Right now, Leo was standing in front of the gate leading to the Sinclair Mansion. Alongside him were several butlers and maids, all covered in puddles of blood, while his father, Wesley, lay on the ground, also severely hurt.
Franklin and the Whitaker household workers were in front of Leo. Martha, the older sister of Leo, was standing behind Franklin and making a valiant effort to free herself after being captured by a couple of the slaves.
"Leo, my son, goo... You are not Franklin's enemy. Hope exists wherever life exists. You have to get revenge!" Wesley spat up a mouthful of fresh blood, clutching his chest.
Martha gave Leo a kind glance, as her eyes were welling with tears. "Leo, do not worry about me. Move quickly. You will definitely succeed as a martial artist; I believe in you" .
Franklin laughed loudly. "Run? Where can he leave? You have only yourself to blame, old man Wesley, for your lack of common sense. How would things have turned out if you had faithfully handed me your daughter? Not a single member of your Sinclair family will live today."
Leo said nothing as he took in the spectacle. This was a scenario he had seen in his nightmares several times. This dream could come true if he is unable to join the Zephyr Blade Sect.
When the sword crystal first appeared, Leo's life was totally changed. Before, he could have struggled to get out of this situation or break through it. But now things were not the same as before; Franklin and the Whitaker family, who had previously made him feel weak, were now nothing more in his eyes.
This was all a delusion, after all. As long as he remained there, he resolved to never let his family suffer again! Leo vowed to himself.
Despite Franklin's taunts, he ignored them and proceeded to draw and swing his sword!
The world before him shattered in an instant. Everything was reduced to nothing.
The fourth trial in this mental strength exam was the heart's demon trial; therefore, this sword stroke not only defeated this trial but, more significantly, it had eliminated Leo's heart's demons.
Leo slowly opened his eyes and got to his feet as the world in front of him vanished. Before his sight, the sword testing hall materialized again. He had finished the mental strength testing, the second round, in its entirety!
"He won once again! Leo passed the trial! He finished first in the assessment's second round once again." With a heated face, Freya said it passionately.
"What a fantastic child! In less time as a stick of incense, he overcame all four trials." Ninth Uncle hadn't said anything at the judgment area when an elder couldn't stop himself from exclaiming.
Yes, that is how things are. The other three were broken through in an instant, except for being imprisoned in the lust trial for half a stick of incense time. The hardest challenge is facing your inner demons; the other two are rather simple. There will definitely be another genius in my Zephyr Blade Sect if he doesn't drop out of the sky!" In a similar vein, one other senior expressed satisfaction. Witnessing the ascent of a genius was, for them, the most joyful sight.
Elder Tren was a bit annoyed to see how well the other two elders had appraised Leo, and he once snorted gently, saying, "It's still too early to say that. This is just the second round."
When Ninth Uncle heard this, he spoke slowly and added, "At this moment, Leo has already won two rounds. Your Franklin is still tangled in the lust trial. It appears that you may begin getting the items ready for your bet, Elder Tren."
"You simply need to relax. I am not going back on my word. There's no rush; the conclusion hasn't been determined yet. " Elder Tren gave a furious reply.
Franklin really didn't do well on the test of mental toughness. Russell, however, was already in the heart's demon trial, the fourth trial. It had not been a little time since he had been trapped in the bloodlust trial, and now he had found himself lost in the lust trial once more. Franklin's perverted look gave away what he was currently doing.
After passing the trials, Leo got off the sword testing platform. He then sat down to the side and began to cultivate. Observing Leo cultivating diligently, the two elders who had looked favorably upon him couldn't help but nod their heads. Along the martial path, good things went to those who worked. Other than talent, one could also lack diligence.
While Leo was cultivating, martial artists continued to fail and were sent out by the array. After another thirty minutes, the second martial artist to clear the trial finally appeared. It was undoubtedly Russell.
Upon passing the trials, Russell stood up and looked around. Seeing Franklin still on the platform with his eyebrows knitted in a frown, he immediately let out a proud smile. Although he had lost to Franklin in the first trial, he returned the favor in the second trial. However, soon after, he discovered that Leo was sitting alone beneath the platform. Evidently, Leo had once again taken first place.
"This guy! He actually beat me again!" Russell gritted his teeth and said, He had always assumed that in Stellaria City he was the number one genius after Cassia. He hadn't thought that other than Franklin, who was bad enough, there would suddenly appear a person no one had ever heard or seen before and who was actually better than him.
Following Russell's success in the assessment, the number of people who passed increased. The third person to pass the assessment was not Franklin but was a peak body refining fourth level martial artist instead.
As martial artists continually passed the assessment, Elder Tren's face became a bit uglier as each one passed because it meant that Franklin's results were getting worse by a point again. It continued until only after the eighth martial artist had passed the assessment did Franklin open his eyes and stand up, becoming the ninth person to pass, barely making it into the top ten.
Seeing that there were already eight below the sword testing platform that had passed, Franklin's expression became black, and a trace of something sinister flashed through his eyes. Especially when he saw that Leo was sitting there alone, cultivating, he couldn't help leaking out a bit of undisguised killing intent.
However, right now they were in the sword testing hall with many Zephyr Blade Sect elders watching. Franklin could only restrain that bit of killing intent. With a cold snort, he got off the sword testing platform.
After waiting for another two sticks of incense time, this second round's mental strength assessment was brought to a close.
Although the number of people that had failed wasn't as many as the first trial's, there were still over seven hundred people that had failed. The number of remaining people was already less than four hundred.
The remaining martial artists rejoiced because, historically, most eliminations occurred in the first and second trials. Passing the second trial meant an eighty percent chance of entering the Zephyr Blade Sect.
Naturally, Alden was one of these martial artists who made it through. His character was colorful, but his mental toughness wasn't all that horrible. Nothing too tough, as long as he could get through the lust trial.
"The assessment of mental strength, the second round, is now complete. All of you who have been able to remain here indicate that your physical and mental strength have both passed ." The sound of Elder Tren's words resounded. "Next, we will proceed to the third round of the assessment," he said after pausing.
"The third round's assessment is perception. Everyone will follow me right now," Elder Tren gave the order.
Elder Tren finished his sentence and turned to go. The martial artists naturally followed him. They soon came to a large chamber made of stone.
Leo surveyed his surroundings and noticed several stone carvings in the room. Each stone carving had different weapons, whether it was a sword, blade, axe, or spear.
Leo initially saw something incredibly enigmatic, as though these stone sculptures were alive and could wield their weapons and perform martial arts.
Leo suddenly closed his eyes, then reopened them to find that the stone carvings remained motionless, unchanged from their previous positions. It was incomparably mysterious.