Two great orbs of light, like a sun and moon, hung in the sky. The "moon" was clearly closer to the Trialists, and the "sun" was farther away.

The 50 Trialists, including Su Ze, were like athletes on an absurdly wide track, poised for a race.

They stood blankly on their respective "tracks," discovering they had lost the ability to fly and couldn’t move sideways. They had no idea what to do next.

This lasted until an inky shadow suddenly loomed behind them, continuously closing in.

"What is that?" someone exclaimed in surprise.

Su Ze calmly activated his Eye of Truth skill, extending his Perception Tentacles into the shadow.

’It’s...’ Su Ze’s pupils contracted sharply. He had discovered it wasn’t a shadow at all, but a tide of minuscule, densely packed black insects swarming toward them.

What was even more terrifying was that the Perception Tentacles he had extended into the swarm were being devoured by the tiny black insects!

Su Ze’s Perception Tentacles were energy constructs formed from evolutionary power. They were incredibly small and stealthy, difficult for even Saint-level experts to detect, yet they hadn’t escaped the notice of these black insects.

"Run!"

Su Ze broke into a run without a moment’s hesitation, waving and shouting to warn Mr. Ya and his other two teammates.

Su Ze wasn’t the only one with investigative skills and Pupil Techniques. Others also discovered the danger lurking in the shadow and made the same choice: run!

With a few people taking the lead, the rest followed. No one dared to risk contact with that shadow.

At that moment, the "sun" and "moon" began to retract their light. The beams they cast converged, shrinking the illuminated area.

The "sun" was farther away, so its retracted light no longer reached the Trialists. However, since the "moon" was closer, they remained bathed in its glow.

But the edge of the moonlight was constantly catching up to the Trialists’ heels.

"Look! The shadows can’t enter the moonlit area!" someone shouted after observing.

While running, Su Ze used his Perception Tentacles to probe the situation behind him and confirmed it was true. To be precise, as the moonlight converged, it became more condensed, and the black insects dared not enter its range, fearing its touch.

However, the moonlit area continued to shrink. It wasn’t hard to imagine the fate that awaited any Trialist who slowed down and fell out of its protective glow.

Still, the moonlight wasn’t shrinking quickly. Keeping pace with it was a simple matter for the Trialists.

’It can’t be this simple...’ The thought had just crossed Su Ze’s mind when he suddenly shuddered, his pace slowing instantly.

He was at the head of the pack. As the Trialists just behind him caught up, they too slowed down, as if a slow-motion button had been pressed.

It wasn’t physical resistance they were encountering, but mental pressure.

A mental pressure, not unbearable but impossible to ignore, descended upon Su Ze. He was forced to divert his focus to resist it, and his pace naturally slackened.

’So this round is a test of Spiritual Power?’

Su Ze’s Spiritual Power wasn’t exceptional, but he figured the others weren’t necessarily any stronger than he was.

There were no psychic-type evolvers among this batch of Trialists.

That meant everyone was more or less at the same level.

Su Ze pushed forward, resisting the mental pressure. As the other Trialists entered the zone, they began to move unsteadily, not daring to run fast, taking a few steps before pausing.

At this point, everyone’s speed was about the same. No one was particularly fast or slow.

But as they ran, Su Ze could feel the invisible mental pressure steadily increasing.

Gradually, he started to feel the strain.

But he gritted his teeth and pushed on.

Su Ze spared a glance to his sides and discovered that, once again, it was the younger Trialists leading the charge.

’Do young people have stronger Spiritual Power?’

Obviously not.

The only other logical explanation was that the younger ones were subjected to less mental pressure.

This second stage of the trial was also tied to age.

Unlike the first trial, however, a few older Trialists had also managed to reach the front ranks. It seemed their innate Spiritual Power was quite strong.

It wasn’t like the first round, where all the ones who passed early were young Trialists.

In this stage, one could use Spiritual Power to compensate for the age gap.

For example, Mr. Ya’s nemesis, Firoz. Although that old bastard was over fifty, he had clearly done much to strengthen his Spiritual Power, managing to keep pace with a group of youngsters in their early twenties.

Furthermore, Su Ze, who had been assessed as being less than a year old, wasn’t receiving much special treatment. The mental pressure on him was also significant.

It wasn’t like the first trial, where the advantage he was given had been obvious.

Just then, a bloodcurdling scream tore through the air from behind, followed by another, and another. The sound was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Everyone looked back. A Trialist in his forties had fallen to the rear, and because his pace was too slow, the edge of the moonlight had overtaken him.

One of his feet landed outside the moonlit area, and his heel was instantly devoured by the swarming black insects—not even a sliver of bone remained.

The black insects only gnawed at the parts of him outside the moonlight, never crossing the boundary.

He gritted his teeth and lunged forward, not daring to stop. But he was already under immense mental pressure while also enduring excruciating pain. He lunged too hard and couldn’t withstand the sudden spike in pressure, staggering and collapsing to the ground.

He lay on the ground, unconscious for more than ten seconds before slowly waking. During that time, his teammates could do nothing but shout his name from afar, hoping to rouse him.

By the time he came to, it was too late. The edge of the moonlight had already receded past him. He struggled to get up but failed, and the shadow caught up to him...

First, his lower legs were devoured. Screaming, he could only drag himself forward with his arms. But the moonlight was shrinking faster than he could crawl, and the black insects advanced with its receding edge, drawing ever closer.

Then went his thighs, his abdomen... Even the trail of blood he left in his wake was consumed.

He could only feel the agony of his body being eaten away, piece by piece, as he crawled on and on, his wails unending.

Finally, he couldn’t bear it any longer. He’d had enough of the agony. He turned and plunged headfirst into the shadow.

In an instant, his screams stopped.

No one had the luxury of turning back to watch the whole gruesome process, but every one of his screams and wails reached their ears.

No one wanted to be the next victim, so they all gritted their teeth and sprinted forward.

Su Ze remained in the lead, but as he advanced, the mental pressure transformed into waves of spiritual attacks.

Su Ze endured the waves of spiritual attacks head-on, but even he was starting to falter.

Moreover, these spiritual attacks carried a hypnotic mental influence that constantly assaulted Su Ze’s mind.

’So tired... I should rest for a bit...’

’I’m in first place. I can take a break.’

’So sleepy... I want to sleep...’

All sorts of thoughts bubbled up in Su Ze’s mind, eroding his will.

At this stage, the trial wasn’t just testing the strength of their Spiritual Power, but also their willpower.

Was Su Ze the type to be easily swayed?

Of course not!

He just felt that the thoughts popping into his head made a certain amount of sense...

’I’m already in first place, so what’s the rush? Maybe I should stop and taunt that Luofan lizardman behind me?’

’Looks like I am being affected after all. Wouldn’t it be better to reach the finish line first and *then* turn back to mess with them?’ Su Ze shook his head, his mind clearing. ’Besides, I promised Mr. Ya I’d clear this round quickly.’

Su Ze decided it was time to activate his Unyielding Will skill. He hadn’t used it until now because he wanted to test his own limits.

Under spiritual assault, activating Unyielding Will was basically cheating. At first, Su Ze hadn’t wanted to cheat; he’d wanted to experience the fun of the "game."

Now, he was discovering that cheating was more fun.

With Unyielding Will activated, Su Ze’s Spiritual Power and physical body merged completely.

Instantly, the spiritual attacks that had been giving him a splitting headache felt like mere raindrops pattering against him. He could feel them, and they were a bit annoying, but they no longer hurt.

The mental interference trying to sway his will was also weakened to a negligible level.

Su Ze lengthened his stride and marched forward.

One step, two steps... After confirming the pressure was gone, Su Ze broke into a run.

The forty-plus Trialists behind him were struggling miserably, enduring the mental pressure while fighting against the voices and distracting thoughts in their own heads. Then they saw Su Ze, at the very front, striding out with his long legs and running with what looked like pure joy.

"Fucking hell, now I’m hallucinating. Son of a bitch!" one of the Trialists cursed.

He didn’t believe it was real, assuming it was a hallucination caused by the trial.

"Could it be? Maybe that’s the finish line! If we can get there, we’ll be free from the spiritual attacks!" someone proposed, staring at the spot where Su Ze had broken into a run.

Those who weren’t far behind Su Ze were suddenly energized, as if they’d been shot full of adrenaline, and surged forward with all their might.

But when they reached the spot where Su Ze had been, they were only met with an even fiercer spiritual assault.

This wasn’t the finish line!

"What the hell is up with that kid? Everyone else gets slower the farther they go, but he’s getting faster?"

"Could he have been hiding his true strength this whole time?"

Even Li Yongguan and Zhang Tai were utterly shocked. Only Mr. Ya likely knew what was going on.

The other Trialists felt their resolve waver.

This was especially true for the self-proclaimed top-tier prodigies, whose faces were masks of disbelief. They could accept another genius being slightly stronger, but they couldn’t accept someone being *this* much stronger.

Normally, a slight wavering of their composure wouldn’t matter, but they were currently under both spiritual attack and mental enchantment.

The slightest crack in their composure or hesitation of will could trigger a chain reaction.

The eyes of several prodigies burned with jealousy. They charged forward like madmen, disregarding the consequences, trying to match Su Ze’s pace.

A few others gave up entirely, collapsing to the ground and refusing to move.

Su Ze had no idea his actions were affecting the others, not that he cared. He was the first to run beneath the "moon," where he suddenly shuddered.

’There’s a benefit to this?’