"What's going on?" Elder Xiong Yan frowned in alarm. "The lad clearly won. Why did the avatar of the zodiac spirit disappear before granting the blessing?"
It was not just him. The disciples, deacons, and sect protectors of the Armed Ape Tower were all just as confused.
They had conducted numerous tests on the Zodiac Tree after the recent expansion, and this was the first time that they had seen anything like this!
Elder Feng Wanjia crossed her arms in contemplation, similarly trying to figure out why the avatar of the rat spirit suddenly disappeared. This was not the first time that she had seen the Zodiac Tree in action, and understood how it should have worked originally.
"Are you feeling all right, Little Zhao? Do you sense anything amiss?" Fei Weng shouted in concern.
He did not know what happened to the avatar of the rat spirit, but he had to at least make sure that nothing strange had happened to Zhao Yunxiao in the process.
"Y-Yeah. I am fine, Senior Fei," Zhao Yunxiao said while sneaking a glance at the elders.
From the looks of it, even they did not seem to have realised what just happened. Only then did Zhao Yunxiao let out a silent sigh of relief.
He already felt extremely wronged to have been robbed of the promised blessing, but it would be even worse if the Heaven's Descent Bowl also ended up being exposed because of this!
"Should we stop the challenge?" Elder Xiong Yan suggested. Now that something had obviously gone wrong, perhaps it would be wise to fix the issues before continuing.
"Has Elder Xiong figured out what the issue is?" Elder Feng Wanjia asked.
"That... I'm afraid not," Elder Xiong Yan sighed.
"In that case, let's continue observing for now," Elder Feng Wanjia said decisively. "He seems to be all right, so let's stop only when there are any signs of danger. Perhaps we would be able to figure things out after observing for a while longer."
"I understand," Elder Xiong Yan nodded.
Gan Luozhi could not help but let out a sigh of relief as he overheard their conversation. As expected, it was a wise decision to have left this 'opportunity' to Zhao Yunxiao instead!
On the tree branch platform, Zhao Yunxiao was still feeling rather confused. Up till now, the Heaven's Descent Bowl had only activated when he took the lives of living creatures.
Because of that, he had speculated that the Heaven's Descent Bowl was somehow absorbing the remaining vitality of recently demised creatures, converting that into some sort of energy for itself.
But the avatar of the rat spirit would probably not have something like vitality, would it?
Just as he was starting to get lost in thought, Zhao Yunxiao suddenly sensed a strand of malice coming from behind.
He quickly spun around, only to see an ox-headed humanoid charging straight at him.
Avatar of the ox spirit.
The other party's speed was not particularly impressive, but each step it took dug a small hole into the surface of the tree branch platform. The sheer power and momentum behind this charge were definitely nothing to be scoffed at, and there were even its two giant horns to be wary of.
Zhao Yunxiao instantly shook off the shock from earlier, and focused his attention on the opponent at hand.
So, following the sneaky rat spirit was the powerful ox spirit?
Well then, let's see how strong it truly was!
Zhao Yunxiao stabilised his stance and dug his heels in. As the ox spirit entered striking range, he thrust the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd out with all his might.
He did not know if the blessing would be robbed from him again even if he cleared this second test. But just in case it would, he had to at least get something out of these tribulations.
Physical and mental fortitude were the two aspects that Zhao Yunxiao had always prided himself on. Therefore, upon seeing the ox spirit that specialised in strength, he immediately thought of testing himself against it.
Just how would his current physique fare, as compared to the body strengthening cultivators of the Armed Ape Tower?
He might not be able to get an exact comparison by doing this, but it would at least give him a bit of an idea!
Should his physique truly end up being not up to par, he would just have to think of alternatives to approach this battle.
Bang-!
The halberd smashed against the ox spirit's pointed horns, resulting in a thunderous collision that rustled even the giant leaves around them.
The sheer momentum from the ox spirit pushed Zhao Yunxiao back a good few metres, his feet creating two deep tracks as it dug through the ground.
Yet he eventually managed to stand his ground.
His muscles were screaming from the overexertion, and his bones were hurting from the strain. But all of that did not change the outcome of the exchange.
With pure brute strength, he actually stopped the ox spirit's frontal charge, locking it into a direct contest of pure strength!
Watching this, the inner disciples immediately broke into discussions, though their opinions were not all positive.
One had to know that the disciples of the Armed Ape Tower were all cultivators of the body strengthening system. Most of them had physiques that were just as strong, if not even stronger than Zhao Yunxiao's.
Yet even they would not choose to challenge the ox spirit in a direct battle, since that was essentially playing into the opponent's strength. Rather than doing so, it would be wiser to conserve the energy for subsequent opponents.
And being used to their own cultivation regimes, most of the spectators failed to comprehend just how impressive a feat this was for someone who did not cultivate the body strengthening system. Instead, most simply saw it as a foolish waste of strength.
There were even those who speculated that he had purposely done so to taunt them, almost as though he was trying to tell them that disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect cared not about the tribulations of the Armed Ape Tower.
This caused quite a bit of unhappiness to fester among the inner disciples.
Nothing exceptionally impressive – Xiong Yekong similarly thought in his head.
In his eyes, the first round of tribulations was only at a level that Essence Gathering realm cultivators should be able to handle easily anyway. Back when he first challenged the Zodiac Tree, he could already blow away the ox spirit in a direct contest of strength!
At this point, another archaic rune on the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd lit up.
[Disperse]
The force behind the ox spirit's charge was reduced in an instant, completely disrupting the current balance of power.
"Hah!" Zhao Yunxiao shouted as he exerted his strength to his limit, throwing the ox spirit back and blowing its stance wide open.
This created a small window of opportunity that Zhao Yunxiao definitely would not miss.
A quick follow-up thrust of the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd pierced directly into the ox spirit's exposed neck.
"Hmm? What did he do? How did he suddenly get stronger?"
"It's not that he got stronger. The ox spirit got weaker."
"He seems to have activated some sort of array on his weapon."
"So, just relying on his treasures?"
It was a clean victory, though the spectating inner disciples were far from impressed.
Of course, the inner disciples' thoughts did nothing to change the outcome. The ox spirit directly turned into countless specks of red light before returning to its dignified form, just like the rat spirit had before it.
"You have done well in defeating me, child," the dignified-looking ox spirit said. "As a reward, you shall receive the first blessing of strength."
Zhao Yunxiao clasped his fists towards the ox spirit. "Thank you for the kind guidanc-"
This time, it happened even before Zhao Yunxiao could finish expressing his gratitude.
Just like the rat spirit, it suddenly dissipated into invisible matter that was sucked straight into the Heaven's Descent Bowl that was lying within Zhao Yunxiao's spatial pouch.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
"Again?" Elder Xiong Yan felt the corner of his lips twitch. Why did the Zodiac Tree have to cause such problems just as Elder Feng Wanjia was here to spectate?
While it was a good thing that Elder Feng Wanjia could help assess the problem together, it still felt rather embarrassing. He was almost certain that Elder Feng Wanjia would be silently judging them in her heart, wondering how their tests prior to today had failed to even pick up on such a huge issue.
On the other hand, Zhao Yunxiao was having mixed feelings about what was happening.
While he lamented the lack of blessings despite obviously clearing the tribulation tests, he was also rather excited to confirm that the elders were unable to detect the existence and activity of the Heaven's Descent Bowl.
Nevertheless, he was not one who enjoyed playing with fire.
Considering everything that had happened so far, there were likely no tangible benefits to be gained even if he continued with this challenge. Therefore, Zhao Yunxiao no longer saw the need to keep going.
By stubbornly persisting, he would only be increasing the possibility of the Heaven's Descent Bowl being discovered!
"Senior Fei, can we end the challenge here?" Zhao Yunxiao asked.
"You are fine. Continue with the challenge," Elder Feng Wanjia responded instead, her voice stern and her expression full of contemplation.
It was a tone that left no room for negotiation.
"Y-Yes, Elder Feng," Zhao Yunxiao dared not decline, but could not help but grow slightly anxious.
It would appear that Elder Feng Wanjia was determined to figure out what was wrong here. That's bad news for him!
Should he deliberately throw the next one, just to end things early?
No, that's a bad idea for sure.
Elder Feng Wanjia was not just an elder in name. With her perception, she would definitely be able to tell if he ever tried to lose on purpose.
Right now, she was likely still focusing on finding out what was wrong with the Zodiac Tree. But if she were to find him losing on purpose, her suspicions might directly shift from the Zodiac Tree to him!
At that point, even if she did not manage to find the Heaven's Descent Bowl, Zhao Yunxiao's action of deliberately throwing the fight would still be seen as a dereliction of duty, considering he was supposed to be helping to test the operation of the Zodiac Tree.
Who knew what kind of punishment would be in store for him then?
It seemed like he would just have to grit his teeth and rush through this Tribulation of Combat as quickly as he could, hoping that the Heaven's Descent Bowl would remain elusive enough to avoid detection until the very end!
"Roar!"
Specks of red light appeared before Zhao Yunxiao at this point, materialising into the avatar of the tiger spirit and making its grand entrance with a loud roar.
Upon hearing the roar, Zhao Yunxiao could feel a chill run down his spine, and goosebumps appeared all over his body.
This time, it was intimidation – a trait befitting the king of the jungle.
Seeing the appearance of the tiger spirit, many of the spectators could not help but tense up.
For body strengthening cultivators like them, physical confrontations were something that they lived and breathed. But the tiger spirit's ability to target their psyche was tantamount to striking at their weakness. Subjected to its terrifying intimidation, it was not uncommon to completely lose the will to fight altogether.
To most of them, the tiger spirit was indubitably the most formidable opponent among the zodiac spirits!
They could not help but open their eyes wide, curious to see how this arrogant challenger from the Black Tortoise Sect would fare against it.
There were also those who smirked in schadenfraude, eager to witness just how Zhao Yunxiao crumbled before the sheer mental pressure from the tiger spirit.
However, such expectations were bound to be met with disappointment.
After all, Zhao Yunxiao's mental fortitude had been refined through virtually living thousands of years and dying dozens of times through the Benevolent Wave Chessboard. At this point, his mental fortitude had already far exceeded not just his peers, but even many of his seniors.
Apart from giving him a few chills, the intimidation ability of the tiger spirit had barely any effect on him!
Under everyone's shocked gazes, Zhao Yunxiao charged forward without hesitation, piercing the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd through the tiger spirit's neck almost the very moment after its appearance.
Silence fell upon the inner disciples of the Armed Ape Tower, all of them too stunned to even speak.
Against this formidable opponent that most of the Armed Ape Tower disciples struggled against, Zhao Yunxiao just performed what could be considered an instant-kill!