The Peerless Emperor

Meanwhile, at a location far from Lin Qian and his companions, there was a wide gorge on the ground, clearly formed by something that had struck the ground and then dragged across it.

The Spirit Woods broken by the gorge were completely fractured, and the starting point of the gorge was nothing but shattered wood chips, clearly caused by an object falling from the sky and smashing into this state.

Standing right at the center of the pit at the end of the gorge was the palace-dressed woman, her clothes in disarray. Alongside anger, her expression carried immense heartache.

The icy barrier that had suddenly appeared before her, shielding her from Zhao Long’s strike, was not from her own power.

It was a talisman personally inscribed by her imperial father before she entered this Small World, designed to activate as a defense and protect her from a fatal blow in the event of a life-or-death crisis.

Among the geniuses who joined the South Meeting, many had significant backgrounds, and who didn’t have a couple of aces up their sleeves, or some help from their elders?

This talisman inscribed by her imperial father was the palace-dressed woman’s lifesaving trump card. With her father’s strength, a lifesaving talisman inscribed by him was equivalent to an extra life in this Small World, exceedingly precious.

Originally, the palace-dressed woman planned to save this lifesaving talisman for the most critical moment, hoping that after its use, she would receive valuable rewards in return.

And the result?

This precious lifesaving trump card was forcibly drawn out by Zhao Long’s spear, leaving her standing disheveled in this pit.

Despite her father’s talisman, that the palace-dressed woman was still alive and standing here, the outcome was completely different from what she had imagined, and it was unbearable.

"That wretch and those lowly people managed to have such formidable subordinates." Every time she thought back to the event, the palace-dressed woman was so angry she clenched her teeth, wishing she could skin Lin Qian and his group alive.

However, thinking back to the man in armor smashing her maid into a blood mist with a single thrust of his spear, and pulling out her father’s talisman, causing it to even show cracks, made her shudder with fear.

"Red light suddenly emerged from his body, he definitely used a Mysterious Soul Skill, that’s how he displayed such power. Just relying on myself, I’m certainly not his match, it seems I have to seek help from my imperial brother," she thought, and then she disappeared into the sky.

As the palace-dressed woman departed, Lin Qian swooped down into the jungle below, where a massive Soul Beast was roaring and charging forward,

The Soul Beast resembled a black bull, with two extremely sharp horns on its head, condensed with Gold Attribute Soul Power, significantly enhancing its piercing ability. The beast’s sturdy body and the strong muscles of its limbs showcased its formidable strength.

And yet, such a beast was stopped in its tracks, its horns firmly grasped by Lin Qian, preventing it from moving even slightly.

Even as it frantically stamped its hooves, kicking up dirt and dust, it still couldn’t break free, nor could it make Lin Qian budge an inch.

At this moment, Lin Qian was staring at the top of the Soul Beast’s head, where there was a black mark identical to the pattern on the back of his own hand.

With Lin Qian’s current Realm, it was easy for him to see a bug on the ground from the air, let alone the patterns on the head of a Soul Beast.

This was precisely why he had suddenly dived down, entering the woods to subdue this Soul Beast.

Soul Beasts’ strength was roughly at the level of the Life and Death Realm within the Body Realm, and they were much stronger than the average Soul Martial Artist. However, compared to the geniuses participating in the South Meeting, they weren’t considered much.

Still, this bovine Soul Beast was no simple creature. If ten of them appeared at once, many would find themselves exhausted trying to escape.

The Ironhorn Black Bull was a herding Soul Beast. Now, there was only one appearing here, clearly separated from its herd and blindly wandering in the dense forest, continuously cautious and vigilant of its surroundings. As Lin Qian dived from the sky, he naturally became its target, and it charged at him, only to be subdued.

"Soul Beasts also have marks denoting performance points, but this Ironhorn Black Bull has only one." After staring at the mark on the top of the Ironhorn Black Bull’s head for a good while, Lin Qian’s body suddenly surged with crimson-gold Thunder Soul Power, enveloping his entire body in the blink of an eye.

By chance, Lin Qian also enveloped the Ironhorn Black Bull within it.

Poor Ironhorn Black Bull, after a tragic scream, the scent of roasted beef wafted through the air.

Right now, Lin Qian wasn’t interested in trying the taste of this roasted beef. Instead, he watched as a black glow flew out from the roasted head of the Ironhorn Black Bull, branding itself onto the back of his hand.

An additional line appeared on the back of his hand amidst the black patterns, differing from the others; this one was much smaller, incomplete in appearance, seemingly just a part of a pattern, merely one-twentieth the normal size of the performance points!

"Other than killing other trial participants and plundering their performance points, killing Soul Beasts is also a way to obtain performance points," Lin Qian spoke to Ye Xin as he observed the change on his hand. "It seems that this forest we are in now is the place for us to earn these points."

"Earning performance points, is it really just that simple?" Hearing Lin Qian’s words, Ye Xin looked at the roasted and fragrant Ironhorn Black Bull, shaking her head in disbelief.

Lin Qian smiled and lightly tickled Ye Xin’s nose, saying, "Of course it isn’t that simple. Killing other trial participants, stealing their performance points. Killing Soul Beasts, obtaining performance points. Aren’t both methods I discovered on my own? And yet, there were no hints. Perhaps there are other ways to obtain performance points as well."

"Like the previous Battle Path, the Array would condense text to provide hints and explain the rules. But now, there’s nothing of the sort, as if we are meant to discover it on our own."

"And there’s the most crucial point—what are the conditions to pass this level?"

As Lin Qian brought this up, Ye Xin also looked startled, but with her intelligence, she quickly understood.

The condition to overcome the Battle Path before was clear—defeat the three puppets ahead, and you would pass successfully, entering the Small World. As for the performance points collected after defeating puppets, that was for those with sufficient strength to get additional rewards.

From this, one could infer that the Small World was not only a place for training Sect disciples, but the trials were also a series of layered stages.

Given that, there must be certain conditions for Lin Qian and the others to pass the second stage, but what could those conditions be?

"It could be that the more performance points the better, but that might not be the only condition. How exactly, we’ll have to further explore," Lin Qian said as various animals and insects, all Reconnaissance Beasts, had started appearing around them. Stay tuned for updates on Freewebnovel

The swarm of Reconnaissance Beasts appeared promptly and immediately dispersed, leaving Ye Xin staring with her mouth agape.

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With the third update of the day completed, the era of three daily updates for this book begins today.