The impact of Han Sen’s display continued to swell.

Prince Sixteen’s introduction didn’t possess any Shocking Sky power or flashy techniques, but his words were like a rock falling into a lake. The splash and ripples were felt across every corner of King’s Kingdom. Everyone knew Prince Sixteen Bai Yi had been the catalyst for two ma.s.sive events in their history, and so his reputation had become substantial.

Most people still believed that his words were an amusing mistake, or maybe even a straight-up joke. No one actually thought Bai Yi could do what he claimed.

Most people’s expectations for the results of the exam hadn’t changed, though. The first and second spots were presumably going to be secured by the two deified royal children. It was almost a default a.s.sumption. Prince Sixteen, who only had a one-tier area, wouldn’t be able to create many waves. No matter how well he performed, he was just there to add more fun action for the spectators to watch. Nothing more, nothing less.

But they were wrong. They had been wrong since the very beginning. Han Sen was prepared to fight. Perhaps he wouldn’t take first place, but he at least hoped to reach the top three.

Plus, Han Sen had more than a first-tier area. His Original Water King Body was a mutant xenogeneic gene that he had refined. Ordinarily, it couldn’t have grown beyond the power it possessed when Han Sen first claimed it. It was first-tier when he got it, and first-tier it would remain.

In the intervening time, however, Han Sen had gotten the Ancient G.o.d Origin. With that miraculous water power, the Original Water King Body was able to level up to a second-tier area.

“The Ancient G.o.d Origin is quite special. No wonder why so many elites wanted it. If my Original Water King Body can keep leveling up, that would be excellent,” Han Sen mused as he played with the Ancient G.o.d Origin. A smile spread across his lips at the thought.

But Han Sen wondered about his relations.h.i.+p with Ancient Water G.o.d. Han Sen had thought that he had gravely insulted Ancient Water G.o.d, but when the powerful being died, he sought Han Sen out and gave him the Ancient G.o.d Origin. It was very confusing.

The higher tier a King reached, the stronger they would become. Once he reached the ninth tier, his King area would reset to tier one again, and he would become half-deified. Although the jump in power wasn’t as impressive as becoming deified, half-deified elites had several multiples of the power of a ninth-tier King. That was why they were considered half-deified.

Han Sen didn’t expect his Original Water King Body to reach the deified level. He would be satisfied if he was able to use the support of the Ancient G.o.d Origin to become half-deified.

But despite employing many different methods, Han Sen hadn’t been able to move his Ancient G.o.d Origin. He couldn’t eat it, and neither could he drain power from it. At most, he could begin to meld the Original Water King Body into the Ancient G.o.d Origin.

He fed the powers of the Original Water King Body into the Ancient G.o.d Origin, and they began to exist as one. The Ancient G.o.d Origin’s power wasn’t something that Han Sen could access freely, but the secondary effect it was having on his Original Water King Body was undeniable.

The exams were about to start. The first day was used to transport all of the royal children to Rot Bone Mountain. The children gathered at the bottom of the mountain, and they stared up at the loft peak above them, thrusting into the sky like a spear. They felt so small in comparison.

Rot Bone Mountain was like a pillar pointing to the heavens. Only its foothills were visible, as the peak was high above the clouds. A single rocky staircase would lead them all the way up to that semi-transparent peak.

While they waited for the command that would tell them to start their hike, Bai Ling Shuang slowly moved closer to Han Sen. She looked at him, but she didn’t say anything to him.

Ninety percent of Rot Bone Mountain’s trail was made of stone. All of King’s Kingdom’s civilians and n.o.bles could see this. Only the path above the clouds, the one that led to the peak, couldn’t be seen. Even deified elites couldn’t look through the clouds and see what resided there.

Bai Ling Shuang couldn’t let everyone know that Han Sen was helping her out. If she allowed that, all of the Extreme King would start laughing at her. So, she would walk ninety percent of the path alone. Near the end, when she reached the trickier path, she was willing to ask Han Sen for help.

The last path was the most difficult path on Rot Bone Mountain. Bai Ling Shuang wasn’t confident that she could reach the end of that path.

After a loud noise, one hundred royal children approached the stone staircase. They looked like horses as they stampeded up. Either that, or some experienced hiking team. The children stretched into a long line that inched its way up the mountain.

Leading the group was the crown prince Bai Weijie. No one fought for the path ahead of him. He was the crown prince, and he was in the front.

Behind the crown prince were the deified Prince Four and Princess Two. They walked together, side by side.

Then, there were some half-deified royal children following directly behind, including Bai Ling Shuang and Bai Canglang. After them came the King cla.s.s royal children like Han Sen.

Han Sen looked around. He didn’t see Bai Wuchang. It looked like the man wasn’t taking part in the exam.

Bai Qing Xia walked next to Han Sen and quietly said, “Brother Sixteen, let’s go.”

“Sure.” Han Sen nodded, and he walked up the stone stairs alongside Bai Qing Xia.

In the back of the group, a pair of pretty eyes were locked on the back of Han Sen’s head. Those eyes belonged to Bai Wei.

Han Sen thought Rot Bone Mountain would be difficult to ascend. Otherwise, Bai Ling Shuang wouldn’t have been willing to give up so many King cla.s.s xenogeneic genes for his help.

But after Han Sen walked for a while, he noticed that Rot Bone Mountain didn’t seem as hard as he had expected. Aside from the air restriction that kept them from using flying powers, everything seemed normal.

But when Han Sen tried to speed up, things changed immediately.

He had been walking easily up the path, but now a force pushed heavily against him, crippling his speed. It was like he was trying to run through water; the faster he went, the more resistance he felt. The force resisting him seemed inexhaustible, and Han Sen had no option but to slow down.

When he slowed down, the resistance lessened. He was almost unable to feel it any longer.

“Now I understand why everyone is walking so slowly. I didn’t realize this Rot Bone Mountain was so amazing,” Han Sen thought to himself.

“Brother Sixteen, our fight in King’s Kingdom isn’t done yet. When we fight on the Extreme King’s stage, let us finally find out which one of us will win,” Bai Qing Xia said as he walked beside Han Sen.

“Didn’t you lose the last time?” Han Sen asked, blinking.

Bai Qing Xia smiled. “I lost with the Kingese, but the fight didn’t see a victor crowned. Hatred Times Ten, I have more than just a few tiers now.”

Han Sen gave the man a surprised glance. “How many tiers do you have?”

“Nine tiers. I only need one more to reach Times Ten, but my body is only King cla.s.s with two tiers. I cannot break through the last tier.” Bai Qing Xia wasn’t trying to hide anything, so he answered Han Sen’s question plainly.

“Awesome,” Han Sen complimented him.

And Han Sen meant what he said. Han Sen had researched Hatred Times Ten after their battle, and it was indeed an amazing skill. Very few people could learn it. Times One required a first-tier King area, so to practice Times Nine, you would need a ninth-tier area.

Despite being only a second-tier King, Bai Qing Xia had reached Times Nine. He was talented.