Chapter 68: The Possibility of Cooperation

　　The reason why there were no witnesses was that the cultivators in the camp hadn’t learned the identity of Lin An’s sect.

　　Furthermore, the Sacred Dragon Mystic Realm only opened once every one hundred years. Since all of Saint Zi Yan’s subordinates had died, no one from the outside would know what had happened between Lin An and the Purple Clouds Ancient Sect in the mystic realm.

　　Lin An’s attitude was hard to predict. He did not reply to Saint Zi Yan’s proposal. Instead, he casually said, “You should choose your reward first. Everyone who passes the level can pick any of the boxes as a reward.”

　　Saint Zi Yan immediately walked to the nine remaining boxes.

　　As she seized up her options, Lin An suddenly opened his mouth and commented, “In the pile of boxes in front of you, there is an immortal treasure. It is most likely to be in the box in front of you. So, which box will you choose?”

　　Saint Zi Yan’s figure suddenly stopped. If it had just been an ordinary treasure, she would not have paid any attention to Lin An’s guidance and she would have chosen the box that pleased her the most. However, Lin An had hinted that there was an immortal treasure in one of the boxes.

　　Even in the Purple Clouds Ancient Sect, immortal treasures were scarce. Saint Zi Yan had only come across one mid-grade immortal treasure.

　　Now that Lin An had told her that there was an immortal treasure among the boxes, Saint Zi Yan could not make a careless choice.

　　She knew that Lin An was testing her. If she really trusted him, she would listen to his guidance and choose the box that he had recommended.

　　However, if she followed her instincts and chose the other boxes, then her chances of working together with Lin An would definitely plummet.

　　Therefore, Saint Zi Yan was in a dilemma.

　　Would she trust Lin An, or would she follow her instincts and choose a box that she actually desired?

　　Of course, if she really trusted Lin An, she would have to follow his advice.

　　If what Lin An said was true, then the immortal treasure was in the nearest box.

　　She had only fallen into her dilemma because she didn’t trust Lin An.

　　When he saw that Saint Zi Yan was hesitating, Lin An already knew what to do.

　　…

　　Saint Zi Yan took a deep breath and finally reached her hand out toward the box closest to her.

　　However, Lin An quickly grabbed her forearm and stopped her.

　　“I lied to you. There’s no immortal treasure in this box.”

　　When he saw Saint Zi Yan’s surprised expression, he pointed to another box and said, “Choose that box. The reward inside the box is the best.”

　　Saint Zi Yan had ultimately chosen to believe in Lin An, so he also chose to temporarily put aside his hatred and work with her.

　　After Saint Zi Yan obtained a low-grade immortal treasure from the box, she was overjoyed.

　　Once she put away the reward, a new passageway appeared before her and Lin An. They were about to enter a new level.

　　There were still five passageways, and Lin An carefully read the success rate probabilities on the virtual screen:

　　[The clearance rate of the first passage is 0%, and the probability of obtaining treasures is 0%.]

　　[The clearance rate of the second passage is 0%, and the probability of obtaining treasures is 0%.]

　　[The clearance rate of the third passage is 30%, and the probability of obtaining treasures is 90%.]

　　[The clearance rate of the fourth passage is 50%, and the probability of obtaining treasures is 50%.]

　　[The clearance rate of the fifth passage is 70%, and the probability of obtaining treasures is 30%.]

　　This time, there were five passageways, and three paths had a reasonable probability of survival.

　　It seemed that the further a cultivator progressed, the more difficult the level would be, but there were also more paths of survival.

　　Lin An concluded that the first choice had been the most important because there had only been one path with a high survival probability out of the ten passageways.

　　“The first and second passages are both dead ends. The third passage is the most difficult, but the chances of obtaining treasures are the greatest. The fifth passage is the least difficult, but the rewards might not be that great. The difficulty and rewards of the fourth passage are both equal. Which path do you think is the best choice?”

　　Saint Zi Yan gazed at Lin An, and she couldn’t hide the excitement in her beautiful eyes.

　　“You really have a way to predict the future! Which divination technique do you practice?”

　　When she saw that Lin An did not answer her question, Saint Zi Yan didn’t probe further, and she just directly expressed her opinion:

　　“Choose the path with the best reward. I lowered my cultivation level to enter the Sacred Dragon Mystic Realm for the sake of the treasures. If I secure an ordinary reward, it won’t be worth my effort.”

　　Lin An couldn’t help but marvel at Saint Zi Yan’s intelligence. She was right. He had also entered the mystic realm to secure the best reward, and it, therefore, made sense to choose the path with the best reward.

　　In an instant, the two of them walked towards the third passage.

　　As they continued to advance in the passage., the surrounding environment continued to change, and finally, they arrived at a strange stone forest.

　　The sky above the forest was full of dark clouds, and there was a depressing feeling in the air.

　　At the top of the largest rock in the forest, there were several human-shaped monsters that had wings on their backs.

　　They all held long spears in their hands, and they had two horns on their foreheads. Additionally, the wings on their backs were spread out like those of a large bat.

　　Lin An and Saint Zi Yan both sensed the terrifying energy waves that were coming from the monsters’ bodies.

　　They immediately knew that each of the monsters had the strength comparable to a nascent soul stage cultivator.

　　Lin An’s and Saint Zi Yan’s expressions slightly changed, but they both remained fearless. Since they had already chosen the path, they would have to confront the monsters.

　　Immediately, Lin An unsheathed the Nine Nether Weeping Blood Sword and gripped it in his hand. He then activated the Eastern Emperor Bell, which bathed his body in golden light.

　　“Although it’s a little embarrassing, can I trouble you to take the initiative in the attack? I cultivate the ‘Scripture of No Beginning,’ which grows stronger with each battle. As long as I can drag out the period of weakness in the early stages of each battle, my strength will eventually surpass the peak of the golden core stage. If you don’t have any trump cards that can determine our victory, I think this is the only strategy we can use to clear the stage.”

　　When she heard this, Saint Zi Yan glanced at Lin An curiously before she nodded in agreement.

　　In an instant, they both raised their swords to block an incoming attack.

　　Two of the bat monsters on the tip of the strange rock had already jumped down. Just as they were about to touch the ground, they spread their wings and attacked Lin An and Saint Zi Yan.

　　The spears in their hands glowed with a dense metallic luster, and when they approached Lin An, they attacked from both sides.

　　“Black and white ashen flame, mystic flame transformation!”

　　The black and white ashen flames already had power comparable to a nascent soul cultivator.

　　Lin An hadn’t dared to be negligent, and he had immediately used his strongest combination skill.

　　The Nine Nether Weeping Blood Sword was covered in a layer of golden light, and as Lin An swung it, a vast sword aura danced out and charged toward the oncoming bat monster.

　　Pfft!

　　Even though it was the strongest attack skill that Lin An had mastered, the bat monster simply stabbed forward with the spear in its hand and easily separated the sword aura before continuing its furious charge toward Lin An.

　　At that critical moment, Lin An felt Saint Zi Yan’s hand pat his back, and she transmitted her mana to Lin An.

　　He immediately channeled Saint Zi Yan’s spirit energy into the Nine Nether Weeping Blood Sword, and its glow became even brighter.

　　Suddenly, Lin An felt his battle prowess increase drastically, and he took a step forward to meet the bat monster’s spear!