"Buzzz-!"
A glint of cold light thrust forward as Prince Jinyang shot out like an arrow loosed from its bow!
Facing Prince Jinyang's fierce approach, the bronze-armored wooden man's face remained utterly expressionless. It abruptly threw a plain punch, exactly as it had when defeating the others.
"Clang-!"
The collision of fist and spear was tremendous.
"Hmph."
A muffled grunt escaped Prince Jinyang's lips. Burning pain coursed through both hands gripping his spear, and he staggered back three or four steps uncontrollably before barely steadying himself.
His eyes were filled with shock.
He had thought the previous challengers had only found the bronze-armored wooden man so powerful because they were too weak. Now, it seemed that was not the case.
Although that opening thrust had not used his full strength, it had used seventy percent. Even a prodigy ranked among the top three of the seven kingdoms would have lost instantly to that thrust. Yet the bronze-armored wooden man had not lost; instead... it had driven him back...
Some had expected this scene. Which of the prodigies who had previously challenged the wooden man had not been proud and supremely confident in their own strength, believing it was not that the bronze-armored wooden man was too strong, but that the others were too weak...?
In the end, each had been slapped in the face. Now, even the Great Jin Empire's foremost prodigy was no exception...
The more this happened, the more shaken the cultivators who had witnessed Lin Xuan defeat the bronze-armored wooden man with a single sword strike became.
The stronger the bronze-armored wooden man was, the more it highlighted the terrifying strength of Lin Xuan, who had defeated it with one strike!
"Again!"
Prince Jinyang's fighting spirit surged, and he once again became a blur as he charged toward the bronze-armored wooden man!
The two immediately clashed again.
This time, Prince Jinyang held nothing back, unleashing his full strength! As his spear swept through the air, faint dragon cries rang out!
But... Prince Jinyang was strong, and the bronze-armored wooden man... was stronger!!
It displayed few spectacular moves, yet its utterly ordinary punches and strikes battered Prince Jinyang into retreat again and again...
Finally, after nearly ten exchanges, Prince Jinyang was blasted off the wooden platform. Defeated-!
Everyone who witnessed this was deeply shaken.
They were shocked not only by Prince Jinyang's formidable strength, but even more by how terrifying the bronze-armored wooden man was!
At full strength, Prince Jinyang, at the seventh level of Heavenly Profound, could fight someone at the ninth level. Even a cultivator at the peak of the ninth level of Heavenly Profound would not dare claim they could defeat him. Yet the bronze-armored wooden man... had done it.
The surroundings were exceptionally quiet, particularly among those who had only recently arrived. Even Prince Jinyang had lost. Who else could defeat this bronze-armored wooden man?
Meanwhile, after his crushing defeat, Prince Jinyang had sunk deep into self-doubt.
This was his first defeat against an opponent at the same cultivation level. Although his opponent was not a living person, he still found it somewhat difficult to accept.
"Your Highness, do not doubt yourself. In this old man's opinion, Earth Venerable Heaven-Burning never intended for anyone to pass a trial like this. Even if Earth Venerable Heaven-Burning were still alive, would he dare claim he could defeat this wooden man at the same cultivation level?"
"Indeed, Your Highness, do not lose heart. Perhaps this ancestral tree trial cannot be overcome through strength at all, but requires wit instead..."
"Who here could last until the tenth exchange against it before losing? Your Highness has already done remarkably well."
Seeing Prince Jinyang so shaken and mired in self-doubt, some Great Jin cultivators spoke up one after another.
Prince Jinyang had always been the pride of countless cultivators in the Great Jin Empire, and the Great Jin emperor had personally designated him as the next sovereign. If this damaged his Dao heart, the loss would far outweigh the gain, so they all offered words of comfort.
"That really is possible."
Although those words had been meant as consolation, they also reminded everyone that relying on wit rather than brute force truly was a possibility.
This wooden man was absurdly strong. They could not imagine anyone defeating it, so was it possible...
That passing the trial did not depend on brute force?
"Exactly! Why didn't I think of that before?"
Someone slapped their thigh, convinced this must be the case.
Yunyi had also fallen into thought. She had watched the entire battle between Prince Jinyang and the bronze-armored wooden man. She had to admit that she had underestimated Prince Jinyang somewhat. He did have some grounds for being so arrogant.
Although she could still defeat Prince Jinyang, doing so in ten exchanges as the wooden man had would probably be very difficult.
If she went up herself, she could probably last more exchanges than Prince Jinyang, but she would likely still struggle to defeat the wooden man in the end.
Thus, her thoughts were much the same as most people's. Perhaps passing this ancestral tree trial really did not require brute force, but some other method?
"If I hadn't seen someone defeat it with a single sword strike myself, I really would have believed that." Only the cultivators who had witnessed Lin Xuan defeat the bronze-armored wooden man with one strike shook their heads with bitter smiles...
Had they not personally witnessed Lin Xuan defeat the wooden man with his sword, would they really have believed these people's nonsense?
Weak was weak. Finding excuses like these to comfort themselves was truly laughable.
Just as they turned toward Lin Xuan, who was comprehending the flood dragon diagram, they discovered that he had already opened his eyes and was looking somewhere.
Following his gaze, they saw an exquisitely beautiful girl with a longsword on her back walking slowly toward them.
The girl's beauty was peerless, in no way inferior to Fairy Yunyi, the Spirit True Empire's foremost prodigy from earlier, and perhaps even surpassed hers.
Her arrival drew no one's attention except Lin Xuan's and that of the cultivators now following his gaze.
The reason Lin Xuan had looked toward her was...
Just moments earlier, a familiar presence had appeared within the range of his Divine Sense.
That familiar presence belonged to this girl carrying a longsword on her back.
She was none other than his disciple, Su Lianxin.
However, there were simply too many people gathered here, and Su Lianxin had not noticed Lin Xuan.
Watching Su Lianxin slowly approach the wooden platform where the bronze-armored wooden man stood, Lin Xuan was in no hurry to call out to her.
They had not seen each other for several days. Although Su Lianxin's cultivation had barely improved and she was still at the third level of the Earth Profound Realm, she felt considerably stronger to Lin Xuan than when she had entered the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm. Clearly, she had obtained a significant opportunity within the mystic realm.
This left him somewhat eager to see how Su Lianxin would perform next.
When the girl stepped onto the wooden platform, almost everyone's gaze swept toward her in unison, carrying a hint of astonishment.
Ever since the Great Jin Empire's Prince Jinyang had suffered a crushing defeat at the bronze-armored wooden man's hands, no one had stepped onto the wooden platform again, not even Yunyi of the Spirit True Empire. Clearly, they had all tacitly accepted one fact: the wooden man was invincible.
Its strength was simply beyond what anyone at the same cultivation level could overcome.
Even a genius like Prince Jinyang had failed to last three exchanges against the wooden man. Going up themselves would only invite humiliation. With bad luck, they could very well be punched to death by the wooden man.
That was precisely why Su Lianxin's ascent onto the platform surprised them so much.
Moreover, after looking around, they discovered that not a single person recognized her. In other words, she was not one of the seven kingdoms' prodigies.
"One look tells you she just arrived and doesn't know how terrifying the bronze-armored wooden man is. Tsk."
"Hey, little girl, I advise you to come down quickly. This bronze-armored wooden man isn't something you can fight. Even Great Jin's Prince Jinyang returned in crushing defeat." Some cultivators who could not bear to see such a beauty wither and perish offered their advice.
But the white-robed girl on the wooden platform remained unmoved and slowly drew the longsword from her back.
Seeing that Su Lianxin would not heed their advice and still intended to fight, everyone shook their heads. They could already foresee her miserable fate.
Yet what happened next was... completely different from what they had imagined!
The longsword hummed softly. Terrifying Sword Intent drifted over its blade as it slashed savagely toward the bronze-armored wooden man!
The scene they had imagined, of Su Lianxin being punched off the wooden platform, did not occur. Instead... in that first clash between sword and fist, Su Lianxin did not budge! The bronze-armored wooden man, however, was blasted more than ten meters away!
This alone stood in stark contrast to Prince Jinyang, who had challenged the bronze-armored wooden man not long before.
After all, when Prince Jinyang had exchanged a blow with the bronze-armored wooden man, he had staggered back three or four steps before barely steadying himself.
Yet this unknown girl before them, whose name no one could even give, had blasted the bronze-armored wooden man away in a head-on clash!
Everyone's mouths hung open wide enough to fit a duck egg.
At that moment, even Prince Jinyang and Yunyi wore expressions of disbelief as they stared in shock at the white-robed girl sword cultivator on the wooden platform.
Buzzz-!
While they were still reeling in shock, the white-robed girl unleashed another slash of Sword Gang, blasting the bronze-armored wooden man off the wooden platform before it could even regain its footing...
The bronze-armored wooden man, defeated in two sword strikes!