Chapter 384: 139?
Pulp Farmer and company exchanged looks once again. Shi Xiaobai could always surprise them, astonish them, to the point of leaving them aghast. Therefore, when Shi Xiaobai said that he was immune to poison, there was nothing much left for their hearts to be stirred. However, they still found it unbelievable. It was really odd to have a reason of eating tree leaves because of hunger caused by anger.
However, Pulp Farmer and company did not harp on this topic. Regardless if it were true or false, it would be impolite to probe further.
Liu Yu immediately changed topics by saying, “The encounters of Benefactor Shi Xiaobai are truly enviable. If This Penniless Priest didn’t guess wrongly, the holy tree’s fruit should be one of the heritage items in this land of trials. It is something like the Level Lords that cannot be replicated. It was left behind as opportunities for future generations by the creator of the trials. The Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower’s heritage is relatively rare compared to other trials, but each of them is extremely valuable, or even priceless. Over the millennia, most of the heritage has been discovered by our predecessors, so the ones left behind are extremely well-hidden, or the way to obtain them is inexplicable. To be honest, the greatest goal This Penniless Priest had when joining this trial was to obtain one of the holy heritage items of the Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower, but unfortunately to no avail.”
Shi Xiaobai laughed for he found his luck pretty good. In fact, he had previously used ten thousand points to exchange for Holy Radiance back on the second level. That sword was currently lent to Sunless, and it was apparently one of the holy items of the Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower.
Shi Xiaobai and company trudged through the Silent Desolate Lands for a long period of time. The road ahead was long and monotonous, while the scenery was repetitive, with yellow sand and gray rocks, a bleak and desolate scene. Thankfully, Liu Yu was quite a talkative person. He was always capable of finding a topic to defuse the boring situation.
Along the way, Liu Yu mentioned a lot of the background stories of the world in the seventh level. The world was very large, with the Infernal domain and Transcendence only taking up a tiny part of the world map. There were many trial-takers throughout history that teamed up to tour and explore the world. They shared the culture and origins of this world with the human world at a later date.
After all, this world was a replica of a real plane of existence. Although it was an ancient era, and its level of civilization was not high, the splendid culture was still worth studying and learning from.
Shi Xiaobai liked to hear a wide variety of stories from a young age. Regardless if they were epic legends or simple and naive fairy tales, Shi Xiaobai was always able to imagine the scenes of the story, immersing himself in the story and experience its ups and downs.
Shi Xiaobai believed that even if he managed to kill the Infernal King and completed the mission from the Absolute Choice, he would still fail to obtain the approval of the assessment program. It would be even better in that case. In that case, he could explore the world with his own feet like many other people.
After trudging through the Silent Desolate Lands for an unknown period of time, even the burning sun gradually turned warm and soft.
Pulp Farmer suddenly stopped at some point in time.
He said, “It’s about time. Let’s finish it here.”
Liu Yu and Feng Yuanlin stopped as well, and nodded at Pulp Farmer.
Shi Xiaobai was somewhat puzzled by Pulp Farmer’s sentence. He asked curiously, “What do you mean?”
Only then did Pulp Farmer recall that he had a ‘noob’ beside him that did not know anything about the seventh level. He said helplessly, “In the seventh level, trial-takers would experience a calamity every three days. We call this ‘Surviving the Calamity’. Overlord Ji Feng managed to survive a hundred days, undergoing thirty-four calamities before finally obtaining the approval of the assessment program. As for me, my first calamity was three days ago at approximately this time. So, my second calamity is coming very soon! The second calamity is still rather easy, so I’ll settle it myself.”
Shi Xiaobai immediately remembered how he and Speechless had encountered the assault of gigantic black scorpions, the steel rhinoceroses and the stone dragons. That was probably the calamity Pulp Farmer was referring to?
It was unknown whose calamity it was the other time, his or Speechless’s.
Shi Xiaobai nodded his head to express his understanding. Therefore, he stood quietly by the side, waiting for Pulp Farmer’s second calamity to befall him.
A minute later, there was a rumble from the west.
Black figures began to appear along the horizon.
Upon focusing, Shi Xiaobai was somewhat surprised. Aren’t those the gigantic black scorpions?
The gigantic black scorpions crawled towards them from afar in a dense crowd. There were approximately more than a hundred of them.
“The second calamity, a hundred and thirty-nine black poisonous scorpions. It seems the assessment program has quite a good evaluation of me.”
The corners of Pulp Farmer’s mouth suffused a smile as he walked forward with spear in hand. He said in high spirits, “Wait for me here. I’ll be right back. I’ll settle this calamity myself!”
Pulp Farmer charged towards the black scorpions that rolled towards him like a wave. As he thrust his spear forward in a magnificent manner, he began engaging in an intense massacre.
Shi Xiaobai surveyed his surroundings and was even more flabbergasted.
Why were there only the gigantic black scorpions? What happened to the steel rhinoceroses and the stone dragons?
At this moment, Liu Yu said with mixed feelings, “The assessment program will come up with a judgment based on the trial-taker’s performance. And the difficulty of the first calamity is decided according to the judgment. With the second calamity at 139 black scorpions, Pulp Farmer is already considered above average compared to all past trial-takers. His future is limitless!”
Upon hearing Liu Yu’s words, Shi Xiaobai fell silent.
He and Speechless had been engaged in a pincer attack by the gigantic black scorpions, steel rhinoceroses and stone dragons. Just the number of black scorpions numbered above ten thousand.
If 139 black scorpions was considered above average, what was the standard of the calamity he and Speechless encountered?
It was unknown if that calamity was his first or if it was Speechless’s second or third calamity.
Pulp Farmer and the hundred odd scorpions fought in an intense battle for more than ten minutes. Pulp Farmer was not immune to poison like Shi Xiaobai, so he needed to be constantly wary against the scorpions’ poisons. Therefore, he fought very meticulously and spent quite a bit of time. However, Pulp Farmer was rather strong, so it was just a matter of time for him to defeat the black scorpions.
Shi Xiaobai suddenly thought of a problem and asked Liu Yu, “If we are currently in Transcendence, how would the black scorpions appear?”
Liu Yu said with a laugh, “The scorpions will appear outside Transcendence before attacking Transcendence. In fact, many trial-takers will choose to hide in Transcendence or other places to avoid the calamity. In the beginning, it would be effective, but with the difficulty of the calamity increasing every round, no counter will be able to protect the trial-taker later on. Furthermore, no country will choose to protect the trial-taker. Legends say that the thirty-fourth calamity can easily destroy Transcendence, with no one being able to protect it. Therefore, no one else dares to attempt what Overlord Ji Feng did back in the day.”
Shi Xiaobai nodded and immediately understood the difficulty involved in this matter. If the thirty-fourth calamity could easily destroy Transcendence, it meant that Leonis could not withstand it at all. Therefore, the difficulty was obviously hard.
At this moment, Pulp Farmer finally finished the last scorpion and slowly walked over.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting. Let’s go, the Door of the Bravehearts is already not far from here!”