Chapter 359: True Horror of Second Trial

Chapter 359: Chapter 359: True Horror of Second Trial

Chapter 359: True Horror of Second Trial

As Rhain and his group progressed, the horrifying reality of the ancient forest became glaringly apparent by the end of the very first day.

There were no weak creatures here.

In the outside world, a Domain Master Realm beast was an overlord of an entire mountain range, a being that required a concerted effort from top-tier sects to put down.

But in this primeval trial ground, every single beast that radiated an aura was at the Domain Master Realm.

It wasn’t entirely bad, as it meant that they won’t have to waste their time, finding the Domain Master beasts, all they needed was to find the weak preys; yet it also meant that this forest was far more dangerous than their initial thoughts.

Rhain and Lyra followed their ruthlessly effective hunting strategy.

Karsten and the five mercenaries acted as bait.

They would deliberately leak their late-stage Core Formation auras, running frantically through the dense forest to lure out isolated, early-stage Domain Master beasts.

The moment the beast lunged, blinded by its primal hunger, Lyra would attract it with her True Heavenly Flame. Rhain would then instantly follow up, utilizing all of his strength to execute the creature before it could fully retaliate.

It was a perfect tactical loop.

But despite their flawless coordination, the process was incredibly grueling.

For the first two days, the dense terrain and the need to rest and recover their rapidly depleting essence meant they could only secure twelve to fifteen beast cores a day.

It was an astonishing number, but against a ticking clock of one thousand cores in thirty days, it was an excruciatingly slow pace.

On the morning of the third day, the flaw in their strategy was exposed.

"RUN! IT’S RIGHT BEHIND US!"

Karsten’s terrified roar ripped through the dense woods.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Six figures tore through the colossal tree roots, their lungs burning as they pushed their Core Formation essence to the limit.

Behind them, the ground trembled, and ancient trees as thick as pavilions were violently snapped in half.

RUMBLE—!!!

The earth shattered as a colossal, mutated armadillo-like beast erupted from the ground.

Its entire body was encased in thick, metallic obsidian scales of the oppressive earth essence.

Level 3 Domain Master Beast!

"NOW!" Karsten shrieked, throwing himself into the mud just as the beast lunged.

Hidden perfectly behind a dense bush, Lyra’s crimson eyes narrowed sharply.

"Crimson Tempest Rend!"

Swoosh—!

Lyra rushed our, her rapier blazing with the heat of her True Heavenly Flame.

She poured every last drop of her fourth-level Core Formation essence into the strike, aiming directly for the beast’s thick neck.

BANG—!!!

But the moment the attack landed, Lyra’s breathtakingly beautiful face turned ghastly white.

Her flames that could melt steel into vapor, literally bounced off the beast’s obsidian scales.

It hadn’t even left a scorch mark.

The Iron-Scaled Pangolin hadn’t even bled.

"What?!" Lyra gasped, her right arm completely numb from the brutal recoil.

ROAAAAR—!!!

Enraged by the impact, the beast whipped its massive head around, opening its jaws to unleash a devastating torrent of condensed earth spikes directly at Lyra.

Before the spikes could impale her, a figure appeared, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her away from the spot.

BOOM!

As soon as their figures left, the ground where they were standing shattered, rocks and debris flying everywhere.

Rhain appeared a few feet away along with Lyra, his eyes staring at the roaring behemoth.

’Physical attacks are useless against an armor that thick,’ Rhain calculated instantly. ’If we fight it head-on, it will drain our essence dry.’

With a flash of spatial light, a colossal golden bell materialized in the sky above the clearing.

Emperor-Grade Artifact: Monarch’s Soul-Sealing Bell.

Rhain channeled his vast soul Power into the artifact.

DONG—!!!

An ancient bell toll rang out across the primeval forest.

The shockwave of pure spiritual authority bypassed the beast’s impenetrable obsidian scales entirely, striking directly into its spiritual sea.

Rhain drew his heavy broadsword, preparing to immediately rush in. He knew from his battles against human Domain Masters that the paralysis effect of the bell would only last a precious few seconds against opponents of this realm.

But as Rhain stepped forward, he paused.

The beast wasn’t showing any signs of struggle.

One second passed. Two seconds. Five seconds.

The massive beast was frozen like a stone statue.

Its eyes were rolled back, and a thick line of saliva dripped from its slack jaws.

It wasn’t just stunned; its consciousness had been utterly short-circuited.

Rhain’s golden Eyes of Truth flared.

A flash of profound realization dawned on him.

’Its mental fortitude is incredibly fragile!’

Unlike human Domain Masters, who spent centuries meditating and fortifying their spiritual seas against mental intrusions, these mutated beasts relied entirely on their tyrannical physical bodies and raw essence.

Their souls were completely unprotected!

Rhain didn’t rush. He casually raised his right hand, extending his index and middle fingers.

Buzz—!

A highly compressed vortex of obliterating dark essence gathered at his fingertips.

Emperor-Grade Martial Art: Heaven’s Judgement Finger.

Swoosh!

A concentrated beam of pitch-black light tore through the air.

With the beast completely paralyzed and unable to channel its essence to fortify its defenses, the black beam pierced cleanly through its thick obsidian scales, drilling a hole straight through its brain.

THUD.

The massive beast collapsed lifelessly.

Lyra stared at the corpse in shock. "It... it didn’t even try to resist?"

"They have no mental defenses," Rhain stated, "Their souls are vulnerable to the bell. This will make things way easier for us."

Realizing this massive advantage, the hunting speed drastically escalated.

Karsten and the mercenaries would lure the beasts, Rhain would instantly deploy the Monarch’s Soul-Sealing Bell to inflict prolonged paralysis, and then he or Lyra would execute the helpless creatures with lethal strikes.

Because the beasts could not defend themselves, the essence drain required to kill them plummeted.

But despite this "cheat," the ancient forest was highly unpredictable.

Not every encounter could be neatly controlled.

On the seventh day, their smooth momentum was brutally crushed.

While tracking a wounded beast, they had accidentally strayed into the territory of a level 8 Domain Master beast.

A Six-Winged Terror Wyrm.

The moment the beast had awakened from its slumber, the crushing spiritual pressure alone had nearly pulverized the mercenaries’ organs.

They had been forced to flee for their lives.

During their retreat, the beast unleashed a barrage of black lightning feathers that devastated the forest.

Lyra, attempting to deflect a stray bolt of lightning from annihilating Karsten, was struck cleanly in the shoulder.

With Rhain’s help, although the group managed to survive, each one of them were gravely injured.

When they finally collapsed in a hidden cave hours later, Lyra was hovering on the very brink of death.

"Gah... my legs..."

"I can’t breathe... the lightning..."

Karsten and the five mercenaries collapsed onto the cold floor of the cave, groaning in agonizing pain.

Their bodies were covered in severe burns.

The residual shockwaves from the Six-Winged Terror Wyrm had nearly pulverized their internal organs, leaving them thrashing weakly on the ground in a state of incapacitation.

But their condition was nothing compared to the girl resting on Rhain’s back.

Lyra was already unconscious.

Her head slumped lifelessly against his shoulder, her breathing dangerously shallow.

The black lightning from the Level 8 Domain Master beast had struck her directly in the shoulder, passing too close from her heart.

Rhain completely ignored the groaning mercenaries for the moment.

He didn’t dare to delay a single second, he moved swiftly, gently lowering Lyra from his back and laying her down on a flat stone.

Hastily retrieving an exquisite jade bottle from his spatial ring, Rhain popped the cork and gently fed a Mystic-Grade healing pill past her pale lips.

As the pure medicinal essence flooded her meridians, the sickening black hue around her wound finally stopped spreading, slowly shifting back to a normal color.

Rhain let out a quiet exhale, "Her life is out of danger now."

But looking at her pale face, Rhain knew she wasn’t in a condition to fight anymore.

Rhain stood up.

He turned his cold gaze toward the mercenaries who were still writhing and wailing on the cave floor.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed two bottles of high-tier healing pills toward the groaning mercenaries.

"Eat them and circulate your essence," Rhain commanded.

Karsten, whose left arm was bent at a sickening angle and whose face was entirely covered in blood, scrambled desperately toward the bottles.

"T-Thank you, Lord Rhain! Thank you!" Karsten cried out, his voice filled with sheer desperation.

He hastily popped the corks with his teeth, shoving the pills into his dying brothers’ mouths before swallowing one himself.

Rhain eyes swept over the terrible condition of the group.

Just a single mistake, and they were crushed into such a pathetic state.

This trial was far more dangerous than he could imagine.

If they wanted to survive the remaining weeks and secure a thousand beast cores, they could not afford to make another mistake.

Or, they will be truly dead next time.