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That grain… is huge!

Su Ping appeared to be startled as he stood before the Tablet of Principles.

He knew that the Sword of the Void was his strongest skill for the moment, but he didn’t know it had turned out to be more powerful than the skills the system had given him!

“I contributed to the creation of the skill…” Su Ping mumbled to himself.

He combined the Sin Cutter and some theory from the Fist of Exorcist, as well as insights derived from his repeated deaths in the cultivation sites. He used all the things he could think of and applied them in the Sword of the Void. Still, the existence of rules in that skill was a complete surprise.

If so, then the Fist of Exorcist…

Su Ping’s eyes glistened. He punched at the tablet.

The golden virtual fist landed on the Tablet of Principles but nothing happened.

Su Ping was baffled.

The system had given him the Fist of Exorcist as a reward. How come it couldn’t inspire any grains?

“Of course that skill contains rules and is much better than any self-created skill. However, you have just mastered the first level. Of course it wouldn’t produce a reaction here!” The system’s grumpy voice appeared in Su Ping’s mind.

“…”

Su Ping curled his lips…

Well, truth be told, the system made sense.

There were seven levels of the Fist of Exorcist and he had only learned the first level. When he cultivated the skill, he had once seen a vision where the creator of the skill had been able to kill countless beasts with a single punch; some of those beasts were as large as the Golden Crows.

If he could reach the top level, it would be extraordinary!

“Such a pity.”

Su Ping shook his head. He didn’t have enough cultivation to reach the second level. But after experiencing countless battles, he had the feeling that he wasn’t that far off from reaching the second level.

Just maybe, he would soon make it possible.

“One more try!”

The golden glow receded from the sword; burning dark flames emerged instead. This time, he was using the Sin Cutter and nothing else.

Bang!

The ray of sword light landed on the Tablet of Principles.

Nothing.

Su Ping was disappointed. So, he had not learned any rules from the Sin Cutter, either.

That was a skill that Dusk had taught him; it was good as the Fist of Exorcist. However, he was also barely scratching the surface of the skill.

“I’m glad that you realized it; you’re not even close. Work harder,” the system lectured.

“…”

…

“Those two skills are not as good as the others. He’s not even close to learning the underlying rules of the two.”

“But given time, he just might. That human…”

Some Golden Crows were relieved to see that Su Ping had been unable to inspire more grains with the Fist of Exorcist and Sin Cutter. They could tell that Su Ping’s insights on the two weren’t deep enough.

Still, some of the more powerful Golden Crows were concerned.

They could tell that the two skills were powerful. Given time, Su Ping could learn the rules, which would later produce aggressive results!

“A descendant of the Heaven Master… Indeed…”

“No wonder he can come here.”

Some of the more powerful Golden Crows knew about Su Ping’s background. They had stopped underestimating the human.

…

“Stunning,” the Golden Crow elder on the left commented.

The elder on the right shook its head.

They could tell that the last two skills were marvelous. It was a shame that Su Ping had yet to master them.

The two skills once again had convinced the elders about Su Ping’s relationship with a Heaven Master.

He couldn’t have learned such stunning skills without the Heaven Master’s help!

…

Once he used the Sin Cutter, Su Ping didn’t have any more skills to try. He didn’t feel the need to try again though, since he had already passed the test. He also didn’t want to show all his cards since he still had to deal with the comprehensive combat round.

He left the Tablet of Principles and thus his turn ended.

The Golden Crows were happy to see that Su Ping had finally stopped. If he were to use another skill on par with Sword of the Void, he would have undoubtedly won first place in the third round. That would be quite the blow and a source of shame to the Golden Crows!

The young Golden Crows were also relieved after seeing him retreat. All of them became more alert; the foreign creature had been shown outstanding results in all three rounds, which had left them full of worry.

…

“I cannot believe you’ve tapped into the rules of thunder…” Diqiong said to Su Ping.

Su Ping raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“?”

Diqiong gazed at Su Ping with open confusion. The crow was able to tell that Su Ping was not being smug, asking while knowing the answer. “Nothing. Go back and ask your Heaven Master!”

“…”

Su Ping was speechless. Damn this arrogant bird.

Even though Diqiong didn’t talk about the specifics, Su Ping had reached some understanding. Back at the Demigod Burial, Joanna’s subordinates had talked to him about the power of rules!

Only those at the Star Rank or above could have learned those things.

Legendary creatures were able to learn how to manipulate space.

Star Rank creatures could master the ability to control time and space. Other than that, they knew how to manipulate the power of rules!

Su Ping had experienced the power of rules in the Dragon Tower back at the Valiant Academy. The strange age limit had often made him wonder.

He suspected that, maybe, Heaven Killer had not aged. That was why a severed finger would carry such strange rules.

Entering the Dragon Tower was to actually enter the finger.

Heaven Killer’s age made the severed finger repel anything older than the Heaven Killer himself.

It was illogical, but that was the only answer that Su Ping could come up with.

If that were the truth, Heaven Killer was indeed someone to be feared.

It was possible that, like Joanna, Heaven Killer was someone who had reincarnated in a new body, which was why he had managed to attain such achievements in merely twenty-some years.

Su Ping shook his head. That was not the time to think about it. Heaven Killer and the Golden Crows were too far above him.

…

After Su Ping ended his trial, the rest of the young Golden Crows took turns to have a go at the tablet.

Several hours later, the trial ended.

Many of the Golden Crows failed the third round. No one else offered outstanding performances.

The results were announced. Su Ping was No. 2 again!

He had inspired five grains but one of them displayed the power of rules!

That single grain had allowed him to outperform those that had inspired six or seven grains!

The first place was taken by the Golden Crow that inspired eight grains; two of those had been close to the power of rules.

Su Ping was once again the center of attention.

He didn’t care about it. He would leave after the trial and he didn’t even know whether he would return.

“Now it’s time for the comprehensive combat,” the Crows elder said. The Tablet of Principles shrank and was kept in a small cube, which later vanished in the void.

As the Tablet of Principles disappeared, a battlefield appeared in the void.

The battlefield was quite large; Su Ping felt like it was as big as an entire star!

All the young Golden Crows would engage in battle there; when the unfortunate ones died, the elders could bring them back by reversing time.

The young Golden Crows could battle with nothing to worry about!

“Off you go, kids,” the Golden Crow Chief Elder said.

The young Golden Crows’ eyes glowed in anticipation. Some of the young Golden Crows took the lead and flew to the battlefield passing above Su Ping. Light and shadow alternated.

Su Ping was about to enter the battlefield; he wanted to familiarize himself with the environment.

However, the Chief Elder suddenly spoke to him, “You have passed your trial. You don’t have to participate in the comprehensive battle.”

Su Ping didn’t understand.

I don’t have to?

“Why?”

Of course, he was happy to save some strength, but the good news came too suddenly.

The Golden Crow’s Chief Elder explained, “If you go in there, all the crows will gather and attack you. That would not be fair for you. You’ve done well enough.”

Su Ping thought of the glares he felt from the young Golden Crows. The Chief Elder was not wrong to suggest this.

If he went in there, he would become the only victim. He wasn’t afraid of a fierce battle, of course. However, the Golden Crows would lose all dignity if he were to win in such circumstances.

“Sure,” Su Ping said, “So, my materials…”

“We will give you the materials. Also, according to our rules, anyone able to pass the trial will be given a drop of heaven’s blood. You will have that as well!”

Su Ping asked, astounded, “Heaven’s blood?”

“That is correct,” the Chief Elder said, “Our first ancestor once destroyed a heaven!”

Su Ping held his breath. Destroyed a heaven?

Could they do that?!

He remembered that the system had told him about Heaven Masters who were superior to the very heavens.

Thrilled, Su Ping said at once, “Thank you, Chief Elder!”

He was immensely grateful.

It was obvious that heaven’s blood was precious!

Otherwise, the Golden Crows would have given all the young Golden Crows a drop!

Many young Golden Crows had already made their way into the battlefield hovering in the sky. The entrance closed once everyone had gone inside.