Dual Cultivator with a cultivation system

Qing Na sighed in relief as she patted her ample chest. Only she knew how tense her nerves had been—a few moments ago, she was certain she was dead. Even after using the treasure she had obtained in the secret realm, she wasn't sure it would be enough. She had remained tense until her score was finally revealed.

She then waited to be transported to the next round, but another line of text appeared on the projection:

Everyone will be teleported to the next round at the same time after all participants have attempted the trial. Participant number 2, please step forward.

Reading this, she stepped away from the red stone slab, and everyone's eyes turned toward Mui Ling and her team.

Mui Ling approached the stone slab gracefully, full of confidence. Her teammates, however, followed nervously behind her. If anyone had looked closely, they would have noticed she was just as tense as they were—the sweat forming on her forehead and her rapidly beating heart betrayed her composure.

Huff

"Here goes nothing," Mui Ling muttered as she took a deep breath and brought out a blue pill from her storage ring. As soon as the pill appeared, the temperature around it began to drop sharply, and frosty mist spread through the air. Without hesitation, she tossed it into her mouth.

Her face immediately contorted in pain, and patches of frost began forming across her body.

Her female teammates, feeling the bone-chilling cold radiating from her, instinctively stepped back to avoid freezing themselves.

"Ice Trident!" Mui Ling shouted as a massive surge of ice poured from her palms. She raised her hands, gathering the energy above her until it condensed into a large, gleaming blue trident.

"Huh?" Min Li raised an eyebrow as she watched, then glanced at Wang Ming, who was just as surprised.

'This attack… it's almost as strong as Linxgi's,' Wang Ming thought inwardly.

'System, does she have some kind of physique like Linxgi?' Wang Ming asked.

[System Message: Host, are you blind or something? Do you think physiques like Bai Linxgi's are sold on the roadside? Didn't you see the pill she ate? That boosted her powers temporarily at the cost of draining her spiritual energy at an extremely fast rate. If taken too often, it can even harm her cultivation.]

Wang Ming's lips twitched at the system's mocking tone. He had already guessed it might be due to the pill but wanted confirmation. Turning his gaze back to Mui Ling, he could now clearly sense her spiritual energy draining rapidly, just as the system had warned.

"Go!" Mui Ling shouted as the Ice Trident, hovering in the sky, descended at an extremely fast speed towards the giant red stone slab, causing a mini sonic boom. As it shot forward, the air around it turned icy cold.

Bang!

With a deafening crash, it struck the red stone slab with a tremendous force. Like before, the slab absorbed the blow and glowed red. This time, however, a frost covered it briefly before it melted instantly under the glow.

Mui Ling and her teammates watched nervously as the numbers on the projection began to rise—until they finally stopped.

800,000

'As expected, Wang Ming thought,' unsurprised by the high score. Even Bai Lingxi could've managed something similar—or higher—without relying on external items.

"Huff… huff…" Mui Ling collapsed onto her knees, panting heavily. She felt completely drained of spiritual energy and quickly pulled out a rare, expensive recovery pill, popping it into her mouth. Almost instantly, she regained more than half of her depleted energy.

"Thank goodness, it worked" Mui Ling sighed in relief. The score was more than enough, and she was confident her teammates could handle the rest with her support.

"As expected of Senior Mui Ling," one woman said with admiration and relief.

"I expected nothing less from the Vice Sect Leader," another girl added proudly.

"Senior, leave it to us—we can handle the rest," a girl declared, lifting her chin confidently.

"Are you sure all of you can score the remaining points without failing? You know that if you fail, all of us—including me—will die. So I'll ask again: are you 100% certain?" Mui Ling said with a hard stare.

The girls fell silent. They had been confident at first, but Mui Ling's reminder that failure meant certain death made hesitation creep into their hearts. Mui Ling sighed softly before looking at them again.

"I'll give you some treasures," Mui Ling said, tossing a few items toward them. The girls caught them and, with nervous steps, walked in front of the massive red stone slab before unleashing their techniques.

Mui Ling held her breath as the numbers on the projection climbed higher and higher until they finally stopped.

1,000,010

Her pupils contracted at how dangerously close they had come to failing, but then she exhaled in relief, along with the girls.

Pass

Team Number 3. Please step forward.

When the new message appeared on the projection, the masked man, who had been quietly observing from the sidelines, stepped forward toward the stone.

---

Outside the Spirit Dimension

The portal that Wang Ming, Jiang Yao, and Min Li had used was now pitch black.

Jiang Hong and Lei Ping stood before it, brows furrowed in concern.

Jiang Hong raised his hand toward the swirling black portal, but as soon as he touched it, his hand was repelled by an invisible force.

"As expected," Lei Ping commented, observing the scene. "The space is locked—we can't enter."

"Not just us," Jiang Hong added, furrowing his brow. "The towers and other Sect Masters contacted me as well. They're experiencing the same problem."

Right after Wang Ming and the others left the Spirit Dimension, Jiang Hong and Lei Ping, who had been talking about something , received an urgent call from the sect Masters. For some reason, access to the Spirit Dimension—the number one training ground—had suddenly been cut off from the outside world, and no one knew why. They had come here to investigate.

'Could it be related to Disciple Wang Ming?' Both Jiang Hong and Lei Ping exchanged a glance, their lips twitching as they realized they were thinking the same thing.

If Wang Ming were here, he would have protested immediately, insisting it had nothing to do with him and that they were slandering him.