140: Final Steps! The Second Stage of the Prodigy Assessment

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Inside the Martial Emperors Relic Palace, within that massive palace hall, successive loud air-shattering sounds echoed.

A figure, whose robes were tattered, body covered in grime, and hair extremely disheveled—resembling a madman—was practicing his saber within the hall.

As streams of the Milky Way rotated, terrifying might bloomed from his saber light.

That might was incomparably stronger than half a year ago, nearly approaching the Late Stage of the Innate True Essence Realm, possessing incredible power.

But... "Why is this so difficult! How can this 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body' be so hard!"

In the palace, Lin Yi's saber light suddenly paused. He stared fixedly at the ancient characters on the golden stone pillar ahead, his eyes filled with madness:

"For the past half year, I have painstakingly comprehended this 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body,' barely eating and daring not to sleep much."

"Under my constant comprehension, I have managed to deduce nine different versions. Each version has allowed my strength to increase slightly, but..."

"Wrong, wrong, wrong!"

"No matter what I deduce from this 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body,' every final result points toward a dead end."

"Am I just too foolish, unable to grasp the true essence and profound mystery of this Cultivation Technique? Or is this so-called Innate Body Refining rank Cultivation Technique, the 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body,' actually a fake technique!"

Looking at the ancient golden text on the stone pillar, Lin Yi's eyes turned red.

Cultivating for half a year, painstakingly comprehending the 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body,' and then repeatedly deducing various methods from this 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body,' yet the results were all wrong.

Under such setbacks, even with Lin Yi's firm Heart-Nature, he couldn't help but doubt himself at this moment.

However... "Whoosh!"

Just as Lin Yi grew increasingly frustrated, suddenly, a cool sensation arose from the depths of his Divine Soul.

The half-step mystic purple rank explosive talent, "Abyssal Dragon in the Wild," activated. In an instant, Lin Yi's agitated state of mind was completely smoothed over.

"Hah! I was getting attached!"

In the palace, Lin Yi let out a breath, his state of mind becoming calm again:

"The assessment of the Martial Emperors Relic Palace is inherently extremely difficult. Even geniuses like the Ancestors of the Three Great Sacred Lands and the Old Ancestor of the Great Yuan Dynasty did not qualify to start this assessment."

"Although my talent is slightly higher than theirs, it only barely reaches the bottom line required to start this Heavenly Pride Assessment."

"Therefore, my failure this time was highly probable. Success would have been the low-probability event!"

"Forget it! Since there are still three days left before the first trial of the assessment ends."

"For these three days, I will cultivate with all my strength. I won't seek success, only a clear conscience, doing my best! Let's begin!"

Lin Yi spoke softly, then his body suddenly sat cross-legged. He closed his eyes and fully immersed himself in cultivation.

As his state of mind stabilized and the "Abyssal Dragon in the Wild" talent continued to exert its power, Lin Yi felt the speed of his thoughts operating in his mind climbing rapidly.

Within the ninth version, he now discovered previously unseen flaws, and imperfect operational aspects were corrected one by one.

Furthermore, Lin Yi gained layers of new insights regarding the 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body' on the golden stone pillar.

Thus, under Lin Yi's quiet cultivation, the time remaining until the assessment ended drew nearer and nearer.

Three days!

Two days!

One day!

...Ten hours!

...Five hours!

...Two hours!

One hour!

...Half an hour!

Three quarters of an hour!

Two quarters of an hour!

Finally, just when the time remaining until the assessment ended was only one quarter of an hour.

"Buzz!"

In the palace, Lin Yi suddenly opened his eyes.

At this moment, his eyes held no madness, no excitement, only a hint of faint joy and a light smile on his face:

"So that's how it is!"

"Heavenly Origin Forging the Foundation, Profound Spirit Opening the Meridians!"

"This is the ultimate mystery of the 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body.'"

"I understand!"

As the words fell, Lin Yi, who had been sitting cross-legged, abruptly stood up.

Immediately.

"Kaka Kaka!"

A dense sound of bone friction echoed from within Lin Yi's body.

At this moment, inside Lin Yi's body, all his bones, muscles, fascia, tissues, and even every single cell were rapidly reorganizing.

It was like gravel turning into fine steel, an ant transforming into an elephant, a python evolving into a flood dragon!

In almost every instant, every second, his Physical Body was furiously evolving and transforming!

Simultaneously, his aura also grew rapidly amidst this transformation.

Until finally, when Lin Yi stood up completely, his aura was countless times stronger than before!

Just standing there alone, it was as if thousands of troops and horses had formed surging waves of Qi and blood, charging forward.

This was an unbelievably powerful Physical Body, a terrifying Physical Body whose sheer physical strength could rival that of an Innate expert!

With this Physical Body, even though Lin Yi was still at the First Rank, his strength was enough to surpass the Peak experts of the Innate True Essence Realm in the world!

The Innate-Grade Body Refining technique, 'Heavenly Origin Profound Spirit Body,' had been entered!

"Assessor Number 0000396!"

The moment Lin Yi's Physical Body completed its transformation, the mechanical voice in the golden palace sounded again:

"Congratulations, you have successfully passed the Body Refining Trial of the first stage of the Heavenly Pride Assessment!"

"Passing this stage signifies that you have taken an extremely important first step on the path to changing your destiny. Your fate has the potential to become utterly different from the countless beings in the history of the Nine Provinces Continent."

"However, whether you can truly change your own destiny depends on whether you can pass the Will Trial of the second stage of the Heavenly Pride Assessment."

"So, work hard!"

"Rumble!"

As the voice faded, about a thousand meters in front of Lin Yi, boundless golden light instantly converged.

The infinite golden light was as dazzling as the great sun, illuminating the entire space.

After a full three breaths, a massive golden stone pillar finally formed before Lin Yi.

The golden stone pillar seemed both real and illusory, as if existing in the real world yet also hovering in the void.

But when Lin Yi looked at it, waves of terrifying illusions and Will impacts rapidly rushed towards him.

That Will impact was countless times stronger than the willpower stone pillar of Tianshan Pavilion. Even though Lin Yi was a thousand meters away, he felt his Will subjected to a terrifying sense of oppression.

This sense of oppression was likely equivalent to standing within a hundred meters of the willpower stone pillar.

"This is the Will Trial of the second stage of the Heavenly Pride Assessment?"

"How can the difficulty be this high?"

Seeing this scene, Lin Yi's expression changed slightly, and even his calm heart could not help but ripple instantly.