The moment the True-Immortal Layman spoke, his voice was urgent.
Hearing this, the crowd looked on with envy. All eyes turned to Evan Lin, and the contempt they'd shown before was gone.
“This kid!”
Colin Liu's face turned green, then white, as he clenched his fists tightly.
He hated it—hated that this kid had snatched away his opportunity, stolen his chance to become the True-Immortal Layman's disciple!
“Take me as your disciple?”
Evan Lin glanced at him and shook his head. “Even if you were my disciple's disciple, I'd still think you were too stupid.”
As Evan finished speaking, the crowd was shocked once again.
“Is he really planning to turn down this immortal opportunity?”
Someone cried out in surprise.
“He actually dares to talk to an immortal like that!”
A group of people stared at Evan Lin, most thinking he was just being ungrateful.
An immortal wants to take you as a disciple, but you don't appreciate it—and even say the immortal isn't qualified to be your disciple's disciple. That's just the height of arrogance!
“It's your honor that I'm willing to take you as my disciple.”
The True-Immortal Layman's face turned cold as he stared at Evan Lin. “Now that the test is over, please take your hand off the Spirit-Test Beads.”
He spoke—this was his real aim.
In everyone's eyes, the nine Spirit-Test Beads were now shining with a blinding brilliance, almost tangible, and carried a terrifying aura that made hearts tremble.
It felt as if a vast ocean of inner force could erupt at any moment and obliterate everyone present.
“Didn't you want to be his disciple?”
Evan Lin ignored the True-Immortal Layman and kept his hand on the rod. He looked over at Colin Liu: “You lit four beads—so hurry up, kneel, and kowtow to him. Recognize him as your master already.”
“Immortal fate has to be seized by your own hands.”
Evan Lin spoke earnestly. As soon as he finished, everyone turned to look at Colin Liu.
Colin Liu was stunned.
Just a moment ago, he'd been secretly hating Evan Lin for snatching his opportunity. Now, hearing Evan's words, he was suddenly taken aback.
Then, a surge of wild joy appeared on his face.
Evan Lin had refused the True-Immortal Layman—so wasn't he just opening the way for him instead?
Thinking this, Colin Liu actually felt a bit grateful toward the young man in front of him.
Without the slightest hesitation, he knelt on the ground, his knees hitting the layers of broken stones without feeling any pain. Instead, he kowtowed three times in a row, calling out to the True-Immortal Layman: “Master, please accept your disciple's bow!”
His voice was loud.
The True-Immortal Layman's face twitched. He glanced at him and waved his hand. “Enough.”
His words meant he was giving up on Evan Lin and choosing to accept Colin Liu instead.
Colin Liu's face was wild with joy, and the Ancient-Martial Liu clan members were all beside themselves with excitement.
Even the Pointing-to-Mystery Realm experts of the Ancient-Martial Liu clan were casting envious glances at Colin Liu.
“Our Liu clan is about to produce an immortal!”
Someone sighed in admiration.
The Ancient-Martial Liu clan was still immersed in their joy.
“I've already accepted a disciple. You can take your hand off now—step down.”
The True-Immortal Layman looked at Evan Lin, his eyes flickering. “You and I are not fated.”
As he spoke, he prepared to take back the Spirit-Test Beads.
“Why so impatient?”
Evan looked at him, his hand still gripping the rod. "Before I came up here, I asked if you were scared I might mess with your little toy. But you insisted I try it, so don't blame me now."
"What, are you planning to just snatch my Spirit-Test Beads by force?"
Hearing Evan's words, the True-Immortal Layman snorted. "Even if I handed it over, you wouldn't know how to use it."
He was about to keep talking.
But Evan was already shaking his head. "Honestly, I didn't plan to stick my nose in, and I really don't care about this cheap junk."
"But as luck would have it, my inner force is wiped out and I'm too lazy to slowly cultivate it back. Might as well use your scam setup to recharge and take all this leftover qi off your hands."
Evan sighed dramatically.
Colin Liu and the others were still totally clueless, looking lost.
But the blue-robed young guy and the True-Immortal Layman both turned pale at the same time.
"Let go, you damn mutt!"
The guy in the dark blue jacket suddenly went full psycho, lunging straight at Lin Yi, trying to snatch the Spirit-Test Beads right out of his hand.
Lin Yi didn’t even blink—he just kicked the dude so hard he flew halfway across the rubble. Talk about instant karma.
Right after that, everyone saw the teen standing there crack a lazy grin—and boom, the nine blinding Spirit-Test Beads started sprouting spiderweb cracks all over them.
The cracks got bigger and bigger, and that freaky vibe inside the beads? It just kept getting stronger, like something wild was about to break loose.
"Whoa, that’s some crazy aura!"
"Dude, what’s even inside those beads?!"
People all around started freaking out, faces pale with terror, and instinctively shuffled backward, putting distance between themselves and the drama.
"Let go of my Spirit-Test Beads!"
The so-called True-Immortal Layman saw this and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He roared in rage and shot toward Lin Yi like a madman.
"What kind of Spirit-Test Beads are these? It’s obvious they’re just trash arrays sucking martial artists’ skills and inner force!"
Lin Yi just shook his head, and the second he opened his mouth, the whole crowd practically jumped out of their skins.
Everyone could feel it—after testing with those Spirit-Test Beads, they’d gone from pumped-up to totally wiped out in a split second.
Didn’t matter if you were an inner strength master, a Vajra Realm bruiser, or even a Pointing-to-Mystery big shot—
—everybody felt their inner force turn all floaty and hollow, but since none of them had ever touched this kind of scam device before, they just figured it was normal for a talent test.
Now, hearing Lin Yi’s words and seeing the so-called True-Immortal Layman looking like a crazed, ugly toad, everyone realized—where was that so-called immortal aura? Dude looked like a total fraud.
"So much inner force? Guess I’ll just take it off your hands for now."
Lin Yi didn’t even spare a glance at the Layman charging at him—he just opened his mouth and took a deep breath.
The nine Spirit-Test Beads shattered all at once, turning into layers of powder.
And right after, a tidal wave of inner force surged out of the beads, almost solid enough to touch. With everyone watching, Lin Yi just opened his mouth, swallowed it all, and let it melt into his body.
Instantly, Lin Yi’s aura started to explode, showing off his power for everyone to see.
Up till now, Lin Yi hadn’t bothered to hide it—after that Heavenly Tribulation showdown, his inner force and spiritual qi were totally wiped, and he needed time to recharge.
But now, with that tidal wave of inner force flooding into him, everyone snapped to attention—the aura coming off the teen in the center was getting stronger by the second.
From zero to hero, weak to beast-mode, his power exploded like a tsunami, shaking the whole crowd.
Everyone could only stare helplessly—the inner force that should’ve been theirs was now getting gobbled up by Lin Yi, and there was nothing they could do about it.
The sheer amount of inner force sucked up by those nine Spirit-Test Beads was honestly enough to surprise Lin Yi.
But thinking about it, it actually made sense.
Looking around, Lin Yi realized this fake immortal had conned at least twenty or thirty Pointing-to-Mystery Realm big shots alone!
Inner force, fully absorbed.
The teen slowly turned around, eyes black as night, locking onto the charging True-Immortal Layman with a gaze that was both ice-cold and wild.