These puppets that suddenly appeared were quite far away, but their attribute panels were visible in his line of sight. Among them, there were even a few half-silver, half-gold puppets with spatial talents. If he could copy their inferior spatial talents and fuse them, it might just improve the grade of his own spatial talent. Lin Xuan's spirits lifted greatly, his eyes flickering with excitement.
"Senior Brother Liu, Han Shuang, Brother Sun, let's go. If I'm not mistaken, that black sword should be related to the inheritance of this puppet secret realm. Once we get close to about a thousand meters, the gravity will surge. The closer we get, the greater the increase will likely be. As for those puppets, they probably won't act up until the black sword is taken. Whether we get the inheritance or not depends on each person's ability." Lin Xuan turned and gave a few pointers to Liu Qianyu, Chen Hanshuang, and Sun Yuwen, then headed toward the stone platform to the east. Liu Qianyu, Chen Hanshuang, and the others quickly followed.
On the other side, Duan Feiyu also sensed something and understood. He led the disciples of the Wind Flame Valley behind him, charging toward the stone platform as well. Before long, they reached a thousand meters from the platform. Most of those who had been at the front earlier were now injured, either collapsed outside the thousand-meter mark or struggling forward. Even the farthest among them hadn't made it to a hundred meters. Lin Xuan shook his head slightly and stepped inside.
Instantly, his expression tightened. A gravity force twice as strong as before pressed down on him, and he felt his body sink. His physical strength was so formidable that even many Spirit Origin Realm cultivators might not match it. If even he felt this way, it was no wonder those other martial artists were struggling so badly. Still, it only caused him a slight change in expression—nothing more. After a brief pause, Lin Xuan's gaze burned as he scanned the puppets hundreds of meters away and continued forward.
Behind him, Liu Qianyu, Chen Hanshuang, and Sun Yuwen also felt the shift in gravity, their hearts jolting. But seeing Lin Xuan advancing swiftly as if unaffected, they gritted their teeth and followed. Not far away, Duan Feichen's face darkened further, but to save face and for the sake of the secret realm's inheritance, he forced himself to keep pace with Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan just sneered and ignored him. His goal wasn't the black sword inheritance—it was the spatial talent. In his view, no matter how high the inheritance's grade, as long as he kept improving, obtaining comparable treasures wouldn't be hard. But spatial talent was different. It involved the two supreme-level laws of space—rare and hard to come by. Even across the entire continent, he might never see it again. By comparison, spatial talent was far more important.
Soon, he reached within three hundred meters of the stone platform space. As he stepped in, "Not good!" Lin Xuan's face changed. He felt a pressure like a towering mountain bearing down on him. In an instant, the gravity surged several times over. He stumbled, nearly falling. Fortunately, it was just a sudden shock. After steadying himself, Lin Xuan managed to endure it. But his expression shifted from calm to serious. The air ahead felt thick as ink, each step incredibly difficult. His speed plummeted, slower than an ordinary person's. Not far away, Duan Feichen, caught off guard, fell flat on his face, creating a small crater in the ground. Though his physique kept him uninjured, he was covered in dirt, looking utterly disheveled.
Behind them, even the closest—Chen Hanshuang, Liu Qianyu, and the others—were still a full two hundred meters away from Lin Xuan's position at the three-hundred-meter mark. The contrast was stark. The crowd behind watched in shock, murmuring among themselves. "Holy crap, am I seeing things? That Lin Xuan is handling it better than Duan Feichen?" "Duan Feichen probably didn't notice the gravity change and got caught off guard." "Still, it shows Lin Xuan's physical strength might surpass Duan Feichen's!" "Even if not, it's not far off!" "Duan Feichen, as one of the top talents in the Red Sun Domain second only to the Four Young Masters, has almost no weaknesses. But now, a Lin Xuan under twenty might be outdoing him in physical strength! Unbelievable!" "This Lin Xuan is impressive too—could he be another Young Master-level talent?" "..."
The crowd buzzed with exclamations, their hearts shaken. At this moment, Lin Xuan's performance had already surpassed Duan Feichen's. Duan Feichen, as one of the top talents in the Red Sun Domain just below the Four Young Masters, had a renowned reputation. No one had ever heard of any Opening Spirit Realm cultivator besides the Four Young Masters matching him. He even had a record of defeating Spirit Origin Realm opponents without losing. Yet now, he was being outdone by Lin Xuan, who seemed under twenty. How could they not be stunned? They were almost overwhelmed by the shock, silently lamenting that the Red Sun Domain might soon see another Young Master-level talent.
Ahead, Lin Xuan paid no attention to this. His entire focus was on the non-gold, non-silver puppets—no, on their spatial talents. Then, he moved. His speed was far slower than before, less than a meter per second, but not too sluggish. And his direction wasn't toward the stone platform—it was toward the nearest puppet. Though the puppets seemed randomly placed, a closer look revealed a pattern: all of them connected to form a winding path. But this path was over ten times longer than the straight route to the stone platform. Most martial artists wouldn't notice it. Lin Xuan, however, ignored that and followed this meandering course.
Behind him, at the three-hundred-meter mark, Duan Feichen heard the murmurs and his face turned as dark as water. Staring at Lin Xuan's back, he snorted coldly, murderous intent flickering in his eyes. He wanted to push forward, surpass Lin Xuan, and save face. But unfortunately, no matter how strong Duan Feichen was—even able to hold his own against a Spirit Origin Realm first-layer for dozens of moves without losing—he was still in the Opening Spirit Realm, not a true Spirit Origin Realm. Lin Xuan's physical strength, boosted by the *Golden Scale Elephant Art*, far surpassed even many early-stage Spirit Origin Realm cultivators. Leaving combat aside, in terms of pure physical strength, the two were on completely different levels. Especially within the three-hundred-meter radius of the stone platform, where the gravity multiplied, the gap became glaringly obvious. No matter how hard Duan Feichen tried, channeling his spiritual energy and intent, it was useless. His forward speed was several times slower than Lin Xuan's. Duan Feichen's face grew even uglier.