And it was at this moment.

Jiang Nalan made a decision.

He needed to abandon most of his stability and start accelerating.

In an instant, all distractions vanished from his mind, and the process of drawing the Spirit Pattern suddenly sped up.

This could indeed raise his score in a short time, but it was extremely dangerous.

It was like walking a tightrope high in the air; one slip could lead to a mistake, and due to his aggressive actions, this mistake might be a major one, leading to total defeat.

Jiang Nalan didn't know if Lin Guang completed the overtaking with an aggressive strategy, but he wouldn't rely on the opponent's mistake for victory.

This was his only strategy for pursuing victory!

...

Not long after.

With Jiang Nalan's acceleration, the heights of the two became neck and neck!

Then…

Jiang Nalan took the lead again!

All of the observing geniuses began to focus their Spiritual Power intently on the rankings of the rings.

Almost everyone knew that Jiang Nalan was one of the top three figures in Fenghai Province in this entire Golden Era, with an infinitely promising future.

But what about Lin Guang?

He was merely an unremarkable commoner before the joint examination.

Yet at this moment, these two, with vastly different status, were fighting to such an extent.

Engraving progress 97%.

"Lin Guang…"

Leng Shengnan held her breath.

Engraving progress 98%.

The water ripples around Jiang Nalan almost seemed tangible, the sound unceasing, and unconscious light patterns like waves appeared on his forehead.

It was the Jiang Family's most fundamental and most important Mystical Technique [Wave Unceasing].

Lin Guang, meanwhile, continued to maintain a full-force posture as usual.

Even Jiang Nalan himself hadn't noticed that, after several days of intensely drawing Spirit Patterns, compounded by Lin Guang's relentless pressure, his spirit finally reached a tightly strained and dangerous status.

And at this moment.

When everyone's Spiritual Power was nearly exhausted, the situation had entered Lin Guang's most familiar domain.

The domain of limits!

All along, almost every time he meditated using the Meditation Contract Technique on Spirit Patterns, he would completely drain his Spiritual Power.

The sensation that would almost render a normal person unconscious was a routine for him.

He had long become accustomed to the feeling of being pushed to the extreme, able to skillfully control every ounce of his strength.

For others, driving themselves to unconsciousness required potions, talent, secret techniques, or external force, but for Lin Guang, he could achieve it through willpower alone.

But to Jiang Nalan, this was a relatively unfamiliar territory.

99%!!

Jiang Nalan's Spirit Pattern drawing was almost complete!

However…

And it was at this moment.

Surrounded by Fish Dragon, the pair of eyes that were absolutely clear, like mirrors, finally revealed a tiny, insignificant blood vein.

The final stages of Spirit Pattern drawing become increasingly challenging, requiring attention to both front and back; this is common knowledge.

The moment before completion is often the hardest.

Thus, the reflected Spirit Pattern also slightly blurred.

And this slight blur… was like a snapped thread.

Faced with the nearly completed triangular three-dimensional Spirit Pattern, Jiang Nalan's pattern drawing suddenly stalled—he suddenly forgot where he should make his next stroke!

Prolonged exposure to the brink finally forced this peerless prodigy to make a mistake.

Then, it immediately showed signs of disintegration.

Even though he reacted with the fastest speed, using almost abnormal stability to secure the Spirit Pattern, the progress dropped by around 8%.

In the disbelief of everyone…

Jiang Nalan's rank instantly fell to third, even surpassed by Zhao Yue.

Lin Guang slowly completed the final drawing, stabilizing it.

[First place: Lin Guang: Thirty-one thousand two hundred zhang]

After he completed the drawing of this Four-Star Spirit Pattern…

Everyone's scores were fixed at this moment, without any change.

And a wave resonated in everyone's ears.

[First Trial Ends]

[Winner, Lin Guang!]

......

Inside the Inheritance Secret Realm.

[Difficulty: Supreme]

[Rank: Second]

[The first trial of Celestial Mountain's Ten Tests is complete, please follow the guidance to receive your reward, and then proceed to the second trial]

Whoosh——

Transmission completed.

Zhao Yue opened her eyes, a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors flashing through them.

"My Spiritual Power is completely restored, and my physical and mental exhaustion is completely gone."

"This change didn't give me the slightest hint of a sign, it must be based on the same principle as the restriction on Spirit Beast recovery."

"Both Qian Qiu and Xi still can't be released, and her Ether has hardly recovered... Indeed, it's a restriction for the entire trial duration."

After checking her own status, Zhao Yue finally focused her attention on her five senses.

At this moment, she found herself sitting on a soft wooden four-poster bed, the white bedding emitting a faint fragrance, as if woven from some special material.

This was a guest room similar to those in ancient Great Xia, but with a hint of an Otherworldly atmosphere.

The room was simple yet brimming with a lived-in feel, a set of neatly placed jade tea sets sat on a lightly green wooden table, without a speck of dust, suggesting frequent use.

A copper lampstand rested on a wooden shelf in the corner of the wall, holding a copper lamp without a trace of rust.

It wasn't lit, yet Zhao Yue faintly smelled the fragrance of some resin inside, seemingly with the effect of clearing the mind and sharpening the sight.

"..."

Surprised by this lifelike setting, Zhao Yue revealed a slight expression of surprise before standing up directly, arriving at the guest room door.

Outside, there seemed to be the sounds of cranes crying out. She got off the bed and went to the door, gently touched it, and finding nothing wrong, she pushed the door open.

A gust of wild wind swept through, and Zhao Yue couldn't help but widen her eyes.

This guest room was actually embedded in a vertical cliff.

The height of the mountain was unknown; all that could be seen from this altitude was an endless rolling sea of clouds, with golden sunlight showering down, creating a dreamlike feeling.

Every now and then, strange semi-transparent crane-like creatures flitted through the sea of clouds, their crystalline wings scattering tiny bits midair, like natural spirits conceived by the cloud sea.

Dong——

And as if responding to Zhao Yue's actions, a long bell sound reverberated from the sky.

She looked up.

There was a Floating Island suspended in mid-air.

Although it floated in a higher position, it didn't block a bit of sunlight and didn't cast any shadow on the cloud sea, exceedingly peculiar.

As the bell sound passed, a ghostly blue light glowed at the entrance of the guest room, a seemingly virtual and real material manifested out of thin air, rapidly adjusting itself like a living thing to form a path directly leading upwards.

Whoosh.

Stepping onto the path with the function of lightness and speed enhancement, Zhao Yue arrived at the Floating Island.

The island was empty except for one enormous plaza.

The plaza was paved with an unknown white stone, square and bright, seemingly used for assembling disciples.

And it was evidently for gathering the trial takers at the moment.

She arrived relatively early; there were hardly any people on the plaza, so she found a place to stand and rested with closed eyes.

Soon, the remaining people stepped onto the Floating Island one after another, with just a few still on the way.

But no matter who it was, including Zhao Yue, and the remaining few Tianjiao, everyone silently watched a particular figure slowly approaching at this moment.

A short-haired handsome teenager dressed in a pure white shirt and tight-fitting pants.

Lin Guang.

After arriving at the plaza, he first greeted Leng Shengnan and Du Qing, then lifted his head to gaze at the vast boundless sky.

Zhao Yue frowned slightly, then stepped forward, coming in front of the young man.

This Tianjiao, who secured second place in the first round due to Jiang Nalan's error, neither kept silent like the Heaven-slaying Demon and others, nor entertained any courteous notions, instead directly opening up.

"How did you do it?"

This question seemed to break some kind of silence.

Du Qing, the Heaven-slaying Demon, and even Zuo Qingtian, leaning on the side as if merging into the shadows, slightly opened their eyes, indicating that his heart was not as calm as it appeared.

And Jiang Nalan's eyes were fixated on Lin Guang.

Lin Guang didn't look at Zhao Yue in front of him, simply maintaining the upward gaze, speaking: "Mostly by strength, partly by luck."

"..."

Such a seemingly perfunctory response rendered Zhao Yue silent.

"Strength and luck? What kind of joke is this!" Someone beside couldn't hold back their indignation, "Did a True Man reveal the questions, or was some external object used?"

This statement seemed to ignite a topic, causing many talents present to begin whispering among themselves.

"Yeah, how could a high school sophomore lead? And even beat Jiang Nalan?"

"I won't believe it's not cheating..."

The face of Ju Zuojing, whose purple hue still hadn't completely faded, was staring at Lin Guang intently, though not speaking, his teeth almost grinding to a pulp.

Everyone present was among the top-ranked talents of this generation in Fenghai Province, even if most didn't qualify as Tianjiao, they were still regarded as individuals with True Man potential, enjoying incredibly high resources and education daily, and it was impossible for them not to understand the trial points and difficulty of this test.

The study of Spirit Patterns is all-inclusive and is regarded as one of the most important achievements and cultural heritage of Spirit Master civilization.

It's a spark produced by the "collision of countless worlds' essence and ideas," nearly a universal element resembling a source among multiple worlds.

In the Otherworld, especially high-order Extraordinary Worlds, they naturally study the world's essence, often exploring the enlightenment of mysterious laws in many worlds, and the results they achieve in this world are Spirit Patterns and Dao Marks.

The engraving of Spirit Patterns in the first trial is undoubtedly a complex evaluation, meant to filter out trial takers with sufficiently high attributes of Spiritual Power, strong comprehension, firm will, or corresponding methods.

Undoubtedly, having a special ability related to Spirit Patterns is favorable in this round, thereby implying that the content of this inheritance is likely related to it, reflecting the preference of the one who left the inheritance.

But the question is... In what way is Lin Guang stronger than the other Tianjiao?

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