

Standing on the first bluestone wasn’t limited to Zhou Heng, Zhong Gufeng, and Yuan Shaohuang, Zi Yingming, Guo Yuhou, and Cha Sui were also on the same spot, spaced out at six locations around the circular path.

They all had great patience.

The young man on the ground was wailing non-stop, but his bloody appearance didn’t scare away the people behind him. After a short silence, another challenger stepped forward. This was a Four Wheels Moonlight Emperor who started from the seventh bluestone, thumping rhythmically with each step that resonated like the roar of dragons and tigers.

Eight, nine, ten... fourteen!

Without any hesitation, he stepped from the fourteenth bluestone and stood firmly on the fifteenth before continuing onward without pause.

Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen... twenty-eight!

Finally, he stopped, but only for a moment; then, he fiercely waved both palms towards the bluestone under his feet, sending vibrations through the stone to lessen the gravitational pull on him.

Twenty-nine! Thirty! Thirty-one!

He stopped again, reaching yet another new limit.

The man let out a furious roar, and the visages of deities appeared above him, as he moved four full moons in unison, and took another step forward.

Thirty-two, thirty-three!

This time, he managed only two more steps.

Hum!

A jade-colored umbrella suddenly appeared overhead, casting down strands of jade-like radiance, as if a Heavenly God watched over him, granting him an unbreakable defense.

This was an Immortal Artifact, and its rank was definitely above that of a Moonlight Emperor’s, otherwise there would be no point in bringing it out!

Protected by this Divine Radiance, the man’s steps started to advance once more.

Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six... forty-three!

Truly, a high-tier Immortal Artifact was not to be underestimated. Even if its wielder could not fully tap into its true power, it was still impressive! Nonetheless, the forty-third bluestone marked his ultimate limit, as he could not move any further.

How perverse!

A Four Wheels Moonlight Emperor, even with a high-tier Immortal Artifact, could only make it to the forty-third bluestone—less than half the journey. So who could truly walk across all one hundred bluestones?

Those without high-tier Immortal Artifacts had retreated, but they were not content with failure and waited on the periphery. If someone could actually pick the Moonlight Lotus, they wouldn’t mind collectively attacking to snatch it away.

The remaining people were determined to give it their all, such as Zhu Xiaoran and Zhang Yuting. They might not be as famous as Guo Yuhou and Zi Yingming, but they were still among the finest young Moonlight Emperors in Xiwu City, and would not give up easily.

One after another, these prodigies showed off their brilliance, but to no avail. Although someone broke the record of the forty-third bluestone and reached the fifty-ninth, they were still far from the ultimate victory.

That person was Zhang Yuting, but sadly she had just passed the halfway mark.

"How can it be so difficult!"

"Isn’t this just for show!"

"I think Juexian City doesn’t really want to give us this treasure at all. They’re just leading us on with false hope."

"Shh, do you want to die? Even if you want to die, think about your family. Don’t drag others down with you, daring to speak ill of Juexian City!"

The crowd was full of complaints, and now the only ones left with the strength to struggle on were the six including Zhou Heng.

Bang!

As if on cue, except for Zhou Heng, the other five simultaneously took their first steps. Once they made that step, they didn’t stop moving again, striding forward—the first thirteen bluestones were like flat ground, only slightly pausing on the eleventh.

Hum!

Each of them released a full moon, and the sensation of being stuck disappeared, and they continued forward.

But after only nine more steps, that feeling returned. Hum, they released another Moon Wheel, and moved onward again.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

Soon, they all summoned the power of Four Full Moons and stepped onto the forty-third bluestone. At this point, Zi Yingming and Guo Yuhou showed signs of exhaustion, with large beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads, while Zhong Gufeng and the other two remained stoic, stepping onto the forty-fourth bluestone.

Despite all wielding the power of Four Full Moons, they had the upper hand because their moons were purer and they could cycle Spiritual Power faster. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to vote a recommendation, or leave a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)