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The first round of the life-and-death battle had ended.
Of the fifty-three people undergoing the inner hall evaluation, only sixteen passed the first round of the life-and-death battle, illustrating the high difficulty.
"Second round of the life-and-death battle."
The voice of the Hall Master Tian Guang echoed throughout the venue, "In this round, you will still face the Heavenly Soldier Puppet driven by the Martial Arts Soul Split of Elder An, but this time, the Heavenly Soldier Puppet is of top grade."
Those who were familiar with the Daoist technique ’Sprinkle Beans to Form Soldiers’ knew that the golden beans were made from special precious materials.
The most ordinary Heavenly Soldier Puppet only matched the lowest level of the Four Symbols.
The top-grade Heavenly Soldier Puppet, however, matched the third level of the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier, with combat power several times stronger.
With such a substantial increase in base strength, coupled with the Grandmaster’s profound realm, its terror was unimaginable.
"Disciple forfeits."
"Disciple forfeits."
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"Disciple forfeits."
Immediately, nine people withdrew on the spot, including Xiahong Baiye.
These nine had struggled significantly to defeat the Heavenly Soldier Puppet in the first round, and now that the puppet’s strength had been enhanced several times, it was clear they could not win.
Moreover, the gap in strength was too great. There was a risk of serious injury if they were not careful, so it was better to give up early.
Only seven people remained on the field.
These seven were almost all able to handle the first round of the life-and-death battle with relative ease, at least having the assurance to retreat unscathed.
"The second round begins."
As the announcement sounded, Grandmaster An once again threw out a brilliant golden bean, transforming it into a majestic and imposing Heavenly Soldier Puppet, with Martial Arts Soul Split attaching to it.
This time, the aura of the Heavenly Soldier Puppet was significantly stronger.
"First one, Yao Guangyi."
The first examinee of the second round had considerable strength, with a Martial Arts Realm of Perfect True Intent, mastering several sets of superior killing skills, and clearly practicing some form of body refining technique, yet it was obviously very difficult to handle.
Those who could pass the first round and had the confidence to break through the second round were, without exception, the best among the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier Peak.
Such strength was likely enough to kill the Saint Heir of the Heavenly Born Sect in just a few moves.
Unfortunately, the Heavenly Soldier Puppet driven by Grandmaster An was also very strong, and as long as its core was not destroyed, other injuries had little effect.
Quickly, the allotted time was reached.
"Time’s up, eliminated."
The announcement from Hall Master Tian Guang rang out.
The first examinee sighed, put away his weapon, saluted, and then turned to leave the stage.
The second to take the stage was the black-robed swordsman ’Sha Jiu.’
Once again, it was the incredibly fast and extremely concealed swordsmanship. However, this time Sha Jiu made five strikes, severing both arms and legs of the Heavenly Soldier Puppet before piercing its core.
The third contestant could not withstand and was eliminated.
The fourth contestant had good strength, using all means to barely defeat the Heavenly Soldier Puppet before time ran out.
The fifth contestant, Qi Tianxing.
After stepping into the threshold of the Martial Arts True Self and glimpsing a trace of the Heaven and Earth Law, his strength was indeed different. Coupled with a set of superior killing skills and the body refining cultivation method of the Daoist path to sanctifying the physical body, Qi Tianxing unleashed nine sword strikes, forcibly tearing apart the Heavenly Soldier Puppet with magnificent sword light.
The sixth contestant, Lin Yue.
This time, Lin Yue did not use the Mind Forbidden Technique, and there was no need.
Though his cultivation was only at the second level of Four Symbols, the dual-path approach of the Ancient God’s Way, combined with the bloodline divine power of the Xiahong clan, already made his foundation comparable to the ordinary Four Symbols Peak.
Not to mention, he had already crossed into the threshold of the Martial Arts True Self, practicing the ultimate killing skill of trading life for life.
Even without using the Mind Forbidden Technique, his strength was sufficient.
The Thirteen Flames erupted continuously four times, and Lin Yue’s blade light skillfully shattered the core of the Heavenly Soldier Puppet.
The seventh contestant, Baili Fengzhi.
Baili Fengzhi still did not draw her weapon. She simply burst forth with her movement technique in an instant, and after getting close to the Heavenly Soldier Puppet, she casually struck out with a palm, the terrifying palm force shattering the puppet.
Her strength was noticeably much stronger than that of the other contestants.
Others might not know, but Lin Yue knew Baili Fengzhi’s strength best—it far surpassed his own.
After all, Baili Fengzhi already possessed half the bloodline of the Fire Phoenix Demon Clan, which she could not utilize before. However, after refining a complete Fire Phoenix soul over the past year, she fully developed her bloodline’s power.
She was akin to a human-shaped Divine Beast!
Even though both were at the level of Martial Arts True Self, she not only learned the ultimate killing skill but, crucially, her foundation far surpassed the others by an immense margin.
According to her, she cultivated the Fire Phoenix Divine Body from the bloodline’s inherited memory, at its ultimate level, which could only be achieved by refining a complete Fire Phoenix soul and a large amount of Fire Phoenix blood.
Among the Human Clan, only a few legendary body refining methods, at their perfect stage, could compare to this.
After the second round ended, five people remained on the field.
The contestant who had barely passed the second life-and-death battle looked at the four opponents and could only smile bitterly and concede.
There was no other way.
In previous inner hall evaluations, it would have been impressive if one or two such opponents appeared, let alone four at once.
In past inner hall evaluations, once you passed the second round of the life-and-death battle, you might have had the chance to squeeze into the top three.
In this session, passing the third round was unlikely, and it might take the fourth round to have a chance.
"The third round of the life-and-death battle begins."
The opponent for the third round of the life-and-death battle was still the Heavenly Soldier Puppet driven by the Martial Arts Soul Split of Grandmaster An.
However, this time the Heavenly Soldier Puppet was of the highest grade.
In terms of foundation, the third round’s Heavenly Soldier Puppet was even higher than the typical Four Symbols Heaven Barrier Peak!
Coupled with the Martial Arts Realm of Grandmaster An, its terrifying nature need not be stated.
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