Chapter 2184: The Second Phase Some souls had been wondering whether to just wait a few days until the other ferrymen returned, but when they saw the situation, they immediately woke up. It was important to be on the right side during crucial moments! How could the other ferrymen compare to this one in front of them? If they ended up offending the others, just a little bit of manipulation of the river would make it more than easy enough to knock them off their boats. As such, they took out the virtue coins and handed them all over. Then, they swiftly ran through the river passage. If the two sides started fighting, a single splash of Naihe Oblivion River water would cause them to die in vain. With that understanding, the souls moved even faster. The other Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen could only grow more and more infuriated out of helplessness. They wanted to stop the crossing, but the river stopped them from getting any closer. Some wanted to combine all of their coins to try and mount a comeback. But after their earlier bickering, they already felt too much disdain toward each other. The only reason they weren’t fighting with each other was the presence of Zu An, their common enemy. Each one wanted the others to give them their virtue coins, so no one chose to help anyone else. After all, even if they didn’t win this time, having so much money would still be really helpful in the future for their quality of life. Why would they give up on so much virtue because of momentary anger? Naturally, they all had their own sinister motives. Even though some ferrymen still loudly argued in favor of pooling resources, in the end, they couldn't reach an agreement. Time went on just like that. Suddenly, a voice called out, “The competition has concluded!” Then, a golden list that recorded the virtue points each ferryman had accumulated appeared in the air. The previous top three’s points had all increased drastically; the one with the most already had four hundred thousand, while even the last of the three had three hundred thousand. However, not a single smile could be seen on their faces. They were looking at the number one spot instead. He had a total of six hundred and sixty thousand virtue points! They were even more infuriated when they thought about how they had paid a huge price for the other ferrymen’s virtue, and yet they hadn’t managed to obtain anything in the end! No, we got a huge freaking pile of debt in return! Rage filled the bellies of the ferrymen. You have successfully trolled Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen X, Y, and Z for +999 +999 +999... Of course, there were some who were sad and others who were happy. The ones who were ranked lower and had long since given up all hope of reaching first place were greatly delighted. They had lent out all of their coins, so not only did they not owe anything, they had even made a good profit. They really wanted to run over and give Zu An a few kisses right now. They naturally wouldn't have agreed to join up with the front rankers to win against Zu An. Different humans experienced different emotions; the same went for ghosts. Zu An no longer cared about those losers, because a familiar voice spoke in his ear. “Congratulations. You have successfully become the king of the Naihe Oblivion River and have the qualifications to join the final trial.” A figure appeared in front of Zu An, but his face was indiscernible. And yet, when he appeared, all of the disturbances came to an end, including the cheering of the souls who had crossed over as well as the fury of the ferrymen. The emotions were still visible on their faces. Zu An was shocked. His attention returned to the figure as he asked, “Why can’t I see what you look like?” “Not letting you see what I look like is for your own good.” The figure’s reply wasn’t anything too surprising. Zu An was dumbfounded, asking, “Then why did you even show yourself?” “I was surprised that you were able to make a comeback. Even I couldn't think of any way for you to win,” the figure said with a sigh of admiration. Zu An was stunned. “Even you didn’t think I could win, and yet you still said all of those things?” “I trust the insight of my other self. Since he sent you in, he definitely had to have his reasons. This only proves I wasn’t wrong,” the figure replied. Zu An was speechless. How do I argue against that? “Then you should tell me just what this trial is, right?” Fortunately, the figure didn’t continue to talk in riddles. “The trial is being held for the sake of obtaining a special book. In other words, to obtain authority.” “Authority?” Zu An was surprised. He remembered the rainbow-colored World Law Beacon he had seen in the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons. “You will know the exact details if you win. Knowing too much will only bring you harm,” the figure continued. Zu An was speechless. Hah! And here I was praising you for being straightforward for once. Looks like it was wasted. The projection waved his hand, and a black vortex appeared. “Go on. I didn’t think too highly of you at first, but I can now sense a bit of hope for you.” Zu An frowned. Shouldn't you be saying you have some confidence? Why did you use the word 'hope', and why is your expression so complicated? “You have to at least tell me what's being tested in this trial, right? Why do I feel as if the other candidates of Hell know way more than I do? Also, I should be the last one to obtain the qualifications, right? I’m already far behind everyone else, so is that even in line with your principle of fairness?” Zu An remembered the Skin-Flaying King and didn’t want to give up any chance of gaining intelligence. The figure hesitated, but then said, “Don’t worry, this time, there is no difference whether you join the trial earlier or later. The other candidates don’t really know much either. “But out of consideration for the fact that you carry a bit of my other self’s aura, and that your performance was indeed quite spectacular, I can share a bit of information with you. Everything you see from here on out will represent events that took place in a certain time and place different from this one. It is a place akin to a fragment of time. In order to advance to the next checkpoint, you need to achieve better results than the others within that segment of history.” Zu An was a bit startled. This wasn't the first time he had encountered something like this. The other secret dungeons had required him to do similar things. He asked, “How many phases are there?” “You need to explore this by yourself...” The figure trailed off. He gave Zu An a push, sending him straight into the black vortex. Zu An was really shocked, because even with his current cultivation, he couldn't react at all! If the other party had any bad intentions, he would be in big trouble. After all, the Naihe Oblivion Ferrymen, Black and White Guards of Impermanence, Ox Head and Horse Face were all individuals he was confident he could win against. And yet in front of this individual, he felt a really strong sense of powerlessness. Just who was this person? Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to think about it any further. As he fell into the black vortex, he experienced a brief moment of absent-mindedness; and then, in the next moment, everything suddenly became bright, with no remaining traces of underworld gloom. There was water all around him. He was clearly on the ocean floor, inside a beautiful palace. It bore similarities to the Dragon Palace he had previously stayed at. In that instant, Zu An was a bit stunned. He wondered if everything had been a dream, that he had never entered the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons and was still in the Dragon Palace. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 But he quickly discarded that thought. This layout was similar to the Dragon Palace, but it was also greatly different. The main difference was that it was a bit smaller in scale, and the surrounding water seemed to be freshwater... Zu An scanned his surroundings and saw that there were many servants and ministers. He could tell that they were all kinds of fish and shrimp species, as their bodies carried quite a few distinctive traits of those species. He frowned. Can these still be called fish? Compared to Shang Liuyu and Shang Hongyu, they were far inferior. These fishmen really weren’t that attractive. There were a few maids around him that were a bit prettier, but compared to the standard of the Dragon Palace he had stayed at, they were far inferior. Nonetheless, no matter where they were in his previous world, the maids would all have still been campus beauty queens. Zu An calmly examined his surroundings. This seemed to be a Dragon Palace too, just much smaller in size. The reason he was so sure of that was because he had already sent his divine sense out and knew what kind of place he was in. Additionally, there was a crown on his head, and his face had draconic features. Suddenly, many memories rushed into his head at that moment. He was the Dragon King of Jing River. This river was under his control, and he also shouldered the responsibility of maintaining the harmony of nature. “Dragon King of Jing River? Why does it sound a bit familiar...” Zu An was thinking when he was suddenly interrupted by a hurried voice. “A disaster! A disaster has taken place!”