While Dantai Lingzi was facing trouble, Leng Hao in the fourth stage was also being hunted.
Leng Hao’s fortunes were even better than Shangguan Lei’s. He had obtained two Immortal Treasures—one a weapon, the other armor.
Additionally, he acquired a top-grade Gold Martial Art and a gourd of pills to restore his true essence.
These pills were crucial for him now.
To obtain those treasures, he had exhausted himself, nearly depleting his true essence.
Relying on the Immortal Treasure armor, he withstood a blow from a Half-Step Heavenly Venerable at 50% strength. Though it left him spitting blood, he wasn’t eliminated. Now, dragging his heavy steps, he was fleeing in all directions.
He refused to give up.
Every moment he persisted meant more Moonlight Points as a reward.
Leng Hao lived up to his genius reputation. His performance this time was exemplary.
Using the same method as Ling Xiao, he leveraged a dangerous terrain to outwit and kill the Half-Step Heavenly Venerable chasing him.
Of course, compared to Ling Xiao, he fell slightly short—after all, Ling Xiao had killed a true Heavenly Realm gatekeeper.
But regardless, his genius shone through.
The only issue was that Ling Xiao was simply too monstrous.
“Good, I’ve taken out the pursuer. Time to catch my breath and see what else I can find.”
Wiping blood from his mouth, Leng Hao found a safe spot to heal. Once recovered, he could continue his trial and seek more treasures.
After healing, Leng Hao pressed on, but soon after obtaining a Mortal Pill, he faced an even more terrifying pursuit.
The Mortal Pill was superior to top-grade True Essence Pills, typically a mid-to-high-grade Yellow Pill, used for replenishing and boosting true essence.
Such pills were beyond the Moonlight Sect’s ability to refine.
Though Yuan Zun could craft them, he wasn’t part of the sect.
Leng Hao’s acquisition of this pill was a stroke of incredible luck.
Despite the many treasures around, he didn’t get greedy and fled immediately.
This time, the monster was a Half-Step Heavenly Venerable at 60% strength, stronger than the last. If he didn’t run, he was dead!
Meanwhile, Dai Yuling encountered the greatest opportunity of her life.
This opportunity could transform her from an ordinary disciple into a truly dazzling genius!
But it was only a possibility.
Whether she could seize this chance remained uncertain.
Elsewhere, Ling Xiao continued analyzing the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land. After nearly a day, he finally made progress.
“I’ve found the flaw. Now it’s time to exploit it!”
Unlike man-made formations, the flaw in the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land wasn’t static. To enter through it, the flaw had to be controlled, or natural laws would quickly mend it.
If Ling Xiao entered, he might not be able to exit.
So, he decided to first secure control of the flaw.
He wasn’t yet capable of controlling the entire Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land, but a single flaw was manageable.
Hm?
Just as he was about to act, Ling Xiao frowned and stood up.
Trouble had come again.
Lingering outside the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land for so long inevitably drew the attention of fourth-stage monsters.
These monsters were peculiar—not giant or ferocious beasts but humanoid.
The weakest were Half-Step Heavenly Venerables at 10% strength.
This time, a Half-Step Heavenly Venerable at 50% strength had targeted Ling Xiao.
It clearly didn’t intend to let him focus on analyzing and controlling the flaw.
“No time to play with you!”
Ling Xiao thought for a moment, summoned the Book of Seals, and released the Black Dragon King and the Phantom Dream Maiden.
The Phantom Dream Maiden could only be used once, a ninth Mortal Realm expert with the ability to create illusions to affect enemies.
The Black Dragon King was a Half-Step Heavenly Venerable at 10% strength, but in Black Dragon form, it could reach full strength.
Alone, neither could handle a 50% strength Half-Step Heavenly Venerable, but together, they stood a chance.
“Release: Phantom Dream Maiden!”
“Release: Black Dragon King!”
“Stop that guy. Kill it if you can.”
After issuing the commands, Ling Xiao sat cross-legged again, resuming his task.
He had a strong feeling that the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land held a tremendous opportunity, vital to him, one he couldn’t afford to miss.
What exactly it was, he didn’t know.
He lacked the ability to discern it so quickly.
“Control!”
An hour later, Ling Xiao’s eyes snapped open. His powerful soul force, in the form of Mountain River Will, surged into the flaw.
Success!
Under his control, the flaw could be opened or sealed at will.
This meant the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land was now a place he could enter and exit freely.
Glancing at the Phantom Dream Maiden and Black Dragon King, he saw they had both perished.
But so had the 50% strength Half-Step Heavenly Venerable.
A mutual destruction.
He tried sealing the Half-Step Heavenly Venerable into a card, and it worked.
This led to a realization.
The Book of Seals belonged to him, so enemies killed by its monsters counted as his kills, allowing him to seal them.
“Mortal Blade Master, 50% strength Half-Step Heavenly Venerable, usable three times.”
That was the new information on the card.
He wondered if the Heavenly Realm gatekeeper could be sealed. If so, that would be incredible.
With that thought, Ling Xiao entered the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land through the flaw. The interior was entirely different from the outside.
There were no thunderstorms, except at the mountain peak, where the storm was even fiercer than outside.
He glanced up, then searched for fragments of the Heavenly Realm gatekeeper’s corpse.
Though the gatekeeper had been blasted to bits, its crescent blade remained intact. He hadn’t noticed before, but it was a high-grade Immortal Treasure.
The blade still held the gatekeeper’s lingering soul and some corpse fragments. He tried sealing it but reached a disappointing conclusion.
“Warriors of the same realm can only seal monsters of the same realm, and only those killed personally. Those killed by the environment don’t count.”
As a Mortal Realm warrior, Ling Xiao could only seal Mortal Realm monsters.
Half-Step Heavenly Venerables, though close to Heavenly Realm, were still Mortal Realm warriors.
Since Ling Xiao had used the Ten Thousand Thunder Forbidden Land to kill the gatekeeper, it didn’t count as his kill.
He met neither condition, so sealing was impossible.
“Tch!”
Disappointed, Ling Xiao shook his head and looked toward the mountain peak.
