Monster Paradise

“Competitive Trial?”

The sudden push notification struck Lin Huang dumb.

“Great Heaven Palace will pick 2999 competitors from among the Sword Dao cultivators (below True God level) according to the Inheritance requirements set down by the Great Heaven Territory, to compete together with Trial participants in the Competitive Trial.

“Other than that, Great Heaven Palace will release three hundred Sword Servants to participate, all of whom possess True God combat strength. However, in this trial, their combat strength, flesh, and soul will all be capped at Rank-9 Virtual God-level.”

“Since the participants who initiated this competitive trial have yet to achieve the true meaning of Sword Dao, all competitors and Sword Servants’ Sword Dao will be restricted to below Sword Dao true meaning.”

“The rules of the competitive trial are as follows:”

“1. Every time a competitor is defeated or eliminated, the participant obtains 1 cumulative foundation point and gains all of their opponents’ accumulated points.”

“2. 100 cumulative points are awarded with every defeat of a Sword Servant. Upon defeat, Sword Servants will be directly teleported out of the trial. No points will be awarded when Sword Servants defeat or eliminate any participants or competitors.”

“3. Participants and competitors may choose to surrender willingly during combat. However, choosing to surrender is equivalent to forfeiting the trial. Therefore, whosoever chooses to surrender will be directly teleported out of the trial and will forfeit all their cumulative points.”

“4. All cumulative points are non-transferrable and indivisible.”

“5. The Competitive Trial will last for a maximum of ten days. If the participants or competitors manage to take out all the other 999 people within ten days, the trial will end ahead of time.”

“6. After the trial, the participant with the highest cumulative points will obtain the right to access Great Heaven Palace and enter the final round of the trial. If a competitor obtains higher cumulative points than the participants, thus becoming the champion, said competitor will earn the right to officially participate in the trials and will be teleported to Swordfiend Abyss for their first trial. After overcoming the trials at Swordfiend Abyss and Demon Sword Tomb, they may access Great Heaven Palace and participate in the final trial.”

“7. During the Competitive Trial, all participants may utilize any skills or methods that they possess, including skills or methods other than Sword Dao.”

“8. To ensure the fairness of the Competitive Trial, all weapons or items that can harm a Rank-1 True God are banned. All defensive armor or other defensive measures above Rank-1 True God are banned. (Energy paraphernalia conjured up by one’s own abilities, as well as divine, magic, and arcane powers etcetera are excluded.)”

…

After reading the rules of the Competitive Trial, a sudden wave of realization hit Lin Huang. The obstacle for this level was no longer Sword Dao facility—it was survival.

Lin Huang did not find it hard to see why such a trial existed. It was obvious that Great Heaven hoped the future heir to the inheritance would not die so easily.

Therefore, for this time’s Competitive Trial, the rules gave all participants a great deal of leeway, except for some banned items. Both participants and competitors could fully showcase the maximum range of their abilities.

“All three hundred Sword Servants are originally Heavenly Gods. Therefore whether it be combat strength, flesh, or Sword Dao—even after their abilities have been capped—it’s imperative not to underestimate them. That’s also why 100 cumulative points are awarded just by defeating a Sword Servant—that’s 100 times the foundation points awarded for eliminating a competitor. Also, they only mention defeating, not eliminating.

“Other than that, only 2999 sword cultivating competitors will be chosen from the entire Great Heaven Territory. These 2999 ought to be the creme de la creme of sword cultivators in the Great Heaven Territory; there are sure to be quite a number of participants from the God Territory among them as well. The 300 Trial participants from the God Territory are definitely experts from various organizations. Even if we take out non-sword-based cultivators, there should still be a few hundred who qualify as competitors.

“Meanwhile, among the participants, there’s a chance that members from the same organizations might appear together so it’s possible that team-ups might occur during the Competitive Trial. A single person’s abilities might not be enough to eliminate a Sword Servant. However, if all the powerhouses combine their efforts in a free-for-all which encompasses any method of choice, the chances of defeating a Sword Servant go from impossible to possible.

“The greatest advantage I have is that as an initiator of the Trial, I should be the first to understand the evaluation rules, and the rules I know should be the most comprehensive. Therefore, I have more time to plan.

“Apart from this, it’s good news that we can use telepathy and imperial monsters. It’s just not certain yet if we can use God’s Figurine’s Combat Soul because while God’s Figurine is considered an item, even if it’s been integrated into Combat Soul, we don’t know for sure which category it falls into. That said, we’re not sure if Xiao Hei’s multi-function card can be used either…”

Regardless of whether the multi-function card was permissible in the Trial or not, Lin Huang had prepared himself for the worst.

“Speaking of items, all god rule relics are banned. We can only use weapons and armors of god relic level; we can only use god telekinesis weapon relics as well.” Lin Huang had few objections to this. If his opponent utilized a high-level god rule relic for defense along with divine crystals and elixirs that could replenish their Divine Powers, Lin Huang might not be able to break through his opponent’s defenses even in a day. That, too, was not something he desired.

If everyone used god relics for weapons and defense, it would truly be much fairer for the real powerhouses.

“Participants, please wait for a moment. Competitors are currently entering the Trial grounds.”

“After all competitors are confirmed, participants will be teleported simultaneously to the Trial grounds.”

Lin Huang thought for a moment, then asked, “Didn’t I owe 58 minutes previously? Can I make up for it now? I can enter the space 58 minutes later than the other competitors.”

There were two reasons behind Lin Huang’s request—one, the first hour after entering the Trial space was usually for everyone to familiarize themselves with their surroundings. The real competition would not have started then, therefore, his coming in late would not have much effect on the Trial.

The second reason—which was also his main reason—was that after the Competitive Trial, there would be a final trial.

Logically, the difficulty level of the final trial would be the highest of all the other trials. Although he did not know what the trials would involve, he knew very well that if he were deprived of 58 minutes, there was a high possibility of it affecting his performance. Therefore, Lin Huang would rather settle his 58-minute debt in this stage of the Competitive Trial than delay it until the final trial. That difference of several minutes could cause him to lose.

It did not matter if he was ultimately being number one or not in the Competitive Trial; the important thing was to move on to the next step. Lin Huang felt like he should still make the necessary preparations for what was coming up next before anything else.

…

At the same time, outside the Great Heaven inheritance space, almost all the sword cultivators selected by Great Heaven received a push notification simultaneously.

“Congratulations! You have been chosen by the Great Heaven inheritance to be a competitor in the Competitive Trial. Do you accept this invitation?”

“Notification from the Great Heaven inheritance?”

A tall lady with short red hair suddenly slowed down in the midst of a pursuit. The man whom she was hunting down put on speed and fled, vanishing without a trace.

The red-haired lady did not seem to mind. In a short skirt that revealed her slender tanned thighs, she was virtually flawless except for one thing—she was flat-chested.

“What the f*ck does ‘competitor’ mean?”

An impeccably handsome young man dressed in green had a bar hostess on each arm. His drunkenness dissipated in a flash. He even turned a deaf ear to the girls’ voices as they encouraged him to drink.

“This situation…is it because someone initiated a trial?”

Somewhere in a library, a young lady with two heads suddenly focused her attention on the push notification that popped up before her. The eyes of her left head squinted.

“The message says, ‘to be a competitor’. Seems like we’re not the only ones who received this,” the young lady’s right head said, cocking to one side.

“But this is good news. We finally have a lead on the Great Heaven inheritance that’s vanished without a trace for at least a hundred thousand years,” said both her heads as they smiled at each other.