Chapter 1002 – Totem Tower
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The Ancient Phoenix Clan placed the greatest importance upon the junior disciples. Only the junior disciples had the greatest potential. And to those disciples with great potential, the Ancient Phoenix Clan was willing to generously reward them.
No matter what hall the disciples came from, they would all be on even ground the first time they entered the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial. If they were able to fully reveal their talent and potential, they would be able to enjoy great rewards from the Ancient Phoenix Clan. However, if they couldn’t grasp this chance then they would be eliminated from consideration, and later they might not even earn the qualifications to participate in future Ancient Phoenix smelting trials.
And in truth, after a smelting trial was completed, 99% of the disciples would be eliminated. These people would mostly stop at the Divine Transformation realm, and they would reach the end of their lives after 20,000-30,000 years.
The first testing round of the 18 Hells of Flame only lasted for several days. On the last day, Lin Ming completely gathered his thoughts and began to rush as deep into the Hells of Flame as he could. Without using the Heretical God Force and without using the grandmist space, he wanted to see how many miles he could penetrate into the Hells of Flame.
Gathering his energy, Lin Ming rushed downwards at full speed.
15,000 miles…
16,000 miles…
The raging fire origin energy continually bombarded Lin Ming. However, all of this energy was blocked out by the Blue Lotus Domain. Once the devastating energy entered the Blue Lotus Domain, it was actually transformed into blue-green creation energy. This creation energy was astoundingly gentle as it entered his meridians and was easily absorbed by him.
Up to 18,000 miles, Lin Ming felt the entire process was extremely relaxed. But as he reached 19,000 miles, he suddenly felt a massive increase in pressure.
At this distance, the temperature would rise every 100 miles he traversed. The fire origin energy heavenly winds also became far more turbid and fierce. Lin Ming finally understood just what impact Yan Littlemoon had faced when she reached this distance.
“The perfect Ancient Phoenix bloodline really does live up to its fame.” Lin Ming exclaimed. As he reached 19,800 miles, the Blue Lotus Domain that surrounded him was compressed by the fire origin energy to three inches away from his body, unable to expand any further out. His protective true essence had also reached its limit; this was the deepest that he could go.
Lin Ming wasn’t in a hurry. There was a great deal of time until the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial ended; he could still slowly catch up.
At this moment, a loud sound echoed throughout the entire 18 Hells of Flame. The first stage of the Hells of Flame smelting trial had ended. All disciples were required to leave the 18 Hells of Flame and enter the Totem Tower.
Fire Spirit Star’s smelting trial was concentrated into two locations: one was the 18 Hells of Flame, and the other was the Totem Tower.
Only those disciples that reached at least 5000 miles deep into the 18 Flames of Hell had the qualifications to enter the Totem Tower.
The Totem Tower was a place used to store Ancient Phoenix Testaments, totem stones, and chaos stones. When Lin Ming was at Timeworn Phoenix City, the area where the totem stones were located was also similar.
But, the totem stones and chaos stones stored within Fire Spirit Star’s Totem Tower were of much richer variety and quality. A massive number of totem stones here were left behind by past Patriarchs of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. There were even many complete sets. When these sets were combined, they produced magnificent vast images of mountains and rivers, the greatest of which was 100 feet wide and tall. In Timeworn Phoenix City, the largest totem stone Lin Ming saw was only a square foot – they were simply incomparable.
At this time, all disciples with the necessary qualifications had converged in front of the Totem Tower. Fire Spirit Star’s Totem Tower was a hundred miles tall. It was extremely grand and magnificent when compared to structures that mortals built, but compared to the 18 Hells of Flame, it wasn’t anything at all.
“All young trial challengers, you have done well. You have managed to earn the qualifications to enter the Totem Tower. Before entering, I will first hand out rewards to the most outstanding disciples.”
In front of the many disciples, a black-robed messenger slowly floated down from the Totem Tower. He was the guardian of Fire Spirit Star. He was not an artifact spirit but a human, and also part of one of the Ancient Phoenix Clan’s most unique clans, the Justice Clan.
“Reward?”
As the junior disciples heard this, they were stunned. They hadn’t known that there would also be rewards passed out in the 18 Hells of Flame.
“Hehe, of course the 18 Hells of Flame smelting trial has rewards. During every Ancient Phoenix smelting trial, headquarters will pass out immense rewards. Depending on how great your ability is, your rewards will be equally great! And of you all, the junior disciples who have come here for the first time have the most luxurious rewards. Starting from the third level, every 5000 miles you reach will have rewards. The further you go, the better the rewards. If you can rush to the fifth level or even the sixth level of the 18 Hells of Flame, the rewards will be rich enough to make any of you go crazy. There is Ancient Phoenix blood, top grade saint artifacts, heavenly materials, Fire Elementals, source strength left behind by old Palace Masters before they underwent nirvana, Law fragments, and all sorts of other rewards of which you can choose depending on your strength!”
As the black-robed messenger spoke, many senior disciples who had already participated in the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial several times revealed envious looks. This sort of treatment was only given to the junior disciples. As for the senior disciples who had come to Fire Spirit Star multiple times already, the degree of rewards they received were much smaller.
“Enough. I shall now start passing out rewards. First will be the senior disciples. White Daohong and Lu Xiaoyun have entered the eleventh level of the Hells of Flame. They will each be rewarded one top grade saint artifact!”
To a disciple on the level of White Daohong and Lu Xiaoyun, they definitely did not lack top grade saint artifacts. But, it wasn’t easy to obtain another top grade saint artifact. Among the disciples of the Ancient Phoenix Clan, there wasn’t anybody that hated having too many top grade saint artifacts.
However, this revealed the differences between the degree of rewards between the junior disciples and the senior disciples. The senior disciples had to enter the eleventh level to be rewarded with a top grade saint artifact. They weren’t like the junior disciples who had greater rewards every 5000 miles.
“Next will be the junior disciples. The only one who obtained rewards is Yan Littlemoon. Yan Littlemoon has managed to reach 6000 miles deep into the third level of the Hells of Flame, and she has earned rewards for entering the third level as well as rewards for reaching another 5000 miles after that. The prize is a single drop of phoenix plume blood as well as a high-grade saint artifact. Of course, you may exchange them for treasures of equivalent value.”
After the black-robed messenger spoke, the disciples of the three branch palaces were shocked. Yan Littlemoon had actually managed to penetrate 6000 miles deep into the third level! They thought that Yan Littlemoon had just barely managed to enter the third level; they never imagined that she would continue so far. That sort of achievement was simply impossible to imagine!
“This Yan Littlemoon is too fierce! She reached 6000 miles deep into the third level! I just managed to enter the second level. This sort of difference is…”
A Praying Phoenix Palace disciple gulped. He was a disciple of Praying Phoenix Palace’s Phoenix Hall and was considered an outstanding individual amongst his peers. But when it came to Yan Littlemoon, it was simply impossible to compare them.
“No joke. The gap is just too great. This is the first time she entered the Hells of Flame, and yet besides her, no one else managed to obtain rewards. That includes even our Praying Phoenix Palace’s Xiao Whitesnow, Phoenix Cry Palace’s Lin Ming, and all the other Ninefall Divine Sea geniuses. No one among them was able to enter the third level; they were all defeated by Yan Littlemoon!”
“The perfect Ancient Phoenix bloodline lives up to its name. There’s no need to mention Yan Littlemoon starting even farther than we did, but in the next two years of training, I fear her progress will soar into the heavens and the gap between us will only become greater!”
The disciples of the three branch palaces discussed amongst themselves. This was a result that they couldn’t even be envious of if they wanted to. Against Yan Littlemoon, all these disciples felt powerless and defeated, as if they would never be able to catch up to her.
And at this time, Yan Littlemoon had started to pout, not seeming happy at all. This was a result that was natural for her to obtain, but the rewards were simply too junky. She had no interest at all in a high-grade saint artifact and a drop of phoenix plume blood.
Near Yan Littlemoon, Chu Redcloud smiled and said, “There indeed aren’t many rewards in the Hells of Flame’s third level. This is because most disciples will be able to enter the third level after one year in the smelting trial and similarly obtain these rewards. Thus, it’s impossible to reward anything that’s too valuable. The difference will truly show up at the fourth and fifth levels.”
The Ancient Phoenix Clan’s reasoning was to focus resources on the most extraordinary of talents. This was the practice that nearly all sects followed. As they said, the best steel should be used on the sword’s edge.
Thus, upon reaching the fourth and fifth levels, the degree of rewards rose by a dramatic scale! Of course, amongst the junior disciples of the three branch palaces, only the rarest and most amazing of individuals could obtain them.
This was Yan Littlemoon’s first time entering the Hells of Flame and she had gone 6000 miles deep into the third level. It was already a settled matter that she would enter the fourth and fifth levels. There might even be a faint hope that she could enter the sixth level!
“Alright. All disciples enter the Totem Tower and choose a totem stone that you wish to perceive through meditation! The totem stones of Totem Tower have been left behind by previous Great Elders and Patriarchs of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. They are divided into three ranks of mortal, earth, and heaven. There are also the most source chaos stones amongst them. Now, you shall enter according to the results you obtained in the first round of the Hells of Flame smelting trial. The first one to enter and choose will be Yan Littlemoon. Then, the disciples that entered the Hells of Flame’s second level will choose, and finally the disciples that entered the Hells of Flame’s first level will choose.”
The black-robed messenger led the many disciples into Totem Tower. As Lin Ming entered Totem Tower, he immediately felt an incomparably rich fire origin energy rush over him, leaving his heart racing.
The walls of Totem Tower were all a vivid fire red. They had been built with fire spirit jade, and the crystalline structures glowed with light. Every brick of the tower was sealed with an array formation. They were able to automatically absorb fire origin energy from Fire Spirit Star. As one investigated them, they could feel endless flames burning within.
The areas deep within the Totem Tower were covered with layers of space mazes and time mazes. Each maze was connected with encrypted array formation portals, and many paths led to illusions. There were countless array formation traps that littered the tower. Without a guide, if one went just a single step off track then they would be lost forever within the mazes of space and time, unable to come out.
“What rich and pure fire origin energy. Even if I didn’t come to meditate on the totem stones, just training here would give me twice the results for half the effort.”
“Indeed. This Totem Tower is one of the most precious treasures of our three branch palaces. Although it isn’t a spirit artifact, its value is actually above that of an ordinary spirit artifact. In order to construct it, there were countless fire-attribute materials that were used in doing so.
As the junior disciples of the three branch palaces saw this scene within the Totem Tower, all of them sighed in praise. Just training in this place could be considered a lucky chance.
The black-robed messenger led the disciples through the layers of twisting space. Finally, they stopped in front of a magnificent main hall. He said, “We’ve arrived. You will now begin to choose which totem stone you wish to meditate on. The first one to choose will be Yan Littlemoon!”