Roar!

Just as Lin Xun regained consciousness and before he could get a clear view of his surroundings, a thunder-like roar rang in his ears.

At the same time, a terrible blast of foul wind slapped him in the face and a biting chill ran through him, making his body go stiff.

With a swoosh, he vanished from the spot.

The rocks shattered, ice shards flew everywhere, and a huge pit of several feet wide was left in the ground.

Lin Xun was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat. What tremendous destructive power!

It was a giant ice-snow hawk with wings over ten feet long and razor-sharp claws. Its entire body sparkled like glass, and its eyes shot out rays of cold light like they were carved from ice.

Chi!

The ice hawk cut through the sky with its blade-like wings and with a light swipe of its sharp claws, a ray of ice-snow sword light swiftly slashed through the air, releasing gorgeous but terrifying qi.

Lin Xun quickly activated the Hornless Ice Dragon Step and sped away.

The land split with a straight thousand-foot crevasse. The terrifying qi cut through the ground as easily as cutting tofu.

Even Lin Xun was surprised. The giant ice-snow hawk was like a master swordsman. The sword intent it released was condensed, sharp, and fierce. Moreover, it did it with ease and speed.

Moreover, he noticed that the vicious bird did not seem to possess any emotions nor did it have a trace of life force, just like a puppet.

However, it had a terrifying fighting instinct. In just two strikes, it already demonstrated the terrifying combat skills seen only in warriors who had fought hundreds of battles.

Shua! Shua! Shua!

The ice-snow hawk attacked once again. It wildly beat its wings, firing thousand rays of sword intent and hurling them down from the sky.

The blow was so terrifying that it made even Lin Xun feel as though he was facing a half-step king!

Boom!

He mobilized his cultivation base to its peak, and his fists started flying at lightning speed, performing the Nine Heavenshaking Destructions Art. The force of the punches was so powerful that the sky and earth quaked.

The ear-splitting collision tore the ground open, shattered ice shards flew everywhere, and the sky was filled with biting cold qi, sword intent, and fist power.

This isnt a wild bird, but a top expert who has mastered the art of swords! Lin Xuns pupils shrank.

He dared not lower his guard for a second. With a long roar, he soared into the air with the Hornless Ice Dragon Step and attacked with full power.

Die! Light flared around Lin Xuns fist as he brought it through the air and smashed it into the body of the ice-snow hawk.

Kacha!

Another astonishing scene happened. The ice-snow hawk broke into countless ice shards like a sculpture and scattered across the earth.

Is it made of ice? Lin Xun gasped.

Then, he rushed forward and picked up some ice shards to examine closer.

In the end, he concluded that it was just ordinary ice. Yet it was able to evolve into a giant ice-snow hawk and manipulate sword intent!

It was unbelievable!

Cangwu Mountain is indeed extraordinary. Even a top figure like Sha Lu likely would be no match for that fierce bird

A grave look crossed Lin Xuns face.

He surveyed the surroundings and saw that the land within thousands of miles had frozen over. The ground was formed from thick ice, sparkling in the sun like crystal, and there was a chill in the air that cut to the bone.

It was a vast expanse of whiteness between the earth and the sky like an endless world of ice and snow.

Clang!

Lin Xun brought out the Broken Blade, and with a flash, he split open the layer of ice and burrowed into the earth.

Ten feet.

One hundred feet.

One thousand feet.

There was still a thick layer of ice at a depth of eight thousand feet below the earth, and there was still no sign of him nearing the bottom.

In the end, he had no choice but to give up on the thought to investigate the area.

The first test of the Dao Lantern Festival is the Reverse Five Elements Secret Realm, which means this place should be a secret world... Lin Xun stopped and pondered. I wonder how many participants have been teleported to this secret realm like me.

Before he arrived, he had already learned from Bai Fengliu that the Dao Lantern Festival consisted of five assessments and each one was unpredictable, grueling and dangerous. The slightest carelessness could lead to an elimination!

According to Bai Fengliu, in the previous Dao Lantern Festival, more than ninety percent of the participants failed to make it through the five tests.

In other words, only a handful of people would reach the Ancient Dao Lantern Tree in the end!

Even if a cultivator was qualified to participate in the Dao Lantern Festival, if they failed the five tests, then they still would not get their hands on the opportunities and blessings from the Ancient Dao Lantern Tree!

Rumble

The nearby ground of ice and snow suddenly cracked and rattled and then ice and snow went flying.

Fish formed by compacted ice and snow soared into the sky. Unlike those in the outside world, their bodies were at least ten feet long and with a pair of wings for them to maneuver in the air.

It was a miraculous sight.

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes. He had released his spirit sense to investigate the area within thousands of feet, but he detected nothing, yet the ground suddenly exploded and a school of snow-winged fish rushed out of it!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

They patrolled the sky as freely and nimbly as swimming in the sea. As their mouths opened, multiple blinding bolts of white lightning shot out and struck down on Lin Xun from all directions.

Crack!

The snow-white lightning easily ripped apart the void, its power comparable to the full-strength attack of a Cyclic Derivation expert.

The swarm of snow-winged fish hovered and danced in the air as they relentlessly launched snow-white lightning, shaking the world.

This is bad!

Lin Xuns expression changed subtly as he swiftly turned around and bolted in a full-speed dash.

He wasnt afraid of the swarm of strange fish, but he knew it would be too troublesome to deal with them and it would be too much effort to get rid of them all.

He didnt want to waste his energy before he figured out what the Reverse Five Elements Secret Realm was about.

However, just as he escaped from the attacks of the bizarre fish, something else obstructed him from advancing.

In the sky, the wind howled and snow whirled wildly in the air, transforming into several beautiful women dressed all over in snow feather clothes.

They twirled and waved their long, dangling sleeves as they danced to melancholic music, creating a sad and moving atmosphere.

From a distance, the beautiful shadows of ice women dancing between the sky and the earth amid mournful singing sent chills down the back.

It was a group of ice-snow devil women!

Lin Xun gasped in horror. The moment he heard the mournful song, his spirit shuddered like it was being battered by endless sadness and despair. He felt he was being dragged into a pit of desolation.

Undoubtedly, this was an extremely terrifying sound wave attack. If Lin Xun hadnt cultivated the soul of the primordial spirit, then he would have been affected already.

Roar!

As Lin Xun made an obscure dao sound, a Pulao Beast took shape in the air and roared skywards, shaking the nine heavens.

The seemingly tangible sound waves from the roar transformed into waves of golden ripples, engulfing the sky.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Caught off guard, several ice-snow devil women exploded under the force of Pulao Roar.

Lin Xun quickly took the chance to activate the Hornless Ice Dragon Step and vanished in the blink of an eye.

One hour later.

His expression became more and more serious. Along the way, he encountered giant ice-snow hawks, snow-winged fish, ice-snow women, and ice-snow demon trees...

Every foe was as strong as a top Cyclic Derivation cultivator and had all mastered different great dao inheritance, such as Sword Dao, Lightning Dao, and Sound Dao.

Most importantly, there were far too many of them. As soon as he got rid of one batch, another would appear like it would never end.

How troublesome Lin Xun wrinkled his brows.

According to the rules of the test, anyone would be able to pass successfully as long as they survived for seven days in the Reverse Five Elements Secret Realm.

But Lin Xun had a strong feeling that the first test alone could eliminate many genius talents from the competition!