No one expected that at the moment Yan Xiangbei activated a high-grade magical artifact, Lin Jing decisively chose to make the mecha self-explode, no longer continuing to fight Yan Xiangbei head-on.

On the stage, white flames spread, the chaos scattered around, Yan Xiangbei was covered in blood, standing pitifully on the stage, his breath weak, his mana exhausted.

Activating a supreme-grade magical artifact already required all his effort, who knew that after activation, it was not used for offense but for defense.

He looked at the massive mecha that had completely disappeared, exploded without leaving even a trace of powder, unable to help but smile, yet this smile was self-mocking, mocking himself for losing to a Beast Master, and this very Beast Master… defeated him using a mechanical creation.

No... no, it was the spatial movement of the opponent's pet beast that was the key to defeating him!

But, so what, he still lost.

"You win." Standing on the stage, Yan Xiangbei retracted the Silent Extinction Treasure Lamp, looked at Lin Jing who was slowly descending, and before losing consciousness, looked towards the audience.

Those who came with him from the Refining Immortal Valley were all in disbelief, unable to accept it.

As the most powerful prodigy of the great sect in artifact refining from the Ancient Country, he actually lost to a disciple from a third-rate sealed sect!

Before this, they would never have imagined it.

"I yield." Lin Jing looked at the opponent, before having time to mourn the mosquito-powered mecha, the Celestial Regret Flower announced: "The winner of the third group, Lin Jing!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience who hadn't reacted erupted into an uproar, with deafening explosions still ringing in their ears and dazzling lights still in their eyes.

"Did he really win?"

"Is it over? The third prodigy lost?"

"Is this considered an upset?!"

"Terrifying, Lin Jing calculated it right, as soon as Yan Xiangbei activated a high-grade magical artifact, he certainly wouldn't have the energy to use a magical artifact with spatial restriction, at this moment, Lin Jing just needs to abandon this mechanical creation and use its final effort to exhaust Yan Xiangbei's mana, and victory is in his grasp!"

"This Lin Jing is so decisive, if it were me, I would definitely want to contend with the supreme-grade magical artifact, but he... gave up as soon as he said so."

"But he won, and everything is worth it, after this match, it wouldn't be surprising if he ranks in the top five or even top three of the prodigy list!"

The cultivators fell silent, as if witnessing the rise of a new supreme prodigy, and the scariest part is, Lin Jing on the stage, appeared almost unharmed!

Right now, many prodigies are quite pleased with this result.

Having eliminated the third prodigy with supreme-grade magical artifacts, Lin Jing couldn't advance to the third round, and Lin Jing, having countered Yan Xiangbei, also destroyed the powerful mecha, reducing his fighting strength significantly.

Such a powerful mechanical creation, everyone felt that Lin Jing couldn't possibly have two.

Even if Lin Jing could recreate it in the future, most believe it couldn't be done in a short time, as recreating must consume a lot of mind, with the materials for the mechanism being exceptionally rare and scarce.

Therefore, they can feel at ease.

After defeating Yan Xiangbei, Lin Jing will undoubtedly make a name for himself in the Ancient Country, and next, for some prodigies, defeating Lin Jing without his strong trump card would be a great temptation.

After becoming the victor of the third stage, Lin Jing returned to his seat to recoup, although he did not do much, it was the Ice Soul Gu that resisted the enticing magical artifact for him, the Pine Leaf Mouse controlled the mecha, allowing him to avoid the explosion, yet Lin Jing still felt he had worked hard.

"You..." The crowd from Dragon Palace silently looked at Lin Jing.

They wanted to ask when did Dragon Palace change its name to "Mechanical Dragon Palace."

......

Next, the competitions continued, the winner of the fourth group was the fourth rank on the prodigy list, a prodigy from the Zhao Family, an ancient realm's immortal cultivation family. He was a graduate of the academy, having enrolled at the age of ten, leaving at twenty-one to become a city lord.

The Zhao Family, aside from the Ancient Clan, is the largest immortal cultivation family in the Ancient Country, with most family members entering court to serve as officials, having enormous influence.

As an Innate Fountain Body, the fourth prodigy had endless mana and very quick recovery, allowing him to practice most of his magic to perfection, making him very adept in battles without needing to consider mana consumption.

The fifth group, much like the third group, was an upset. Although it contained the fifth prodigy, the winner was not him but a reclusive prodigy invited by the Celestial Secret Tower, the disciple of a Divinity Transformation peak Loose Cultivator, possessing an Innate Five Elements Body.

The Five Elements Body is comparable to a combination of five attributes' Spirit Body, ranking in the Divine Body list, with vast power.

The sixth group saw another upset, the winner was not a prodigy grown in the Ancient Country but originated from the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, possessing an Innate Poison Body, having followed his master to experience the Cloud Sea Mountain Range since childhood, returned at the age of twenty-seven after fifteen years of arduous cultivation, once back in the country, became renowned.

The seventh group, on the contrary, had no upset, the seventh rank prodigy achieved victory, but it was very difficult, being the most challenging among the seven groups, also an alumni of the academy, now serving as a city lord.

The eighth group winner was Wang Xiao of the Dragon Palace with an Innate Divine Body, who achieved Foundation Establishment Perfection and was assisted by King Blood War Tiger, being one of the only two of Dragon Palace to advance to the third round. His victory surprised no one, after all, a prodigy with an Innate Divine Body fighting alongside his battle tiger, whom fought a hard battle, shielding him from magic, covered in scales and injuries, making the audience silent and once again seeing the benefits of pet beasts.

Four out of the eight final winners had studied at the Hidden Dragon Academy, demonstrating its influence.

"In the third round, a stage challenge mode will be adopted. Celestial Secret Tower will randomly select one person to serve as the stage master, welcoming challenges from other prodigies. The defeated will be eliminated, and the victor will succeed, until no one challenges, the stage master will become the final victor of the prodigy battle."

Celestial Regret Flower announced that the third round of the prodigy battle will be held after seven days, compared to the previous eight-man melee, this third round will test luck and skill more.

If someone becomes the first stage master, it would be quite unfortunate, possibly facing the challenge of seven, in a battle of endurance, no matter how powerful originally, one may fail to stand till the end.

But fortunately, the one to receive the Star Universe Turtle's blessing in the end won't be the first in the prodigy battle, but the one who ranks first on the prodigy list updated by Celestial Secret Tower based on the prodigies' performance in the battle.

"Seven days should be enough to exchange all Spirit Stones from the auction of the Dragon Ascending Pill into high-grade plants, currently the Pine Leaf Mouse's Cyan Emperor Longevity Technique is at a bottleneck, if lucky enough, it could achieve perfection within seven days!"

"After achieving perfection in the Cyan Emperor Longevity Technique, the Pine Leaf Mouse will have plant manipulation abilities of a Golden Core Stage grass spirit creature, combined with the Demon King's true form and spatial magic, it could exhibit power surpassing the mosquito-powered mecha..."

From the current performance in the prodigy battle, Lin Jing thinks the strongest might still be that person with the Innate Dao Body, he doesn't know if solely relying on the Pine Leaf Mouse would work in a showdown with this person...

"Lin Jing." As the second round ended, just as Lin Jing was about to return for preparation, a group suddenly blocked him, led by Mo Qianyi, the second prodigy of Divine Strategy Manor.

Behind Mo Qianyi was a group of Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators, yet Lin Jing did not sense hostility.

"Miss Mo, is there something?" He saw Mo Qianyi dressed plainly, felt it odd to call her a fairy, so he addressed her as 'Miss.'

He might already have guessed the other's intention.

"Lin Saint Heir, Divine Strategy Manor wants the design blueprint for your mechanical creation displayed earlier. Of course, Divine Strategy Manor won't take your things for free, whatever demand, feel free to mention." Mo Qianyi spoke: "Divine Strategy Manor can exchange other mechanical creations' design blueprints or rare mechanical materials with you."

"Aren't you a Beast Master? Divine Strategy Manor also has many strong mechanical beasts' production methods... even a method to give mechanical beasts sentience and make them mechanical life forms. I believe although you displayed Buddhist Techniques and Mechanical Techniques, you should... still be a Beast Master? Would you be interested in contracting a sentient mechanical beast, can we talk?"

The mechanical cultivators of Divine Strategy Manor have taken interest in Lin Jing's mosquito-powered mecha.

Meanwhile, on the branches of the Divine Pine, the dragon carp suddenly sneezed.

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