Thirty-six hours later.

On the face of the young man in the blue robe, those eyes as blue as the clearest lakes in the world reflected the Spirit Pattern projected by the compass.

To the naked eye, this Four-Star Spirit Pattern was just a pure blue, three-dimensional triangular mark, only the size of a pinky fingernail, simple and straightforward, except for the kind of powerful aura that could shake the surrounding force field, it didn't seem complex.

But if observed carefully with Spiritual Power, one would discover... each of its faces was completely composed of densely packed, intricate lines, layered and nested.

This complex structure, coupled with the trait of the Spirit Pattern itself, which could draw and manipulate Spiritual Power and Ether, even produced a strange effect, causing the delineator's Spiritual Power to inexplicably stagnate or even forget how to proceed during the drawing process.

This feeling was considerably intense, much stronger than drawing within the Sea of Spirit.

And once the pen was stopped, amidst the omnipresent interference, it meant at least a third of the progress would be lost, so normally, the delineator should be extremely cautious and not relax for a moment.

Let alone forcibly delineate with the ability of a Three-Star.

Even if one could delineate, the compass would provide some auxiliary acceleration, but without enough Spiritual Power and concentration like a maniac, it could not be maintained to the end at all.

This was a long run challenging the limits.

But if there were onlookers, they would notice... Jiang Nalan's Spiritual Power was like the most precise instrument, every move was flowing effortlessly, pleasing to watch.

Obviously not slow, yet with a kind of reassuring elegance and stability.

——Zhao Yue's guess was not wrong at all.

Jiang Nalan's Talent truly had a terrifying blessing effect on drawing and memorizing Spirit Patterns.

Talent ranking 249, only provided with two or more Dao Marks at birth, a terrifying Talent.

[Water Shadow Heart].

This was a Talent that appeared very rarely in history.

As the name implies.

For Jiang Nalan, who possessed this Talent, his mind and Sea of Spirit were like water and mirrors, capable of reflecting everything around them almost perfectly.

And this also meant... his learning and cultivation abilities would be terrifying to the extreme.

This reflection was not simple memory, but could even replicate others' Spirit Beast Skills, Spirit Pattern effects, and directly see through emotions and thoughts, reflecting the opponent's Talent Blessing and Special Ability.

And under the meticulous nurturing of the Jiang Family over more than ten years, consuming countless precious resources, his Talent was perfectly exhibited.

Reflected in the drawing of Spirit Patterns...

Simply put, Jiang Nalan, fully driven by the [Water Shadow Heart] Talent and the Jiang Family's Secret Techniques, had an efficiency in drawing Spirit Patterns over a hundred times greater than ordinary Three-Star Spirit Masters, and drawing across levels, what normal people simply couldn't understand, was as effortless as eating and drinking for him.

Because he could spend Spiritual Power to directly reflect this Spirit Pattern in the Sea of Spirit and then meticulously trace it.

Although forcibly reflecting a Four-Star Spirit Pattern in the current situation would be a great burden, his drawing speed had to slow down.

But...

It was already enough.

It should be enough for him to achieve victory this time.

To maintain the stability of the drawing status, uninfluenced by Spirit Pattern fluctuations, ensuring completion in one go, he even retained enough Heart Power to glance at the ranking through the ring.

Yet from start to finish, he had no intention of doing so, only during breaks did he summon his Spirit Beast to relieve his burden.

Or rather, Jiang Nalan never opened the ranking before completing a task as it only added psychological pressure with no benefit.

As long as he pushed to the limit and progressed steadily step by step, he could remain ahead and maintain the first position.

Zuo Qingtian's [Great Dark Heaven] was extremely terrifying in combat, but in terms of stability in this aspect, it was far inferior to him.

Zhao Yue's [Dream Entering] in combination with the Great Dream Sect's Secret Techniques could create similar blessings, but her Spiritual Power was not strong enough, and her Dao Mark's strength couldn't keep up with his, ultimately, it was insufficient.

The only one who could compete with him until now was Lin Guang, who shouldn't pose a threat after summoning his Contracted Spirit Beast.

As for the others, he didn't care.

At this moment, his delineation was already at about 87%.

Victory was within reach.

However, at this moment.

The voice of the Inheritance System rang in his mind.

[Announcement to all Trial Takers.]

[Trial Taker Lin Guang has reached 90% completion in the tenth assessment.]

[May the Inheritors arrange their time and strategy wisely.]

In this instant, Jiang Nalan, who had never looked at the rankings, suddenly realized something, his pupils contracted slightly, even his breath paused for a moment.

——Faster than him?

Lin Guang...?!

Immediately, he infused his Spiritual Power into the black ring.

[First place: Lin Guang, twenty-nine thousand two hundred zhang]

[Second place: Jiang Nalan, twenty-eight thousand seven hundred zhang]

At this moment, the seat of first place had already changed hands!

...

"Lin Guang?!"

Zhao Yue, whose form was almost entirely ethereal, swayed slightly.

Her Spirit Pattern drawing was approaching 82%.

If not for the moment of summoning her Spirit Beast for assistance, reducing her pressure a bit, her drawing of the Spirit Pattern might have directly gone awry.

She never imagined that this young man, who emerged from a common background and rose to prominence, actually surpassed Jiang Nalan.

Although the two were not far apart previously, Jiang Nalan had always suppressed Lin Guang without ever being surpassed by him for a moment.

And now, the situation had unexpectedly reversed.

...

Left within the inexplicable darkness, Zuo Qingtian was momentarily silent.

His drawing progress was only about 72%, and he had been suppressed by Lin Guang, Jiang Nalan, and Zhao Yue, so it wasn't particularly surprising.

Everyone has their own specialties.

He was just a little puzzled by Lin Guang suddenly surpassing Jiang Nalan's performance.

How did he do it?

Was it a secret technique to stimulate potential in a short time? No… that's not realistic. Gaining stronger spiritual power temporarily would actually reduce control power, which is detrimental to spirit pattern drawing.

Is it possible that his talent effect provides greater stability than Jiang Nalan?

But Jiang Nalan wouldn't just sit back and watch himself fall behind.

...

——Can he actually compete to this extent with that Jiang Nalan? Hakki Guang, you…

Du Qing's eyes initially showed a surprised expression, but he quickly collected himself.

"It seems this competition won't last much longer."

The platinum glow around him began to shift to darkness, and the halo formed by the summoned [Holy Winged Ring Snake] at noon now rested atop his head, but it had dimmed.

The wings encircling him also sketched out black lines.

His face revealed an expression intertwined with indifference and pain.

"There's no need to conserve spiritual power anymore."

...

Heaven-slaying Demon was slightly taken aback, the spirit pattern in progress became unstable, and amidst the tumult of emotions, it declined by a full one-third.

But not because of shock at the achievement.

Rather…

Damn, this guy is so damn pretentious.

...…

As for Lin Guang.

There was no time to think about these matters now.

The so-called announcement had already become irrelevant to him, as he tightly held the hands of Lisa, who had emerged from the Spirit Beast Space once again, together grasping the compass.

Lisa's small face flushed red, with emerald green eyes glinting with a pink hue, fully assisting Lin Guang without a single distraction—she hadn't been given a talent blessing by Lin Guang because his current mental status couldn't afford any distraction.

On Lin Guang's face was nothing but complete concentration.

The dark golden color in the Eye of Omniscience and Omnipotence was almost overflowing, faintly showing a pure white rhombus, while the stars of color at the fingertips of the Hand of Full Mastery displayed a radiant shimmer, with ten shadows of rings faintly appearing.

The Power of Whole Heart and Soul along with the Heart of Terra was wildly pulsating, channeling what little spiritual power remained into the intricate patterns at the center of the compass.

At this moment, something inside Lin Guang's Sea of Spirit was gleaming.

Spirit Pattern [Clarity], Spirit Pattern [Split Thought].

And…

Blank Spirit Pattern Slot.

At this moment, on his blank spirit pattern slot, there was a spirit pattern over 90% complete.

It was the Four-Star Spirit Pattern projected on the compass!

Indeed.

From the very start of the tenth level, Lin Guang had been wholeheartedly outlining.

He had directly utilized his greatest reliance when drawing spirit patterns—the blank spirit pattern slot!

As part of the system, the items inscribed on the blank spirit pattern slot were absolutely stable and would not dissipate.

Therefore, it could serve as a stable anchor point, becoming a template for drawing on the compass.

Combined with the Spirit Patterns [Split Thought] [Clarity], he could multitask, outlining inside and outside simultaneously while observing.

Focusing on three tasks at once, part of his mind observed the spirit pattern projections given by the compass, then the blank spirit pattern slot's outline would take precedence, subsequently using it as a reference to begin outlining the spirit pattern on the compass.

With this assistance, his stability improved to an almost unbelievable extent.

But even so… it would still be hard for him to surpass Jiang Nalan in drawing progress.

Because in previous levels, Lin Guang had already been advancing at full speed.

Within the top three hundred rankings of spiritual power, even the Purple Heart of Terra and Level Two Power of Whole Heart and Soul could only barely compare, if not slightly inferior, and the effect of the blank spirit pattern slot could only increase stability, allowing him to fully exert himself, but not draw faster.

Lin Guang's talent and training in spirit pattern drawing, coupled with the Level Two Hand of Full Mastery, might not necessarily surpass Jiang Nalan's more versatile Water Shadow Heart.

Logically, Jiang Nalan should have maintained this lead, so why fall behind?

Or rather, since there was a gap, Lin Guang shouldn't have been able to match him so closely previously.

Then why couldn't Jiang Nalan open a gap from the start with Lin Guang?

Because…

Humans are not machines; they don't operate like in games where even at 1 HP and MP they can act normally, hence the need to maintain status.

So from the very start of the trial, Jiang Nalan's strategy was to ensure he had some energy left, in order to guarantee the stability of talent and outlining, succeeding in each complete drawing.

However.

Lin Guang never considered himself human.

He always thought of himself as a game character who doesn't tire, doesn't pain!

This was his only and greatest advantage over Jiang Nalan.

He was long accustomed to navigating the edge of extremes!

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