The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

He had an entirely transparent body, beneath which his blood vessels, internal organs, and even his bones could be clearly seen. It was a unique nature of his body.

His eyes were glittering with sly, sharp intelligence.

“This transparent young man knows how to profit at others’ expense,” a youth in a yellow robe snorted softly, his words dripping with jealousy and envy.

“The Yin Yang Wizard Fire becomes more intense near the end. He chose to take up the challenge first, which really is quite unfair,” the silver-clothed man beside him remarked with a knowing look.

“However, going first has its risks too. Don’t you see that neither Zhao Tianyin, Wang Qingchen, nor Chu Bawang volunteered to go first?”

The silver-clothed man stared at the stairs, his eyes filled with dread. “The Yin Yang Wizard Fire changes at all times. One slight miss and you will get injured and fail. Under circumstances in which you only get one chance, the risk involved is sometimes not worth taking.”

The yellow-robed youth said with jealousy, “But the Divine Path of the transparent man enables him to turn formless, so he could avoid all kinds of dangers using this advantage formless. The Yin Yang Wizard Fire might not harm him, and in this case, he would find this assessment pretty easy.”

The silver-clothed man shook his head and smiled. “How could the Yin Yang Wizard Fire be that simple to avoid? Just watch patiently.”

The transparent man stood in front of the stairs, took a deep breath, and performed consecutive defensive wizard spells on himself.

Three layers of waves could be seen hovering around him. If any danger occurred, it could be fended off immediately.

Once he was done with the preparations, the transparent man walked up the stairs, while everyone’s eyes were pinned on him.

The moment he stepped on the stairs, the Yin Yang Wizard Fire rose violently.

The protective spells on the transparent man’s body were activated at once, shielding him from the Wizard Fire surging towards him. Only a single layer of the spells was resolved.

The second step…

It was as though someone tossed a stone into the crashing ocean waves.

The Yin Yang Wizard Fire roiled and surged as if a sea was overturned, and a billowing wave of flames thirty feet in height crashed down, dousing the two remaining layers of the man’s protective spells at once.

The transparent man was terrified. There were eight more steps left until the Holy Altar, which was quite a lot. Judging from the current force of the Yin Yang Wizard Fire, it would be extremely difficult to climb up there.

However, if he quit now, he would miss the precious opportunity of becoming the Saint Lady’s husband. In addition, he would end up a laughing stock to others. He would become known as the man who volunteered valiantly but gave up after taking just two steps.

Gritting his teeth, the transparent man jumped several steps at once.

Just as expected, when he passed the third step, the Yin Yang Wizard Fire underwent another drastic change.

Amidst the tsunami, a shark condensed from the Wizard Fire appeared. It opened its bloody, gigantic mouth and bit the man hard.

At the critical moment, the man’s transparent body suddenly became so wispy and insubstantial that it was almost non-existent.

The Wizard Fire Shark bit on empty air.

However, seven or eight more sharks dashed out of the Wizard Fire, shoving and clashing in every direction.

Ahh!

All of a sudden, a colossal shark crashed into a spot of the Void and a pained whimper broke through the air.

Nine sharks scurried forward instantly, their gargantuan mouths incessantly biting and tearing.

The transparent man ran out from the Wizard Fire with staggering feet and a frightened pale face, fleeing from imminent death.

There were numerous burns on his body, but the injury to his soul was more severe and would require quite a long period and many expensive medicinal herbs to treat.

The guy in the yellow robe wanted to gloat, but the consequences the transparent guy suffered made him lose his voice.

The other contestants, who were initially eager to try, turned pale with shock.

“My Lords, is there anything about the assessment that needs to be clarified for the contestants?” A man who looked about thirty years old said. “Since time immemorial, the Yin Yang Wizard Fire changes every three steps one takes, and then changes once more at the final step.”

“One would only succeed in the test after going through the tempering of the four changes of the Wizard Fire, but the changes that happened just now were very different from before! Could you explain it?”

The two guards with their disinterested faces replied with indifference, “The changes vary from test to test. What is so peculiar about it?”

“But if it changes with every step, won’t we have to undergo ten changes? Isn’t it making things difficult for us?” The man questioned, clearly annoyed.

One of the guards said coldly, “If you wish to quit the contest, leave this place right away. If you raise another question, you’ll be punished for creating disorder during the test.”

Only then did the speaker reluctantly shut his mouth.

Cailin’s eyes shone, and she told Su Yu through telepathy, “This must be an arrangement of the Saint Lady. If the contestants are very powerful, the difficulty level of the test will be raised, keeping certain people out.”

This idea occurred to Su Yu as well, and he shot a look at the two guards, who stood there like wooden statues.

It seemed like they were on the Saint Lady’s side.

“Next challenger!” The guards announced dispassionately.

However, the scene was silent. The unexpected alteration of the test and the sudden increase in difficulty made people hesitate.

The two guards snorted, and the one on the left raised a finger, pointing at the man who questioned them just now. “Since no one volunteers, we’ll be arranging the order for you. You, come first!”

The man he pointed at looked confused and furious.

“If you do not respond in three breaths’ time, it will be considered that you had given up.”

Upon hearing that, the man replied in anger, “I’ll go! I will do anything for the Saint Lady!”

He mustered his courage and set a foot on the stairs, and just as expected, the Yin Yang Wizard Fire changed at the first step.

However, he came prepared. As he squeezed a cloth covered in talismans, the cloth revolved, generating a great gust of air that repelled the assaulting flames.

Then came the second step. The Wizard Fire crashed down with the force of massive ocean waves. He displayed another treasure of the Wizard Tribe, an umbrella-shaped item that split the surging Wizard Fire upon getting into contact with it.

The third step. Nine sharks dashed out all at once, attacking the man by crushing, slamming and biting him.

He was prepared for that too. Consecutively, he retrieved a hundred-foot-long strand of hair sealed with a powerful talisman, from which a power as strong as the spells of Level Four deities erupted, obliterating the sharks.

The fourth step. The Yin Yang Wizard Fire withdrew unexpectedly and abruptly, turning transparent and intangible.

However, that was even more dangerous, because now no one could fathom where the Wizard Fire was.

The man’s heart went cold. Solemnly, he retrieved a statue. After he broke it into pieces, the powerful undulation of Level Three deities emerged from within, clearing the intangible Wizard Fire before him.

Even the two guards standing under the Holy Altar looked somewhat impressed.

With such a superior power in hand, he was determined to triumph.

However, when he took the fifth step, the Yin Yang Wizard Fire burst out again, transforming into the form of Zhao Tianyin.

The man was caught unawares and his thoughts went haywire for a second.

Shortly after, the Wizard Fire invaded the man’s soul, and as he screamed in anguish, blood spilled all over his face as he rolled down the stairs.

The fifth step finally showed the greatness of the Yin Yang Wizard Fire, which restrained souls.

“What a pity. His four treasures must have been crafted for the test. Under the previous conditions, he would have been successful and would be standing atop the Holy Altar by now,” the silver-clothed man sighed in commiseration.

The yellow-robed man had a somber gleam in his eyes. He could not help but express his indignation. “Who on earth can pass such a test?”

Ordinary tests would eliminate 90 percent of the people.

Wasn’t an altered assignment going to eliminate all of them?

“You seem quite unhappy about it. You’ll be the next, then.” The guards heard the yellow-robed man’s remark and pointed at him to take the challenge next.

The white-robed man’s face turned pallid and he said in an embarrassed, low voice, “I give up! Goodbye!”

“You will go next, then!” The guards pointed at the man next to him.

“I… I quit too!”

“You go then,” they looked at yet another man.

“I give up too!”

…

Seeing two powerful challengers failing one after another, the contestants’ confidence suffered a brutal blow.

Everyone who was called out quit without delay, showing no wish to try.

Eventually, almost everyone had given up.

“Chu Bawang, you go!” The guards had a slightly menacing look in their eyes as they pointed at the proud noble from the Fan Capital. In terms of capabilities, this youngster was no weaker than the two old fellows were.

Chu Bawang turned around to look at the people who had not given up yet.

Only Su Yu, Cailin, Zhao Tianyin and Wang Qingchen were left.

He ignored the first two completely, and his glance hovered between Zhao Tianyin and Wang Qingchen for a second. Coldly, he said, “I’ll wait for the two of you to go first.”

When he finished, he moved forward to the foot of the stairs like a flash of lightning and set foot on the first step without any hesitation.

All of a sudden, the Wizard Fire came charging at him.

Chu Bawang did not even look at it as he sneered in a creepy manner, “The Saint Lady doesn’t want to marry anyone, but I, Chu Bawang, insist to defy her will! Get lost!”

As he spoke, the surging flames were extinguished, clearing up a wide passage before him.

On the second step, the huge waves of Wizard Fire crashed down upon him.

Chu Bawang wasn’t bothered at all. “Get out of my way!”

His voice contained a whiff of sorcery energy of Level Three wizards, directly dissipating the intense flames falling from the sky in torrents.

On the third step, the moment the nine sharks appeared, Chu Bawang made no move retreat but marched forward instead. Overpowered by his sorcery energy, the nine sharks were smashed into fragments!

On the fourth step, the Wizard Fire turned formless, but Chu Bawang wasn’t bothered in the least bit. Snorting through his nostrils, he walked straight through the fire, and the intangible Wizard Fire subsided immediately.

On the fifth step, the shadow of Zhao Tianyin emerged on the stairs out of nowhere.

Chu Bawang laughed coldly. “I’m not even afraid of his real form. What could a mere shadow do to me?”

As he spoke, he shattered the shadow with a wizard spell and set foot on the sixth step.

The people under the Holy Altar beheld Chu Bawang’s powerful maneuvers in stupefaction, shocked by the way he took one step after another with such immense confidence.

“Chu Bawang’s strength is far greater than it had been before!”

“Look, he still remains undeterred on the ninth step.”

“The tenth step will determine whether he can pass. That is where the most precarious transformation usually happens.”

Chu Bawang stood on the ninth step. Despite his arrogance, he was rather careful. His expression was cautious when he placed a foot onto the final step.

Crash!

The Wizard Fire condensed into Yin and Yang, two totems in the shape of the Supreme Pole, surging upward before Chu Bawang.

“It’s the Heaven Splitting Yin Yang! The most dangerous section in the test of the stairs!” Shocked cries broke out under the Holy Altar.

The Heaven Splitting Yin Yang was a matchless power left behind by the Wizard Ancestor, and no one could comprehend it to this day. It was left before his tomb, awaiting someone with extraordinary talents to decipher it.

Once in a while, it would be activated and appear in the stairs test, but it was rather rare.

“How shocking! That is the Heaven Splitting Yin Yang First Style. It’s a recognition of Chu Bawang’s powers,” Some people spoke in surprise and envy.

Even Zhao Tianyin and Wang Qingchen were impressed.

“Heaven Splitting Yin Yang? Just how great is Chu Bawang to trigger such a power?” Zhao Tianyin remarked in disdain.

Wang Qingchen shook his head, profound meaning in his eyes. “This style did not appear because of him, but due to another potential which it sensed. Chu Bawang had conquered the Holy Altar many years ago, but the Heaven Splitting Yin Yang Style hadn’t appeared then!”

They exchanged a glance, belligerence erupting like sparks between them.

If the Heaven Splitting Yin Yang Style did not emerge because of Chu Bawang, it was probably meant for one of them.

The two Level Three guards stared at the two nobles from the Lost Nation in utter stupefaction.

“It has been so many years, and now the unrivaled magical power left by the Wizard Ancestor finally emerged in a test! Does it mean that one of them is qualified to accept this legacy of the Wizard Ancestor?”