Apotheosis

The little monster acted swiftly and smoothly. He seemed very capable of unlocking the Eight Diagrams Locks.

Sure enough, he quickly found a knack to do that. After a few minutes, he successfully unlocked the Eight Diagrams Locks. Then, he eyed Geoffrey curiously, as though he wanted to size up his capabilities.

Because of two prior experiences, Geoffrey was now able to maintain his composure. In fact, he acted as though he was in no rush.

He even observed the other monsters for a while before reaching out his hands to the Eight Diagrams Lock. He grabbed each side of the Eight Diagrams Lock with both hands and gently twisted it, unlocking it with ease.

Then he unlocked the second lock, the third, the fourth...

Once he'd successfully unlocked all six Eight Diagrams Locks, Geoffrey smiled at the little monster in front of him. Then, he began to reconfigure the pieces of the locks.

He paired the biggest two pieces of Eight Diagrams Locks with the smallest two pieces. Then the middle-sized ones were pieced and paired with them. All in all, a strange shape was formed.

There were endless permutations to the combinations of the pieces of the Eight Diagrams Locks. As Geoffrey's flexible hands continued to move nimbly, these Eight Diagrams Locks seemed to come to life, changing shape constantly.

After Geoffrey formed a large structure with all the Eight Diagrams Locks, he put it to the side and gently flicked at it with his finger. Immediately, the structure collapsed into small pieces again.

The little monster looked at Geoffrey's series of movements, his eyes revealing a look of surprise. It never occurred to him that this thing could be toyed with like this.

Geoffrey gestured towards the little monster and leaned against the side of the cage.

After their time was up, the other losers in the underground space began to be wiped out again.

Plop! Plop! Plop...

A series of sounds rang out, indicating that another batch of monsters had been eliminated. Geoffrey's eyes swept throughout the cages as he did a rough headcount. It seemed only a small number of monsters were left.

On the third day, a new round of test began. This time, they were asked to unlock an exquisite chain made of one hundred rings.

Geoffrey had never seen a chain of one hundred rings before.

Fortunately for him, he was very smart. After studying it for a while, he figured it out. In no time, he had unraveled it easily.

In comparison, the little monster

skrit. If that was the case, then his luck had taken a turn for the better!

The little monster tried his best to understand Geoffrey's words. After a long while, he finally nodded and said, "Yes..."

Elder Xue was still alive!

Geoffrey was so excited that he couldn't help but ask urgently, "Where is he? Can you... take me to him?"

"He's outside." The little monster pointed in a direction. "We can't go out yet."

"We can't go out?" Geoffrey echoed in surprise.

"Well, we won't be able to get out...forever," the little monster said with a nod.

This news disappointed Geoffrey greatly.

All this time, he had been under the impression that if he'd passed a few more rounds of tests, he could finally obtain his freedom.

After he heard the little monster's words, his hopes were dashed.

"Why?" Geoffrey frowned deeply, his expression darkening.

"Only the most intelligent one here can... turn the situation around. Are you that smart?" the little monster chanted almost playfully.

'Only the smartest one can reverse the situation?'

Geoffrey turned these words over in his head.

Along the way, there were intelligence tests, and it was indeed like they were trying to select the most intelligent being.

However, this so-called "intelligence" actually had a limit. No matter how smart one was, they wouldn't be able to resist against the one with the strongest power.

Geoffrey felt that he was smarter than the little monster and the black ape, but in terms of strength, he definitely paled in comparison.

What on earth had happened in the Sky Wheel City? Why were there tests to select the most intelligent creature?