"You are Ray Willer." Max said smiling. "I saw you did good in the second trial."
Ray smiled as he arrived just beside the right side of him and whispered. "I am not here to talk with you. I am here to warn you. The next trial is going to be a survival trial and in that trial, you will be my prey and I will be the hunter. Haha, it will be a treat to hunt down the most viral genius in the Divine Realm."
Just as Max was about to say sothing to Ray about what he just said, Max found Ray disappeared into the crowd with other disciples and was gone.
Max's gaze lingered on the place where Ray Willer had just vanished, yet there was no trace of tension on his face. The faint smile at the corner of his lips did not fade. Instead, it deepened, carrying a quiet confidence that seed almost out of place after such a direct threat.
"You want to hunt ?" he murmured softly to himself, his eyes narrowing just a fraction. "Then you better be prepared for what kind of prey I am."
There was no anger in his tone. No irritation. Only a calm, almost chilling certainty.
In his mind, Ray Willer's words replayed once more. A survival trial. Hunter and prey. The intention behind those words was obvious.
Max exhaled slowly.
"Will the Celestial Forge Pavilion really care if soone like him disappears during the trial?" he wondered inwardly, his expression returning to normal as if nothing had happened.
His thoughts ca to a halt as two familiar figures approached him through the crowd.
Lucia arrived first, her steps quick, her eyes bright with excitent that she clearly could not suppress. Isabella followed just behind her, her calm deanor intact, yet even she could not hide the curiosity in her gaze.
Lucia did not waste a single mont.
"What was that sword move?" she asked, her voice filled with disbelief and excitent. Her eyes were locked onto Max as if she was trying to dissect him entirely. "You defeated your reflection in a single strike!"
She stepped closer, her tone growing more animated.
"After seeing that, I thought I could do the sa," she continued, a slight frustration slipping into her voice. "But the mont I faced my reflection, I realized just how ridiculous that thought was. It took nearly twenty minutes to bring mine down."
Isabella nodded from the side, her gaze steady but filled with the sa curiosity.
"Lucia is right," she said calmly. "That kind of sword art… it is not sothing ordinary disciples can use. Where did you learn it, Max?"
For a mont, both of them simply stared at him, waiting.
Max looked at the two of them, then suddenly let out a soft laugh.
"You are overthinking it," he said lightly, a teasing smile forming on his face. "I am just that talented."
Lucia blinked.
Isabella narrowed her eyes slightly.
"And as for the sword art…" Max continued, his tone dropping just a little as his smile turned mysterious. "That is a secret."
Isabella's expression instantly shifted into a small pout, her brows knitting together in clear dissatisfaction.
"A secret?" she repeated, clearly not pleased with that answer.
Lucia crossed her arms, though the hint of a smile still lingered on her face. "You always say that."
Seeing their reactions, Max chuckled again before raising his hand slightly.
"Alright, alright," he said. "No need to look at like that."
His expression softened just a little.
"I do have so inheritance arts with ," he added. "Once the Slting Trial ends, I will pass sothing suitable to both of you."
Isabella's expression imdiately eased, and she gave a small nod.
"Good," she said simply, as if that was the only answer she needed.
Lucia also smiled, her earlier frustration gone as quickly as it had appeared.
Before any of them could continue the conversation, a powerful voice suddenly echoed across the entire square.
"Alright. It is ti for the next and final trial to begin."
Elder Cael's voice resounded like a bell, instantly silencing the noisy crowd. Every disciple, every elder, every observer turned their attention toward the sky where his figure stood.
"The rewards for the second trial will be distributed shortly," he continued, his tone steady and authoritative.
A slight pause followed, as if he was allowing his words to sink in.
"As all of you know, this Slting Trial exists for one purpose," Elder Cael said, his gaze sweeping across the countless participants. "To prepare you for the upcoming Cosmic Ascension Conference."
The mont those words were spoken, the atmosphere shifted.
Even those who were previously relaxed straightened their backs unconsciously.
"The third and final trial," he continued slowly, "will be a small replication of the environnt and conditions of the Cosmic Ascension Conference itself."
For a brief mont, silence blanketed the entire square.
Then—
"What?"
"A replication of the Conference?"
"How is that even possible?"
Whispers erupted from every direction as shock spread like wildfire among the disciples.
Even the elders from the various third rate forces could not maintain their composure. Their expressions changed one after another, disbelief clearly written across their faces.
"They never ntioned this before…"
"To simulate the Cosmic Ascension Conference… the Celestial Forge Pavilion is going this far?"
"Celestial Forge Pavilion has prepare well this ti."
High above, Elder Cael remained unmoved as he watched their reactions.
anwhile, Max stood quietly among the crowd, his expression calm, yet his eyes had sharpened.
"A survival trial… and a replica of the Conference."
His lips curved slightly.
"Now this is getting interesting."
Max only knew a single concrete detail about the Cosmic Ascension Conference, and that was the suppression of cultivation to the peak of the Law Refinent Realm for every participant who entered it.
Beyond that one fact, everything else remained unknown to him, like a vast territory covered in fog. He did not know how the Conference was structured, he did not know what rules governed it, and he had no understanding of how one was expected to survive or rise within such an event.
Entering sothing like that without knowledge or preparation was no different from stepping onto a battlefield where every opponent knew the terrain except you. Even for Max, who had always relied on his strength and adaptability, that kind of uncertainty carried risk.
But now, as he listened to Elder Cael reveal that the final trial had been designed as a replica of the Cosmic Ascension Conference, a subtle shift occurred within him.
The uncertainty did not disappear, but it transford into sothing else. His eyes sharpened, and a faint excitent began to stir deep within him. This was not just another trial. This was an opportunity to understand the battlefield that awaited him in the future.
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