Chapter 99 - 74: The Real Challenge

A Nine-Grade Lotus Seed!

Li Shuang’s pupils suddenly dilated in shock. As the Supreme Forget Emotion Technique circulated madly within her, she vaguely grasped a trace of enlightenment.

"Lili!" Li Shuang sent out a mental command.

Lili reacted instantly. Shrouded in frost, the Black Abyss Sword slashed ruthlessly at the center of the lotus. The very moment the Seventh-grade Lotus Seed was destroyed, a new lotus heart bloomed. Inside it, astonishingly, rested another Lotus Seed!

A Nine-Grade Lotus Seed!

"Who is it! Who dares to touch the Lotus Seed!"

Earth-shattering beast roars echoed from eight different directions. The entire ice surface began to tremble violently as the Eight Great Demon Beasts closed in with furious roars.

Li Shuang gritted her teeth and placed her hand directly on the Nine-Grade Lotus Seed. Like melting frost, it instantly vanished from the lotus heart. Simultaneously, a tiny seed appeared in her Dantian.

With the Foundation Establishment Treasure now in hand, Li Shuang hesitated no longer and immediately began her Foundation Establishment!

Ordinary people would choose a secluded chamber for this process, preparing numerous elixir pills and setting up various protective measures for fear of anything going wrong. But Li Shuang already had the experience of undergoing Foundation Establishment once, and her Soul Realm was far beyond the requirements of the Foundation Establishment Stage. For her, as long as she had selected a Foundation Establishment Treasure, breaking through required only One Thought.

As her Qi Cultivation Stage Spiritual Power continuously condensed into Foundation Establishment Stage Spiritual Power, Li Shuang chose a direction and attempted to flee outwards. However, to her absolute shock, she couldn’t leave the range of the lotus at all! In that brief moment of delay, the Eight Great Demon Beasts arrived and surrounded her completely, trapping her dead in the center.

Watching from a distance, Liu Juncheng couldn’t help but nervously grip his treasure sword. Although he didn’t know what had happened on Li Shuang’s end, if she couldn’t escape, he was ready to fight to the death no matter what.

Yet, even though the Eight Great Demon Beasts had encircled her, not a single one took the initiative to attack.

Standing in the center, Li Shuang was momentarily stunned, wondering what exactly was going on. Before she could react, an ancient, distant voice echoed above the Ice Lake.

"Challenger Li Shuang has absorbed the Nine-Grade Lotus Seed, unlocking the true challenge: Fight to the End!

"The Eight Great Demon Beasts each possess different levels of strength. If the challenger can consecutively defeat all eight, it will be considered a success.

"The Ice Lake is one of the Eight Great Perilous Lands. A successful challenge will reward you with a key. When the time comes, this key will grant you the opportunity to compete with prodigies from various continents for the final inheritance of the Langya Secret Realm.

"Challenger Li Shuang, do you accept the challenge?

"If accepted, the challenge begins.

"If rejected, an escape route will be opened. You must flee for a hundred miles under the pursuit of four randomly selected demon beasts to successfully leave with the Nine-Grade Lotus Seed."

Li Shuang’s eyes flickered. One of the Eight Great Perilous Lands: the Ice Lake! Unlocking the true challenge! In her previous life, she hadn’t even qualified to initiate such a challenge. This time, it was only due to the guidance of the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace, combined with the unique nature of her Cultivation Technique, that she was able to find that Nine-Grade Lotus Seed.

She wondered if she should accept the challenge. Li Shuang answered in her heart without hesitation, "I accept the challenge!"

A key to obtain the final inheritance! An opportunity to compete on the same stage as numerous prodigies from across the continents—why would she refuse?

After all, the Nanlan Continent she resided in was merely a remote corner of this world. The truly prosperous region of this world was the Central Continent! Rumor had it that the Central Continent produced geniuses in abundance, and the peerless prodigies there were far beyond their imagination.

In the Nanlan Continent, Li Shuang was considered someone with peak-tier aptitude. But if she went to the Central Continent? That wouldn’t necessarily be the case. According to that voice, to obtain the final inheritance, she had to compete with prodigies from other continents. This... this... this was simply too thrilling!

Li Shuang’s eyes lit up. She would absolutely not miss such an opportunity.

"The challenge begins!"

As the final words fell, the entire Ice Lake astonishingly transformed into a massive arena. The true challenge had begun!

Outside the Ice Lake, Liu Juncheng watched this transformation unfold and guessed that Li Shuang must have encountered some fortuitous opportunity. He couldn’t help but grow even more nervous, knowing that greater opportunities were often accompanied by greater dangers. He prayed internally, "Junior Sister, please don’t let anything happen to you."

"Super Demon Beast: Wood Bud Beast! A successful challenge will grant you three hours of rest and recovery. If the challenge fails, escape mode will be activated."

At one end of the arena, a bizarre demon beast stepped forward. Its entire body was a deep, gloomy green, and a small sapling grew atop its head.

Within Li Shuang’s body, her Spiritual Power was still slowly converting. Right now, she was only halfway to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Even so, her overall strength had already made a leap forward compared to before.

Li Shuang leaped forward. With Lili’s assistance, the blade of the Black Abyss Sword exuded an icy, chilling aura. The first challenge had begun!

These eight demon beasts were all Super Demon Beasts. However, even among Super Demon Beasts, there were differences in power. The Golden-winged Eagle they had encountered previously was considered outstanding among its kind, while the strength of this Wood Bud Beast was considerably inferior.

As soon as Li Shuang stood on the arena, emerald green branches slithered toward her, attempting to bind her.

Sword Domain activated instantly!

Li Shuang weaved through the gaps in the branches, instantly closing the distance to the Wood Bud Beast. The moment the Black Abyss Sword slashed out, the Wood Bud Beast shook the sapling on its head, sending layers of leaves falling frantically like deadly blades.

A freezing aura violently erupted from Li Shuang’s body, instantly freezing the falling leaves in mid-air.

The sword fell! The Wood Bud Beast immediately vanished from the arena.

"First round: Challenger wins. The challenger is granted three hours of rest and recovery."

A countdown directly appeared in the sky.

Li Shuang had fought the first battle so swiftly and fiercely precisely for these three hours of rest. She sat cross-legged and immediately began regulating her breathing. The Nine-Grade Lotus Seed was truly extraordinary; she had only just absorbed it, yet the might of her Spiritual Power had already been further elevated. Otherwise, freezing those falling leaves just now wouldn’t have been handled so effortlessly.

Li Shuang began channeling all her effort into breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Her originally gaseous Spiritual Power was condensed and compressed by her, eventually forming into droplets of liquid that fell upon her Dantian. The Nine-Grade Lotus Seed slowly melted into these droplets at an extremely sluggish pace.

"Seize the fortune of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object, the Nine-Grade Lotus Seed, to forge the cornerstone of my foundation," she chanted internally. "The path to Foundation Establishment begins now!"

This process was incredibly slow.

Three hours passed, and another demon beast stepped onto the arena. Li Shuang was still a step short of the Foundation Establishment Realm! But at this moment, she had no choice but to initiate the next battle first.

If it were anyone else, having their Foundation Establishment interrupted like this would have resulted in immediate failure. But Li Shuang had previously Cultivated to the Nascent Soul Stage; her ability to control herself was far stronger than that of ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. She forcibly suppressed the conversion process and engaged in the second battle.

The demon beast in this match was noticeably stronger than the first. However, even at the risk of some injuries, Li Shuang still finished it quickly. She sat down cross-legged and continued her Foundation Establishment.

Another three hours passed. Li Shuang’s Foundation Establishment was interrupted once more, and she rose to face the third demon beast.

This time, her injuries were heavier.

However, after consecutively defeating three demon beasts, she intermittently managed to finally convert her last shred of Spiritual Power into liquid. The Nine-Grade Lotus Seed had also completely merged into her body.

The Foundation Establishment Realm. Success!

This time, with the Nine-Grade Lotus Seed as her cornerstone, her strength vastly surpassed what she had possessed during her previous life’s Foundation Establishment Stage!

"Fourth round of challenge: Begins."

Li Shuang opened her eyes, an intense confidence flashing within them.