The Urban Dao Child.

An ethereal yet indifferent voice sounded in the minds of all the disciples.

“Welcome to the trial of Pentagon.”

Yang Dao and the rest were quickly jolted awake. They were dizzy from the teleportation, when they got back their senses, the surroundings had turned into lush green scenery. With mountains and rivers around them.

Bai Hu said, “Do you all feel this?”

Most of the people nodded, while some were confused by this question. Yue Jing asked, “What is this?”

The weapon training with Shakti had helped her improve her senses to a high level. Yang Dao said, “Some sort of spirit, if I am to make a deduction, then it should be the caretaker of this place. The invigilator of the trial.”

Others could believe his words to some extent but when the voice sounded again, they came to believe it completely.

“I did not expect that after such a long time, a child will be able to see through my identity in this place.” the tone of the voice was again indifferent.

The voice went on to say, “The trial of Pentagon is simple, you will have five candidates to participate in five challenges, while the other five of your group will serve as the stakes. If you fail, they die, if you pass they live.”

These words were enough to scare the wits out of already confused disciples. The leaders were all surprised as well. They tried to calm down the people, while Natalie Brooke took the lead, “Senior, is it possible for anyone to retire from the trials?”

The spirit replied, “No, it was decided by the ancestors of the five sects that shall their successors be cowardly enough to retire, they shall all be killed regardless. You will have ten minutes to decide who will be the stake and who will be the player. May the best one win.”

The group leaders all began to discuss, all except for Yang Dao. He shook his head at the scene and said, “Did you all learn nothing from what I just said outside?”

The people were attracted to his voice. They were confused as to what he meant. Yang Dao asked, “Senior Brother Bai Hu, could you tell us what is the Pentagon?”

Bai Hu replied, “Pentagon is the alliance of the five sects in this sector of the immortal plane.”

Yang Dao nodded and then asked the same question to Seth and Natalie and the quiet leader of the Prestige School. Their answers matched what Bai Hu said, an alliance of five sects in this sector. Yang Dao gazed at them and they all gazed back at him. The silence consumed five minutes before the Dao Child snapped, “You fools, this is a trial of the PENTAGON. Idiots, each one of you. Do you not understand that one is needed to act in unison with the other sects? I wonder if you all ate rocks to make your brain so thick.”

The people were again rendered speechless by his words. Seth suddenly spoke up, “If that is the case, then why did our sect masters did not inform us.”

Yang Dao glared at him and said, “Awwwwww, sect master probably did not expect their disciples to be spoon-fed babies. A bunch of greenhorns. I might as well withdraw and have us all killed, the world will be a smarter place then.”

He was literally pissed when these people ignored the things lying in front of their eyes to look for a non-existent underlying meaning. The leaders of the four groups cast a gaze at him and they fell into thought, however, did Yang Dao want to lose any more time? No.

He said, “Spirit Invigilator, tell me what is the first trial?”

His words shocked the people, they did not expect him to directly confront the caretaker of this world. However, the next thing almost made them cough up blood. The spirit replied, “The first trial is to recognize the true meaning behind this trial.”

Yang Dao smirked while the rest of the people grimaced. The Dao Child asked, “Did I pass the trial?”

“I cannot tell you the answer until all the teams present one answer.” said the spirit.

Yang Dao said, “In my understanding, this is the trial of the pentagon, and we all together make the pentagon, so my answer should be enough, however, since a fist is made of five fingers, then I guess you need five votes. Am I correct?”

His words gave the people another surprise, and the spirit confirmed his hunch. Yang Dao spread his hands and said, “It is not easy to be a genius but I try.”

Yue Jing smacked the back of his head and said, “Do not be smug, help them.”

The rest of the disciples from Sovereign Sect chuckled at this and Yang Dao said while scratching the back of his head, “You heard him, what do you think is the correct way? You can pick however you want.”

Bai Hu was the first one to reply, “I am in line with your words, Junior Brother Yang.” he said with a faint smile on his face.

As the disciple of the strongest sect, he showed confidence with the words of a child, the others were also somewhat compelled, they decided to follow his lead, after all, if they had stuck to their thoughts, then it would have not even allowed them to discover what the first trial was.

Yang Dao had proved his wits and grits to them and proved to be a plausible bet. After the three leaders submitted their answers, the spirit replied, “You all pass the first trial.”

The disciples all cheered, but they were cut short of the celebration. The spirit replied, “Since you all have realized that the true meaning of the trial is the unity of the five sects, the rules of the trial are changed.

Now, only the five strongest from each group will remain here, the others will be sent out of the trial zone. Before, if you were to fail, then you would have been sent outside. Now, if you fail, you will die for real. You can choose to deny, but then, someone else will take the trial.”

Yang Dao countered in an instant, “What about the benefits?”

“You child sure are not an easy one to deal with. Every disciple inside the trial zone will receive a soul formation pill. That will help you get to the nascent soul realm if you take it when you stand at the peak of the golden core realm.” said the spirit.

The disciples were all surprised and rejoiced. This was a golden opportunity. Yang Dao tilted his head and said, “What about the growth in their skills? The main purpose of this trial was to grow and hone their skills.”

“One saint-grade martial arts of their choice. That is all, you can go back if you wish to argue any further.” replied the spirit.

Yang Dao exchanged glances with the others and they all reached a consensus. The dao child said, “Very well, we agree.”

The spirit replied, “Who will be taking the trials?”

Yang Dao took a step forward and said, “Me.” he was followed by Bai Hu, Natalie Brooke, Seth, and the Prestige School leader.

The spirit said, “The rest will be sent to wait outside the trial zone. They will be able to see your progress from there.”

Nobody raised any objections. The disciples all handed their leaders a few healing pills and talismans for various emergency situations. Yue Jing came closer to Yang Dao and was about to take off her armor when the boy said, “Keep it with you and be careful of Ming.”

Yue Jing was surprised but then she nodded. The spirit teleported the people outside, shocking the elders of the monitoring teams.

They did not know what happened and where the prime disciples were, but when they saw their disciples not panicking and sitting down on the ground discussing what happened inside the trial zone, they understood what was going on. While they thanked Yang Dao’s wits, they also feared him, after all, how often do you see someone who can negotiate with the spirits as strong as an immortal soul realm? Never.

Yang Dao was unaware of all this as he stood with the other four leaders in the trial zone. The spirit spoke, “The first trial is to withstand the onslaught of spirit monsters. These monsters are the same as the ones you faced outside, but now you will have to deal with them in waves and packs. The duration of this trial is two hours. I wish you luck.”

Bai Hu sighed, “This will be hard.”

The others nodded, Yang Dao took out his sword and tied it to his waist, and said, “So, shall we race? The one who kills less will have to dance.”

He was trying to lighten up the tension in the air and the other four understood this. They were ashamed that a younger child could act so freely but they were scared? They all agreed to it as they took out their weapons. The trial of the Pentagon has begun.