The Heaven-Stepping Sect’s God-Proving Stage was bustling with excitement.

Everyone who could attend Lin Hao’s lecture had come, and the God-Proving Stage, which could hold tens of thousands, was starting to feel crowded.

However, they all wore confused expressions, as Wu Taichu had only ordered them to the God-Proving Stage without explaining why.

As they murmured amongst themselves, a few middle-aged men standing before all the other disciples looked particularly displeased.

They were the Peak Masters of the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s major peaks.

"This is the most ridiculous order I’ve ever heard. Making us listen to a lecture from some Blood Coagulation Realm Martial Artist!" one Peak Master said indignantly.

As Peak Masters, they had the privilege of being informed ahead of time.

The moment he finished speaking, another Peak Master chimed in, "You’re wrong. In the history of absurdities at the Heaven-Stepping Sect, this only ranks second. First place goes to being told to jump off a cliff for Lin Hao!"

"Speaking of absurd, has the Sect Leader ever stopped doing ridiculous things? I heard that when Lin Hao returned to his family, the Sect Leader and the three Grand Elders even prepared gifts for his family’s elders! He’s completely disgraced the sect."

"Shh, watch what you say. It’s not like you don’t know what Lin Hao is capable of. The Peak Masters of Celestial Qian Peak and Celestial Dui Peak both fell at his hands." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"So what if he defeated a realm-suppressed Qin Tianlong? I refuse to believe he can give a lecture! The ridiculous part is that they’re making us attend too!"

"There are tens of thousands of people here, and Lin Hao is only at the Blood Coagulation Realm. I doubt his voice can even reach everyone."

Transmitting one’s voice to ten thousand people required effortless control over True Essence, and some Peak Masters didn’t believe Lin Hao was capable of it.

"Heh heh, we’re in for a good show."

"What if he actually manages to do it?"

"That’s easy. Since we’re here, we have the right to ask questions. When the time comes... heh heh, let’s see how he gets himself out of that!"

"Right, let’s do that. The Sect Leader is trying so hard to boost Lin Hao’s prestige in the sect. We should ’help’ him out a bit..."

Just as the Peak Masters reached an agreement, Lin Hao appeared, walking across the iron chains toward the God-Proving Stage, accompanied by Wu Taichu and the three Grand Elders.

Stepping onto the God-Proving Stage, Lin Hao was flanked by the Sect Leader and the elders, like the moon surrounded by stars.

The disciples parted automatically, clearing a path for them to pass.

In front of a pavilion in the corner of the God-Proving Stage, a high platform had already been erected. Lin Hao strode onto it.

Below was a dense sea of people, numbering in the tens of thousands.

Their gazes fell upon Lin Hao in unison.

With a calm expression and a slight smile, Lin Hao spoke a single, composed sentence:

"Do you know why I’m standing here?"

The God-Proving Stage was suspended in the air, hanging over a bottomless abyss with cold winds howling below.

Lin Hao’s voice was soft, yet amidst the howling winds, it carried clearly into the ears of every single disciple.

Wu Taichu and the three Grand Elders exchanged glances, looks of delight on their faces.

’Lin Hao’s control over his True Essence has reached a terrifying level.’

The expressions of the Peak Masters, who had been ready to watch Lin Hao make a fool of himself, changed. They couldn’t believe he had actually managed to transmit his voice to tens of thousands of people under these conditions.

Below, no one answered Lin Hao’s question.

The Peak Masters felt they were high and mighty. Standing below Lin Hao was already an insult in their eyes, so even though they knew the answer, they refused to speak.

The rest of the disciples, however, simply looked bewildered and shook their heads.

"Today, I am here to speak to you all about the Martial Dao!" Lin Hao announced.

BOOM!

The moment he said this, the crowd below erupted.

Lin Hao was going to lecture them on the Martial Dao, and he said it with such calm and composure?!

"I know many of you are unconvinced, but there are only two possibilities for why I’m standing here. First, the Sect Leader took the wrong medicine," Lin Hao said, remaining composed amidst the rising clamor from below.

Not only was he composed, but he was even teasing the Sect Leader.

Nearly everyone’s eyes turned to Wu Taichu, who was seated below the high platform.

But to their surprise, they saw not an angry face, but one wreathed in smiles.

"Second, I am stronger than you!"

Lin Hao spoke again, uttering an incredibly arrogant statement.

In front of tens of thousands of people, including Peak Masters, elders, and the Sect Leader himself, Lin Hao dared to say such a thing. It was outrageously arrogant!

The entire scene fell silent, stunned by his words.

They wanted to retort but found they couldn’t speak.

The mere fact that Lin Hao dared to say this so brazenly already made him stronger than most of them.

"And what can you possibly teach us?" a Peak Master below asked, his eyes narrowing.

Lin Hao actually claimed to be stronger than them. All the Peak Masters began to sneer inwardly.

’Let’s see what profound martial truths he can possibly come up with,’ they thought.

Lin Hao looked at the Peak Master and, instead of answering, posed a question of his own. "In your opinion, what is the most important thing in martial cultivation?"

"Bloodline, of course! Without an awakened bloodline, everything else is just empty talk!" the Peak Master answered.

The corner of Lin Hao’s mouth lifted, but he said nothing.

Among the disciples below, one person heard this and sneered. It was Yang Peng.

"Wrong. I believe it’s Cultivation Techniques and martial skills. I’ve heard that in ancient times, even wild creatures could cultivate to become a Great Emperor."

Someone spoke up, refuting the Peak Master’s words.

The Peak Master turned, trying to find the speaker, but he couldn’t spot them in the crowd.

Lin Hao shook his head.

"It’s aptitude and comprehension! With poor aptitude and weak comprehension, you’d just be wasting your life even if you obtained an emperor’s art," someone else said.

Lin Hao still shook his head.

"Then what is it?!" The calmer Lin Hao appeared, the more frustrated the Peak Masters became. One of them couldn’t help but demand an answer.

Lin Hao smiled faintly and pointed to his heart. "This!"

"Bloodline is a chasm that lies before every Martial Artist, but perhaps in the near future, you will discover that bloodline isn’t everything."

"Cultivation Techniques and martial skills are indeed important, but in the ten thousand years since Emperor Hongtian, no one in the world has managed to become a Great Emperor. With the lineage of Emperor Venerables now in such decline, do you still believe Cultivation Techniques and martial skills are the most important?"

"As for aptitude and comprehension, there is a saying: diligence can make up for a lack of talent. If someone else can grasp something in a day, I will spend ten days, a hundred days. As long as I don’t give up, I will eventually succeed."

"Only an unyielding martial heart is the cornerstone of the Martial Dao!"

Below, a silence fell as many were lost in thought.

"What is an unyielding martial heart?"

"It cannot be corrupted by wealth, swayed by poverty, bent by power, or stopped by peril! With me, I am invincible. Gods and devils cannot stand in my way!"

At that moment, as Lin Hao stood proudly on the high platform, his robes whipping in the wind, an overwhelmingly powerful aura erupted from his body.

For the first time, Lin Hao’s martial conviction was on full display before tens of thousands of people.

His figure seemed to transform into a War God, standing tall between heaven and earth, eternal and everlasting.

The Peak Masters were aghast. The Lin Hao of this moment gave off an aura of invincibility.

As for the other disciples, they gazed at Lin Hao with utmost reverence, as if on a pilgrimage.

For a long, long time...

"I finally understand how Senior Brother was able to face two Elemental Realm masters alone with only a Third Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm cultivation."

"It seems the stories about Senior Brother spreading through the Southern Frontier are all true."

At the War Dragon City martial competition, the Lin family disciples stole the show. Not only did word of Lin Hao’s actions that day spread, but the tales told by Lin Tian and Lin Yuan about him also began to circulate.

The disciples below were murmuring among themselves when suddenly, someone shouted, "With me, I am invincible. Gods and devils cannot stand in my way!"

"With me, I am invincible. Gods and devils cannot stand in my way!"

"With me, I am invincible. Gods and devils cannot stand in my way!"

More and more voices joined the chant.

Eventually, those words rose from the God-Proving Stage and echoed throughout the entire Heaven-Stepping Sect.

Below the God-Proving Stage, the three large characters personally inscribed by Emperor Hongtian shone with brilliant light!

An unprecedented aura began to gather above the Heaven-Stepping Sect.

Just then, at the main gate of the Heaven-Stepping Sect, ten powerful Martial Artists arrived, followed by a dense crowd of people.

HSSS...

The rampaging Devil Beasts came to a sudden halt, refusing to advance another step.

The simultaneous shouts of ten thousand people shook the heavens. The resulting sound wave was enough to halt the advance of even Tier Two Devil Beasts.

"Sect Leader Yu, what is going on? Your Suo Demon Sect has an inside man in the Heaven-Stepping Sect!" the white-haired elder atop a Devil Beast roared at a middle-aged man beside him, his face pale with shock.

"I wouldn’t dare, I absolutely wouldn’t dare," Sect Leader Yu of the Suo Demon Sect replied, beads of sweat rolling down his face as he shook his head in denial.

"The sound is coming from the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s God-Proving Stage. A fluctuation like this must be from all their disciples acting in unison. This is a good thing! We can wipe them all out in one fell swoop!" another elder, this one with a goatee, said with a grin.

"Right, right, right!" Sect Leader Yu chimed in hastily.

"Your men will go first. Trap them on the God-Proving Stage!" the white-haired elder commanded with a wave of his hand.

Sect Leader Yu accepted the order and took the lead, charging straight for the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s main gate.

Behind him followed countless disciples of the Suo Demon Sect.

The ten powerful Martial Artists watched coldly from the side, only surging forward after the Suo Demon Sect disciples had breached the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s gate.

Back on the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s God-Proving Stage, the chant of thousands still echoed, but one Peak Master snorted coldly. "Lin Hao, how long do you plan to deceive everyone? At the martial competition in War Dragon City, you only acted so fearlessly because you had backing—two Soul Gathering Realm experts, plus *it*."

The Peak Master pointed to the side.

There, a small ape-like creature sat cross-legged, also listening to Lin Hao’s lecture. It was Xiaojiu.

"Your so-called feat of facing two Elemental Realm masters alone must have relied on some trick as well."

Before Lin Hao could answer, several roars from Devil Beasts echoed through the air.

Everyone looked up, and their faces changed drastically.

The God-Proving Stage, suspended in the center of the Heaven-Stepping Sect, was now surrounded by a dense crowd of people.

Beyond the Crystal Stone gate used for the entrance examination, several figures were mounted on Devil Beasts.

The roars from just now had come from those Devil Beasts.

"That’s... elder-level figures from the Zhengyang Sect! Their cultivation had already reached the Soul Gathering Realm ten years ago!"

Elder Gu cried out in alarm, recognizing three of them.

"The other seven have cultivation at the Eighth Layer of the Elemental Realm!"

"The Sect Leader of the Suo Demon Sect is here too! His cultivation is at the Seventh Layer of the Elemental Realm!"

"So the power behind the Suo Demon Sect is the Zhengyang Sect!"

One shocking revelation after another came from Wu Taichu and the three Grand Elders.

However, it wasn’t over. A long spear suddenly appeared in the hands of an old man mounted on a Devil Beast.

The other two elder-level figures from the Zhengyang Sect also summoned their weapons: one a halberd, the other a hook.

Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed, but his face showed not a trace of tension. Instead, he chuckled. "Two Tier Four Spiritual Artifacts and one Tier Three Spiritual Artifact. The Zhengyang Sect is disgustingly rich."