The Celestial Sound Saintess furrowed her brow slightly, beginning to ponder over the matter.

Even though she had long noticed Xia Feng’s unusualness and believed the final inheritance would definitely fall into Xia Feng’s hands,

that did not mean the Celestial Sound Saintess wanted to easily hand over the inheritance to him.

Just from observing how she chose the most difficult ten rounds of trials for the first two stages, one could tell she wanted to give Xia Feng a bit of a hard time, making him face some setbacks to take the inheritance of the Celestial Sound Divine Emperor more seriously.

However, no matter how the Celestial Sound Saintess altered the difficulty, it seemed just commonplace to Xia Feng, who was practically invincible, and it did not put any pressure on him at all.

Now, upon hearing someone say she was unfair, and even wanted to cause Xia Feng some trouble, the Celestial Sound Saintess subconsciously considered it.

She also noticed the ancient divine artifact on Xia Feng, and she was aware that before she gained spiritual wisdom, she had always followed the Celestial Sound Divine Emperor, and later inherited all the memories of the Celestial Sound Divine Emperor, staying here to guard the secret realm.

Over the years, she had seen a few prodigies coming in with ancient divine artifacts, but she had never seen such a formidable ancient divine artifact.

The clock in Xia Feng’s hands was the most formidable among ancient divine artifacts.

If he were truly allowed to fully unleash his abilities, it was feared that it wouldn’t serve to train him at all.

Thinking of this, the Celestial Sound Saintess slightly nodded: "You have a point."

"Given this, in this round of the trial, only ordinary instrumental divine artifacts are permitted, and the use of other higher-level divine artifacts is prohibited."

She turned her gaze towards Xia Feng: "Do you have any objections?"

The surrounding prodigies had never imagined that the Celestial Sound Saintess would agree to such a request. Receiving this unexpected joy, they exchanged pleased glances.

With the Celestial Sound Saintess’s words, they could confidently team up against Xia Feng.

They were confident in their own cultivation, and as long as this kid didn’t take out that terrifying ancient divine artifact, they were sure they could take him down with their abilities.

Xia Feng slightly furrowed his brow, originally thinking the Celestial Sound Saintess had somewhat favored him due to the thundercloud incident.

Now, it seemed this special attention was more of a challenge.

However, since he was not from the Celestial Sound Divine Domain and wasn’t obsessed with breaking through the Great Dao of Music at the moment, he was only slightly irritated by the targeted nature of the Celestial Sound Saintess.

Thinking this, he glanced at Qi Wan’Er, speaking in a calm tone: "If the Saintess considers this arrangement appropriate, then let’s proceed with it."

His voice was somewhat cold, and his expression turned a bit displeased.

The Celestial Sound Saintess was a bit puzzled. Although she had developed a spiritual consciousness, in essence, she was akin to a Celestial Sound Beast, and her actions were more instinct-driven.

She believed it would be beneficial for Xia Feng to undergo more honing before receiving the inheritance, but in Xia Feng’s view, it seemed as if she was making things difficult for him.

Unable to find a suitable answer despite thinking it over, the Celestial Sound Saintess, with a puzzled frown, asked: "Do you have any other questions?"

"If not, the third trial will commence."

As her words fell, Mo Rongying on the side looked at Xia Feng and Qi Wan’Er with a conflicted expression, pursing her lips as she spoke: "Before the trial starts, is it possible to forfeit the third round of trials?"

Prior to the second trial, a few people had forfeited the trial altogether and left the trial space, thus escaping from the second round of death.

If it weren’t for Xia Feng, Mo Rongying had seven to eight chances of confidence in the third trial; however, after witnessing the talents of Xia Feng and Qi Wan’Er, she was a bit hesitant.

Considering the Celestial Sound Saintess had stated the third trial was a fight to the death, she reckoned she was just an ordinary sister in Qi Wan’Er’s mind and wouldn’t expect the latter’s man to show much mercy to her.

Rather than entering the trial and getting killed, it was better to forgo it and preserve her life and current gains; perhaps, she might even improve his perception of herself a bit.

Mo Rongying had noticed Xia Feng’s indifferent attitude towards her throughout this journey.

Still, the Celestial Sound Saintess seemed more bewildered: "You’ve come this far, are you sure you want to give up?"

"Passing just the last hurdle would grant you the Divine Emperor’s inheritance."

Initially, Mo Rongying was somewhat undecided, but hearing the Celestial Sound Saintess put it this way solidified her thoughts.

"If withdrawing is allowed, I would like to withdraw."

The Celestial Sound Saintess wrinkled her brow but refrained from further persuasion, as Mo Rongying’s request did not violate the rules and was permissible.

Watching her figure being transported away, the remaining prodigies looked even more self-satisfied.

If all three of the top rankers joined hands, their odds might be slightly lower.

Now with one major obstacle gone, their chances of obtaining the inheritance had slightly increased.

The Celestial Sound Saintess, in a sour mood, opted not to seek these people’s opinions any longer and simply waved her hand, transporting them all onto the Celestial Sound Platform.

The Celestial Sound Platform was located beneath the thunderclouds, with the clouds above constantly exerting celestial pressure, occasionally striking down a bolt of lightning.

To survive under this pressure, one needed to frantically run the Great Dao of Music within themselves, finding only a sliver of ease when it was fully operational.

If the Great Dao haltered for an instance, the bolts of lightning seemed to have eyes, striking down upon one’s head directly, paralyzing a person for at least five breaths.

The prodigies present couldn’t afford to slack; with five breaths, one could be killed ten times over.

Realizing this, the prodigies dared not be arrogant, continuously running their Great Dao of Music.

At this point, one could see the disparities; the heavenly might shifts caused by the operation of the Great Dao of Music among the eighteen prodigies were very weak, barely affecting the people around them.

Meanwhile, the heavenly might around Qi Wan’Er was noticeably more distinct, with her every movement making the lightning bolts move aside from her position.

Regarding Xia Feng, the heavenly might around him seemed to form a faint black hole-like existence, making those around him dare not look directly at him.

The prodigies even noticed the heavenly might around them had signs of being devoured by Xia Feng’s might, frightening them into quickly drawing their divine artifacts, ready for a quick battle.

Concerned for Xia Feng, Qi Wan’Er drew out her Phoenix Cry Flute, warily eyeing the opposing group: "What do you intend to do?"

The opposing prodigies already looked down on the Celestial Sound Sect and had no inclination to treat Qi Wan’Er kindly.

"Heh, what do we intend to do? Naturally, we plan to first ally and deal with the most troublesome existence, and then gradually determine the final inheritor."