Huang Quan raised her eyebrows slightly. “You don’t believe me?”
The person replied, “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I’m curious why Miss Nangong’s brother wasn’t taken to the square like the rest of us to enter the tower. Why was he in a different place?”
Huang Quan smiled and said, “What, can’t he join now? He will enter the tower with us next. Do you have any other objections?”
Hearing Huang Quan’s words, the person’s suspicion lessened. If he were truly an outsider, how could he possibly enter the tower with them? The person shook his head and said no more.
“Thank you, Master Fuxin, for your help,” Huang Quan said with a smile.
Fuxin curled his lips slightly. “It was no trouble at all, no need to thank me.”
Huang Quan smiled and said nothing more. She and the Great Priest led Chong Yu back to where Feng Jiuyuan and the others were.
While the others believed Huang Quan had brought back Nangong Mian, Feng Jiuyuan and his group were skeptical. They had seen Nangong Mian disappear and Huang Quan’s unsuccessful search. How could she have found him so quickly?
Not only Feng Jiuyuan and Jing Chen were doubtful, but even Lin Xu and Nangong Qingle didn’t believe it. However, they had no way to find out who Chong Yu really was.
“Let’s rest a bit longer,” Huang Quan said. “We haven’t yet reached half an hour.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Chong Yu, sitting beside Huang Quan, looked uneasy. There were too many people around. He hadn’t interacted with anyone for a long time, and his unique situation could cause trouble if discovered.
“You don’t need to worry about anything else,” Huang Quan said to him. “Just stay with us. We’ll handle everything else.”
Knowing that speaking would draw attention due to his stutter, Chong Yu didn’t respond verbally but nodded instead.
Seeing this, Feng Jiuyuan and the others were even more convinced that Chong Yu wasn’t Nangong Mian.
After half an hour, the familiar white light appeared again. When everyone opened their eyes, they were back in the square. It was time to enter the fourth level of the tower.
This time, there was no image of a man in the scene, only a few lines of text. After the text disappeared, a blinding white light covered everyone. In that light, they all vanished, transported to the fourth level of the tower’s realm.
Heat!
Blistering heat!
That was everyone’s first sensation.
When they opened their eyes and looked ahead, they were immediately stunned by the sight before them.
First, everyone was present. Secondly, they were surrounded by fire!
No, to be precise, they were in a place where flames were everywhere.
“What is this situation?” someone asked, looking at the surrounding flames with some panic.
“It’s exactly what it looks like.”
“There are flames all around us, and there’s no other path. How are we supposed to get out of here?”
“What should we do?” Lin Xu, like the others, was also scared.
Feng Jiuyuan looked at him and said, “You’re a fire spirit root cultivator, and you’re afraid of fire?”
Lin Xu frowned and replied, “Fire comes in different grades. Most people cultivate with ordinary fire, but these flames are much more powerful. Even though I cultivate with a fire spirit root, I can’t handle these flames, so of course, I’m afraid. Aren’t you?”
“I’m not afraid,” Feng Jiuyuan said nonchalantly. “We have the Great Priest with us, don’t we?”
After speaking, Feng Jiuyuan shook his head and clicked his tongue twice, looking at Lin Xu. “You have too little faith in the Great Priest.”
Huang Quan heard this and glanced at the Great Priest.
The Great Priest remained calm and indifferent, looking the same as usual, but Huang Quan still had a feeling that the other party was somewhat disconnected.
Fortunately, after a brief moment of shock, the Great Priest had recovered and was not disconnected.
“There is a way,” the Great Priest said softly.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xu immediately asked, “Where?”
The Great Priest raised his hand and pointed to a spot on the opposite stone wall. “There is a cave entrance there. It’s the only way out of this place.”
Everyone else also heard the Great Priest’s words and looked in the direction he was pointing. Upon seeing the place, they fell silent.
The exit was on the opposite stone wall, and to reach it, they had to cross the sea of flames.
But…
The sea of flames was burning so fiercely. Could they really make it through?
“Whoosh!”
Just as everyone was doubting whether they could make it, the large stone they were standing on began to drop further down!
Yes, this stone was sinking, and below it was the sea of flames!
Realizing this, the already panicked crowd became even more frantic!
“If we don’t find a way across, and stay on this stone, it will soon sink into the sea of flames. When that happens, none of us will be able to escape!”
“Great Priest,” someone asked, “Do you have any other ideas?”
The Great Priest looked indifferently at the person asking. “If your cultivation is sufficient, you can make it across.”
The person who asked the question responded, “What if our cultivation isn’t sufficient?”
“Then you die.”
The questioner’s face changed dramatically. “Is there no other way?”
The Great Priest did not respond.
The person felt both scared and angry. He didn’t believe there was no other way. Otherwise, how would the Great Priest have brought the other students across?
But he just didn’t want to tell them!
It wasn’t just the person asking the question who thought this; many others did as well. But the Great Priest didn’t care about their thoughts, and there was nothing they could do about it besides being angry.
“If we don’t cross soon, this stone will sink further,” someone said.
Everyone knew this, but how were they supposed to get across?
“I’ll go first!” someone shouted. “Staying here means death. Crossing might also mean death, but if there’s a chance of survival by crossing, then it’s worth it!”
With that, the person gathered their spiritual energy to shield themselves and flew towards the cave entrance on the opposite stone wall.
“Whoosh!”
The moment the person left the stone, the flames in the sea of fire surged, and the flickering flames leaped towards him, making everyone’s hearts pound with fear!
“Hiss hiss!”
Suddenly, a different sound emerged from within the sea of fire. The sound was unmistakable, and everyone on the stone heard it, causing their hearts to skip a beat.
From the sea of fire, a fiery snake appeared!
It wasn’t a real snake; it was formed from flames. The fiery snake’s head emerged from the sea of fire and lunged towards the person in the fire!
“Watch out!”
“Dodge quickly!”
The exit was right in front of him, but the fiery snake was too fast. Everyone already anticipated the outcome: the person couldn’t dodge in time and would be consumed by the fiery snake!
However…
In that instant, a snow-white figure flashed and appeared above the fiery snake’s head.
“Hiss hiss!”
Fo xin stood atop the fiery snake’s head. The raised head of the fiery snake was forced down, and it lashed its tail, attempting to attack Fo xin, but its efforts were effortlessly blocked by Fo xin’s power.
With the attack thwarted, the first person successfully reached the cave entrance and disappeared as soon as he arrived.
Fo xin glanced at the cave entrance, then lowered his gaze to the people standing on the stone. “Who’s next?”
