**#Transcendent Stage Killing Trial: Evil Faction Annihilated; Yuanshi Tianzun Shatters All-Time High Score Record#**
"The results of the mid-year killing trial are in. In this trial, a total of thirty-eight official colleagues entered the killing trial. Eight sacrificed their lives, while thirty survived. The evil faction was virtually wiped out in its entirety. Yuanshi Tianzun achieved an unprecedented record-breaking score, with a grand total of: 1,628 points.
"The score rankings and casualty list are published below..."
The announcement was brief, spending little space detailing what had transpired. Yet this concise bulletin sent shockwaves through the official community akin to an earthquake and tsunami combined.
Beneath the announcement, the comments were unanimous:
"???"
Page after dense page, filled with nothing but question marks.
Many monumental events had taken place within the Five Elements Alliance in the first half of this year, but the moment this announcement went live, all previous "bombshell news" paled in comparison.
The evil faction wiped out; only eight dead on the orthodox side; 1,628 points... Stringing these phrases together whipped up a terrifying storm in the minds of the official stage walkers reading behind their screens—along with utter bewilderment.
For the first time, they suspected that whoever posted the announcement had botched the numbers.
Such a blunder was theoretically possible, but the probability of both the Five Elements Alliance and the Taiyi Sect posting the exact same erroneous announcement simultaneously was practically zero.
It was not until the official Transcendent stage walkers who had participated in the killing trial—no, they were Saints now—commented beneath the notice to confirm it and recount what had happened inside that everyone realized it was all actually true...
[Peony Fairy: There is no need to doubt the announcement's contents. There is no mistake. I will write a post explaining the events of the killing trial in relative detail. Please wait a moment, everyone.]
In official speculation, killing trials were temporary instances that varied with each iteration and would only ever appear once. Thus, there was no need for walkthrough guides, and consequently no secrecy requirements.
The only thing the storyteller had to consider was not revealing anyone's private details, so as to avoid stirring up disputes and trouble.
Before long, Peony Fairy's post went live and was pinned to the top by the administrator.
In the post, Peony Fairy wrote from her own perspective, vividly describing the events of the killing trial. Upon first entering the trial, she had accidentally "overheard" a conversation between the Monkey King and the mountain monkeys, leading to her being hunted down.
While fleeing, she encountered Yuanshi Tianzun and was saved by him. Afterward, they rescued a high school girl from the island nation together.
When writing about this, Peony Fairy spared no ink praising Yuanshi Tianzun's kindness, commending him for extending a helping hand to fellow orthodox walkers even though they were complete strangers.
Next, because the Spirit Realm walkers entering the trial had failed to figure out the faction selection, they came under attack from the furious Tree King. At the critical juncture, Yuanshi Tianzun unlocked the secret of the factions and led the orthodox walkers into the second stage.
For the second stage, the Labyrinth Forest, Peony Fairy once more devoted extensive ink to the perils encountered along the way, highlighting Yuanshi Tianzun's wisdom and courage in guiding them through the Labyrinth Forest to reach the Mountain God Temple.
—She glossed over the Reproduction Forest in just a couple of sentences, as well as World Returns to Fire's contributions.
The official walkers reading the post behind their screens were captivated. They thought the ordeal in the Labyrinth Forest had been bizarre and thrilling enough, until they read Peony Fairy's account of what happened at the Mountain God Temple.
—The traitor Tone-Deaf had used the moving forest reward to send the entire group back into the labyrinth, leaving Yuanshi Tianzun alone to hold off the entire mountain ghost faction.
Peony Fairy made no mention of Guan Ya.
Then came the battle in the Lost City. Peony Fairy recounted the combat in fluid prose, vividly illustrating the mummies' immense power and terror.
This served to highlight Yuanshi Tianzun's magnificent feat when he ultimately slew the mummy.
Yet compared to him holding off a horde of enemies all by himself at the Mountain God Temple, the written impact of slaying the mummy did not cause too great a shock to the official Five Elements Alliance members, whose thresholds had already been raised.
Not until the defense of the formation neared its end, where Peony Fairy wrote: *The Blood Pool Boss descended into the world, standing a hundred meters tall with an eight-armed demonic body. The runes across its body drove us into madness and mental derangement with just a single glance...*
The official walkers reading the post began to feel something was off. They thought to themselves: *Looking at it this way, didn't the Mountain God faction lose? Why was it the evil faction that got wiped out?*
Reading further down, Peony Fairy wrote in just a few sparse lines:
"Yuanshi Tianzun summoned an even more powerful entity, defeating the Blood Pool Boss and wiping out the mountain ghost faction."
The comments section below erupted:
[Lairifangzhang: Finished reading it. I'm completely dumbfounded...]
[Quri Kuduo: Wiping out the evil classes in the killing trial completely cleared out the Transcendent wanted list. Those bastards were filthy rats that even Saints couldn't catch. And 1,628 points is unprecedented in history. It makes no damn sense.]
[South Edinburgh: Hahaha, the guys on the Transcendent wanted list were taken out in one fell swoop! This is a heavy blow to the evil organizations. Yuanshi Tianzun really is... I don't even know what to say. He's a Saint now. I look forward to him becoming the second invincible figure beneath the elders, just like Fu Qingyang.]
[Wangfei: Careless of me—I should have read this post on my knees. Yuanshi Tianzun, please accept my prostration.]
[The King is Afflicted: "Yuanshi Tianzun"? Is that a name you're worthy of uttering? You should call him Lord Tianzun!]
[North Gotham: Lord Tianzun, please accept my worship! Absolutely incredible—my head is buzzing right now.]
[Quri Kuduo: Inconceivable. After reading this, I suspect this wasn't even a Transcendent-stage killing trial at all. Also, can you describe the boss battle in more detail? What on earth did Yuanshi Tianzun summon?]
[Coal King: Looking back to when I took part in the killing trial, thrilling as it was, the difficulty level was nowhere near this mid-year's. Yuanshi Tianzun might really become a second Fu Qingyang.]
[Please Call Me Queen: Ahhh! Why didn't I join the killing trial? I want to become a Saint too! Now I'll never get the chance to hug Yuanshi's thigh again.]
[Milky White Breasts: Lord Tianzun is already a Saint. You can submit an application right now to be an "ahhh-ing" maiden between his legs @Please Call Me Queen.]
[Jiang Yang: I never expected Tone-Deaf to be one of Dark Night Rose's people. Well, not just him—I just browsed the Taiyi Sect forum, and Maoshan Daoist was a fucking mole too.]
The comment section was buzzing with excitement, filled with whole pages of "666" and "badass."
Wiping out the evil faction and breaking the score record were each feats monumental enough in their own right. While the latter was staggering, to most people it was ultimately just a record. But wiping out the evil faction was different. The evil classes participating in the killing trial were all top experts; the top ten on the wanted list in particular represented the backbone of evil classes at the Transcendent stage.
Yuanshi Tianzun wiping them out directly benefited the official walkers at the Transcendent stage.
For one, with the major troublemakers in the Transcendent stage pulled up by the roots, evil classes everywhere would surely lie low, making life much easier for low-level official walkers.
Second, if conflicts and dangers did arise, the survival rate of official walkers would also increase.
[Cephalosporin with Liquor: I have a question. Based on the post's contents, one can infer that the clash between the two factions was centered around "summoning the Blood Pool Boss" and "strengthening the seal." There shouldn't have been any other forces in the trial. How did Yuanshi Tianzun summon an even more powerful entity? A Transcendent killing trial couldn't possibly permit the intervention of power above Level 4, unless it originated from the trial itself.]
[Grand Academician of Wenyuan Hall: After wading through a pile of silly comments, someone finally brought up the key point. While it's currently unclear how Yuanshi Tianzun managed it, he definitely exploited some sort of bug. This old man checked data from past killing trials, and 900 points is the theoretical ceiling for Transcendent walkers. Anyone exceeding 900 is a freak among freaks. Yuanshi Tianzun's score makes no sense; it is a special case that cannot be replicated.]
[World Returns to Fire: Even if the sequence of events is more or less correct, why does this read like Yuanshi Tianzun's one-man show? Did you eat all my contributions? Also, Yuanshi Tianzun wasn't the only one defending the Mountain God Temple—Guan Ya was there too.]
The Spirit Realm walkers across the various branches began debating the topic of the score; nobody paid any attention to World Returns to Fire's protest.
***
Songhai International Tower, 108th-floor revolving restaurant.
Beside a table for two near the window, Lingjun gripped his phone, staring blankly at the post on the screen.
1,628 points was "not that many points"? Nearly getting wiped out by the evil faction was true enough, but it wasn't what he had imagined...
*Seriously, that guy Yuanshi Tianzun pulled off something this massive without making a peep beforehand. Once Fu Qingyang returns, he's bound to smugly declare again: "After all, he is a figure like me, unlike you trash."*
Lingjun muttered in his heart.
He put down his phone and looked across at the beautiful woman opposite him, his smile warm as April sunshine. "Miss Annie, the authorities published some rather unbelievable announcements. I just finished reading them. Sorry to have kept you waiting."
The woman opposite had lustrous golden hair, sapphire-blue eyes, and an exquisitely gorgeous face.
Yet compared to her beauty, her allure was even more intoxicating, inspiring a longing so intense one wished they could pin her to a bed and conquer her in every conceivable position.
She was a femme fatale of the highest order, possessing exceptionally rare quality even among the Desire class.
A Desire walker of subpar quality would never make it into the Foreign Affairs Department of the Association of God of Beauty.
After a period of "gamesmanship," Lingjun had finally managed to ask Annie out. Initially, he had been wary of the Desire class and unwilling to sacrifice his body for the organization (the White Tiger Guards).
Once Yuanshi Tianzun devised a method to get something for nothing, and Fu Qingyang supplied the requisite practical item, Lingjun felt: *I can sacrifice myself now!*
After all, among his legion of girlfriends, seductive temptresses like Annie were few and far between.
Ordinary women held no candle against someone of the Desire class.
Some places, even when crowded with heavy traffic and swarming with passersby, still leave you yearning to visit—such was the Desire class.
"An unbelievable announcement?" Annie blinked, asking curiously, "Could you tell me?"
Her wide-eyed, faux-innocent demeanor wasn't off-putting in the least; rather, it highlighted a maiden's youthful charm and vivacity.
*What an absolute stunner...* Lingjun smiled and said, "Yuanshi Tianzun has emerged from the killing trial."
Annie's eyes lit up slightly, and she nodded gently. "That was to be expected... Apologies, my Chinese isn't very good. I know there's a more fitting term. Given Yuanshi Tianzun's talent and ability, I never doubted for a second that he would become a Saint. Still, if that's all, there shouldn't be any need to describe it as 'inconceibable,' right?"
Her pronunciation of "inconceivable" faltered slightly.
Lingjun sighed. "Yuanshi Tianzun led the orthodox faction to wipe out the evil faction. Keep in mind, that included top experts from the top ten of the wanted list. Even the Marshal back in the day didn't slaughter all the experts of the same rank. Yet compared to what I'm about to tell you next, all of that is minor..."
Pausing, a look of bewilderment appeared on his face as he said, "Can you imagine? Yuanshi Tianzun's score was 1,628 points."
The moment he finished speaking, he saw Annie's beautiful, exquisite face suddenly freeze.
In the next second, this woman—who was countless times more elegant than Fu Qingyang's elegance-obsessed subordinate—nearly bounced out of her seat. In a hurried tone, she said, "I have something to attend to, Mr. Lingjun. Let's have dinner together next time."
*Clack, clack, clack...* Striding in her high heels, Annie walked away without looking back.
*She left? I already booked a room at the hotel downstairs, and you just up and left?* Lingjun sat there, stunned.
Just then, a ringtone drifted from the phone on the table—a resonant female voice singing:
*"You hurt me, yet you smiled and moved on; your love was greedy, my love was weak~"*
Lingjun glanced at the caller ID and saw it was a call from Yuanshi Tianzun.
*Shouldn't this kid be "graduating" with Guan Ya right now? Why is he calling me at a time like this?* Lingjun answered the phone. Thinking about how his romantic encounter had been cut short because of him, he snapped with petty venom, "Your brevity surpasses my wildest imagination, while my great expedition was just about to begin. Speak, make it quick."
Yuanshi Tianzun's pleased voice came over the speaker: "I went with the second plan. Although we didn't cross that final line, whatever was meant to be kissed was kissed, and whatever was meant to be held was held. I feel like Guan Ya and I can't go back to how things were. What should I do next? She seems a bit embarrassed. Should I keep quiet for a while and pretend nothing happened?"
Hearing that, Lingjun immediately scoffed, "Are you an idiot? Pretend nothing happened? Once the dust settles on what you two shared, things will just go right back to how they used to be!
"Your relationship is no longer just at the stage of mutual attraction. Awkward or not, what you've done has already crossed beyond normal friendship. Now it's easy. You need to adjust how you interact with Guan Ya, and remember two things:
"One: Favoritism! All women love being favored and pampered. It highlights their special status and makes them realize they are different from everyone else in your heart. Those simp tactics like delivering breakfast on freezing cold mornings are actually the right move."
"Then why do simps end up with nothing in the end?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
"Because they're ugly, or poor," Lingjun answered piercingly, then added, "Don't interrupt me...
"Send flowers, give gifts, whisper sweet nothings—any and every way you can lavish attention on her is fair game. When a man chases a woman, he has to shower her with attentiveness. Why else do people say, 'An uncalled-for courtesy hides treachery or deceit'? You're good at socializing, kid, but you suck up to Fu Qingyang more often than you butter up Guan Ya. That won't do."
*Send more flowers, give more gifts, butter her up more...* Zhang Yuanqing nodded inwardly. "What about the second point?"
Lingjun said, "The second point is to tease and flirt with her. You can't act like a gentleman when dating. Seize every chance to hold her hand, cop a feel, and talk dirty... Oh, though you two should rein that last part in a bit; you're running tire tracks over my face every single day.
"When you fool around with her, a woman might say she hates it, but she's actually thrilled inside, because you already share mutual affection and romantic tension. On the contrary, if you never touch her and treat her with utmost politeness, she'll think you aren't interested in her.
"In short, when dealing with an ambiguous relationship where you both like each other, don't be a gentleman. Anyone who plays the gentleman is a certified dumbass."
"Understood, understood."
Zhang Yuanqing ended the call with his life mentor, thinking to himself: *Tomorrow I'll send Guan Ya some gifts, then butter her up and sneak a few kisses.*
He gripped his phone and pumped his fist in the air.
Though he had a mature temperament, was socially smooth, and handled matters far more shrewdly than his peers, he was indeed a virgin with zero dating experience. Guan Ya was one of the few girls who had captured his interest, and he genuinely liked her.
If you like her, pursue her and taste the flavor of romance.
Live youth without regrets.
After hanging up, he opened his messaging app and replied one by one to congratulatory messages from close friends like White Dragon, Ivy, Big Muscle Ba, and Xie Lingxi.
Next, he dialed Li Dongze to report on the situation.
"Yuanshi, you are a Saint now. The organization will promote you to Deacon soon. You must be even more elegant from now on, understand?" Li Dongze said with heartfelt earnestness.
"I'll be just as elegant as you, Decurion," Zhang Yuanqing promised solemnly.
Li Dongze was immediately gratified, and added, "Songhai currently isn't lacking Deacons. I don't know whether the organization will transfer out a local Deacon to make room for you, or dispatch you elsewhere for seasoning."
In a metropolis like Songhai, a Deacon post was a lucrative appointment; there was no chance of a vacancy remaining open.
"I don't want to leave Songhai for the time being. If the organization wants to send me to another city, I can wait a few years before becoming a Deacon. Decurion, rather than worrying about that, what you should really be thinking about is that Team Two is now left with just you and Wang Tai. Wang Tai is a tech nerd, which rounded off leaves Team Two with just you. During your days alone, make sure to stay elegant."
Li Dongze: "..."
With Jiang Jingwei becoming a Saint, she certainly wouldn't stay in Team Two either.
Senior Teng Yuan was an anti-rat-race warrior, the king of lying flat, who never clocked in for work—no, who never came to work at all.
Zhang Yuanqing continued, "Also, could I trouble you with something?"
Li Dongze put away his tragic, *the-wind-sighs-and-the-Yi-River-freezes* melancholy, asking in a deep voice, "Speak."
"In my name, apply to the organization to revoke the wanted warrant for 'Good Minister Chooses His Lord Before Slaying Him,' and commission Boxing King to spread the rumor in the underground black market that he defected to the authorities and got everyone in the evil faction killed," Zhang Yuanqing said.
"Did he cross you in the trial?"
"No, I just want to try backing him into a corner."
Then he would seek refuge with Kou Beiyue, who could in turn introduce him to Master Wuhen.
Seeking evil classes who genuinely yearned for goodness—that was Master Wuhen's request to him.
Zhang Yuanqing knew that chubby kid was a key prospect groomed by the Southern Faction of the Nihility Sect. But just because the Southern Faction higher-ups trusted him didn't mean low- and mid-tier evil classes would.
Much less evil classes from other factions.
And the evil classes who died in the killing trial had bosses, friends, lovers in reality... Among those people, there would always be extremists.
No, most evil classes were extremists.
When rumors reached their ears, they would inevitably harbor hatred toward the fatty and might even try to assassinate him.
It wouldn't matter to them if they got the wrong guy anyway; when had evil classes ever cared about killing the innocent?
Once his situation deteriorated, an olive branch could be extended through Kou Beiyue. As for whether he could actually be recruited, that didn't matter.
If he didn't do certain things, Master Wuhen wouldn't reproach him, but his favorability would plateau.
On the other hand, even if some things didn't succeed, as long as you put in the effort, your sincerity was demonstrated.
*After some time passes, I'll have Kou Beiyue contact that guy to see if the rumors have taken effect. They definitely exchanged contact info...* Zhang Yuanqing flagged down a taxi by the roadside, preparing to head home.
Kou Beiyue's betrayal had happened later; since he had already acknowledged him as his boss, how could the fatty not have asked for his contact details?
***
Wuhen Hotel.
Kou Beiyue stood straight-backed inside the ancient temple hall, saying, "That's how everything went."
In front of Master Wuhen, Kou Beiyue went from a wild wolf pup into an obedient little puppy, suppressing his arrogance and chuunibyou tendencies, not daring to act insolent.
Kou Beiyue secretly stole glances at Master Wuhen's back. Aside from gathering the followers every three months to preach the Dharma and guide them toward goodness, Master Wuhen never saw anyone.
—Except Xiao Yuan!
He hadn't expected Master Wuhen to summon him specifically to question him about Yuanshi Tianzun's score.
The figure in the teal patched cassock sat in dry contemplation for a long time before slowly speaking: "So that is how it was. Then it is no longer strange."
*What's no longer strange?* Kou Beiyue looked at his mother beside him.
Xiao Yuan frowned and asked, "Master, what do you mean by that?"
Master Wuhen's voice, thick with suppressed pain, echoed through the hall: "Beings capable of entering and leaving trials freely are few and far between. Unless born from a trial, that was an ancient Day Wanderer."
*An ancient Day Wanderer? Born from a trial...* Xiao Yuan had a sudden realization. It was precisely due to such special circumstances that she could enter the killing trial.
Even so, she still couldn't fathom how Yuanshi Tianzun had managed to summon a boss of that caliber.
Come to think of it, Kou Beiyue had been back in reality for an entire morning, and that kid hadn't sent her a single message either.
After one trip to the killing trial, he had suddenly turned cold and distant.
Xiao Yuan felt somewhat annoyed in her heart.
At this moment, Master Wuhen spoke again: "Beiyue, that 'Good Minister Chooses His Lord Before Slaying Him' you mentioned is also an Illusionist. You believe his nature is not evil?"
Kou Beiyue nodded vigorously.
As an Enchanter, he could tell good people from bad.
"Does Master wish to deliver him?" Kou Beiyue shook his head. "That guy is a key prospect being groomed by the Southern Faction of the Nihility Sect. He won't join us."
Hearing this, Master Wuhen said nothing more.
Chapter 286