Chapter 282 Trial Of Strength

This corridor was much shorter than any of the corridors that Lin Fan had gone down before.

It only took him around two minutes to reach the end of it and to his surprise, this time the exit wasn't brightly lit. Instead, there was only a faint and dim light that was coming from it, completely different from the bright light that he had seen before.

If he had to guess what it was, he would say that it seemed like the light from a torch instead of a light from a light bulb.

When Lin Fan came close enough to see what it was, he found that he had been right.

Rather, he was completely surprised by what he saw.

In front of him, there was an island of stone that was in the center of a pit and the exit was a bridge that led right up to that island of stone.

On the other side, there was another bridge that led to the same island of stone.

All around that island of stone were pillars that reached high up into the sky that Lin Fan couldn't see the ends of, but there were torches that were on these pillars.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't think of this place as anything other than an arena. And if it was an arena, did that mean that the second trial was…

It was no wonder there were the different doors that had different levels of cultivation written above them. However, if this really was the case, then the design of the dungeon really was strange.

Rather, the design of the two different trials clashed with each other.

The first one seemed very serious and this second one…almost seemed like it was a game.

It was as if the two different trials had been designed by different people.

Could it be that this really was the case and there had been different people who designed this?

Or could it be that this place was designed by one single person with split personalities?

This was a very important issue because it would affect him in the future.

After all, if it was the former, then it would be fine. Even if there was some disconnect because there were multiple people designing the same trial, they would all be reasonable and design a trial that could be passed.

But if it was the latter, a person with a mental disorder…there was a chance that they wouldn't be able to think reasonably. The trials that they designed wouldn't fit the word fair or reasonable and there was a chance that they might have designed an impossible trial.

So he couldn't help worrying about his future trial.

But for how, he needed to focus on the trial that was in front of him.

After looking around for a bit and confirming that there was nothing waiting for him in ambush, Lin Fan walked forward until he reached the island of stone in the center.

When he stepped onto it, the bridge of stone that had led from the entrance to this room to the island of stone suddenly collapsed under him.

Lin Fan looked and found that there was no path left for him to take anymore.

The only path left for him was the path on the other side of the island of stone.

But he knew that it wouldn't be easy for him to get to that path…

As he expected, after the bridge collapsed, the same voice as before rang out again.

"The second trial is a trial of strength. Defeat the enemy in front of you to pass this trial."

As he had expected, it was indeed a trial of strength.

The fact that they were in an arena like this, it was unlikely to be anything else.

It was also most likely why there was that room before. It measured the cultivation level of the challenger to ensure that they faced the opponent that was just right for them.

After all, if they faced an opponent that was too strong or too weak, it wouldn't be considered a trial.

He was glad that at least the designer of this trial had considered fairness.

Once the voice disappeared, there was a sudden sound that came from above him.

Lin Fan looked up above him.

He saw that there was a large empty space above him and he wasn't able to see the ceiling of this place. However, he was also able to see a black dot that slowly fell down towards him.

As it fell down, the black dot became bigger and bigger and more and more clear until he was able to see that it wasn't a black dot, but rather a yellow dot that was getting closer.

It kept falling until he was able to clearly see what it was.

It was a giant lion that was falling down towards him!

Lin Fan raised his weapon up as if he was going to defend himself against this lion, but that lion didn't land on him.

As if there was something controlling it, the lion didn't seem like it was able to move at all as it fell down. It kept falling until it landed on the opposite side of the island of stone, landing right where the other bridge was.

After it had landed, the lion finally regained its ability to move freely.

It looked around itself as if it was trying to figure out its surroundings, as if it didn't even know what happened.

However, when it saw Lin Fan, it immediately revealed a hostile look.

Since it had just been relaxing inside of its cave when it had been suddenly moved out of it and thrown into this place. So the one that appeared before it must be the one that had summoned it and was its enemy.

So without hesitation, the lion released its full aura to suppress Lin Fan.

Lin Fan was surprised since he could tell from this aura that this lion was in the High Foundation Realm, but he could tell with his Appraisal Eyes that this lion was still only a cub.

He was sure that once this lion grew up, it would become a terrifying spirit beast.

But for now, it wasn't a match for him.

Even though Lin Fan was only in the Low Foundation Realm and the lion was in the High Foundation Realm, Lin Fan wasn't worried at all. Rather, he had a confident look in his eyes as he faced this lion, as if he could easily defeat it.

When the lion saw this look in his eyes, it couldn't help feeling provoked.

After all, this lion might be a cub, but it still had the pride of a lion.

When facing this human who clearly should be weaker than it, but who didn't show any signs of fear, it felt like it was being challenged by this weakling!

As the prideful lion, how could it tolerate it?

Not to mention, wasn't this person its enemy in the first place!

Then there was only one solution!

Kill this enemy and show the enemy its true power!

So without any hesitation, the lion gave a loud roar as if it was intimidating Lin Fan before jumping out with a claw raised. As it flew through the air, the claw slashed down and created wind blades which it sent flying at Lin Fan.

Then it also slashed its claw down so that it would hit Lin Fan right after the wind blades did.

This was a two fold attack, being hit by the wind blades first and then being hit by the lion's claw itself.

Even if Lin Fan somehow evaded the wind blades, the lion's claw would still fall down on him and smash him to pieces.

That was why the lion had a look of absolute confidence as it fell down towards Lin Fan.

It was just too bad that it wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Lin Fan had been under it one second and then the next…Lin Fan disappeared from the sight of the lion.

It looked around to find him, but it couldn't find a single trace of Lin Fan until…

The lion landed on the ground and both the wind blade and the claw created gashes on the ground under it.

Then before it could react, it suddenly felt a sense of danger coming from its right.

When it turned to look, it saw Lin Fan there with his sword already slashing out at the lion.

While this was an attack from a creature that was clearly weaker than it, the lion couldn't help feeling a sense of danger coming from this. So the lion did its best to twist its body to evade the attack, but it was already too late for that and it couldn't get out of the way in time.

When Lin Fan's blade was about to make contact with the lion, the lion suddenly released its spiritual energy in the form of a layer of wind along its skin to block the attack.

But then to the lion's shock, the sword cut right through the layer of wind like it was butter before cutting into the lion itself. The lion felt the intense pain as the sword cut deep into it.

If the lion hadn't twisted in time, Lin Fan's sword might have cut off its leg entirely.

But with the deep wound in its leg, the lion found it hard to stand firm and it couldn't help wobbling.

Using the few good legs that it did have, the lion quickly jumped back and created distance with Lin Fan as it glared at Lin Fan with a wary look that also had a trace of confusion.

What had happened just now?

How did this creature that was clearly weaker than it move faster than it had and gotten behind it to ambush it?

Not to mention, how did this weak creature break through its defenses?

This was a special two fold defense that used the wind energy that it condensed into a wind armour and its naturally powerful body!

This wasn't something that even spirit beasts of the same level could break through that easily, but this creature had done it!

Just what was going on here?

As these thoughts passed through the lion's mind, there was a trace of fear that appeared in its heart.

Lin Fan had been planning on putting more pressure on the lion after seeing it land, but then there was a notification that surprised him.

[Sun Devouring Lion (Youth) is filled with fear of you and reveres you. Affection has increased by 10.]

"Eh?"

That was Lin Fan's only response when he saw this notification.