Chapter 118: One million
The sensation of weightlessness lasted only a few seconds.
Ethan couldn’t see any direction, nor could he feel where his body was moving. White light filled his entire field of vision, and the space around him seemed to stretch on endlessly.
Then his feet touched a solid surface.
When Ethan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a grayish-white sky. Above, there was no sun, no clouds, nor any clear light source, yet the entire space was still illuminated.
Beneath his feet was a massive stone floor.
The space was as wide as an arena, but there were no spectator stands. Black walls nearly a hundred meters tall formed a complete circle. The wall surfaces were smooth, with no doors or gaps of any kind.
Ethan quickly surveyed his surroundings. The Eye of Truth hadn’t been activated yet, but he was already silently noting the distances to the walls and the positions of the people who had appeared.
Light began flashing across the arena floor.
Groups of representatives were teleported in one after another.
One person.
Three people.
Five people.
Awakened and Partners kept appearing. Some summoned their weapons the instant they landed, others quickly retreated toward their teammates, and some Partners roared warnings upon realizing they were surrounded by unfamiliar opponents.
In less than a minute, over a hundred figures had gathered in the enclosed space.
Laira appeared to Ethan’s right. The moment she spotted him, she immediately stepped close to his side. Ruo Yan appeared on his left as well. The Necromancer hadn’t been summoned yet, but Soul Threads were already threaded between her fingers.
The three from Zone 7 weren’t far away.
Cassian had barely steadied himself before looking toward Ethan. The woman with him also spotted the three of them immediately, the smile on her face gradually taking on a cold edge.
However, this time they didn’t approach.
A loud sound suddenly rang out from the center of the arena.
BOOM!
The stone floor shook. Several people immediately backed away, weapons already in hand. Some Partners, thinking the trial had begun with an ambush, roared as energy surged rapidly across their bodies.
Right at the center of the arena, the ground slowly split apart.
A massive stone pillar rose from below, growing taller until it exceeded the height of a person. When the pillar stopped, the cracks in the arena floor sealed themselves shut, leaving no trace behind.
Atop the stone pillar was a white sphere of light nearly two meters in diameter.
Everyone turned to look.
The sphere hovered a short distance above the pillar’s surface. Light continuously flowed across it, but from the outside, no internal structure could be seen.
A massive notification panel appeared in midair.
[Welcome, representatives, to the Annual Trial Gate.]
[First round begins now.]
[Test: Strength.]
[Rule: Each person has one attack on the Measurement Sphere.]
[Only those who achieve a strength reading of 1,000,000 units or above will qualify to proceed to the next round.]
The space fell silent for a moment.
Then chatter immediately erupted across the arena.
"One million?"
"Wasn’t it only seven hundred thousand last year?"
"The difficulty went up again?"
"Each person only gets one attack?"
"Can we use weapons?"
"Can Partners assist?"
The notification lines in midair rapidly changed, as if answering the questions that had just been raised.
[All personal abilities are permitted.]
[Weapons are permitted.]
[Partner assistance is permitted.]
[Use of consumable items that temporarily boost strength is prohibited.]
[Those who fail to meet the requirement will be eliminated from the Trial Gate.]
Chatter rose again.
Some people looked toward the delegations with powerful Partners, their expressions turning sour. If Partner assistance was allowed, Awakened who came alone would clearly be at a disadvantage.
However, others quickly realized the rules only mentioned a single attack. If an Awakened and their Partner mistimed their coordination, or if their power couldn’t be fully concentrated on a single point, the final result could still end up lower than someone fighting alone.
Cassian, standing in the distance, was also watching the sphere. The woman beside him leaned in and said something, making him nod slightly before turning to observe the others.
Clearly, the three of them had no intention of rushing forward. They wanted to see the results of the other representatives first, both to gauge the standard of one million units and to gather information on their opponents’ capabilities.
Ethan was also looking at the text hovering in the air. His brows slowly furrowed.
One million units.
He didn’t yet know how much destructive force that number translated to. But what truly caught his attention was how the trial round had been designed.
Each person only got one attack.
All strength was ultimately reduced to a single number. Those who met the standard would advance, and those who didn’t were eliminated on the spot.
If the sole purpose was to measure strength, an ordinary sphere would have been enough to get the job done. Yet for some reason, Ethan kept feeling that the thing hovering above the stone pillar wasn’t as simple as it appeared.
He hadn’t activated the Eye of Truth. The sphere hadn’t shown any signs of danger either, but the layer of light on its surface occasionally contracted ever so slightly, like a creature breathing.
Ethan watched the sphere, then swept his gaze over the geniuses around him. Quite a few had already grown eager to test their strength. Some were even quietly observing their opponents, clearly wanting to use this opportunity to assess each other’s abilities and combat power.
Ethan’s expression gradually turned strange.
Ruo Yan, standing beside him, immediately noticed the shift. She turned and asked: "Something wrong?"
Ethan raised a hand to his chin, his eyes still fixed on the Measurement Sphere.
"I’m not sure yet."
Laira leaned down to look at him. "Then why are you frowning?"
"The test only requires hitting it once, but it hasn’t said who starts, and there’s no set order either."
Laira looked at the sphere. "Then just hit it."
"Maybe."
Ethan observed for a while longer. The light in his eyes flickered slightly, but the Eye of Truth still hadn’t been fully activated.
Finally, he spoke slowly: "I just feel something’s a bit odd about this trial round."
"It’s just a strength-measuring sphere, what’s off about it?"
A male voice suddenly came from up ahead.
The speaker was a tall, well-built young man carrying a double-bladed battle axe on his shoulder. The muscles on both arms were bulging, and his aura had reached Silver tier eight. Perhaps because he’d been waiting too long, his face already showed clear impatience.
The person next to him reached out to hold him back, but he shoved the arm away.
"Move. All you gotta do is hit past one million units. What’s there to be afraid of?"
The young man walked straight toward the stone pillar.
Quite a few people immediately fell silent, their attention focusing on him. Some wanted to stop him, but most simply backed away to watch. After all, they needed someone to go first and test the sphere’s nature.
The young man stopped a few meters from the stone pillar. He didn’t use the battle axe on his back but instead clenched his right fist. Yellowish-brown energy quickly enveloped his arm, causing his already massive muscles to swell even further.
Crack!
Several small fractures appeared in the stone floor beneath his feet.
The young man looked at the white sphere ahead, the corner of his mouth curling up. "One million units, huh? Let’s see how much you can take."
He stomped hard against the ground.
BOOM!
His body shot forward instantly. The energy-coated fist dragged a heavy gust of wind behind it, aimed straight at the center of the Measurement Sphere.
The distance closed rapidly.
Three meters.
Two meters.
One meter.
Just as his fist was about to make contact, the white sphere suddenly split open.
A black crack appeared down the middle of the sphere and expanded at a terrifying speed. Two rows of razor-sharp teeth emerged from within, transforming the entire sphere into a massive mouth.
SNAP!
The mouth bit down hard toward the young man’s arm.
"What the hell?!"
The young man’s face instantly drained of color. He forced his body to twist midair, the fist that had been hurtling forward desperately pulled back.
The two rows of teeth clamped shut right in front of him.
CLACK!
The sound of the impact made everyone’s scalps go numb.
The young man narrowly dodged the bite, but the gust from the jaws still swept across his body, sending him flying backward. He tumbled several times across the stone floor before bracing himself up, his face pale as a sheet.
A long tear had appeared on his sleeve. If he’d pulled back even slightly slower, what got torn apart would absolutely not have been just fabric.
The young man stared up at the stone pillar in horror.
The massive mouth hadn’t disappeared.
On the contrary, two more cracks slowly appeared above it and split open, forming two round, misshapen eyes. Black pupils rolled in a circle, then simultaneously fixed on the young man.
The corners of the sphere’s mouth stretched to both sides, forming a chilling grin.
"Hit me!"
A hoarse voice echoed throughout the arena.
"Come on, hit me!"
Its two eyes curved upward. The sharp teeth clattered against each other continuously, producing piercing sounds.
"Kekeke... Hit me! Hit me! Kekeke..."
The entire arena fell silent.
Those who had been eager to step forward all unconsciously backed away. Even Cassian frowned, his gaze turning wary.
Ruo Yan looked at the creature on the stone pillar and slowly tightened the Soul Threads. Laira also lowered her stance, crimson-violet Thunder Flame already flickering across her fingertips.
Only Ethan remained standing in place.
He observed the mouth and the two eyes that had just sprouted on the sphere, and the look of suspicion on his face slowly faded.
Ethan nodded.
"Oh! Now it’s not odd anymore."