Three trials.

Yao Jun quickly moved through the spatial tunnel, heading for the distant exit that led to a vast and arid plain. This spatial tunnel was even more stable than the one Arthurius had made, so Yao Jun guessed that it had been prepared by someone who was even stronger, or maybe someone who had a great understanding of the law of space.

Yao Jun swiftly reached the end of the spatial tunnel and stepped out of the exit, arriving on the arid plain he had seen. The ground beneath him was dark yellow, a thick layer of dust covering it. There would occasionally be a light breeze that blew over the area, picking up some of the dust and carrying it into the distance. The plain continued on for as far as he could, even stretching beyond his senses when he tried to use his control over space to examine it.

Not only had his own strength increased drastically after spending two years of constant cultivation, but Little Gray and the others had also grown far stronger. If Yao Jun were to connect his mind to his control over space to examine his surroundings, he could even cover half of Four-Peaks planet, which was a fairly large planet. So for this place to stretch beyond his senses, it was clearly rather massive.

There were no trees or buildings on this vast plain, but standing a few kilometers away from them, Yao Jun could see several square stone stages and several oval-shaped blue crystals that were about five meters tall. Thes stages and crystals stretched far into the distance, so there were clearly far more than just the few he saw in front of him. In front of these crystals stood several people, most of them either old and wrinkly or at the later stages of their middle-ages.

Looking at the fact that they all came from various races and were clad in the robes of various clans and sects, it seemed like a large portion of the strongest sects and clans had sent over some people to keep an eye on these trials. Even with the distance between them, Yao Jun could sense the strong pressure that these people were radiating, each of them had reached the middle stage of the Earthly Deity realm.

Yao Jun also noticed that his spatial tunnel wasn't the only one, it was far from it. Looking to his left and right, he could see countless other such spatial tunnels, more and more people arriving every second. There were people of all ages and shapes, from all kinds of different races. The only thing they all had in common was that each of them had entered the Immortal Rebirth realm, but none of them had reached the late stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm.

More people continued to arrive, the seemingly last spatial tunnel appearing after a little over a day had passed. No one had tried to move closer to the stone stages, as whenever someone tried to step forward, the old men would shake their heads and wave them back. When the last person arrived, Yao Jun stretched out his senses as far as he could, trying to see just how many people had arrived.

And the answer he got startled him quite a bit. This was just a test to see if you were worthy to take part in the grand competition, it might not even be the only test taking place, but there were so many people here that Yao Jun was unable to count them all. This meant that there were people spread out over several thousands of kilometers, easily several million people, most likely even more than just one or two million.

Looking at the scene, it seemed like Yao Jun had grossly underestimated how grand this competition was. While Yao Jun was marveling at the sheer number of people, one of the old men, a Final Fire clan man who had skin as black as charcoal, called out in a loud voice, his words reaching every corner of this world.

"Welcome to the separate space created by the combined efforts of several of our Heavenly Deities. I am Shurimen, and this is where we will test you to see if you are worthy of taking part in the grand competition. You will have to undertake three separate trials, and once all three trials are completed, we will let you know who among you has passed."

All the people who had arrived immediately tensed up after the old man, Shurimen, spoke up, straightening their backs and staring forward with determined eyes. If they got to take part in the grand competition, even if they couldn't get one of the top 10 000 spots and receive a reward, the location where the competition took place was filled with not only rare resources but also with inheritances left behind by powerhouses, both ancient dead ones and living ones.

Of course, they might die during the competition, but it was a risk they were willing to take. Shurimen swept his completely orange eyes over the countless people, seemingly gazing into their very souls. After a short delay, he spoke up again, a light smile on his lips.

"Now then, all of you please come over here."

Right after Shurimen uttered the words, the pressure that all the Earthly Deities in front of them were radiating suddenly increased drastically, forcing some of the weaker people to their knees. It seemed like the trials had already begun, their first task being to overcome this crushing pressure.

Several people immediately strode forward with fast and confident steps, while others lagged a bit further behind, dragging their feet and gritting their teeth. Others, in turn, couldn't even move forward, their legs giving out under the pressure and forcing them to kneel in the dust, only able to look on as the others stepped ahead of them.

All the people who had arrived here had no strong backing or clan behind them, they couldn't rely on their connections to take part in the competition, they had to rely solely on their own effort and strength. But the world was harsh, especially to people without connections and backing, so a large portion of the trial takers were immediately shown that they would not be able to take part in the competition.

The pressure was no problem to Yao Jun, not even able to slow his steps. But he didn't immediately step forward, he stayed in the back and watched the others with a calm gaze, patiently waiting as the stronger people walked forward and showed off. His enemy, Peyton Eluard, had a high rank in the Merged Heaven clan, so Yao Jun found it safe to assume that the entire Merged Heaven clan was his enemy.

And that was just the enemy that he knew of, he might have more enemies that he didn't know about, like the other clans and sects that had taken part in the war against the World Tree clan. There was also the mysterious person who had been able to command Yuan Shen and Qiao Xian Yi, who was most certainly his enemy.

And not only did Yao Jun not have a strong backing, but he also had a burden on his shoulders, his home planet. If his enemies got a hold of him, it was likely that they would then get their hands on Guo Luo and the others. So Yao Jun could not allow himself to get caught, he had to be careful. So while he wasn't going to hide himself, he had to conceal some of his strength. He had to keep some secrets and not allow his enemies to learn everything about him, as that would make it easier for them to plan against him.

After calmly watching for around half an hour, Yao Jun finally took his first step. He let out a deep breath that made it seem like he had just gotten used to the pressure and then stepped forward and started walking. His steps were slow and heavy, each of them leaving behind deep footprints in the dust. He tensed his entire body, making it seem like he was using all his strength with every step he took.

The various Earthly Deities were only around nine kilometers away from where Yao Jun had first arrived, it was a distance he could normally cross in less than a second. But now he spent six hours walking the short distance, putting himself at a perfectly average ranking amongst all the other contestants.

The Earthly Deities didn't say anything, patiently waiting for more people to reach them and finish what was likely the first of the three trials. They continued to quietly wait for another day, Shurimen speaking up once there was no longer anyone walking closer to them.

"Congratulations, everyone who has reached us has managed to pass the first trial. Now, based on the order in which you reached us, you will step forward and place your palms on one of these crystals. Either endure it or make it out on your own, doing either will mean that you pass the trial."

The eyes of everyone who hadn't been able to reach the Earthly Deities immediately dimmed, they hadn't even been able to pass the first trial. The eyes of those who did pass, however, landed on the blue crystals that stood not far from them, a blazing light appearing in their eyes.

Following the guidance of the Earthly Deities, the countless people quickly split up into smaller groups, stepping closer to one of the blue crystals. Yao Jun calmly observed the blue crystals and those who stepped up to them, channeling a large amount of Qi into his eyes to drastically increase his vision, observing even the flow of the contestants Qi.

The first thing he noticed was that the crystals weren't pure crystals, there was something hidden within them, obscured by a strange layer of Qi. Hidden at the very center of the crystals were what looked to be brains, a large gem embedded in the brains. Yao Jun was unaware what sort of brains these were, but he could see small arcs of electricity running through the brains, so it was clear that the brains were still alive, even without a body.

The moment a contestant placed their palms on a crystal, Yao Jun saw a small stream of mental energy flow out from the brains, entering the body of the contestants and flowing into their minds. Yao Jun inspected these streams of energy closely, and based on how much energy they contained, as well as how they were structured, he came to the conclusion that the streams showed the contestants an illusion that they would have to break.

The streams of energy only stayed in the contestant's mind for a short few seconds, quickly retreating back into the severed brains after they finished implanting the illusion. The time it took people to finish this trial was around thirty seconds, but the states of everyone was different after the trial was over.

Some seemed like they had suffered unimaginable torture, their faces pale and sweaty, their bodies shivering and weak. Others acted like nothing had happened, brushing it off with ease. And others seemed to have struggled a bit, but not enough to leave them completely exhausted.

Before long, it became Yao Jun's turn to step forward and place his palm on one of the crystals. Yao Jun calmly stepped forward and placed his palm on the crystal without much hesitation, a small stream of energy flowing into his mind, a white light flashing past his eyes and momentarily blinding him, signaling the start of the second trial.