Soul Emperor Awakening

"Next!"

When Lin Xuan casually shouted this, the entire crowd was stunned. His speed was simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, he had defeated two opponents without any difficulty—both taken down with a single punch!

His explosive power left them dumbfounded. After four months, Lin Xuan had made a massive breakthrough, something no one from the Demon Race had expected. Winning two consecutive matches had completely intimidated the remaining two challengers. Their feet felt as if they were filled with molten lead, unable to move even a single inch.

The two of them were stronger than the previous two opponents, but only by a little. Seeing that the others had been obliterated by a single punch, what good would it do for them to go up? No good at all. Even if they could take one punch, they definitely couldn't take a second.

Most importantly, their two companions who had gone up were dead. Lin Xuan had shown no mercy. His strikes were incredibly heavy, each one a killing blow. Clean and decisive, with absolutely no hesitation. He had finished them off with such ease.

"What's wrong? Aren't there two matches left? Are you two not coming up?" Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes at them and said in a low voice, "If there are no more challengers, then this challenge ends here."

Once the challenge was declared over, the remaining two matches would be forfeited. The next opportunity to challenge him would be next month.

The remaining two were a member of the Black Dragon Race and another from the Giant Bear Race. They could see the terror in each other's eyes. Although the deaths of their companions enraged them, it didn't mean they would senselessly rush up to fight. It was a guaranteed loss. What reason did they have to go up?

"Anyone else here interested in this position? Feel free to come up. I have absolutely no objections!" Lin Xuan swept his gaze over the entire audience, which included many from the Seventh and Eighth Layers, and even some from the Ninth Layer.

However, given Lin Xuan's terrifying strength, even those from the Ninth Layer would have a hard time matching him, let alone those from the Seventh and Eighth Layers. According to the progressive increase in gravity, the peak on the Ninth Layer was 1.9 million jin. This was a horrifying amount of force, but the power Lin Xuan had just unleashed was over 2 million jin.

If Lin Xuan had enough badges, he could have already climbed to the Ninth Layer long ago. Thus, the Ninth Layer wasn't magical or particularly difficult. The top floor of the Ice and Snow Tower was never hard to reach; the difficult part was accumulating enough Ice and Snow Badge Energy.

As for those who had reached the Ninth Layer, they weighed their own strength and decided against going down to fight. It was incredibly rare to be able to climb to the Ninth Layer. If they lost, they would have to start all over again, which was a terrifying thought.

The key issue was that they didn't have five badges, so they couldn't issue a challenge unless they handed their own badges over. As for the Floor Masters of even higher Levels, it was a moot point. They couldn't challenge a Floor Master of a lower Level, even if they lowered their badge count.

"This Lin Xuan is really arrogant. I wonder if the Golden Dragon Race has been beaten stupid. Why would they give the Golden Dragon Bone to him? Judging by its quality, it must be at least ten-thousand-year-grade. What a waste!" A member of the Black Dragon Race sitting in the audience watched Lin Xuan on the Martial Arts Arena, his face dark and his eyes filled with killing intent. "If he climbs to the Ninth Layer, I'll slap him to death. How dare he be so arrogant with such meager strength!"

"Hei Feng, you can't say that. If he dies, the Golden Dragon Race's Dragon Bone will be wasted. That would absolutely make them cough up blood." Another member of the Black Dragon Race crossed his arms and said with a faint smile, "How about this? I'll give you my Energy now, lower my own reserves, and then go up and challenge him?"

"Forget it. It's not worth it. It would be a waste of years of accumulation. You know it wasn't easy for us to get this far, especially after the Eighth Layer, where the nature of the Ice and Snow Badges changes. If we were to drop down, it would be a huge loss for us..." Hei Feng sneered. "So what if we let him climb? As long as he's skilled enough to actually reach the Ninth Layer, we'll crush him then. He'll find out just how cruel reality is."

"That works too. Let him be arrogant for a few more days. He might just die on the Sixth Layer anyway. The Floor Master of the Sixth Layer is Mo Qianji's older brother, Mo Qianyun!" Hei Feng's companion chuckled, finding the situation quite amusing. He was looking forward to seeing Lin Xuan fight the Floor Master of the Sixth Layer.

"You're right. Lin Xuan killed Mo Qianji, so Mo Qianyun must be furious now. And now that he's back, as soon as Lin Xuan reaches the Sixth Layer, Mo Qianyun will surely come after him." Hei Feng's tone grew colder. "It's just that... that won't be enough to quell the hatred in my heart. After all, he killed many of our Black Dragon Race!"

Lin Xuan was completely unaware of their conversation. He scanned his surroundings, looking to see if anyone else would challenge him. After he had stood on the Martial Arts Arena for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, still no one from the Demon Race came down to challenge him. It seemed they were all afraid of him.

"Since no one is challenging me, let's end it here!" Lin Xuan glanced at them, then turned and walked toward the main gate. No one from the Demon Race dared to block his path, much less jump out to challenge him.

Once he walked out the gate, the next chance to challenge Lin Xuan would be next month. The demons looked at each other in dismay. The challenge had started quickly and ended even faster. It was over before they'd really seen anything, which felt a bit dull. However, they were filled with excitement for Lin Xuan's future performance!

They wondered how high Lin Xuan could climb. Could he really make it to the Ninth Layer? The Ninth Layer was where the true cruelty began.

After Lin Xuan left the arena, he headed straight for the Sixth Layer under everyone's watchful eyes, rushing there without stopping. He charged upward without a moment's rest. Seeing this, the demons were all shocked. 'Does Lin Xuan intend to rush to the Sixth Layer in one go and directly challenge the Floor Master?'

The demons scrambled to follow him. Those with a higher number of badges could keep up and watch, while those with fewer could only wait for news to travel down from above.

Lin Xuan walked up to the Sixth Layer, the gravity increasing as he went. Just as he expected, it only increased by another 200,000 jin. An additional 200,000 jin of gravity meant nothing to him now, but for an ordinary human, it would be an incredible feat, as most of them did not practice Body Refining.

With his current body, if he were to run through the Pressure Cyan Cloud Tower again, he could easily do two round trips without any difficulty.

Just as he arrived on the Sixth Layer, a chilling voice reached his ears. "You've finally come up. I was starting to think you didn't dare!"

Lin Xuan looked up and saw a male Demon Snake who bore some resemblance to Mo Qianji. He wasn't surprised. "There's nothing to be afraid of. For me, it's only a matter of whether I want to come up or not."

"I am the Floor Master of the Sixth Layer. Don't you want to keep climbing? I'll give you the chance to challenge me right now!" Mo Qianyun pointed at him, his gaze icy. His Snake Eyes stared intently at Lin Xuan, as if sizing up prey.

"Not interested." With a wave of his hand, Lin Xuan turned and walked away, leaving the other man dumbfounded. 'What's going on?'