"Nie Qingyan, nineteen years old, Spirit Awakening Ninth Grade." "Nie Qing'an, nineteen years old, Spirit Awakening Eighth Grade." "..." "Bai Yuqing, sixteen years old, Spirit Awakening Eighth Grade." "Nie Fengtao, nineteen years old, Spirit Awakening Fifth Grade." "..." "Nie Rushuang, sixteen years old, Spirit Awakening Second Grade." "..." "Nie Kong, eighteen years old, Spirit Gathering Ninth Grade." "Nie Xiuzhu, fifteen years old, Spirit Gathering Ninth Grade." "..." One by one, the young men and women announced their names, ages, and cultivation levels, proceeding in order to sit upon the white jade pedestals. They cupped their hands around the Phantom Spirit Stone, placing it over the 'Three Spiritual Acupoints' in their lower abdomen, then silently observed the other peers around them. Once they entered the Life and Death Illusion Realm, everyone here would become an opponent, an enemy. The roll call before seating was merely to allow them a brief introduction to one another.

Among the hundreds present, six-tenths were members of the Nie family; the remainder hailed from various vassal families within Jiyang City. The seniority among the Nie clan members was particularly intricate, featuring the Qing generation, the Feng generation, and even the Xiu generation, with over a dozen younger lads belonging to the Ling generation, barely fourteen or fifteen years old.

After taking his seat, Nie Kong noticed several people sizing him up, some deliberately, others inadvertently. Among them were acquaintances like Nie Xiuzhu and Nie Xiuge, as well as others whose names he had just heard. One person left a deeper impression: Nie Fengtao, who possessed a Spirit Awakening Fifth Grade cultivation.

Those individuals covertly glanced at Nie Kong with undisguised amusement, as if he were already a dead fish on the chopping block. Nie Kong frowned slightly. It appeared the dangers lurking within the Life and Death Illusion Realm far exceeded his initial expectations. If a truly irrecoverable situation arose, even self-termination to leave might not prevent him from being captured.

Having settled on this resolve, Nie Kong felt a measure of relief. His eyes swept the surroundings, finally landing on the young woman named Bai Yuqing.

The Bai family she belonged to was considered a mid-tier family in Jiyang City, also a vassal to the Nie family.

Among these hundreds of participants, she stood out as exceptionally gifted, possessing Spirit Awakening Eighth Grade cultivation at only sixteen. Most captivating was her juxtaposition: a youthful face set upon a figure that was startlingly voluptuous—curvaceous in all the right places, possessing a seductive silhouette. Her physical development was in no way inferior to that of adult women. From the training grounds to the Hall of Life and Death, gazes, ranging from startled admiration to undisguised lust, continuously roved over her abundant form.

Unfortunately, this woman was intensely cold and aloof, granting no quarter to anyone who dared approach her. The fair, delicate beauty of Bai Yuqing’s face never once broke into a smile. After settling into a cross-legged posture on the jade pedestal, Bai Yuqing closed her eyes, utterly still, resembling a millennium-old ice sculpture.

"