Soul Emperor Awakening

Lin Xuan comforted her for a good while before Lin Xue’s mood finally stabilized. She rested gently in his arms, silent, unable to find the right words.

"Why are you overthinking it? You’ve already done so well. You’re so powerful—who would dare to see you as just a pretty face now? Besides, if you were the one protecting me instead of the other way around, that would be a huge embarrassment for me," Lin Xuan said. "Men are supposed to protect women. If you were protecting me, what kind of man would that make me?"

Lin Xue stiffened in his arms. He had a point, but she still said, "But I can only watch you protect me from the front, unable to help in the slightest. I feel so useless. It was just like when you competed against your master—I could only watch from the side. It was the same at the Demon Cloud Sea..."

"Silly girl, what’s the use in thinking so much? You’ve always encouraged me, isn’t that enough? If you hadn’t been there to encourage me, I doubt I would have ever made it out of the Lin Family," Lin Xuan said with a sigh. Some things were better left unsaid.

She had made the momentous decision to come to Qingcheng Mansion, not just for the Lin Family, but for him. To him, that was more than enough.

"But that’s still not enough. I want to be able to truly help you..." As she continued, her eyes met Lin Xuan’s intense gaze.

"Aren’t you an Innate Ice Yin Body? Then just cultivate faster and raise your cultivation level. Once you do that, I’ll be the one to benefit, won’t I?" Lin Xuan chuckled, though his eyes remained clear and sincere.

"Hmph! All you think about are those dirty ideas. I’m ignoring you!" Though her words were a protest, she snuggled even closer into his arms, her face flushing crimson. She was clearly embarrassed, but her expression was one of complete surrender, showing no trace of actual displeasure.

She had given her heart and soul to Lin Xuan long ago, so of course, she didn’t truly mind.

Lin Xuan chuckled softly. They simply held each other in silence, making no other moves. For the two of them, just being together like this was a joy in itself.

Thankfully, this wasn’t a public match. If it had been, Lin Xue would never have dared to truly cry, much less vent her frustrations in his arms. Though she lost her chance to advance, there was a silver lining. With her strength, reaching the top ten was no problem, but cracking the top five was still nearly impossible.

After all, Lin Xue was still young; the gap between her and the other top disciples was still significant. She would need a few more years of training to break into the top five. Her Ice Yin Body was formidable, but the others possessed their own unique abilities as well. It gave her an edge, but not a huge one.

「Meanwhile」 The situation outside had changed. An Hour passed in the blink of an eye. Tong Yulong had already emerged from the cave, along with several others. As more and more disciples appeared, it became apparent that Lin Xuan, who had finished fastest in the previous round, was now among the last to emerge. Of course, this wouldn’t affect his results in the slightest. The time it took was irrelevant; all that mattered was passing the trial.

As for who Lin Xuan had faced, no one knew for sure. The matchups were supposedly random, determined by the different choices they made inside.

"Why isn’t that Lin Yunlong out yet? Could he be locked in a stalemate with his opponent?"

"It’s possible. If he could have come out, he would have by now, right? Or maybe his opponent got stuck somewhere?"

"If their opponent got stuck, then he’s pretty lucky."

...

Discussions about Lin Xuan began to spread. His progression from the fastest finisher to one of the slowest left everyone baffled. Baffled or not, all they could do was wait patiently for the final outcome.

In fact, the Life and Death Cave had a special rule: if two opponents were locked in a stalemate when time ran out, both would be eliminated. This outcome would be clearly marked on their bamboo sticks, making it impossible to dispute.

Finally, as the two-Hour mark approached, Lin Xuan and Lin Xue emerged from the Life and Death Cave. The moment the crowd saw them appear together, they instantly understood why Lin Xuan had taken so long. For such an intimate couple to be pitted against each other was truly a shame.

After they emerged, Lin Xuan handed over his bamboo stick, proving that he, not Lin Xue, had won the match.

"The winner of this match is Lin Yunlong!" the inspecting Steward announced. This result wasn’t surprising. In the eyes of some, even if Lin Xue were stronger than Lin Xuan, she would likely have let him win anyway.

Soon, the two Hours were up. The number of remaining disciples had been cut by more than half, leaving only eleven! The reduction was staggering. From over thirty participants, only eleven remained—barely a third of the original group.

The elimination rate was brutal. Most had either gotten stuck inside the Life and Death Cave—victims of bad luck who ran into incredibly strong Puppets—or had barely scraped through only to be defeated by another disciple.

It really came down to luck. A fortunate disciple could easily make it into the top ten. Sometimes, luck was a form of strength in itself. Anyone who managed to reach the top ten would see their status rise accordingly.

The most prestigious spots, however, were in the top five. Anything below that held some significance, but it wasn’t nearly as important.

With only eleven people remaining, one person would obviously be left without an opponent. Someone had to receive a bye.

"There are now only eleven of you remaining. One of you will receive a bye and advance directly to the next round. It is a matter of pure luck, a test of who among you is truly favored by fortune. Once again, your opponents will be divinely chosen. Who you face depends entirely on your luck!"

Qing Deyun once again flung the bamboo sticks in his hand, which transformed into streaks of light and scattered down from the sky. They weren’t moving particularly fast, yet the disciples found it impossible to clearly read the characters written on them.

Someone with sufficiently high Cultivation would be able to see them clearly, and could even single out the Peace Bamboo Stick. Of course, anyone capable of that would no longer be a Core Disciple, but a figure at the Elder Level.

Lin Xuan and the others leaped into the air to grab the bamboo sticks. When Lin Xuan caught his, he saw it wasn’t the Peace Bamboo Stick. Instead, it was marked with the number five.

’Number five again? I really seem to have a connection with this number,’ Lin Xuan thought with a self-deprecating smile.

"Mansion Master, this disciple has drawn the Peace Bamboo Stick!" The one holding it up was none other than the strongest competitor, Tong Yulong!

To think that he would be the one to get it. It seemed Tong Yulong was not only powerful, but his luck was also extraordinary. The combination of the two was truly formidable.

Tong Yulong receiving the bye made everyone else breathe a collective sigh of relief. At least now they wouldn’t have to face such a monster, especially those from his own faction.

"It seems my opponent is you. I told you that you couldn’t run." A chilling voice suddenly whispered beside his ear. The snake-eyed man had appeared next to him, his gaze flicking to the bamboo stick in Lin Xuan’s hand.

Lin Xuan glanced at the snake-eyed man’s stick. It was also marked with the number five. It seemed he really was his opponent.