Chen Hao's smile completely vanished, irritation surfacing openly on his face as he assessed the situation in front of him.
From his perspective, it was obvious—two against one, and both of them had already proven their combat ability. Even if everyone's cultivation was suppressed to the same realm, charging in now would only be asking for trouble.
His eyes flickered with unwillingness and resentment, but he did not step forward.
Instead, he gave Lin Chen a cold glare, his expression dark and stiff.
"With this situation," he said through clenched teeth, "there is no point in fighting."
A brief pause followed before he finally spat out the words he clearly hated to say.
"I forfeit."
Lin Chen then turned his head and looked at Bai Yuexin. Now only the two of them were left in the final trial, and the rules were clear—only one person could be the final winner.
He rubbed his chin slightly, already thinking of a reasonable solution. Negotiation seemed like the safest option. Splitting the inheritance later, or giving her half of whatever was inside, would avoid unnecessary conflict.
After all, this was an inheritance site, and very likely the inheritance of the Heavenly Sage itself. No matter what was inside, its value would definitely be absurd.
Just as he was about to speak, Bai Yuexin spoke first.
"You can have the inheritance."
Lin Chen blinked in surprise and stared at her.
"…What?"
He looked at her again, as if trying to see whether she was joking, but her expression was calm and completely serious.
That only made it stranger.
He could admit that they were somewhat allies and not exactly enemies anymore, but they were nowhere near close enough for her to casually give up the final inheritance of a secret realm.
Especially when no one even knew what was inside yet, and it was very likely the most valuable thing in the entire realm.
Lin Chen frowned slightly, clearly confused.
"What happened to you?" he asked bluntly. "This is an inheritance site, not some random reward. And you're just giving it to me like that?"
He studied her carefully, still unable to understand her decision. From his point of view, Bai Yuexin was the type who would rather fight head-on than back down, not someone who would voluntarily hand over such an opportunity.
Which was exactly why this felt so abnormal.
"Why do you care?" Bai Yuexin said, her tone flat as she looked away. "I'm in a good mood. Take it before I change my mind."
Lin Chen didn't hesitate any further.
"…Thanks."
Then, as if remembering something important, he turned his head toward the two defeated opponents lying unconscious on the arena floor. Li Zhen and Tang Ruoxuan were still sprawled where they had fallen, completely defenseless.
From Lin Chen's point of view, that was basically unattended resources.
He walked over calmly and began looting without the slightest guilt. Storage rings came off first, then weapons, talismans, and protective accessories. After that, he didn't stop.
He stripped away their robes and even their defensive garments in one smooth, efficient motion, leaving only a single piece of cloth at the bottom out of basic decency.
In a matter of moments, the two so-called geniuses were robbed completely bare of everything valuable.
He tossed the items into his storage ring as if this were routine work.
"Don't mind it," Lin Chen said casually while glancing at Bai Yuexin. "Spoils of war."
Bai Yuexin stared at the scene for a few seconds, then slowly exhaled.
Yep.
This guy was truly the strangest man she had ever met in her life. Other disciples cared about face, reputation, and dignity. This one beat people senseless and then robbed them down to the last usable item without even blinking.
There was not even a hint of embarrassment on his face.
After a brief silence, she shook her head lightly.
"I forfeit."
The moment her voice fell, the arena responded immediately.
{The final trial is completed.}
An array formation lit up beneath Lin Chen's feet, ancient symbols rotating as spatial light wrapped around his body. Before he could react further, the light surged and his figure vanished from the arena.
In the next breath, the arena itself began to dissolve, as if the trial had never existed at all.
Lin Chen reappeared in a different chamber.
This one was clearly unlike the previous trial arenas. The room was vast yet quiet, and at its center floated a luminous sphere, slowly rotating in midair. Around it drifted dozens of shining objects—scrolls, weapons, jade slips, and other treasures suspended as if held by an invisible force.
Even without touching them, he could feel the dense aura coming off those items.
Definitely treasures.
Before he could take a closer look, the sphere suddenly emitted a soft glow. The light condensed, gathering into a humanoid outline, and within a few breaths, a figure fully materialized in front of him.
A handsome man.
Lin Chen stared at him for a second.
'…Huh?'
His expression turned slightly stiff.
'Fuck, why do I keep seeing handsome guys everywhere I go? I thought inheritance sites were supposed to have old, wise seniors with white beards. Why is this another handsome one?'
In most stories, the inheritance spirit would be some ancient elder with a long beard and heavy aura. Instead, the man before him looked refined, youthful, and annoyingly good-looking.
The projection slowly opened its eyes and began circling around Lin Chen, floating lightly as if he weighed nothing. He even reached out and tapped Lin Chen's shoulder, then his arm, as if examining a newly found artifact.
His gaze swept from head to toe in a very unrestrained manner.
After a full round of inspection, he stopped directly in front of Lin Chen and let out a soft sigh.
"I expected my successor to be as handsome as I am," the projection said, shaking his head slightly. "But your appearance is only… above average."
Lin Chen's eyelid twitched.
He quietly suppressed the urge to punch a ghost.
The projection, however, looked completely serious.
"But since you passed all my trials," he continued, straightening his posture with visible pride, "that proves you possess talent, intelligence, will, and combat ability worthy of my inheritance. In other words, you are as much of a genius as I was."
He lifted his chin slightly, clearly pleased with his own conclusion.
"I am the Heavenly Sage, Mu Chen," the figure declared, his voice calm yet full of self-assurance. "My name was once revered across the four regions. You should have at least heard of me."
Lin Chen looked at him without changing expression.
"No," he replied flatly.
The projection of Mu Chen visibly staggered in midair, his composed expression cracking for the first time as if he had just been struck by something far more shocking than any attack.
Lin Chen watched that reaction with a faint, inward satisfaction.
To be fair, he really wasn't pretending. He genuinely had no idea who this Mu Chen was.
Mu Chen quickly straightened, clearly unwilling to accept reality so easily.
"What about the Sage of Azure Pavilion?" he asked, voice rising slightly. "You should at least know that title."
"No."
Mu Chen's brow twitched.
"…Destroyer of Demons?"
"No."
"…Heavenly Sword Sovereign?"
"No."
"…Pillar of the Southern Region? Founder of the Azure Pavilion? Slayer of Ten Thousand Evils?"
"No."
Each title was grander than the last.
Each answer was the same.
Flat. Calm. Unmoved.
Lin Chen stood there with a completely straight face, responding like he was rejecting menu items he didn't recognize.
By the end of it, Mu Chen looked genuinely distressed.
"Argh—!" he burst out, clutching his forehead. "Do you live under a rock? How can you not know about the Azure Pavilion? It was the most prominent sacred ground on the entire continent!"
Lin Chen blinked, then tilted his head slightly.
"Umm… I'm pretty sure I've never heard of it," he said honestly. "Where exactly is it located?"
Mu Chen immediately answered, as if that part was obvious.
"The Southern Region! The strongest region of the continent. The heart of countless sects, sages, and supreme inheritances."
This time, Lin Chen's expression finally changed.
Confusion appeared on his face.
"…Southern Region?" he repeated slowly.
Mu Chen frowned. "Yes. The Southern Region. Don't tell me that name means nothing to you either."
Lin Chen hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Umm… the Southern Region, as far as I know," he said carefully, "is a deathland now. Mostly ruins. Spiritual veins shattered, sects destroyed, and the area is filled with dangerous remnants and desolate zones."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The projection of Mu Chen froze in place.
"…Huh?"
"You mean to say it's the Northern Region that is the frozen wasteland, not the Southern?" Mu Chen said sharply, disbelief clear in his voice. "How can the Southern Region be a wasteland? That place was the cradle of countless great sects and sacred lands."
Lin Chen scratched his cheek, looking a little awkward.
"Umm… I don't know how it was in your time," he replied honestly, "but in the present era, the Southern Region is a dead land. Ruins, broken spiritual veins, scattered remnants of ancient sects… it's been like that for the past two thousand years."
"Two thousand… years?"
Mu Chen's pupils shrank.
The light of his projection flickered slightly, as if even the spiritual imprint sustaining him had been shaken.
Then his expression slowly dimmed.
"…Then the plan must have failed," he murmured, his tone turning heavy as he lowered his gaze.
Lin Chen's brows furrowed immediately.
"What plan?" he asked, instinctively alert. "Wait… are you saying the downfall of the entire Southern Region is connected to something you people did?"
Mu Chen let out a long, weary sigh, no longer carrying the pride he had shown earlier.
"Listen carefully, my successor," he said, his voice calmer but filled with faint regret. "If the Southern Region truly turned into a dead land, then it means my main body's plan ended in complete failure."
He slowly floated backward, as if recalling a distant era.
"Two thousand years ago, that was the golden generation of our continent. Geniuses rose like stars, one after another. Peerless talents, supreme physiques, unmatched dao comprehension… it was an age where the heavens themselves seemed to favor us."
"We gathered and formed the Azure Pavilion, the most powerful organization of that era. Not a sect, not a clan, but a union of the strongest cultivators across all regions."
"As we all reached the pinnacle of the Celestial Realm," Mu Chen continued, "one truth became unavoidable. Ascension to the Upper Realms was the only path forward."
His eyes turned distant.
"And among us, there was one person."
"The strongest. The most intelligent. The one whose charisma, talent, and vision made even arrogant geniuses willingly follow him."
Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.
"That guy suggested the plan?" he asked.
Mu Chen gave a bitter smile.
"Yes. He proposed something absurd."
"To evolve our continent… into a realm comparable to the Upper Realms."
Lin Chen's mouth twitched.
"…That sounds insane."
"It was," Mu Chen admitted without hesitation. "At first, all of us opposed it. The probability of success was less than one in a thousand. Evolving an entire lower realm into something akin to an immortal domain is nothing short of a divine miracle."
He lifted his hand, and faint spiritual symbols flickered around his palm.
"The very energy circulating in the Upper Realms is not Essence Qi. Their laws, their origin energy, their foundations—everything is fundamentally different from ours. Under normal circumstances, such evolution is impossible."
"Then how did he convince all of you?" Lin Chen asked, now genuinely curious.
Mu Chen's gaze turned sharp.
"He proposed a method that aligned perfectly with cultivators' nature."
A brief pause.
"…Stealing."
Lin Chen blinked.
"What?"
"He devised a plan to steal the Origin Core of an Upper Realm domain," Mu Chen said slowly. "According to him, that particular domain was abandoned and unguarded. If we could seize its origin and integrate it into our continent's foundation, the entire world could undergo qualitative evolution."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"…You people tried to steal the origin of an Upper Realm?" Lin Chen said, staring at him. "Are you serious? Nowadays, most sects don't even know Upper Realms exist, and you all went straight to stealing their origin?"
Inside, he could only think:
These people weren't just bold.
They were outright lunatics.
Mu Chen gave a faint, self-mocking laugh.
"Two thousand years ago, our continent still maintained limited communication with the Upper Realms through ancient channels," he explained. "Knowledge of higher planes was not completely severed like it seems to be in your era."
Lin Chen shook his head.
"No. Forget communication. In the present era, even breaking through to the Celestial Realm has become nearly impossible. The path itself feels… cut off."
Mu Chen's expression stiffened.
"…I see."
"It seems," he said quietly, "that we ended up harming the continent far more than we ever intended."
Lin Chen's mind raced, but one doubt still remained.
"But how did you even come up with such a plan?" he asked. "Stealing the origin of an Upper Realm sounds like something even Celestial Realm cultivators shouldn't be capable of. That kind of thing should be beyond your level entirely."
Mu Chen looked at him for a few seconds.
Then he spoke two words.
"…Because of the Heavenly Stone."
Lin Chen's face immediately darkened.
'Fuck. Again the Heavenly Stone.'
*****
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