Xu Lingchong naturally could not perceive such subtle thoughts on Shangguan Lan'er's part. He still believed the young miss would be delighted with the spectacle he had arranged, little knowing that this was the very junior sister who had sworn to watch over Wei Zhao.

Gazing at Wei Zhao amid the crowd, Xu Lingchong gave a cold smile. This was the first time an oppressive-might trial had been arranged for newcomers; if some mishap occurred along the way and a luckless newcomer or two perished, surely no one would find that too surprising.

Since Xu Lingchong had not consulted Meng Jueming and the others this time, acting entirely on his own whim, neither Zhong Yongliang nor Li Zhengming had been able to supply Wei Zhao with any forewarning.

Yet Shangguan Lan'er's warning glance just now had been enough to make the matter plain. Wei Zhao had already sensed the lethal danger lurking within it.

After all, back at the Summit of the Hidden Houses in the mortal realm, someone had already tried to seize the opportunity to cut him down. This time it was merely Xu Lingchong in their place—nothing new at all.

Still, though he had perceived the other's ill intent, Wei Zhao had not the slightest intention of retreating, for he was confident enough of withdrawing unscathed.

After publicly restating the rules once more, Hu Yunfeng had all the newcomers of the Welcome Pavilion enter the raised platform to undergo the oppressive-might trial together. The scores of the newcomers from the Threefold Pavilion would afterward be tallied separately, without affecting one another.

For this round of the oppressive-might trial, each person's score would be the sum of two parts: a time-limit score and a ranking score.

The time-limit score depended on how long one could hold out within. If one lasted past a single stick of incense, one gained five points; two sticks, ten points; three sticks, fifteen points; and so on, up to a cap of thirty points.

The ranking score depended on one's standing among the newcomers of one's own pavilion in the Threefold Pavilion. Whoever endured longest and ranked first gained fifteen points; second place gained fourteen; and so on down to the fifteenth and last, who gained only a single point.

In theory, the finest performer in this oppressive-might trial could earn both the thirty-point time-limit score and the fifteen-point ranking score at once—forty-five points in total.

Of course, attaining that theoretical perfect score was essentially impossible. For an ordinary person, lasting three sticks of incense was already the limit; as for holding out more than six sticks to claim the thirty-point time-limit score? Utterly out of the question.

"Show-off newcomer, I hope you survive this round—this lord is still waiting for the chance to wipe out his former shame! Hahaha!" On the way in, Meng Tong deliberately drew near and flexed his biceps, flaunting the bearing of an early-stage Foundation Establishment expert for all to see.

This fool had actually broken through to early-stage Foundation Establishment as well? Beside them, Xiao Ran and Qiao Hongcai exchanged a glance, each wearing a look of shock. Though each of them held a Foundation Establishment Pill, unlike Meng Tong they had no way to obtain Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid from Xu Lingchong's hands, and so to this day had not dared to take theirs lightly.

Wei Zhao, however, was not in the least surprised, for he had received word of this well beforehand. If one took both the Foundation Establishment Pill and the Spirit Liquid together and still failed to establish a foundation, one would truly have to be hopelessly good-for-nothing.

Not only had Meng Tong succeeded in establishing his foundation—Wei Zhao had also taken careful note of Kang Zhaoming and Zhong Yongliang just now, and both of them were by now early-stage Foundation Establishment experts as well. Setting all else aside, judging purely by cultivation resources, their clinging at the very outset to Xu Lingchong's thick and sturdy leg had indeed been a wise move.

And counting Wei Zhao himself, within a mere month four of this batch of Threefold Pavilion newcomers had already succeeded in establishing their foundations—something unimaginable in former years. Naturally, this was chiefly thanks to the Foundation Establishment Pills.

"This fellow merely got lucky. Even if he did establish his foundation, it's nothing remarkable—no need for the two of you to take it to heart. The pressing task is to face this oppressive-might trial and strive for a good opening. That is what matters. Still, safety comes first; when the time comes, act according to your strength and do not charge in blindly," Wei Zhao admonished the two with a solemn expression.

He was a man of experience and knew that in a trial of oppressive might one must never let distracting thoughts crowd the mind, or trouble would easily follow.

Especially this time, facing the Law Enforcement Hall's grand oppressive array, which besides the usual true-qi pressure also carried a faint spiritual oppression—under the twofold assault of body and spirit, a single slip would bring collapse. No carelessness could be tolerated, and still less any blind bravado.

Xiao Ran and Qiao Hongcai both nodded. They were not men who failed to know when to advance and when to yield. Points mattered, to be sure, but first one needed a life with which to contend for them. The newcomer trial had six stages in all; this was only the first, and there was ample time ahead.

Upon entering the circular raised platform, one immediately felt a heavy weight descend. Not only was one's whole body crushed and battered by powerful true qi, but the spirit too felt as though a heavy yoke had suddenly been clamped upon it; every nerve snapped taut in an instant, as if it might break at any moment.

And as the spirit came under suppression, the true qi within the body likewise began to stagnate by degrees, which in turn made the crushing pressure upon the flesh all the more severe and further increased the burden on the spirit. The two played upon each other, forming a most terrifying vicious cycle.

Wei Zhao could not help sighing inwardly: this oppressive-might trial was indeed far more arduous than the one at the Summit of the Hidden Houses in the mortal realm.

Once all the Threefold Pavilion newcomers had entered and settled into place, Hu Yunfeng exchanged a glance with several Law Enforcement Hall experts likewise seated, then signaled for the first stick of incense to be lit. The first stage of the oppressive-might trial had officially begun.

Whatever one's level of strength, the oppressive-might trial had always been an excellent means of testing innate talent and potential. Especially a grand array like this one, capable of applying pressure to body and spirit at once, which laid every person's talent and potential bare for all to see, making it easy to rank them against one another.

After all, if pressure were applied to the flesh alone, it would be purely a matter of how abundant one's true qi was; that could measure only each person's present strength, never their potential for future growth.

In other words, even a good-for-nothing built up entirely on pills, with no so-called potential for growth to speak of, could still score highly in such a trial of mere bodily pressure, so long as his strength sufficed.

But once spiritual oppression was added atop it, the effect was wholly different. True qi might hold out for a time, yet if the will was not strong enough, then under the pressure of that vicious cycle, no matter how abundant the true qi within the body, it would not endure for long.

Only one whose strength and whose will were both mighty could smile last beneath such a twofold oppressive array. (To be continued)

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