Leaving the City, Entering the Mountains

Everyone chatted idly with Lin Li for a while longer. On one hand, they had been unable to join the battle because of their lack of strength, which left them regretful. On the other, they also wanted to become more familiar with one another.

There was no need to say much about Lin Li, Feng Xiaotian, and the others. It was only natural for young geniuses to be drawn to one another.

What was more, in the eyes of the three men, Lin Li had saved their lives.

Bai Nan, meanwhile, had received the Hall Master's orders to satisfy Lin Li's requests and needs as much as possible and try to bring him into the Spirit Hall.

Once everyone had left, Lin Li immediately stood up, closed the Room Door, then opened the window and jumped down.

Under Mahoraga's powerful regenerative ability, Lin Li had not only recovered by now—his strength had even grown greater!

Lin Li had already noticed something two years ago. The more often he summoned his Martial Soul, the more unusual he himself became. By now, even without using his Martial Soul, he possessed certain characteristics of the Martial Soul itself.

This battle had been a typical example of Lin Li's strength increasing invisibly. Although the improvement was not as obvious as obtaining a Soul Ring, it was still genuine. Invisible improvements such as battle experience also provided considerable help in combat.

Taking advantage of the night, Lin Li vaulted and leaped across the rooftops, heading all the way toward the city gates.

All combatants at the Soul Saint level and above had gone to fight the Flame Demon Skeleton, while Soul Masters from the Soul King to Soul Saint levels had gone to hunt down the Fallen Soul Masters hiding in the mountains and forests.

Lin Li learned from Bai Nan that, besides the group of Soul Masters he had encountered, there were two other groups hiding in the mountains and forests.

The strongest people in the city now were only Soul Ancestors. The so-called blockade of the city gates was completely useless against Lin Li!

Not long after Lin Li left,

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Feng Xiaotian frowned after receiving no response to his knocking, then pushed the door open.

He immediately saw the completely empty room and the curtains swaying in the wind.

"Damn it... He couldn't have gone outside the city, could he?"

They had not known each other for long, but Feng Xiaotian had this intuition in his heart.

He had originally intended to sneak over while no one was around and ask Lin Li how to absorb Soul Rings beyond their age limit. Feng Xiaotian had still felt somewhat embarrassed about it, but his mood had completely changed now.

His intuition told him that Lin Li had definitely left the city!

"No, I have to go too..."

After thinking it over, Feng Xiaotian ran outside as well.

During the day, he had already abandoned Lin Li and fled on his own once. Although he had done so to call for reinforcements, it had continued to bother him deeply.

On the other side, Lin Li had already left Blazing City without a hitch.

On the way out, he also happened to glance at the caravan that had traveled there alongside them. After confirming that they were fine, he told them that it was unsafe lately and that they should not leave the city.

The forest at night did not make it difficult to see. In fact, visibility was not much worse than during the day.

That was because large swaths of the forest were being devoured by raging flames. Under the firelight, the surroundings could be seen with ease, while magma that had overflowed from cracks flowed across the ground.

Looking higher, one could see an incomparably huge Flame Demon Skeleton at the mountaintop, almost like a giant skeleton. Flames burned across its body, surging over its surface and transforming into the shapes of various weapons and animals.

Around the Flame Demon Skeleton, five Soul Masters using their Martial Soul Avatars had it completely surrounded.

Even from such a great distance, Lin Li could still feel the scorching Fire Attribute Soul Power and the pressure of powerful experts.

He still could not participate in a battle of that level.

Lin Li chose a route that kept him relatively far away, then ran toward the mountaintop.

Along the way, Lin Li saw Soul Masters from Blazing City, as well as some Fallen Soul Masters whose Martial Souls were dark, though they were not particularly powerful.

However, because the Soul Masters from Blazing City clearly outnumbered them, Lin Li did not encounter any lone Fallen Soul Masters. He therefore avoided a battle and reached the mountaintop without obstruction.

Across from him, roughly four hundred meters away, stood the group of powerful experts engaged in battle.

Lin Li withdrew his gaze and looked into the cracks.

Below the cracks was scalding magma, as well as a Stone Platform that was clearly not naturally formed.

Without hesitation, Lin Li immediately activated Martial Soul Possession. Powerful strength filled his body, and then he leaped downward.

Bang!

His body landed on the platform. Lin Li felt that the surrounding temperature was even higher than he had imagined, then began examining the environment around him.

"Crack, crack!"

The Stone Platform was roughly thirty square meters and was surrounded by magma. Other than that, there were only several Stone Steles shaped like miniature rockeries.

Lin Li walked forward. The writing on the Stone Steles had long since become too blurred to make out, and he had no idea how long ago they had been made.

After exploring the small area, Lin Li found nothing.

"That doesn't make sense... A place like this should logically be the Inheritance Ground. How could there be no entrance?"

Lin Li studied the Stone Steles, pondering inwardly.

The God Trial existed to pass down a God Position, but not just anyone could inherit one. Sufficient talent and strength were required.

Lin Li felt that his own talent and strength were already top-tier. Even without eating an Immortal Herb, he had a very high chance of inheriting a God Position. It was impossible for him to be rejected.

Unless he needed to pass some tests to prove his talent before entering the Inheritance Ground?

Lin Li stepped forward and stopped before a Stone Stele. He lowered his waist into a bow stance, gathered his strength, and punched!

Boom!

His tremendous strength exploded outward, but nothing happened.

"True. If it only tested strength, it couldn't determine talent at all. Even someone who became a Soul King at eighty would have greater strength than me."

"Crack, crack!"

At that moment, in the scorching environment, Mahoraga completed its first adaptation. Lin Li felt as though the surroundings had suddenly become much cooler.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Li spread open his palm and cut a wound into it, allowing a drop of his blood to fall into the Stone Stele.

The next moment, red characters began appearing across the surface of the Stone Stele.

"Complete the battle to obtain eligibility for the God Trial!"

"Lose to someone of a lower level, and you will die!"

"Lose to someone of the same level, and you will die!"

"Win across five levels to obtain eligibility for the God Trial! The trial's level will change according to the result of the battle across levels!"

After Lin Li read the several lines of red text, the characters unexpectedly began to merge. They then transformed into a Human Form whose appearance could not be seen clearly.

Judging from its Soul Power fluctuations, it should be a Level Fifteen Soul Master weaker than Lin Li.

"As expected of the hot-tempered, battle-loving Fire God."

Lin Li was somewhat excited as well. He happened to need the God Trial to help increase his strength and raise his Soul Ring age limits.

As for whether the Fire God was too weak and inheriting from him would be a bad thing—

There was no need to consider that question. Lin Li believed that he would not obtain the Nine Trials, after all, his Martial Soul did not even have the Fire Attribute.

Bang!

With a casual punch, Lin Li blasted his opponent apart, then stood where he was and waited.

It was not long before the Fire Figure condensed again. This time, it had the same strength as Lin Li—they were both Level Twenty-Six Soul Grandmasters.

Bang!

He blew it apart with another punch, and Lin Li wondered whether he was cheating a little.

His strength was already formidable to begin with, and in this environment, Mahoraga had also allowed him to adapt to Fire Attribute Soul Power.