Xu Yang was inwardly shocked.

He had defeated Shi Hu without even using his full strength, yet at this moment, the relaxed tone in Shi Hu’s voice was not an act.

And he himself had almost used up all his strength.

This gap was evident at a glance!

The reason was obvious, exactly as Shi Hu had said.

Xu Yang took a deep breath, gave a long look at the slightly blurred Shi Hu, and did not respond, but instead slowly closed his eyes.

Boom!

His whole body boiled, he activated his spirit mark, Minghuo surged violently.

With the Celestial Refining Divine Scripture running, he gave his all to steady his body.

Although there was a gap in the spiritual source baptism between him and Shi Hu, he was confident that as long as he stabilized, he could surpass Shi Hu.

"The first three days will keep rising..."

Xu Yang’s expression grew even more grave.

Buzz!

The Celestial Refining Divine Tripod that had fused into his Dantian was also activated by him at this moment.

Boom!

The divine tripod shook, and his trembling body stabilized at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Only by going all out could I stabilize—this impact is truly terrifying!"

"If those True Monarch experts of Daqian were to face the spiritual source baptism for the first time, I fear few could endure it at this level!"

Xu Yang’s thoughts churned, but he quickly composed himself and began to devour recklessly.

The power of the Celestial Refining Divine Scripture was astonishing.

The spiritual source entered his body, being rapidly refined.

Just as Shi Hu had said, that body-recasting impact followed right on its heels.

Agony unbearable!

It was as if everything within his fleshly body was being replaced from top to bottom, through and through.

At the same time— 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The spirit mark emerged from the Divine Palace, shrouded by thick spiritual source, reflecting a holy and flawless glow.

Time slipped away quietly.

The spiritual source hung like a waterfall, vast and astonishing, continuing endlessly.

One after another, the Martial Artists upon the jade dais were doing their utmost to absorb and refine.

In such a fortunate encounter, not a single second could be wasted.

Some were trembling, enduring with difficulty!

But others were quite at ease.

Shi Hu opened his eyes in surprise, gazing at Xu Yang.

"He stabilized so quickly?"

"This guy is truly impressive!"

"But this time, the victory is mine!"

Shi Hu took a deep breath, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes.

Then, he suddenly opened his mouth.

A peculiar spirit pattern floated out of his mouth.

The next moment—

This spirit pattern melted away like water, turning into a faint ripple that enveloped his body.

After completing this, Shi Hu’s body shuddered.

He was seen devouring massive waves of spiritual source, which twisted violently from above and surged into his body.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably, face twisted in pain.

Yet the amount of spiritual source he devoured only kept rising, shockingly so!

This spirit pattern, called the Heavenly Source Spirit Pattern, was formed under the illumination of the Spirit River and was linked faintly to it.

By virtue of this pattern, his spirit mark could be enhanced.

When used during the spiritual source baptism, it greatly increased the degree to which spiritual source could be devoured.

The Heavenly Source Spirit Pattern was what he’d acquired during his previous trial.

And it was exactly his confidence to defeat Xu Yang in this spiritual source baptism!

As for all this, Xu Yang knew nothing.

He was already completely immersed.

Painful, yet incomparably exhilarating!

That kind of marrow-recasting tempering and impact—truly addictive!

As time passed, he was lost in the mystery of the spiritual source, and his grasp upon Heaven-locking Intent was steadily climbing.

The second day.

The impact intensified.

With Heaven-locking Intent and the Celestial Refining Divine Tripod stabilizing him, Xu Yang soon became steady again.

The third day.

The torrent almost shook the Celestial Refining Divine Tripod.

Xu Yang’s face was covered in gravity, his spirit mark almost protruding from his body, trembling continuously under the assault.

But Heaven-locking Intent surged, pinning him firmly to the jade dais.

This day felt like a year!

Xu Yang struggled immensely.

But in the end, he endured.

"The spirit mark has actually grown much stronger under this pressure."

"Three days, one foot eight inches!"

"Only increased by three inches."

Xu Yang smiled bitterly to himself.

Naturally, he was dissatisfied with this rate of improvement.

But this was already the extreme limit of his fullest effort.

The spirit mark condensed by Heaven-locking Intent was far superior to ordinary marks, and needed a tremendous spiritual source to be slowly enhanced.

"I wonder how much Shi Hu has improved?"

"Cyan Flame Boat..."

Xu Yang licked his lips. He truly wanted that treasure.

Boom!

Feeling the impact subside, Xu Yang no longer held back, retracted his spirit mark and devoured with wild abandon.

Meanwhile, below, there were already some who couldn’t endure and left the jade dais.

Looking at the figures left on the jade dais, the Martial Artists who had finished their tempering all wore gloomy faces.

"That guy shows no fluctuation at all, and his rate of devouring is frightening too."

"Look at Hu! Hu’s devouring is even stronger than his."

"Hiss, did Hu take drugs? Wasn’t it said that guy was stronger than Hu? How could he fall behind?"

"Who knows, maybe he’s just strong in general, but lacking in other aspects."

"If he’s stronger than Hu, yet even falls behind in the spiritual source baptism, that would be disgraceful."

"Isn’t that right."

...

Elsewhere—

Shi Feng and a number of other experts frowned slightly at the scene.

"Patriarch, can you tell what’s going on? Though Shi Hu used the Heavenly Source Spirit Pattern, Xu Yang’s strength is much greater, but his aura’s improvement is far too slow."

"I don’t doubt Xu Yang’s endurance—I’m just worried his spirit mark can’t surpass Shi Hu’s."

"I heard the two boys made a wager, and the stake is Shi Hu’s Cyan Flame Boat. Looks like Shi Hu came prepared."

"If he really loses, it would be quite embarrassing."

Shi Feng’s eyes flashed with keen light, and he muttered, "It is indeed odd."

The real extent of Xu Yang’s strength was clear to a few of them.

Far beyond Shi Hu, not by a little!

That was enough to close any gap brought by the Heavenly Source Spirit Pattern.

Even if this was Xu Yang’s first time, something about his performance was off.

"Unless, his spirit mark is truly extraordinary!"

"Extraordinary?"

"Could it be he’s even stronger than the War Intent Spirit Mark our War King Family has passed down for millennia?" an elder stared at Shi Feng, stunned.

"Who can say?"

Shi Feng wasn’t certain either.

All they could do now was wait.

The fifth day, the sixth, the seventh...

The number of figures upon the mountain wall and jade dais dwindled.

By the seventh day—

There were already more than a dozen on the second row who had left, just five or six remained.

The eighth day.

Only Xu Yang and Shi Hu were left on the first row.

The ninth day.

Only three remained above.

Stone Jade, Shi Hu, Xu Yang!

As the tenth day approached—

A shocking disturbance suddenly surged forth from the second row, shooting straight into the clouds with the force of a tempestuous tidal wave.

Bang!

A graceful figure leapt up, landing steadily on the ground.

It was Stone Jade.

Her eyes were tightly closed; a tide of war intent raged around her, fierce and unstoppable, making the many young geniuses shudder and step back repeatedly.

"Is Yu about to break through?"

"She must be on the verge of a breakthrough."

"Yu breaking through—what a tremendous blessing."

All at once, everyone’s attention shifted from Xu Yang and Shi Hu to Stone Jade, watching excitedly.

Shi Feng and the others also showed expressions of joy.

Stone Jade and Shi Hu were twin siblings, able to borrow strength from one another, and with unique secret techniques, their combat strength was incredible.

Now that Stone Jade had broken through to True Monarch, with Shi Hu’s borrowed strength, she could even challenge the sixth on the Celestial Pride List!

Rumble!

A thunderous crash shook heaven and earth!

Formidable and violent war intent rolled out like furious waves, spreading wide in an instant.

An ancient and savage war intent spirit mark slowly coalesced above Stone Jade.

"One foot, four inches!"

"Good!"

The excited shout of the Great Elder came from above.

Having just broken through to True Monarch and already possessing a spirit mark of one foot, four inches—not the absolute apex, but definitely impressive.

Most critically, Stone Jade and Shi Hu could act as one; their combined power was far beyond those numbers.

Meanwhile, Stone Jade slowly opened her eyes and let out a breath of foul air.

She looked up at the illusory spirit mark a foot and four inches long, nodding in satisfaction.

Just as she expected!

When Shi Hu broke through, he had only managed one foot six inches!

"Congratulations, Yu!"

"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Yu!"

All around, the Shi Family clansmen cheered loudly in congratulations.

Stone Jade smiled faintly, turning to look toward the heights on the mountain wall.

As the tenth day neared, the assault of spiritual source was weakening, but the power contained in it was not at all diminished—if anything, it grew more majestic.

The two figures above were blurry!

"How much longer can those two endure?"

Stone Jade raised an eyebrow out of curiosity.