Chapter 694

Chapter 694: Historical Heroes

Four beams of light fell from the sky, enveloping the top four contestants and lifting them into the air. During this time, each of the victors displayed different attitudes.

The lively Tiankai waved at everyone.

Long Linglong crossed her arms and closed her eyes, indifferent.

Xi Que, as always, revealed her intelligence, smiling as she adjusted her glasses, showing little else.

The last one was Shui Chonghuang, a blue-haired young man whose mature appearance stood out among the others; he was also a Spiritual Law practitioner.

In contrast to the others’ calmness, Shui Chonghuang wore a tense expression, his hands tightly clenched.

Who would be his opponent in the Trials of the Heavenly Path?

"The current ‘Heavenly Path’ has a total of forty-nine stages. The freshman Trials will take the first ten stages!"

"And the rules for the first ten stages are as follows: each stage represents a level of talent and some realms of cultivation. The Trial Participant will face any ancient hero of that talent level, but the hero’s strength will generally match that of the Trial Participant."

"In other words, to encounter the strongest ancient heroes, you first need to reach their level; it won’t be random!"

"The past genius who faced the young Divine Empress was named ‘Zhou Wuyou.’ You might not be familiar with this, but put another way—he is the current conqueror of the world, sweeping through countless universes, ranking among the top ten on the Divine Master Ranking—the Despairing Monarch!"

"This is the legend, this is the myth. In the Trials of the Heavenly Path, we too can become part of a myth. Let’s begin this trial that everyone is watching with great interest, and we will sync the trial footage as we advance with the four Trial Participants!"

He Shiguang was filled with excitement, longing for what was to come!

"Fighting against the young Divine Empress and reaching this height, doesn’t it mean that to battle the Divine Monarch would be reversing destiny?"

"That’s nonsense! For twenty thousand years, no one has encountered the Divine Monarch!"

"Is it possible that no absolute genius has emerged in twenty thousand years to match the Divine Monarch’s height?"

"Don’t say that; in terms of talent, there are indeed individuals who surpass His Majesty. This has been confirmed many times by the Divine Empress. His Majesty’s talent isn’t particularly strong, but that ruler opened the Mystic Realm with what isn’t considered strong talent; this is truly terrifying. Today’s geniuses are all opening Heaven and Earth with ninth stage talent, while that ruler did so with seventh or sixth stage talent. Under such circumstances, who could surpass that?"

"Are you saying that His Majesty only appears at the seventh or sixth stage of the Heavenly Path, but there’s no one at that stage whose strength could match His Majesty’s, which is why no one has seen the Divine Monarch until now?"

"Exactly. This trial doesn’t summon historical projections based on the contestant’s actual strength. Instead, there’s a weakening factor. For example, a practitioner with a talent level of ten would have a strength of ten, but if tested at the seventh stage, their strength would be calculated as if their talent were only seven, and summoned heroes would be based on that strength."

"Perhaps those talented individuals had already surpassed the Divine Monarch, but once the talent is converted, the strength would plummet. Unless they reached a peak level, even with a drastic talent drop, they still couldn’t surpass the Divine Monarch; otherwise, they wouldn’t appear. But how is that possible? A decrease in talent leads to a decrease in strength—does anyone possess a natural understanding at the fifth stage that isn’t part of physical records?"

"To be born with knowledge is a kind of talent; it would also be synchronously weakened, unless that record doesn’t appear in the body but in the spirit."

"Theoretically, only someone with a seventh stage talent who enhances their strength through external resources to reach the level of opening Heaven and Earth could be seen on the Heavenly Path; otherwise, encountering the Divine Monarch is impossible."

After some calculation, many cultivators shook their heads; this was indeed unlikely.

"It’s starting!"

Many cultivators and the entire audience in Tengzhou focused intently.

In the sky, four screens appeared, displaying a desolate, boundless ancient battlefield filled with a scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

The four contestants stood apart, unable to see one another, in the vast battlefield.

"How real! Is this the Heavenly Path?"

"This is just the beginning; vast amounts of fortune are gathering!"

Tiankai showed a look of surprise.

The uses of fortune are countless. In ancient times, many sects forged items to suppress fortune, preventing its loss.

This power is much weaker for True Spirits; after all, True Spirits don’t need to gamble on various dangerous advancements like humans do. They often reach the next realm naturally, but it’s still not useless; many undead beings require specific conditions to advance!

Fortune is the artifact that turns danger into safety; no one would complain about having more!

Before it even started, such tremendous fortune gathered; it’s no wonder that only four could participate in the Trials of the Heavenly Path. This is a grand gift for the victors!

"First Stage of the Heavenly Path, cultivation level ‘Entry Level,’ talent ‘Original,’ trial begins."

As the words and sounds flashed, a hazy figure emerged.

Tiankai instantly felt her cultivation plummet, compressed to the Entry Level…

"Physical Law Era, early Red Heaven era practitioner, ‘Leap.’"

"Low talent is a characteristic of the human race in this era. Even though Red Heaven allows the human race to take center stage, only a select few receive its blessings; most individuals are born with ordinary talent. ‘Leap’ embodies someone who is ordinary but refuses to accept it."

"He sought the Dao for twenty years, trudging along with barely any achievements in the Physical Law, and after another twenty years, he continued to search for the truth, seeking just one answer…"

His life unfolded vividly, revealing the hazy figure of a tall, strong man with long black hair. His hair was thick, his appearance rugged, and his face scarred. His subsequent life involved entering the Demon Forbidden Zone, constantly oscillating between life and death. Ultimately, though his cultivation did not reach great heights, his combat techniques reached their peak.

However, this was a man who never returned to human society, leaving his legacy in a mountain cave, unaware if he would find a destined person before time eroded it.

The battle between Tiankai and ‘Leap’ had no suspense; regardless of how strong the techniques, they were limited by the times, and their power could not be compared to modern ones.

The modern Extreme Spiritual Law and its Unique Law, as well as the exploration of the three major properties, were entirely beyond what the Physical Law era could imagine.

Similarly, the other three groups easily dispatched their opponents while also gaining insight into the heroes of the ancient era.

In contemporary times, the entire Red Heaven realm’s timeline has been divided, with major watersheds identified as ‘Eras.’ Each iconic figure or period is referred to as a ‘Time.’

The eras, in chronological order, are the Dark Era, the Physical Law Era, the Spiritual Law Era, the Mystical Law Era, and the present Multiverse Era or New Heaven Era.

As for ‘Times,’ the many transitional periods are too numerous to list.

Yet while eras may replace one another, epochs are generally a fresh page. In the early stages of the Physical Law Era, the early Spiritual Law Era, and the early Mystical Law Era, humanity faced extinction, with their power only a nascent phase, signifying the ‘Original’ stage. The New Heaven Era is similarly so; old things have been swept away, and almost all power and authority have been concentrated into Heavenly Stem Cave Heaven.

Some cultivators lingered in the True Realm for thousands of years, surviving into the Era of Heaven’s Cavern, possibly due to a lack of an Honored Position to inherit.

"Second Stage of the Heavenly Path, cultivation level ‘Minor Achievement,’ talent ‘Branching,’ trial begins."

Another hazy figure stepped forth, radiating an aura clearly stronger than ‘Original,’ both in talent and cultivation level, skyrocketing.

Though the talent only increased by one stage, the range of options instantly expanded countless times, making him a standout among early pioneers.