Abundant Martial Arts Virtue

"Congratulations."

"Your Yin Virtue is complete, and the ascension begins now."

"In the Netherworld, professions are limitless. Currently, there are 173 professions you can ascend to."

"You are about to enter the Death Trial."

"Your performance in the trial will determine your ultimate ascension profession."

"The trial is risky, and you could be taken out at any moment. Please say the spell: 'join the Netherworld' when you're ready to start the trial."

"Your current profession is still the Netherworld Punishment Officer."

Wu Xiaode quickly read through the prompt rune.

Is that so?

It turns out that in this era, the Death Trial still exists.

It seems to be a fundamental law of the vast Netherworld, operating continuously from the past to the future.

Death Trials are usually brutal battlefields, and perhaps there are big shots waiting behind the scenes to take a share.

It was the same in future eras, so the past era would be no different.

What should I do?

Wu Xiaode fell into contemplation.

Rumble—

The ground kept trembling.

Yet another coffin emerged from the ground, stopping in front of him.

Wu Xiaode glanced at it and saw the inscription:

"The second wave of assassinations is coming."

"You should already know where it's from, so I won't reiterate."

Wu Xiaode couldn't be bothered with them.

It seems these guys haven't learned their lesson—

But he's about to join the battle, then find a way to ascend the profession. There's no time to play with them anymore?

He casually drew the Desert Sword, stabbing it through the coffin lid, piercing the entire coffin.

Anyway, as long as he doesn't open the coffin cover, it's safe—

—So let's teach them a lesson first.

He pressed his hand on the sword, carefully recalling the situation when he participated in the Death Trial.

He remembered it was the Bone Dragon Fafnir orchestrating behind the scenes.

Excellent undead would either be eaten by it or absorbed into its world to work for it.

How hateful!

Although he took away its treasure, he still couldn't kill it.

Wu Xiaode pressed his hand on the Desert Sword, instinctively moving it back and forth, feeling that some grudges still needed to be avenged.

Alright then.

Let's not talk about the Bone Dragon for now; what should I do?

Actually, if one wants to lie low, the sequence chosen by Little Black would suffice.

But there's one problem—

Would lying low affect the trial evaluation, thus preventing the selection of a good profession?

Wu Xiaode lightly tapped the sword handle, gradually sinking into deep thought.

For quite a while.

The Desert Sword was struck on the coffin, tapped hundreds of times by him, with blood seeping out all over the coffin board.

Yet there was no inspiration.

Wu Xiaode got a bit irritated.

In terms of vitality, he had "Revolving Long Blood"; in terms of escape, he had the "Eternal Guardian Rope"; and for combat, he had already transitioned from undead to Evil Spirit, with skills in both magic and melee combat.

He could even "lay flat."

—In that case, why hide at all?

Constantly hiding and cowering, what sort of demeanor is that!

Just go up and fight, that's it!

If it doesn't work, we'll talk later!

As soon as he figured this out, he immediately felt a sense of relief, instinctively giving the Desert Sword a punch.

A low sobbing suddenly echoed from inside the coffin:

"If you want me to confess, shouldn't you ask?"

Only then did Wu Xiaode come to his senses.

He really should have asked, but—

The Evil Spirit Book opened, revealing one of his current attributes:

"Yin Virtue is temporarily full, cannot obtain more."

Working for nothing?

That won't do.

How about—

Wu Xiaode looked back at Big Banana and Violent Tooth.

These two didn't participate in the Pangu Card Set competition. Although Sarina taught them combat skills, staying in the Netherworld all this time was quite dangerous.

"Big Banana, Violent Tooth, come over here."

The two closed their books and quickly came to Wu Xiaode.

Wu Xiaode patiently instructed them, meticulously breaking down the task for them, and then patted their shoulders:

"Do your jobs well, and there'll be benefits when I come back."

"Yes, Brother Ming!"

The two said in unison.

Wu Xiaode nodded, uttered "join the Netherworld," and was teleported away.

Only Big Banana and Violent Tooth were left in place.

The two of them looked at the coffin together.

Big Banana picked up the machine gun and poked it into the opening cut by the Desert Sword.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

After a round of furious output, Big Banana cleared his throat and asked:

"Brother, did you bring a knife? Just coming to kill someone?"

"Got anything precious on your waist?" asked Fang.

"Any helpers?" Big Banana asked.

"How many people in total?" asked Fang.

A voice full of resignation came from the coffin:

"I've been wanting to say, why do you just open fire without asking?"

Big Banana said impatiently, "Hurry up—boss said we'll have to keep covering his work later, there's still a lot to do."

"Right, hurry up!" Fang echoed.

...

On the other side.

Wu Xiaode quietly appeared at the base of a grey pyramid.

Quite a number of spirit creatures had already gathered here, among them some with quite powerful auras, clearly strong evil spirits.

There were also some rare floating-type netherworld entities.

Wu Xiaode saw a mermaid dragging a long tail of gray light flying past him.

The mermaid even smiled at him.

"Hello."

Wu Xiaode greeted.

"Hello, Punishment Officer," the mermaid actually stopped, speaking softly, "Please wear your Battle Armor and draw your weapon, the battle is about to begin."

"Thanks for the reminder, be careful as well, these guys seem quite formidable," Wu Xiaode said, pulling open his collar to reveal the Tide Frost Xiuming Armor underneath.

"Mm-hmm, got it." The mermaid looked at him gently and turned, flying ahead.

She flew all the way to the front of the grey pyramid, hovering in the air, and shouted loudly:

"Everyone, I am the referee of this Death Trial."

"Currently, there are 937 suitable persons participating in the Death Trial, and we intend to admit 100 into the next round."

"I announce that the first round elimination is a melee, until only 100 remain."

"The battle begins!"

—So she was the referee!

The entire scene became chaotic.

The spirit creatures all began attacking the people around them.

Wu Xiaode was also about to take action, but saw everyone around him already engaged in combat and then moving away from him.

"...What's going on?" he murmured.

The Evil Spirit Book opened, in the Pangu Card Set, the card with Duke of Thunder flipped over, revealing the figure of the Thunder Monkey.

He heard it speak:

"Heavenly Thunder inherently restrains Ten Thousand Ghosts, you possess the heavenly calamity, learned my Thunder Dragon Twin Scissors, and transformed it into your own technique, filled with the Power of Evil-breaking, they instinctively want to stay away from you."

"Will there be anyone daring?" Wu Xiaode asked.

His gaze met with a ghost dragon full of skeletons not far away.

The ghost dragon roared irritably and rushed to another direction, pouncing on a zombie covered in Ghost fire.

—It avoided him.

"Without sufficient benefit, they won't easily fight you," Thunder Monkey sneered.

Feeling assured, Wu Xiaode turned to look at the grey pyramid.

He saw faint power brilliance emerging on the pyramid, as if calling to him.

...Something seems off.

His eyes flashed, looking again at the mermaid.

Only to see the mermaid emitting splendid radiance, her figure flying lightly upwards on the pyramid.

Wu Xiaode watched quietly, a question surfacing in his heart.

Is she not the referee?

The fight is still on, what does it mean for the referee to leave?

A spirit light suddenly flashed through Wu Xiaode's mind.

Wait!

Could it be—

With emotions stirring, yet showing no expression on his face, Wu Xiaode took quick and nimble steps on the ground, moving towards the grey pyramid.

Just within a few breaths.

He arrived at the front of the pyramid.

"Maybe my guess is correct—"

With this thought in mind, Wu Xiaode gently leapt up, jumped onto the pyramid's steps, step by step ascending.

After about a hundred meters, he arrived at a small terrace.

Seemingly sensing his arrival, the campfire burning on the terrace suddenly emitted a "crackling" sound.

Sparks flew, landing at his feet, turning into black ashes, forming several lines of small words:

"You are currently second in the Death Trial!"

"The higher the rank, the more prestigious the new position obtained, please keep up the effort!"

The truth revealed!

Wu Xiaode looked up at the grey mermaid quietly climbing higher, then looked down at the surging crowd below.

—Selecting 100 from 937 suitable persons?

Nonsense!

Actually, the mermaid is also a competitor!

Everyone was tricked by her!

Wu Xiaode took a deep breath, suppressing his aura, accelerating his steps to climb up the pyramid.