Chapter 89

Black fog would seep into Meng Chuan’s body every step he took up the altar . The illusions continued to increase in potency .

Countless illusions attacked his mind, yanking Meng Chuan’s consciousness so that he would fall into an abyss .

No one can stop me . If I can’t even destroy illusions, how can I kill all demons? Meng Chuan’s condensed will was like a saber . This saber was for demon-slaying, so he wanted to slice through the obstructions on his cultivation path .

He continued to advance with great difficulty, but as he advanced, the black fog grew thicker . The illusions’ influence on his body and consciousness grew stronger . Even though his will was like a blade, his consciousness was shrouded by the illusions .

When his memories were muddled up, the illusions became more realistic . He gradually lost his perception of his body .

Boom!

An invisible force appeared in his mind .

Oh? Power of the Soul? Meng Chuan suddenly sobered up . He had completely recovered his memories, blocking the illusions’ influence over him . Although he didn’t use the Power of the Soul actively, it had expelled the black fog from his body just before he succumbed to the illusions .

The Power of the Soul is impressive . It can easily block these illusions . But if that’s the case, how would I temper my willpower? He immediately restrained the Power of the Soul, preventing it from helping him . The illusions attacked his mind once again, causing his consciousness to sink into the abyss . However, the Power of the Soul ultimately allowed him to keep a sliver of consciousness .

This sliver of clarity allowed him to identify the illusions, however, he was unable to break free of them . Furthermore, he couldn’t sense his body . His consciousness seemed to be trapped in a cage of darkness .

Although he could destroy the cage of darkness with his Power of the Soul, Meng Chuan didn’t do so .

I can’t sense my body at all . I can’t move any further . I should have failed .

…

Outside .

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King East River and company watched from afar . After Ji Yuantong stopped, they paid even more attention to Meng Chuan .

If Ji Yuantong was a rare genius that appeared once a decade, then Meng Chuan’s spiritual perception talent was simply inconceivable . Such talent had only appeared once in recent centuries . Therefore, all the Godfiends present placed great importance on Meng Chuan . If Meng Chuan lacked willpower, it would be ten times worse than Ji Yuantong failing at the 17th step .

30 steps, 40 steps, 50 steps, 60 steps .

Seeing Meng Chuan slowly advance, the Godfiends gradually relaxed . To pass the sixtieth step meant that he had outstanding willpower .

On the 66th step, Yan Feng stopped . Meng Chuan stopped at the 68th step .

“Oh? Meng Chuan is about to stop?”

“The 68th step is not bad . He’s ranked 10th for this assessment . ”

“To become a Great Solar Godfiend, one needs to reach the 103rd step of the Darkness Altar! He has reached the 68th step at the age of 18 . He will naturally grow . In ten years, he will easily reach the top of the altar .

The Godfiends were quite satisfied with Meng Chuan’s results .

Meng Chuan stopped on the 68th step for a few seconds, his eyes gradually turning pitch black . However, his eyes soon returned to normal . Meng Chuan continued to move upwards . Meng Chuan was angry at his powerlessness, so his willpower and resilience improved . His willpower was a blade that cut through illusions, which is why he continued to move upwards .

“Oh? He was about to fail, yet he managed to escape the illusion? Having breakthroughs at critical moments is very rare,” said Elder Yi with a smile .

King East River nodded . “His inner will is very powerful . After encountering trouble, his heart will become more resolute . His will can be even more resilient . ”

Under the Godfiends’ watch, geniuses gradually stopped .

Zong Sha stopped at the 71st step . He ranked 8th among the hundred geniuses! He was extremely outstanding .

At the 75th step, Meng Chuan stopped again . The black fog enveloped his head again, and his eyes gradually turned pitch-black . Although he struggled midway, his eyes eventually turned black . His entire body remained motionless like a statue .

“75th step . Very good . ” King East River smiled and nodded . An invisible force enveloped Meng Chuan and dumped him in an empty area . The black fog quickly separated from his body and receded into the Darkness Altar .

Without the black fog in his body, Meng Chuan quickly regained consciousness and his control over his body .

I was moved down? Meng Chuan looked up . There were four people left—still struggling to climb higher .

The only genius with an extremely strong Godfiend foundation left was Yan Jin . The other three didn’t enjoy much fame .

“Meng Chuan, you reached the 75th step . ” Princess Li Ying smiled as she walked over . Her eyes glimmered, and she became much more endearing . “You’re fifth amongst the hundred of us . However, the ranking isn’t important . A strong will is needed to become a Great Solar Godfiend . All you need to do is reach the top of the Darkness Altar . Since you’ve already reached the 75th step, you’ll probably reach the top in three years or so . ”

Meng Chuan sighed . As expected of the princess of the imperial family . She knew a lot . He didn’t know much about Great Solar Godfiends . His father was a Body Tempering Godfiend, and the Body Tempering Godfiend lineage stopped at the Great Solar realm .

“But, I’m in much worse shape . I only reached the 39th step . I’ll have to spend more effort on my will in the future,” said Princess Li Ying with a smile . “Thankfully, reaching the Great Solar realm usually takes 20-30 years . I have plenty of time to increase my willpower slowly . By the way, do you know that Ji Yuantong stopped at the 17th step?”

“17th step?” Meng Chuan was shocked .

“Yes, I believe the Archean Mountain Godfiends have headaches,” said Li Ying .

Meng Chuan and Li Ying chatted until they saw Yan Jin finally stop on the 81st step . After he left the Darkness Altar, only two geniuses remained .

Zuo Xiao stopped on the 85th step .

Zhang Lie stopped on the 93rd step .

Zhang Lie’s results in the previous assessments were very mediocre . He was ranked 99th during the preliminaries . However, he ranked first in the final trial . He reached an unbelievable height of 93 steps . He wasn’t far from reaching the summit .

Zhang Lie and Zuo Xiao had never consumed any rare treasures . They were all from ordinary family clans, and they had suffered much hardship .

They only lack opportunities . They didn’t have any family help . Meng Chuan looked at Zuo Xiao and Zhang Lie and sighed inwardly .

This was human fate .

If he had grown up in a large family clan, living in luxury since a young age—thus being an elite with excellent cultivation conditions—he wouldn’t have experienced much hardship . That would’ve probably prevented him from reaching the 93rd step today .

“All the assessments have come to an end,” said King East River in a clear voice . “You can rest for an hour . After a discussion, the final twenty will be announced . ”

The final name list is going to be decided .

Will I be included?

I wasn’t ranked at the top for the preliminaries, but I wasn’t too bad either . My performance was very average . I should be able to enter the top 20 .

Many geniuses were extremely nervous as they thought about how Archean Mountain would decide the final twenty .

To many of them, obtaining a spot was a leap in status! If they couldn’t obtain a spot, they would have to accumulate credit on the battlefield slowly . Furthermore, they wouldn’t have any good teachers to guide them . In Archean Mountain, powerful Godfiends would guide disciples, and they were allowed to learn the strongest Godfiend legacies . They would also enjoy rare resources as nourishment . Most of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s Great Solar Godfiends came from Archean Mountain .

Meng Chuan walked to Meng Dajiang . Yan Jin came as well .

“Both of you did well,” said Meng Dajiang happily . “From what I’ve seen, both of you will definitely get a spot . ”

“Yan Jin, you ranked ninth in the preliminaries, and can be considered to be in the top five for the final selection . ” Meng Chuan nodded . “You’ll definitely get a spot . ”

“You should be number one,” said Yan Jin with a smile . After years of hard work, his first goal was to enter Archean Mountain . From the looks of it, nothing unexpected would happen .

…

The Godfiends discussed the geniuses’ performances .

As for King East River, the sloppy man, the cyan-clothed woman, and Elder Yi, they were busy discussing the top twenty .

“Ji Yuantong’s inner will is flawed, but his spiritual perception talent is extremely high . As long as he can make up for his lacking willpower in the future, he will become a powerful human Godfiend . We definitely have to give him a spot,” said the sloppy-looking man . “The other disciples will need to spend some effort to temper their wills at the Darkness Altar . For Ji Yuantong, let him spend more effort on this aspect . ”

“We need to come up with a special plan to temper his will,” said the cyan-clothed woman . “We can make plans for him according to his childhood experiences . For example, a turning point in life, a desperate escape from despair, silver linings, marrying a wife and having children… I’d rather delay him for ten years to make up for his lacking willpower . ”

“Yes . ” King East River nodded . “I agree with giving him a spot, but in regards to his inner will… that requires a detailed plan . ”

“There’s no need for you to waste your efforts on these matters,” said Elder Yi with a smile . “There are many old fellows on the mountain who can make proper plans for him . In the history of our Archean Mountain, we have had peerless geniuses with weak willpower . ”

People with certain outstanding aspects could be recruited directly .

For example, Liu Qiyue had a Phoenix Divine Body bloodline . She didn’t take any tests and was directly admitted . Even if her cultivation were lacking or flawed, Archean Mountain would think of ways to make up for it .

For ordinary geniuses, wasting too much time would delay their cultivation in other aspects . It wasn’t worth Archean Mountain putting in too much effort to nurture them .

However, they made exceptions for certain geniuses .

“Ji Yuantong’s spot has been decided . What about Zhang Lie? Zhang Lie came in first at the Darkness Altar, but he’s very mediocre in other aspects,” said the cyan-clothed woman . “He only has a strong will . Without sufficient strength, how will he fight demons in the future?”

“He is really mediocre . ” The sloppy man nodded . “We can let him try the Mirage Fiend lineage . ”

“He might not be suitable for the Mirage Fiend lineage . I’m afraid only the Sanguine God lineage is suitable for him,” said King East River .

“Let’s give him a spot . We can give Illusion Fiend and Sanguine God a try . If he doesn’t become a high-grade Godfiend in ten years, then expel him from the inner sect,” said Elder Yi . Archean Mountain had rules too . If a disciple wanted to become a Godfiend, they would at least be a high-grade Godfiend! This was one of the reasons why the Archean Mountain Godfiends were powerful . If they didn’t become a high-grade Godfiend in ten years, they would be expelled from the inner sect and become an outer sect disciple .

King East River and the others discussed one genius after another . Every spot was extremely precious, so they had to take it seriously .