The riddle was almost identical to a classic logic puzzle he'd heard in his previous life—so simple it was laughable. He only needed to ask Shan Yu Lai a single question, and the answer would be clear.
"Uh…" Shan Yu Lai's horse head froze, clearly caught off guard. This was the first time anyone had asked him that kind of question.
Normally, challengers would ask which door was real and which was fake, then reason it out themselves. But for Li Chang'an to cut straight to the heart of it—that was something Shan Yu Lai had never encountered. He was momentarily dumbfounded.
"…The second door."
He wasn't stupid, and after a moment's thought, he realized what Li Chang'an had done. Still, he had to answer. But inside, his shock was unavoidable.
'Kids these days… were they all this monstrous?'
"Then that means the first door is the real path to the second trial." Li Chang'an smiled faintly. From Shan Yu Lai's reaction alone, he knew he had struck true.
"Congratulations, you're correct." Shan Yu Lai admitted sourly. He wasn't pleased in the least—he'd thought himself clever, but Li Chang'an had cut him down without mercy.
Out of the four present, only Li Chang'an and Shan Yu Lai understood the exchange. Mu Xi and Feng Man Lou were both utterly bewildered.
When Li Chang'an had blurted out his question, Mu Xi had tried to follow along, racking her brain. Yet even now she still wore the same blank expression.
As for Feng Man Lou, he had no clue what had just happened. He felt like he was just here to fill space.
"Honored senior, may we have the second question?" Li Chang'an asked, his tone steady and confident. If every trial was like this, he'd breeze through them.
"The second question is different. This time, you may ask us anything—but only once. If you can stump us before the sand runs out, you'll pass."
"However, the question must not be nonsensical," Shan Yu Lai warned quickly, worried this crafty youth might try some outrageous trick.
Still, he was confident. He had guarded this place for countless years; his knowledge of the Douluo Continent was vast. He was practically a walking encyclopedia.
"In that case, I'll ask." Li Chang'an wore a harmless smile, playing the picture of innocence.
But that smile only made Shan Yu Lai uneasy.
"Honored senior, tell me—what came first, the chicken or the egg?" Li Chang'an tossed out the age-old paradox with ease.
It was a perfect trap—an eternal debate with no definitive answer. No matter how they responded, he could argue the opposite.
"I know, I know! The chicken came first!" Feng Man Lou shouted eagerly, finally seizing a chance to show off.
"Idiot brother, it was obviously the egg first! How could there be a chicken without an egg?" Shan Yu Lai barked back at him.
"No, the chicken!"
"No, the egg!"
"Damn it, I'll beat your horse balls in!"
"Foolish brother, your balls are mine too—watch me kick your horse legs!"
Li Chang'an:
'… Was this really necessary?'
"Honored seniors, does this mean I've passed?" he asked politely as the sand in the hourglass finally ran out.
"Pass, pass! Go already! Today I swear I'll break my brother's legs!" Feng Man Lou snapped, still fuming.
Behind them, the wall rippled again, revealing two vast black doors.
Li Chang'an ignored the squabbling brothers, taking Mu Xi by the hand and stepping through the dark passageway.
"Chang'an… am I useless?" Mu Xi asked suddenly as they walked. Her voice was soft, tinged with guilt. She felt her wits were slow, her strength weak—like nothing more than a burden dragging him down.
"How could you be? Don't overthink it. With you by my side, I can fight at two hundred percent."
Li Chang'an reached over, gently stroking her head, his eyes full of tenderness.
"Really?" Her peach-blossom eyes sparkled with a hint of hope.
"Really."
Talking as they went, they walked the tunnel for about ten minutes before a faint glow appeared ahead. The second trial's chamber awaited.
Unlike the pitch-darkness of the first trial, this room gleamed with pale golden walls, brightly lit and far larger than before.
But the atmosphere… it felt like an arena.
And at its center sat a figure, cross-legged with eyes closed. Even at a distance, a suffocating aura poured from him.
It wasn't his cultivation alone that made him terrifying—though his level as a Contra was formidable enough. What truly chilled the air was the killing intent radiating from his body.
It was vast, suffocating, so thick it nearly took physical form, pressing into the lungs of anyone nearby.
An old man. His hair and beard were snow-white, his body thin and hunched. Yet from that frail frame burst a murderous aura that could drown the room.
How many men—and spirit beasts—had he slaughtered to condense such overwhelming bloodlust?
Even Li Chang'an, tempered in the Hell Slaughter Arena and possessor of the Death God Domain, felt an unease crawl over his skin. The killing aura of this old man far surpassed his own.
Among all he had seen, only the Slaughter King himself could rival it.
And then he noticed the chains.
The old man's wrists and ankles were shackled, each link bolted into the golden walls. One chain even pierced straight through his shoulder blade.
A prisoner—yet terrifying nonetheless.
'Even bound like this, his cultivation still burned at the Contra level. What kind of monster had he been at his peak?'
Li Chang'an and Mu Xi stopped at the chamber's edge, exchanging a grave glance. The weight in their eyes said everything.
For Li Chang'an, who had roamed the continent for over a decade, this was one of the rare times he truly felt pressed.
"…So you've come?"
The old man's murky eyes slowly opened, locking onto them.
And the moment he did, the air rippled with visible waves of black killing intent, surging toward Li Chang'an and Mu Xi like a storm.
Ten thousand years of honed bloodlust—today it shows its fangs!
"Chang'an, be careful!"
Mu Xi rushed a few steps ahead, trying to shield him with her body. She hadn't been able to help during the first trial—this time, she refused to be a burden.
The killing intent was overwhelming. With their powers suppressed to the level of Spirit
Elders, she doubted even Chang'an could withstand it.
___
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