Exit
He stood in the center of the hexagonal room.
The room was not large, only about a hundred feet across. Above him, gray mist blanketed everything as it always had.
Lin Qin closed his eyes and silently calculated the time.
One hundred and thirty-seven breaths. That had been the interval between the previous resets.
Now, it was time to leave.
His consciousness sank into his body as he silently counted his heartbeats. One, two, three—
The walls began to tremble.
Lin Qin opened his eyes.
The reset had begun.
A door slowly took shape.
Lin Qin stepped toward it.
Just then, three figures emerged within the light before the door.
They were three puppets.
Each stood thirty feet tall, forged entirely from dark-gold metal, with faint rune-light flowing across their surfaces. Their auras were powerful; each possessed the strength of a peak Seven-Star Fiend. Standing together, they vaguely formed a formation that sealed every path to the door.
The puppet in the center spoke. Its voice was cold as iron, carrying the harsh scrape unique to metal rubbing against metal. "Trial-taker, reaching this point proves that you possess sufficient wisdom. But to pass through this door, you must also prove your strength."
Lin Qin looked at them without speaking.
The puppet continued, "Defeat us, and you may take one reward and enter the third level. Fail, and you will die here."
"Then let's begin."
It moved.
It was fast, swift as lightning, its claw reaching for Lin Qin's head. A ghostly blue gleam shimmered at its claw tips—the mark of deadly poison.
The other two puppets moved at the same time. One to the left and one to the right, they sealed off all his routes of retreat. The puppet on the left threw both fists, its punches rumbling