A ninth-grade lotus seed!
Li Shuang's pupils suddenly constricted.
The Grand Forgetfulness Art circulated wildly, and she vaguely gained a glimmer of understanding.
"Lili!"
Li Shuang had a thought.
Lili reacted instantly.
The Black Abyss Sword, carrying frost, slashed fiercely towards the lotus core.
As the seventh-grade lotus seed was destroyed, a new lotus core bloomed.
Inside it.
There was another lotus seed!
A ninth-grade lotus seed!
"Who is it!"
"Who dares to touch the lotus seed!"
Earth-shattering roars came from eight directions.
The entire ice surface vibrated wildly.
The eight great beasts roared and closed in.
Li Shuang gritted her teeth and placed her hand directly on the ninth-grade lotus seed.
Like melting ice, the ninth-grade lotus seed instantly disappeared from the lotus core.
However, a tiny seed appeared in Li Shuang's dantian.
With the Foundation Establishment item in hand, Li Shuang no longer hesitated and immediately began her Foundation Establishment!
Ordinarily, Foundation Establishment requires choosing a secluded chamber, preparing many elixirs, and taking various protective measures, for fear of any mishap.
But Li Shuang already had one Foundation Establishment experience, and her soul realm was far higher than the requirements for the Foundation Establishment stage.
For her.
As long as the miraculous Foundation Establishment item was chosen, Foundation Establishment was but a thought away.
As the Qi Condensation stage spiritual energy continuously condensed into Foundation Establishment stage spiritual energy, Li Shuang chose a direction, intending to escape outwards.
However, to her shock.
She couldn't leave the lotus's range at all!
She was only delayed for an instant.
The eight great beasts had already arrived, surrounding her tightly in the center.
Liu Juncheng watched from afar, nervously gripping his sword.
Although he didn't know what had happened to Li Shuang, if she couldn't escape, he would fight to the death no matter what.
But although the eight great beasts surrounded her, not a single one of them actively attacked Li Shuang.
Li Shuang in the center was also stunned. What was going on?
She hadn't yet reacted.
Above the ice lake.
An ancient and distant voice echoed.
"Challenger Li Shuang has absorbed the ninth-grade lotus seed, initiating the true challenge: Fight to the End!"
"The eight great beasts vary in strength. If the challenger can defeat all eight beasts consecutively, it will be considered a success."
"The Ice Lake Perilous Land is one of the eight great perilous lands. Successfully completing the challenge will grant a key. When the time comes, this key can be used to compete with the prodigies of various continents for the ultimate opportunity in the Langya Secret Realm."
"Challenger Li Shuang, do you accept the challenge?"
"If you accept the challenge, the challenge will begin."
"If you refuse the challenge, an escape route will be opened. You can successfully leave with the ninth-grade lotus seed by fleeing a hundred miles while being pursued by four random beasts."
Li Shuang's eyes flickered.
One of the eight great perilous lands: Ice Lake!
The true challenge begins!
The previous her didn't even have the qualifications to initiate such a challenge.
This time, it was thanks to the constant prompts from the Heaven and Earth Furnace, coupled with the uniqueness of her cultivation technique, that she was able to find that ninth-grade lotus seed.
Should she accept the challenge?
Li Shuang responded in her heart without hesitation: "Accept the challenge!"
A key to obtaining the ultimate opportunity!
An opportunity to compete with many prodigies from across the continent, why wouldn't she take it?
One must know.
The Southern Azure Continent she was on was only considered a remote corner in this world.
The truly prosperous region of this world was the Central Continent!
It was rumored that geniuses emerged in abundance on the Central Continent, and the peerless geniuses there were far beyond their imagination.
Li Shuang was considered the most talented in the Southern Azure Continent.
But what if she went to the Central Continent? That might not be the case.
According to the voice, to obtain that ultimate opportunity, she would have to compete with prodigies from other continents.
This...
This...
This was simply too exciting!
Li Shuang's eyes lit up.
She would never miss such an opportunity.
"Challenge, begin!"
As the final voice faded.
The entire ice lake transformed into a massive arena.
The true challenge had begun!
Outside the ice lake, Liu Juncheng watched these changes, guessing that Li Shuang must have encountered some great opportunity.
He became even more nervous.
Greater opportunities often came with greater dangers.
Little Junior Sister, please be safe.
"Super Beast: Wood Bud Beast! Successfully completing the challenge grants three hours of recovery time. Failing the challenge activates escape mode."
At one end of the arena, a strange beast, entirely emerald green with a small sapling growing on its head, stepped forward.
Inside Li Shuang's body, spiritual energy was still slowly transforming.
Now, she was half a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Even so, her overall strength had already made a leap compared to before.
Li Shuang leaped forward.
With Lili's assistance, the Black Abyss Sword emitted a chilling aura.
The first challenge!
Begins!
All eight of these beasts were super beasts.
However, there was a difference between super beasts.
The Golden-winged Eagle she encountered before was considered an outstanding one among super beasts.
The strength of this Wood Bud Beast was considerably weaker than that of the Golden-winged Eagle.
As soon as Li Shuang stepped onto the arena, emerald green branches wrapped around her.
The Sword Domain instantly activated!
Li Shuang moved through the gaps, instantly closing in on the Wood Bud Beast.
The moment the Black Abyss Sword slashed, the Wood Bud Beast shook the small sapling on its head, and layers of leaves fell like blades.
A freezing aura suddenly erupted from Li Shuang.
Those leaves were instantly frozen in mid-air.
The sword fell!
The Wood Bud Beast immediately disappeared from the arena.
"First round: Challenger wins. Challenger gains three hours of recovery time."
A countdown appeared directly in the sky.
Li Shuang fought the first battle so swiftly precisely for these three hours of recovery time.
Li Shuang sat down cross-legged and immediately began to recover.
The ninth-grade lotus seed was indeed extraordinary; even now, she had only just absorbed the lotus seed, and the power of her spiritual energy had already further increased.
Otherwise, she might not have been able to freeze those falling leaves with such ease just now.
Li Shuang focused all her efforts on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm.
Her gaseous spiritual energy was condensed and compressed, then formed into drops of liquid that fell onto her dantian.
The ninth-grade lotus seed slowly melted into these drops at an extremely slow pace.
"Seizing the fortune of the heaven and earth spiritual item, the ninth-grade lotus seed, to forge one's own foundation."
"The path to Foundation Establishment, begins!"
This process was very slow.
Three hours passed, and another beast stepped onto the arena.
Li Shuang was still a little short of the Foundation Establishment realm!
But at this moment, she could only start the next battle first.
If it were anyone else, being disturbed like this during Foundation Establishment would likely have led to failure long ago.
But Li Shuang had once cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage, and her self-control was far superior to that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. She forcibly suppressed the transformation process and began the second battle.
The beast in this round was clearly more powerful than the first.
But Li Shuang, despite sustaining some injuries, quickly completed it.
She sat down cross-legged and continued her Foundation Establishment.
Another three hours passed.
Li Shuang's Foundation Establishment was interrupted again, and she rose to face the third beast.
This time.
She was more severely injured.
However.
After winning three consecutive beast battles.
She intermittently, finally transformed the last trace of spiritual energy into liquid.
The ninth-grade lotus seed had also completely integrated into her body.
The Foundation Establishment realm.
Achieved!
This time.
With the ninth-grade lotus seed as her foundation, her strength far surpassed her former self in the Foundation Establishment stage!
"Fourth round challenge: Begins."
Li Shuang opened her eyes, a strong sense of confidence flickering within them.