"So it really is a test of combat strength."
Lin Chen thought to himself as he stepped onto the arena.
Then, at the center of the arena, a figure slowly took shape, growing from faint to solid.
It was a monk.
The monk was not particularly tall. Barefoot, he stood quietly on the arena.
His face was serene, his eyes half-closed.
His exposed arms were bronze, with a faint dark-gold sheen flowing across them.
"Amitabha. This humble monk is Kuzhu. I once subdued a Three-Clawed Flood Dragon on the verge of adulthood in the Western Wilderness Swamp."
"For this trial, I ask you to grant me a lesson, benefactor."
A Three-Clawed Flood Dragon on the verge of adulthood?
Lin Chen's pupils contracted slightly.
Flood dragons were born powerful, with astonishing innate abilities. Once grown, they could reliably enter the Earth Martial Realm, and their strength far surpassed that of ordinary martial artists at the same level.
Yet this monk Kuzhu said he had subdued one?
Lin Chen's expression turned grave.
To subdue a nearly adult Three-Clawed Flood Dragon, Kuzhu had to be at the tenth level of the Profound Martial Realm, with combat strength at the very top!
"Interesting," Lin Chen murmured, fighting spirit rising like flames in his eyes.
The trial's opponent was strong, but he was no weakling either!
Ding!
A clear sword cry rang across the arena. The Heavenly Profound Sword had left its sheath and landed in Lin Chen's hand.
Lin Chen's entire aura changed at once, its contained smoothness becoming an edge that pierced the heavens.
At the same time, he unleashed his forty-percent Sword Intent without reserve, setting it against the gray-robed monk's mountainlike presence.
"Lin Chen. Please instruct me, Master."
Before his words had faded, Lin Chen vanished from where he stood.
Countless