Divine King of Honour

"Ladies and gentlemen," Leng Yanran began, "I'm sure you're all aware that today is the day Jade Cave Heaven opens. For the next ten days, you will all be in Jade Cave Heaven, and every move you make will be observed by us through the Xuantian Mirror."

Everyone was already aware of this, so their faces showed no signs of surprise.

Leng Yanran continued, "There are a few points I need to emphasize. First, the Academy does not allow killing each other in Jade Cave Heaven. Competing for treasures is allowed, but killing is not. Next is about the Golden Crow Token. If you encounter unavoidable dangers, just crush the Jade Token, and you can exit Jade Cave Heaven. Lastly, the Golden Crow Fruit."

As soon as the Golden Crow Fruit was mentioned, everyone's expressions grew solemn; evidently, the Golden Crow Fruit was also their target in entering Jade Cave Heaven.

"The Golden Crow Fruit will ripen on the tenth day, and once it's ripe, you will have only two hours to compete for it. If you cannot pluck the Golden Crow Fruit within that time, it will be absorbed by the Golden Crow Tree. Remember, you have only two hours," Leng Yanran said.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Two hours?

The expressions on everyone's faces grew more somber—obtaining the Golden Crow Fruit within two hours was certainly no easy task.

You should know that it's not just you in Jade Cave Heaven. There are many Exotic Beasts, and this Golden Crow Fruit is also highly attractive to them. Thus, obtaining it will be no easy feat.

"Furthermore, this iteration of Jade Cave Heaven is special. A month later is the Academy's grand competition. Hence, I will select three out of you ten to participate in the grand competition. The selection will be based on the points you earn. Killing a First-star Exotic Beast from Star Realm earns you one point, Two-star earns two points, and so forth, up to Nine-star, which earns nine points. Killing a First-star Exotic Beast from Two-star Silver Moon War Sect earns a hundred points, Two-star earns two hundred points, likewise, and the top three scorers will qualify to compete in the grand competition," Leng Yanran announced.

The crowd was instantly abuzz with excitement at this revelation, everyone eager to try.

Xu Nian was also somewhat surprised. He had heard of this grand competition before, reportedly the rewards were exceedingly generous, comparable even to the Golden Crow Fruit, and participating provided a chance to win those coveted awards.

"It seems this trial in Jade Cave Heaven will be exceptionally intense," Xu Nian murmured to himself.

Yet, he was interested in the Exotic Beasts mentioned by Leng Yanran. They seemed not to be ordinary Demon Beasts, though it was unclear how they compared in strength.

"Alright, I've said everything that needs to be said. What follows is up to your own performance," Leng Yanran said. After finishing her speech, she waved her sleeve, and ten Golden Crow Tokens flew into the hands of Xu Nian and others.

Xu Nian grasped his own Golden Crow Token; it was a jade token, similar to the Academy's Identity Token, bearing his name and under it a number: zero.

Once Xu Nian killed an Exotic Beast, this number on the token would increase until he crushed the token and left Jade Cave Heaven.

Seeing that everyone had received their Identity Tokens, Leng Yanran no longer hesitated. She summoned all her Spiritual Energy, pressed a hand on the ancient and massive Stone Gate behind her.

With Leng Yanran's action, the ancient Stone Gate began to tremble violently, eventually slowly opening.

A dazzling light shone through the Stone Gate, carrying with it an ancient aura.

Xu Nian and the others were momentarily blinded by the dazzling light, unable to see clearly what lay beyond the Stone Gate.

"Go!" Leng Yanran commanded coldly.

Then, Gudu Jingcheng was the first to step through the Stone Gate and vanished from sight.

Seeing Dugu Jingcheng enter the Stone Gate, Lin Han snorted coldly and followed suit, and one by one, everyone surged through the Stone Gate.

"Let's go," Yun Lan said, turning to Xu Nian.

Xu Nian nodded and followed.

As the last of the students entered, the Stone Gate also began to close slowly.

"Move!" Leng Yanran said to Chen Hong and Xie An behind her before leading them towards the plaza in front of the mountain.

...

At this moment, thousands had already gathered in the plaza in front of the mountain.

These were all students, for whom Jade Cave Heaven was not only a trial for the Azure Dragon List students but also a great learning opportunity.

Currently, ten Xuantian Mirrors hovered above the plaza, each corresponding to one Azure Dragon List student, allowing spectators to see every move they made.

Above the Mirrors floated a golden leaderboard displaying the names of the ten students, each with a zero score next to their name.

Yes, these zeroes represented the scores of the ten trialists.

As the figures of the Azure Dragon List students appeared on the Xuantian Mirror, the crowd began to buzz with excitement, especially the female students who screamed continuously at the sight of Dugu Jingcheng.

Everyone on the Azure Dragon List was celebrated in the Academy, naturally attracting the admiration of many female students.

Of course, the two female trialists among the ten also drew much admiration from the male students.

Outside of Yun Lan, there was another woman among the ten.

This woman ranked ninth on the Azure Dragon List, and fourth on the Beauty List, named Han Xin. She too had high popularity among the male students.

The crowd attentively supported and cheered for their favorite top contenders from the Azure Dragon List.

"Ah, look over there!"

Just then, a shout of alarm suddenly arose.

Everyone turned to look in the direction indicated, and their exclamations followed suit.

They saw that the second and tenth Xuantian Mirror displayed the same scene—two students facing each other.

One with a stern gaze, the other with a mocking expression.

"Are they going to fight? They just entered Jade Cave Heaven, could someone already be facing elimination?" the crowd speculated.

"This Xu Nian really has bad luck, just entering and already encountering Lin Han. Lin Han is Ouyang Chengfeng's cousin. Xu Nian killed Ouyang Chengfeng; will Lin Han let him off?" someone who knew the backstory spoke up.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Xu Nian with sympathy.

Although Jade Cave Heaven did not permit killing, normal fighting was still allowed.

Merely forcing an opponent out of Jade Cave Heaven was not against the rules, and clearly, Lin Han was intending to do just that.

In Jade Cave Heaven, Xu Nian was also feeling frustrated.

He hadn't expected that upon entering, everyone would be scattered to different places, yet he and Lin Han ended up in the same location.

He even wondered if Jade Cave Heaven was playing a trick on him!