Chapter 2247

"This old man only asks you, are you willing?"

Lin Moyu also didn't think too much about it. "To have the honor of competing on the same stage as all these heavenly prides, even if I lose, it is this junior's fortune. I am willing."

Xiahou Yuan caught the underlying meaning in Lin Moyu's words. *Even if I lose* meant he wouldn't necessarily lose.

Though he spoke humbly, he was actually full of confidence in himself.

However, not many could catch that underlying meaning. Instead, most of the heavenly prides present felt that Lin Moyu was admitting he was inferior to them, which altered their perception of him.

With a wave of Xiahou Yuan's hand, everyone in the lake instantly returned to their original positions.

In an instant, their clothes dried completely, as if nothing had ever happened.

Lin Moyu also flew back to his original position, still behind Lu Fengyao.

Lu Fengyao gave him a thumbs-up. "Little Brother Lin, you're absolutely incredible."

Lin Moyu smiled. "It was just good luck."

"Can you teach me that Soul Ascension Secret Art or whatever it is?" Lu Fengyao asked.

Lin Moyu said, "I'll ask the senior in a bit. As long as he agrees, I have no problem with it."

Lu Fengyao didn't expect Lin Moyu to agree so readily, and she couldn't help but smile. "I was just joking with you. If I wanted it, I would naturally ask Senior Xiahou for it myself."

Lin Moyu asked curiously, "Sister Feng Yao, you know the senior?"

Lu Fengyao said, "Of course. I've known Senior Xiahou since I was a child. It's just that Senior Xiahou doesn't like to talk. Normally, he probably doesn't say as much in a whole year as he just did to you."

"Senior Xiahou regards you highly. It seems your performance made him very satisfied." Lin Moyu nodded slightly and said nothing.

Sensing someone looking at him from the side, Lin Moyu turned his head and happened to meet Gu Nianshui's gaze.

As their eyes met, Gu Nianshui immediately turned her head and withdrew her gaze.

However, from that brief instant, Lin Moyu could still sense the complexity in her eyes.

It was hard to describe that complexity; there seemed to be a bit of jealousy, a slight hint of hatred and resentment, and at the same time, some other

factors mixed in.

A gaze so extremely complex was something even Lin Moyu could not understand.

At this moment, Xiahou Yuan spoke in a clear voice, "The first round is over. Everyone's results have been recorded. Based on your performance, the seating arrangement will be redistributed."

"Everyone, stay in your seats and do not move!"

Seating arrangements were not set in stone; as the Heavenly Pride Tournament progressed, the rankings would continuously change.

In the previous Heavenly Pride Tournament, Saintess Xianlian's seat was initially ranked tenth.

As the tournament progressed, she continuously climbed, eventually reaching second place by the end, second only to Holy Son Huanshen.

This time, with Holy Son Huanshen absent, Saintess Xianlian was placed directly in first.

The ranking of positions followed a very strict set of rules, with Lu Lian calculating the final results, and no one was allowed to interfere.

Beams of light descended from the sky, enveloping everyone.

Each beam of light enveloped two seats, representing a heavenly pride and their follower.

Only Lu Fengyao and Lin Moyu were different, with two separate beams of light enveloping each of them.

From the conversation between Lin Moyu and Xiahou Yuan just now, everyone knew that Lin Moyu would also be participating in the Heavenly Pride Tournament.

A Sovereign participating in the Heavenly Pride Tournament was unprecedented in its history, enough to be written into the annals. After the light shone for ten seconds, a change suddenly occurred.

Unknowingly, everyone's seats began to shift.

Some people's ranks rose, while others fell.

Some were happy, while others were displeased.

The original hundred seats had now become a hundred and one.

Lin Moyu was placed at left fifty-one, the very last position.

Although it was the lowest position, Lin Moyu had no complaints.

Participating in the Heavenly Pride Tournament as a Sovereign and competing on the same stage as a crowd of Dao Venerates had already set a historical precedent.

Lu Fengyao's position changed. Due to her outstanding performance in the first round, Lu Fengyao's seat moved to left six, making her overall rank eleventh.

Saint Son Tianhuan, who was originally at right three, moved to the right two position, ranking fourth overall…

Dongfang Wuwen, who was originally ranked right one, remained unchanged in his position.

Saintess Xianlian at left one also remained unchanged, still maintaining her first-place position.

The others had more or less some changes, but they were not very significant.

Any further changes would depend on their subsequent results.

Xiahou Yuan said in a clear voice, "The second round: Inner Demon!"

As his voice fell, the lake water suddenly surged, and water spheres flew out, landing in front of everyone.

Each heavenly pride had exactly two water spheres, no more, no less.

"Everyone, hold the water spheres. You must not break them. Anyone who breaks both water spheres will be eliminated!"

The rule was also very simple. Everyone held the water spheres in front of them. The spheres were extremely soft and would burst with even the slightest force.

This "slightest force" was equivalent to that of an infant.

Even an infant could pop the water sphere.

Everyone carefully cradled the water spheres in their palms, not daring to exert any force at all.

In this way, it was equivalent to having their entire body fixed to their seats.

If they made even the slightest movement, they might break the water spheres.

The water spheres were too soft; even wrapping them in the gentlest energy was of no use.

Xiahou Yuan chuckled softly. "The second round's assessment begins!"

A hazy Great Dao emerged, and the entire venue instantly grew dark, enveloped in an indescribable light that even exuded a hint of eeriness.

Xiahou Yuan vanished, leaving only this hazy Great Dao.

The hazy Great Dao slowly descended, drawing closer and closer to everyone, bringing with it an indescribable pressure.

Everyone was pressed down by the power of the Dao, unable to move in their chairs, as if they would be crushed to pieces by the Dao in the next second.

The chairs creaked, seeming unable to withstand the pressure and on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

As the Great Dao drew closer, some instinctively wanted to struggle, their palms instinctively wanting to exert force.

But they quickly snapped out of it, restraining their instincts.

In the end, the Great Dao did not touch them, but instead fell into the lake.

The calm lake water suddenly boiled, like cold water poured into hot oil, throwing up monstrous waves.

The massive waves transformed into ferocious giants, wielding weapons as they charged toward everyone.

To resist, or not to resist?

All the heavenly prides were individuals of firm resolve; the scene before them was not enough to shake their Dao Hearts.

"Illusions, they are all illusions!"

"Ignore them, ignore them!"

The heavenly prides all thought similar things. No one moved, and not a single water sphere broke.

Chapter 2770: Could It Be That He Has No Inner Demon?

The weapons in the giants' hands fell upon the heavenly prides. The heavenly prides remained perfectly still, taking the blows with their bodies. The weapons turned into flowing water and dispersed on the spot, causing no harm to them. The water scattered on the ground and then silently seeped into their bodies, heading straight into their souls. The heavenly prides closed their eyes one after another, their consciousness sinking into their souls as if entering another world. The second round was only beginning now. The theme of this round was the Inner Demon; how could it be so easy to pass? Except for the heavenly prides and Lin Moyu, in the eyes of others, it was a completely different scene. There was no Great Dao at all, nor were there any water giants.

After announcing the start of the second round, Xiahou Yuan merely pressed his palm down gently, and all the heavenly prides seemed to fall into a deep sleep at the same time.

The entire venue became incredibly eerie. Some instinctively wanted to speak, only to find they couldn't make a sound. Not only could they not make a sound, but they couldn't even move, only able to watch helplessly. The expressions of the heavenly prides varied, their physical bodies tightening at times and relaxing at others.

Powerful auras surged from time to time and then subsided, as if everyone was experiencing various scenarios.

The Dao Venerates outside the formation in midair also watched the performance of the heavenly prides. In their eyes, they could see more information.

"Counting the time, the first stage should be over by now. No one was eliminated, and their states of mind seem quite good."

"The first stage is the simplest, only letting them feel a bit of external pressure. It is not the real Inner Demon at all."

"Indeed. If they couldn't even pass this stage, how terrible would their state of mind have to be? With such a Dao Heart, what right would they have to be called heavenly prides?"

"What comes next is the difficult part. The Inner Demon—everyone must face the thing they least want to face."

"I wonder who can hold out until the end. I'm really curious about what things these heavenly prides don't want to face."

Lin Moyu also saw the Great Dao descend and the water giants slashing at him, but he saw through it at a glance as a mere illusion and remained completely unmoved.

He had dealt with illusions plenty of times; this level of illusion could basically be ignored.

Lin Moyu felt the lake water invade his body. His vision blurred, and scenes began to unfold. It was a battlefield, seemingly located in the starry sky, dotted with countless stars and incredibly vast.

Lin Moyu felt this starry sky was somewhat unfamiliar, as if he had never seen it before.

"Is my Inner Demon a battlefield?"

"This environment is somewhat unfamiliar. It doesn't seem to be the starry sky of the Great World."

"Shouldn't an Inner Demon be something from my past memory? Why would an unfamiliar place I've never seen before appear?"

An Inner Demon was an illusion, yet different from ordinary illusions.

If one fell into the world of their Inner Demon and could not escape, they might sink into it permanently.

Lin Moyu naturally knew that Senior Xiahou would not allow such a thing to happen; he would surely have a way to pull people out of the Inner Demon world.

"Senior Xiahou's Dao seems to be related to the soul. Could it be the Soul Dao?"

While observing the Inner Demon world, Lin Moyu even had the leisure to think about other things.

If those heavenly prides who were waiting in solemn anticipation found out, who knew what they would think.

The Inner Demon world was completely quiet, appearing as if there was nothing there.

However, Lin Moyu noticed that the starry sky in front of him was rapidly drawing closer. From this, he could infer that he was moving forward at an astonishing speed.

Comparing it to the starry sky of the Great World, he could judge from experience that his speed had definitely exceeded the speed of light.

Yet, time and space did not warp; the space remained calm, which was very bizarre.

Once speed approached the speed of light, it would inevitably cause changes in time and space, requiring one to alter space or time to bypass the limit.

Finding nothing of the sort now, Lin Moyu felt it was rather strange.

Gradually, Lin Moyu realized something was off. He had seen this starry sky before.

Many years ago, when he was still very weak, back when spells were not yet called spells but were still referred to as skills.

When he awakened his skills, he had once seen this starry sky.

It was in the Primordial Secret Realm, where thousands of invincible experts were killed with a flick of a finger by an old man in a Green Robe riding a green ox.

That old man chanted the Dao De Jing, using the flesh and blood of those invincible experts to pave a supreme path.

At the time, he had been startled, and he had also been left with an incredibly deep impression of that green-robed old man. As for later, he met the green-robed old man a few more times, and the man went from being a respected senior to a bad old man. Whenever he thought of him, Lin Moyu couldn't help but curse him a few times in his heart.

But thinking about it carefully, in his cultivation career, there were truly very few things that could make him feel afraid.

This matter could barely be counted as one.

As for others, he couldn't seem to recall any.

"Who would have thought that my courage is actually quite great? Truly, the ignorant are fearless."

Now that the Inner Demon world was once again manifesting this unfamiliar starry sky, Lin Moyu found it somewhat amusing. After all, it wasn't something that had happened to him; it was just a scene he had witnessed…

Furthermore, could an Inner Demon truly manifest those invincible experts and that mischievous green-robed old man?

Or rather, could Xiahou Yuan's Dao manifest them?

Lin Moyu couldn't help but make a guess in his heart. If it was indeed as he guessed, then there was no point in trying to manifest them—it would be absolutely impossible.

Lin Moyu did nothing. He just watched quietly, just like back then—watching a show!

The process finally reached the moment when those invincible experts appeared. Based on Lin Moyu's memories, the Inner Demon began to manifest these existences.