When focus returned to Zhou Yuan, a tremendous change had occurred to his surroundings.

The misty mountain path had disappeared, and in its place was an endless yellow desert. He was currently standing on a dune, while heat rippled around him, making even the surrounding Genesis Qi appear rather vexed.

A golden sun burned high in the sky, strand after strand of its golden rays pouring onto the ground.

"Is this the second trial?" Mumbled Zhou Yuan as he gazed at the yellow desert.

"I wonder what the test is this time."

While Zhou Yuan was thinking out loud, the golden rays of sunlight from the sky landed on his body. However, no change could be felt in his physical body or Genesis Qi.

"Not the body or Genesis Qi.."

"Then..."

Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly before he could finish his sentence. He had felt a burning pain from the Spirit between his brows, as if it had been placed onto a burning stove.

"The trial is targeting the Spirit..."

Zhou Yuan quickly sat down, and formed a seal with his hands. Genesis Qi surged out, creating a protective layer around his body in an attempt to defend against the golden sunlight.

However, it was clearly ineffective. The golden sunlight completely ignored his Genesis Qi defenses, easily penetrating his body to shine its rays on his Spirit.

Zhou Yuan dispersed the Genesis Qi, and began to focus on his Spirit, urging it to rise from between his brows and float in the air above.

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit had already stepped into the mid Corporeal stage, and looked no different from him, though it gave off a misty feeling as if it had no solid form.

His Spirit sat down in the air, fully concentrated as it released Spirit power to protect itself.

Golden sunlight continuously poured down, seemingly growing increasingly hot as time flowed by, while the burning pain felt by Zhou Yuan’s Spirit slowly intensified.

This continued until even the surface of his Spirit began to ripple.

Zhou Yuan’s expression was extremely grave. This was a very dangerous situation. If his Spirit were to reach its limit, it could possibly be destroyed, leaving his physical body an empty husk.

While he would also disappear from this world.

Due to the previous trial, Zhou Yuan knew that these trials were filled with danger, and the slightest slip may result in irreparable damage.

"The golden sun in the sky appears to be slowly shrinking..."

Zhou Yuan was carefully observing the changes around him, while he endured the burning pain, and he had just discovered that the golden sun was gradually shrinking.

"Is this a test of whether I will be able to last until the golden sun shrinks and eventually disappears?"

Zhou Yuan fell into thought for a brief moment. In the end, he took in a deep breath. Since that was the case, he just had to stubbornly endure till it was over.

Invisible halos pulsed around Zhou Yuan’s Spirit. These halos were made from his Spirit power, and continuously dissolving as they clashed with the golden sunlight...

However, just as he resolved himself to persevere through the pain, he suddenly felt a violent shudder from his Spirit.

"What’s going on?!" Zhou Yuan was immediately alarmed. Had his Spirit reached its limit so soon? How could it be? It was at the mid Corporeal stage!

Zhou Yuan hurriedly concentrated, and quickly sensed a mysterious light flickering between the brows of his Spirit, as a boundless noise began to emerge.

A noise akin to grinding stone.

A brand appeared between his Spirit’s brows, shaped exactly like a divine grindstone.

"It’s the divine grindstone brand master Cang Yuan left me..."

It was the existence of this brand that enabled Zhou Yuan to practice the Primal Chaos Divine Grindstone Visualisation Method. But Zhou Yuan had not activated it, so why had it suddenly appeared?

Bzz! Bzz!

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The divine grindstone brand began to vibrate as a circle of light erupted. The circle swept outwards, blowing up the sand as the surroundings rapidly began to change.

The desert disappeared, replaced by an endless starry sky.

However, the giant golden run was still suspended high up in the sky, emitting its golden rays.

Rumble!

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit stood within the starry sky, as a loud noise echoed from the darkness behind it. Next, an endless shadow loomed over the entire space, as an abyssal primal chaos divine grindstone slowly emerged along with a boundless pressure.

However, the grindstone was not heading towards Zhou Yuan, but the giant golden sun.

It was as if a giant dragon had discovered a feral wild beast that had entered into its territory, and was proceeding to exterminate the trespasser.

Zhou Yuan was a little speechless as he awkwardly scratched his head.

The golden sun seemed to have angered the divine grindstone brand?

The primal chaos divine grindstone slowly rotated across the starry sky, as its infinite mass descended upon the golden sun.

The golden sun seemed to sense that it was being challenged, causing its spreading golden rays to abruptly spike in intensity, turning into a cloak of golden flames around it that began burning the approaching grindstone.

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit could feel a dangerous sensation from the golden flames.

However, the primal chaos divine grindstone was not the least bit impressed. It continued its slow but unstoppable crushing motion, allowing the golden flames to burn as they pleased. The immovable giant grindstone turned, extinguishing every last wisp of golden fire.

Zhou Yuan’s jaw hung from his mouth. The divine grindstone brand was really something... and to think that even the golden sun of this trial was unable to stop it. Come on... the latter was something left behind by patriarch Cang Xuan back then...

The grindstone slowly rolled across the sky, arriving in front of the giant golden sun. As the divine grindstone turned, the two bizarre entities ferociously collided.

Boom!

A shockwave violently rippled through the fabric of space, causing the entire sky to appear as if it were about to shatter.

The light of the golden sun grew dimmer and dimmer, clearly unable to withstand the crushing force from the divine grindstone. In the end, both entities seem to shudder for a moment, before the grindstone pushed through and the golden sun shattered to pieces...

The starry sky and divine grindstone began to fade, as a desert reappeared around Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan dazedly stared at the sky, where the shattered remains of the golden sun drifted, no longer able to emit its scorching golden rays...

He scratched his head, a little out of it as he mumbled to himself, "Is this... considered a pass?"

This trial should have been a test of Spirit tenacity, but even Zhou Yuan himself would not have imagined that the divine grindstone brand in his Spirit would be so easily irritable and tyrannical. It seemed to have been drawn out by the presence of the golden sun, and smashed it to pieces in an annoyed manner.

With the golden sun now gone, would he be able to proceed with the test?

Zhou Yuan stared at the empty sky, feeling rather lost for a time.