In the blink of an eye, Fang Hao had already spent over half a year in this micro-world. During that time, he had clashed with many geniuses from various cities, seized several fortuitous encounters, and now, he stood before a mountain that pierced the heavens—located right at the center of the micro-world. Before entering, the pale, beardless old man had said: once ten people reached the summit, the micro-world would open once more—and those ten would become the final top ten. From that, it was clear: this mountain was no ordinary place. Climbing it would be unimaginably difficult. Only true prodigies—the monstrous elite—could hope to ascend. Many had tried. But forget the summit—they couldn't even reach halfway before giving up and heading off in search of more attainable fortunes. Even those with the potential to climb it weren't in a rush. With so many opportunities in this world, none wanted to leave with regrets. As a result, although the road to the top ten was right in front of them, there were very few cultivators around the mountain. "I'll wait a bit before trying," Fang Hao murmured, giving the peak a glance before turning to leave. About an hour later, Fang Hao noticed a large gathering of cultivators in a certain direction. Curious, he concealed his aura and swiftly flew over. When he arrived, he was surprised to see over thirty geniuses gathered—more than he had ever seen in one place during this trip. Previously, the most he'd seen was around a dozen fighting over a piece of Sacred Gold. With so many gathered now, the opportunity ahead had to be extraordinary. They were jointly attempting to break a massive formation. Without a sound, Fang Hao attached several talismans to himself, masking both his presence and energy signature. He observed silently. He'd encountered scenes before in the past six months. He always preferred watching from the shadows before deciding whether to act or retreat. The gathered geniuses were grouped into clusters. Among them, the ten standing closest to the formation were all especially powerful—Heavenly Fusion Realm cultivators. As Fang Hao currently was, he could only hope to barely win against a first-tier Fusion Realm expert if he used all his trump cards. But here, most were stronger than that. Still, they weren't overwhelmingly powerful to the point that Fang Hao couldn't escape if things went bad. That was enough for him to stick around. Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out, rattling Fang Hao's eardrums and shaking the very earth like an earthquake. A moment later, things calmed down. What was left behind was a bottomless pit—pitch black and ominous. Whoosh whoosh whoosh!! The front-line cultivators didn't hesitate. Several of the Fusion Realm experts leaped in. The rest, gritting their teeth, followed. Soon, all thirty-plus geniuses had jumped into the abyss. Fang Hao didn't act immediately. He waited the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn. Only when a few more people arrived and entered did he slowly approach. He summoned a puppet with Dharma-level cultivation to go in first, while he followed closely behind. He didn't know how fast the others had gone, but Fang Hao descended slowly, cautiously exploring the way down. After a long descent, he finally reached the bottom. There, he found a massive gate—clearly smashed open by those who had arrived before him. Beyond the gate was a vast space that gave a sense of sudden openness. Lining the area were grand pavilions and palaces, but strangely, nothing else. At that moment, battles were raging in front of several buildings. But it wasn't the cultivators fighting each other. They were clashing with powerful humanoid puppets. Fang Hao soon understood: the puppets were guarding the buildings. Anyone who approached was attacked. The number of puppets corresponded to how many intruders approached. Unfortunately, divine sense could not penetrate the interiors of the buildings. Fang Hao chose an unoccupied pavilion and moved closer, directing his puppet to break open the door. As soon as the door cracked, a towering black-armored puppet shot out and instantly destroyed Fang Hao's puppet with a single blow. The puppet wore obsidian-black armor and wielded a long blade. It radiated deadly killing intent. "A Fusion Realm puppet?" Fang Hao instinctively backed away. The puppet charged at him relentlessly, showing no intention of letting him leave alive. Fang Hao flickered away using his movement technique, avoiding the attack and arriving at the pavilion entrance. But before he could look around inside— A wave of murderous aura surged at him. Fang Hao quickly retreated again. There was another puppet inside. This one simply didn't follow him out. As soon as he exited, the first puppet was already upon him. He had no choice but to raise his sword and block. The puppet's strength was monstrous. The impact made Fang Hao's arm go slightly numb. He stumbled back a few steps to disperse the force. "You won't let me in? Fine—I'll blow you up!" Fang Hao pulled out a black bead and hurled it into the pavilion. He himself raised a half-broken shield and leapt backward. Though damaged, this shield was once a Saint-grade weapon, offering terrifying defense. A chain of explosions rocked the entire pavilion, leaving it in ruins. At last, Fang Hao could see what was inside. It wasn't that the pavilion had weak defenses—it was that the black bead Fang Hao used was crafted from the inner core of a Saint-tier sea beast from the Sea of Stars. Its power was catastrophic. The fact that the blast didn't level a hundred-mile radius was proof of how sturdy the pavilion had been. That was also why Fang Hao had pulled out a Saint-grade shield fragment—for survival. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel fire.net When Fang Hao saw the inside, he was stunned. Rage boiled within him. There was nothing inside. Only rows upon rows of black-armored Fusion Realm puppets. If he'd stayed in there, they would have butchered him alive. "What the hell is this!? This is a trap!!" You think there's treasure inside. You throw out everything you have—trump cards, techniques, resources—just to break through. No loot. Just more deadly puppets. Anyone would be ready to spit blood. The thunderous explosion also drew attention from the others. They glanced over—and saw exactly what was inside that pavilion. "Damn it! We got played!!" "We thought there were priceless treasures. But it's a death trap!" "Who the hell set this up?!" Moments ago, they were all desperately fighting puppets to get inside the pavilions. Now they stayed far away, disgusted and furious. The more eager they'd been to enter before, the more repulsed they were now. Still, a few stubborn cultivators continued investigating other pavilions. Unsurprisingly, every single one had no treasure—only black-armored puppets filled with killing intent. Their hopes plummeted. "All that effort… for nothing!" "Let's leave. Staying here is just a waste of time." "Wait—we've only checked the pavilions. We haven't seen what's inside those five main palaces up front." Everyone turned to look. Five golden palaces stood ahead. The central one was the largest and tallest. Two stood to the left, two to the right—slightly smaller. Then someone spoke up. "What if the palaces have even stronger puppets inside?" That one question made several people stop in their tracks. If a handful of Fusion Realm puppets had them on the ropes already, what if the palaces had Saint-level puppets? Forget treasure—they'd be dead before even getting close. Just then, a refined, scholarly young man in green stepped forward. He produced a spirit beast pouch, releasing a ten-yard-long tiger-type beast—also at the Fusion Realm. The beast let out a low growl and bounded toward the central palace. It slammed its giant paw against the massive doors. But the doors didn't budge—not even a scratch. That alone spoke volumes about their defense…