Central Hall, Land of Trial.
As Ying Bing stepped out of the passage, her cold gaze quickly swept across the surroundings.
Just as she was about to find a corner to meditate and wait for the other two—
"Hey!"
A clear voice suddenly rang out.
Ying Bing's steps abruptly halted, a flicker of surprise flashing in her usually calm eyes.
She turned around swiftly, looking incredulously toward the source of the sound.
Only to see Gu Xing lazily leaning against a stone pillar, with Liu Li quietly hovering by his side.
The familiar Angel Guardian Beast was tilting its head curiously, sizing her up.
"You..."
Ying Bing, normally composed, was at a rare loss for words.
During the trial, she had held nothing back, with the Ice Phoenix exerting its full strength.
Even so... she was still slower than this person?
After a moment of silence, Ying Bing finally stepped forward, her cold voice tinged with hesitation:
"How long have you been here?"
Gu Xing raised his eyes, meeting the slightly furrowed brows of the ice beauty, and replied casually:
"About ten minutes or so."
"!"
Ying Bing's pupils contracted slightly.
A ten-minute gap!
This meant that the other person's Guardian Beast was far more powerful than the Ice Phoenix!
Perhaps sensing its master's thoughts, the Ice Phoenix on Ying Bing's shoulder defiantly flapped its wings.
Ying Bing reached out to soothe the Ice Phoenix, nodded toward Gu Xing, and then turned to walk to the other side of the hall.
Yet her indifferent gaze continued to wander between Gu Xing and Liu Li.
Time slipped away in silence, with no movement from the third channel.
Gu Xing's expression gradually grew serious.
It seemed Qin Tian had encountered an accident; otherwise, he couldn't possibly take so long without clearing the trials.
Ying Bing also furrowed her slender brows, her long fingers unconsciously caressing the Ice Phoenix's feathers.
This year, they had finally gathered three SSS Level geniuses, and if they couldn't clear the trial this year...
It was at this moment that Gu Xing suddenly stood up.
"Liu Li, let's go!"
"Where are you going?" Ying Bing turned her head in surprise.
"To the rescue."
Two simple words caused Ying Bing's pupils to contract.
She watched Gu Xing stride toward the entryway of Qin Tian's passage and instantly understood his intention.
"You're insane!"
Her normally calm voice was raised unusually high.
The second-round assessment was about individual ability; once someone intervened, the difficulty would immediately triple!
If the final round had ten Awakening Tier Seven Enhanced Puppets alongside the compounded Balanced Force Field...
Even with Gu Xing's strength being greater than hers, he would have no chance of passing.
But Gu Xing's stride showed no hesitation.
Although Wei Yuan promised that regardless of this trial's outcome, he would give him the Light Crystal.
But he was not a person who liked to owe favors.
What could be done, must be done best.
"Liu Li!"
The little angel's eyes burned with a fierce fighting spirit.
The master's will was the beast's highest mission!
Wherever the master pointed, even if ahead was an abyss or fiery mountains, she would pave the way for the master!
"Blazing Angel·Complete Liberation!"
Under Ying Bing's shocked gaze, Liu Li transformed into a War Angel bathed in Holy Flame, the crimson brilliance lighting up the whole hall.
"Liu Li, once inside, you must immediately take out half of the puppets; otherwise, with ten Balanced Force Fields compounded, even you would be suppressed."
"Understood!" Liu Li's response carried an unprecedented seriousness.
"Then—" Gu Xing took a deep breath, "Charge!"
The two figures instantly disappeared into the dark passage.
Ying Bing stood in place, stunned, her ice-blue eyes reflecting the gradually fading glow of the Holy Flame.
After a long while, she gently patted the Ice Phoenix on her shoulder, her voice soft as if murmuring to herself:
"Ice Phoenix, do you think... we truly deserve to be called geniuses?"
...
The dark passage, with War Tree Man's knotted branches firmly protecting Qin Tian in the core.
"Boom!"
Another heavy punch struck the tree trunk fiercely, wood chips flying, as the Awakening Tier Seven Trial Puppet's eyes flashed with scarlet light.
If not for War Tree Man's "Ironwood Barrier" skill, Qin Tian might have already been eliminated.
"Damn it..."
Curling up inside the tree cocoon, Qin Tian gritted his teeth, his joints whitening from the excessive force.
The War Tree Man's vines whipped the puppet, but only left shallow marks...
The two sides were thus caught in an eerie stalemate.
"Damn it, why is this Trial Puppet so strong!? Is this trial really something humans can clear?"
Watching the Trial Puppet's relentless attacks on War Tree Man's trunk, Qin Tian's expression was incredibly grim.
"Tree Man, Root Strangulation."
War Tree Man's knotted roots burst from the ground, striking the puppet's chest like a giant python, yet only leaving shallow marks on the metallic shell.
The Trial Puppet merely staggered backward a few steps, its scarlet eyes flashed twice, and it lunged again.
The previous attack hadn't caused any real damage to the Trial Puppet.
The alloy-made Trial Puppet was a natural nemesis of physically-oriented Guardian Beasts like the War Tree Man.
And after defeating this Trial Puppet....
In the next room, there were still three Awakening Tier Seven Trial Puppets.
Thinking of this, a wave of despair surged in Qin Tian's heart.
"Should... I give up?"
However.
This thought had just surfaced, when a deafening explosion suddenly echoed from deep within the passage.
Blazing white light surged like a tide, instantly swallowing the Trial Puppet!
When the dust settled, Qin Tian's widened eyes reflected an impossible figure.
"How... how can it be you?!"
His voice stuck in his throat, his fingertips trembling involuntarily.
He never expected that the one to rescue him from the depths of the passage would be the Gu Xing he initially despised.
Gu Xing's presence here... Qin Tian knew perfectly what it meant.
Gu Xing raised an eyebrow at Qin, covered in wood chips, "Oh, is Young Master Qin so beaten by the puppets he can't recognize his savior?"
"You! You..."
Qin Tian's face was flushed, his pointed finger traced an agitated arc in the air, yet he couldn't utter a coherent sentence.
"Enough," Gu Xing put away his playful demeanor, "Time to go, Young Master Qin."
In the final space, the Trial Puppet had already been dealt with by Gu Xing, leaving the whole passage clear.
When Gu Xing returned to the hall with the dazed Qin Tian, the once prideful scion was still in shock.
His gaze mechanically shifted between Gu Xing and Ying Bing, eventually accepting a ludicrous reality.
This "country bumpkin," not only outpaced him but might be even much stronger than Kyoto's top genius.
And Ying Bing at this moment—
Her cold gaze was firmly locked onto Gu Xing, as if observing a creature defying all logic.
He really cleared the trial with a tripled difficulty on his own!
He truly defeated ten Awakening Tier Seven Enhanced Trial Puppets!
...
...