"These Toes of Fire beasts have strength similar to mine, but their momentum is more fierce!"
Lu Ren stared at the eight Toes of Fire beasts, not daring to be careless.
Roar!
Suddenly, one of the Toes of Fire beasts swung its sharp claws and charged towards him. Lu Ren unsheathed his long sword and struck out towards the beast.
Bang!
The Toes of Fire beast was split in two by Lu Ren, exploding into two balls of red flames.
Lu Ren then effortlessly killed two more Toes of Fire beasts, each one exploding into flames.
"The strength of these Toes of Fire beasts is nothing special!"
Just as Lu Ren was about to go after the other Toes of Fire beasts, the six balls of red flames transformed into six more Toes of Fire beasts.
Lu Ren had already killed three Toes of Fire beasts, and now with the additional eight from before, there were a total of thirteen.
"They keep multiplying?"
Lu Ren furrowed his brow and decided to focus on defense instead of offense. With his mastery of the Heavenly Sword Technique and the perfect Luminous Cat Steps, he could easily drag out the fight until the end of an incense stick burning.
Lu Ren continued to defend himself, and the thirteen Toes of Fire beasts couldn't even scratch him.
Not to mention one incense stick, he could hold out for two or even three.
However!
Just as Lu Ren had this idea, those Tuo She Fire Beasts automatically split into two, almost doubling in number in an instant, becoming twenty-six Tuo She Fire Beasts.
"What's going on?"
Lu Ren frowned, and as the Tuo She Fire Beasts approached to attack, his eyes glinted with determination. "No matter if I kill them or not, they will split again in a while. So I'll just kill them all before they split!"
Buzz!
Lu Ren wielded the Fire Spirit Sword, rushing forward with all the power of his seven spiritual apertures, unleashing a storm of sword shadows that rained down on the twenty-six Tuo She Fire Beasts.
Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop!
The sword shadows filled the sky like raindrops, piercing through the twenty-six Tuo She Fire Beasts in an instant.
Then, the bodies of those Tuo She Fire Beasts exploded like fireworks, turning into clusters of flames.
Just as Lu Ren thought he had passed the test, he realized that all those clusters of flames had gathered together to form a gigantic Tuo She Beast ten times larger than before.
The Tuo She Beast exuded a formidable aura, far surpassing Lu Ren.
Roar!
Tuo She Giant Beast, crazily spraying flames from its mouth, turning into a rain of fire, attacking towards Lu Ren.
Lu Ren's figure flashed, crazily using the Spirit Cat Steps to dodge the fiery rain attacks with his agile body. With the perfect Spirit Cat Steps, his agility was comparable to a top-tier martial artist, allowing him to evade the attacks.
The Tuo She Giant Beast seemed to have some level of intelligence, completely gone mad, and pounced towards Lu Ren.
Facing such a violent assault, Lu Ren continuously used the Heavenly Sword Technique to defend himself, but after a few moves, his Fire Spirit Sword was knocked away by the Tuo She Fire Beast.
"Hahaha, Lu Ren can't hold on anymore! The Tuo She Giant Beast is a level above him, and he hasn't cultivated higher-level martial arts. He can't possibly challenge it!" Gao Yifan laughed loudly.
"This is the gap in bloodline talent. He has a low-quality bloodline, and apart from that sword technique, his martial arts, body technique, and defensive palm techniques are all lower-tier yellow-grade. Even if he reaches perfection, he can't withstand the fierce attacks of the Tuo She Giant Beast!" Xie Kuang sneered.
The eliminated martial artists also shook their heads silently. Generally, cultivating a lower-tier yellow-grade body technique to perfection could allow one to last through incense stick time. But Lu Ren's low-quality bloodline prevented him from cultivating higher-tier body techniques, making it impossible for him to pass the assessment.
Elder Meng Qian's expression also turned unpleasant. Lu Ren indeed cultivated martial arts that were too low-level, making it difficult for him to withstand the attacks of the Tuo She Giant Beast.
"My disciple, I believe in you!" Yun Qingyao stared at Lu Ren, clenching her fists to suppress the nervousness in her heart.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Tuo She Giant Beast's claws continued to strike, generating powerful winds with each blow.
"Since I can't dodge it, then I'll fight you head-on!" Lu Ren stopped defending and stood in place, his palms in a Bagua stance, facing the Tuo She Giant Beast's attacks head-on with a strike of his own.
Boom!
The palm, comparable to a mountain peak, directly sent Lu Ren flying out.
Puff!
Lu Ren spat out a mouthful of blood, retreating more than ten steps before stabilizing his figure.
"Such strength is nothing to me, come at me again!" Lu Ren roared, igniting a blaze of fighting spirit. Since he couldn't avoid it, he decided to fight back.
Moreover, from the collision just now, Lu Ren had enough confidence to withstand the Tuo She Giant Beast's attacks.
His body had reached the stage of Qi cultivation and body refinement, enough to withstand this kind of power. In the past, if he had taken that blow, he wouldn't have been able to get back up.
Boom! Boom!
With the Tuo She Giant Beast's subsequent strikes, Lu Ren used Bagua palm to withstand them one after another. After a dozen or so strikes, the body of the Tuo She Giant Beast automatically disintegrated, dissipating into flames.
"He actually withstood the fierce attacks of the Tuo She Giant Beast?"
Everyone was stunned to see this scene.
No one had expected Lu Ren to give up dodging and choose to confront the beast head-on.
Is this guy's body made of iron?
For a martial artist at the Qi cultivation stage, his body was unexpectedly terrifying!
"Ha ha ha, Elder Yun, we old folks really have narrow horizons. Your discerning eye in accepting disciples is truly remarkable!" Elder Meng Qian couldn't stop laughing as he saw Lu Ren successfully withstand the attacks for the duration of a joss stick burning.
Elder Yun Qingyao smiled and concealed her embarrassment.
It wasn't that her eye was sharp, but rather she had impulsively accepted this disciple.
Who would have thought that this disciple, who was clearly of a crippled bloodline, was so strong!
"The Eight Gates assessment has been passed, now only the ultimate assessment remains. Once he passes, Lu Ren may be able to change his bloodline!" Elder Meng Qian's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"The ultimate assessment? No one has been able to pass the ultimate assessment for so many years, he won't be able to complete it either!" Xie Kuang said coldly.
"Huh, why isn't that guy participating in the ultimate assessment? What is he up to?" When Gu Yifan saw the scene playing out, he was somewhat surprised.