Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Xia Jin leaped directly out of the pit, landing steadily on the edge. Looking at the still desolate surroundings, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

"Plans? Hmph! Since I've participated in this temple's assessment, my goal is naturally not simply to endure these three days."

Xia Jin stood with her hands behind her back, looking down at the two people with absolute confidence.

The gray-robed swordsman and Venerable Miaodi exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of shock in each other's eyes.

Venerable Miaodi jumped up, looked at Xia Jin, clasped his hands together, and asked earnestly, "Amitabha. It seems that Benefactor Xia has grand ambitions. If I am not mistaken, Benefactor Xia desires... a top-three ranking in the assessment, is that right?"

"No, old monk, you're wrong!" Xia Jin sneered, his eyes filled with domineering arrogance. "What's the top three? If I'm going to do it, I'll be number one!"

"First?!"

Even though Venerable Miaodi had cultivated his mind for many years and his heart was as still as a deep well, he was still shaken by Xia Jin's words! And the ground beneath the feet of the gray-robed swordsman beside him was marked with several sword marks when Xia Jin spoke those words.

They were well aware that there were countless powerful individuals from the seven continents in this ancient battlefield, and the Eastern Xuan Continent was already at the bottom, with only the three of them participating this time.

It's already difficult enough to survive three days, yet Xia Jin actually wants to take the top spot?

To put it nicely, it's confidence; to put it bluntly, it's arrogance!

Seeing the astonishment on their faces and the doubt in their eyes, Xia Jin sneered, completely unconcerned: "Does this surprise you so much? If you two are willing to cooperate fully with me, perhaps... not only can I win first place, but it's not entirely impossible for the two of you to also make it into the top three, with the three of you taking all three spots."

"You mean... we can sweep the top three spots?" The gray-clad swordsman frowned, then shook his head.

He didn't believe that.

"You don't believe me? Then you can see the final result."

Unlike the gray-robed swordsman's doubts, the Venerable Miaodi remained silent for a moment, a faint Buddhist light flickering in his eyes, as if he were weighing his options.

A moment later, he raised his head, looked at Xia Jin, and smiled: "Amitabha. Benefactor Xia, your spirit is astonishing. This old monk... is willing to accompany you on this quest."

"Venerable One, are you serious?" The gray-robed swordsman looked at Venerable One Miaodi with some suspicion, seeing that he was actually willing to believe Xia Jin.

But then he saw Venerable Miaodi nod at him, hesitate for a moment, and then look at Xia Jin as well, "Very well! Since the Venerable dares to gamble, how can I back down? This top three... I'll fight alongside you!"

"Don't worry, you'll be glad you made the right decision today!" Xia Jin smiled meaningfully. "In that case, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you two for a while... to act as bait."

"A decoy?" The gray-clad swordsman raised an eyebrow.

"Not bad." Xia Jin nodded, said no more, closed her eyes slightly, and rapidly spread her divine sense in all directions!

A moment later, Xia Jin suddenly opened her eyes, a glint of light flashing in them. "Alright, our first target has appeared, about a hundred miles to the northeast... Let's go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he glanced at the two of them and then transformed into a stream of light and rushed out.

"Let's go then!"

"good!"

Venerable Miaodi and the gray-robed swordsman exchanged a glance, and then followed suit.

A hundred miles is a distance that can be covered in an instant for people of their cultivation level. But the closer they got to the direction Xia Jin pointed out, the more they felt something was amiss.

The pressure on them seemed to be growing stronger, and even the path they walked left deep footprints.

"The force field here is wrong!" The gray-clad swordsman frowned. The rusty sword he was holding seemed to feel the pressure as well, emitting a buzzing sound.

"Be careful, this old monk can sense that thing is not simple..." Venerable Miaodi's body radiated a faint Buddhist light, resisting the omnipresent pressure.

Only Xia Jin remained expressionless, her gaze fixed intently ahead.

In the void ahead, a nearly transparent slug-like creature seemed to sense Xia Jin and the others' presence, and its slowly wriggling body suddenly stopped.

Its eyes, as clear as glass, fell upon Xia Jin and the other two.

An invisible wave swept over the three of them in an instant!

"Not good!" Venerable Miaodi's expression changed. "Be careful! This fluctuation is targeting our souls!"

The warning had barely left their lips when a powerful shockwave struck them.

"Buzz!"

The gray-clad swordsman groaned, then felt a sudden darkness before his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw that his soul had left his body.

On the other side, Venerable Miaodi's soul was also forced out of his sea of ​​consciousness under this impact.

Only Xia Jin, whose figure swayed slightly and whose brow was faintly marked with a sun, managed to withstand the impact on her soul.

"This is the first time I've seen the souls of these two!" Xia Jin looked at the souls above the heads of Venerable Miaodi and Venerable Miaodi with great interest.

The gray-clad swordsman's spirit, like his, emanated a sharp sword intent, and he also held a small sword about a foot long in his arms.

The soul of Venerable Miaodi possessed a certain charm of a true Buddhist Buddha. The Buddhist light emanating from the eight-tiered lotus platform beneath him could unintentionally melt away the malevolent energy within those around him.

The slug-like creature seemed to flicker its glassy eyes as it saw the two manifested souls.

Suddenly, it opened its mouth wide, and a beam of white light shot directly into the souls of Venerable Miaodi and the gray-robed swordsman!

"You wicked creature!" Venerable Miaodi roared, and the eight-grade golden lotus platform beneath his three-foot-tall divine soul shone brightly, with layers of Buddhist light transforming into a semi-circular light shield that protected the three of them.

However, when the transparent ray of light struck the Buddha's light shield, Venerable Miaodi's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

The golden light remaining on the lotus platform in his soul began to slowly dim.

"Hurry and make a move! This old monk... can only hold on for five breaths at most!" He glanced at the gray-clad swordsman beside him, a hint of anxiety flashing in his eyes.

"Five breaths? That's enough!" A fierce glint flashed in the gray-clad swordsman's eyes, and the small sword in his divine hand above his head erupted with blinding light.

"cut!"

A thin sword aura flew out of his hand, growing larger and larger as it flew. By the time it struck the slug's body, the sword aura had grown to tens of meters in size!

However, what happened next left the two gray-clad swordsmen completely dumbfounded.

The sword energy aimed at the soul struck the slug's body, but it vanished without a trace!

Although the opponent's thick body was concave inward, almost bursting through by the sword energy, a vortex suddenly appeared on its skin, and in a flash, the sword energy was forcibly absorbed.

"How is this possible? This guy's body can actually absorb my sword energy!?" The gray-clad swordsman's expression was as ugly as if he had eaten rat droppings.

"Let me do it."

Xia Jin glanced at the two of them and walked straight ahead.

A sun mark slowly appeared between his eyebrows.

The next moment, his figure suddenly disappeared.

The ends of the earth are only three feet away!

When he reappeared, he was already above the slug's head.

Looking down at her with a cold gaze, Xia Jin slapped down without hesitation.

A terrifying white flame erupted from his palm, instantly engulfing the enormous slug.

"Ugh!"

For the first time, the slug-like creature let out a sharp hiss; its almost intangible body seemed to have met its nemesis.

In just two or three breaths, it was completely reduced to nothingness in the white flames.

Xia Jin landed gracefully, the sun mark between his brows slowly fading, his aura returning to its previous calm. He glanced at the spot where the flames had dissipated and sneered, "Didn't expect that, did you? This whiteness of mine isn't just for the physical body, it's also for the soul."

As the slug-like creature died, the binding force on the soul also disappeared.

The souls of Venerable Miaodi and the gray-robed swordsman immediately returned to their bodies. They exchanged a glance, then looked at Xia Jin with eyes full of shock.

That's incredible!

This kind of tactic seems to be... completely out of their league!

It seems that Xia Jin's previous statement about "sweeping the top three spots" is no longer just boasting in their minds, but rather something they are now more confident about.

Just then, dozens of firefly-like points of light floated out from where the slug had disappeared, all rushing into the token at Xia Jin's waist.

The token's surface flashed with a faint light, and the original number 'zero' suddenly changed to 'Fifteen'.