= A few minutes earlier =
After Miaomiao and others had fallen into the abyss, Uriel hovered over the platform and declared.
"Congratulations everybody here for earning your qualification to enter the Selection Tournament of Aves Continent. The number of passed contestants… Wow, only 55? That bastard Miaomiao did quite a number on you, eh?"
Jia Shan, Ma Ping, Mao Xueyan, Lai Wen, Zhao Bao, and Miaomiao's teammates winced. They regretted that they couldn't kill all their enemies, especially the remaining 8th-stage cultivators.
Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Jian Meng, and Jian Yong were also dissatisfied with the result. They couldn't even kill anyone from Siren City, and they might have to fight disadvantageous battles in the upcoming rigged tournament.
They might die!
Jian Meng and Jian Yong planned to resign from the tournament after they got out. As for Yan Liang and Wen Chou, they had enough reasons to continue.
They were still enraged by their losses. Unless they could get their revenge, their heart devil wouldn't be resolved.
As for filler cultivators, who survived Miaomiao's onslaught, they hesitated if they should resign. They looked at Azazel, afraid that she might kill them if they were to give up.
However, among the enemies of Siren City, Huang Hansheng found this farce ridiculous. He bellowed and protested Uriel.
"Sir! The last game was unfair! You said that nobody could use Qi, but how come Mao Miaomiao could transform into a dragon?!"
The other survivors nodded while Miaomiao's teammates glared at the archer with hatred.
Uriel turned to Huang Hansheng, "We suppressed your cultivation base, but we never suppressed your Dao, racial abilities, or bloodline."
"But you said that every type of energy inside us would be frozen!"
"Was Dao an energy to you?"
Huang Hansheng couldn't answer since this question required deep knowledge and understanding of Dao. He also didn't want to share his Dao comprehension with anybody here, so there was no point answering.
The archer swallowed his pride and kept his mouth shut.
Uriel shrugged as he could guess Huang Hansheng's intention. He explained.
"Dao is a manifestation of your beliefs, faith, or principle. It empowers your providence, luck, and karma. However, they can't be categorized as "Energy" since Dao is the seeds of Law or the Alternate Truth of Nature. For your information, "Law" is the Supreme Nature of Heaven and Earth, which manipulate the nature of the world, universe, deities, immortals, and mortals. It is beyond the "Energy" that you speak of."
Uriel snapped his fingers and the people, who had jumped to the abyss, reappeared inside transparent cubes.
They were the cubes that Uriel had demonstrated before the Qualifier Round had begun. It was the one that continued to shrink until the people inside were crushed to death.
Mao Miaomiao was inside one of them!
Ma Moxi, Liu Xuande, Zhang Yide, and Guan Yunchang were also floating inside the cubes. They seemed to be asleep.
Uriel disregarded Miaomiao and others and continued to explain.
"That snap was the "Law" power that I used to teleport all these doofuses in the cubes. Well, to give you another example of the Law's Nature, if I were to enforce a "Law" on this place and say that anyone in this space has to die, everybody here WILL die without fail even though you don't want to die. Or, if I say that someone will become an immortal, that person WILL become an immortal even if he never cultivated in his life. In short, it's something exclusive that high deities can use. But in your case, everybody here hasn't even caught a glimpse of the top of an iceberg. You haven't really mastered a "DAO" yet."
Huang Hansheng's expression grimaced, intimidated by the threat of Law's power.
On the other hand, Wei Yuan, who had been fed with Siren City's elixir and regained her consciousness, was secretly rejoiced. After all, Chaos Element was closely related to Law Manipulation. She also gained enlightenment from this explanation.
"But that doesn't make any sense. You just spin your words to make up an excuse for Mao Miaomiao!"
"Yeah, what does "Dao" have to do with his transformation anyway?!"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtNow, Yan Liang and Wen Chou chimed in. He attacked Uriel, claiming that the deity had given Mao Miaomiao preferential treatment.
Uriel snorted, "I'm trying to explain how your "Dao" was not suppressed in the fight just now. Well, since you don't need my lecture, I'll move on to the transformation inquiry."
"…"
The women glared at both men, scolding them with their eyes for ruining their golden opportunity to learn more about Dao and Law from a deity.
Uriel turned to Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, "Tell me, Xiahou Dun. When you first arrived here, were you in your human form or your true form?"
Xiahou Dun was surprised that Uriel suddenly talked to him. He became stiff, "I-I was in my human form."
"Then, since when did you transform to your true form?"
"When the third game started."
"Okay. Then, during the Hunter and Prey Game, was your bloodline or your Cyclop blood suppressed? Or, was you forced to transform into a human?"
"… No."
"Last question. Do you think you could transform into a human or vice versa during the third game?"
"… I don't know."
"Transform to a human, Xiahou Dun," Uriel turned to the women. "You girls, too. Everybody here who isn't a human, cooperates with me! Transform into a human!"
The succubi, vampires, Mao Xueyan, Dandan, Dian Wei, Wei Yuan, White Album, and the cyclops cooperated. They changed their appearance to their human forms.
Then, Uriel shouted, "Venti, suppressed everybody's cultivation base again. Use the same "Law" as the third game, but don't select a hunter or prey."
RUMBLE
Again, everybody on the platform suddenly lost control over their dantian and Qi.
Uriel turned to Xiahou Dun again, "Try to transform back to your true form."
"…"
Xiahou Dun closed his eyes and tried to sense his blood and cells.
Surprisingly, he could still control them. Even without Qi, his brain and thoughts alone were enough to alter his cells.
In a couple seconds, Xiahou Dun reverted back to his Cyclop form.
White Album, Wei Yuan, Dian Wei, and others also transformed into their true race. The succubi grew small wings and tails while vampires revealed their bat wings. Wei Yuan's horns on her forehead returned, and Dian Wei became an Arachne again.
Mao Dandan and Mao Xueyan grew larger and turned into giant white tigers. However, Dandan had two tails while Xueyan had four feather wings.
Meanwhile, Zhou Gongjin also transformed into a winged white tiger like Mao Xueyan. She and Gongjin glanced at each other, surprised by their real appearances.
Ku'er became a giant white fox with six tails. Her fluffy tails coiled around herself while she sat still, watching the drama as if she wasn't involved.
Next to Ku'er, Tang Fan had a wry smile on HER face. HE turned into a SHE, a little girl in a fancy sailor suit and a short skirt. She had been holding a short wand with a heart-shaped crystal on it.
Pao Luo was also close by. He turned into a giant fluffy creature, similar to a Yeti. However, his pink leotard and a mini-skirt stood out from the rest.
Of course, Pao Luo retained his gender, but his appearance, bulging crotch, and the magical girl's outfit were weird.
"See?" Uriel opened his palms, pointing at the bizarre creatures, beastmen, and demons.
"…"
"We abolished the usage of Qi, but we NEVER, and I mean, EVER said that you couldn't transform."
Huang Hansheng gnashed his teeth, "So this game was rigged from the start! It was unfair!"
"Nothing in the world is fair. Haven't your master taught you that? It's your fault, humanity's fault for not having a transformation ability as a racial skill. If you want to blame someone, blame your ancestors for not conceiving you the way you want."
"…"
Huang Hansheng was enraged, but he couldn't do anything against the two gods. Again, he swallowed his pride and kept quiet.
"Well, let's move on. I need to distribute your prizes for successfully surviving my… UNFAIR games!"
"Tsk!"
Huang Hansheng vowed to himself. Once he returned to the Holy Land, he would join forces with a Dao God or anyone who wanted Uriel dead. He might also join one of the seven great clans if they could kill Mao Miaomiao or destroy Siren City.
Uriel waved his hands and sent red talismans to everybody, one for each.
Writing on the back of the talisman was a weird word – Gacha Ticket. Nobody could understand the jargon as the modern world's transmigrator and reincarnator were not here.
Uriel clapped his hands and disabled Venti's Law Power. Now, all cultivators could use their Qi once again.
"Those tickets are the prize. Inject your Luck Energy or Karma into the ticket. Once you think that you feed it enough, tear the talisman to claim your prizes. Oh, it can only handle LUCK and KARMA. Life Essence and Element Qi won't work with the talismans."
Uriel chose not to tell them about the talisman's secrets. Depending on the injected energy, these talismans would generate random prizes equally to the amount of injected power.
The more they spent their luck or karma on the talisman, they would gain something of equal value. However, if they gave the tickets nothing, they would gain nothing!
Zhao Bao's eyes gleamed as he was the first one who understood Uriel's intention. He sat cross-legged and held his hands in prayer. Then, he started chanting Buddhist Sutras to stimulate his karma and luck, transferring his luck to his talisman.
The girls stared at the tickets and looked at each other in confusion. Then, they nodded as if they had come to an agreement.
Wei Yuan, Jiang Lan, and all yin slaves kept the tickets in their spatial rings, planning to consult with Xu Chu in Miaomiao's ITS.
Their big sister was their trusted mentor. If they had questions regarding their cultivation, they always asked their Doraemon, aka Xu Chu.
Jia Shan and other seniors also kept the tickets to themselves, refusing to use them now. Then, they turned to Miaomiao, who was still asleep.
"Sir, what happened to them?"
Uriel turned to Jia Shan. He mimicked Devil by writing a smiley face on his gas-like face.
"I thought you would never ask me this. I'm so happy!"
"…"
"Just kidding. I was mimicking Devil. Anyway…"
Uriel clapped his hands several times. Then, five large monitors appeared.
Each monitor showed the scenes of other worlds, where Miaomiao, Ma Moxi, and Liu Xuande's gangs were trapped inside.
"They are currently undergoing the Trial of Heart Devil Desire."
"Trial of Heart Devil Desire?"
Azazel gazed at the screen above Miaomiao's cube. It showed a grassland and a black dragon, being besieged by various cultivators. She secretly smirked, looking forward to seeing his reactions.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Everybody that enters the Trial of Heart Devil Desire will find themselves back in time, to the time that they want to return to the most. They also retain their cultivation base, knowledge, and power. Think of the past that you want to correct. What would you do if you could turn back time?"
Jia Shan and others widened their eyes. Their hearts ached as they thought of the mistakes, regrets, and memorable events that they wished to correct.
"In this trial, they will experience that scenario. They can correct their past and enjoy the new future they create. However, this trial will test their characters, decisions, and of course, DESIRE. If they can't break free from the illusion worlds without 10 years in there, their souls will be forever imprisoned in the illusion worlds."
"WHAT!?"
Wei Yuan and the yin slaves panicked. They were afraid that Miaomiao would not wake up or succeed since he was greedy and lustful.
He was a man of sins!
They believed that he would succumb to his desire!
But then, something absurd happened. Wei Yuan narrowed her eyes and got frustrated.
Miaomiao, on the screen, suddenly flickered his dragon finger at Wei Huang and crippled him. Then, he turned around and bellowed at the other cultivators, slaughtering everyone.
"Ruthless…"
"Unbelievable."
"Did he always want to kill those people?"
The yin slaves were baffled as they rarely saw Miaomiao in this state. He was always laid back when he fought the clones, but he never showed this dark side, anger, or extreme bloodlust to them.
"EXECUTE ORDER 66!! DION, FUCK THEM UP!"
Suddenly, Miaomiao spoke in an incomprehensible language. The spectators could only understand a few words.
In that world, Jia Shan, Xu Xiuying, Wei Yuan, and innocent people were exploded, reducing into blood mist.
Miaomiao killed them all!
"Sick."
"He… is a bastard. He killed me."
"The other me is still in that brothel. How could he?"
The yin slaves frowned, dissatisfied that Miaomiao killed their counterparts.
But a few seconds later, the screen above Miaomiao turned black. Then, the person in question woke up.
The clueless guy looked around and found Wei Yuan and his friends.
'Unbelievable. Wasn't he even scared of killing his friends and wives for real?'
Even Venti, the mysterious elder of this plane, was taken aback by Miaomiao's actions.
He broke the illusion too fast. He was not supposed to kill everybody there!
"Your trial is too easy for that guy, Venti. He's just… unbelievably decisive."
'He's nuts. I already tried to tell him that the world might be real, but he downright destroyed everyone.'
Wei Yuan heard the conversation. She also nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. He killed me and my grandpa without hesitation. What an asshole."
…
Miaomiao gazed at everyone and tilted his head to the side. He scratched his head.
"Why are they cursing me? What did I do wrong?"