Amidst the ear-splitting clang of metal, the six white figures shot forward with great speed, and retreated just as quickly, with a synchronized rhythm as if they were one entity. As a result, Long Haochen’s sweeping heavy sword missed its target.

Long Haochen’s fluid ground attacks were noticeably restricted in the air, but he was actually quite excited. He knew that he and his companions lacked aerial combat experience, and the Eternal Tower provided them with this opportunity.

While Long Haochen’s aerial combat prowess was limited, he wouldn’t be stumped by this first level.

Three beams of white light shot out from Yating simultaneously, homing in on three of the white skeletons. Immediately, a powerful suction force dragged them towards Long Haochen. Strangely, although the Holy Attraction Spiritual Stove’s power was being used by Yating, it felt no different than when Long Haochen used it himself. Enemies that were attracted or pulled were always directed towards Long Haochen.

Once caught by the Holy Attraction Spiritual Stove, the white skeletons lost their greatest asset: agility and speed. Faced with the powerful attacks of Light Ripple, they shattered into fragments in less than five seconds before Long Haochen. The other three flying skeletons were cleaved apart in the same manner. This first level was cleared.

However, to Long Haochen’s disappointment, killing these skeletons didn’t grant him any high-purity spiritual power or skills. It seemed that this had become a purely skill-based test.

Long Haochen wasn’t resentful about this. Gaining just ten points of pure spiritual power at a time wasn’t of much use to him now.

After advancing to the sixth rank, Long Haochen had opened his spiritual apertures, and his God-Chosen physique awakened, Yating evolved, and the spiritual stoves merged. All these developments had boosted his overall strength and his ability to absorb light element.

As a God-Chosen, Long Haochen could rightfully claim to have the strongest affinity for light element in the world.

In the four months since he began cultivating in seclusion, his inner spiritual power had astonishingly increased by as much as one thousand points, now standing at over eight thousand five hundred points. He was steadily approaching the seventh rank.

His companions’ inner spiritual power had also increased, but the gap between them and Long Haochen was growing wider, even for Cai’er, as her God-Chosen physique had not yet awakened.

After passing the first level, Long Haochen returned to the first floor to explain his experience and assessment in detail to his companions.

Now that everyone had broken through to the sixth rank and gained spiritual wings, improving aerial combat ability was crucial. With such a rare and valuable platform, they couldn’t let it go to waste. Every bit of strength they gained would increase their survival rate on missions.

After careful consideration, Long Haochen immediately made a decision. In the second level, everyone except Chen Ying’er would be evaluated individually in aerial combat. They were not allowed to use their spiritual stove abilities or their mounts. As for Chen Ying’er, she would focus on training her innate summoned beast, the piglet Mai Dou.

…This was a massive, dark hall, spanning at least a thousand square meters and over ten meters in height, with octagonal walls.

The hall was dimly lit, with a cluster of purple flames burning in each of the eight corners, providing a glimmer of light and an extremely dense aura of darkness.

In the center of this dark hall stood a man. Black hair cascaded down his back, and his eyes glowed with crimson light.

Advance, punch. A terrifying surge of dark spiritual power erupted like a geyser. Each punch, each kick, each simple movement, produced a terrifying explosion of air.

The hall was made of some unknown material, unyielding to his unrestrained attacks.

In the midst of his unleashed spiritual power, flashes of purple light revealed his appearance. His handsome face was stern, his upper body bare. With each attack, a layer of dark purple demonic patterns appeared on his skin, and the crimson light in his eyes intensified.

Just as his aura reached its peak, a figure silently appeared behind him. The figure was slender, cloaked in a long black robe, with black hair flowing down the sides of their face, obscuring their features.

Sensing the sudden threat behind him, the bare-chested man abruptly turned and punched towards the figure.

This punch contained all his peak combat strength. The terrifying power instantly reached its maximum. The center of the dark hall illuminated because of this punch, and all the spiritual power he had unleashed seemed to converge on this one blow. The distortion caused by the compressed space threatened to tear the hall apart.

However, the figure did not move. Facing such a terrifying punch, they simply raised a hand and extended a slender, fair finger, placing it on the seemingly unstoppable fist.

“Puff—”

Time seemed to freeze. There was no explosion. The slender figure didn’t even emit a hint of spiritual power. But in the next instant, the powerful, bare-chested man was sent flying like a cannonball. He crashed into the distant wall with a deafening roar, and a purple mist spread from his body.

“Thud.” His body slid down the wall and crashed to the floor.

The slender figure placed their hands behind their back, and a gentle voice spoke, “Too much rigidity breaks easily. Without softness, you will never reach the realm of defying the heavens.”

This voice, this gentle voice, if heard by those familiar with it, would elicit one of two reactions: prostration or utter terror.

The man on the ground slowly got up, but remained kneeling, respectfully bowing his head. “Father.”

“Your injuries have almost healed. Why haven’t you left? And what about the wedding you fought so hard for?” the slender figure asked, tilting their head slightly back to allow their hair to fall behind them, revealing their extremely handsome face.

Feng Xiu, the Demon God Emperor, Feng Xiu.

And the man kneeling at the wall, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth, was none other than the Crown Prince of the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon Clan, A’Bao, who had been severely injured after a hard hit exchange with Long Haochen in the Dream Paradise.

Lowering his head, A’Bao faintly said, “I have no face to marry Yue Ye.”

The Demon God Emperor, Feng Xiu, calmly said, “You can’t even endure this small setback?”

A’Bao raised his head, looking at his father. “But this is not just a setback. Several of the Demon Gods’ inheritors fell in Dream Paradise, and our ultimate mission was ruined. Although Father has absolute authority, the aftermath of this is too great. Even Huang Shuo was extorted for ten dragon crystals. The responsibility lies entirely with me. I know how much pressure Father endured to protect me. I am a disgrace to the clan. I have failed your expectations. I…”

The Demon God Emperor waved his hand and said, “Enough. As a leader, you cannot dwell on temporary gains and losses. Thinking too much will often lead you into more trouble. How can you achieve great things if your mind is not open? As the humans say, don’t overthink it. Your loss this time was not unjustified, and it was mainly due to bad luck. You didn’t do anything wrong throughout the process. If I were you, I couldn’t have done better. But you happened to encounter a God-Chosen of this plane who only appears once every ten thousand years, and it happened to be at the moment when he was triggered into awakening. Even if he tried a hundred, a thousand times, he would never be able to unleash that sword again.”

“Father, I am not reconciled. I am not reconciled to losing to a weak human, to that goddamn God-Chosen. I…” A’Bao’s eyes were bloodshot. He was always so calm in front of others. Only when facing the Demon God Emperor did he reveal some of his true nature.

“Silence!” Feng Xiu’s voice turned cold for the first time.

Even as the inheritor of the Demon God Emperor, A’Bao immediately prostrated himself, not daring to say another word when he felt his father’s anger.

The Demon God Emperor coldly said, “If you hold such an attitude, then the next time you encounter him, you will lose to him again, perhaps even more miserably. I can’t always save you in time. Do you know that when I temporarily tore open space to rescue you, those annoying humans in the Demon God’s Annihilation Squad took the opportunity to kill three of our clansmen? They are warning me. They are all truly crazy, and there is more than one group like the Demon God’s Annihilation Squad. Humans are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. As my successor, if you cannot face the strength of humanity, then you will not be qualified to inherit my throne in the future.”

“I know you are unwilling, believing that the human is much weaker than you. But have you truly calmed down and analyzed the reason for your failure? Besides the fact that he is a God-Chosen who unleashed a powerful strike in a moment of crisis, are there any other reasons?”

A’Bao raised his head, looking at his father. “Because he gained the support of Dream Paradise. His attributes are compatible with Dream Paradise. Later, he joined forces with the representative of the Goddess of Nature to fight against us.”

The Demon God Emperor faintly said, “Then why was he able to do that?”

A’Bao paused, unable to answer.

The Demon God Emperor said sternly, “Because of wisdom. We demons often become arrogant because of our own strength. That is why you suffered this defeat. It is good that you have postponed the wedding. Now, do you know what you need to do?”

“Yes.”

(To be continued)