The three days of rest passed in a flash, and the spectators around the Magnetic Essence Platform were packed even more tightly than on the previous two days. The heads of every peak, the masters of the branch halls, and even several Grand Elders who had spent years in seclusion attended in person. Above the jade steps, Xing Xuanzi, the Star Palace's Grand Elder, sat in the seat of honor, his late-stage Nascent Soul spiritual pressure as unfathomable as a deep pool and immovable as a mountain. Han Li stood at the front of the eighteen disciples who had advanced. Crystal-core spiritual power circulated slowly within his dantian, and the star-chart patterns on his superior-grade golden core were even clearer than during his seclusion-he had not slacked off over these ten days. He had nourished his golden core with the Blood-Cleansing Qi-Gathering Pills Zi Ling had left him while studying the fragment of the Star-Magnetic Heart Method bestowed by the Twin Saints after the second round. His control over magnetic essence aura had already begun to exceed the bounds of "basic affinity."
Zi Ling stood a short distance away below the platform, her Plain Silver Hairpin swaying faintly. The lingering resonance of the Star-Illusion Maze Formation condensed into a pale silver halo around her. She held a newly refined Spirit-Calming Pill, her gaze passing through the crowd to settle on Han Li-the sight of him breaking through the illusions with his strength of mind during the star-magnetic deduction three days earlier remained vivid in her memory. Seeing his calm expression now, she knew he already had a strategy.
"The third round of the assessment begins!"
Thunder rumbled across the sky once more as the Twin Saints, Ling Xiaofeng and Ling Yuling, strode through the air side by side. Ling Xiaofeng's