Light poured in as the door opened, revealing a beautiful platform with its flooring comprising nothing but giant branches and leaves.
Zhao Yunxiao took a step forward and the door promptly vanished behind him, leaving him right in the middle of the open platform.
He immediately realised where he currently was – on one of the branches of the Zodiac Tree.
However, the surface of this platform was a lot flatter than he had expected.
The leaves were soft to the touch, yet firm and large enough to cover the gaps between the giant branches, which in turn acted as beams that supported the entire platform up in the air. It appeared almost as though this was a natural observatory constructed by nature itself.
This tree branch platform was not too large, merely a hundred metres from end to end. Looking beyond its edges, Zhao Yunxiao realised that he was probably standing around fifty metres from the ground, and could clearly see all the spectators around the Zodiac Tree.
The sect administrators of the Armed Ape Tower and the Black Tortoise Sect entourage were standing a short distance away, while the inner disciples of the Armed Ape Tower were gathered a little further.
And while he was looking at them, they were also looking right back at him.
"Don't get distracted, good lad! The Tribulation of Combat has begun the moment you stepped onto the tribulation platform!" Elder Xiong Yan suddenly cautioned.
It had already begun?
Zhao Yunxiao immediately extended his spiritual senses to observe the entire platform, turning his focus back to his immediate surroundings.
Right at this moment, a powerful force struck from underneath him.
Clank-!
The sound of metal hitting metal could be heard as Zhao Yunxiao was thrown straight into the air, caught completely off guard by the sneak attack.
This was supposed to be the main tribulation chamber of an orthodox sect, so he was definitely not expecting to have to face a sneak attack like this!
Thankfully, he had always worn metal plates in the soles of his shoes to prepare for such unseen attacks. Otherwise, who knew what would have happened to his foot by now?!
In fact, even the metal plate in his sole had been drilled right through with the strike earlier. Had he not reacted fast enough to put up an energy guard and leap away by relying on the force of the strike, he would probably have had to start this challenge with a hole in his foot!
But now that he knew what he was up against, Zhao Yunxiao was definitely not going to get careless again.
The airborne Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes, focusing on the small figure that was quickly disappearing back into the ground – into the small tunnel that it had just created.
It was not only a humanoid, but also a human-sized one, albeit possessing a rodent's head and grey fur all over its body. So, it seemed that the zodiac spirits did not fully resemble the wooden sculptures found in the Zodiac Tree.
Avatar of the rat spirit, eh?
How sneaky.
With a flick of his wrist, the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd appeared in his hands. Instead of landing back on the ground and risk exposing himself to any attacks that might already be lying in wait, he pierced the halberd towards the ground, intending to use it as a foothold instead.
As expected, the surface of the ground burst open right as the halberd was about to land. From beneath the ground, the rat spirit reappeared while exposing its weapon – razor-sharp claws that looked more like a long drill when clamped together.
Clank-!
Sparks flew as the halberd collided against the claws.
It was a quick collision, which ended with the rat spirit immediately disappearing back into the ground. At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao also used the impact force to throw himself into the air once again.
And this time, he properly guided the direction of his flight, leading himself to the very edge of the tree branch platform.
Driving his dantian to the limit to channel essence energy into his halberd, Zhao Yunxiao swung the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd with all his might, aiming it at the thinnest point of the branch that connected the tree branch platform to the Zodiac Tree.
Seeing the rat spirit dig through the ground so easily made Zhao Yunxiao realise something – this tree branch platform might look sturdy, but it might not actually be as hard as one would expect of the Zodiac Tree.
This was something that he could exploit.
You can keep hiding, but I have no intention to play hide and seek with you!
Begone with the entire tree branch platform!
An archaic rune glowed on the halberd.
[Explode]
Boom-!
A powerful physical strike coupled with an explosive boost. The Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd struck the branch of the Zodiac Tree with maximum impact.
But the moment it hit, Zhao Yunxiao's expression stiffened.
Because despite all the power behind his strike, the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd barely cut an inch into the giant tree branch!
What on earth...?!
Zhao Yunxiao wanted to curse out loud, but he knew he did not have time for that.
With his failure to cut off the branch, the rat spirit would surely be coming straight for him next!
And, as though reading his mind, the surface of the tree branch broke open the very next moment.
Seemingly having sensed that Zhao Yunxiao was not in a position to dodge, the rat spirit completely threw itself out of the ground this time, shooting towards him with its claws leading the way, its body spinning like a giant drill.
[Unyielding Stone Bind]
Two chains of earth and stone shot out from the ground to wrap around the rat spirit, attempting to hold back its charge.
Unfortunately, the effect of the Unyielding Stone Bind was slightly diminished in an environment where the ground was not made of earth.
It barely held the rat spirit back for a split second before being forcibly shaken off by the rapidly rotating figure. Thankfully, this split second was already enough for Zhao Yunxiao to pull back his halberd.
With a huge swing, Zhao Yunxiao smashed the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd towards the exposed rat spirit.
[Explode]
Boom-!
Another loud explosion. And unlike the one that hit the tree branch earlier, this one actually did some real damage.
The rat spirit was sent flying back to the centre of the tree branch platform with chars all over its body. It was clear that Zhao Yunxiao was the victor of the exchange this time.
But the fight was not over just yet.
The moment the rat spirit landed on the tree branch platform, it immediately drilled back into the ground, once again disappearing from sight.
Zhao Yunxiao landed back on the tree branch platform as well, a sharp glint flashing across his eyes.
What happened earlier could be considered a fluke, where his miscalculation ended up working in his advantage by luring out the rat spirit. Unless this was just a mindless avatar, which would be hard to believe considering its sneaky ways thus far, such an attack pattern would be unlikely to work twice.
But it was not like Zhao Yunxiao was out of options either.
[Earth Burrowing Technique]
Considering what happened earlier when he tried to cut the tree branch, Zhao Yunxiao was not too sure if it would work. Thankfully, things turned out surprisingly well this time as he entered the ground without problems.
It would appear that there were some higher-order rules governing the tree branch platform that prohibited full destruction of the platform, but not entering the branch itself.
Well then, since you love going underground so much, let's have a proper underground battle!
After all, when it came to sneaking underground, Zhao Yunxiao was not exactly a complete novice either. And judging from the clash earlier, Zhao Yunxiao was confident that he would hold the advantage if it ever came down to a direct confrontation.
Just like that, both the challenger and the avatar of the zodiac spirit disappeared from everyone's view atop the tree branch platform.
Of course, top experts like the elders could still vividly sense what was happening underneath the surface, where the duo was currently having an intense battle.
The result was as Zhao Yunxiao had surmised.
The rat spirit specialised in sneak attacks, and was thus at a huge disadvantage when forced into direct confrontation.
Halberd against claws, the rat spirit did not stand a chance.
Crack-!
The surface of the ground burst open as Zhao Yunxiao leapt back out into view.
His face was dirtied and his robes were messy, but none of that was important. Instead, everyone's focus fell onto the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd that he raised up high, with the rat spirit impaled at its end.
It was a victory achieved away from the spectators' eyes, but a victory nevertheless.
Fei Weng and Hua Shui silently nodded in approval.
Gan Luozhi furrowed his brows.
Xiong Yekong watched on without any obvious change in his emotions, well aware that this was merely the beginning.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the defeated rat spirit suddenly turned into countless specks of red light before quickly reforming into a dignified version of itself not too far away from Zhao Yunxiao.
"You have done well in defeating me, child," the dignified-looking rat spirit said. "As a reward, you shall be granted the first blessing of concealment."
"Thank you for the kind guidance, Senior," Zhao Yunxiao clasped his fists towards the rat spirit to express his gratitude.
As an entity that had existed since the time of the Zodiac General Long Shiqian, the rat spirit would definitely be considered a senior to Zhao Yunxiao. Even if this was just an avatar, Zhao Yunxiao did not hesitate to treat it with the respect that it deserved.
At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but palpitate in excitement.
With this, he understood that he had officially cleared the first test. Next would be the promised blessing that would give him a boost to his physique!
Now then, just what exactly would this 'first blessing of concealment' be like?
Unfortunately, the events that followed did not exactly go the way that he had hoped.
"With this primary blessing of concealment, you will-"
The rat spirit was still speaking halfway when its form suddenly dispersed, turning into a stream of invisible matter that headed straight into Zhao Yunxiao's spatial pouch.
Zhao Yunxiao: "!!!"
With a chilling premonition in mind, he anxiously scanned his spatial pouch – just in time to see the invisible matter being sucked straight into the Heaven's Descent Bowl.
What on earth just happened..?!
Damn this stupid bowl! Hurry and spit out the avatar of the rat spirit!
Return my promised blessing to me!