Golden Spirit was clearly a close combat puppet, equivalent to a close combat martial artist.
In this small range, Zhao Xing was evidently at a disadvantage.
Because in a duel on the arena, if one wasn’t afraid of the opponent escaping, the further the distance, the more advantageous it was for a master, whereas the nearer the distance, the greater the advantage for a martial artist.
With ample distance and deployment time, a fifth-rank magician, Minister of Agriculture, and priest in magic professions could likely kill a fourth-rank martial artist as long as the skills weren’t too far apart.
Conversely, in close proximity, a fifth-rank martial artist could also likely kill a fourth-rank master.
For instance, now, after Zhao Xing entered the dome on the mountain peak, he immediately activated "Divine Movement Protection."
"Buzz~" The octagonal palace delved underground.
The heavenly maiden guardian, Golden Spirit, immediately rushed over.
She stomped heavily, causing the earth to tremble, while simultaneously thrusting her long spear diagonally toward the ground.
Both the spear tip and the ground emitted bursts of earthy yellow light.
These two moves were intended to disrupt Zhao Xing’s escape skill.
And indeed, the earth veins were somewhat disturbed.
However, Zhao Xing’s Divine Movement Protection, having already achieved high-order perfection, directly ignored this interference and quickly vanished into the ground.
The heavenly maiden could only stand there, staring blankly.
After Zhao Xing delved underground, he calmly performed an Earth Palace Skill.
The ground collapsed fifteen meters overall, as if being flattened under tremendous pressure.
The long spear held by the heavenly maiden guardian Golden Spirit even bent!
Her steps became extremely heavy.
Moving was very difficult.
A mist emerged from the underground.
Fog Concealment activated!
Zhao Xing silently appeared on the other side; he and the heavenly maiden were still at the original distance, only they had switched positions.
After his reappearance, he could also activate the Heavenly Time Technique.
"Swallowing Cloud Domain!"
A bolt of heavenly thunder struck toward the heavenly maiden guardian.
She dodged with all her might, but under the dual domains of Swallowing Cloud and Earth Palace, her body became incredibly sluggish.
She could only take the hits passively, unable to dodge at all.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle~"
Lightning filled the air, causing sparks to appear on her body.
After this bolt of lightning, an ethereal voice echoed from the sky.
A tremendous power dispelled all spells.
Looking ahead, Zhao Xing saw that the heavenly maiden’s Golden Spirit’s long spear had already slipped from her hand.
At this moment, the illusion of the mechanical beast Xiezhi walked out from the surrounding mist: "Zhao Xing, you have defeated Golden Spirit. You can now choose to immediately claim your reward and proceed to the second level, or continue to move forward to obtain the highest reward of the first level."
"Guardian, I choose to move forward." Zhao Xing bowed.
Being able to defeat this mechanical puppet did not imply the heavenly maiden guardian was weak.
Apart from the strongest nine Ten Thousand Skill Avatars, the heavenly maidens were at least stronger than his other avatars.
Even if they were inferior, they could fetch a good price when sold.
He came here to collect loot, so how could Zhao Xing give up?
"Alright, she won’t follow you through the trial. You can claim your reward after you finish."
Zhao Xing flew toward the second mountain peak.
"My name is Fire Spirit."
"My mechanical body is crafted from sixth-rank middle-grade materials."
"It possesses the combat soul of a sixth-rank middle-grade."
"If you are ready, come to the peak."
The second heavenly maiden guardian, dressed in a crimson vestment robe, with even her hair red, held a ruby staff in her hand.
Zhao Xing immediately recognized that this puppet was modeled after a Fire Element Mage.
He flew to this higher mountain peak again.
As before, Zhao Xing still escaped into the ground, employing the Endless Palace Technique.
First, he weakened his opponent’s mobility.
However, unlike Golden Spirit, who had a martial artist template, this time when he resurfaced, the entire dome arena was ablaze.
Fire Spirit stood at the center of the arena, spewing raging flames from her staff, filling the arena.
Yet, the Earth Palace Skill equally reduced the flame’s height.
Initially, the sea of flames was fifty meters high, but after the Earth Palace Skill’s power erupted, only three meters remained.
"I don’t even need to extinguish the fire." Zhao Xing smiled faintly, pointing a finger, and the Thunderbolt Breaking Illusion Finger left a charred mark on Fire Spirit’s body.
Though it quickly repaired itself, it still left a mark.
Xiezhi’s figure reappeared, looking at Zhao Xing, with eyes like brass bells glowing with admiration: "You have made significant progress after a few years. Even heavenly fire cannot stop you."
During the fourth trial, Zhao Xing had struggled with the fire section among earth, fire, wind, and thunder.
But now, these flames couldn’t hurt Zhao Xing at all.
"My name is Shui Ling..."
The third mountain, the Water Spirit Heavenly Girl.
Like the Fire Spirit before her, she was of the same rank and attire, but the Dao inscribed in her body differed, making her demeanor appear gentler.
Zhao Xing used the same trick, escaping underground immediately.
However, this time, Shui Ling’s magic affected Zhao Xing, who had already burrowed underground.
Water permeated the earth, eroding the earth veins, and layered ice compressed Zhao Xing’s earth escape range.
Even the establishment of the Endless Palace slowed considerably.
"Water drowns the earth, but this time, her Water Element Magic created a barrier effect."
"My Earth Palace Skill was weakened by thirty percent." Zhao Xing noted silently. "This Ice Sealing Technique should have reached the high-order eighth transition level."
Zhao Xing also knew the High-level Ice Sealing Technique; during his time in the Extreme Night Sea, he comprehended high-order Swallowing Cloud Domain, Earth Palace Domain, Ice Sealing, and Heavenly Fire.
The earth veins seemed frozen, and the speed of the Octagonal Earth Cage slowed.
Moreover, due to the thick frozen soil forming a barrier, the restraining power of the Endless Palace was reduced to seventy percent.