[You climbed steadily upward.]
[Along the way, you encountered four or five guardians, all formidable beings like the drought demon, with cultivation above the Second Nine Heavenly Tribulation.]
[Working together, you broke through. There were setbacks, but no real danger, and each of you gained treasures.]
[Once you reached the mountainside, however, everyone understood: the farther you went, the stronger those blocking your path would become.]
[Shi Jinghong and the Divine Crow Daoist had begun to worry. Among the Outer Dao party, only the Beast Emperor, Xingyao, and you had reached the Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect realm.]
[If the later trials grew harder, they might not make it through.]
[The treasures found on the way up had mostly been Upper-Grade Dharma Treasures. No Divine Prohibition Treasure had appeared yet.]
[You had also collected several Upper-Grade Dharma Treasures, a considerable haul already.]
[The group continued upward.]
[Another guardian stood motionless in the middle of the road ahead.]
[Jade light rippled faintly in your eyes as you focused on him. He wore an ancient-cut black robe unlike anything of the present age. Loose hair concealed his face, while the skin it left exposed was white as snow and flawless as crystal. For a moment, you could not tell whether he was a man or a woman.]
[As one, everyone stopped.]
[The Divine Crow Daoist frowned. The figure gave off no aura at all, like a mortal who had never cultivated. "Could he be... at the Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect realm?"]
[If so, he, the Heavenly Mechanism Sect master, Shi Jinghong, and the others might go no farther.]
[The Beast Emperor stepped forward first. "I'll take this one."]
[In the previous trials, you, the Beast Emperor, and Xingyao had taken turns fighting first. As the strongest three, you could test each guardian's strength