Li Zhirui thought he had been directly expelled from the ruins, but that was not the case!

When he opened his eyes, he found himself still inside the ruins.

"Damn it!"

He instantly realized that deep within the ruins, there might be a presence possessing Spiritual Intelligence, perhaps an Artifact Spirit or a lingering soul.

The other party hid in the shadows, observing every living being entering the ruins to determine if they were worthy of inheriting the legacy.

Could it really be that this entity controlled everything behind the scenes in the ruins? And it was the deciding factor for the inheritance, while these tests were merely an important part?

But soon, he rejected this speculation because if the entity truly had such power, it would have directly decided the inheritor instead of requiring tests to enter the next layer of the ruins.

Thus, it must have certain permissions but couldn’t fully manipulate the entire ruins.

No matter how he thought about it, Li Zhirui, who was forcibly involved, looked extremely displeased. The unconscious pressure he released caused the surrounding space to freeze.

"Fine!"

He gritted his teeth and said, "Since you want to involve me, let me see what you’ve got!"

From that moment, Li Zhirui no longer concealed his strength. The terrifying pressure of his Profound Immortal Realm burst forth like an enormous volcano erupting, causing everything around to tremble.

Anyway, the Outer Realm aura on him had been completely cleansed, so there was no need to worry about exposing his true identity.

Even if a Golden Immortal were present, they wouldn’t detect anything amiss about his identity.

Thump thump——

But under this terrifying pressure, even cultivators in other gates were affected. Some weaker cultivators were pressed to the ground by the sudden gravity, lying down, gasping for breath, their faces flushed, and their eyes filled with fear as they could clearly sense themselves nearing death.

Fortunately, this pressure didn’t persist, allowing them to escape with their lives.

"What... what’s going on here?"

"What exactly happened in the ruins to cause such terrifying pressure?"

Many cultivators were completely unaware of the situation, and under their fear, various speculations arose.

Some thought a powerful monster sealed in the ruins had broken free; some thought a Great Ability had discovered Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, resulting in a fierce battle over them; others thought this was a Great Ability intimidating everyone, planning to clear the field and take the treasures for themselves.

But all their guesses were wrong. This was just an Outer Realm cultivator, forcibly pressured by the mastermind behind the ruins, exploding in anger to become embroiled in a vast and complex web of karma.

At the same time, quite a few cultivators lost heart and dared not remain in the ruins, worried they might become collateral damage without understanding how they died.

Luckily, leaving was relatively straightforward; as long as they stopped advancing, they would be teleported out shortly thereafter.

"Had I known this person was so volatile, I should have let him leave..."

At this moment, the mastermind hiding in the shadows regretted its decision.

It had noticed early on that Li Zhirui was concealing his strength, hoping that if he accepted the inheritance, the chance of revival and rise would be greater, so it didn’t want to let him go.

But unexpectedly, he was so repellent, and his true power exceeded its expectations—though he was only at a preliminary stage of the Profound Immortal Realm, he possessed combat capabilities rivaling those of a Late-stage Xuanxian.

Now the situation had developed such that it was too late for regret!

Though it could manipulate some of the power of the Formation within the ruins, it didn’t have the authority to teleport a cultivator undergoing a test out.

Thus, unless Li Zhirui chose to slack off and give it the opportunity, it could only watch him continue the challenge.

Moreover, if he reached higher levels of testing, it could do nothing!

Speaking of that!

At this very moment, standing in Li Zhirui’s way was the third layer of tests — those puppets comparable to Late-stage Tianxian — which were crushed to pieces by giant wooden pillars descending from the sky, utterly unable to resist.

Such fierce and brutal scenes were witnessed by the Tianxian who had arrived earlier, plunging them back into shock and awe.

They hadn’t expected that the cultivator who refused to continue the tests in the previous stage was actually a Profound Immortal!

Some were puzzled, wondering why this senior, who didn’t want to endure the tests, suddenly changed his mind and became so ferocious.

Though curious, no one dared to inquire, instead working hard to remain unnoticed, fearing the wrath would touch them.

Luckily, after several breaths, Li Zhirui collected his Spiritual Objects and moved through the portal to the next level of testing.

"Phew—"

"Just now, that senior’s presence was terrifying!"

"I was afraid he might take us down at any moment."

Only then did several Tianxian breathe a sigh of relief, showing expressions of fortunate survival.

"Are you still planning to continue the challenge?" one Tianxian asked.

"No, the third layer already has Late-stage Tianxian puppets; who knows how much more difficult the next stage will be?"