Chapter 61: The Eighth Floor
"A Spirit Symbol Master?"
Feeling the powerful energy emanating from Lin Langtian, both Jin Xing and Huangpu Yun were left utterly stunned. Huangpu Yun, especially, felt a chill down his spine. Lin Langtian had already defeated him with ease as a Four-Seal Symbol Master; now, with his breakthrough to Spirit Symbol Master, could he actually enter the eighth floor?
It seemed the very thing he feared was happening.
Lin Langtian once again approached the spirit barrier. Encasing his entire body in spirit energy, he took a step forward under the watchful eyes of Jin Xing and Huangpu Yun.
As his body touched the barrier, it pushed back with a powerful repulsive force. But Lin Langtian's spirit energy had multiplied seven or eight times since his breakthrough, making him much stronger than before.
"Hmph!" With a cold grunt, an intense wave of spirit energy surged from his Mind Palace, wrapping around him entirely. Under this immense pressure, the barrier trembled slightly, sending out ripples. Step by step, Lin Langtian moved through it until his figure vanished on the other side.
"He… he got in?!" Jin Xing and Huangpu Yun were dumbfounded as Lin Langtian disappeared. Jin Xing quickly regained herself, her initial shock shifting to pure elation, while Huangpu Yun's expression darkened.
Lin Langtian had actually made it to the eighth floor—this didn't bode well for Huangpu City!
…
"Lin President," Huangpu Nuo smirked, glancing at Lin Mo, "half a day has passed, and only Ling Quan has entered the eighth floor. It seems we have a clear winner for this duel."
"Don't celebrate too early," Lin Mo responded coolly, though his gaze remained fixed on the three light points on the seventh floor. He suspected two of those points belonged to Jin Xing and Lin Langtian. As Jin Xing's teacher, he knew her strength—reaching the eighth floor would be an incredible feat. Now, his hopes rested entirely on Lin Langtian, the Lin clan's foremost talent.
"One of the lights on the seventh floor just disappeared!" a voice exclaimed, startling Huangpu Nuo. He quickly turned to check the seventh floor and found that one of the lights was indeed gone.
His first thought was that someone had fallen to the sixth floor. But when he looked and saw no new light points there, his face twisted with shock as he refocused on the eighth floor.
There, he saw it—another light had appeared on the eighth floor.
"Someone else has entered the eighth floor!"
The sight of the new light sparked a wave of murmurs and surprise among the crowd below the Symbol Master Tower. People looked on in disbelief—no one had expected that someone else would follow Ling Quan to the eighth floor.
"Who could it be? Jin Xing or Huangpu Yun?"
The crowd buzzed with speculation, most of them assuming it had to be one of those two. But that thought was soon dismissed; both Jin Xing and Huangpu Yun, powerful as they were, weren't quite at that level.
"Could it… be Lin Langtian?!"
The crowd exchanged glances, letting out a collective gasp. Lin Langtian was a name well-known across the Great Flame Dynasty lately, but few had realized his talents extended beyond physical strength. That he could match someone like Ling Quan was simply astonishing.
"A true prodigy in the Lin family!"
The people shared knowing looks, all coming to the same conclusion in their minds.
"Lin Langtian? Impossible," Huangpu Nuo muttered, struggling to believe the words he'd just overheard. How could Lin Langtian, who was renowned for his physical power, possibly match Ling Quan, one of the Symbol Master world's top talents?
Meanwhile, Huangpu Jing, having listened to the crowd's discussion, widened her eyes in disbelief. "I've heard of Ling Quan," she whispered. "He's said to be the Great Flame Dynasty's most promising Symbol Master. But for Lin Langtian to be competing at his level… his talent in spirit energy must also be among the highest in the dynasty. And if we factor in how quickly he's learned…"
The more she thought about it, the more her shock turned to amazement. She covered her mouth, unable to process how formidable Lin Langtian really was.
Next to her, Ling Qingzhu remained as serene as ever, though her gaze lingered on the glowing light on the eighth floor. Silently, she mused, "To achieve so much in just a year… I had a feeling you held some hidden power, Lin Langtian. I wonder how you'll perform in the Great Battle of the Empires a few years from now…"
…
Inside the eighth floor of the Symbol Master Tower.
Compared to the seven floors below, this space was smaller, filled with dense spirit energy swirling around like a thick liquid. The spiritual pressure here was crushing, almost unbearable.
"Thud…"
In the silence, a heavy footstep echoed through the room. A lone figure moved forward slowly, as if each step weighed a ton. It was Ling Quan. Even with his half-step Intermediate Spirit Symbol Master strength, he was just barely able to handle the intense pressure on this floor.
"This tower truly lives up to its reputation as one of the Great Flame Dynasty's most prestigious. Even without the reward offered by Huangpu City's Symbol Master Association, the experience alone is worth it. With this, I'll be ready to break through to Intermediate Spirit Symbol Master within six months," Ling Quan muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow with a small smile.
"With this, victory should be ours."
But just as the words left his lips, his ears twitched. From not far behind him came another set of heavy footsteps. The sound made his eyes widen. Someone else was on the eighth floor?!
Ling Quan whipped around, his gaze landing on a lone figure stepping toward him. As the figure lifted his head, a faint smile appeared on his face, a confident glint in his eyes.
"It's him… impossible!" Ling Quan's mind reeled in shock as he watched Lin Langtian approach him, feeling an intense wave of unease building up inside him…