"The contents of the four-stage assessment are confidential and cannot be disclosed to you at this time."
"As for the reward, it is the chance to observe the secret art imprints left behind by the ancient Sages of the Soaring Cloud Sect within the Eternal Sky Heavenly Tablet."
"By observing these secret art imprints, you may gain the opportunity to comprehend the secret art once practiced by those Sages. However, only a genius with exceptionally high comprehension and sufficient fortune can truly obtain such enlightenment."
"Even if no comprehension is achieved, there will be no loss. Simply observing these secret art imprints will still bring great benefit to your future cultivation path."
The ethereal and hollow voice echoed calmly through the void.
"Secret art imprints left by the Sages of the Soaring Cloud Sect?"
Li Yun’s eyes brightened instantly, and a keen interest appeared on his face.
What truly stirred his excitement was not the secret arts themselves, but the Martial Dao experience embedded within those imprints. Secret arts may only serve for a limited period, but the insights of Martial Dao left behind by ancient Sages can benefit one for a lifetime.
At times, such experience can spark a moment of sudden enlightenment, resolving long-standing doubts, breaking through bottlenecks, and allowing one’s cultivation to surge forward in leaps and bounds. This was what cultivators called an epiphany.
Li Yun’s own comprehension of the sword intent seed was a perfect example. He had only been able to condense that seed because he possessed an extremely solid foundation in the Sword Dao, built through repeatedly mastering his sword arts to the true meaning stage.
Yet a sword intent seed was merely the beginning, not the end. With guidance drawn from the Martial Dao experience of those ancient Sages, he might be able to refine that seed into true sword intent.
That was why the mention of these secret art imprints filled Li Yun with anticipation.
"To gain the qualification to observe the secret art imprints, you must first pass the trial."
"Now, the trial begins."
"First Stage Trial: Endless Starlight."
"Trial Rules: Under the assault of the Endless Starlight, persist for the duration of one incense stick. If you remain alive when the incense stick burns out, you will pass."
As the final words fell, the ethereal voice faded away, and the boundless darkness returned to its silent calm.
Whoosh, whoosh.
In the distant void, countless points of light suddenly flared into existence, shining like stars scattered across a vast galaxy.
In the next instant, those lights trembled and burst into motion, drawing dazzling streaks across the dark space as they roared toward Li Yun like a raging storm.
Their might was like a heavenly river bursting its banks or a mountain torrent crashing down, fierce beyond measure. Wherever they passed, the surrounding space shuddered violently under their overwhelming force.
"Is this the first stage of the trial?"
Li Yun narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze. Only then did he clearly see that the roaring lights were not vague radiance at all, but brilliant, spear-shaped beams of light.
Those spear-like beams moved with terrifying speed, faster than lightning itself. The moment Li Yun registered their presence, one of them had already torn through the air and arrived before him, stabbing straight toward his head.
Li Yun’s expression changed slightly.
From the tip of that spear-shaped beam, waves of extremely sharp Qi radiated outward. Merely grazing his body, that Qi produced a sensation like being scraped by a blade, sending a sharp, tearing pain across him.
This was only the residual Qi, yet it was already so frighteningly sharp. If his consciousness body were struck directly by the spear-like beam, the consequences would be extremely severe.
Although this body was formed from consciousness and would not injure his true body even if it were pierced through, damage to his consciousness was still no trivial matter. Such injuries would bring great trouble later on.
For that reason, Li Yun did not dare show the slightest carelessness.
"Break!"
He roared, lifting his hand and punching forward.
Bang.
A burst of force erupted as his fist collided with the spear-shaped beam, shattering it on the spot. Even so, the recoil forced Li Yun to stagger back two or three steps.
"The power of a single spear-like beam is roughly equivalent to the full-force strike of a Martial Artist at the third level of the Xiantian Realm. This is troublesome."
After that single exchange, Li Yun had already gauged their strength, and a bitter smile crept onto his face.
If there were only one such beam, he would not have cared in the slightest. An attack on that level would not injure him at all, even if he stood still and took it head-on with his physical body.
Unfortunately, there was far more than just one.
When Li Yun looked ahead, he saw that the air within several hundred meters was completely filled with spear-like beams of light.
They were like countless fish surging across a river, endless and overwhelming.
A rough estimate put their number at no less than hundreds of thousands.
Each beam carried the power of a full-strength strike from a Xiantian Realm third-level Martial Artist. Hundreds of thousands of such beams together meant the combined assault of hundreds of thousands of Martial Artists at the third level of the Xiantian Realm.
Just how terrifying would the might of such a simultaneous attack be?
Li Yun did not know the exact answer.
He only knew that if he were truly forced to face such an onslaught head-on, then even his Golden Battle Body, already cultivated to the fourth stage, would be utterly insufficient. Even if it were strengthened by two additional stages, it would still be blown apart in an instant, reduced to nothing but dust.
Fortunately, the spear-shaped beams did not descend all at once. Instead, they attacked in successive waves, arriving in groups with a distinct rhythm and pattern.
That brief gap gave Li Yun a sliver of breathing room.
Even so, he did not dare relax for even a moment.
He drew in a deep breath, and a grave expression settled across his face. A low rumble echoed within him as the Qi in his body began to circulate at full power.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Seven or eight spear-like beams tore through the darkness once more, their shrill whistling sounds cutting sharply through the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Li Yun’s arms trembled as he unleashed a flurry of strikes, fists and palms moving together as fierce shadows and surging winds exploded outward. The incoming beams shattered one after another, but the recoil sent Li Yun flying backward once again, and the Qi within his body grew increasingly unstable.
Seeing this, he immediately began circulating all three of his cultivation arts simultaneously. The Sun Refining Scripture at the ninth layer, the Heavenflow Wind Scripture at the ninth layer, and the low grade profound rank Overlord Thunder Scripture at the seventh layer all roared into motion within him.
Yet the spear-like beams showed no intention of granting him even the slightest chance to recover.
The instant one wave exploded, another followed close behind, shrieking through the air at terrifying speed. Their velocity was so extreme that even a Martial Artist at the fourth level of the Xiantian Realm would likely be pierced before they could react.
"Golden Battle Body!"
Li Yun did not hesitate. With a sharp shout, he activated his Golden Battle Body, and his entire form was instantly bathed in brilliant golden light. Immense power surged through his limbs and bones, and he lashed out with a backhand palm, crushing the incoming beams.
With Li Yun’s current cultivation, a Martial Artist at the third level of the Xiantian Realm, no matter how strong, was no more than an ant before him, something he could casually swat to death.
But this was different.
No matter how powerful a hero might be, they cannot withstand an endless pack of wolves. Even ants, when gathered in overwhelming numbers, can bring down an elephant.
What made matters worse was that his true physical body was not present. His consciousness form could not access his storage ring, which meant he could not draw his sword. Without his sword techniques, the methods he excelled at most, his combat options were severely limited.
The spear-shaped beams arrived without pause, each wave denser than the last, and each surge moving faster than the one before.
At the beginning, Li Yun was still able to hold them back, but as time dragged on, the strain on him grew heavier. Little by little, he failed to keep pace with their terrifying speed. Several times, his defenses faltered, and the beams slammed squarely into his body.
Relying on the formidable resilience of the Golden Battle Body, Li Yun could shrug off one or two direct hits. Yet as the impacts accumulated, injuries inevitably appeared. The Golden Battle Body was powerful, but it had not yet reached a truly invincible realm.
"Pfft!"
More than a hundred spear beams crashed into Li Yun’s chest at once. Their combined force erupted violently, sending him flying backward as blood spilled from his mouth.
Most of the time required for a single incense stick had already passed. If he could endure just a little longer, the first trial would be cleared.
As he was hurled through the air, Li Yun raised his hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, silently calculating the remaining time. When he realized how little was left, a bitter and helpless smile crept across his face. This was the first time he had ever felt that the burning of a single incense stick could be so unbearably long.
"Not good!"
The thought had barely formed when an overwhelming sense of danger surged through him.
Li Yun snapped his head up and his heart sank. He had already been completely encircled. Above and below, to the left and right, and in every direction, the air was packed with dense spear-shaped beams. There were at least twenty thousand of them.
In an instant, Li Yun’s expression darkened.
Boom!
The spear beams showed no hesitation. The moment they converged, a thunderous roar shook the void, and the countless beams poured down like a raging storm, mercilessly blasting toward Li Yun.
The sight was like a pack of ravenous wolves exposing their fangs, charging together to tear their prey apart.
"Golden Overlord Seal!"
Li Yun refused to wait for death and directly unleashed the full power of the fourth-tier secret art Golden Overlord Seal. This secret art drew upon the raw strength within the body to form a seal, with its might rising in direct proportion to the power poured into it.
His hands formed seals, and within his palms it was as though a blazing sun had risen. Endless golden light erupted outward, condensing rapidly in the air until it formed a massive golden seal nearly a hundred centimeters across, towering like a radiant golden mountain.
If Shen Feng had witnessed this scene, he would have been driven to despair.
The Golden Overlord Seal was his own signature secret art, yet after cultivating it for several years, he could only manage to form a seal fifty centimeters in size. Compared to that, Li Yun had achieved such a result in barely a month.
They were both human, but the gap between them was nothing short of staggering.
"Haa!"
Li Yun roared as his body shot upward, appearing directly above the Golden Overlord Seal. His arms stretched out like a dragon rising from the depths, and his massive hands firmly seized the seal.
With a violent swing, Li Yun hurled the Golden Overlord Seal forward. The scene was savage and overwhelming, as if an ancient giant were wielding a mountain and smashing it down with brute force toward the countless spear beams filling the sky.
Boom!
The power unleashed by Li Yun’s all-out strike was terrifying. The instant the Golden Overlord Seal crashed forward, thousands of spear beams shattered on the spot, exploding into scattered light.
Yet the number of spear beams was simply too great. Li Yun had no way to annihilate them all in a single blow.
As the force of the Golden Overlord Seal waned, the remaining spear beams surged back in retaliation. Like falling meteors, they slammed into the seal one after another, striking it relentlessly.
Crack.
Under the dense barrage, the Golden Overlord Seal shuddered violently, emitting strained vibrations.
A sharp cracking sound followed as fractures appeared on its surface. The cracks spread rapidly, branching out like a spiderweb until they covered the entire seal. In the next instant, a thunderous explosion rang out as the Golden Overlord Seal shattered completely.
"Pfft!"
A violent backlash surged through Li Yun’s body. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward in a miserable state.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Even now, more than a thousand spear beams remained in the air. They carved sharp arcs through space and streaked toward Li Yun like bolts of lightning.
With no strength left to resist, Li Yun could only stare helplessly as the beams closed in on him.
"Damn it! Am I really going to fail at the very first trial?"

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