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n——(POV Li Huang, in front of the cave)——

nIt has been really a while that i was in this formation and I am really glad about what I got and also what sect got there. Neither I nor Hu Anjing checked the palm technique but it has to be a high-grade one as it was the final reward of this formation. Hu Anjing didn't check it as she didn't have the knowledge to do so and I didn't want to use Peeping eye of heaven right now as it might attract attention.

nSeeing my surrounding I took a deep breath. Although the storage ring had air it felt— old? I don't know if that even makes sense but that's how I felt.

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"This is fine.

" I muttered. With five or so days left, I can call this trial a stunning success for our sect as we achieved much and didn't lose anyone.

nRight at this time, a thunderous voice broke my reverie.

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"Stop what you are doing and listen.

" Said a voice that I was all too familiar with. The old man appeared in a gigantic form in the sky and looked down on everyone. I did not doubt that every disciple in this trial space, regardless of where they were heard him.

nWhat I didn't know at the time was that not only the disciples stopped what they were doing, the beasts also stopped and didn't dare to make the slightest of movements.

nAn eerie atmosphere was created as the old man didn't say a word for a few seconds and kept gazing at different parts of the trial space. It was as if he was looking at someone who didn't stop when he said stop.

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"Being ambitious is one of the key traits for anyone who wants to go far in the way of cultivation. With ambition, one would embrace challenges and hardships—knowing that they are necessary to move forward and learn. Ambitious people take charge of their destiny and don't let the situations define them.

" The old man explained like how a master teaches their disciple.

nHearing these words I was confused a little but it also made me more relaxed because the old man was teaching something to everyone and everything seemed to be fine.

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"On the other hand, we have greed.

" The old man said and paused for a few seconds.

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"Greed is the insatiable desire of wanting something. Most of the time it wouldn't stop with one or two things and one wants anything and everything. You must know that one can not have everything just because they desire so. The difference between ambition and greed is that while ambition can be fulfilled, greed can not be satisfied.

" The old man further explained his point.

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"Now that you know what is the difference between ambition and greed, we can move on to the main point. Some of the things in this trial are to be rewarded and some are here to stay here.

" The old man said and a blue orb appeared in his hand.

nI narrowed my eyes the moment I saw the orb as I could somewhat remember seeing this orb somewhere—

n'Wait a minute, wasn't this orb in that meditation setup?' I thought but didn't know where the old man was going with this.

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"Someone has stolen one such orb from one of the formations in this trial.

" The old man said.

n'Who could have been that stupid—' I thought but suddenly I remembered that even our group has someone that stupid.

nThe old man didn't give me time to think this through and continued.

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"I have always had a rule, reward for one and the punishment for all.

" The old man said with an amiable smile.

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"Now because of one person's actions everyone would receive the punishment. You will fight what your predecessors have fought before. I hope you can overcome this challenge.

" The old man said and vanished.

n'What the? It is not like a shampoo that you can take from your hotel room. Luckily it wasn't from our group as I can clearly remember that we were walking together on the way back—' I trusted my memory about recent events and it was at that moment that it hit me. Jin Fen was the only one who wasn't walking with us in the meditation room.

n'Fuck.' I thought.

n——(POV third person)——

nEveryone was shocked by the old man's words and didn't know what to say. Jin Fen who was the center of this show didn't think much of the old man's words.

n'He is only testing me with this challenge, otherwise, he wouldn't let me have it, to begin with.' He thought and smirked.

nHu Anjing was about to say something to Li Huang as they needed to plan for whatever this punishment is going to be but Li Huang stopped her with a raised hand before she could start speaking. He walked past Other disciples and went toward Jin Fen who was on the back.

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"Jin Fen, you wouldn't have that blue orb if I were to search your storage ring, right?

" Li Huang said as he got ready to subdue Jin Fen. He know that the situation was grim as he got the hint from the old man's words.

nThe sentence 'you will fight what your predecessors have fought before' can only mean one thing and that is the big massacre that happened 300 years ago. Out of the 100 participants at that time, only 4 of them got out of the trials alive. With that hint, even Li Huang who always had a backup plan for his backup plan felt underprepared.

nBecause of this, getting that orb back was the first thing that he thought of.

nJin Fen who heard this knew that he couldn't fight with Li Huang directly so he tried to stall for time so that he can put what he got in this formation to use.

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"And what makes you think I would let you check my storage ring?

" Jin Fen raised an eyebrow and asked Li Huang back.

nAt this moment Hu Anjing and others also understood what was going on and got ready to engage in battle. They were fellow disciples but Jin Fen is probably the thief that has put their lives in danger so no one would even bat an eyelid if it comes to fighting him.

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"Oh, you would let me.

" Li Huang said with a hand on his sword's hilt. He was ready to kill Jin Fen if it is what it takes to save his life and others.

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"We will see about that.

" Jin Fen smirked as his plan worked and the ring in his left hand was ready to use. The reward that he found in the trial was a ring that let him teleport almost instantly the moment it was charged with Qi. Having this ring gave him the confidence to snatch the blue orb from the meditation room as he was sure he could get away from anyone who would want to get this orb from him.

nBut the truth is that almost instantly is not the same as instantly. The moment that Jin Fen's body started to fade, Li Huang knew what was going on and unsheathed his sword and slashed toward Jin Fen's right hand where he saw a ring that he guessed was responsible for his teleportation. Right before Jin Fen was fully transported to his destination Li Huang's heavy sword slash meet his skin and without much resistance severed his hand from a little above his wrist.

nJin Fen didn't have the time to even scream as he teleported away right that instant.

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"Damn it.

" Li Huang muttered as Jin Fen could teleport away and that meant he choose the wrong hand.

nHu Anjing was the fastest to get here after Li Huang and looked at him who was going toward the dismembered hand.

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"What now?

" She asked. She also understood the severity of the situation so she wanted to have a plan for when it gets really hard to handle.

nLi Huang took the storage ring out of Jin Fen's severed hand's finger. He then erased Jin Fen's Qi strand by using his own Qi to overwrite it.

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"Let me see…

" Li Huang said and looked through the contents of the storage ring. After a few moments, he found out that there is no blue orb in there and there is also no sign of the pills he distributed previously. This could only mean one thing, Jin Fen has at least one other storage ring where he stored the blue orb and the pills.

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"There is no blue orb here so I can only assume it was on his other hand…

" Li Huang said as he tried to stay calm and analyze the situation.

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"What should we do now?

" Hu Anjing said as Ye Ling was by her side and other disciples were also right behind them.

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"If this is the same as what happened 300 years ago, there is only one logical thing to do..

" Li Huang said.

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