"Not very big, but quite the temper."

Su Ze didn’t hold back, kicking the unknown creature and sending it flying.

The unknown creature was pathetically weak. Even though Su Ze had held back, the kick still sent it tumbling for dozens of meters. It lay on the ground, flailing its limbs menacingly but unable to get up.

Su Ze sank into thought. ’What exactly is this trial supposed to be testing?’

’It just conjured up a weakling crystal doll. What does it want me to do?’

’It can’t be that all I have to do is kill this weakling to pass the trial, can it?’

’That would be too easy. Impossible!’

The crystal doll was absurdly weak. It had the body of an infant and the combat power to match. Su Ze could crush it with a single finger.

’What kind of trial would make him fight a baby?’

’A baby... Wait, a baby!’

Su Ze suddenly recalled the age test from outside. That part couldn’t have been meaningless; it had to be related to the first round of the trial.

The age he’d been assessed at was around six months old—basically a baby!

’So this round provides an opponent of the same age as the Trialist? Because I was assessed as being six months old, I got a six-month-old opponent!’

The realization left Su Ze utterly speechless.

’It feels like I exploited a bug, but it didn’t really do me any good.’

’This is just the simplest first round. Even if they had arranged an eighteen-year-old opponent for me, I’m confident I could have won easily.’

’I didn’t need this cheap advantage!’

’Looks like I have to kill this strange crystal doll to pass the first trial...’ Su Ze walked over to the unknown creature and looked at the snarling doll.

’Those of a different race are bound to have different minds!’

CRACK! His foot came down, and the crystal doll shattered into pieces.

The shattered crystal doll transformed into a transparent stream of energy that bored into Su Ze’s body.

Su Ze subconsciously tried to dodge. He didn’t want some unknown entity invading his body, but he quickly realized this was likely the reward for passing the trial. It was probably unavoidable, so he might as well just take it.

Once inside, the transparent energy immediately fused with his entire being, triggering a miraculous reaction with the undigested Evolutionary Material in his system.

After absorbing the Tier Four S-Class Liquid Turbellaria Extract, Su Ze had a large amount of accumulated Evolutionary Material waiting to be digested. But now, when this difficult-to-digest material met the transparent energy, it was like solid ice meeting a raging fire—it dissolved in an instant.

In a single moment, half of the extract in Su Ze’s body—which would have originally taken at least six months to digest—was completely processed!

’Awesome! That just saved me months of arduous training and evolutionary medicine worth at least several billion!’

Su Ze was beginning to understand why so many people, knowing full well the dangers of the Divine Dice, still fearlessly rushed to enter.

For a reward like this, it was a massive gain even if you only cleared the first couple of rounds.

’And this is just the reward for the first round. What kind of rewards could I get if I make it to the final three?’

While Su Ze was still fantasizing about the rewards to come, the scenery shifted, and he found himself back in the Dice Space.

However, the space was perfectly quiet. There wasn’t another soul in sight.

’Don’t tell me I’m the first one to pass the trial?’

Considering his opponent, Su Ze thought it was highly likely.

He wandered around the Dice Space, bored, and even entertained the idea of performing the Swan Dance. After all, there was no one around to see him.

However, he resisted the impulse. Out of boredom, he rummaged through his belongings and immediately spotted the headless clone lying inside his Storage Pendant.

’Mystical items can’t be used inside the Divine Dice, but what about this headless clone?’

Su Ze took out the headless clone and tried to control it, finding that its use wasn’t restricted.

’If I can use this, it’ll be a major asset for me inside the Divine Dice.’ Su Ze put the headless clone away. It might come in handy later.

Su Ze didn’t have to wait long. Soon, two more people returned to the Dice Space—they were the other two Trialists under the age of twenty.

It seemed the first round of the trial was quite favorable to the younger Trialists.

Su Ze noticed that the halos representing age beneath their feet were gone, and he breathed an inward sigh of relief.

It seemed the age halos either disappeared or became hidden after the first round, which was good news for him. He no longer had to conceal the fact that he didn’t have one.

The two young prodigies from Lin Hua Country glanced at Su Ze, surprise showing on their faces. They hadn’t expected him to clear the first round of the trial before them.

They didn’t speak to Su Ze, however, because everyone knew that inside the Divine Dice, the more of a genius someone was, the more likely they were to become an enemy later.

The three of them stood apart, none making any attempt to communicate.

Before long, people began to trickle back into the Dice Space after completing the trial. They were, without exception, all young people in their twenties.

This included Lin Luo of the Lin Family and Wan Qizhi, Chen Suifeng’s disciple, both of whom Su Ze had just met outside. They smiled and nodded at Su Ze in greeting but didn’t approach to chat, instead rejoining their respective teammates.

As the crowd grew, some of them began to talk amongst themselves.

Su Ze enhanced his hearing to the utmost, eavesdropping on the others’ conversations to gather useful information.

He learned that in this first round of the trial, the younger an evolver was, the weaker the opponent they faced.

The opponent’s strength was apparently determined by the Trialist’s age.

For example, an eighteen-year-old Trialist would face an eighteen-year-old opponent at the Cocoon Stage. For a Trialist in the Butterfly Stage, this was an easy win.

Trialists in their twenties would face a Butterfly Stage opponent, though it would be one of the weakest in that stage—hardly a match for these genius Trialists.

Victory was practically guaranteed for the Trialists; it just took a bit more effort.

Furthermore, their opponents had all been crystalline humanoids. They weren’t babies, like Su Ze’s opponent, but crystal figures that appeared to be the same age as the Trialists.

This confirmed Su Ze’s earlier theory: the first trial really was about defeating a crystal humanoid of a similar age.

As for what species the crystal humanoids actually were, however, no one present could say.

The reward for clearing the trial was the same for everyone: a stream of energy that helped them rapidly digest extracts.

The only difference was that for those with undigested extracts, the energy took effect immediately. For those without any, the energy would be stored inside their bodies.

At that moment, the cool-faced Li Yongguan appeared in the Dice Space. His clothes were tidy and his expression was impassive. The first round of the trial clearly hadn’t been difficult for him.

He scanned the room, and his expression stiffened when he saw that more than twenty people had already completed the trial. His confidence took a blow. He walked over to Su Ze, the only person there he knew.

Li Yongguan stood beside Su Ze without a word, like a taciturn bodyguard.

Su Ze couldn’t be bothered trying to chat with the quiet man, so he just waited for his other two teammates to emerge.

The two remaining members, Mr. Ya and Zhang Tai, were a cause for concern. One lacked offensive power, and the other was getting on in years.

Soon, the batch of Trialists in their thirties began to complete the trial and reappear in the Dice Space.

However, Mr. Ya, who was in his early thirties, was still nowhere to be seen. This was within Su Ze’s expectations.

Some people, whose teammates had yet to appear, began to grow anxious. A few of the official representatives from Lin Hua Country spoke up to soothe the crowd. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"There’s no need to worry, everyone. The first round of the trial is not very dangerous. The risk of death is almost nonexistent."

Su Ze could tell that these official prodigies must have been given certain "missions" or "duties," which explained why they were kindly and repeatedly trying to soothe everyone’s nerves.

After all, the Lin Hua Country government’s consistent policy was to reduce internal conflict and minimize casualties.

However, not even thirty seconds after those official prodigies had spoken, a blood-soaked corpse suddenly materialized in the Dice Space.

The air seemed to freeze. The space fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The first casualty of this Divine Dice trial had appeared.

The expressions of the Lin Hua Country officials stiffened. The corpse’s appearance at this exact moment was a slap in the face.

After a few seconds of silence, Yarlin from the Ancient An Country team stepped out from the crowd, walked over to the corpse, and placed it inside a storage item.

This first Trialist to die was from Ancient An Country.

Although people had started dying, this at least confirmed for the other Trialists that the bodies of anyone who died in the first round would be returned to the Dice Space.

In other words, their teammates who had yet to emerge were, at the very least, still alive. That could be considered good news, in a way.

The dead Trialist from Ancient An Country was in his late thirties, approaching forty. So far, no Trialist in their forties had managed to clear the first round.

A few minutes later, the first forty-year-old Trialist appeared, but as a corpse.

He was an expert from one of Lin Hua Country’s major families, in his early forties, yet he had died in the very first round.

This made many people sweat nervously for the older Trialists who had yet to return.

Li Yongguan frequently glanced up, pretending to look around casually, but the taut muscles in his neck betrayed his tension; his whole body was rigid with nervousness.

He was obviously worried about his two teammates who had yet to appear. After all, one was just forty and the other was in his early thirties, but they were still missing.

Li Yongguan was terrified that he would turn his head and see one of their corpses materialize.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen, because the first of the forty-year-old Trialists to clear the trial was none other than Zhang Tai.

His clothes were bloodstained and he looked a bit worse for wear, but he had made it out alive.

"Mr. Zhang, are you alright?" Su Ze asked as he and Li Yongguan hurried to Zhang Tai’s side, guarding against anyone hostile to Dongli who might try to attack him in his weakened state.

"I’m fine. Just some superficial wounds." Zhang Tai waved his hand, took out a bottle of Healing Medicine, and swallowed a few pills.

After Zhang Tai, more Trialists in their forties began to trickle through, almost all of them bearing injuries.

The opponents they faced were already Butterfly Stage crystal humanoids of considerable strength.

Once all the forty-something evolvers had appeared in the Dice Space, the Lin Hua Country officials began a headcount. Including the corpses, there were 60 people in the Dice Space.

Three people remained in the first trial.

They were the two fifty-somethings and Mr. Ya.

Everyone looked on in astonishment.

It was understandable that the two high-aged Trialists in their fifties were still fighting. But why was that guy from Dongli, who was only in his thirties, taking so long?