Lin Xiao arched his eyebrows as if asking whether she was already tired or something. "Do you still want to spar?"

"No. Come here."

Lin Xiao walked over obediently. Princess Lan Yi Hua image hugged him tightly. Even though it was supposed to be nothing more than illusion, Lin Xiao could feel Princess Lan Yi Hua's body warmth clearly. He sighed as he knew that when it come to his wife, he really couldn't reject her.

Princess Lan Yi Hua image took out a knife.

Lin Xiao knew that but he didn't stop her and the next moment, the knife was plunged straight towards his heart.

He smiled as he looked at Princess Lan Yi Hua in front of him. It was nothing more than an illusion but he couldn't bring himself to attack her. Even though he knew that it was not real and that it was just an image that was conjured from his mind… he didn't mind.

In this test, as long as it was about Princess Lan Yi Hua, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her.

"Xiao Hua," Lin Xiao called out softly. He raised his hand and caressed her cheek. It was warm as if the person herself was standing in front of him.

People worked hard to get stronger and achieve immortality. But even Immortal could die when they were attacked by others and failed to defend themselves in time. Lin Xiao had long known about this, thus he only wished to be able to get stronger to protect those dear to him.

Because he wanted to protect those dear to him, including Princess Lan Yi Hua, how could he bear to hurt her.

If his brothers wanted to kill him, he still could retaliate even though his heart was hurt.

But if it was Princess Lan Yi Hua, how could he?

Princess Lan Yi Hua image blinked her eyes but then there was a drop of tear falling from the corner of her eyes. 

Swish!

The image disappeared and Lin Xiao found himself standing on the stairs once more. He took a deep breath and laughed self depreciatingly. Maybe many people would mock him for having such a big weakness but he would merely smile.

Rather than being a coldhearted person who would kill everyone on his path, he would rather being slightly ordinary but still has a heart.

He glanced to the side and saw the numbers on the stair:

8,930

It was pretty high but he knew that there were many others who were at higher steps than him. He was quite surprised that his result was not bad, though.

Before long, he noticed Princess Lan Yi Hua standing not far from him. She was looking up to look at him and there was a trace of tear on her eyes. Standing a few steps below him, Princess Lan Yi Hua smiled when she saw him turned around.

"Xiao."

"Xiao Hua," Lin Xiao greeted back. "You're done?"

"Yeah." Princess Lan Yi Hua nodded rigorously and wiped the tear from the corner of her eyes. "I thought that you're going to leave me far away."

Lin Xiao let out a hearty laugh. "How can I do that? My goal is here and naturally, I can't possibly leave you behind."

Princess Lan Yi Hua smiled back but didn't say anything else. People were selfish and cultivators were not an exception. If they were told that they could grow stronger by killing their loved ones, how many would accept it?

Those coldhearted ones would have no hesitation.

Those who have different path in cultivation might hesitate and chose not to or chose to avoid it.

Those who kept their heart close and treasured their loved ones would never do it and might not even be able to accept it if they were betrayed.

Lin Xiao knew that he was in the third one, the last one. He knew that it was a weakness of his but he accepted this weakness. Because of that, he would not let anyone use this weakness of his.

He would grow stronger.

So that he would be able to protect his loved ones and also the kingdoms he cared about.

Turning his head to look at many other geniuses at the front, Lin Xiao simply sighed. He knew very well that there were many people who would not have any hesitation and abandoned the weakness of having a heart.

Lin Xiao looked at Princess Lan Yi Hua and smiled. "Thank you for not leaving me behind either."

Princess Lan Yi Hua laughed faintly. "I won't leave you."

The two of them looked at each other.

From a distance away, Prince Lin Yan was staring at the two of them and felt that no matter what the occasion was, he would always be attacked by his younger brother's dog food. Even though he really wanted to avoid looking at them, those two were at a distance further away than him.

They passed the test better than him. 

Suddenly, the image distorted.

Swish!

They all returned back to the ground and noticed that in their token now there were two numbers. Lin Xiao arched his eyebrows in surprise.

6 – 8,930

He turned to look at Princess Lan Yi Hua and saw that her number was not much different from him.

8 – 8,924

"Is the first one ranking?" Lin Xiao asked in surprise.

Princess Lan Yi Hua blinked her eyes. If she was not wrong, there were more than 10 people who passed them when she was waiting on the stairs just now. How could their ranking be this high?

Lin Xiao quickly looked around and noticed that he was no longer within the same ground as before. There were only around 100 people in this place and it was clear that they were at the top 100.

He tried to search for Prince Lin Yan and the others but he couldn't find them. It seemed that the ranking worked differently from what he thought.