Chapter 439 - 175: Another 30 Years Pass

After all, Zhao Xin was still Xu Lei’s Dao Companion and lived with him. She also made sure to perform Charitable Giving regularly.

This time, however, their luck was better. There were no coincidences like last time, and Jue Gen never found out.

Xu Lei and Qing Lian’s relationship remained a secret.

Of course, to avoid a repeat of what happened with Zhao Xin and Xu Lei, Qing Lian found an ordinary friend to pretend to be her Dao Companion on the surface, hoping to dissuade Jue Gen.

In the blink of an eye, another twenty years passed.

It had now been thirty years since Xu Lei and Zhao Xin arrived in the Second Heaven.

Finally, on this day, while he was in the middle of his Cultivation, the second halo behind Xu Lei’s head solidified significantly.

’If I take the assessment now, I should be able to pass the Second Heaven’s trial!’

Xu Lei went to find Qing Lian and Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin’s Cultivation progress was now about the same as Xu Lei’s.

She too could take the assessment and was confident she would pass.

Qing Lian had been confident she could pass for five years, but she couldn’t bear to leave Xu Lei, so she had remained in the Second Heaven.

"Let’s all take the assessment together. We can leave that Jue Gen behind in this heaven. Then we won’t have to avoid him anymore. Hiding from him for decades has been so annoying," Qing Lian couldn’t help but say.

Xu Lei and Zhao Xin nodded. Things had ended so unpleasantly back then, and now they were still in the same heaven. Constantly running into him was indeed awkward at times.

And so, the three of them went to take the assessment for the Second Heaven.

Of course, Qing Lian didn’t walk side-by-side with Xu Lei and Zhao Xin.

Instead, she kept some distance, maintaining the appearance of avoiding suspicion.

Then, they entered the assessment’s Secret Realm one after another.

Once inside the Secret Realm, the three met up. They then found a place to hide, secretly circulating their Magical Power together to resist the cold.

They endured day after day like this.

However, just as the three of them were about to complete and pass the assessment, the unexpected happened.

Suddenly, a curtain of light rose up around them. An Array had been activated.

The expressions on Xu Lei, Zhao Xin, and Qing Lian’s faces changed.

They all had a good idea who was responsible.

Sure enough, a face appeared within the Array’s curtain of light.

It was Jue Gen.

The man must have entered after them.

He had been searching for the three of them inside the Secret Realm all this time.

He must not have found them before, but now he finally had.

Then he had secretly set up the Array around them, only making his move now.

"The three of you are all going to die!"

Jue Gen said with a cold, vicious snarl. "This is the price for making a fool of me."

"Jue Gen, are you insane? Do you know the consequences of killing the three of us in this Secret Realm?"

Zhao Xin couldn’t help but demand, "Bodhisattva Guan Yun specifically forbade us from killing each other. If you kill us here, how will you explain yourself?"

"It seems Yuan Kong really is protective of his little calf—no, his son. He’s not nearly as magnanimous as he claimed to be."

At this, Xu Lei added coldly, "After all, if it weren’t for Yuan Kong, this Jue Gen never could have obtained an Array like this."

Of course, Xu Lei also had no idea how Jue Gen planned to explain this to Bodhisattva Guan Yun.

’Will Yuan Kong make up an excuse, or something else?’

If their battle in the Secret Realm decades ago was the result of Jue Gen’s anger getting the better of him, this was different. This was clearly a premeditated ambush.

"Don’t you three worry. Since I dared to make a move, I’ve naturally come fully prepared."

Jue Gen sneered. "This Array will imprison you without you even realizing it. In the end, the ice will gravely wound you, shattering your souls and killing you. It’s not unheard of for Ascenders to be killed by the ice here during the Second Heaven’s assessment, unable to get out in time."

Qing Lian and Zhao Xin’s expressions changed.

They had indeed heard of such things happening.

The ice of the Second Heaven didn’t just affect the body; it attacked a person’s soul.

And the Array they were now trapped in did indeed have an amplifying effect.

It amplified the Ice Power from outside, making it even colder.

It was already freezing here, but now that the cold had been multiplied so many times, all three of them were shivering uncontrollably.

Their Magical Power offered little resistance, and when they took out their Tokens to try and leave the assessment’s Secret Realm, nothing happened.

The Array must be blocking the Celestial Palace’s AI Artifact Spirit.

It was an incredibly powerful Array; they had no idea what kind it was.

"What do we do? If this goes on, we’re all going to die."

Qing Lian said, her voice tight with anxiety, "This Array of his is really strange. It has a binding power. I can’t use most of my Magical Power, and my body is so restrained I can’t even move—"

"Unless we can destroy this Array."

Zhao Xin said, "Otherwise, we might really freeze to death here today."

"AHAHAHA."

Jue Gen laughed heartily. "The three of you can stop struggling. Now that you’ve fallen into this Array, your deaths are certain. There is no escape, not a single chance of survival."

But just then, Xu Lei spoke up.

"Jue Gen, I didn’t want to kill you."

Xu Lei said coldly, his eyes red, "But you forced my hand, so don’t blame me for what happens next!"

Because even though Xu Lei felt an insane cold seizing his body and a stabbing pain in his soul, the effect wasn’t as severe for him thanks to his Ten Thousand Lives Book. He wasn’t completely restrained.

Xu Lei hadn’t wanted to kill anyone in the Celestial Palace. That was why he had never used the explosives in his Space Bracelet.

After all, there was a chance he would violate the Celestial Palace’s rules, be killed, and have to be reincarnated again.

But now, Xu Lei had no choice!