"Yes. This bubble should be what the records describe as the final stage: 'At the final chapter, the slaughter stops, and the time comes for return.' All fighting ceases, the top three are teleported to the reward area, and the rest wait for the final moment to be automatically teleported out. This bubble must be the method to prevent any last-minute slaughter."
Gong Chenying spoke slowly, her other jade-like hand moving away from her storage pouch . It was impossible for those who had arrived here to fight each other now.
"I just wonder who managed to get into the reward area," Li Yan said, his gaze fixed on the three discs.
"Senior Brother Baili's team should have secured a spot. You said that Senior Brother Gan's group had already met up with them, so their overall strength must have increased greatly. They might have even found Mei Bucai and the others by now. Check on Mei Bucai's group's condition. If they haven't been found by Senior Brother Baili's team, they should be arriving here soon. Once they're here, they'll be completely safe." As she spoke, Gong Chenying tapped her storage pouch . The next moment, her expression froze. In her Divine Sense , the blue rhomboid crystal in her storage pouch was gone.
Li Yan gave a wry smile. Seeing Gong Chenying's expression, he knew what had happened. The two blue rhomboid crystals he had obtained were already gone after Pingtu had sent him out of the secret room .
"Senior Sister, my two blue rhomboid crystals are also gone."
Upon hearing this, Gong Chenying also recalled some records in the sect's archives about the blue rhomboid crystals. She could only shake her head and let it go. Mei Bucai and the others would have to depend on fate. Right now, it was impossible for even them to get out. This bubble couldn't be controlled, and they couldn't leave it. It was wishful thinking to believe they could help.
For a time, the occupants of the two bubbles fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts. They all sat down cross-legged to meditate, awaiting the final teleportation.
Li Yan, however, looked around with great interest. From time to time, he would flash a grin at the hateful glares of the several Qi Condensation cultivators in the other bubble. His smile only served to enrage those Supreme Mystery Teachings disciples further, but they were powerless to act. As for Qiu Jiuzhen, after her initial glance at Gong Chenying, she hadn't looked at a junior of Li Yan's Qi Condensation level at all. She sat with her eyes closed in meditation. However, the occasional tremble of her long eyelashes revealed that she wasn't truly in a meditative state, but merely thinking with her eyes closed.
After about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the space before everyone blurred, and another bubble appeared in the area.
"Who is this?"
"It's someone from the Ten-Pace Courtyard !"
"Why is he alone?"
"..."
Amidst a flurry of exclamations, the attention of both parties was drawn to the newly arrived bubble. They all turned their heads or opened their eyes from meditation to look at it. There was only one person inside the bubble. That person's eyes were tightly shut, and he had two grievous wounds on his chest and back. His entire body was soaked in a gray, watery substance that had saturated his long robe. Eerily, his exposed skin had taken on a petrified, gray color. His face was ancient, his hair a lusterless white, and his face was a mass of layered wrinkles. He was an old man in his eighties, but his attire confirmed he was a sword cultivator from the Ten-Pace Courtyard . He was currently unconscious.
"Who is this person? How have I never seen him before? How did he get into the Wheel of Life and Death ?"
The members of the Supreme Mystery Teachings focused their gazes but did not recognize the man. They had no memory of him being present when they entered the Wheel of Life and Death .
In the other bubble, when Li Yan and Gong Chenying saw this person, they couldn't help but exchange a glance. Gong Chenying's gaze, in particular, was filled with shock. She had first identified him as a member of the Ten-Pace Courtyard from his clothes, but she didn't recognize his face. He was a dying old man, and in her memory, no such person had entered from the Ten-Pace Courtyard this time.
But when her eyes fell upon the wounds on his chest and back, she immediately thought of someone. Looking closely at his aged face, she felt a vague sense of familiarity.
'It's Wang Lang,' Gong Chenying confirmed his identity in her mind. The current state of this man, who had fought with her several times, sent a wave of shock through her.
'Little Martial Brother's Fragmented Poison Body is this formidable? It's truly unbelievable.' Although Gong Chenying had seen Li Yan poison a Foundation Establishment cultivator to death before, it was nowhere near as shocking as seeing a handsome, jade-like youth transform into a white-haired, wrinkle-faced, dying old man in just over an hour. This was perhaps related to a woman's innate love of beauty, sometimes valuing appearance above all else. Even someone like Gong Chenying, who usually didn't care much about her appearance, had unconsciously revealed her true nature.
As for Li Yan, he was first stunned to see Wang Lang's arrival, not recognizing him at first. Then, from the man's clothes and the location of his wounds, he figured out who it was. He felt a sense of frustration. 'So even the 'Maggot on the Bone' poison couldn't take his life. That red light he swallowed must be something extraordinary. Otherwise, his body would have long since corroded into a pile of gray ash, let alone just turning gray.'
When he saw the shocked look Gong Chenying shot him, Li Yan hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't explain that Wang Lang's aged appearance had nothing to do with him and was likely related to that red light, because he himself had no idea what that red light was.
When Qiu Jiuzhen saw another bubble enter, she immediately focused her gaze, a sliver of hope in her heart. Subsequently, filled with disappointment, she was also overcome with astonishment. The person who had arrived was not Quan Jiuxing. But she was quite familiar with his aura; it had appeared in her Divine Sense just over an hour ago. "Is that... Wang... Lang?"
Qiu Jiuzhen stood up from her seated position and carefully examined the unconscious old man again. Finally, she whispered his name with some uncertainty, her voice filled with disbelief.
Following Qiu Jiuzhen's whisper, a dead silence fell over her companions behind her. After a moment, one disciple hesitantly spoke, "Martial Aunt Qiu, is he... Martial Uncle... Wang Lang?" As he spoke, some of the other seven disciples turned their gazes to the unconscious old man in the bubble, while others looked questioningly at Qiu Jiuzhen. No matter how they tried, they could not connect the nearly septuagenarian old man before them with the handsome, jade-like young master they knew.
Qiu Jiuzhen didn't turn back. She too stared in shock at the old man in the bubble. Although her Divine Sense was obstructed by the bubble, it was still possible to scan things at close range. Her Divine Sense confirmed that this aura indeed belonged to Wang Lang .
She spoke, her voice a little dry, "It's him. But how did he end up like this?"
"Who used such a vicious immortal art to injure Martial Uncle Wang so gravely? Could there be someone else behind us?"
"It must be the Malevolent Spirit Sect or the demonic cultivators."
"I don't think so. The restrictions in every trial here are bizarre and vicious. Many of the restriction attacks are unheard of. Otherwise, we wouldn't have lost so many fellow disciples during the trials. It's possible he was attacked in one of the trials."
"Martial Uncle Wang is already unconscious, and his injuries look extremely severe. Not a single disciple from his team is here. There's no one to heal him..."
Several Qi Condensation cultivators murmured amongst themselves, occasionally stealing glances at the slender figure in front of them.
Qiu Jiuzhen also stared, unblinking, at the newly arrived bubble, her brows knitted lightly. 'Wang Lang was clearly chasing someone and suffered another grievous injury. In my Divine Sense before, although he was injured, he could still move normally. Does that mean the person he was chasing was either mutually wounded or escaped?' Thinking of this, she turned her gaze to Gong Chenying, only to see Gong Chenying's calm and composed expression, completely unfazed by Wang Lang's arrival.
'I've long heard that this Gong Chenying is a formidable fighter. Seeing her now, it's true. She looks full of qi and spirit, as if she hasn't fought recently. It probably wasn't her who ran into Wang Lang. The other two Malevolent Spirit Sect teams were clearly behind Wang Lang when I left; they hadn't caught up yet. So, was Wang Lang pursuing the demonic cultivators then? Which of the demonic cultivators could have provoked such heaven-shaking fury from him? Perhaps they met in the passage earlier? No, that's not right either. If they met in the passage, only one side could have come out alive, unless it was like my encounter with Baili Yuan, where we were teleported away before we could even fight. So, that theory doesn't hold either.' For a moment, Qiu Jiuzhen's head ached. The more she analyzed, the more confused she became. In the end, she simply looked away from Gong Chenying and her gaze fell back on the unconscious Wang Lang.
'Martial Brother Wang isn't unconscious solely due to his severe injuries. He must have been hit by some extremely vicious technique or a potent poison. His exposed skin is gray, as if covered by a layer of deathly qi, almost like a layer of keratin has formed. Without being able to examine him personally, I can't make a judgment. But at this rate, it won't be long before he's beyond saving.' Qiu Jiuzhen observed Wang Lang closely for a while longer and could only shake her head. Although she wished to save him, she couldn't get near.
'I don't know when this teleportation will activate. If it's soon enough, perhaps Martial Brother Wang can still be saved after we're sent out. Otherwise, he can only resign himself to fate.' At this thought, Qiu Jiuzhen felt a wave of irritation. There was still no news of Quan Jiuxing and the other members of the two sects. Had they already passed through those three discs and entered the reward area, or had...
She couldn't bring herself to think further. It left her feeling restless.
Just then, the entire metallic sphere began to tremble violently. As the vibrations intensified, the three bubbles all floated up. Before the bewildered eyes of everyone, the three bubbles swiftly collided with the side of the sphere's wall. In their stunned gazes, the bubbles entered a five-colored space and sped away.
Outside the Wheel of Life and Death , the sky was still blue, and a gentle breeze still nudged the white clouds along, coming and going. But neither the four sects nor the demonic cultivators wore a leisurely expression. They stood tall on the surrounding peaks, their eyes fixed on the spherical mountain at the center.
Three hours ago, a series of deafening rumbles had suddenly echoed from the spherical mountain, shaking the very peaks they stood upon. A clatter of falling rocks tumbled into the misty depths below. This sudden change stunned the cultivators and demonic cultivators on the surrounding peaks. They had never heard of such a thing happening before. Then, before their eyes, the seven flickering bands of light that had remained on the mountain abruptly vanished. The entire spherical mountain dimmed. But immediately after, a vast expanse of light illuminated the spherical peak, bathing the upper half of the sphere in a light like brilliant sunshine. The dense forests covering it seemed to be coated in a layer of glazed light, a truly dazzling sight.
After the forests were bathed in this glazed light, the spherical mountain fell silent again, and no more light bands appeared. This left the surrounding cultivators and demonic cultivators looking at each other in confusion. Such a situation had never occurred in any previous trial of the Wheel of Life and Death . For a time, they didn't know what had happened, and could only stare blankly at the bizarre, glazed forest.