My Turn

The mirror image threw the same punch.

The two fists collided.

"Crack—!!!"

The mirror image's fist, along with its entire arm, shattered inch by inch!

For the first time, something like "astonishment" appeared in its hollow eyes, but Qin Yuan gave it no time to react.

His second punch slammed into its chest.

The mirror image exploded, turning into a sky full of light particles.

From beginning to end, it took three breaths.

Qin Yuan withdrew his fist and looked at the others—most were still locked in bitter battles. Only Kong Ming had just defeated his mirror image. He stood there panting, staring at Qin Yuan with shock filling his eyes.

The third trial eliminated another ten people.

Only the final ten remained, standing before the entrance to the fourth trial.

Seven: The Trial of Breaking Through

The fourth trial was an empty great hall.

At the center of the hall floated a crystal, clear and translucent. Within it, a cross-legged figure could vaguely be seen.

"The fourth trial: the breakthrough trial." The aged voice rang out for the last time. "Comprehend the crystal and achieve a breakthrough in battle to pass. Time limit: three days."

Break through in battle?

Everyone's expressions changed.

Having cultivated to the peak of the Golden Core Realm, every breakthrough required long accumulation and a fated opportunity. Three days? How could that be possible?!

Yet the crystal had already begun to radiate light, enveloping all ten of them.

Qin Yuan sat cross-legged, extending his Spiritual Sense toward the crystal.

In an instant, he seemed to see a vast world—the cultivation insights of the figure within the crystal. From Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, from Golden Core to the Nascent Soul Realm, and even... higher.

But insights were only insights. To break through, he still needed sufficient accumulation.

Fortunately, he had the system.

"Accumulate cultivation and charge toward the Nascent Soul Realm."

Qin Yuan closed his eyes as the system within him began to operate.

[Cultivation Storage: 120/200 years]

He still had three days.

On the first day, Qin Yuan did not extract any cultivation. He merely quietly comprehended the Nascent Soul Realm insights within the crystal. His understanding of the Nascent Soul Realm grew deeper and deeper, and the seed of "spirit" deep within his Golden Core began to tremble faintly.

On the second day, he extracted forty years of cultivation. Vast spiritual power poured into his Golden Core, and the seed trembled even more fiercely.

On the third day, he extracted the remaining eighty years of cultivation in one go!

Boom—!!!

One hundred and twenty years of cultivation, combined with three days of comprehending Nascent Soul Realm insights, erupted thunderously within Qin Yuan!

His Golden Core spun madly, and the nine patterns on its surface began to merge. Deep within the Golden Core, that seed of "spirit" finally broke free of its shell, transforming into an infant-like phantom!

The embryonic Nascent Soul had formed!

But it was not enough.

Qin Yuan gritted his teeth and extracted all the cultivation he had stored over the last three days as well—another forty years!

One hundred and sixty years of cultivation surged like a towering flood, crashing fiercely into the embryonic Nascent Soul!

The phantom rapidly solidified, transforming into a three-inch-tall little figure with features identical to Qin Yuan's. The little figure sat cross-legged atop the Golden Core, faint golden light radiating from its body.

The Nascent Soul had formed!

The instant the Nascent Soul took shape, Qin Yuan's aura exploded upward!

The shackles of the Golden Core peak were utterly shattered. A vast, ocean-like pressure spread from his body, engulfing the entire hall!

The other nine all opened their eyes in shock.

Kong Ming's face turned deathly pale, and his prayer beads fell to the ground with a clatter.

Chu Wuyue's white pupils contracted violently.

The clouds and mist around Yun Qingyao instantly scattered.

The dagger in Zi Ling's hand slipped free and fell to the ground.

Everyone stared blankly at Qin Yuan, at the cross-legged figure, feeling that terrifying pressure belonging to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Three days... from the Golden Core peak to the Nascent Soul Realm?

"Monster..." someone muttered.

Qin Yuan slowly opened his eyes, golden light flowing within them.

He looked toward the crystal at the center of the hall. The crystal slowly opened, revealing the figure inside—a withered skeleton sitting cross-legged, holding a jade slip in its hands.

The aged voice rang out one last time, carrying a note of gratification:

"The fourth trial has been passed."

"The inheritor may receive my legacy."

Qin Yuan rose and walked toward the skeleton.

Behind him were nine faces stunned beyond numbness.

The jade slip in the skeleton's hands within the crystal turned into a streak of light the instant Qin Yuan touched it, plunging into his brow.

The other nine in the hall watched the scene unfold helplessly, their expressions incomparably complicated.

Envy, jealousy, shock, disbelief... all kinds of emotions intertwined.

Kong Ming pressed his palms together and softly chanted a Buddhist invocation, but his faintly trembling fingertips exposed the turmoil in his heart. Dustless Temple possessed a long heritage, and he had always considered himself exceptionally gifted. Yet throughout these four trials of the secret realm, this gray-robed youth from the Xuan Yuan Sect had outdone him at every step. In the third trial, he had only narrowly defeated his mirror image after exhausting every ounce of strength. In the fourth, he could not even touch the threshold—break through in battle? Form a Nascent Soul in three days? This could no longer be explained by talent alone.

Chu Wuyue stared fixedly at Qin Yuan with his white pupils. His fighting spirit blazed, yet it carried a trace of frustration that even he himself was unwilling to admit. He was a battle maniac who believed strength reigned supreme. The stronger Qin Yuan became, the more he wanted to challenge him. But when Qin Yuan truly crossed that heavenly chasm before his eyes and successfully formed a Nascent Soul, that crushing gap made him think for the first time, Perhaps I truly can't catch up.

The clouds and mist around Yun Qingyao surged unsteadily. Since childhood, her sect had praised her as a once-in-a-century genius. She had reached the Golden Core Realm at twenty and the peak of the Golden Core Realm at thirty, believing herself already the foremost among her generation. Yet this youth from a bottom-ranked sect had walked the road that had taken her twenty years in merely one month, then completed in three days a breakthrough that might still have required her ten years of bitter cultivation.

Zi Ling bit her lips tightly, her nails digging into her palms. She recalled how she had mocked the Xuan Yuan Sect when they first met, how calm Qin Yuan had been when he casually saved her, and the crushing strength he had displayed along the way... Her cheeks grew faintly hot. It was shame, but even more than that, helplessness.

Han Bing and Ye Guying were even more pale-faced. They had once been among the finest core disciples of the Xuan Yuan Sect, believing themselves to stand at the pinnacle of the younger generation. But now, the youth who had still been an outer disciple a month ago had left them far behind. They could not even glimpse his back.

"The fourth trial is over." The aged voice echoed through the hall. "Those who passed shall receive my inheritance. Those who failed, withdraw."

As the words fell, white light rose around all nine of them at once.

"Junior Brother Qin!" Chu Wuyue shouted one last time. "We'll meet at the Hundred Sects Battle!"

Qin Yuan turned back and nodded at him.

The next moment, the nine figures vanished from the hall.

Only Qin Yuan remained.

The great hall began to change.

The surrounding walls rippled like water, shedding their stone texture and transforming into a void filled with stars. The skeleton at the center slowly stood up—no, the bones rose on their own, two clusters of ghostly blue flame igniting in its hollow eye sockets.

"Three thousand years..." The skeleton opened its jaw, producing a hoarse voice. "At last, I have waited for a qualified inheritor."

It "walked" before Qin Yuan, its ghostly blue flames fixed on him. "Young man, you are very good. Forming a Nascent Soul in three days, powerful Spiritual Sense, solid foundation. You are qualified to inherit my lineage."

Qin Yuan looked at it calmly. "Senior is?"

"My name is Venerable Xuan Gu, a cultivator of the Dao Integration stage." Pride colored the skeleton's tone. "I fell here three thousand years ago, leaving behind a wisp of remnant soul to await a successor. Today, you shall become my disciple."

It raised a hand and pointed. Three objects appeared in the void.

A pitch-black ring, its surface carved with dense runes.

An ancient jade slip, emanating an inscrutable aura.

A three-foot bone sword, its blade as white and lustrous as jade, yet exuding a chilling coldness.

"These three items are this master's lifelong treasures," Venerable Xuan Gu said. "The Xuan Gu Ring is a storage treasure. Within lies a small world capable of holding mountains and rivers. The Xuan Gu True Scripture records everything I learned in my life, reaching directly to Dao Integration. The Xuan Gu Sword was forged from my natal bones and can sever souls."

It paused, its tone becoming gentler. "Drip blood to acknowledge them as master, and they will be yours."

Qin Yuan looked at the three items, a flicker of strange emotion passing through his eyes.

He extended his right hand and forced out a drop of blood from his fingertip, dripping it onto each of the three objects.

The instant the blood touched them, a sudden change occurred!

All three objects erupted with dazzling ghostly blue light, transforming into three streaks of radiance that shot straight toward Qin Yuan's brow!

Venerable Xuan Gu's hoarse voice suddenly turned sharp with wild delight. "Hahahaha! Three thousand years! At last, I have waited for a perfect body! Such powerful Spiritual Sense and foundation while still in the Golden Core Realm, and an incomparably solid Nascent Soul besides! This body is mine!"

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