Chapter 35: The Next Level

Just then,

a figure descended from the sky, landing in front of the Cultivation Tower.

It was the Hall Master of Law Enforcement, Li Yuanyi.

With a solemn expression, he looked at Lin Xiaoyu.

“Lin Xiaoyu, you want to challenge the Death Layer?”

Lin Xiaoyu nodded.

“Yes.”

Li Yuanyi fell silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to Chen Ping.

“Peak Master Chen, do you know what the Death Layer means?”

Chen Ping nodded.

“I know.”

“And you’re still letting her go?”

“It’s the path she chose,” Chen Ping said calmly.

“As her master, I can only support her.”

Li Yuanyi opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he simply sighed.

“Very well. Since you have decided…”

He stepped aside and spoke no more.

*

Just as Lin Xiaoyu was about to step forward, another figure descended.

It was the Sect Master of the Qingyun Sect, Saint Qingyuan.

He looked at Lin Xiaoyu’s back, a complicated expression in his eyes.

Then, he looked at Chen Ping and sent a secret voice transmission:

“Chen Ping, Xiaoyu is being reckless. She has the Heavenly Dao Divine Physique. If anything happens to her…”

Chen Ping raised his head and met his gaze.

“To find life, one must first face death.”

He spoke only those few words.

Saint Qingyuan fell silent.

After a long while, he slowly nodded.

“Fine. I will trust you this once.”

In front of the Cultivation Tower’s entrance, Lin Xiaoyu paused.

She turned her head and looked at Chen Ping in the crowd.

Her master stood there, his face calm and devoid of any emotion.

But Lin Xiaoyu knew he was watching her.

“Xiaoyu.”

Chen Ping suddenly spoke.

Lin Xiaoyu froze for a moment, startled.

Chen Ping walked up to her and reached out to rub her head.

The movement was light and gentle.

Just like every time she had been injured and her master comforted her.

Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes reddened slightly, and she was about to speak,

a faint wisp of purple-gold light quietly slipped from Chen Ping’s fingertip into her body.

The light was so faint that Lin Xiaoyu did not notice it at all.

“There,” Chen Ping said, withdrawing his hand.

“Go on.”

Lin Xiaoyu nodded vigorously, turned, and stepped through the gates of the Cultivation Tower.

*

Inside the tower.

Lin Xiaoyu stood on the first floor, looking at the light screen before her.

Life Layer.

Death Layer.

Without the slightest hesitation, she chose:

Death Layer.

On the light screen, the number of puppets began to flash.

Six.

Third level of the Golden Core realm.

An entire realm higher than last time, and it was in Death Layer mode.

Lin Xiaoyu took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the Qingfeng Sword.

“Come on,”

she whispered.

Boom!

The entire Cultivation Tower shook violently!

*

Outside the tower.

On the light screen, Lin Xiaoyu’s choice was clearly displayed for everyone to see.

Death Layer.

Six third-level Golden Core puppets.

The entire place went dead silent.

Then, the crowd erupted!

“It really is the Death Layer!”

“Six third-level Golden Core puppets! A whole realm higher than last time!”

“What is Senior Sister Lin trying to do?!”

“She’s crazy! Absolutely crazy!”

Among the crowd, gasps of shock and voices urging her to stop rose one after another.

But Lin Xiaoyu could not hear them.

She was already on the battlefield of the first floor.

*

The first floor.

It was still the same familiar Gobi Desert.

But this time, the atmosphere was completely different.

A chilling aura of slaughter filled the air, a pressure the Life Layer had never possessed.

Six figures slowly stepped out of the void.

Third level of the Golden Core realm.

Each one was a full two minor realms stronger than the puppets she had faced last time.

What was even more terrifying,

Their eyes were blood-red.

This was the unique mark of the Death Layer.

These puppets were not meant for training.

They were combat machines bred purely for slaughter.

Lin Xiaoyu tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword.

She could feel the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Acupoints in her body warming up.

A vast amount of energy was stored within them.

It was the foundation left behind from her first step.

Right now, that energy was surging, as if hungering for a real battle.

“Come on.”

Lin Xiaoyu said softly.

She raised the Qingfeng Sword, its tip pointing directly at the six puppets.

*

Outside the tower.

Everyone was staring at the light screen.

Li Yuanyi stood with his hands behind his back, his expression grave.

Saint Qingyuan furrowed his brows, saying nothing.

The surrounding disciples held their breath, not daring to even breathe.

Only Chen Ping remained calm.

Looking at the slender figure on the screen, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Xiaoyu…”

he murmured.

“Let Master see just how far you can go.”

Outside the tower.

In front of the light screen, everyone held their breath, so tense they almost forgot to breathe.

Six blood-red puppets at the third level of Golden Core.

Lin Xiaoyu at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

The disparity was utterly despairing.

“How long can Senior Sister Lin hold out?”

“Ten moves? Twenty?”

“Don’t even talk about that. It’ll be a miracle if she just comes out alive…”

No one believed she could win.

Crossing two major realms, fighting six against one, and in the Death Layer at that:

This was not a fight; it was suicide.

Then,

The light screen flared.

Lin Xiaoyu moved.

No one saw how she moved.

They only saw a flash of golden sword light draw a profound arc through the air.

The first puppet’s head flew off.

The second puppet’s chest was pierced through.

The third puppet was sliced in half at the waist.

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth…

Six flashes of sword light.

Six puppets.

All collapsed.

From start to finish, barely three breaths had passed.

Outside the tower, a deathly silence fell.

Everyone stood gaping, wide-eyed, as if they had seen a ghost.

“Six… six moves?”

Someone’s voice trembled, scarcely believing their own eyes.

“Six moves to cut down six third-level Golden Core puppets?!”

“Ninth level of Qi Refining, six third-level Golden Core puppets, in six moves?!”

“Am I dreaming?”

No one could answer.

Because everyone was too shocked by the scene to speak.

*

In the crowd, a faint, knowing smile curved Chen Ping’s lips.

Six moves.

Clean, swift, and completely decisive.

The girl’s combat ability had improved significantly compared to three days ago.

With the explosive power of the Heavenly Dao Divine Art combined with the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Acupoints, along with the movement technique of the Grand Dao Evasion Technique he had personally taught her,

the current Lin Xiaoyu could go head-to-head with a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator without flinching.

“It seems the three days of special training weren’t in vain,” he murmured to himself.

*

On the light screen, Lin Xiaoyu’s figure did not pause for an instant.

Standing in the center of the first-floor battlefield, she looked up at the void.

“Next level.”

Her voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable resolve.

The light screen flickered.

The second floor opened.

*

Nine figures stepped out of the void.

The fifth level of the Golden Core realm.

Two minor realms higher than the previous floor, with three more puppets.

Their eyes were also blood-red.

The mark of the Death Layer.

Lin Xiaoyu gripped the Qingfeng Sword tightly and took a deep breath.

Inside her body, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Acupoints erupted simultaneously!

Golden light surged from her body, enveloping her completely.

The light was as brilliant as a blazing sun, causing the movements of the nine puppets to falter for a brief moment.

Now!

Lin Xiaoyu pushed off the ground, her body moving like lightning:

The Grand Dao Evasion Technique!

Her figure dragged afterimages through the air, moving far too fast for the naked eye to track.

The nine puppets attacked simultaneously, blood-red light blotting out the sky.

But Lin Xiaoyu was faster.

She threaded through the gaps of the nine attacks, every turn precise to the millimeter.

Then,

She struck!

The first strike slashed toward the nape of the nearest puppet’s neck!

Clang!

Sparks flew in all directions.

A deep sword mark was left on the puppet’s neck, but it did not fall.

The defense of the fifth level of the Golden Core realm was more than twice as strong as the third level.

Lin Xiaoyu frowned slightly, but her movements did not falter in the slightest.

Using the momentum, her body twisted in midair at an unbelievable angle, and she struck again from the other side.

This time, the sword light shot straight for the puppet’s eye!

Pfft!

The Qingfeng Sword plunged through the blood-red eye and out the back of its head.

The first one fell!

*

Outside the tower, the crowd erupted once again!

“She… she’s actually fighting fifth-level Golden Core puppets?!”

“And she killed one with a single strike?!”

“No, that movement technique! What kind of technique was that? I couldn’t see her at all!”

“Just how many trump cards does Senior Sister Lin have left?!”

No one could answer.

Because the battle on the light screen was still ongoing.

*

The second one fell!

The third one fell!

The fourth one fell!

…

Lin Xiaoyu’s figure darted among the nine puppets like a ghost.

Every strike was precise, ruthless, and lethal.

There were no wasted movements.

There was no wasted strength.

This was the result of three days of hellish special training.

Her master had taught her the meaning of “precision” by knocking her back time and time again.

Her master had taught her the meaning of “lethality” through wound after wound.

Now, she was putting it to use.

Every single bit of it.

*

On the eighty-first move.

The ninth puppet crashed to the ground.

Lin Xiaoyu dropped to one knee, panting heavily.

The Qingfeng Sword was stabbed into the sand beside her, its blade covered in cracks.

Over a dozen new wounds had appeared on her body.

The deepest one stretched from her left shoulder all the way to her waist, nearly exposing the bone.

Yet, she stood up.

She raised her head and looked toward the void.

“Next level.”

*