141: Congratulations, Dao Master, advanced energy-charging materials have been detected.

The oppressive feeling from a thousand meters away was equivalent to that within a hundred meters of the willpower stone pillar.

If he wanted to reach the end, Lin Yi felt that his Divine Soul willpower would likely need to reach at least the level of an ordinary Early Stage Xiantian Golden Core Realm powerhouse on the Nine Provinces Continent.

And how powerful were Xiantian Golden Core Realm experts? There were no more than a hundred of them in the entire Nine Provinces Continent!

In any province or any faction, they were considered prominent powerhouses.

Their willpower was terrifying; even enduring a thousand cuts or being fried in a pot of oil would be treated as trivial!

Their Divine Souls were powerful, each having reached the second level of Divine Soul, the "Essence Control" Realm!

Although Lin Yi had already reached the "Spirit Driving" level of the Divine Soul half a year ago, he had only reached that level back then by taking medicine.

So for the past half year, Lin Yi had been dealing with the side effects of the medicine. His Divine Soul power had hardly increased at all, being only about five percent stronger than it was six months ago.

As for his willpower? To be honest, his willpower was not even as strong as his Divine Soul power!

After all, Lin Yi's Divine Soul power had been enhanced by several soul-type treasures, such as the "soul profound spirit fruit" and the "water-fire one qi grape."

However, his willpower had not been strengthened by any treasures. Thus, although half a year had passed, his pure willpower strength was now barely at the level of fifty meters before the willpower stone pillar, still a long way from the Early Stage Innate True Essence Realm.

Therefore, if the willpower stage of the second round of the Heavenly Pride Assessment required him to walk to the end of this illusory golden stone pillar, he would almost certainly fail unless he was given ten or twenty years.

"Examinee No. 0000396!"

Inside the golden palace, just as Lin Yi was frowning in thought, that mechanical voice rang out once more:

"As you can see, the illusory golden stone pillar before you is the key object used to test you in the second round of the Heavenly Pride Assessment."

"This is a projection of an extremely powerful willpower-type treasure, possessing a sliver of that treasure's power."

"If you wish to completely conquer this golden pillar projection, then by the standards of your Nine Provinces Continent, both your Divine Soul and willpower would likely need to reach the average level of an Early Stage Xiantian Golden Core Realm powerhouse on the Nine Provinces Continent."

"Of course, as a First-Rank Martial Artist, you do not need to achieve that."

"In this assessment, you only need to enter within the first 700 meters of this golden pillar projection within three years, which means your Divine Soul and willpower should roughly reach the average level of an ordinary Middle Stage Innate True Essence Realm Martial Artist on the Nine Provinces Continent."

"Hm? Within three years, my Divine Soul and willpower must reach the average level of an ordinary Middle Stage Innate True Essence Realm Grandmaster?"

"Whew! That's alright! Although this difficulty is still as hard as reaching the heavens, it's better than I imagined."

Hearing this, Lin Yi let out a long sigh of relief.

One must know that his willpower talent was already extraordinary, being a mystic purple rank talent.

Coupled with the potential-bursting talent "Abyssal Dragon in the Wild" and the help of this golden pillar projection treasure, which was even more powerful than the willpower stone pillar...

It was foreseeable that his willpower would improve at an incredibly rapid pace, much faster than geniuses like Jiang Hanhan, who also possessed a mystic purple rank willpower talent!

Furthermore, Lin Yi remembered that when he first started the Heavenly Pride Assessment half a year ago, the mechanical voice had mentioned that if he passed the first round, he would not only gain eligibility for the second round but also receive some extra rewards.

If these rewards included treasures that could enhance the Divine Soul, the hope of passing this second round would be even greater!

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

Inside the palace, while Lin Yi was still silently pondering, the space ten meters in front of him fluctuated once more as the mechanical voice faded.

Immediately after, three treasures suddenly emerged from the void.

The first of these three treasures was a magical fruit about the size of an apple, crystal clear and containing flowing strands of seven-colored quicksand inside; it looked like an incredibly miraculous seven-colored gemstone, incomparably beautiful.

The second was a blood-red Medicinal Pill emitting visible waves of red aura; at first glance, it looked like some kind of blood pill refined by a demonic sect, but its aura wasn't as evil as the legendary blood pills, instead emitting a wafting fragrance.

As for the third, it was a stone about half the size of a palm, emerald green all over and brimming with the breath of life; it looked like a peerless precious jade, emitting a shimmering green light.

"Examinee No. 0000396! These are the rewards you have earned for passing the first round of the assessment."

After the three treasures appeared, before Lin Yi could even ask, the mechanical voice immediately explained:

"Of these three treasures, the first is named the Seven-Colored Heart-Washing Fruit, a High Grade Innate 'Epiphany-type' Heaven And Earth Treasure."

"After consuming it, the magical power contained within the fruit will cleanse your heart, leaving it free of any distracting thoughts and causing you to quickly enter a state of Epiphany."

"This Epiphany will last for a total of seven days. During these seven days, how much you gain depends entirely on your own Innate Comprehension Ability."

"If your comprehension is high, your gains will naturally be great; if it's low, your gains will be small."

"In short, this is a Heaven And Earth Treasure with a quite high ceiling and a low floor, but for someone like you who could pass the first round of the Heavenly Pride Assessment, this treasure should be quite good."

"As for the second treasure, it is named the Demon Blood Essence Pill, a special Medium Grade Innate Medicinal Pill."

"It has only one function: within fifteen minutes after an Innate Martial Artist consumes the pill, it will cause their internal blood-qi and true essence power to surge by more than half a level."

"At that time, even an Early Stage Xiantian True Essence Martial Artist can rival the Peak Innate True Essence Realm, a Peak Innate True Essence Realm can rival the Early Stage Xiantian Golden Core Realm, and a Peak Xiantian Golden Core Realm can even rival the Early Stage Innate Golden Core Realm; their strength will increase tremendously."

"What's more precious is that it basically has no side effects, making it a decent life-saving treasure."

"As for the final treasure, it is called a Spirit Stone, a convergence of the true essence of Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth."

"Its uses are extensive; it can be used for array formation, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and even for cultivation. It's quite precious, and in the entire Nine Provinces Continent, only my Martial Emperors Relic Palace possesses them."

The mechanical voice explained slowly. Each treasure was incredibly precious; in the outside world, even a Innate Golden Core expert would likely fight for them out of envy.

However, the more Lin Yi listened, the colder his heart became.

That's right!

These three treasures were indeed incredibly miraculous.

But right now, he was facing a Divine Soul and willpower assessment!

If a treasure couldn't enhance the Divine Soul or willpower, then no matter how powerful it was, what use would it be?

No matter how powerful these three treasures were, could they possibly be more powerful than the rewards for passing the second round of the Heavenly Pride Assessment?

Although, after his realizations from the first round, his attitude toward this Heavenly Pride Assessment was originally one of "it's my luck if I get it, my fate if I don't," and just doing his best...

...seeing that not one of these three treasures could help him, Lin Yi still couldn't help but feel a surge of disappointment from the depths of his heart.

"Buzz!"

Inside the palace, just as Lin Yi's heart was turning cold, he suddenly felt the attribute panel in his mind vibrate.

The next moment, a line of illusory text slowly rose before Lin Yi's eyes:

"Congratulations, Dao Lord. High-Level Charging Material detected. Charging will greatly increase the Dao Lord's current charging progress. Does the Dao Lord wish to charge it?"