Earth Core Body Tempering Milk!
The seven golden words flashing on the system panel exploded in Lin Xiao's mind like a bolt from the blue!
His heart pounded uncontrollably, and it felt as though all the blood in his body had ignited at that moment.
Cleansing the tendons and marrow, shedding the mortal body and remaking the bones!
He understood better than anyone what those eight words meant. Since crossing into this world, his greatest shackle had been this body's mediocre "Mortal-Grade Inferior" aptitude. It was like an invisible set of shackles, restricting both his cultivation speed and the limits of his future potential.
And the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk before him was the only key capable of breaking those shackles!
This was a peerless stroke of fortune, enough to let him defy fate and change his destiny!
Yet accompanying this immense opportunity was a fatal danger that could crush them into dust in an instant—the unfathomable Third-Order Demonic Beast, the Spirit Devouring Demonic Vine!
"Lin Xiao! What are you standing around for?! Run!"
Shi Lei and Su Yue had already fled dozens of meters away. Seeing that Lin Xiao was still rooted to the spot, they shouted anxiously.
Inside the canyon, the Spirit Devouring Demonic Vine had dragged every captured student into the underground fissure. The horrifying sounds of chewing and cracking bones made their scalps go numb.
Lin Xiao suddenly came back to his senses. He looked at the fissure, like an entrance to hell, then at his anxious companions in the distance. A crazed struggle flashed through his eyes.
Run? Give up this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity just like that?
No! He was absolutely unwilling!
If he retreated today, he might safely pass the assessment and enter the academy. But when he encountered another bottleneck in the future, when he faced those true favored sons of heaven, he would forever remember the cowardice and regret of this day!
The path of martial arts was one of contending with heaven, contending with earth, and contending with people! If he did not even have the courage to risk everything in one throw, how could he speak of defying fate and changing his destiny?!
"You two go first! Find somewhere to hide! I'll catch up later!"
Lin Xiao shouted at them from afar, making a decision that neither Shi Lei nor Su Yue could understand.
Not only did he fail to retreat, he turned around and slipped back behind a huge boulder at the edge of the canyon!
"Have you lost your mind?! Come back!" Su Yue was so anxious that tears nearly spilled from her eyes. To her, Lin Xiao's actions were no different from a moth flying into a flame, seeking his own death!
But Lin Xiao's figure had already vanished from her sight.
"What do we do? He... he couldn't be trying to..." Shi Lei panicked as well, stamping his feet anxiously.
Su Yue gritted her silver teeth, determination flashing across her face. "We can't leave him behind alone! Let's go back! Even if we die, we die together!"
With that, she truly disregarded the danger and turned to rush back.
"Don't!" Shi Lei grabbed her. Though this honest young man's eyes were filled with reason at this moment, he said, "If we go back now, we'll only become his burden! Have you forgotten how he dealt with Xiao Lang? He isn't a reckless person. Since he's doing this, he must have a plan! We have to trust him!"
Su Yue halted, her face full of struggle.
"Then... then what should we do?"
"Wait!" Shi Lei's tone was exceptionally firm. "We'll find the most concealed place nearby and hide there while we wait for him! If... if he still hasn't come out after one hour, I, Shi Lei, will stake this life of mine to charge in and avenge him!"
Within the canyon, Lin Xiao was like the most patient hunter. He suppressed his aura to the utmost, nearly melding into the surrounding rocks.
His gaze remained fixed on the underground fissure. His mind ran faster than ever before, while the streams of data on the system panel refreshed rapidly like a cascading waterfall.
[Analyzing target: Spirit Devouring Demonic Vine (Third-Order Lower Grade)] [Status: Feeding/Digesting...] [Weakness analysis: Main body located one hundred meters below the underground fissure and unable to move; primary attack method is vines; fears the force of extreme-yang thunderfire; after feeding, it enters a brief 'full-bellied' state, with reduced activity and reaction speed lowered by 20%, lasting approximately a quarter of an hour.] [Scanning Earth Core Body Tempering Milk location: Located in a recess in the eastern rock wall, thirty meters beneath the underground fissure, guarded by three vines.]
Countless pieces of information gathered in Lin Xiao's mind, and a bold plan bordering on madness gradually took shape.
He was waiting—for the best possible moment!
Second by second, the heart-palpitating chewing sounds in the canyon gradually died down. After devouring dozens of students and a Second-Order High Grade demonic beast, the Spirit Devouring Demonic Vine finally seemed to feel satisfied.
The wildly dancing vines slowly retracted into the underground fissure, leaving only several main vines swaying weakly at the edge like sentries.
Just as the system had analyzed, it had entered its "full-bellied" state! Now!
A terrifying gleam burst from Lin Xiao's eyes.
He pushed his speed to its limit. His entire body became a blurred afterimage, making not the slightest sound as he drifted toward the bottomless fissure like a fallen leaf.
The instant he approached the fissure's edge, the main vines responsible for keeping watch reacted half a beat too slowly, just as the system had predicted.
By the time they detected the intruder and lashed out fiercely, Lin Xiao had already plunged headfirst into the deep darkness!
The fissure was filled with a dense stench of vegetation and blood. Countless vines, thick and thin, twisted across the rock walls like giant pythons.
Lin Xiao did not dare let down his guard in the slightest. He pushed Phantom Wolf Step to its limit, his body like a weightless ghost as he sped through gaps between the vines and dove toward the target marked by the system.
Twenty meters... twenty-five meters...
The deeper he went, the thicker the surrounding vines became. Some were even covered in barbs and viscous digestive fluid, giving off a nauseating odor.
Finally, he saw it! On the eastern rock wall, within an inconspicuous recess, a small pool of milky white, jade-like liquid lay quietly there, exuding a refreshing fragrance.
Earth Core Body Tempering Milk!
Three main vines as thick as water barrels coiled around it, covered in countless suckers. They were clearly guarding this heavenly treasure.
Lin Xiao's heart nearly leaped out of his throat.
He forcibly suppressed his excitement and took out a waterskin he had prepared long ago. He had only one chance!
He took a deep breath and poured all the Spiritual Energy in his body into his legs.
[System prompt: The blind spot in the attacks of the three guarding vines is at a thirty-degree angle to the upper left!]
There!
Lin Xiao shot off the rock wall like a cannonball, tracing an incredible arc through the air. He precisely avoided the interception of the three main vines and appeared before the recess in an instant!
Without time to think, he opened the waterskin and scooped all of the viscous Earth Core Body Tempering Milk into it as fast as he could!
"Hiss—!"
The instant he succeeded, the entire underground fissure trembled violently!
The main body of the Spirit Devouring Demonic Vine had been thoroughly enraged!
A horrifying aura capable of destroying heaven and earth erupted from the endless abyss of the fissure!
Hundreds upon thousands of vines surged toward Lin Xiao from all directions like awakened demonic dragons, sealing every path of retreat!
The shadow of death enveloped him in an instant.
Yet there was not the slightest fear on Lin Xiao's face.
Because all of this had been within his calculations!
"Now!"
The instant before countless vines drowned him, he decisively crushed the bronze token hanging before his chest!
Bzz—
A gentle force of space instantly wrapped around his body.
No matter how frantically the vines outside lashed at him, they could not harm him in the slightest.
With a flash of white light, Lin Xiao's figure vanished from the underground fissure amid the unwilling, furious roar of the Spirit Devouring Demonic Vine.
Outside the Myriad Beast Mountain Range, in the inner plaza.
The assessment was nearing its final moment.
Everyone stared tensely at the rankings on the light screen, counting down the final seconds.
"Ten, nine, eight..."
At that moment, the point of light representing Lin Xiao suddenly went out in the One-Line Sky canyon region on the map!
"Look! Lin Xiao has been eliminated!" "He was eliminated at the very last moment? What a pity!" "His final ranking was thirty-fifth! Though he was eliminated, that is still enough to be proud of!"
A wave of regretful sighs rose from the crowd.
On the high platform, Chu Tianxing also showed a trace of regret. "In the end, he was still too rash... What a pity for such a good seedling."
Just when everyone thought the dust had settled.
The teleportation array in the center of the plaza flashed.
A figure staggered into the center of the formation.
It was Lin Xiao!
He looked miserable beyond measure. His clothes were shredded, his body was covered in foul-smelling slime and blood, and his face was somewhat pale.
Yet his eyes shone with a frightening brilliance, filled with the excitement of surviving a disaster and an indescribable joy!
He had succeeded!
Not only had he seized an unparalleled treasure from the lair of a Third-Order Demonic Beast, he had also used the assessment's rules to shed his shell like a cicada, safely teleporting out!
"Silence!"
Chu Tianxing's voice rang over the plaza like a great bell, suppressing all the clamor.
"The assessment time is up! All students who have not been eliminated, return immediately!"
As his words fell, the teleportation array blazed brightly, and figures appeared in the plaza one after another.
Shi Lei and Su Yue also appeared among the crowd. The moment they emerged, they anxiously looked around. When they saw Lin Xiao standing there unharmed, their eyes instantly reddened, and they rushed toward him without a second thought.
"Lin Xiao! You're all right! That's wonderful! You scared us to death!" Su Yue's voice even carried a sob.
"I knew a brat like you wouldn't die that easily!" Shi Lei said excitedly, punching Lin Xiao on the shoulder.
Seeing these two companions who were sincerely worried for him, warmth flowed through Lin Xiao's heart.
"I'm fine," he said with a smile. "We made it."
At that moment, the assessment's final rankings also froze upon the enormous light screen.
First place: Xiao Lang! Second place: Qin Wushuang! Third place:...
Lin Xiao's name ultimately settled at thirty-fifth place. Shi Lei and Su Yue, relying on the points they had earned earlier, also ranked securely within the top hundred.
All three of them had successfully advanced!
"All advancing students, rest where you are. Those who did not advance, leave in an orderly manner!"
Chu Tianxing's voice rang out once again.
Just as Lin Xiao was about to celebrate with his companions, an icy voice filled with killing intent sounded behind him.
"Lin Xiao, you really didn't die. Good."
Before you continue