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"That’s the master’s grandson," Zhou Yi An released his grip on Yang Gui Xiang’s robe and spoke to him, "but don’t tell the young master about the old master’s affairs. The old master doesn’t want him to know yet."
As Zhou Yi An resolved his confusion, the bloody hue in Yang Gui Xiang’s pupils slowly faded away. He looked toward the two Human Clan disciples in red and white robes who had not yet passed through the portal, sending a message via Soul Consciousness.
"The young man in white robes, possessing the strength of the Sky Breaking Realm at the Sky Crossing Stage, is named Lin Qian. If he doesn’t come out alive, you two need not bother returning either."
No sooner had Yang Gui Xiang finished speaking than the two disciples from Blood Spirit Valley looked at each other, evidently surprised by their elder’s words.
However, they were also well aware that since their elder had spoken, he meant to see it done; to disobey could lead to dire consequences!
The two disciples bowed to Yang Gui Xiang in the air and then turned to rush into the portal.
After giving his instructions, Yang Gui Xiang then turned to Zhou Yi An, frowning deeply, "Knowing his identity, you still allowed him to enter the relic? This relic is an unknown territory, unpredictable in life and death. If something happens to the young master, can you bear the responsibility?"
"It is the old master’s will to let things take their course without much interference, allowing him to grow through hardships and myriad temperings," Zhou Yi An responded unflinchingly to Yang Gui Xiang’s accusation. "Moreover, do you really think the young master is weak? In my view, even if those two disciples from your Blood Spirit Valley joined forces, they are no match for him."
"Did you just instruct those two disciples to protect the young master? Hmph, when the time comes, we’ll see who actually needs protection."
After sending his message through Soul Consciousness, Zhou Yi An didn’t bother to look at the astonished Yang Gui Xiang, but simply closed his eyes, floating cross-legged in mid-air, quietly waiting.
The next year would belong to the geniuses inside the relic.
Upon entering the portal, the world around Lin Qian, enveloped in white brilliance, was a blur. He felt the world spinning, and the hand he was holding, belonging to Ye Xin, was no longer there.
When Lin Qian’s sight finally restored, he found himself in a strange space.
Surrounding him was void-like, tranquil darkness, with only a corridor beneath his feet extending forward, flickering with dim light, illuminating the limited space.
The material of the corridor was a greyish metal called Repelling Spirit Silver, highly durable especially when facing Soul Power.
Repelling Spirit Silver had great defensive and repelling strength against Soul Power—the intensity of any Soul Power attack upon it would be directly halved.
However, due to this property, Repelling Spirit Silver could not be used as material for Soul Devices or Primordial Weapons.
Lin Qian looked around briefly, feeling no rush to move but instead sensing his condition, finding nothing out of the ordinary.
Above him, faintly, was a barrier blocking, with the maximum altitude he could ascend to being only so high, unable to go further.
Simultaneously, similar barriers existed behind him and on both sides of the corridor.
That meant, Lin Qian had only one choice before him, to move forward.
"This Small World is quite interesting," although he did not understand why entering the Small World placed him in such a space.
Resigned to his situation, Lin Qian began walking forward after assessing his circumstances.
As Lin Qian started to move, the huge corridor beneath him, twenty feet wide, began to show the light from an Array, and a row of words appeared in the space before him.
"The Path of Battle?" Knowing the name of the corridor beneath him, a look of astonishment crossed Lin Qian’s face, truly finding the name distasteful.
The content of those words made Lin Qian understand what this so-called ’Path of Battle’ was really about.
To enter the real "Small World" of the ruins, one must inevitably travel this path of combat.
On this path, one would encounter one adversary after another, all puppets created through a combination of the Path of Artifact Refining and Array.
Only those who had won three battles were eligible to enter the real "Small World."
Moreover, winning three battles did not mean direct transmission into the "Small World"; one had to keep moving forward and fighting, with more victories leading to higher performance scores.
These performance scores could later be exchanged for various items at the spirit of the trial, or used to make requests that the Sect would fulfill.
If one failed to win three battles, they would simply be teleported out, losing the qualification for this trial.
Having read this information, Lin Qian had come to a full understanding.
Clearly, this "Small World" was a place specifically for the Ancient Sect to test its disciples.
No wonder no matter how one decrypted the Array, only those below the Life and Death Realm and under thirty years of age could enter.
It turned out that this "Small World" was merely a trial ground of the Ancient Sect, hence such restrictions.
Using an entire "Small World" as a test ground for disciples was indeed a grand gesture.
And according to the rules of the trial, failure meant only being teleported out, losing the qualification for the trial.
This also meant that the danger level of this "Small World" was not too high.
Of course, nothing was absolute. After such a long stretch of time, with no maintenance done on the Array sustaining the trial, who knew what could happen?
"Let’s see just what these combat path puppets look like and how strong they are," thought Lin Qian as he stepped forward.
With his steps, the barrier behind him also moved forward.
One could only move forward to fight, not retreat to escape!
It wasn’t long before Lin Qian could vaguely see a figure appearing in the far front.
Only when he got closer did Lin Qian clearly see what the figure looked like.
The figure standing in front was precisely the so-called puppet, its predominantly grey metallic body gleaming with a cold light.
Its body was constructed of Repelling Spirit Silver!
Repelling Spirit Silver could not be used to make Soul Devices, as Soul Power could not penetrate it. However, using it for a puppet’s body, with Arrays controlling the joints, was perfectly suitable.
"A body made of Repelling Spirit Silver," Lin Qian thought silently as he eyed the puppet’s joints, "soul power attacks will be halved. If I clash head-on, I’ll only suffer losses. Attacking there, however, will be the way to victory."
With this in mind, the puppet had already charged towards Lin Qian.
The puppet, almost the same height as Lin Qian, stomped on the metallic pathway, producing a deafening sound, showing just how heavy its body was.
Even a direct hit was too much to bear.
Facing the charging puppet, Lin Qian’s eyes were fixed ahead, silently resolute.