Shang left the third challenge and walked to the next room, which was where the rewards were stored.
He entered a rather sizable hall with five rows of floating items.
Most of the items were in the first row and the least in the fifth.
Shang could see all the items in the first four rows, but the single item in the fifth row was obscured by a barrier.
In front of the first row of items was a stele that explained everything.
"Congratulations on passing the trial!"
"Your performance has been judged to be Four Stars. You may choose one item amongst the first four rows."
'Four Stars?' Shang thought.
A little bit lower, Shang could see how the trial judged performances.
One Star: Get to the end.
Two Stars: Get to the end and fulfill the criterium for success for one of the first two challenges.
Three Stars: Get to the end and fulfill the criteria for success for both of the first two challenges.
Four Stars: Get to the end and achieve minor success on the first two challenges.
Five Stars: Get to the end and achieve major success on the first two challenges.
That answered some of the questions Shang had.
'It seems like the first two challenges were actually optional, and I only needed to get through the third one to get a reward.'
'I presume that knowing the level three Concepts for ice and fire would get someone a three-star evaluation. To get a four-star one, someone probably needs to push it even further.'
'The five-star one probably needs the level four Concepts for both of them.'
'Thanks to the Concept of Twilight, my Concepts of Addition and Subtraction can now exhibit the power of level three Concepts, which would allow them to get a three-star evaluation on their own.'
'However, since Subtraction and Addition specialize in producing extreme results, it was enough to get a four-star evaluation.'
'To get a five-star one, I would probably need Subtraction, Addition, Incineration, and Blizzard. I don't think I would need Explosion or Zero.'
Shang nodded and looked at the items he could choose from.
The first row was filled with small piles of Grade Seven Mana Crystals, each one consisting of five.
There were also some small emblems signifying properties in some cities or towns.
The second row had some herbs and metals.
Shang didn't recognize any of them, but he guessed that these were probably worth more than the piles of money.
The third row was filled with books.
From what Shang could see, these were Spell Books. He guessed that these were probably Spells that past Clouds had come up with, which would make them worth a lot of money.
Maybe the person would even get the right to distribute these Spells.
The fourth row only had three items.
All three were vouchers to access useful areas that helped in comprehending Concepts.
Sadly, Shang couldn't see the last item.
But that didn't matter.
By entering the trial and getting through it the normal way, Shang had achieved his goal.
He had managed to enter the room of rewards before it was destroyed by the ground.
Shang walked past the rewards, to one of the walls.
BANG!
Shang punched the wall into dust, revealing a barrier behind it.
'This room of rewards is probably identical to the other one, and since all the rewards were destroyed by the earth after I broke the big Magic Circle, this probably means that the barriers protecting all the individual rewards are probably connected to the big one.'
'As soon as I break the big one, all the individual barriers will break, and I will have a moment to gather all of them.'
Shang's body transformed into a husk again as he continued touching the barrier.
Up above the water, Lucin sighed.
'You're lucky you found one,' he thought. 'I won't overlook this the next time.'
'Next time, I will make individual barriers that will kill anyone that damages them significantly.'
Lucin sighed again.
'Fucking Death Mana.'
A couple of minutes later, the ground above the trial sank considerably.
The trial had been buried by the ground.
Some seconds later, the ground exploded, and Shang floated out of the hole.
Right now, Shang actually felt a bit excited as he looked at all the rewards in his Space Ring.
He had earned a lot of money!
With everything combined, Shang estimated that he had probably earned around 500 Grade Seven Mana Crystals just from this trial alone.
And what was the mysterious reward in the fifth row?
Well, the trial was only slightly uncommon with average rewards, but the best reward from this trial still wasn't bad.
Of course, it couldn't even nearly compare to something like becoming a Mage King's student, but it was still quite valuable.
"A Bolt will be your servant for one century for free."
That was definitely worth quite a bit.
Theoretically, Shang could just tell the Bolt to sit down and make Mana Crystals, which would give him 100 Grade Seven Mana Crystals.
Of course, that would be a waste of the Bolt's strengths.
Shang guessed that this perk was probably worth around 200 Grade Seven Mana Crystals.
Not too shabby.
After looking through all the things he had taken from the trial, Shang continued walking forward on the ground of the Eternal Ocean.
He still had a bit less than one year ahead of him, and he wouldn't waste it.
Sadly, Shang wouldn't meet any more Initial or Early Ancestral Mages during that last year.
And just like that, the ten years of the Wilderness Hunt were up, and it was time for everyone to return.
"The Wilderness Hunt is over! Everyone, pass through the outer barrier and come to the surface. Until you are back at the Hibye, any sort of fighting is prohibited!"
Shang heard Lucin's words.
He healed his body in an instant and shot upward.
It was time to return to the Hibye.
He should have earned far more than enough for the thing he wanted.
