The Trial of God was completely different from the previous trials Tang Shaoyang had gone through. The previous trial made him fight waves of monsters, but The Trial of God was a battle between players in The Demi-God Rank. In order to advance to the God Rank, Tang Shaoyang needed a minimum of ten God Shards. Meaning he had to win ten battles against the other Demi-God Rank.
Tang Shaoyang delayed taking the God Rank's trial after the battle against the God Rank. He felt like he needed some rest after months of fighting. Three days of rest was what he needed, and he was ready to take the trial now. He tapped yes confidently. After killing dozens of God Ranks, he felt like the trial should not be hard for him.
[You are given three chances in The Trial of God to gather The God Shards!]
[You need a minimum of ten God Shards in order to advance to The God Rank!]
[Do you want to enter the Trial Arena? Yes/No?]
Tang Shaoyang read through the notification. It was the same as what he knew, and he tapped yes once more, and the screen disappeared as another screen popped out. n-/o/(v(.e-(L--B).I-.n
[Searching for an opponent!] [00:01]
The time was ticking as he had to wait for his opponent. He never asked the details of the trial, so this was new to him. When he heard about the battle, he thought he would be immediately teleported into the arena with an opponent ready to fight him. It was unexpected that he had to wait to look for an opponent.
Tang Shaoyang sat on the rail, waiting for his opponent. He kept the screen open to his right, and he fully focused on the timer. His expectation would be around thirty seconds to one minute. His eye glued on the timer and one minute passed quickly, and he had not gotten his opponent yet.
'Maybe in two minutes?' He frowned, thinking to himself. Yet two minutes passed, and he had not found his opponent yet. There was no telling when he would get his opponent for the trial, so he kept waiting. Three minutes passed, and the timer reached five minutes. His eye glued on the timer, and he was slightly pissed that it took this long to find a single opponent.
Ten minutes quickly passed, and there was no sign that he would get an opponent any time soon. Tang Shaoyang had enough and decided to return. He would rather spend his time with his daughter than do nothing like this.
[You have found an opponent for the trial!]
[Are you ready to battle? (04:59)] [Accept!]
[If you fail to accept the battle in five minutes, you will receive a penalty.]
[Penalty: You are not able to queue for the trial for three hours!]
There were many details he did not know about the God Rank trial. The penalty, accepting the battle, and the queue. It was quite annoying considering how easy the previous trial was. He tapped accept discontentedly.
[Your opponent is Ecanus of Battelon World!]
[You have three minutes to prepare for the battle! (02:59)!] [Ready!]
[Choose ready if you are ready for the battle!]
Tang Shaoyang paused for a moment, recollecting if there was something missing. Zara and Karoen were not with him, but he felt like it was not an issue even without them. He now could integrate with Avyn without any side effects.
[Ecanus is ready for the battle!]
A notification popped out as he was double-checking. He felt there was nothing missing with him. The weapon was in his inventory, and he normally did not wear armor because [Dragon Scales] was his armor. He tapped "Ready" in response to his opponent, and he was teleported.
Tang Shaoyang opened his eyes after the sudden teleportation, and he heard a notification in his head.
[Welcome to the Red Plain!]
[Kill or force your opponent to surrender to win the battle!]
[You will receive the God Shard upon winning the battle!]
As the name suggested, he was in an open field with red soil. There was nothing, no rock or boulder, no tree, nothing. It was just plain red soil, and he instinctively used his Spirit Eyes, scouting the area up to two thousand meters.
Tang Shaoyang found his opponent a thousand meters away from him. His opponent was a human, wearing blue armor and holding a spear in his right hand. The interesting part was that there was a number above the man's head. It said "7", and he did not know what it meant. He checked above his head, and he found the number as well. It was "0", he immediately understood what the number meant. It was the count of God Shard. His opponent had seven God Shards, and he had none since this was his first battle.
Just like Tang Shaoyang found Ecanus. Ecanus also found Tang Shaoyang. The man walked closer and soon the distance between them shortened to fifty meters.
"It's a newbie," Ecanus muttered in a low voice, but it did not escape from Tang Shaoyang's ear, "I would say you are unlucky. The matchmaking system is broken to match you against me. You are supposed to fight someone who also has zero God Shard." Ecanus looked like a veteran who looked after the rookie, shaking his head, "What about stop wasting our time and surrender instead? Maybe you will get an opponent on your level instead in the next battle."
Tang Shaoyang pulled his battle-ax, putting the weapon on his shoulder. He said nothing as he immediately used Grand Dragon Transformation. Even though he was confident with his power after killing the God Rank, he did not underestimate his opponent as he used Spirit Integration with Avyn as well. He went all out from the start.
The transformation and integration took fifteen seconds. As he finished those, a spear arrived before his eyes. The tip of the spear was a few inches away from his eyes. Ecanus took the fifteen-second gap to take the initiative.
"This is why I don't like fighting a newbie. You are stupid to think your opponent will give you a chance for you to transform!"
Tang Shaoyang took a short side step to the right, letting the spear pierce through his shoulder. He did not have any defensive skill activated but the dragon scale, and yet, the spear crushed through his scales and body. However, the spear was stuck on his body.
"You talk too much for someone who acts like a veteran," Tang Shaoyang grabbed Ecanus' face with his left hand, activating Slayer Touch.
Ecanus grunted in pain as if his brain was getting hammered by a blunt force. His body went limp, and Tang Shaoyang took the chance, slamming Ecanus down to the ground. He then stood up and activated Earth Split. Raised his right foot and stomped on Ecanus' chest.
Boom!
Ecanus coughed out a mouthful of blood as bone-cracking noise rang. At the same time, the ground split open, creating a big gap.
Tang Shaoyang raised his right hand and used The Thousand Blasts. He swung down the battle-ax, hitting right on Ecanus' chest.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Thousand Blasts sent Ecanus down to the pit formed by Earth Split. Then it was followed by another boom as the pit closed.
[Congratulations! You have defeated your first opponent in the Trial of God!]
[You have obtained one God Shard!]
[God Shard: 1]
The notification was the same as an announcement that Ecanus died in that attack. It was an easy fight because Ecanus underestimated him. One counter determined the battle. He killed Ecanus with a spear stuck on his left shoulder. He pulled out the spear, and he was surprised the spear was a Legendary Grade Weapon.
"Not only did I get my first win easily, but I also got a bonus," Tang Shaoyang was about to store the spear in his inventory, but the spear burst out into white particles. His good mood was immediately ruined after he lost The Legendary Grade Spear right in his hand. He checked in his inventory, in case the spear was automatically saved in his inventory. To his frustration, the spear was not in his inventory.
"Tch, this is lame. We should be able to get the loot from our opponent," He complained as he figured out that he could not get the loot from his opponent, "This is easier than I thought. Let's queue for the next battle."
Tang Shaoyang tried to find a way to queue another battle, but he could not see the option to search for another opponent. He was annoyed with how complicated The God Rank's trial was compared to the previous trial.
"Hey! Let me queue for another battle!" That was what Tang Shaoyang wanted to yell out. However, the words did not come out of his mouth as a notification rang in his head.
[Ecanus uses three God Shards to have a rematch against you! Do you want to accept the challenge? Yes/No? (02:59)]
[Note: You will obtain three God Shards if you win against the challenger!]
[Note: You will not your God Shard upon losing!]
[Ecanus Challenge Note: Accept the rematch, Coward!]
Tang Shaoyang's eyes brightened up at the new notifications. He expected a slow grind to the God Rank, but there was always a way to gather God Shard faster. He grinned ear to ear as he spoke to himself, "You don't need to provoke me because I will gladly take your God Shards!" His finger then tapped Yes, accepting the rematch.