Since there were many who didn’t know about it, Gang Feng explained the Main Trial in detail. Only the members of the three clans seemed bored by it, as they had already heard it many times.
Even Ye Jun got bored of the lengthy explanation, but he still listened carefully. To summarise it, he made a few points in his mind.
The Main Trial was pretty simple, involving every participant hunting in the Black Wind Wildlands. This way, the number of Spiritual Beasts would drastically reduce, since hundreds of trained Martial Artists would be killing them.
The sects and clans used this as a way to test their younger generation, safeguard the city from Spiritual Beasts without spending a dime, and also secure lots of Beast Cores which improved their financial conditions.
The Beast Cores were the highlight of this trial, actually.
There were normal animals in this world, but after being exposed to the Qi flowing throughout heaven and earth, they usually ended in either of two states.
A mad state, where they gained a minor boost from Qi and lost all their reasoning and instincts, existing only to devour other lifeforms.
Cultivators called them Monsters.
After looking into his memories, Ye Jun knew that Monsters were a little stronger than the average mundane human and weaker than a Martial Artist.
This became the reason why Ye Jun could kill them and sell them in the market to survive.
The other state an animal, or any lifeform other than a human, could take after being exposed to Qi was becoming a Spiritual Beast. It happened once they instinctively resisted the madness and turned the overwhelming energy into their Beast Cores, which contained their essence.
Because of this, Beast Cores were very valuable and sought after in the human world, as they could assist cultivators in advancing rapidly.
There were downsides to this aspect of cultivation, but Ye Jun ignored them for the moment.
’Beast Cores are basically the currency of the cultivation world, along with Spirit Stones. They’re basically asking us to farm money for them so they can take us in. Wow!’
All participants would be given a full day until the sun disappeared below the horizon. They needed to kill as many Spiritual Beasts as possible and collect their Beast Cores.
Of course, the sect made sure the trial was as fair as possible for the students. They had already killed all the Spiritual Beasts of Tier 3 and above near the city and set up an array formation so that the participants were relatively safe.
They also made sure participants didn’t farm points by killing only weak Spiritual Beasts. The stronger the Spiritual Beast they killed, the more points they would earn.
Spiritual Beasts were divided into Tiers instead of Realms, starting from Tier 1 with no known highest Tier. Each Tier was further divided into four Grades: Low, Middle, High, and Peak Grade.
Only Tier 1 and Tier 2 Spiritual Beasts would be available for them to hunt and everyone could earn points by killing them.
One point for Low-Grade Tier 1 Spiritual Beasts.
Three points for Middle-Grade Tier 1 Spiritual Beasts.
Ten points for High-Grade Tier 1 Spiritual Beasts.
Thirty points for Peak-Grade Tier 1 Spiritual Beasts.
One hundred points for Low-Grade Tier 2 Spiritual Beasts.
One hundred fifty points for Middle-Grade Tier 2 Spiritual Beasts.
Two hundred fifty points for High-Grade Tier 2 Spiritual Beasts.
And a whopping five hundred points for Peak-Grade Tier 2 Spiritual Beasts.
Then, at the end of the day, they would be ranked according to the points they earned and a certain number of them would be selected by the sects.
They could also make an exception and take one disciple even if they didn’t meet the requirements, but it was rare.
As for rules, there were practically none. They couldn’t kill each other, but everyone knew it was just for the sake of appearing civil. Nobody knew what happened inside those wild lands, after all.
Since the clans couldn’t attack each other openly, the Martial Exchange became a place of war for them, so they used this opportunity to eliminate the geniuses of each other’s clans.
A few deaths at least were guaranteed every year.
The Envoys supervised the whole trial, but they ignored the clans’ actions as long as it didn’t bother them. But if they found a good seed, they would enforce the rules and make sure that person survived.
After all, the sect wanted good seeds.
As long as one didn’t "kill" each other outright, they could do anything, except take help from outside. So technically, one could also simply snatch others’ Beast Cores to win too.
This wasn’t just a hunting trial but also a test to see how one dealt with human opponents and the disadvantages the world threw at them.
Resources weren’t enough for everyone, so cultivators always fought for them. This was just a miniature version of that situation. One needed to get the treasures and make sure nobody snatched them.
After explaining a few more rules, Gang Feng had everyone checked to ensure they were carrying nothing except weapons.
One also couldn’t take their Space Ring inside. Instead, the sect provided them with a Space Bag, an inferior version of the Space Ring.
Ye Jun raised his head, looking at the sun. ’I probably have nine hours.’
Once everyone was checked and equipped with the Space Bags, all of them were told to divide into groups and choose a point of entry into the Black Wind Wildlands. Considering it basically surrounded the city, there were many options and areas to clear.
Before leaving, Ye Jun found Ye Chen preparing with his group of henchmen and winked. Ye Chen gestured at cutting his neck in return, so Ye Jun just smiled and mouthed his words.
’Keep your slaves safe.’
That did the trick, as Ye Chen glared at him hatefully and left. Even if he hated Ye Jun a lot and wanted to kill him, he knew the Martial Exchange was very important for his future, so he wouldn’t mess up from the start.
"My dear father must have found a better starting point for him," Ye Jun said, as Meihui followed him. "He’ll get a head start."
"Should have told me earlier," Meihui said. "I could have searched the area beforehand. Now, those Envoys can sense my Soul Sense."
"Don’t worry," Ye Jun grinned. "I’ve lived in these Wildlands. Never forget that."