CHAPTER 1782: CHAPTER 1782: ONE CHALLENGE AFTER ANOTHER

"Huff!"

"Huff~~Huff~~Huff~~"

Sitting down heavily on the riverbank, Wyatt Barnes gasped for air, covered in sweat. Looking back at the vast, milky-white force surging into the dry riverbed and filling it, he felt a lingering fear, "Just a little more... just a little more and I would have been done for!"

Being done for would also mean being eliminated.

Having finally encountered such a relic of Divine Ability, he naturally couldn’t bear to be eliminated just like that.

"To think earlier I believed the waterfall-like sweeping milky-white force was the third obstacle in this ’Abyssal Marsh’... Now it seems, what I just experienced is the real third obstacle!"

Previously, Wyatt thought the third obstacle shouldn’t be that simple.

But that waterfall-like force couldn’t be ignored either.

So, he was constantly puzzled, wondering if that force was the third obstacle.

And now, linking that force to his recent experience made him realize that what he just went through was indeed the real third obstacle.

Milky-white force, broken arch bridge, suppression formations, dry riverbed, together formed the third obstacle.

Soon, Wyatt also noticed that the water level of milky-white force in the riverbed was continuously rising. Although it was far from overflowing, after regaining some inner energy, he quickly stood up.

"Hmm? The mist has disappeared?"

Turning around, Wyatt found that the mist he saw earlier across the bank had vanished, replaced by a mountain wall.

"Dead end?"

Seeing the mountain wall blocking the way, Wyatt was dumbfounded.

Due to the assault of the waterfall-like milky-white force, the passage of the second obstacle was also flooded. Wanting to turn back was now impossible.

But with no way back and a dead end ahead, did it mean he could only stand here and await death?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

...

Just then, as Wyatt’s mind was in a frenzy, a series of muffled booms sounded from above him.

Ordinarily noisy sounds now sounded like heavenly music to Wyatt’s ears.

Wyatt immediately looked up to find a crack opening on the mountain wall above him, large enough for a person to pass through.

A ray of dawn light shone through, as if guiding Wyatt upward.

Since the ’suppression formations’ only covered the riverbed, Wyatt once on the bank could soar freely.

Bam!

With a leap off the ground, Wyatt ascended skyward, flying towards the crack on the mountain wall above.

Meanwhile, as Wyatt glanced upward, he found the dawn light coming from hundreds of meters away.

In other words, he still needed to ascend several hundred meters to reach the source of the dawn light smoothly.

"The higher, the better..."

Considering the waterfall-like milky-white force below continued pouring down, likely flooding the entire space below soon, Wyatt felt a sense of relief that the location of the next obstacle was high enough not to be submerged.

While ascending upwards, recalling the recent thrilling scene, Wyatt’s heart sank slightly, "With the third obstacle being so extreme... what kind of terrifying obstacles await me in the six ahead?"

The experience of the third obstacle left Wyatt with shadows in his heart, thinking the upcoming obstacles would be even harder.

However, when Wyatt finally faced the fourth obstacle, he found it was not as perilous as the third.

The fourth obstacle did not test strength, but martial arts techniques.

Martial arts techniques?

It should be known that although Wyatt had discarded most of his previously cultivated martial arts techniques, because of ’Supreme Heart Sword’ he was not weak in techniques at all.

Therefore, faced with such a fourth obstacle, he passed easily.

After the fourth obstacle, came the fifth.

The fifth obstacle also did not test strength but patience.

One hundred thousand embroidery needles, one red thread.

This was the test of the fifth obstacle.

"Truly a test of patience."

Looking at the countless one hundred thousand embroidery needles before him, Wyatt’s mouth twitched fiercely, but in the end, he obediently picked up the only red thread and, with the other hand, began threading one needle at a time.

Only by threading the red string through all one hundred thousand needles would he pass the fifth obstacle.

Even with Wyatt’s considerable cultivation, in threading needles and string, he could exert no strength, only threading like an ordinary person, patiently threading the string through one needle at a time.

Perhaps fearing challengers using their strength to cheat, the eye of each embroidery needle was even finer than the red string, requiring slow insertion, no haste allowed.

For the fifth obstacle alone, Wyatt spent several days.

By the end, his eyes were blurry.

If given a choice, he would rather repeat the first obstacle.

No!

Even if he could choose to repeat the third trial, he would be willing, because this fifth trial was truly too grueling, even more mentally exhausting than the second trial.

After passing the fifth trial, Wyatt Barnes didn’t rush to attempt the sixth trial; instead, he rested on the spot, which was his first rest since entering the ’Abyssal Marsh’.

He had to rest, for every time he opened his eyes now, all he could see were gleaming embroidery needles and red threads.

After resting for a full day and night, Wyatt Barnes continued on to the next trial.

The sixth trial, once again, was not a test of strength.

"Insight?"

The sixth trial tested the insight of the challenger. What Wyatt Barnes needed to do was to complete some incomplete martial arts moves.

Of course, these martial arts moves were merely techniques from the human-tier Saint grade.

If it were in the past, asking Wyatt Barnes to do this would indeed have been quite difficult.

However, ever since he obtained the ’Supreme Heart Sword’ and comprehended it to the second realm, Wyatt’s insight and understanding of moves had reached a high level.

Therefore, completing some of the moves from the human-tier Saint grade martial arts wasn’t too difficult.

Thus, Wyatt Barnes easily passed the sixth trial.

Next up was the seventh trial.

"Why do I feel like the nine trials in the ’Abyssal Marsh’ get simpler as they go on?"

Thinking back to the earlier trials, Wyatt couldn’t help but entertain this thought.

Soon, he learned what the seventh trial was testing.

"Endurance? Running?"

Upon seeing the content of the seventh trial, Wyatt Barnes laughed; it seemed like another simple challenge.

However, after carefully reviewing all the content, the smile on his face froze.

"Run around this column continuously for seven days and nights... Less than a million laps, and you fail the test, being teleported out?"

Looking at the massive column that could barely be encircled by dozens of people, Wyatt Barnes was dumbfounded, completely dumbfounded.

Seven days and nights!

A million laps!

Walking around the column, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of Wyatt’s mouth. "Running a million laps around this column in seven days and nights... Even for a Middle Saint Realm pinnacle existence, it’s probably tough. I was naive to think this challenge was simple."

"It truly is a test of endurance!"

The bitter smile on Wyatt’s face grew even more pronounced.

Yet, he had no choice.

Running a million laps around this column in seven days and nights was achievable for him.

However, during this process, he would undoubtedly endure great torment; without exceptional patience, it would be impossible to persist.

"Let’s run!"

Taking a deep breath, Wyatt Barnes raised his hand and pressed down on a protruding mechanism on the side of the column. After activating the monitoring formations, he started running around the column.

Utilizing his True Origin, his speed was astonishingly swift, and in no time, he had circled the column several times.

During the first three days, Wyatt Barnes maintained his original speed.

On the fourth day, even with Wyatt’s inner encouragement, his speed began to slow down.

"Now that I’ve reached the seventh trial, there are only two trials left... If I don’t pass this one, all previous efforts will be in vain!"

With this thought, Wyatt Barnes sped up once again.

However, this method of boosting his morale only worked for one day before Wyatt became completely desensitized.

The last three days were the hardest for Wyatt Barnes.

He even felt that this seventh trial was the toughest of all the trials he had faced in the ’Abyssal Marsh’.

Finally, after spending seven days and six nights, Wyatt Barnes completed the million laps around the column.

After finishing, drenched in sweat, he collapsed to the ground.

Although he was just an avatar at the moment, he was no different from a real body—he still got tired and sweated.

Of course, the "normal body" mentioned here refers to an ordinary person’s body, not his true form.

If his current body were his true form, running for seven days and nights, or even ten days and nights, wouldn’t be an issue.

"It’s been a long time since I felt this exhausted... No way! I must take a good rest for two days... No! Three days!"

Though he said he would rest for three days, after half a day of rest and regaining his strength, Wyatt Barnes resolutely headed towards the eighth trial.

The eighth trial was located within a vast underground palace. Upon entering, one could clearly sense an ancient, timeworn atmosphere washing over them, as if instantly transporting them to an era unimaginably distant from the present.

This Earth Palace was most striking for its rows of ’statues’ standing neatly in the distance.

These statues depicted soldiers in armor, including infantry, spear-wielders, and cavalry. "They somewhat resemble the ’Terracotta Warriors’ from my previous life... Are these statues the test for the eighth trial?"

With this thought, Wyatt Barnes immediately grew vigilant.