Chapter 357: An Unexpected Opponent The Celestial Stairway Hall’s experts could not help but click their tongues at Lin Yuan’s duel record—consecutive wins all the way until he reached the Celestial Stairway. Star Web didn’t lack experts—there were many of them—but those who could ascend the Celestial Stairway undefeated had never appeared except for Lin Yuan so far. In fact, it was not a good choice for Lin Yuan to take part in the Celestial Stairway duel now, as Chimey was still sleeping on the Phoenix Perching Chinese Parasol Tree in the Spirit Lock spatial zone. Lin Yuan could not risk summoning it out and waking it up to fight. This might undoubtedly affect the purification of its bloodline and the promotion of its quality. Even if there was only a 1 in 10,000 chance of affecting it, Lin Yuan would not do it. His feys that had played an attacking role were only Chimey, the Source Sand, Red Thorn, and the Acid Corrosion Queen Bee. Thus, he could only choose the combination of Red Thorn and the Acid Corrosion Queen Bee or the Source Sand to attack in the Celestial Stairway duel. Lin Yuan had the Source Sand, but he had never used it in the Celestial Stairway duels. During the previous duel with Poison Beauty, Lin Yuan had used the Source Sand to restrain her toad fey in the dark without anyone noticing. He had done so because he wanted to use the Gold I/Fantasy I Source Sand as his trump card. However, since he wanted to reach Celestial Stairway 12-stars, he could not hide his Source Sand anymore. Moreover, he had used it in the battle against the controlled Class 3 abyss dimensional rift’s demons. The Web of Life the Source Sand had formed in that battle had saved the lives of many spirit qi professionals. Therefore, these adventurers had learned that Lin Yuan had contracted a fey that could manipulate gravel. This matter was also a big piece of news in the Radiance Federation after those adventures spread it. At the same time, people in Black’s forum and fan club were passionately discussing what the fey that could manipulate gravel was. But the debate had been endless, and they did not manage to conclude. Based on what the adventurers, who had come out of the Class 3 abyss dimensional rift, had said, this fey that could control gravel was most likely a source-type item that could play a defensive or support role. This was because these adventurers did not see exactly what kind of fey was manipulating the gravel. Instead, it was like a rare elemental source-type item among the source-type lifeforms. However, their opinions differed, and there had not been a definite answer. In Lin Yuan’s opinion, something that could be called a trump card must be something completely unknown to outsiders. Only in this way, when he pulled out the trump card, the others could not take the corresponding precautions. Since the others roughly knew about his Source Sand, Lin Yuan felt that there was no harm in exposing it. In contrast, Lin Yuan felt it was more appropriate to choose the Silver I/Fantasy I Red Thorn as his trump card now. Although it was only at Silver I/Fantasy I, its true strength was in the wild when facing many lifeforms. Only then could Red Thorn display its full power, which was simply akin to a ‘dematerializer’. The weak only deserved to become fertilizer in the sea of flowers and brutally eaten by the nibbling vines. Due to the venue’s limitations, Red Thorn had not been able to display its full strength in the Celestial Stairway duels. There was only a limited effect, and this control effect also overlapped with the Source Sand. If they were at the same level, the control effect of Red Thorn’s sea of flowers would be higher than that of the Source Sand’s. At present, the Source Sand was a grade higher than Red Thorn, so it had a stronger control effect. Therefore, Lin Yuan intended to have his Fantasy Breed Red Thorn, which had experienced a radical change, as his hidden trump card. He would reveal the Source Sand that had been speculated but had yet to be conclusive. If he did not reveal it, Lin Yuan was unsure if he could reach Celestial Stairway 12-Stars. During the Celestial Stairway duel, Lin Yuan effortlessly defeated three duelists he had been matched with using the Source Sand and was promoted from Celestial 1-Star to Celestial 4-Stars. Each of his battles was so fast that Tian Ningning did not even get a clear look at what was going on before the battle was over. She would only see an amber object fall to the ground from Lin Yuan’s cufflinks. Then within just a minute, a vortex of quicksand would appear under the feet of the opponents and their summoned feys. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺 Tian Ningning was overexcited. She was already thinking about how she should go about writing the next combat record. She had already determined why Black could control the gravel. It was because he had contracted an elemental source-type lifeform. Although he had never revealed it on the Star Web duels, it now seemed that this source-type lifeform was undoubtedly the strongest card that Black had revealed so far. Within just a few minutes of that battle, Tian Ningning discovered that the quicksand, which did not seem to be anything difficult to break free from, would be the most ruthless place once the spirit qi professional and fey’s legs were trapped. Their miserable howls and wails seemed like they had experienced inhumane pain. Nevertheless, the howls would only last for a moment, and Lin Yuan would win the Celestial Stairway duel directly. This made Tian Ningning, a knowledgeable Star Web reporter, fail to see clearly this elemental lifeform that Lin Yuan manipulated and how he had taken away the lives of the opposing spirit qi professionals and feys. Even so, Tian Ningning could discern that it was a one-hit kill. Otherwise, Lin Yuan would not have won the moment the miserable howls disappeared. Since Lin Yuan wanted to reach a higher star on the Celestial Stairway, he did not hold back while battling. As long as the Source Sand’s quicksand vortex controlled the spirit qi professional and fey, the ferromanganese chain blades would instantly emerge from the sea of sand and bind the opponents’ legs with chains. When the spirit qi professional and fey sank into the yellow sand, the ferromanganese chain blade hidden within would not hesitate to constrain and squeeze against the feet entangled by the chains. At the same time, the Source Sand’s Gravel Spirit Acceptance’s Heart-Penetrating Ironline, which was equivalent to a Platinum III/Flawless fey, was akin to an invisible demon in the sea of sand, invisibly harvesting the spirit qi professionals and feys’ lives. After three Celestial Stairway duels, Lin Yuan did not feel tired at all. It had to be said that even if he reached Celestial 4-Stars now, the spirit qi professionals he was matched with also had not summoned Platinum feys. The strongest fey Lin Yuan had ever encountered was only a Gold VII/Flawless one. His Gold I/Fantasy I Source Sand had reached the strength of a Platinum fey. Hence, his current battle was akin to a crushing duel. After he won this duel, he reached the Celestial 5-Stars. Just as Lin Yuan was ready to participate in the next duel, the person he was matched with made him raise his eyebrows in surprise.