Sixty years of blacksmithing, a single hammer blow forging a celestial being.

"That's good!"

Wan Zhenshan said with a slight smile.

"The trial is now over, and the trial gates are about to close."

"Tang Jiannan has the highest score. Logically, Tang Jiannan should be the champion of this trial, receiving the shared reward from the four major sects: a high-grade Xuan-level magic weapon, plus the opportunity to interact face-to-face with the Holy Maiden."

Upon hearing this, the people below stared at Tang Jiannan with extremely envious eyes.

Damn, a high-grade Xuan-level magic artifact, and one that has been baptized by the Daoist principles.

It is much stronger than a typical high-grade Xuan-level magic weapon.

Most importantly, there's the opportunity to have a two-hour face-to-face conversation with the saintess.

This is an extremely rare opportunity.

Unfortunately, Tang Jiannan got them all.

Chen Fan, in particular, had bloodshot eyes.

If it weren't for the presence of so many high-ranking members of the sect, he would have already drawn his magic weapon and fought Tang Jiannan.

"You're too kind!"

Tang Jiannan looked smug and waved his hand humbly to those below.

However, in a daze, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Unfortunately, Lu Shuang, the girl he had always secretly loved, perished in this trial.

If Lu Shuang could see him win the championship, would she change her opinion of her?

However, after thinking about it for a moment, he shook his head.

I really am thin-skinned.

As the saying goes, people strive to rise higher, while water flows downhill.

Now he has the opportunity to communicate with the saintess for two hours.

Is he still thinking about what Lu Shuang is doing?

The right thing to do now is to climb higher.

He reminded himself of this.

"Tang Jiannan, you must not let sentimentality cloud your courage. Your opportunity has arrived. If you seize it, a bright future will naturally open up for you."

He was thinking.

And now the trial gates are about to close.

As the trial gate slowly closed, the hearts of all the disciples of the Ruitang sank to the bottom.

The fact that the trial gate is closed means that there are no longer any living people inside.

That means that Li Ping'an, the old man, has indeed perished in the trial grounds.

"My dear Uncle Li! How could you be so careless!"

The disciples of the abandoned hall burst into tears.

It's not just because Li Ping'an has left; a stricter manager will be sent to oversee them.

Rather, it was because they had spent so much time together that they had come to admire and respect Li Ping'an immensely.

Now that Master Li has passed away, all the disciples of the abandoned hall are deeply saddened.

Qingyue rubbed her eyes and wiped away her tears as she spoke.

"Senior sister, didn't you say he was alright? Why hasn't he come out yet? Once the trial gate closes, there will be no chance to come out again! What exactly happened?"

Hongling also frowned.

She didn't understand what had happened either.

The map is still intact.

But why didn't Li Ping'an come out?

Did he really perish, and was the map stolen?

Just as she was lost in thought.

Suddenly, they saw the trial gate slowly closing, and two figures flew out from it.

The two figures flew out in a very dangerous situation.

Because the trial gate closed completely the next second.

Everyone present stared intently as the trial gate closed.

Suddenly, two people jumped out from among them, and they were both extremely surprised.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Lu Shuang and Li Ping'an!

Two more people actually came out of there!

Many people have noticed the two.

The news spread like wildfire, quickly reaching a crescendo and causing a stir among the crowd.

Because it had already been determined that there were no longer any living people in the trial grounds.

Why are two more people suddenly appearing now?

Lu Shuang and Li Ping'an flew out from the trial grounds.

They stumbled and fell onto the high platform where the scores were calculated.

Not only Li Ping'an, but Lu Shuang was also pale and looked exhausted.

It turned out that the two of them came out of the cave unaware that the trial had already ended.

He just wanted to find a place to hide until the trial was over.

They were then teleported out via the trial portal.

However, after a while, they felt something was off.

It seems the trial is over.

But why didn't the portal teleport them out?

This is a difficult situation.

Because once the trial portal opens, it will automatically draw all the cultivators out of the Misty Valley.

However, the trial portal did not detect them.

That means they need to go to the trial portal themselves.

However, the trial portal was located high in the sky, suspended in mid-air.

With their Qi Refining stage strength, it would indeed be extremely difficult for them to forcibly fly up.

However, if you don't manage to fly out of here before the trial gates close.

They would then be trapped in Misty Valley forever, until the following year.

That's truly terrifying to even think about.

So the two of them used all their strength and exhausted all the flying talismans and magical artifacts they had.

This was just enough time to reach the trial portal in the air.

They rushed out just before the portal closed.

Having narrowly escaped, Li Ping'an was now panting heavily from exhaustion.

But I was still very happy inside.

Fortunately, we got out before the portal closed.

Otherwise, they would be trapped in Misty Valley for a year.

Although having such a delicate beauty like Lu Shuang by my side is not a bad thing.

But thinking about Misty Valley, that godforsaken place, I decided against it.

Besides, there's a group of people from the abandoned hall waiting for him to return.

Therefore, being able to break through successfully gave Li Ping'an a feeling of escaping death.

Lu Shuang, standing to the side, was in no better shape.

He knew the dangers of Misty Valley even better than Li Ping'an.

If they had stayed in Misty Valley, they probably wouldn't have survived until the following year.

"Shuang'er! You're actually back!"

Tang Jiannan, who had been standing on the high platform, spotted the two of them immediately.

The moment he saw Lu Shuang, his eyes filled with joy, and he couldn't help but shout out.

However, the next second he saw Li Ping'an standing to the side, and his brows furrowed again.

Why are Lu Shuang and Li Ping'an together?

Could it be that these two stayed together throughout the trial?

Upon realizing this crucial point, Tang Jiannan's brows furrowed immediately.

A burning flame of jealousy ignited in his chest.

Li Ping'an, he must be killed!

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

I never expected things to take such a turn.

He clearly saw with his own eyes that Li Ping'an and Lu Shuang were swallowed by the black dragon.

But he came back alive.

These two people are really lucky.

"I never imagined they could come back alive from such a dangerous situation. I wonder what they went through."

On the high platform, the four sect leaders looked at each other in bewilderment.

Unexpectedly, at the last moment, a disciple flew out of Misty Valley.

However, according to custom, the final result of the competition should only be announced after Li Ping'an and Lu Shuang's spoils have been counted.

Wan Zhenshan waved his hand and said.

"Gentlemen, let's not waste any more time. Tang Jiannan is undoubtedly the champion right now. We can count the spoils on these two later. Let's just announce the champion now."