Longevity starts from having a daughter in old age

“These are magic artifacts for collecting auras. Regardless of any monster you encounter, collect a strand of its aura after killing it to score points. One point for an early stage Foundation Establishment beast, two for a mid-stage one, and four for a late-stage one. For a Golden Core beast, it’s a hundred points for an early-stage one, two hundred for mid-stage, and four hundred for late-stage. The final ranking will be based on the number of auras collected by each participant!”

These magic artifacts were not precious, just ordinary tier-three artifacts, so everyone got one.

Everyone reached for a jade vial and, having refined it, put it into their storage bags.

Seeing everyone prepared, two other Nascent Soul Stage cultivators stood up. All three cast a spell simultaneously, and the originally calm Stone Forest instantly cast one white beam of light after another, converging in the sky into a white elliptical vortex.

“This teleportation entrance changes its location every ten breaths. You must enter it in batches! Just wait at the point of entry after a month. When the time comes, we will activate the formation and let you out!” one of the Nascent Soul elders with golden edges on his robe reminded them.

“Understood!”

Naturally, none of the audience dared to voice any objections and all nodded in agreement.

As for the trial content, the Imperial princes and princesses, such as Li Youlan, did not show any surprise, apparently, they had known in advance.

“Little sister, be careful when you enter, and if possible, try to join up with us as soon as possible!” the Fifth Prince advised.

“I understand!” Li Youlan nodded.

Compared to their team, the Fifth Prince had three late-stage Golden Core cultivators and two mid-stage ones under his command, with the Fifth Prince himself being late-stage. They appeared to be much stronger than the others. If they could group together, they could gain a considerable advantage.

However, this time, the most potent were undoubtedly the Great Prince and the Seventh Princess, whose followers were all in the late-stage of Golden core, several of whom had reached the stage of Perfection. Their strength was the strongest of all.

Next was the Second Prince, having four late-stage Golden Core, and one mid-stage Golden Core cultivators, with one late-stage Golden Core adepts having reached Perfection.

Then came the Fifth Prince, with three late-stage Golden Core, two mid-stage Golden Core cultivators, with two late-stage Golden Core adepts having reached Perfection, only slightly weaker than the Second Prince.

Then came the Third Princess, with one late-stage Golden Core, three mid-stage Golden Core, and one early-stage Golden Core cultivators.

One of the mid-stage Golden Core cultivators was Wang Yongan, who showed a brutal sneer at Xu Mu.

Then came the Eleventh Princess, Li Youlan, with one late-stage Golden Core and four early-stage Golden Core cultivators.

However, Li Youlan was not the last one, as there were other princes and princesses worse off than her. But these people had a lack of talent and no hope of striving for the throne. They came here purely for the sake of appearances, and no one paid attention to them.

The only one worth noting was the Eighteenth Prince. The only one who was alone, he was the most atypical of all.

It was said that he was a cultivation maniac, doing nothing but cultivating, let alone have Golden Core followers, he barely had any ones in the Foundation Establishment Stage. Yet, he was noticed because his talent was indeed strong. He advanced to the Golden Core Stage in less than a century, and there was a possibility he could surpass them in the future.

The first team to enter was of the Seventh Princess, who glanced at Xu Mu before entering, leaving him speechless.

Then came the Great Prince, who was touted to have the highest possibility of succeeding the throne, although he seemed ordinary, exuding a sense of insignificance.

Next were the Second Prince, Fifth Prince, Third Princess, and Li Youlan, who flew into the entrance one after the other with their followers.

Xu Mu, following Li Youlan, flew into the teleportation entrance. He felt a brief weightlessness before, upon stabilizing his body, finding himself in an entirely unfamiliar area.

Grey-white auras floated in the sky like a thick layer of clouds. The ground was vast with grey stones, dark soil, oddly-shaped plants, forming a desolate and eerie scene.

At first glance, it seemed as if it had suffered a massive fire.

Soon, the group of Qiao Qianqian also teleported one by one.

“There should be no formidable monsters near the entrance. Let’s split into two groups and take a look around, then regroup here afterwards!” Li Youlan proposed.

“Understood!”

The group nodded.

“Friend Xu, let’s group together!”

Qiao Qianqian was very eager, as if she was afraid someone would snatch him away from her.

“Alright!”

Xu Mu nodded, not refusing.

He and Li Youlan were the strongest, so they definitely couldn’t be in a group. The other four were more or less the same, so it didn’t matter who he was grouped with.

Qiao Qianqian and Xu Mu had some rapport, so he agreed right away.

Li Youlan didn’t mind such minor issues, so in the end, she paired with Xu Lingyu, and Jia Zhiyi with Hong Xi.

The three groups set off in different directions.

“Friend Xu, do you think there are Nascent Soul beasts in this secret realm? If we could kill a Nascent Soul beast, wouldn’t we win instantly?” Qiao Qianqian chatted while walking.

“There probably wouldn’t be any. Although a Nascent Soul beast might be weaker than a Nascent Soul cultivator, it’s not something our group of Golden Core cultivators could manage. If there is, we’ll only have the fate to flee, not daring to hunt it!”

While Xu Mu had many trump cards, he dared not claim he could beat a Nascent Soul beast.

“We might not be able to deal with it, but her Highness must surely have artifacts that could. As long as we take some risks, it should not be a major problem.” Qiao Qianqian commented.

As a princess eligible to compete for the throne, Li Youlan would definitely have life-saving artifacts from the Imperial family. Qiao Qianqian was right about that.

“Artifacts that could kill a Nascent Soul are extremely precious, and it is doubtful whether their Highnesses would be willing to use them. After all, even if they win, the rewards aren’t much. The most precious Marquis title is not required by them. A first-place finish would at most give them more fame. But if it were achieved with the help of artifacts, the fame would suffer a significant discount. It’s barely worth it!” Xu Mu calmly explained.

The rewards for this trial had been told by Li Youlan before.

The first place is ten thousand High-grade Spirit Stones, two tier-nine ancient treasures, three martial method inheritances no higher than tier nine, one Marquis and four Earl titles.

Second place is a thousand High-grade Spirit Stones, two tier-eight ancient treasures, three martial method inheritances with a cap at tier eight, and three Earl titles.

Third place only gets five hundred High-grade Spirit Stones and nothing else.

The ones behind are even less to speak about.

“Well, I hadn’t thought about it that way!” Qiao Qianqian realization, “It seems we better not encounter Nascent Soul monsters!”

“Her Highness once said that this place had been probed by Nascent Soul stages using Divine Intent. It is estimated that there would be no Nascent Soul beasts!”

“That’s a relief then!” Qiao Qianqian rejoiced.

As they spoke, clusters of black gas emerged from the ground behind them, turning into ghostly figures with claws outstretched, pouncing at them from behind.