Xiu!
The stone statue next to Ling Han instantly awakened from its slumber, and threw its fist toward him.
Ling Han also clenched his fists and responded with a punch.
Peng!
The stone statue instantly stumbled backward. Its power was nothing extraordinary, and it was at the early stage of the consummate level. However, Ling Han's power could surpass five stars now, so the might of his fist had already reached the late stage of the consummate level. Thus, he was naturally able to enjoy a crushing advantage.
However, numerous other stone statues awakened, and started to attack Ling Han. Some leaped high into the air, while others barged toward Ling Han. Their attacks were all ruthless, and none of them held back.
This was also the reason why Ling Han didn't let Shui Yanyu and Ding Ping challenge the formation—it was possible that they would be killed in one strike.
Even if one was on the back foot and wanted to exit the formation, they would need to possess an incredibly strong battle prowess in order to do so. It wasn't as simple or as easy as retreating whenever one wanted to.
There were blood, limbs, and even corpses in the stone statue formation!
Ling Han saw a large number of super-geniuses in the formation. In fact, some of them were no weaker than Xia Wuque, and they were able to defeat the stone statues using only a single hand. They appeared especially calm.
Ling Han believed that the number of prodigies that had entered this large tomb far exceeded the number that he had seen so far. This was because not all prodigies traveled alone. Some brought a bunch of weaklings with them, and some traveled with their seniors. There were also some that traveled alone, though there were Sun Moon Tier guardians protecting them in secret.
However, the Sun Moon Tier and Heavenly Body Tier elites naturally wouldn't appear in this place.
Perhaps there were stone statue formations corresponding to the Sun Moon Tier and Heavenly Body Tier as well. However, prodigies at the Mountain River Tier would have no opportunity to challenge them. They would merely be able to look on from the sidelines.
Meanwhile, the prodigies were also fighting among themselves. When this expedition ended, it would naturally be time for the Majestic Heaven Sect to recruit disciples. Perhaps many of the people here would become new disciples of the Majestic Heaven Sect—in other words, they'd become competitors. Thus, the competition and conflict between them had already begun.
Of course, Ling Han didn't attract the attention of anyone. Although he was advancing, he wasn't doing so leisurely. After all, his cultivation level was still too low.
The competition between the prodigies attracted the attention of numerous people, all gathered by either side of the stone statue formation to spectate. They wanted to know how many people could successfully challenge the formation. If there were those who succeeded, they wanted to know who had come first.
Now that they were being compared against each other, the prodigies naturally felt an even stronger fighting spirit.
Of course, it wasn't only the young prodigies who were competitive. The Mountain River Tier cultivators of the older generation also joined in on this competition, unwilling to be outdone. There were a few of them who were indeed extremely powerful. Although they hadn't been able to reach the Sun Moon Tier yet, they had cultivated their cultivation level to an incredibly solid state, raising their battle prowess through all kinds of different methods.
There were obviously no rules against using God Tools in this formation, and Ling Han saw an elder activating a turtle shell that had dozens of divine patterns on its surface. It was radiating with light right now, and it helped him block countless attacks.
Everyone was displaying their unique battle prowess. Some relied on their strength, while others relied on their God Tools. Those who had nothing to rely on could only exit through the sides lest they were beaten to death.
Xia Wuque was still heading the pack, though the people behind were already closing in on him. However, no one overtook him.
The pressure on the leader was the greatest. Thus, since they were still so far from the finish line, the prodigies all decided to follow behind someone else. They weren't in a hurry to overtake him.
"Xia Wuque is leading the pack right now."
"Who's Xia Wuque?"
"He's a prince of the Domineering Summer Majestic Empire, and he's also the number one prodigy of the Great Growth Planet. It's rumored that the Domineering Sun Emperor specially sent him to a small world so he could open the sky and receive the blessing of heaven and earth. He'll certainly become a Heavenly Body Tier elite in the future, and it's even possible that he's a legendary five-star genius!"
"Five-star genius! Tsk, tsk, tsk… No wonder he's leading everyone else. He'll definitely win. Who can compete against him?"
"Moreover, the Domineering Sun Emperor actually left a small world for him to open. What astonishing power!"
"However, the other prodigies can't be underestimated, either! Look at the person coming second now. She's Shao Sisi from the Southern Plentiful Planet, and she's the princess of the Thousand Frost Majestic Empire. She's also a supreme prodigy who once went to a small world and opened the sky."
"F*ck! Having a good father makes life so much easier!"
"The person in third is Su Jing, an excellent disciple of the Large Stream Sect. His strength is also profound."
"The person in fourth is Du An, and he's also a powerful prodigy!"
These four people were the most eye-catching out of the young prodigies, displaying strength far above their peers'. This was because they had opened the sky, allowing them to start at a higher level than everyone else. Even if they couldn't form five Mountains and Rivers, their power alone would still be able to surpass six stars.
This was astonishing, and even Ling Han couldn't face these four people head on.
The four of them formed the first tier, with no one else being able to keep up with them. In fact, the distance between them and everyone else continued to increase. The second tier consisted of slightly inferior prodigies, with most of them being Mountain River Tier cultivators from the older generation. For example, the person who was using the turtle shell God Tool to protect himself and push on forward was among them.
This God Tool attracted the envy of many. It was something that could remain intact after blocking so many attacks at the consummate level of the Mountain River Tier—who wouldn't want to own it?
The third tier consisted of prodigies who were, again, more inferior. Their battle prowess was around three stars, yet all of them were already at the peak stage of the consummate level of the Mountain River Tier. If they weren't at this cultivation level, they would've been defeated by the formation already.
Then there was the fourth tier, where the prodigies possessed a battle prowess of two stars. They were also at the peak stage of the consummate level of the Mountain River Tier.
The people behind them couldn't be regarded as a fifth tier, as they had only just entered the formation. Those who were too weak had already been swept out of the formation.
Ling Han was in the fourth tier right now, and he wasn't in a hurry to advance. He walked slowly and steadily, using the puppets to polish his battle prowess.
Like the Rain Emperor, Feng Po Yun, and the others, he was also someone who improved through battling. However, his cultivation level had advanced too quickly in recent times. Although his mental state was able to keep up, he was still lacking in real-life battle experience.
Thus, this seemingly endless stone statue formation was a great opportunity for him to train.
If one looked closely, they would realize that Ling Han wasn't simply advancing through the formation. Rather, each stone statues that he defeated was on the verge of crumbling. If it weren't for the unique power of the formation allowing these stone statues to recover rapidly, the stone statues that were blasted back by Ling Han would all have been completely destroyed.
"Huh?"
After advancing some unknown distance, Ling Han suddenly realized that there was an indescribable power contained within the punches of the stone statues. When their fists struck his body, he actually felt a slight pain!
One had to realize that Ling Han's physique was on par with Level Four Godly metal. How could power at the early stage of the consummate level cause him pain?
Inconceivable!
Ling Han carefully observed their attacks, and he realized that a divine pattern had appeared on the fists of the stone statues at some unknown point in time.
By the looks of it, it was this divine pattern that caused their attacks to become more vicious.
The stone statues' power clearly hadn't increased, yet the threat that they posed became much higher than before.
Peng, peng, peng, peng!
Intense battles raged throughout the formation.
"Ah!" Agonized wails sounded from the latter three tiers as some of the prodigies were beaten beyond recognition. Many were unable to continue, and they hurriedly charged toward the sides. However, there were those who succeeded, and there were also those who were knocked down by a flurry of fists, never to get up again. These people became unidentifiable corpses on the ground.
Only now did everyone realize that the might of the stone statue formation had increased!