The 1 hour of grace was quickly up and the arena seemed to be opening up from the top to reveal tall trees.
The Trial Spirit thundered over the arena, "For this trial, there are no safe areas and the trial officially starts now."
The 11 champions were now all listening attentively and nodding. At the same time, they were all looking at their immediate surroundings as the canopy of the arena began to open up.
Ji Yuan saw that they were in a forest and there was a mountain in the north side. And behind him was an endless ocean of water.
He looked at the mountain and said, "Well, that probably is the center of the island."
Ai Jueluo hummed coldly in his direction, "Good luck to your tactics, Great Saint Ji Yuan."
And he had left with his team of 8 cultivators.
Wang Gongzi bowed with his hands in his direction to bid farewell.
While it may seem like a friendly act, it was only because he was putting his bets on two baskets and he did not want to offend Ji Yuan.
Ji Yuan was not a young cultivator and he knows it but he did not expose Wang Gongzi.
He was soon left alone with the Lovely Empress and Zhi Jiugong now.
Ji Yuan smiled to the Lovely Empress and Zhi Jiugong, "Well, thank you for following me. Haha…"
Zhi Jiugong asked Ji Yuan curiously, "Is it wise to split up the team?"
Ji Yuan chuckled softly, "We may not be the only ones that will be doing so."
Zhi Jiugong looked surprised, "Can you explain?"
Ji Yuan explained with a grin, "The objective is not to reach the center of the island where the emperor stone is at the very start. If we do so, then we may end up confronting all the cultivators at the same time and may even get ourselves killed."
"But that is where all the points and tokens are, right?" Zhi Jiugong asked more curiously than before.
"That seem to be the case." The Lovely Empress giggled, agreeing with her Senior Sister Zhi Jiugong.
Ji Yuan turned to the Lovely Empress Lu Jiangsu as he frowned, "Why did you giggle for? You know my plans already?"
The Lovely Empress flashed her small tongue out, "No, I don't. Hehe! But I know that we can't be wrong by following your plan because you are full of bad ideas."
Ji Yuan: …
He weakly said, "Is this a praise or a slap?"
But he quickly explained when he saw Zhi Jiugong kicking the Lovely Empress to ask her to shut up, "We may not gain the points from slaughtering the cultivators but we can certainly pick their tokens no matter what. Unless of course, they decide to enter the safe arena after obtaining 19 points."
Zhi Jiugong nodded slowly, "So you mean to say that we follow behind that Ai Jueluo and become the hunter instead of being the hunted?"
Ji Yuan laughed jovially, "That is the plan. Also, we need to find Maiden Shui Xisi and regroup with her."
Zhi Jiugong nodded, "I hope that Maiden Shui Xisi will be able to endure until we can somehow find her. But we can't be sure if her team is hostile to us or not."
Ji Yuan said firmly, "No matter if her team is hostile or not, Sisi will definitely joins us. Haha…"
Then he added with a grin, "And I am not worried about her."
Zhi Jiugong was startled while the Lovely Empress had recalled pairing with her inside the Goddess Star Palace, "She's really a strong great saintess."
Ji Yuan frowned, "She is strong but she isn't invincible. But her pet is."
"Her pet? What pet?" Zhi Jiugong and the Lovely Empress curiously asked at the same time.
Ji Yuan said weakly, "While we are at the last trial together, she got a 9th rank epic great phoenix as her contracted pet. And she calls her Augustina."
"No way! Isn't that a god-beast already?! You can't contract a god-beast!" The Lovely Empress was stunned. "This isn't possible at all…"
Zhi Jiugong was also shocked, "It is true?!"
Ji Yuan bitterly said, "Not only did I see it with my own eyes but some of the cultivators in my team have also seen it too. It isn't fake."
Zhi Jiugong nodded slowly, "Luckily Maiden Shui Xisi is on our side…"
The Lovely Empress pulled Ji Yuan to her and grinned, "Ji Yuan, are you sure that she is on our side? The two of you are constantly quarreling inside the Goddess Star Palace. What if she turns on you and slaughter you for points instead? You know that the cultivators often betray one another in this manner. Are you confident about this?"
Ji Yuan laughed, "Actually I am more worried that you will slaughter me instead. Haha…"
The Lovely Empress kicked Ji Yuan hard when she had heard him.
It took Ji Yuan to calm down his laughter before he grinned, "I can trust Sisi, of course. She is the sister of my Jiajia and in the last trial, she has also helped me by feeding me a Dao Fruit."
The Lovely Empress was startled, "She did that? Are you sure that she isn't trying to kill you?"
Ji Yuan said firmly, "Of course not!"
Then he asked curiously, "How come the two of you can survive the level 3 of the Dream Dungeon of Tenebris? You didn't pick the Dao Fruits?"
The Lovely Empress giggled, "The Dao Fruits are useless to us. You see, we have already consumed 3 Dao Fruits in the past. Our Mistress Yun Chi had given to us in the past. There is actually very little effect from consuming it the second and the third time. And completely pointless for the fourth time… but I didn't know they are fakes until some of my team members began to have rots on their hands or exploded. It was quite scary to witness it."
Ji Yuan muttered weakly, "Yun Chi is so rich…"
But he was soon sighing woefully, "My Feiyue probably died in this manner too. She has a bad habit of trying to pluck everything… sigh… even if she didn't get the lucky draw of the lot, she will still try to obtain it through her own ways. She is after all, an unorthodox cultivator."
Zhi Jiugong said quietly, "Maiden Ling Feiyue is actually more like a righteous orthodox cultivator and not an unorthodox cultivator. I don't think she will do anything like obtaining the Dao Fruit the unorthodox way."
The Lovely Empress Lu Jiangsu nodded, "I agree with my Sister Jiugong too. And she doesn't look like a greedy cultivator too."
Xiang Li was also asking curiously to Ji Yuan: Big Brother, you are painting Maiden Ling Feiyue in a bad light. I don't think you're right about this.
Anyang was also agreeing with Xiang Li: That's right.
Ji Yuan frowned to Xiang Li and Anyang: Nonsense. I know Feiyue only too well. Don't forget that she is my consort and we have even formed a combine sword art together. This requires perfect understanding from each other in order to accomplish this.
At the same time, he was saying solemnly to Zhi Jiugong. "Trust me. I know Feiyue better than anyone else."
-------------------------------
1. I'd really appreciate it if the readers can contribute power stones to this story as a show of support even if you are reading from other websites. Your spirit stones are crucial for motivations and releases. Also, it means alot me/ story, Many love and thanks! ?(⌒▽⌒?)
2. Actually it is quite obvious that Zhi Jiugong and the Lovely Empress Lu Jiangsu will accompany Ji Yuan in the fifth trial. All the maidens have a chance to be with Ji Yuan once *chuckle*, if you are noticing.
3. Ling Feiyue is not dead, of course.
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freew𝒆(b)novel.c(o)m Only