However, as they had said, covering half a day's journey to reach the Myriad Treasures Pavilion — that level of mental fortitude was truly terrifying.
Even the four great ancestors, back in their youth, probably didn't possess mental power strong enough to reach the Myriad Treasures Pavilion on the Reincarnation Road within half a day.
And reaching the Myriad Treasures Pavilion was only the real test.
The illusion level inside the Myriad Treasures Pavilion was undoubtedly far higher than everything before.
If the various temptations, terrors, and life-and-death illusions they'd already faced hadn't been enough to break someone with strong mental power, then the Myriad Treasures Pavilion would confront them with endless temptation.
Especially the temptation of cultivation techniques. Especially the temptation of divine weapons and legendary blades.
The number of people who could shake off such temptations was exceedingly few.
After all, in the martial world, especially among secular martial artists, nearly everyone was lacking when it came to cultivation manuals and secret techniques.
Precisely because they lacked them, they thirsted for them. And when you're thirsty, how many people could remain unmoved upon encountering peerless secret manuals and supreme techniques — never opening them, never browsing, never picking one up?
"The Myriad Treasures Pavilion… I'd guess only someone with truly powerful mental strength would have people passing it by the third day at the earliest?"
"The third day?" Ancestor Zhuiyang smiled faintly. "Sister Binglan, you're always so optimistic. Mere secular martial artists clearing the Myriad Treasures Pavilion by the third day? In my view, it's practically impossible. Even among the sects' top geniuses, I'd estimate no more than five per sect could clear the Myriad Treasures Pavilion within three days — and that's only if they've practiced mental power cultivation techniques. If they've never focused on mental power training, I'd say it would take them at least five days to break free of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion."
The moderator who had overseen the first round had already stated: clearing the Reincarnation Road in ten days was considered passing; clearing it in eight days meant one's mental power was decent, above the pass line; clearing it within five days indicated exceptional mental power talent, worthy of being called a genius; and clearing it within three days meant someone absolutely rare — a once-in-a-century genius who would inevitably catch the attention of the great ancestors.
After all, even among the four great sects' top geniuses, there were precious few who could complete the Reincarnation Road in three days.
"Ancestor Zhuiyang, you always seem to look down on secular martial artists." Ancestor Jiushi grinned oddly. "That's quite something, considering you once dug out a genius with a Primordial Body from the secular world. Could it be you simply don't want any more geniuses to emerge from the secular world?"
Ancestor Zhuiyang smiled faintly. "It's not that I don't want to — I'm simply analyzing objectively. The secular world is still the secular world. Its resources amount to less than one percent of what the sects possess, so the probability of producing geniuses is naturally around one percent of the sects' rate. Among our four great sects, how many can truly be called geniuses? Do the math, and you'll see — mining for talent in the secular world is like searching for a needle in the ocean."
Ancestor Qianye smiled and shook his head gently, saying nothing.
Suddenly, from the control area, a shocked cry erupted: "How is this possible?!"
"Is this… is this some kind of mistake?"
"No way — someone has already cleared the Myriad Treasures Pavilion?! It's been barely half a day! Not even a full day has passed!"
"A monster! Could the secular world really be producing a monster?!"
"There must be some kind of error in the Reincarnation Road, or the monitoring equipment has malfunctioned. In half a day, it's impossible to even reach the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, let alone clear it."
"Exactly! The Myriad Treasures Pavilion is filled with countless treasures as temptation — how many people can resist? A secular martial artist turning a blind eye to all that? Impossible!"
The four great ancestors naturally wouldn't personally oversee the preliminary rounds.
The cries came from the senior sect officials of the four great sects who had been dispatched to manage the first-round Reincarnation Road assessment.
These exclamations were all theirs.
When the four great ancestors heard the frantic shouting rising one after another, their expressions turned to stunned disbelief, and every gaze swung toward the control area.
Whenever someone cleared the Myriad Treasures Pavilion on the Reincarnation Road, the control area would receive an alert. Each person who passed would appear as a green figure on the display.
"Outrageous! The Reincarnation Road is an ancient relic — how could it possibly malfunction?" Ancestor Qianye snapped, and was the first to dash over.
Ancestor Binglan followed close behind.
Ancestor Jiushi glanced at Ancestor Zhuiyang with a half-smile. "Ancestor Zhuiyang, old monster, since you were so certain no one could clear the Myriad Treasures Pavilion within three days, I imagine you believe the Reincarnation Road has malfunctioned, yes? Ha ha."
Ancestor Jiushi seemed to have a rather poor relationship with Ancestor Zhuiyang, so naturally he seized the opportunity to throw in a barb.
Ancestor Zhuiyang was, at this point, thoroughly baffled.
Someone had cleared the Myriad Treasures Pavilion in barely half a day? It sounded absurd no matter how you heard it.
But he was a Yuan Realm master — he knew the Reincarnation Road was the work of ancient, mighty beings and absolutely could not be wrong.
Which meant that among these secular martial artists, someone had genuinely cleared the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. And in less than a day — a speed that surpassed any sect genius's performance. A true monster!
That level of mental power had reached a truly terrifying degree.
Though Ancestor Zhuiyang's cheeks burned after Ancestor Jiushi's dig, he could no longer afford dignity or restraint at this point and sprinted toward the control area himself.
A single green figure had appeared on a massive, smooth stone mirror in the control area.
"Incredible, absolutely incredible," Ancestor Jiushi murmured. "The secular world truly conceals all manner of fine talent. It seems our four great sects' previous methods of selecting disciples really did have problems. The prejudice against secular martial artists was far too heavy."