Soul Emperor Awakening

The time it took for one incense stick to burn passed, then two...

Time flowed by quickly. As the third incense stick was about to burn out, Ling Tian suddenly leaped up and viciously slammed his palm against a corner of the Array. He followed with a frenzied barrage, a storm of attacks raining down densely on the same corner.

With a deafening CRASH, the Cage Array’s Array Hub finally gave way under the immense pressure and shattered. With a loud POP, the Cage Array broke apart.

He broke the Cage Array in the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn!

Immediately after, Lei Zhantian appeared in a flash of lightning. He viciously hurled a thick bolt of thunder, and with a tremendous roar, his single, forceful strike shattered the Array Hub—the Cage Array was broken!

In the end, Lei Zhantian was still a step behind. The difference between them wasn’t large, but even a one-second delay meant he had lost to Ling Tian. That was irrefutable.

"Heavens! Ling Tian and Lei Zhantian were a full half-incense stick faster than last time. Their progress is just too quick!"

"That’s normal. Everyone is improving. If they *weren’t* half an incense stick faster, it would actually be a little pathetic."

...

The crowd was full of praise. A genius was a genius, incomparable to ordinary people like them. There was no longer any jealousy in their hearts. The figures of Ling Tian and the others were so far ahead that they could hardly see them, which made being jealous feel pointless.

’Three incense sticks...’ Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes. For him, victory meant finishing in even less time.

At last, it was his turn to enter the Array. As he prepared to step in, Ling Tian brushed past, shooting him a brief, provocative glance. It was a clear challenge, a dare to see if Lin Xuan, on his first attempt, could possibly surpass him.

Three incense sticks was an extremely tight deadline. The fastest record in history was merely two and a half sticks. Of course, for a Spirit Pill Stage expert, it would be a matter of moments, not even requiring a single stick’s time.

The five participants took their positions. Five Cage Arrays activated, enveloping each of them. Lin Xuan instantly felt a sense of oppression. It was an uncomfortable, restraining feeling.

It reminded him of the Ice Palace in the Mysterious Fragrance Forest, and that even more insane Array that had nearly cost him his life. That Array had been far more difficult than this one. He’d only managed to break it with Bingxin’s guidance, but the difficulty had been immense.

’I won’t break it the same way this time, nor will I use that method. Different Arrays require different solutions.’

The other four participants immediately sat down and began working to break the Array. Only Lin Xuan remained standing, not moving to sit. It made people wonder if he was a fool who didn’t even know how to begin, just standing there in a daze.

Youth can be an asset, but it can also be a major disadvantage. With so little experience, he surely couldn’t be as knowledgeable as the others.

Then, the White Pupil Rod appeared in Lin Xuan’s hand. A white light flared in his pupils as his entire aura began to rise wildly. Red energy swirled around him as the combined power of the Dragon Blood and the Blood Jade Fruit coursed through his body. Veins bulged on his arms as a formidable power surged, growing stronger by the second.

Waves of Qi Force radiated from his body, crashing against the Cage Array and making it tremble. Not only that, but the surrounding Power of Heaven and Earth was drawn in, pouring ceaselessly into the White Pupil Rod. The rod began to HUM, and the roar of a White Tiger echoed from within it.

"One Stick Shatters Void!"

Lin Xuan abruptly looked to the sky, his star-like eyes seeming to see through everything. The next moment, he brandished the White Pupil Rod and swung it upward with immense force. A dazzling light erupted from it.

DONG!!

The immeasurably violent strike smashed down hard on the Cage Array. A terrifying power threatened to shatter it. BANG! BANG! BANG! The potent force crazily battered the Array. A power strong enough to achieve Shattering Void, yet at this moment, it only managed to make the Cage Array tremble violently; it did not break.

Instead, the terrifying force rebounded, knocking Lin Xuan back several steps. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger went numb, and he nearly lost his grip on the White Pupil Rod.

’Still a little lacking in power, is it?’ Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes, not at all discouraged.

When the crowd saw this, they were stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. They pointed at Lin Xuan, laughing so hard their stomachs hurt. The entire arena echoed with their uproarious laughter as they mocked his ignorance!

If brute force could destroy the Cage Array, Ling Tian and the others would have already attacked it. The Array could withstand attacks from the Peak of Essence Pill Stage. Thus, attacking it was useless unless one was at the Spirit Pill Stage or the very Peak of the Essence Pill Stage. Otherwise, trying to use brute force was just a pipe dream!

The same principle applied to a wild assault. The Array Hub’s Defense Power was formidable; if you couldn’t locate it to launch a concentrated attack, it was nearly impossible to break. Besides, the Cage Array covered a large area. Why else would they only test five people at a time, instead of ten?

The plaza was quite spacious, but setting up these Cage Arrays took up most of the room. Therefore, attacking randomly would not only fail to break the Array but also waste precious time and, more importantly, one’s own Elemental Power!

If that approach worked, they would have used it long ago. Why would they bother stupidly sitting in meditation?

"This is killing me! Lin Yunlong wants to destroy the Array with his own strength? Is he sure he hasn’t fried his brain?"

"I think he’s just overconfident. He got first place in the last trial, so now he wants to pass this one in some spectacular fashion. Who knew he’d fall flat on his face!"

"This is hilarious. Well, serves him right. He’s made a total fool of himself now, hasn’t he?"

...

The crowd jeered endlessly. Ling Tian and the others wore strange expressions; none of them had expected Lin Xuan to try such a thing. If it were that simple, they would have done it themselves. Why would they have bothered meditating to find the Array Hub?

While their expressions were odd, Qing Piaoyun and the other elders’ faces changed completely. Qing Piaoyun whispered, "It was so close. It was almost destroyed. He actually found its weakest point. It can be broken even without the power of an Essence Pill Stage cultivator..."

"If he keeps attacking," Qingyu said, his face filled with shock, "those foolish kids are going to have to eat their words..."

They were the ones who had set up the Cage Array, so naturally, they knew its flaws. Only they could see that Lin Xuan’s attack hadn’t been misplaced. If he continued, he should be able to break through. It was just a small gap in power, but such a gap wasn’t easy to bridge.

’So it seems that even after absorbing the Dragon Blood and the Blood Jade Fruit, it’s still not enough to reach greater power?’ Lin Xuan smiled calmly. "Golden Dragon King Soul Possession!"

The soul of the Golden Dragon King didn’t possess Lin Xuan’s body. Instead, it entered the White Pupil Rod in his hand, instantly replacing the soul of the White-eyed Tiger within!

After the Golden Dragon King’s soul entered it, the entire White Pupil Rod began to let out a low HUM. Its white surface was overtaken by golden patterns, and it radiated a tyrannical golden power that seemed indomitable.

As he merged with the White Pupil Rod, Lin Xuan’s eyes shifted from white to gold. His power skyrocketed, as if all the Gold Attribute Elemental Power in the vicinity was pouring into his body.

"Huh? What’s going on? Is he going to attack again?"

"What an idiot. Wasn’t getting embarrassed once enough for him? Does he want to do it again?"

"Forget it. He has no hope of passing the second trial anyway. If he keeps messing around like this, he’s guaranteed to lose."

...

Many of the disciples held a sneering attitude. They still didn’t think much of Lin Xuan’s chances, despite this minor change.

In the next moment, Lin Xuan finished gathering his power. A golden light flashed in his eyes as he swung the rod and smashed it viciously toward the weakest point. The White Pupil Rod in his hand—no, it should be called the Golden Eye Rod now—glimmered with golden light. As he swung, the rod bent into a perfect arc, like a coiling Giant Dragon preparing to soar into the heavens!

"Dragon Shattering Void!"

The Heaven-Striking Staff Technique, empowered by the Golden Dragon King’s soul, smashed viciously against the Cage Array’s barrier. At the point of contact, a brilliant golden light erupted from the tip of the rod.

DONG!! ROAR!!

A golden Giant Dragon roared forth from the tip of his rod. The Cage Array, like a thin sheet of paper, was effortlessly pierced by the Golden Dragon formed from Qi Force, which then soared into the sky!

CRACK!

The Cage Array’s barrier shattered into countless pieces, rapidly disintegrating. It then dissolved into a wave of energy that swept out in all directions—it was broken!

The Cage Array, easily shattered by the second strike, dissolved into energy and dispersed. The smiles on the faces of the crowd froze solid.

Lin Xuan had actually done it. He had broken the Cage Array with a direct attack! His pupils shone gold, and his flowing hair glinted with a faint golden light, radiating the tyrannical aura of a Golden Dragon.

This was another way to use a soul—it could raise the quality of the Spiritual Artifact in his hand by several levels, completely overpowering the White-eyed Tiger’s soul that originally resided within the White Pupil Rod.