Liu Lie was covered in wounds, chased relentlessly by a one-tenth strength half-step Heavenly Venerable beast, utterly bedraggled.
Wu Yang and Qin Wu faced obstacles from third-stage monsters, fleeing in panic.
Originally controlled by Black Spirits and intending to find Ling Xiao, after Ling Xiao left the third stage, the terrifying dragon might vanished, causing the previously dormant eighth- and ninth-level beasts to spring into action.
In an instant, the third stage became a paradise for monsters and a purgatory for trial disciples.
Even worse, as time passed, two-tenths, three-tenths, and even four-tenths strength half-step Heavenly Venerable beasts appeared.
Even Tantai Lingzi was in grave danger.
The entrance to the fourth stage had sealed shut, leaving these disciples with no chance to proceed. They could only run for their lives in the third stage, facing elimination.
However, holding on a bit longer meant more rewards, so even Liu Lie was desperately dodging attacks.
Fortunately, these monsters were designed to be rather dim-witted, otherwise, they might have died long ago.
Back to the fourth stage.
While Ling Xiao was pursued by the third stage’s Heavenly Human Realm guardian, Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, and Shangguan Lei also encountered trouble.
But at this moment, Ling Xiao was too far to help, whether they could turn danger into safety depended on their own abilities.
Ling Xiao himself was already overwhelmed.
Watching the guardian closing in behind him, a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
“Instead of being chased like this, why not find a way to take it down!”
Once this thought emerged, it couldn’t be suppressed.
Being pursued like this, Ling Xiao couldn’t calmly explore the fourth stage. Such frantic fleeing wasn’t part of his plan.
But relying solely on his own strength, even with the Seal Book, it was impossible.
Perhaps he could find an opportunity in the fourth stage, one to completely crush the guardian!
For others, facing a Heavenly Human Realm expert’s pursuit, such a thought would never arise.
No matter how strong a Mortal Realm cultivator was, they’d only be killed by a Heavenly Human Realm expert.
The Five-Faced Monster, arguably the strongest in the Mortal Realm, lasted only sixty breaths against the Crescent Moon Blade guardian before being torn apart.
Others would fare even worse.
However, Ling Xiao’s thinking was different from most.
This wasn’t a formal duel, they were in an unfamiliar environment, and using the terrain to fight was an option.
Moreover, if Ling Xiao didn’t eliminate the guardian, he’d be in dire straits himself, possibly eliminated even sooner than the others, which would be a loss not worth taking.
With the idea of killing the guardian, Ling Xiao stopped fleeing aimlessly. Instead, he released his true essence sphere to sense the surroundings.
The true essence sphere’s sensing range now reached about a hundred metres, unaffected in the fourth stage.
Combined with his Mountain River Martial Soul, he could expand the ten-metre map to a hundred metres.
This allowed him to detect any usable features in the fourth stage in time.
After a full hour, a smile spread across his face.
“Perfect spot!”
Ling Xiao sensed, a hundred metres away, a mountain where torrents of lightning, not rainwater, poured down!
The lightning crashed, obliterating anything daring to intrude.
“This is a ‘Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Zone’!”
The Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Zone was a naturally formed array-like area. The relentless lightning wouldn’t harm anything on the mountain but targeted outsiders.
And this lightning’s power was terrifying, far beyond the lightning phenomenon of Ling Xiao’s *Twelve Golden Lotus Technique*.
Let alone the guardian, it could easily obliterate even stronger Heavenly Human Realm experts.
From prior tests, Ling Xiao knew the guardian wasn’t particularly bright. With the right method, it could definitely be lured into the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Zone.
With this thought, Ling Xiao grinned, then sped up, charging towards the zone.
Behind him, the guardian, fearing it might lose him, also accelerated.
Moments later, a small mountain surrounded by booming thunder and flashing lightning appeared ahead.
The mountain was enveloped in a scene of crackling electricity and roaring thunder, an eerie spectacle.
As Ling Xiao approached the zone, he felt a terrifying aura, as if it could destroy him entirely.
He didn’t dare venture in directly. During his flight, he had cleverly escaped, and now, rushing headlong into the zone wasn’t him, but his sword soul clone.
The distance was too close.
With the guardian’s speed, stopping before the zone was nearly impossible.
The fourth stage’s biggest issue was the thick fog enveloping it. With the guardian’s vision, it likely couldn’t see beyond ten metres.
At ten metres, stopping was practically impossible.
Whoosh!
The sword soul clone crashed into the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Zone, and Ling Xiao felt it being obliterated by lightning instantly, not even a trace of soul force spared.
Phew!
The guardian reached the edge of the zone.
But to Ling Xiao’s astonishment, at the critical moment, the guardian plunged its Crescent Moon Blade into the ground, sliding a distance before stopping.
Right at the edge of the zone.
“Get in there!”
Ling Xiao didn’t stay stunned.
The moment he saw this, he acted instantly, transforming into a massive ancient golden dragon, opening its jaws, and unleashing a blast of black energy that struck the guardian’s back.
Already teetering on the edge, the guardian was knocked headfirst into the zone.
Boom! Crack!
Terrifying thunder roared, and lightning poured down like a torrential rain.
The pitiful guardian, unable to land a single blow on Ling Xiao, was shattered into dust by the fearsome lightning, not even a sliver of soul remaining.
Ling Xiao tried to seal it with a seal card but failed, it seemed the lightning had a purifying ability, wiping out everything completely.
The seal card couldn’t capture anything.
“Phew~~”
Ling Xiao plopped onto the ground.
Though he couldn’t seal the guardian into the card, using the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Zone to eliminate it made things much easier. He could now leisurely explore the fourth stage and uncover its secrets.
But before that, he needed a short rest, that had been exhausting.
Unbeknownst to him, after he killed the third stage’s guardian, the third stage’s monsters went berserk.
All kinds of monsters, as if injected with adrenaline, surged out, even surrounding the Black Spirit’s iron warship without exception.
