"I understand." Qin Yan replied, taking a deep breath and focusing his mind. Slowly, he reached out his hands towards the hilt of the black sword that was inserted into the stone platform...

Qin Yan's hands slowly gripped the hilt of the black sword on the stone platform, and as soon as his hands touched the hilt, he immediately felt uncomfortable, a strong invisible pressure assaulting his mind...

"Where am I? What are these things?" Qin Yan felt as if he was in an endless, dark ocean, surrounded by indescribable abyssal monsters. A deep sense of fear rose in his heart, feeling as small as a speck of dust, at the mercy of these abyssal monsters ready to devour him.

Suddenly, a colossal dark beast, larger than a mountain, opened its menacing maw and swallowed Qin Yan whole.

"Ugh..." Qin Yan groaned, cold sweat streaming down his body, his limbs trembling uncontrollably. Although his eyes were open, he couldn't see anything, only darkness. Though he could think, he couldn't sense the passage of time. It felt like a moment had passed, yet also like a thousand years.

"Quick, snap out of it, Qin Yan!" Suddenly, Qin Yan heard a faint voice. He shook, regaining consciousness. Looking around, he saw Lin Shiqi trembling, pale-faced, with empty, hollow eyes and beads of cold sweat on her forehead. Dream Butterfly was also tightly biting her lips, her brows furrowed, seemingly enduring immense mental pressure.

"Hurry and pull out the sword, we can't hold on much longer!" Dream Butterfly urged urgently. Qin Yan steadied himself, grasped the hilt of the black sword, and exerted all his strength to lift the sword. However, the sword remained firmly fixed in the high platform, unyielding to his efforts.

"The sword is stuck tightly, I can't pull it out!" Qin Yan gritted his teeth, straining to pull the sword, but no matter how hard he tried, the sword remained immovable.

Three minutes passed, yet the situation remained the same. The sword was firmly lodged in the high platform, resisting all of Qin Yan's efforts. The invisible pressure returned, pressing on Qin Yan's mind once more.

Qin Yan felt as if something had entered his head, scrambling wildly in his mind, as if trying to break through his skull, causing unbearable pain and hindering his ability to think.

"It hurts so much, my head..." Qin Yan wanted to let go, release the black sword to alleviate the pain. However, an inner voice urged him not to give up, to persevere. These conflicting thoughts caused chaos in his mind, his head feeling like it was about to explode with excruciating pain.

"There must be a way to pull out this sword..." Qin Yan clenched his teeth, exerting all his strength to think. He tried to sense the unique material of the black sword, feeling like he could control it with his abilities.

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"Alright, I'll give it a try..." Qin Yan attempted to use his body refining ability to alter the sword's gravity, making it lighter and using its own weight to pull it out. With a slight sound, the sword moved a few millimeters upwards.

"It's working!" Although the sword had only moved slightly, Qin Yan was overwhelmed with joy. He grabbed the hilt of the sword and exerted all his strength to lift it, simultaneously using his body refining ability to change the sword's gravity. With his efforts, after over a minute, the sword slowly moved upwards by about ten centimeters.

"Hurry, faster..." Qin Yan urged himself. As time passed, the pain in his mind grew stronger. He felt as if a heavy boulder was pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe, like a drowning person struggling for air.

"I can't...," suddenly, Lin Shiqi let out a weak moan, her body giving out with a thud. She curled up, hands clutching her head, eyes vacant and lifeless, body spasming uncontrollably, drool unconsciously dripping from her mouth, resembling a person in a trance.

"Oh no..." at the moment when Lin Shiqi collapsed, the pain Qin Yan felt intensified exponentially. It felt as if an invisible blade was stabbing into his heart, tearing him apart from the inside, slicing his flesh piece by piece.

"I feel so sad..." Qin Yan felt his consciousness drifting further away, wanting to release his grip on the black sword to ease the pain. However, an inner voice told him not to give up, to persevere. So, Qin Yan continued to tightly hold onto the hilt of the black sword, refusing to let go.

"Oh? To withstand the corruption of evil spirits for so long, this human's willpower is indeed strong. Perhaps he really has the ability to pull out this sword," the Sphinx muttered, looking surprised at Qin Yan's determination.

Although Qin Yan had remarkable willpower and didn't give up, without Lin Shiqi to share the mental burden, his mind was in chaos. He couldn't focus his mind to use his abilities to pull out the black sword.

After half a minute, Qin Yan had only lifted the sword by less than a centimeter. At this rate, it would take him at least another ten to twenty minutes to completely pull out the sword. Whether he could endure that long was a significant question.

Suddenly, Qin Yan felt a soft body wrap around him.

Feeling relieved, Qin Yan's consciousness cleared up. Turning his head, he saw that it was Yujie who had embraced him.

"Yujie, you?!" Qin Yan was surprised to see Yujie with a pained smile on her face, saying, "Qin Yan, my brother... When you become the Emperor of Heaven... Please don't forget about me..."

"Quick... Qin Yan..." Dream Butterfly's strained voice came from behind. Startled, Qin Yan exerted all his strength to pull out the sword, using his body refining ability to change the sword's gravity. With Yujie sharing the mental burden, Qin Yan's mental state improved, allowing him to focus on using his abilities on the sword.

With a grinding sound, the sword slowly moved upwards— one centimeter, two centimeters, three centimeters... ten centimeters... twenty centimeters... thirty centimeters...

After about five minutes, with a clear sound, the black sword was finally completely pulled out by Qin Yan from the high platform. Simultaneously, the invisible pressure and the heavy sense of pain slowly dissipated from Qin Yan's mind.

Thud, thud, thud— several sounds echoed as Qin Yan, Yujie, and Dream Butterfly all collapsed as if exhausted, motionless on the ground. The black sword also fell with a clang, landing beside them.