Li Yan had forgotten his original intention for seeking out the blue rhomboid crystal. It now felt as though a thread had appeared, one he could faintly see, yet it was shrouded in a fog that scattered and gathered, leaving him unable to grasp its meaning.
As Li Yan was pondering, that sense of heart-palpitating dread appeared once more. He quickly stood up. By now, voices were already calling out, "The black shadow is here!" and "The shadow is rising!" Looking back, he saw that many cultivators were already standing at various points on the cliff, clearly disciples who had long since recovered. As they kept watch, they had also discovered that in the dark, cloudy sky beyond the cliff, wisps of an even deeper blackness were slowly rising from below. Having survived two trials, they were now extremely familiar with this black aura. The moment it appeared, their divine senses had confirmed its identity.
Gong Chenying also stood up at once. "Go," she called out softly, already walking toward the black hole in the ground ahead. In truth, she didn't need to give the order. The twenty-six cultivators had already gathered into formation. However, with seven dead and two heavily injured hidden in Spirit-Storing Pouches, they could no longer form teams of six. They had now slightly modified their formation into four smaller squads.
With a few leaps, Li Yan quietly caught up to Gong Chenying. "Senior Sister Gong, in the next battle inside the sphere, can you do your best to preserve the blue rhomboid crystal in our opponent's hands?" Li Yan said as soon as he was behind her.
Hearing Li Yan's voice transmission, Gong Chenying's pace did not falter. She continued toward the mouth of the black hole, the scorching air currents rising from it blowing her beautiful hair back.
"Is there a problem?" she asked via voice transmission, without turning her head.
"Yes, I suspect..." Li Yan quickly and simply explained his recent theory, omitting the part about him absorbing the spirit power from the blue rhomboid crystal. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, but they were about to enter the black hole and time was short. He could only mention the most important points. Besides, he was also puzzled as to why Senior Sister Gong, having used the crystal several times, hadn't discovered that its spirit power could be devoured in reverse.
"Alright. But I may have to disappoint you. I've used it several times before and have probed it with my spirit power. Other than discovering that it requires a massive amount of spirit power to delay the black shadow, I found nothing else. By the way, where is yours? I saw you pick up the one from that second-tier demonic beast," Gong Chenying said, speaking much more rapidly this time, knowing that Li Yan wanted to study the crystals.
"Oh, mine was destroyed," Li Yan replied, momentarily stunned.
Just as Gong Chenying was about to step into the black hole, she paused, startled by his words. She turned her head and gave Li Yan a strange look. But after that one glance, an expression of even greater surprise appeared in her eyes.
"Your cultivation has grown a lot," she said, before stepping into the black hole without pressing him further about the blue rhomboid crystal.
Li Yan was taken aback, only then realizing that in his preoccupation with the crystal, he hadn't concealed his aura. Otherwise, as long as he didn't make a move, only a Golden Core cultivator or higher should have been able to discern his true realm. Gong Chenying didn't question him further. With her sharp intelligence, she already knew that Li Yan's request for the crystal wasn't simply about the three sects' conspiracy. The crystal must have a great deal to do with the fact that Li Yan had strangely advanced two major sub-realms in just two hours. But now was not the time for questions. She had already felt that this little martial uncle was somewhat mysterious. However, since both her Master and Eldest Senior Brother had repeatedly instructed her to take good care of Li Yan, she would simply follow their orders.
Li Yan swept his divine sense around. Everyone was nervously staring at the black hole ahead; no one was paying him any attention. He quickly activated an aura-concealing technique, revealing a cultivation of a mid-stage eighth-level Qi Condensation cultivator. This way, even if someone noticed his advancement, it wouldn't be too conspicuous in this secret realm. It wasn't that he wanted to play the weakling to ambush the strong; he just preferred not to attract too much attention. This was Li Yan's consistent principle.
'So Senior Sister Gong had already noticed the blue rhomboid crystal, but why is her finding completely different from mine? And when she infused her spirit power, besides activating its delay function, she couldn't discover that the crystal's power could be drawn back out in reverse?' Lost in thought, Li Yan stepped into the black hole. A wave of heat, a shower of flying sparks, and the gurgling sound of bubbles rushed to meet him.
...
In less than half an hour, Gong Chenying's party appeared at the end of the magma path. Above them was an exit, where another yellow sphere blocked the way.
At this moment, the dark green sect robes on many of them were mottled and spotted. Some had several charred holes burned through them, some had their sleeves completely incinerated, and others had their hair and beards curled from the heat. And now, only twenty-three people were left behind Gong Chenying. Another three had been dragged into the crimson magma by strange beasts, their bones gone without a trace.
They hadn't even passed three trials, yet ten people were already dead.
"This place is truly evil. You can't kill those magma beasts. You break them apart, and they just reform. It's a real headache," Mei Bucai panted to Ding Yiwei beside him. He was in a sorry state; nearly half of his plump body was exposed, showing his pale flesh. The lower half of his robe was mostly charred black, and there was a large hole in the back, where the undergarment had been burned through, revealing red, swollen flesh that was clearly scalded.
The handsome young Daoist had also long lost his composure. "Fatty, if you hadn't grabbed my leg, I would've run to the front long ago! You almost got me drowned in that spray of poisonous sludge!"
"Little Wei, if it weren't for your grandpa here holding up a spirit power shield for you, would you have had time to release that Glazed Talisman? By the way, you were hiding a Glazed Talisman! Little Wei, you had a protective talisman, yet you still used up Grandpa Fatty's spirit power. If I didn't hold you back, should Grandpa Fatty have gone to face that poison sludge head-on? You're really something else, kid."
"If one could take some of this magma to refine into fire poison, that would be truly great," a cultivator from Never-Parting Peak remarked, smacking his lips as he gazed at the churning magma beside the path.
"If you can take it, I'll give you twenty low-grade Spirit Stones for just two drops when we get back," another cultivator said, also staring at the magma.
"You go get it. I'll give you twenty low-grade Spirit Stones for a single drop," the Never-Parting Peak cultivator retorted, glancing at him with dissatisfaction.
"Those magma beasts are the real treasures. We don't have beasts like that on Spirit Insect Peak. They're at least at the mid-stage second-tier or higher, and the poison in their bodies could probably hold its own even against a third-tier demonic beast. A pity, a real pity."
...
Amidst the cultivators' discussion, Li Yan stared at the yellow sphere blocking the cave exit ahead, his arms crossed, saying nothing. Their pace on this leg of the journey could only be described as a frantic sprint. Senior Sister Gong's approach in this trial was simply insane. She had practically disregarded life and death, unleashing her full spirit power to carve out a space ahead of them. As she flew, an inverted, arc-shaped shield of light had appeared before her, its speed astonishing. He had no idea why she had adopted such a method.
As for Gong Chenying, the moment she arrived, she was already holding her halberd. After her spirit light flared, she slowly entered the yellow sphere. She had been silently calculating in her heart. Although they had lost three people in this trial, their speed had been fast. The other party should not have arrived inside the sphere yet. This was precisely why she had risked everything to advance at full speed—to get there ahead of the enemy.
After entering, Gong Chenying quickly came back out, a look of relief on her face. If, after all their desperate efforts and the loss of another three people, they had still been a step behind the enemy, their luck would have been rotten to the core.
She glanced back at the red, glowing cave. There was no sign of the black shadow yet. Gong Chenying breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly, she pointed to a dozen or so cultivators, who then followed her back into the yellow sphere, while the remaining ten or so stayed outside.
Li Yan was among the dozen who entered. The others, apart from Gong Chenying, were all cultivators from Lord Lao Peak and Four Symbols Peak. Their faces were all filled with excitement. Mei Bucai's chubby face held a lewd expression as he winked and gestured at several other Lord Lao Peak cultivators. This provoked the two female cultivators who had entered with them to glare fiercely at him. They even went behind him, pinched a piece of fat on his waist, and twisted. A blush rose on their faces as they did so. Mei Bucai let out a pained cry, his face changing color. Li Yan, with a calm expression, followed behind and stepped inside.
Less than half an incense stick's time later, Gong Chenying and the others emerged from the yellow sphere again. The dozen or so cultivators who had been sitting cross-legged opened their eyes and looked at them. Gong Chenying said nothing, but stared back into the cave they had come from, thinking silently, 'I hope the other party is very fast.'
Time ticked by. As it neared a quarter of an hour, Li Yan awoke from his cultivation. He sensed that the giant black shadow was approaching. He looked around and saw that the others were already on their feet, constantly looking between the slowly encroaching black shadow and the yellow sphere. Their eyes held both anxiety and a trace of anticipation.
"After I enter, if I don't come out after two breaths, prepare for battle," Gong Chenying silently calculated the speed of the encroaching shadow, feeling anxious herself. If the other party still hadn't arrived, it would mean her calculation this time had been wrong.
She took a deep breath, her expression extremely grave. A spirit light flashed, and her protective shield rose. Without further hesitation, she strode toward the yellow sphere, her figure vanishing amidst ripples of light.
Li Yan and the others all gathered toward the yellow sphere. Many frequently glanced back. The massive black shadow was now less than thirty feet away, and a sense of destruction enveloped their hearts. Many had sweaty palms, their bodies trembling slightly. Feeling the bone-deep chill at their backs, they anxiously turned to look at the yellow sphere again, their eyes filled with unease. Li Yan's back was also cold, even though the cave was still overflowing with magma and rolling heat waves.
Those two breaths felt like two centuries. In less than a breath, the sphere's surface rippled again. A tall, blurry figure appeared before their eyes. Everyone's hands were already on their storage pouches, ready to attack at any moment. The tall figure twisted and began to come into focus.
"Martial Aunt!" "Martial Aunt!" Various low cries broke out, but they were clearly tinged with pleasant surprise.
The one who came out was none other than Gong Chenying. The moment her figure solidified, she immediately said, "It worked. Go in!" Then she vanished again. Her voice was filled with exhaustion, but her beautiful face was full of shock and uncertainty, and her eyes revealed a look of utter disbelief.
Hearing Gong Chenying's words, many cultivators let out low cheers and rushed toward the sphere.
Standing in the crowd, Li Yan saw Gong Chenying's weary expression. While relieved, he also felt happy for his senior sister. He had understood Gong Chenying's intention after entering the sphere, but he also understood the pressure she was under. Though Gong Chenying had turned away very quickly, Li Yan had still caught the strange look in her eyes.