The rapid surge in strength thrilled Ling Xiao, but when he returned to the structure’s exit to check the situation, the joy on his face vanished.
That damned Vigorous Divine Ape seemed determined to outlast him, refusing to budge no matter what.
Ling Xiao hesitated, ultimately abandoning the idea of forcing his way out.
A peak Level 8 demon beast, comparable to a ninth-tier Martial Vein master, he stood no chance of breaking through.
The only outcome of charging out was death!
“Sigh, do I really have to miss the finals?”
Ling Xiao was deeply unwilling, with his strength now, he was confident he could claim first place.
He refused to believe Ling Feifan could outmatch him!
Yet reality forced him to compromise.
Life came first, without it, nothing else mattered.
Resigned, he returned to the icy pool and resumed cultivating.
Might as well, since he had time, he could at least solidify his current strength.
In the following hours, he kept up with the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” and “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique.”
Though progress had slowed considerably, it was still far faster than ordinary cultivation.
Honestly, if the finals weren’t just a day away, he’d have loved to stay longer.
On this final day, Ling Xiao cultivated for an hour, then checked the exit.
He knew the ape was unlikely to give way, but he clung to a sliver of hope.
A day passed in a blink, it was finals day, yet the Vigorous Divine Ape still guarded the exit, showing no intent to leave.
Faced with this, Ling Xiao felt utterly helpless.
After a day of consolidation, neither top-tier art had broken through, but both had improved noticeably.
Plus, his golden cells had increased from five to six.
The pace had clearly dropped.
Even so, one more cell meant another hundred jin of strength, a huge boon in combat.
Moreover, as the icy golden pool tempered his body, he noticed his bones turning golden, his blood, though still red, now pulsed with far greater vitality.
Years of being bullied had left hidden injuries, but this pool had purged them all.
He had the strength now.
All he needed was a chance to prove himself.
Unwilling to wait endlessly, he transferred the remaining pool and golden snow lotuses into the Mountain River World’s village.
The village now had five farmers, each with their roles, working together seamlessly.
After that, he began exploring the structure, hoping to find another exit.
Meanwhile.
Tianfeng City, Ling Clan ancestral home.
The venue for the annual grand competition finals was being set up, scores of disciples gathered, the clan had declared a holiday, letting everyone drop their tasks to watch.
Such matches were invaluable for the disciples’ growth.
As the finals drew nearer, over a hundred genius participants gradually arrived.
Ling Yun, second in the Genius Hall;
Ling Shuang, third;
Ling Zhan, fourth;
Plus Elite Hall disciples like Ling Yihang and Ling Yixue who’d made it to the finals.
But with just fifteen minutes to go, two were still missing.
Ling Feifan, top of the Genius Hall.
And Ling Xiao, the bottom-tier disciple.
This puzzled many.
Most chatter centered on Ling Feifan.
Only a few cared about Ling Xiao.
“The match is about to start, where’s Ling Xiao? Did he forget?”
Ling Yixue was likely the most concerned about him.
Though they’d had little interaction, some friendships didn’t need much time.
After the qualifiers, Ling Yixue had taken a hit, driving her to train harder.
She’d now reached fourth-tier Martial Vein.
But she knew the finals were stacked with talent, her goal was modest, just staying in the Genius Hall would suffice.
The 110 contestants sat by rank, the front row reserved for the Genius Hall’s top ten.
Of those ten, aside from the absent Ling Feifan, the weakest was peak fourth-tier.
The top four had all hit fifth-tier cultivation.
Most shocking was Ling Yihang, spurred harder by the qualifiers than Ling Yixue, he refused to give up.
Through insane training or some fluke, he’d jumped from early fourth-tier to peak fourth-tier in seven days.
Not as strong as the top four, but ahead of the rest.
His eyes gleamed with strange confidence, even when looking at Ling Yun and the others.
“The finals are starting soon, where are Ling Feifan, first in the Genius Hall, and Ling Xiao, qualifier champ?”
“Yeah, less than fifteen minutes left, miss it and they’re out!”
“Such a shame, I wanted to see how far that dark horse could go.”
The bottom-tier disciples saw Ling Xiao as their hero, so his absence worried them.
Even the referees who’d witnessed Ling Xiao take first in the qualifiers grew anxious.
“That kid’s got talent, if he competed, he’d easily make top ten, what happened?”
Muttering to himself was the qualifier’s head referee.
For the finals, he was still a referee, but the chief was Ling Xiaotian, the clan patriarch.
“Heh, looks like those three black-scarf bandits succeeded, worth every tael of gold I spent!”
Ling Shisan, seated among the guests, smirked with a vicious glint.
Ling Xiao’s absence convinced him his hired killers had won.
But the bandits hadn’t claimed their final payment, stirring a hint of unease.
Did they perish together?
That’d be ideal, saving him a fortune.
…
Fulong Mountain Range, inside the dragon-shaped structure.
Ling Xiao seized his last chance to find an escape.
By now, the finals were less than fifteen minutes away.
Yet he was trapped by that cursed ape, unable to leave.
Still, he refused to give up even the slimmest odds, he’d keep trying.
That resolve defined him.
Call it not giving up till the end.
His achievements stemmed from that very spirit.
You can’t quit at every setback, that’d be too pathetic.
