Willens, nicknamed the "Golden Lion," when he becomes enraged, his hair flies wildly, his face contorts into a horrifying snarl, resembling an enraged lion. Anyone who provokes him at this moment is destined to be torn apart alive!
Wang Xu killed his teammate in front of him, which was an utter humiliation for him.
"How dare you kill my people, you're courting death!!"
Boom!
Willens surged past Ying Xing, his figure like a mass of flames, pouncing fiercely toward Wang Xu!
Suddenly, a figure in black intercepted him, none other than the stern-faced Ying Xing.
"Damn you, dare to block me?" Willens roared, flames rising from his fists, becoming more formidable as they blasted toward the obstructing Ying Xing.
Ying Xing's gaze sharpened, and a cloud of black smoke rose behind him, enveloping him, covering him entirely as Willens' flaming fists pounded onto Ying Xing.
Crash!
The black smoke dissipated, and Ying Xing's figure became elusive, as if he didn't exist at all.
"Black Smoke," was Ying Xing's title, and in terms of mysterious body technique, Ying Xing was among the top among all students. His strength was no match for Willens, but he could easily drift away, impossible for Willens to catch or kill.
But with his junior brothers and sisters here, Ying Xing could only choose to withstand and defend passively, holding his ground. Wang Xu's appearance finally brought Ying Xing some relief.
Ying Xing realized that Wang Xu was a ruthless type, striking without mercy. Willens' two teammates were both cleaved in half, more gruesome than mere beheadings, yet his gaze remained unchanged, filled with coldness.
"This man's heart is too steady!" Ying Xing suddenly held Wang Xu in higher regard.
Ordinary people, when killing too much, tend to become distorted, crazed — vicious felons often develop psychological issues, but not Wang Xu. To him, killing seemed less like murder and more like ticking off a task, leaving his state of mind completely unaffected.
This kind of mentality is the most stable, the most resolute, and very difficult to shake!
"I'll entangle Willens, you deal with that remaining woman quickly," Ying Xing said without looking back.
Wang Xu nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the pale-faced white woman.
"No, no... no! Willens, save me! I don't want to die!" The white woman's face was contorted with terror, looking at Wang Xu approaching step by step, as though marked by Death himself, her heart filled with fear, she cried out.
Willens' attack power was formidable, but he couldn't disengage from Ying Xing's assault, only able to roar angrily at Wang Xu: "You damned thing, if you kill her, I will tear you apart alive!"
The white woman was his woman. To Willens, she was just a plaything, but if even she was killed by Wang Xu, Willens' name would be utterly ruined!
Wang Xu slowly drew his sword as he approached the white woman, her terrified screams echoing, she began to run frantically.
However, how could her body technique speed allow her to escape from Wang Xu?
"Pfft!"
Leaving behind a trail of afterimages, Wang Xu approached the white woman in a blink, and without mercy, slashed his long blade across her fair neck, her head flew into the air, blood spraying.
"Damn! Damn! I must personally kill you, make you taste the pain of hell!" Willens fumed with rage, the flames on his fists intensified, even his body began to blaze.
Willens wanted to rip Wang Xu apart, but Ying Xing was always tying him up, blocking him whenever he was about to leave, or delivering a punch — not painful, but enough to stop him, leaving Willens frustrated.
With Wang Xu having killed the white woman in front of him, Willens' face flushed red, and veins on his neck and forehead bulged like coiled dragons. His eyes fixed on Wang Xu, blazing with fire; if looks could kill, Wang Xu would have been reduced to ashes!
"Wang Xu, take the others and go first, I will hold him off." Ying Xing downed another Body Enhancement Agent, his power surged once more.
Taking multiple Body Enhancement Agents exponentially increases the damage to the body. An ordinary person's limit is one bottle, leaving them weak for at least a day or two afterward, unable to even lift a finger. Ying Xing, being relatively stronger, could endure two bottles with only a few hours of weakness.
Wang Xu knew when to advance and retreat. Willens was at Tier Five, they weren't on the same level at all, no matter how much effort Wang Xu put in, it was futile. He nodded immediately, leaving quickly with Tang Yan and a few senior sisters and brothers.
"If you dare stop, I will skin you alive!" Willens raged, his fists pounding harder.
Ying Xing snorted coldly, having taken the Body Enhancement Agent, his strength also increased significantly, enough to withstand several clashes with Willens, making Willens unable to attend to others.
Leading a few people to flee rapidly, Wang Xu believed that with Ying Xing's skills, Willens couldn't keep him.
A moment later, Wang Xu and the others entered an abandoned building.
"Alright, let's stop here, the senior sisters and brothers are injured and can't travel for long." Wang Xu set down the senior siblings on his shoulders, taking out Healing Potions from his backpack to heal them.
Wang Xu couldn't afford these Healing Potions, having looted them from Oli and others — they came in handy now.
"Hiss~" Li Ming winced from Wang Xu's vigorous application, weakly saying, "Brother Wang, just let me be, the way you apply medicine, even if I survive, you'll press me to death."
Wang Xu's face reddened, Tang Yan smilingly took the Healing Potion from his hand, "Let me, I've learned a bit about medicine."
"Alright then." Wang Xu acknowledged his roughness and walked outside, sitting cross-legged to cultivate.
Tang Yan watched his back, a smile appearing on her face.
...
The energy vortex within his body began to take shape, already forming the outline of a "core".
"The energy is still too thin; forming it into a true core is still too distant," Wang Xu thought to himself.
Moreover, Wang Xu kept wondering what the processes of forty-nine, sixty-four, eighty-one meant. The energy core was completely absorbing energy on its own, without any so-called process.
Pondering this, Wang Xu tried to "alter" the energy vortex a bit, but before he could touch it, the energy vortex began to collapse and dissipate with a "pop"!
"Damn it!" Wang Xu knew he had been reckless. The energy that was gathered with great effort scattered and was completely absorbed by the cells in his body.
Wang Xu sighed; the secrets hidden in the "Basic Flesh Body" were indeed not that easy to uncover.
"Huh?" Suddenly, Wang Xu discovered that after all the energy dissipated, a new wave of energy entered his body, slowly forming a new energy vortex.
"Could this be the so-called 'process'?" Wang Xu's eyes lit up.
Absorb the energy to a certain degree, then disperse it, and after that, gather it again and then disperse it again, repeating the cycle... Once the corresponding number of times is reached, the core of the corresponding grade can be condensed.
Wang Xu's idea was correct, but he discovered a difficult fact—the difficulty and energy requirement for forming the second energy vortex were greater than the first.
"Indeed, the process of condensing a core is not that easy," Wang Xu sighed inwardly.
Disperse once, and the difficulty of condensing increases. With this speed, it's unknown how long it would take to reach forty-nine processes for a lower grade, let alone eighty-one for the upper grade; it's simply harder than ascending to the heavens!
...
In the hall, the number of big shots from all sides remained undiminished; a night's time meant nothing to them.
As the trial draws to a close, the leaderboard positions have been refreshed several times, with no major changes. At the last moment, everyone wanted to return safely, and no one was willing to take risks.
The buzz surrounding Zhang Xinglin continued, with people still asking: Which Safe Zone is this Zhang Xinglin's student from?
No one answered them, but the lack of response only served to stoke curiosity even more, prompting instructions to find out this name. Zhang Xinglin's information quickly appeared before everyone.
Seventh Safe Zone???
The big shots, upon seeing the intelligence, were stunned. Among the seven Safe Zones, the Seventh Safe Zone could be considered the weakest. Compared to the First Safe Zone, the two are worlds apart, and using "poverty" to describe it is not an exaggeration. Yet, it's in such a place that a genius like Zhang Xinglin emerged.
A miracle!
Of course, what made these big shots salivate the most was that Zhang Xinglin had not joined any faction!
A "wild" genius was right before them, and the big shots could no longer remain calm. They immediately contacted their factions, ready to offer substantial terms to recruit Zhang Xinglin.
The headmaster watched these impatient big shots, smiling as he shook his head.
"Old man White Sword, how could you not have noticed such a genius?" Three-Eyed couldn't understand. Old man White Sword's judgement had always been accurate, so how could he miss such a glaringly obvious genius?
"No, I was the first to invite him," the headmaster said calmly. "However, he refused. He told me: 'I won't join any faction; I want to see my own limits.'"
"He's a child with 'stubbornness' etched into his very being, with a heart that's very firm and difficult to sway," the headmaster said.
Three-Eyed and Silver Armor exchanged a look, not expecting that there were still people like this; someone willing to forgo the opportunity of joining one of the world's top three forces, boldly declaring to adventure alone.
"Hmm? Old man White Sword, look quickly!" Three-Eyed suddenly exclaimed.
The headmaster and Silver Armor turned their eyes to the electronic screen. The leaderboard had just been refreshed, with no major changes, but these were experts; their vision was keen, and they immediately spotted the change.
"Seventh place Ying Xing Points: 3560"
"Impressive!" Three-Eyed exclaimed, praising. Ying Xing had leapt into the top ten right as the trial was about to end, securing his position.
"What's going on!" On the other side, Yellow Dragon suddenly noticed that several top-ranked students on his side had disappeared, dropping out of the top hundred!
...
"Wow, Senior Brother Ying Xing, you actually seized all the backpacks of the Willens team members?"
Wang Xu looked at Ying Xing in astonishment, watching in shock as he cut open bag after bag, stuffing a portion into his own backpack and sharing some with Wang Xu and Tang Yan, among others.
"Willens won't be chasing us for now; there are still two hours till the trial ends. Let's hurry back." Ying Xing, usually taciturn, said only this before stepping aside to cultivate.
Wang Xu sighed, "Having an impressive Body Technique really is different. I bet this time Willens will be so mad they'll spit blood."