Feeling the powerful aura surging towards him, Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed slightly. Yin Yunzhe’s strike indeed had something extraordinary about it, and relying solely on the Great Azure Dragon Slash might not be enough to withstand it.
Immediately, Lin Xiao activated the Heaven-Sealing Stone Hand. Within his hand, petrifying energy surged, his entire arm instantly turning to stone. He threw a punch, a force akin to solidified rock rushing forward.
Having refined the special black stone, his petrifying power was equivalent to a Sixth Level Martial Venerable, capable of standing up to even a First Level Martial Monarch, let alone this palm seal.
The petrifying force collided with the mighty square seal, exploding with a “Boom!” The seal shattered instantly, turning into rolling waves of energy and shockwaves that surged upwards and downwards. The weakened petrifying force struck Yin Yunzhe’s chest.
“Pfft!”
A large mouthful of blood sprayed from Yin Yunzhe’s mouth, his entire body knocked back once again.
At that moment, Yin Yunzhe felt his flesh stiffen, his meridians and vital energy flow obstructed.
Fortunately, it didn’t reach true petrification, and after a short while, the stiffness began to ease.
“What, what kind of power is this? How can you be so strong?” Yin Yunzhe’s face paled, staring at Lin Xiao in shock.
The crowd below was equally stunned, especially the non-Zi family youths. They saw Lin Xiao casually throw a punch that effortlessly shattered Yin Yunzhe’s powerful attack.
And Lin Xiao still hadn’t used the rumoured talents.
In truth, this was deliberate on Lin Xiao’s part. Activating the Shaking Light Sword Technique or other lethal moves could certainly defeat Yin Yunzhe.
However, once the Shaking Light Sword Technique was used, it would trigger the Shaking Light Broken Sword, its threat difficult to control. If unleashed, Yin Yunzhe’s survival would be in question.
The petrifying power, though stronger than his current vital energy, was something he could control.
In this strike, he carefully measured his force, not fully unleashing the petrifying power, perfectly calibrating it to defeat Yin Yunzhe.
Otherwise, Yin Yunzhe might have been entirely petrified.
“You fought well!” Lin Xiao said little, cupping his hands before descending.
With his earlier display, the other two challengers likely wouldn’t target him first.
And indeed, after his performance, the two didn’t challenge him immediately.
Instead, they started with Zi Hui, Liu Yiran, and others, only challenging him, Zi Ling, and Zi Yi last.
In the end, all seven challenges from the three failed.
Especially against Lin Xiao, Zi Yi, and Zi Ling, they were defeated in a single move.
After the three’s failures, the final seven spots were confirmed.
Lin Xiao, Zi Ling, Zi Yi, Zi Hui, Lu Qingyu, Pan Zihao, and Liu Yiran were selected as the youths to attend the Southeast Region Youth Summit.
The five representing the Zi family in combat were the internally nominated Zi Long, Zi Huan, plus Zi Yi, Zi Ling, and Lin Xiao.
Zi Hui, meanwhile, was assigned to the Ling family’s team alongside Lu Qingyu, Pan Zihao, and Liu Yiran.
After all, Lin Xiao had already agreed to fight for the Zi family.
Though the Zi family had another candidate and he had a good relationship with Ling Hu, he couldn’t go back on his word.
“Good. The seven spots are now decided. Each of you will receive one drop of Martial Emperor Essence Blood. With nearly two months left, I hope you all make significant progress,” Zi Huang said calmly, taking out a black jade bottle.
“Thank you, Zi Huang!” the seven said in unison.
Lu Qingyu, Pan Zihao, and Liu Yiran were thrilled. Martial Emperor Essence Blood was something they’d long dreamt of.
The eliminated youths sighed with regret, yearning for the Martial Emperor Essence Blood but helpless due to their inferior strength.
After the spots were confirmed, the crowd quickly dispersed.
Taking the jade bottle with the Martial Emperor Essence Blood, Lin Xiao returned joyfully to his private guest room in the courtyard.
It was no surprise that the others’ rewards were likely Golden Emperor Essence Blood.
His, however, was Zi Huang’s Essence Blood.
Closing the room’s door, Lin Xiao sat cross-legged in a corner, adjusted his breathing, and opened the black jade bottle. A terrifying pressure immediately emanated from it, making his expression grow solemn.
This was purely the pressure from the essence blood, not imbued with any battle seal, unlike a Martial Emperor’s corpse. When a warrior reached a certain level of power, their body parts naturally exuded such pressure.
Of course, with Lin Xiao’s current physique and strength, this pressure didn’t hinder his movements.
After all, he had already refined one drop of Martial Emperor Essence Blood.
“Chi!”
Lin Xiao tilted the bottle, and a drop of purple-red blood fell into his palm.
He enveloped the blood with vital energy to prevent its aura from leaking.
At the same time, he channelled his vital energy, gradually guiding the blood into his meridians.
Under his vital energy’s influence, the drop of essence blood turned into surging blood aura, flooding his meridians like rivers merging into the sea. It flowed through his meridians into his dantian, surging and hammering within, tempering it.
Then, vast blood aura flowed from the dantian to every meridian in his body, steaming into his flesh and blood.
Lin Xiao felt his entire body burning as if scorched by a raging fire, his body unbearably hot.
Every piece of flesh seemed to boil, as if melting, with waves of heat rising from his skin.
Simultaneously, excruciating pain coursed through him, his dantian feeling as though it were being fiercely burned.
Fortunately, having refined Martial Emperor Essence Blood before, this pain didn’t overwhelm him.
Though his physique was now far stronger and he’d refined Martial Emperor Essence Blood before, he didn’t dare refine two drops at once.
Instead, he planned to refine one drop before attempting the next.
For others, refining Martial Emperor Essence Blood would focus on tempering the dantian, but Lin Xiao was different. He prioritised channelling the blood aura to temper his physique.
Of course, his dantian also underwent significant tempering, as the blood aura of Martial Emperor Essence Blood was too vast and powerful.
Ten days later, Lin Xiao fully refined the first drop of Martial Emperor Essence Blood, greatly enhancing his dantian and physique.
However, the next layer of his dantian’s transformation wasn’t complete.
Immediately after refining the first drop, Lin Xiao took out another jade bottle, dripping the golden-red Golden Emperor Essence Blood into his palm and continuing the refinement.
Once again, Lin Xiao endured the searing pain, taking another ten days to refine the Golden Emperor Essence Blood.
After refining two drops of Martial Emperor Essence Blood, his physique had reached a terrifying level, and his dantian’s sixth layer transformation was complete.
“Chi!”
Lin Xiao’s eyes snapped open, a terrifying aura bursting from him, raging through the room and shattering it.
Wood splinters and debris flew everywhere, and Lin Xiao’s body appeared in the courtyard. Clearly, his cultivation had broken through from Fifth Level Martial Venerable to Sixth Level Martial Venerable.
