The Prodigies War
chapter-1638

What strong mental fortitude!

Ling Xiaozi was secretly astonished. Even a quasi-Emperor like him couldn’t fully suppress his emotions during the match, yet his young opponent appeared completely nonchalant.

"Young friend, don't be too discouraged. It's already amazing that you’ve managed to compete with Ling Xiaozi to such a level."

"That’s right, you should be proud even if you lost."

"Come, come everyone, let’s engrave our Big Saint breakthrough experiences into this jade strip for our young friend."

The old monsters spoke encouraging words one after another, worried that Lin Xun would be devastated by the painful defeat.

Shun Ji also tried to console Lin Xun, "Cheer up, little guy. I believe that you'll sooner or later be able to take down that oldy, Ling Xiaozi."

Young people were usually driven and filled with vigor. It was especially so for someone like Lin Xun, who must feel great pride in reaching the dao rune founder level at such a young age.

However, such people were often also more vulnerable to setbacks and defeats.

Hence, Shun Ji was worried that Lin Xun would lose some of his drive due to this loss.

The beautiful lady in purple murderously asked in a soft voice, "Young friend, should I beat up Ling Xiaozi for you?"

Ling Xiaozi immediately turned rigid and couldn’t help but display an awkward smile.

Were these oldies blaming him for bullying a kid?

"Uh." Lin Xun also smiled awkwardly and said, "Elders, in my opinion, the result of the ninth round...has yet to be decided."

Everyone was stunned. They couldn’t help but wonder if the kid had received such a heavy mental blow that he had become delusional.

They could all see that the match was clearly over...

Ling Xiaozi was also stunned. He instinctively turned back to the Nine Palaces Diagram, but ultimately failed to find anything amiss.

The array of the ninth round had long been completely destroyed by him!

"Kid, it's just a temporary defeat, try not to be too caught up in it."

Shun Ji couldn't help but grow more worried.

The others also spoke up in concern.

Ling Xiaozi gently said, "Young friend, if you still can’t accept your defeat, this old man can explain some of the methods I previously used in the match. Although they might not be the best, they might be able to give you some inspiration."

Through the match, he began to admire Lin Xun’s talent. It was as if he had met a close friend and he already viewed the other party as an equal despite their huge age gap.

Hence, he couldn’t bear to see the match leave a negative impact on Lin Xun.

Lin Xun smiled awkwardly again and said, "Elders, please take another look."

As he spoke, he lightly snapped his fingers.

The old monsters skeptically looked at the Nine Palaces Diagram again. Soon after, their eyes abruptly widened as if they had been struck by lightning.

A wisp of dao rune light flickered from the Qian Palace position as intricate symbols rose from it like flowers blooming in layers. It was a very beautiful sight.

Next, dao rune light also rose from the Gen Palace, Xun Palace, Kun Palace, and Middle Palace

positions in swift succession, forming arrays in their respective blank worlds.

Ling Xiaozi's smile suddenly stiffened as the elation and excitement in his heart vanished. His eyes, however, were still glued to the inconceivable scene he was witnessing.

The other old monsters were also baffled. What the hell was going on?

"My..."

Shun Ji nearly jumped and cursed out loud. Could the rune array be revived?

Everyone could see that these were the very five positions that Lin Xun had deployed his arrays which were subsequently destroyed by Ling Xiaozi.

Yet, they had suddenly reappeared again. It was simply unbelievable.

Ling Xiaozi frowned and suddenly said, "Wait, these aren’t the previous arrays, but a brand new array born from previous arrays’ destruction!"

Lin Xun was impressed. As expected of the number one rune rounder of the Great Emperor Pass. He had immediately unraveled the secret with a single glance.

The reason for this scene could indeed be found within the word rebirth.

From the beginning, Lin Xun realized that it would be impossible for him to guarantee a victory over a founder-level expert like Ling Xiaozi.

As a result, he thought hard and decided to take a different approach, which was to prepare a secret strategy.

When he deployed his first array, the old monsters had looked down on it, feeling that it was far too ordinary.

Lin Xun naturally knew this as well.

However, his goal in the first match wasn’t to win but to set up the foundation for his secret strategy. When the first array was destroyed, it would transform into a type of source energy required for rebirth!

This was also the case for all his other arrays.

It was only at the final moment where the winner would be decided that his secret strategy would trigger to produce a surprise victory.

Of course, the process wasn’t over yet.

Before the old monsters could recover from their shock, beautiful rune light also began to gush out from the Kan Palace, Zhen Palace, Li Palace, and Dui Palace positions.

The old monsters’ eyeballs nearly fell out from their sockets, utterly stupefied by the development.

After all, these four positions had been used by Ling Xiaozi. Yet, arrays were now also emerging from them. What was going on?

Could Ling Xiaozi have also prepared some kind of secret plan like Lin Xun?

Everyone looked at Ling Xiaozi.

Ling Xiaozi bitterly shook his head. "This wasn’t prepared by me. If my guess is correct, it was set up by Lin Xun when he destroyed the arrays..."

He seemed to be in a daze, clearly shocked by the turn of events.

At this point, arrays had appeared on all nine palace positions. These nine arrays resonated with each other and merged into a completely new array.

Everyone was dumbstruck by this scene. Such a level of rune mastery was simply unmatched and impossible to describe.

A quasi-Emperor sighed emotionally as he remarked, "So the true killing move was hidden outside the match...I’m beyond impressed."

Who could have anticipated such a turn of events after the nine rounds were thought to be over?

Who could have imagined that a young man would possess such inconceivable ability?

Previously, they had thought that Lin Xun was unable to accept the reality of his defeat...

A quasi-Emperor commented in astonishment, "Today is a real eye-opener!"

Shun Ji had an ecstatic expression and was already laughing like a maniac.

The match had been filled with ups and downs. Every twist had caught them by surprise and it had been an exhilarating experience.

"I’m now even more worried whether my granddaughter will be good enough for him..." The purple-clothed lady sighed as she placed a hand over her forehead.

The others also displayed amazed expressions.

Everyone could see that Ling Xiaozi had lost the final round.

Although he might have appeared to have succeeded in breaking the ninth array, he had failed to notice that Lin Xun’s true trump card was this new rebirth array!

In other words, Ling Xiaozi had both failed to notice and break the array.

Ling Xiaozi’s expression fluctuated indeterminately as he silently stared at the Nine Palaces Diagram.

The old monsters couldn't help but begin to worry about Ling Xiaozi instead. As someone who had made it a long time ago and had an outstanding reputation, would he be able to withstand the fact that he had been beaten by a junior?

Someone tried to console him, "Ling Xiaozi, don’t be too depressed. As the saying goes, the younger generation will eventually surpass the older generation. It's just a temporary defeat and doesn’t mean anything."

Shun Ji grinned and clamored, "You old thing, don't you remember how many times you've beaten me over the years? But have I ever allowed my losses to beat me?"

Ling Xiaozi returned to his senses when he heard this and retorted in annoyance, "But you’re trash in the rune arts."

He rose to his feet, bowed respectfully, and declared, "My young friend's talent is far superior to my own. It is my loss!"

"Elder, please don’t torture me. I can only say that I employed a little trickery and prepared a secret strategy from the start. It is not a real victory."

Lin Xun hurriedly got up. He couldn't afford to receive such a respectful gesture.

The old monsters inwardly admired such behavior. It was impressive to see someone who could remain humble in victory and unfazed in defeat.

However, Ling Xiaozi shook his head and chuckled. "Kid, don't be so modest. At the end of the day, the Nine Palaces Go Game is a contest of array deploying strategy. You managed to take control of the match by deploying a hidden trump card outside the game. How can I not acknowledge such an ingenious strategy?"

Clearly in high spirits, Shun Ji noisily said, "Enough enough, both of you can stop eating your humble pies. A gambler should be prepared to take on a loss. Come everyone, hand over your bets!"

The rest of the old monsters almost rolled their eyes. You aren’t even the one who won, so why are you acting so smug?

However, even without Shun Ji’s reminder, people of their status naturally wouldn’t run away from their bets.

Soon after, they handed Lin Xun several jade strips that contained their experiences in attacking the Big Saint stage.

Although such a thing might have little value to others, it was priceless to Lin Xun, who was planning to attack the Big Saint stage!

These experiences would help him avoid many detours and also allow him to reaffirm his path.

Lin Xun made sure to thank each of them individually. His heart was filled with gratification.

It had indeed been worthwhile to come to the Great Emperor Pass. The many old monsters stationed here possessed astonishing cultivation and were great experts.

The insights he received from them were nothing short of a huge blessing.

Ling Xiaozi also handed over a bottle of Nine Mystery Divine Essence. Moreover, he advised, "Young friend, after you reach the Big Saint stage, you can use this treasure to temper your dao foundation and refine your state of heart. Remember, do not give all of it to Old Shun."

Shun Ji unhappily interjected, "I would never stoop so low."

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Lin Xun also laughed. He rather admired the characters of these elders.

At the very least, none of them had belittled or excluded him because he was a junior.

"Young friend, would you like to share a drink with this old granny?"

The beautiful lady in purple smilingly extended an invitation to Lin Xun. She was indeed very interested in this young man.