The three froze, their expressions stiffening.
Was Lin Xiao openly humiliating them?
The crowd outside was stunned. Lin Xiao’s performance far exceeded their expectations—he seemed poised to rival the trio.
And it looked like he could keep going?
“If you’re not moving, I won’t hold back,” Lin Xiao said calmly, stepping forward again. Though his pace slowed, he showed no sign of stopping.
The trio’s faces stiffened further, and they instinctively tried to take a step or two, only to find they’d reached their limit. Another step might petrify their bodies entirely.
Frustration churned in their hearts. How could Lin Xiao, when even they struggled so much, keep advancing?
Lin Xiao, meanwhile, felt the petrifying force intensify the closer he got. His flesh seemed to harden, his blood nearly ceasing to flow.
At ten steps from the youth statue, he paused.
“Hmph, let’s see you keep going,” Wang Ming sneered.
Yuan Ren exhaled in relief. Advancing further was nearly impossible for them—they needed to recover vital energy and adjust to the intense physical strain. If Lin Xiao kept moving, the spirit stone and scroll might fall into his hands, an outcome none of them wanted.
“Hiss! Hiss!” Taking a deep breath, Lin Xiao unleashed a surge of ferocious martial intent. His blood roared to life, and he took three more steps.
“What, ferocious martial intent? He has martial intent!” Yuan Ren, Wang Ming, and the crowd gasped.
“But so what? Three steps, and he’s still stuck,” Wang Ming said coldly, though he’d tensed, fearing Lin Xiao might cross all ten steps with that intent.
“Hiss!” But then, as the ferocious intent faded, another enveloped Lin Xiao. A thunderous will erupted, lightning faintly crackling within a metre around him, clashing with the invisible force.
He took three more steps before the thunder intent vanished, his newly invigorated flesh petrifying again, his dantian and vital energy freezing.
“Ha!” Lin Xiao rallied, activating his early Earth-tier dantian phenomenon. His vital energy surged to its limit, a faint earthy glow blooming from his dantian. A blood-red draconic shadow loomed behind him, exuding an ancient, majestic aura.
“Early Earth-tier phenomenon, a divine dragon?” Yuan Ren froze. Wang Ming and the crowd were dumbfounded.
The grey-robed and burly youths were beyond shocked. Lin Xiao wielded ferocious and thunder martial intents and possessed such a high-grade dantian phenomenon?
His talent was monstrous!
In terms of raw potential, he far surpassed the trio!
“Hiss! Hiss!”
As the ancient aura surged, Lin Xiao focused to step forward. To his shock, after manifesting the blood dragon phenomenon, the petrifying and repelling forces vanished, as if no longer obstructing him.
He walked effortlessly to the statue.
The blood dragon phenomenon faded naturally, unhindered by the mysterious force.
“How is this possible?” Wang Ming and the others were stunned, their faces rigid. The spirit stone and scroll were about to fall into Lin Xiao’s hands.
Yet they couldn’t move an inch.
“Hmph, so what if he gets them? Taking them doesn’t mean they’re his!” A cold glint flashed in Wang Ming’s eyes. “Retreat and wait!”
Wang Ming made a shocking move, leaping back, only to be flung far by the repelling force.
Seeing this, Yuan Ren and Gu Xuanyuan followed. Unable to claim the treasures, staying to struggle was pointless. Better to wait outside and seize them.
The crowd was astonished. The spirit stone and scroll would end up with Lin Xiao, whom they’d mocked earlier.
Without him, the trio might not have even reached the treasures.
Yet their expressions grew tense. They’d lingered outside, hoping to seize the treasures from whoever claimed them. With so many present, and the items so valuable, even Wang Ming, Gu Xuanyuan, or Yuan Ren would tempt them to act—let alone Lin Xiao, seemingly weaker.
Lin Xiao ignored the reactions behind him, his gaze fixed on the youth statue. Up close, its aura was overwhelming, pressing down as if to suppress him, yet also seeming to approve, urging him to take the scroll and stone.
But it was just a statue—lifeless, despite its presence. Lin Xiao shook off the thought.
“Let’s check the scroll first!” His eyes settled on the scroll. Though the spirit stone was valuable, it paled compared to the scroll.
If this grueling test was merely for a fourth-grade spirit stone, it would be absurd.
The scroll was likely the cave’s true treasure, possibly the predecessor’s legacy. The spirit stone, by comparison, was bait to draw people into the test.
This was Lin Xiao’s guess, but he’d need to see the scroll’s contents to confirm.
Scanning it, he was startled. The scroll was etched with dense, swirling text, older than anything the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Emperor had encountered.
It was incomprehensible.
Yet the patterns and pathways were clear, though memorizing them perfectly in one go was daunting.
“Take it first, study it later!” Lin Xiao reached for the scroll with his right hand.
All eyes watched his hand, greed flickering, their hearts stirring with intent.
“Hiss! Hiss!”
But at that moment, something shocking happened.
