Chapter 464: Shock
In the ancient tower, where the light was mild, a group of people had gathered around Xiao Yan and Wu Hao, whose eyes were tightly shut. Among them, they emitted soft laughter and had numerous private conversations.
“Make way, make way. Elder Liu is coming through.” A cry suddenly sounded from outside the crowd. Immediately, the crowd hurriedly split and formed a small path. Within this tower the position of an Elder was the greatest. Whoever dared to offend them would not come to a good end. By just randomly borrowing some of the power of the position to obstruct you, he could cause you to have no tears left to cry, even if you wanted to.
As the human crowd parted, an old man in simple and rough clothes slowly walked in. That smiling gaze of his swept across Xiao Yan’s and Wu Hao’s stiffened and unmoving bodies. He laughed and said, “There are really two little fellows who didn’t know the might of the heavens and the earth (overestimate their abilities). They actually did not even bother to first report their initial attempt at entering the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.’ This hardship is something that they will suffer unduly.”
“Hee hee, there are always reckless new students every year who impatiently enter the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.’ They deserve to suffer this hardship…” A gloating laughter erupted from the human crowd. Although the training speed within the tower was rather fast, it was, after all, still a little boring. These older students were naturally happy to see the situation in front of them, new students entering and providing them some entertainment.
“The new students have just entered the Inner Academy. It is only natural that they were unaware of the rules here. What is there to laugh about?”
A faint, clear voice suddenly rang out. Everyone’s gaze immediately followed the voice and took a look, only to see a young lady wearing a silver-colored dress. The young lady was tall. Her face may have appeared skinny, but it was that of a rare beauty. Her skin was white as snow and her eyebrows were like a painting. The thing that caused people the greatest surprise was that this lady’s long hair, which gathered at her waist, was actually a rare silver color. The silver-colored hair matched her silver-colored dress, causing her entire body to release a faint, cold disposition that repelled people such that they were thousands of kilometers away from her. It caused others to have a feeling of being able to see from afar, but unable to touch.
Everyone’s gazes swept across this silver dressed woman while maintaining their silence. Their eyes initially flashed with adoration that a man would have for a woman. However, there was also fear mixed in with that adoration.
After this silver-dressed lady opened her mouth, the gloating laughter nearly disappeared immediately. From this, it could be seen that this lady should belong to a powerful faction. Otherwise, in this place where strength was honored, just her pretty appearance was insufficient to cause people around to be afraid.
“Ke ke, it is actually Yue girl. This old me actually did not see you earlier. This is a group of people who are so free that they are in need of a beating. What is there to talk to them about?” That Elder Liu also turned his gaze toward the silver-dressed lady when he heard the voice. He was slightly startled before he immediately laughed.
“Elder Liu.”
That silver-dressed lady did not maintain her cold indifferentness when faced with Elder Liu. A faint epiphyllum-like smile appeared on her face, causing the surrounding students to be a little absent-minded when they saw this smile.
“Yue girl, which level do you intend to enter during this visit?” Elder Liu glanced at the stiffened bodies of Xiao Yan and Wu Hao before he immediately smiled and asked the silver-dressed lady. His attitude was clearly much friendlier than when treating other students.
“The sixth level.” The lady in the silver dress hesitated a little before replying.
“The sixth level? That is a level that one must have the strength of a six star Dou Ling before entering. Don’t tell me that Senior Han Yue has already reached such a level?” The lady’s words immediately caused waves of surprised wows to be emitted from the surrounding crowd.
“Uh?” That Elder Liu was also somewhat surprised at the reply of the silver-dressed lady. His eyes, which had a hidden glint, slowly swept over the latter’s body. A moment later, he sighed, “Looks like within a few years, you, girl, will have the qualification to run for the rank of an Elder in the Inner Academy. This kind of training talent and speed really cause people to be amazed.”
“It is all thanks to the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.’ If I were to train by myself, it is likely that I would, at the very most, have just entered the Dou Ling class.” The silver-dressed lady shook her head. She immediately turned her gaze toward Xiao Yan and Wu Hao in the crowd. She parted her red lips slightly, “Elder Liu, why don’t you first remove these people from being grilled by the Heart Flame. Otherwise, there may be quite a lot of damage to their bodies if you’re too late.”
Elder Liu shook his head when he heard this. He smiled and said, “Let’s wait awhile. Girl, how long did you endure being grilled by the Heart Flame when you first entered the ‘Blazing Flame Qi Refining Tower’ back then?”
Han Yue’s eyebrows were knit slightly. She mused for a moment before saying, “Seventeen minutes. Moreover, that was because there was someone who warned me beforehand when I was entering the tower.”
“When one first enters the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower,’ it is actually possible to judge one’s potential. Since all the new students don’t know how to cause the Heart Flame to disappear when they are first burned by it, therefore, those who can endure longer meant that their resistance to the Heart Flame is stronger. This is a great benefit toward them when they enter and train within the tower in the future. Of course, nothing is absolute. This cannot be considered to be absolutely accurate. However, it can be considered a vague test…”
Elder Liu smiled and replied, “Currently these two people appeared to have endured for eight minutes already, right? Ah. This can already be considered not bad.”
“Elder Su wants to test their limits.”
“Ah, let’s try… if I guess correctly, this black-robed young man should be that Xiao Yan, the little fellow who led this year’s new students in this ‘Fire Energy Hunting Competition’ and defeated all the older students, including both ‘Black White Evil Stopper’ groups. Recently, he is also frequently mentioned among us Elders.” Elder Liu glanced at the enormous Heavy Xuan Ruler behind Xiao Yan’s back and smiled as he spoke.
“He is that Xiao Yan?” Hearing Elder Liu’s words, not only the surrounding older students emitted numerous exclamations, but a surprise also flashed across the pupils of the cold and indifferent Han Yue.
Elder Liu nodded with a smile. His gaze paused on Xiao Yan and Wu Hao. Both of his hands were inserted in his sleeves as he waited for the arrival of their limit.
“Yue girl, if you have something to do, then please descend the tower. It is alright with just me here.” As Elder Liu waited, he was afraid of delaying Han Yue’s training time. Thus, he smiled and encouraged her to go.
“It’s fine. I also want to see just how long this new student, who has quite a great reputation even before he entered the Inner Academy, can endure.” Han Yue shook her head slightly. A pair of cool eyes swept over Xiao Yan and Wu Hao. During these few days, she had also heard quite a lot of news regarding this batch of new students. They were able to defeat all the older students group in the ‘Fire Energy Hunting Competition’ while something like this never seemed to have appeared during these recent years. Hence, she had some interest in the leader of the new students, whom she had heard of but never met.
Of course, she was not the only one who had such interests. After hearing Elder Liu revealing Xiao Yan’s identity, the surrounding older students, who originally wanted to leave, similarly paused their footsteps. Each of them threw gazes, which contained various emotions, toward the two people present. They also wanted to see whether these fellows the strength they were rumored to have.
Due to some people spreading Xiao Yan’s identity, there were older students who repeatedly came over during the waiting time. Hence, the circle grew increasingly larger. If it were not for the space within this tower being extremely spacious, it was likely that congestion would really be formed.
As time slowly flowed by, the shock in the eyes of these observers around also grew increasingly rich. This was because until this moment, both of them had actually endured for fourteen minutes. Moreover, their faces looked like burning charcoal but they did not appear to have reached their limit.
“Not bad indeed…” Elder Liu pulled at his beard and nodded with a smile. His eyes also contained some admiration.
Time continued to flow. However, at the sixteen minute mark, Wu Hao’s body suddenly trembled slightly. Seeing this scene, the surrounding students knew clearly that it was likely that Wu Hao had reached his limit.
Seeing his reaction, Elder Liu extended his eagle-claw like, shriveled right hand. He aimed at Wu Hao’s body, which had just begun to tremble, across the empty air. On the tip of his finger was a wisp of creamy white flames which slowly surfaced. The flames agglomerated at the tip of his finger to finally form a repeatedly rotating spinning fire.
Elder Liu’s finger gently flicked the spinning fire. He saw the spinning fire swiftly leave his hand and suspended a foot away from Wu Hao’s heart.
“Come out!”
Elder Liu’s palm rotated slightly as he let out a soft cry. One could only see the cream-colored flame swiftly spinning and waves of suction force spread out. Finally, under the pulling force of this flame, a wisp of somewhat twisted invisible flames were forcefully pulled from Wu Hao’s heart. Finally, it was sucked into the spinning flame and forcefully crushed into nothingness.
As that wisp of invisible flame left his body, Wu Hao’s trembling body immediately stilled. His feet became weak, and his butt sank to the ground. The burning charcoal expression also swiftly disappeared. He was panting coarsely, like a wild bull, emitting a ‘hu hu’ sound. At this moment, his body and spirit were in an extremely exhausted condition and he did not have the slightest mood to look at the crowd around him.
“Ke ke, sixteen minutes. Moreover this is after being eroded by the Heart Flame without any precautions. This result is not bad.” Elder Liu smiled and praised as he eyed Wu Hao, who was seated on the ground, “This batch of new students seems to really be a little stronger than previous batches.”
Han Yue who stood nearby also nodded. The endurance of this new student for the Heart Flame might have exceeded hers by one head. After all, although she had endured for seventeen minutes, there was someone who had told her what she should do when she first entered the ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.’ This was why she could endure for so long. Hence, she could have been considered to have cheated.
“That Xiao Yan… is actually able to continue enduring? This kind of fire resistance could even be comparable to that fellow…” Han Yue’s pupils once again shifted toward Xiao Yan, whose eyes were still shut, as she muttered in a soft shocked manner.
“No wonder he was able to lead the new students to defeat the older student groups. This little fellow does indeed have some ability.”
Elder Su smiled as he eyed Xiao Yan, who was still enduring without displaying any signs of having reached his limit. His hands were once again inserted into his sleeves as he said, “Good. Today, the old me wants to see just how long you can actually endure.”
However, these words of Elder Liu had just sounded when everyone saw Xiao Yan’s body suddenly tremble. Only then did they sigh in relief within their hearts. Fortunately, this fellow did not do anything as shockingly similar as when he led the new students to defeat the older students. Otherwise, it would be too much of a blow to those who had endured for less than ten minutes back then.
“Ugh…”
Elder Liu was startled when he saw this. He immediately shook his head in disappointment as he laughed bitterly, “My expectations were indeed a little too high…”
“Elder Liu, it has been nearly eighteen minutes. This kind of resistance toward the Heart Flame is already considered great. One can hardly find anyone like this within the Inner Academy.” Seeing Elder Liu’s eyes, Han Yue could not help but speak in a helpless manner. Did the words he say not cause the other students to feel ashamed in their hearts?
“Hee hee, it is indeed very good…” Elder Liu laughed in an embarrassed manner. He waved his hand and a cream white-colored spinning fire surfaced. He flicked his finger and the spinning fire once again stopped in front of Xiao Yan’s heart.
The faint, cream white fire shone on Xiao Yan’s ember red face until he appeared a little strange.
“Come out!”
Another soft cry sounded. The spinning fire suddenly spun wildly. However, at this moment, something that caused people to be stunned appeared extremely abruptly!
As the spinning fire spun, the invisible flames, similar to what everyone expected to see did not appear. Instead, after being dull for an instant, a large cluster of green-colored flames suddenly came surging out of Xiao Yan’s body without any forewarning. Finally, it formed a green-colored wave. In one gulp, it swallowed the cream white-colored flames belonging to Elder Liu.
Not only did the white-colored flame fail to successfully forcefully crush the Green Flame like it did earlier, but was instead swallowed without being able to resist. This strange scene caused the surrounding students to be stunned.
After the ‘Green Lotus Core Flame’ swallowed the cream-colored flame, it did not immediately disappear. When no one controlled it, it appeared to have the function to automatically protect its owner. Hence, after it swallowed the cream-colored flame, which posed as a threat toward Xiao Yan, it moved in the direction of the attacking breath, and directly swept toward Elder Liu. The energy, which instantly erupted not only caused the surrounding students to become pale from the shock, but also caused Elder Liu’s face to move a little.
“Move aside!”
The green-colored flame came sweeping over. When Elder Liu felt its indiscriminate attack, he hurriedly cried out loudly.
Hearing Elder Liu’s cry, the surrounding students hurriedly pulled back. In an instant, the inner region of the tower became chaotic. One by one, numerous human figures hurriedly pulled back. They were afraid that the green-colored flame of unknown source would sweep them up.
Elder Liu’s face became solemn when he saw the green-colored flame sweeping toward him. He waved both his hands and a cream-colored flame was spat out from his hand. Finally, it swiftly formed a fire barrier. He flung his hand and covered Xiao Yan and the green-colored flame, which had come sweeping over, within it.
The green-colored flame still came chasing over endlessly. Finally, under everyone’s gaze, it collided with that cream-colored flame barrier.
“Bang!”
The moment they came into contact, a wild, violent energy wave surged out, shaking the fire barrier until it trembled swiftly. The enormous, explosive sound carried a turbulent heat wave as it shook the entire ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’ until it began to quiver a little!
Before Han Yue’s body pulled back, Dou Qi had swiftly agglomerated into an energy barrier of light on her body. Ripples were repeatedly formed on the energy barrier when she received the residual wave of the energy attack. It was fortunate that it did not cause her body any harm…
Han Yue’s body swiftly pulled back dozens of steps. Only when she heard the loud sound gradually fading did she hurriedly throw her gaze over to where the explosion occurred. She was slightly startled after seeing that clear scene. She immediately opened her mouth slightly. Her heart was filled with astonishment.