137: test!

Wuxing Satellite City.

Outside the city, dozens of excavators were busily digging.

After more than ten hours of excavation, a large pit 50 meters wide and 20 meters deep had been dug.

The drivers didn't actually know what they were supposed to dig; their orders were to keep digging down!

As for what they were digging for?

They had no idea!

"Whoosh—"

A ripple appeared in the void, and Hua Yunzhang and Hua Xia emerged from it, appearing above the large pit.

Seeing the two suddenly appear, the drivers stopped their work and looked at the grandfather and granddaughter in confusion.

"Who are they?"

"They must be Titan Warriors!"

"You don't need to tell me that?"

"..."

Hua Yunzhang ignored the drivers and pointed to the deep pit they had dug, saying, "Is this it?"

"It should be here!"

Hua Xia nodded repeatedly.

She wasn't entirely sure of Zhang Fan's exact location when he disappeared.

But since these drivers were digging here, they were probably also looking for Zhang Fan, so it should be correct!

"Divine Domain!"

Hua Yunzhang's eyes widened.

His Domain of the Gods quietly activated, permeating the earth below.

One hundred meters, one thousand meters...

Half a day later.

Hua Yunzhang returned to the surface.

"Grandpa, how is it?"

Hua Xia asked expectantly.

"No discoveries at all!"

Hua Yunzhang shook his head slightly, his brows furrowed: "I explored hundreds of kilometers around and thousands of kilometers underground, but found nothing!"

Hua Xia's small face instantly turned pale, and tears she could no longer hold back streamed down: "Why is it like this?"

"There's only one possibility!"

Hua Yunzhang sighed softly: "The level of this ruin is extremely high, so high that even I cannot detect it!"

"Then what should we do?"

Hua Xia choked out.

"Wait!"

...

"Roar—"

More than a hundred Porcupine Lions, each seven stories tall, lunged at Zhang Fan from all directions, as if to tear him to shreds.

Each of these Porcupine Lions was 40 meters long and over 20 meters tall at the shoulder, and there were over a hundred of them!

So many behemoths charging together created an incredibly terrifying presence.

Most people would probably be scared half to death just by looking at them!

Zhang Fan was not intimidated; he moved freely among the Porcupine Lions, like a slippery loach, strolling leisurely.

Though there were many Porcupine Lions, they couldn't even touch Zhang Fan's clothes.

The Porcupine Lions roared in frustration, their sharp quills shooting out and forming a dense rain of arrows aimed at Zhang Fan.

The overwhelming barrage of quills engulfed the area, completely sealing off several kilometers, leaving Zhang Fan nowhere to escape.

Zhang Fan didn't even bother to dodge, letting the arrow rain engulf him.

"Clink, clink, clink—"

Countless quills instantly submerged Zhang Fan, striking his body with crisp metallic sounds.

But not a single quill could break through the Golden Armor's defense!

"It's rude not to return a favor!"

A cold glint appeared in Zhang Fan's eyes, and countless golden longswords materialized out of thin air around him, densely packed.

"Myriad Swords Return to the Source!"

Zhang Fan pointed a finger.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

Accompanied by piercing whooshing sounds, countless golden longswords shot out.

The Porcupine Lions did not have Zhang Fan's high defense; as the sword rain descended, their heads were pierced, and their bodies were impaled.

One by one, the Porcupine Lions were riddled with holes amidst their mournful cries.

Then they collapsed to the ground!

Zhang Fan targeted the remaining Porcupine Lions, and another round of sword rain descended, killing the rest of them.

In the blink of an eye, all 128 Porcupine Lions were dead, and then they vanished.

This was Zhang Fan's seventh time eliminating the Porcupine Lions, and the eighth was coming soon!

"Just as I calculated!"

"The seventh wave was 128, the eighth... should be 256!"

"The ninth wave will be 512!"

"The tenth wave will be 1024!"

"If it keeps increasing like this, when will it end?"

Zhang Fan felt a bit of despair!

He wasn't someone who easily gave up, but with this endless, ever-increasing progression, he felt despair too.

"Master!"

The Golden Armor's voice rang out: "I've discovered a pattern!"

"Although the number of these Porcupine Lions is doubling!"

"The strength of individual Porcupine Lions is continuously weakening!"

"Weakening?"

Zhang Fan's spirits lifted.

"Yes, Master!"

The Golden Armor affirmed: "According to the data I've detected!"

"From the first Porcupine Lion up to the seventh wave, the Porcupine Lions' combat power has been weakening!"

"Although the weakening is minuscule, hard to notice without careful observation, it is indeed weakening!"

"Continuously weakening..."

Zhang Fan thought back carefully, but he hadn't noticed the Porcupine Lions weakening.

In his impression, the Porcupine Lions had always doubled, and the difficulty of hunting them had continuously increased.

Individual weakening?

He couldn't feel it!

"Data doesn't lie!"

The Golden Armor said: "According to my calculations, if the combat power of the first Porcupine Lion was 100!"

"Then the combat power of the second wave of Porcupine Lions was only 99!"

"By the seventh wave of Porcupine Lions, their combat power was only 94!"

"From 100 to 94, the change isn't very big, and it weakens incrementally. Coupled with the doubling number, most people wouldn't notice it at all!"

Zhang Fan listened with great surprise and excitedly said: "Golden Armor, according to you, these Porcupine Lions won't endlessly increase?"

"They won't!"

The Golden Armor shook its head: "Once the Porcupine Lions' combat power weakens to a certain extent, it will definitely stop!"

The Golden Armor added: "The legendary Shennong and Yellow Emperor both managed to walk out of the Nüwa Temple alive!"

"This indicates that the Nüwa Temple is not a dead end; as long as you persevere, you will definitely be able to leave this place alive!"

"Moreover!"

The Golden Armor hesitated: "I suspect that the Nüwa Temple setting up so many checkpoints is more like a trial!"

"A trial?"

Zhang Fan's heart stirred.

The Golden Armor replied: "The skeletons in the cave when you first entered, the Tongtian Road, and now the Porcupine Lions!"

"These three stages are more like three different trials!"

"The cave skeletons test basic combat power, the Tongtian Road tests character and willpower, and the current Porcupine Lions are a comprehensive, all-around test!"

"Combat power, cultivation, divine abilities, perseverance, willpower, etc.!"

"That makes sense!"

Zhang Fan nodded repeatedly, his initially despairing heart once again filled with motivation: "Then I'll keep going!"

"I refuse to believe it; I, Zhang Fan, will be trapped and die in a place like this!"

Many times, what makes people despair is not the setback itself!

But the inability to see hope!

Because without hope, there's no courage or motivation to strive!

But now that he saw hope, Zhang Fan was fearless!

He had persevered for over a decade; what was a little while longer?

"Rumble—"

The eighth wave of Porcupine Lions appeared; this time, it was indeed double the last.

A full 256 of them!

"Kill!"

Zhang Fan's mindset was completely different now, full of motivation to hunt.

And so.

The ninth wave.

The tenth wave.

...

Time passed imperceptibly, and the number of Porcupine Lions continuously increased.

By the 13th wave!

The number of Porcupine Lions reached an astonishing 8,192!

So many Porcupine Lions were comparable to a small beast tide!

The best way to deal with a beast tide was naturally the Nine Netherworld Fire!

Zhang Fan frantically released the Nine Netherworld Fire, burning them extensively!

In the 14th wave, the number of Porcupine Lions reached 16,384!

In the 15th wave, the number of Porcupine Lions exceeded 30,000!

There were too many Porcupine Lions!

Even with Zhang Fan burning them with the Nine Netherworld Fire, he almost died from exhaustion!

If he hadn't carried Divine Tree Juice, which could replenish his Congenital One Qi and stamina in time, he truly would have died from exhaustion!

The 16th wave!

The 17th wave!

The 18th wave!

"Die!"

When Zhang Fan released the Nine Netherworld Fire to burn the last Porcupine Lion, he completely collapsed from exhaustion.

"I can't go on!"

"I can't move!"

Zhang Fan directly slumped to the ground, unable to move even a single finger!

Unexpectedly, the next second, the ground began to collapse, and the sky began to collapse.

Zhang Fan jolted upright and fell with the collapsing ground.

A strong sense of weightlessness stimulated his nerves. Zhang Fan conjured wings, wanting to stop his fall, but it was completely useless.

He didn't know how long he fell.

Blinding golden light assailed him, and Zhang Fan instinctively closed his eyes.

As the golden light disappeared, Zhang Fan opened his eyes again and found himself standing in a majestic hall.