Chapter 93: Massive rewards
The timer continued descending until the final second disappeared.
The grief within the white expanse had not vanished, but the survivors had stopped crying. Most remained beside their injured companions, while others sat silently and waited for the final evaluation.
Han Zhen stood before them with his damaged weapon resting against one shoulder.
"Remember those who died, but do not remain here crying for them," he said. "It will not bring anyone back, and it would turn everything they sacrificed into nothing, leave this place alive and make their deaths mean something."
No one answered, but several contestants slowly raised their heads as a notification rang through the white space.
[Final evaluation completed.]
[Reward allocation beginning.]
Golden light descended upon every survivor and the entire white expanse brightened as streams of experience entered their bodies.
Several contestants immediately broke through their current levels, while others released unstable waves of mana as multiple advancements occurred one after another.
Xingluo felt the power enter her before the notification appeared.
[Experience gained.]
[Level increased.]
More experience followed, pushing through the remaining levels until her progress stopped at the limit of the first transition.
Beside her, Ruan Mei was surrounded by the same golden light.
[First Transition level cap reached.]
[A Transition Mission must be completed before further advancement.]
[Excess experience will be stored until the Transition Mission is completed.]
Xingluo looked toward Ruan Mei and found her staring at the notification with the same disbelief. Neither of them had expected to reach the cap from a single trial.
The experience reward ended, but the allocation continued, weapons, armour, skill crystals and sealed items appeared before different contestants according to their contribution and evaluation.
Some received only one reward, while those who had played greater roles within the trial received several.
Han Zhen obtained a dark spear covered in silver markings, while Miao Tianhe received a sword sealed inside a narrow black sheath. Qiao Xueyi stared at a crystal floating before her and Lin Xiaotian caught a heavy metal token as it fell into his hands.
A pale light appeared before Xingluo, the Fate Star Token reacted beneath her armour, but before she could examine the new reward, another notification covered the white expanse.
[Contribution rankings calculated.]
[Ninefold Legacy Trial — Final Rankings.]
A large panel formed above the survivors.
[Rank 1: Information Hidden.]
[Rank 2: Luo Xingluo.]
[Rank 3: Han Zhen.]
[Rank 4: Miao Tianhe.]
[Rank 5: Lin Xiaotian.]
[Rank 6: Qiao Xueyi.]
Several other names occupied the remaining positions and at the bottom of the ranking, one name remained fixed in tenth place.
[Rank 10: Ruan Mei.]
Ruan Mei stared at it, she looked around as though expecting another person with the same name to appear, then pointed toward herself.
"How am I tenth?"
Xingluo was equally surprised, Ruan Mei had spent much of the final battle unconscious inside the cathedral, yet the trial had still placed her among the ten highest contributors.
Wuxia looked toward the ranking and narrowed his eyes; the system had likely counted more than direct combat.
Before anyone could question it further, the ranking began fading and a final notification appeared.
[All rewards have been distributed.]
[Surviving challengers will now leave the Ninefold Legacy Realm.]
White light gathered beneath every contestant, Xingluo reached for Ruan Mei’s hand before the space around them began breaking apart.
Han Zhen, Miao Tianhe and the remaining survivors disappeared one after another, each transported back to the place from which they had entered.
The leaderboard vanished last and for a brief moment, only the hidden name at first place remained visible, then it disappeared with the rest of the realm.
Xingluo felt the white space twist around her, and in the next moment, the ground beneath her feet disappeared.
She stumbled before stopping in midair, surrounded by an endless blue-gold sky without any visible land or horizon. None of the other contestants had appeared with her, and the silence made her tense until she turned and found Wuxia floating nearby.
Her expression relaxed slightly. "Damn, at least you are here."
Wuxia examined the empty sky. "This should be the true inheritance space, stay alert."
Before Xingluo could answer, the Fate Star Token embedded within her armour suddenly grew hot. It burst free from her chest plate and floated several feet ahead, slowly rotating as red-gold light gathered around it.
An ancient voice rang through the endless sky.
[Legacy trial completed.]
[Primary successor confirmed.]
[Succession ceremony beginning.]
Countless stars appeared above them, filling the empty expanse within seconds. The token released a pillar of starlight that descended over Xingluo and passed through her armour.
The warmth lasted only briefly before pain tore through her forehead, chest and spine.
Xingluo bent forward and clenched her teeth as the light entered deeper. "What is this..."
Wuxia moved closer, but the pillar pushed against his soul and prevented him from reaching her.
Inside the light, Xingluo felt something being stripped from her mana channels, the weak foundation that had restricted her since awakening began dissolving beneath the starlight.
My talent... Is it being removed?
Before panic could take hold, a second wave entered the emptiness left behind, her mana channels widened, her body grew stronger and the exhaustion remaining from the trial rapidly disappeared.
The token cracked open at its centre and nine streams of starlight emerged and began rotating around Xingluo, while the attachment mark connecting her to Wuxia appeared upon her forehead.
Wuxia immediately felt the Anchor Link tremble, the mark shifted through several unstable forms and for one moment, their connection weakened enough to make his expression change.
"Xingluo."
She heard the tension in his voice. "What is happening?"
Before he could answer, the connection stabilized, the mark had not been erased. Its lines rearranged themselves into a new structure as nine diamond-shaped stars formed around a pentagonal pattern, with a dark scythe at their centre.
Wuxia tested the link again and found it stronger than before, the inheritance had not rejected his attachment, it had incorporated it.
The nine streams entered Xingluo one after another, carrying her higher into the brilliant sky. Power spread through her body with each one, replacing the limits of her former talent with something far greater.
Another notification appeared.
[Previous talent cleansed.]
[New talent awakened.]
[Talent: Lord of the Nine Stars.]
Xingluo stared at the words while the final stream entered the transformed mark upon her forehead.
Lord of the Nine Stars... This is actually mine?
Disbelief quickly gave way to excitement as nine distinct currents of power began moving through her body, a smile appeared across her face.
This is completely ridiculous.
The stars above shifted into nine enormous formations, each responding to the talent awakening within her.
Xingluo closed her eyes as the pillar intensified around her.