Time ticked by, second by second. Yan Qingsang was still locked in a bloody battle inside the fourth cavern of the Nine-Turn Cloud Cavern. This fight had left him utterly spent, but he had no intention of giving up.
He knew that after this battle, he would have absolutely no strength left to challenge the fifth cavern. That was precisely why he treasured this opportunity at the fourth cavern all the more.
Even if it cost him everything, he would push through.
On the surface, Yan Qingsang often came across as an unreliable sort, but in truth, the tenacity buried deep within his heart—and the obsession that came with it—was something most people could never imagine.
And Jiang Chen had been the one to discover that stubbornness in Yan Qingsang's bones.
What reason could a person with that kind of stubbornness have for not succeeding?
In a sudden rush, Yan Qingsang's mind flooded with memories. His family. His grandfather. His cousin, whose fate had been so cruel. His brother, waiting for him outside...
The fighting spirit that had been on the verge of exhaustion roared back to life.
"I absolutely cannot fall at this stage. Even if it kills me, I will not fall here!" Yan Qingsang screamed internally.
Frenzied determination blazed anew.
Outside, Jiang Chen seemed to sense Yan Qingsang's manic will to fight and felt a stir of delight. He was seized by a powerful premonition—this man would make it through the fourth cavern.
The elders watching from a distance were visibly stunned when they saw that Yan Qingsang had actually passed the third cavern. In their eyes, it was simply unbelievable.
They had been certain this young man from the Yan family had no chance whatsoever of clearing three caverns. In the entire Yan clan, the only ones with any real hope of breaking past three were Yan Zhenhuai—and perhaps Yan Qinghuang.
As for Yan Qingsang, they hadn't given him a shred of hope. Yet the result had knocked their jaws clean off.
When Yan Qingsang first arrived at the Eternal Sacred Land, most people had taken one look at him and decided he had zero chance of passing the trial.
Had only a single month really passed? Could Yan Qingsang truly have undergone such a complete transformation?
Even Zi Che Min was secretly marveling, finding the whole affair deeply peculiar. Back then, he himself hadn't been particularly confident about Yan Qingsang's chances of passing.
He had already steeled himself for the possibility of sending Yan Qingsang packing.
But Yan Qingsang's performance had delivered a tremendous surprise—and given Zi Che Min considerable face. As a throw-in bundled with Shao Yuan's recruitment, nobody had had any expectations for Yan Qingsang at all.
Under those circumstances, the young man's astonishing results made Zi Che Min all the more excited. If even the tagalong performed this well, then the main attraction—Shao Yuan himself—couldn't possibly fare any worse.
BOOM!
A pillar of light soared skyward from the fourth cavern.
That beam shooting toward the heavens meant the fourth cavern's challenge had been conquered. The next instant, the area around the fourth cavern erupted in divine radiance and auspicious glow, shimmering and pulsing.
Yan Qingsang shuffled out on unsteady legs, his body swaying, covered head to toe in blood and grime. He looked completely exhausted, yet a broad, triumphant grin hung on his lips.
Thud!
After a few more wobbly steps, Yan Qingsang collapsed face-first into the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"I did it!" he gasped between ragged, heaving breaths.
Jiang Chen smiled, lifted him up, and set him aside. "Brother Yan, from this day forward you are a disciple of the Eternal Sacred Land. The world will look upon you with new eyes!"
Yan Qingsang wanted to laugh but lacked even the strength for that. He simply bared his teeth in a wordless grimace of joy. His eyes, though, shone with boundless elation.
It was plain to see just how deeply moved he was.
Zi Che Min stepped forward at that moment and addressed Yan Qingsang. "Qingsang, congratulations. The Eternal Sacred Land officially welcomes you. You've done well—a true son of the Yan family. I believe the entire Yan clan will be proud of you."
This was no empty flattery. It was simply the truth.
Yan Qingsang's performance was more than enough to make the Yan family proud. Among the younger generation of the entire clan, aside from Yan Zhenhuai and Yan Qinghuang, who else could claim they would definitely pass the Eternal Sacred Land's trial?
Yet Yan Qingsang had done it.
That alone was something to hold his head high about.
"All right, Shao Yuan, you're up next."
Zi Che Min turned to Jiang Chen with a smile. "Your cultivation seems to have advanced again. It feels as though there are endless surprises with you. Even those around you seem to catch some of your magic. Yan Qingsang has changed enormously over this past period. Could that be your influence as well?"
Jiang Chen shrugged. "Perhaps."
His gaze had already turned to the Nine-Turn Cloud Cavern. His goal was to conquer it completely—to show the Eternal Sacred Land exactly what kind of potential he possessed.
Jiang Chen's figure flickered once and vanished from where he stood.