The Prodigies War

The Fire Serpent Dragon resembled a snake in some parts and a dragon in others. It was a beast born from the spirit fire of heaven and earth.

Its body was only as wide as the mouth of a bowl and around ten feet long. Its scales had a dazzling sheen and its strength was known to be terrifying. In ancient times, it had the title of a great evil!

Boom!

The Fire Serpent Dragon flashed across the air, its slender body swift, graceful, and nimble like it was dancing in the air. Its every movement was lightning-fast and produced dazzling flames.

They were like wisps of flames, but they were as sharp as a sword.

Before the black-robed young man could dodge, multiple thumb-sized holes were left in his body. All he could do was scream tragically.

He was a genius talent, but he couldn’t fend off a single attack of the Fire Serpent Dragon!

Lin Xun’s expression changed. Then, without any wavering, he stepped forward and threw his palm forward.

Boom!

A bright azure palm of qi burst forth like a blast of powerful wind, dispelling the shower of flames, and at the same time, rescuing the black-robed young man by tossing him into the distance.

Lin Xun saved him because he had something to ask him. Otherwise, he would not have bothered.

Chi!

Irritated by the disturbance, the Fire Serpent Dragon swayed, and its blood-colored diamond-like eyes flashed a ruthless light. It violently charged at Lin Xun.

Its speed was so fast that it resembled fiery lightning dancing wildly in the sky, leaving a trail of dazzling flames.

The flames tore the void apart and left chilling, black scorch marks in space.

The Dance of Flames!

That was the innate Dao art of the Fire Serpent Dragon. The divine flames dancing wildly across the nine heavens could incinerate the sky, melt the earth, and turn everything into ashes.

Rumor had it that in ancient times a Fire Serpent Dragon emerged and brought great calamity to the world. It activated its divine art and set thousands of miles of mountains and rivers aflame, burning countless lives to death and turning the world into a place of devastation and despair.

Now, such an unrivaled secret art appeared in the world once again!

Lin Xun dared not lower his guard and drew upon all his strength to fight off the beast.

He didn’t intend to flee this time because both the lava lake and the Fire Serpent Dragon appeared in the world of snow and ice despite their fire attributes. There had to be a meaning to this mystery, and it could be connected to the ‘reverse’ name of the secret realm.

Boom!

Lin Xun swiftly moved through the air, surrounded by a Hornless Ice Dragon. He gathered dazzling and powerful qi to his fist and charged up to meet the Fire Serpent Dragon head-on.

In the blink of an eye, the heaven and earth were roaring like thunder, the void was in utter chaos, and waves of fist qi and showers of flame were raging in all directions.

The black-robed young man trembled all over, teeth chattering. Only then did he fully realize that he was too weak compared to Demon God Lin.

The Fire Serpent Dragon was comparable to peerless geniuses in terms of strength and possibly even stronger than great Cyclic Derivation experts.

But Demon God Lin was able to hold his ground against it. That was too abnormal!

Shua!

A moment later, a white blade flickered in the air, and the Fire Serpent Dragon was severed into two with a bang.

It was the power of the Broken Blade, which could be considered as one of Lin Xun’s strongest powers. He brought it out because he didn’t want the battle with the Fire Serpent Dragon to drag on.

“It’s that move!”

The black-robed young man’s heart pounded wildly in his chest. He remembered that a few days ago, Qing Lian’er, the saintess of the Blue Luan Clan, was severely wounded and almost killed by that move!

The Fire Serpent Dragon failed to evade or block the attack.

Bang!

As Lin Xun put away the Broken Blade, he came to find that the Fire Serpent Dragon’s body was still burning fiercely after it was severed.

As it was being burned to ashes, a fire-colored crystal around the size of a fingernail landed on the snowy ground. It emitted a wondrous fiery-red light like a red diamond.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Lin Xun lifted it into the palm of his hand.

The gemstone was very small, but it was dazzlingly bright, almost translucent, and exuded wisps of dreamy divinity light.

The black-robed young man suddenly said aloud, “That’s a divinity crystal. It contains abundant great dao origin power, which can greatly improve one’s cultivation base without affecting the stability of the foundation. It is a rare item that only existed in ancient times.”

Lin Xun nodded. He could tell that the young man was only being this cooperative because he didn’t want him to kill him and knew that he had something to ask him.

The young man took a deep breath before he promised, “Lin Xun, I can tell all the secrets that I know if you don’t eliminate me.”

He knew very well that Lin Xun had limited knowledge about the Dao Lantern Festival given that he came from the lower domain and was traveling by himself.

This was because only the successors of ancient sects would grasp such secrets!

“Speak.”

Lin Xun indeed wanted to know more about this unusual place, so he was very happy to see the black-robed young man obediently cooperate with him.

Very quickly, Lin Xun learned about other information.

Each of the five tests of the Dao Lantern Festival held great mysteries as well as treasures that were incredibly rare in the outside world.

For example, the first level, the Reverse Five Elements Secret Realm, contained divinity crystals and divinity herbs!

Divinity crystals boosted a cultivator’s cultivation base.

On the other hand, divinity herbs were like an inheritance, giving birth to true dao arts!

What were dao arts?

Dao represented the power of the dao.

Art represented combat arts!

They were more terrifying than secret arts, and only Cylic Derivation Stage experts who had mastered Dao Meaning power were able to comprehend and grasp such combat arts.

Such arts contained the wonderful truth of the great dao and infinite powers!

In the outside world, only ancient sects would hold such precious and rare manuals. The majority of cultivation arts circulating in the world were only secret arts, which were far different from dao arts.

Therefore, Lin Xun was taken aback by what he heard. He thought that blessings and treasures could only be obtained from the Ancient Dao Lantern Tree.

He never expected there to be so many opportunities in the five tests.

This demonstrated that Lin Xun’s background was inferior to that of successors from ancient sects.

The ancient sect successors could receive guidance from elders and masters of their sect and could refer to the manuals of their sect, so it was understandable that they had an advantage over ordinary people.

On the other hand, Lin Xun was alone. He had to investigate and explore everything by himself. Inevitably, he was in an unfavorable situation compared to the ancient sect's successors.

Soon, Lin Xun learned that the majority of Dao Lantern Festival participants didn’t hope to reach the Ancient Dao Lantern Tree.

Their greatest goal was to seize the opportunity and treasures hidden in the five tests!

For example, the divinity crystals and divinity herbs would make the heart of even peerless geniuses flutter.

“What an amazing place. Here, you can compete with your peers, pass tests, temper yourself, improve your cultivation, and also obtain treasures that are only found here. It’s a treasured place for cultivation.” Lin Xun fell into deep thought.

He was only at the initial Cyclic Derivation Stage, so at a normal cultivation rate, it should take him at least three to five months to break through to the next stage.

This was already considered very fast. If he encountered a setback, then he might not be able to make a breakthrough in three to five years.

But if he could seize this opportunity, then his cultivation might improve by leaps and bounds!

The mysterious woman hiding in the Omega Secret Realm had mentioned that the real great age would come within three years.

This meant that if he failed to set foot onto the perfect Cyclic Derivation Stage within three years, then when the great age came, he would be at a disadvantage against others and might not be able to compete for the opportunity to become an absolute apex king!

In the competition for the great dao, one wrong step could be disastrous!

That was the fundamental reason why all the geniuses would resort to all means to improve themselves before the great age came.

“Are there any other secrets?” Lin Xun asked. His understanding had been deepened massively.

After some wavering, the black-robed young man said aloud, “There is another rumor. It is said that in this Dao Lantern Festival, there will be an unprecedented unique great blessing. And it is very likely to be an egofied saint treasure!”

Lin Xun’s heart fluttered.

An egofied saint treasure!

He knew well how remarkable such treasures were.

The No-Nonsense Bow that he held was a damaged egofied saint treasure. Even if it was broken, it still possessed unimaginable and heaven-defying powers.

“Many peerless figures must have participated this time for that, including Ji Xingyao from the Unsolved Mystery Sword Alms and Yu Lingkong from the Longevity Land. It is a great opportunity that even old monsters covet.”

The black-robed young man was indeed very cooperative. He told Lin Xun everything without waiting for further questioning.

“Turns out that there are so many unknown secrets to the Dao Lantern Festival...” Lin Xun’s gaze drifted off as he fell into deep thought, but his heart blazed with determination.

I chose the right time to come to the Dao Lantern Festival. Otherwise, I would have missed out on so many precious and rare opportunities and treasures.

“You can go.”

Lin Xun planned to continue onward. He was very interested or perhaps determined in collecting divinity crystals and divinity herbs.

The black-robed young man hurriedly asked, “Lin Xun, can you...take me too?”

Lin Xun turned his head around to look at him and smiled slightly. “I’ve already decided to let you go. Do you still want to stick to me?”

The black-robed young man reddened in embarrassment when a thought struck him. “I know of a place where there is a lot of good stuff. If you let me travel with you, then I can guide you there!”

“What place?”

“Fire Lotus Ice Mountain!”

“In previous Dao Lantern Festivals, many people obtained rare treasures on that mountain, but only very few people know about the mountain’s location because it is concealed in a mysterious ‘reverse’ land... ”

“That’s a good enough reason. Lead the way,” Lin Xun interrupted before he finished.

The black-robed young man’s spirits were immediately lifted.

Although he had been suppressed by Lin Xun earlier, he didn’t mind at all. On the contrary, he thought that being able to act together with Lin Xun would not only be safer, but he might even obtain some opportunities that he missed out on before!

After all, he was the infamous Demon God Lin, a fierce man recognized by the world.