146: Take a walk and break a record

When Lin Tian, with a posture that seemed to be forced into a corner, full of "unwillingness," slowly stepped onto the first stage of the "Strength Test" — a stone platform regarded as "sacred" by everyone — the entire stone hall instantly fell into an eerie silence.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on him.

Their eyes were filled with emotions that were complex to the extreme.

There was anticipation — from Elizabeth, Jiang Luoling, and others who had blind faith in him.

There was doubt — from the local powers of Guixu City who didn't believe a "pretty boy" could possess much strength.

There was schadenfreude — from rivals like Saint Arthur and Thor, the Thunder God, who were eager to see him make a fool of himself.

And there was… a hint of a pathological hope, which even he was unwilling to admit — from Gu Fan, who had just been defeated by Long Qingtian and was now leaning against the wall, his face ashen. He desperately hoped that Lin Tian would lose to him in this pure strength competition! Even if only by a little! This way, it would at least prove that he was not completely useless!

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes filled with complex emotions, Lin Tian finally stood before the hundred-meter-tall black crystal stele, which shimmered with the light of Law.

Everyone held their breath, waiting.

Waiting to see how he would gather his strength, how he would pose, how he would mobilize all his power to challenge that ancient record, sealed for thousands of years and seemingly unreachable!

However… Lin Tian just stood there casually.

He didn't even do a basic warm-up, let alone gather strength or strike a pose.

He merely raised his head, glanced at the golden, imposing number at the top of the stele — [Nine Million Nine Hundred Ninety-Nine Thousand Tons] — and then, bored, he curled his lips.

Immediately, under everyone's increasingly astonished and disbelieving gazes.

He raised his right hand, as if swatting an annoying fly in front of him, and casually, nonchalantly, threw a punch forward.

There was no earth-shattering Aura.

No dazzling light effects.

Not even the slightest energy fluctuation.

It was just… an ordinary, seemingly health-preserving punch, like one an old man might throw during morning exercise in the park.

"This… is this it?!"

"What in the world is he doing?!"

Just as everyone was bewildered and confused by his seemingly "perfunctory" punch.

The black strength stele, which had been silent for tens of thousands of years, as if unchanging since ancient times, at that very moment, emitted an unprecedented, violent hum, like a god wailing!

Buzz —!!!!!!

Above the stele, the golden light representing the strength value, as if infused with the energy of the entire galaxy, surged upwards at an unprecedented, terrifying speed that could blind everyone!

One hundred thousand tons!

Five hundred thousand tons!

One million tons!

...Five million tons!

Eight million tons!

Nine million tons!

The value, like a destructive force, crushed all previous Prodigies' records!

It easily surpassed Gu Fan's proudest contemporary best score!

With irresistible momentum, it launched the most ferocious assault on that ultimate record, sealed for thousands of years and regarded by everyone as the "Domain of Gods"!

Finally… under the tens of thousands of gazes that had already turned blank and petrified.

The wildly soaring golden value, just as it was about to touch the critical point of ten million tons, as if controlled by some exquisitely precise, irresistible will, instantly stopped.

It precisely, froze at the exact same value as the "Ancient Record"!

[Nine Million Nine Hundred Ninety-Nine Thousand Tons]!

Tied!

In the most nonchalant, casual, and unreasonable way, he effortlessly tied that ancient myth, sealed for thousands of years!

The entire hall first fell into a ten-second absolute silence, enough to make hearts stop.

Then, it erupted in a hysterical clamor, like a volcanic eruption or a tsunami passing through!

"T-Tied?! He actually tied the record of the ancient human Prodigy?!"

"Monster! This is not human at all! It's a monster!!!"

"What did I just see?! He just… didn't even use any strength!!!"

In the corner, Gu Fan watched as the number he had desperately striven for, even burning his vital blood, was achieved so "casually" by the other party. His already pale face, at this moment, lost all color, and with a thud, he slumped to the ground, completely lost in thought.

However, Lin Tian, the creator of this miracle, didn't even glance at the result on the stele.

As if that record, which was enough to make an entire era go mad, was nothing more than a boring number to him.

He merely turned around, and under the fervent gazes of everyone, who looked at him as if he were a god, he walked directly to the second stage — the "Speed Trial" track… The second stage, the Stele of Speed.

This was a death track, only one hundred meters long, but filled with countless spatial traps, gravity distortions, and violent energy storms. It tested not only speed but also footwork, and the ability to comprehend and evade various Laws.

Its highest record was also set by an ancient human Prodigy known for his speed — [Three Seconds]!

A divine record also hailed as "insurmountable"!

Lin Tian slowly walked to the starting point of the track.

This time, everyone had learned their lesson. They no longer harbored any doubt or mockery, but instead stared intently at him with a gaze almost like pilgrims, anticipating another miracle.

They wanted to see, this time, how this "Incarnation of Miracles" would challenge this record in an astonishing way!

Would he turn into a beam of light?

Or would he turn into a bolt of lightning?

Or perhaps, would he display some long-lost ancient footwork?

However… Lin Tian simply started walking, like an ordinary person taking a stroll after dinner to aid digestion.

He didn't sprint.

He didn't even jog.

He just… leisurely walked, step by step, towards the finish line.

Just as everyone was bewildered by his "perplexing" behavior.

An even stranger, more mind-bending scene unfolded!

On the track, those violent spatial traps and energy storms, originally powerful enough to instantly tear even S-Class Experts into shreds, upon sensing someone's entry, furiously swept towards Lin Tian!

But, just as they were about to approach within three meters of Lin Tian's body, they seemed to encounter some supreme, inviolable absolute Law, and automatically, silently… annihilated.

The spatial traps were smoothed out.

The energy storms were assimilated.

The gravity distortions were corrected.

He just walked, leisurely, as if treading on flat ground. It was as if he wasn't walking on a death track full of fatal dangers, but a scenic, tree-lined path leading to his own backyard.

Finally, under the gazes of everyone, who had fallen into a deathly silence, become completely numb, and even began to question life itself.

He completed the entire course.

On the timing stele at the finish line, light flashed, and finally, it settled on an incredible number that made everyone's scalp tingle.

[Two Point Nine Nine Seconds]!

Again, easily, in an even more unreasonable, more incredible, and more perception-shattering way, he broke that ancient record, sealed for thousands of years!

Two consecutive "miraculous" performances left all the Prodigies in the hall completely speechless.

They looked at the young man, who was uninterested in the reactions around him, and even yawned softly because he found it a bit boring. In their hearts, only the purest sense of… powerlessness and… despair remained, emanating from the depths of their Souls.

Monster… This is not a human… This, is… a God!

Lin Tian ignored everyone's gazes, which were like looking at a god, and walked directly to the final stage.

Also the most mysterious and difficult… "Mental Energy" test stele.