"Defeat me, and not only will you receive the Secret Pattern Seeds, but you will also obtain a Greater Yang Spirit Fruit."
On the 4th Layer, the illusory figure that looked identical to Yang Xiao spoke indifferently.
Yang Xiao's expression stirred, and he asked, "A Greater Yang Spirit Fruit? What is that?"
"The Greater Yang Spirit Fruit is a type of Spirit Medicine. It can transform your body and contains a vast amount of Greater Yang Qi. As long as you defeat me, you'll get one. Take this!"
The moment it finished speaking, the figure gave Yang Xiao no time to react, raising its hand and blasting a fist toward him.
Although this punch wasn't as refined as Yang Xiao's Flame Emperor Divine Fist, its power was terrifying.
Even a full-power strike from Zhenkong Ancestor of Medicine King Valley would likely pale in comparison. Keep in mind, Zhenkong Ancestor was at the Peak of Tier Six Martial Saint, and his internal aura was thousands of times stronger than this mere Martial Grandmaster Fifth Layer figure.
However, amplified by the Four-layered Greater Yang Secret Pattern, that thousands-fold gap in cultivation completely disappeared.
In fact, the figure's strength was even greater.
To a certain extent, the Four-layered Greater Yang Secret Pattern gave this figure power that was thousands, even close to ten thousand, times greater than its own cultivation would suggest.
Terrifying.
In comparison, Yang Xiao's cultivation was only at the Martial Grandmaster Second Layer.
For him to fight this figure, he would have to unleash power tens of thousands, or even a hundred thousand, times greater than his own cultivation.
How difficult was that?
Even with the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame inside him, it only made his cultivation a Great Realm stronger than others at his level—a mere thousand-fold difference.
Compared to the figure before him, there was still a gap of tens, nearly a hundred, times.
Therefore, when the fist blasted toward him, Yang Xiao had no time to dodge.
He could only take it head-on.
BANG!
An immense force slammed into him.
Yet, a look of joy appeared on Yang Xiao's face.
A golden shield of light had appeared around his body.
It was the Vajra Indestructible Divine Technique activating.
'As long as the Vajra Indestructible Divine Technique can withstand it, I have a chance of passing.'
Yang Xiao smiled.
With a SWOOSH, a jet-black longsword appeared in his hand.
The blade was entirely pitch-black, yet it automatically radiated a luster.
It was quite bizarre.
This was the Lifebound Magical Artifact Yang Xiao had forged for himself, the Black Gold Longsword.
'Whether I can seize the Greater Yang Spirit Fruit and enter the next layer is all up to you.'
Yang Xiao gave a slight smile and raised his hand, unleashing a sword strike.
Meteor Fall!
Yang Xiao's most powerful attack.
It was combined with the longsword in his hand, whose materials surpassed that of an Ultimate Grade Spirit Weapon.
He slashed out with his sword.
The strike shook the heavens and the earth.
It even seemed to pierce through the space within the tower.
With a BOOM, it struck the figure.
BANG!
The figure exploded.
It transformed into four Secret Pattern Seeds and entered the space between Yang Xiao's eyebrows.
At the same time, a silver fruit appeared before Yang Xiao's eyes.
'So this is the Greater Yang Spirit Fruit? It was worth using my full power for this.'
Feeling the dense Spiritual Qi emanating from it, Yang Xiao desperately wanted to swallow it immediately, because this Spirit Fruit was definitely at the Ancient Spirit Medicine Level.
And it wasn't just some ordinary Ancient Spirit Medicine.
Yang Xiao believed that with just three to five of these, he could raise his cultivation to the Early-stage Peak of the Yellow Flame Realm.
Then, he could undergo the first body and spirit tempering of the Yellow Flame Realm. His strength would soar to new heights.
'But I can't consume it now. If my cultivation rises and the difficulty of the later stages increases, I'll be at a huge disadvantage. I'll store it away for now.'
Yang Xiao resisted the urge to swallow the Spirit Fruit in one gulp and stored it away.
In his Sea of Consciousness, there were now Inheritance Seeds for four layers of the Greater Yang Secret Pattern.
The seed from the first layer was the smallest, and its aura was the weakest.
The largest seeds were for the Second Layer of the Greater Yang Secret Pattern. By clearing through the fourth stage, he had obtained three such seeds.
Yang Xiao believed that before long, the Second Layer of his Greater Yang Secret Pattern would reach Perfection.
At that point, his True Greater Yang Fire would truly reach the Peak of the Upper Eighth Grade, and might even have a chance to advance further.
'Time to challenge the next layer.'
After resting for a moment, Yang Xiao stepped onto the path of light again.
He arrived at the Fifth Layer.
The Fifth Layer wasn't much different from the Fourth Layer, except that the flowing Secret Patterns on the silver gate were even more dazzling.
'I was so smug before, thinking I'd discovered the Secret Patterns on the gate. I never imagined it was a case of missing the forest for the trees. Good thing I only spent half an hour on the 1st Layer…'
Yang Xiao found the thought of his past self rather amusing.
Back then, he had actually wanted to imprint those Secret Patterns.
Now, it seemed that unless he used the Nine Revolutions Concentration Spirit Technique, his current Spiritual Power wasn't even enough to see through the Secret Patterns on the silver gate.
How could he even talk about imprinting them?
But if he did use the Nine Revolutions Concentration Spirit Technique, would his Spiritual Power collapse as a result?
Yang Xiao didn't know.
Besides, he didn't need to imprint the Secret Patterns of the Fifth Layer.
But the ones on the later layers would obviously be even harder to imprint.
So his previous idea was nothing more than a passing thought.
'I'll go in and take a look. If I fail and get kicked out, then I can consider imprinting some of these Secret Patterns.'
With that thought, Yang Xiao walked into the Light Gate.
A figure appeared.
Its aura was incredibly strong.
But Yang Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.
'Its cultivation hasn't increased! Still Martial Grandmaster Fifth Layer! Vajra Indestructible Body, activate!'
Without any nonsense, Yang Xiao activated his Vajra Indestructible Divine Technique, gripped his Black Gold Longsword, and charged directly at the figure.
Meteor Fall!
The Sword Technique was unleashed.
The figure flickered.
For the first time,
Yang Xiao's Meteor Fall hit nothing but air.
He wasn't surprised, however, and abruptly slashed out with the sword in his hand.
At that same moment, the figure also blasted a punch toward him.
Its power was matchless.
BANG!
In the end, Yang Xiao was sent flying.
But the figure…
…also showed cracks.
It ultimately shattered into fragments, transforming into five seeds that entered the space between Yang Xiao's eyebrows.
To Yang Xiao's surprise, in addition to these five Inheritance Seeds, there were also three Greater Yang Spirit Fruits.
His eyes instantly lit up.
'Looks like the 6th Layer should have Greater Yang Spirit Fruits too. This time, no matter what, I have to pass.'
Yang Xiao had no hopes for the 7th Layer.
But the 6th Layer…
…he was determined to pass.
It wasn't just because of the Greater Yang Secret Pattern.
It was also because of these Greater Yang Spirit Fruits.
He had already obtained four of them. If he could get more…
Yang Xiao was confident that his strength would soon reach a new level.
By then, whether it was killing Xuan Tianzhan or venturing into the Profound Sun Secret Realm with Yue Lingxi, he would have a much greater guarantee of success.
Therefore, Yang Xiao stepped onto the path of light without a hint of hesitation.
「Meanwhile」
The slovenly Elder Long was drinking wine. He casually probed the trial, only to discover that Yang Xiao had appeared in the space of the 6th Layer and walked straight into the Trial Gate.
His expression went completely slack.
"Th-this kid, how is this possible… He actually appeared on the 6th Layer!"
With his mouth agape, this Divine King Level expert had none of the bearing of a master.
Instead, he looked like a beggar who had never seen the world.