Chapter 476: Second Level
After Xiao Yan walked out of the training room, he realized that the entire tower was in an extremely busy situation. People were coming and going, perhaps as a result of the gong. Quite a number of doors to various training rooms, which were tightly shut when he arrived, were currently all open. A large group of people swarmed out and swiftly walked to the exit of the tower. Xiao Yan could see a faint red glow in the eyes of all of these people.
Xiao Yan hesitated a little as he stood outside the training room. After which, he squeezed into the human flow and swiftly walked toward the middle section of the tower. The tunnel to the next level should be around there. It was obvious that one can only have a short one day stay on this first level. It appeared that he needed to go down a couple of levels if he wanted to continue training.
Xiao Yan followed the human flow as he squeezed and moved. His body agilely rushed forward in an extremely small range. This continued for less than ten minutes when the human flow blocking in front of him gradually became thinner. He turned his body, and completely squeezed out of the human crowd.
A sigh of relief was released in Xiao Yan’s heart as he felt the feeling of being squeezed from all around disappear. His gaze had just swept all around him to look for the tunnel to enter into the next level when a human figure suddenly flashed in front of him. Immediately, a deep voice which held a complaining tone sounded by Xiao Yan’s ear, “You, this fellow, do you not know the rules? Don’t tell me that you don’t know that it is forbidden to randomly charge around within the tower after the gong has sounded?”
The human figure that appeared in front of him caused Xiao Yan to hurriedly stop. He lifted his gaze, only to realize that the other party was a middle-aged man who was around the same age as Hou Hu. He similarly wore an instructor badge on his chest. It looked like he should be similar to Hou Hu, an instructor who was in charge of order within the tower.
“Instructor…”
Since the other party was an instructor, Xiao Yan naturally did not dare to randomly roam around. However, he had just opened his mouth to explain when this instructor, whose face was a heavy as water, waved his hand. He frowned and said, “There is no need to say anything. Since the training is over, you should go back and rest. Wait until the hidden Fire Poison has been resolved tomorrow before you come back to the tower to train. The tower is going to begin the inspection procedure soon. If you are discovered to be still staying here, your ‘Fire Energy’ will be deducted.”
Hidden Fire Poison should be the wild and violent factor that Hou Hu had mentioned. Although the name in which it was referred to was dissimilar, the actual meaning was about the same.
Seeing the stern face of this instructor, Xiao Yan could not help but feel a little headache. However, it was fortunate that the headache did not last very long before it was resolved by a voice.
“Huh? Xiao Yan? Why are you still here?” Xiao Yan’s heart immediately rejoiced when he heard this voice. He eyed Hou Hu who was striding over and hurriedly threw an expression at him.
There was some doubt in Hou Hu’s heart when he saw Xiao Yan winking at him. He walked forward and smiled as he said toward the middle-aged large man who was blocking Xiao Yan, “Qin Li, let me handle it, you can go and do your stuff.”
Hearing this, that instructor hesitated a moment. His gaze swept over Xiao Yan’s body and immediately nodded, “Alright. You need to quickly get him out. Otherwise, if he is discovered during the inspection, we will be reprimanded by Elder Liu.”
“Yes.” Hou Hu nodded.
That instructor Qin Li only turned around and left after seeing Hou Hu nodding his head.
After his gaze saw Qin Li vanish around a corner, Hou Hu turned his gaze toward Xiao Yan and spoke in an uncertain manner, “ Brother Xiao Yan, isn’t your training over? Why are you still wandering around here?”
“Hee hee, Brother Hou, I have something that I wish to ask for your help with.” Xiao Yan leaned forward a little and hinted with a smile.
“What is the matter about?” Hou Hu blinked his eyes and asked.
“Hee hee, Brother Hou, you should also know that with my current strength, I am unable to obtain any effects by training on the first level. Hence, I wish to go a few levels down to train. May I know if you can accomodate me?” Xiao Yan asked softly.
“Go a couple of levels down?”
Hou Hu was startled when he heard this. He immediately shook his head and said, “Brother Xiao Yan, I know that the effect of training at the first level is not very notable for someone of your strength. However, according to the rules, no matter how strong the new students are, they must train at the first level for one week before that can enter and train in the few levels below. Regardless of what your strength is like, the grilling of the Heart Flame would ultimately cause the Dou Qi to be filled with some Fire Poison. This thing cannot be taken lightly. During these many years in the Inner Academy, there had been quite a number of people who have suffered irreversible losses because of the accumulation of the Fire Posion.”
“Additionally, the grilling of the Heart Flame also requires some time to get used to. In this ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower,’ the strength of the Heart Flame and its degree of heat are increased exponentially every level down. You have not gotten used to the first level. It would be a little too risky to go down.”
After hearing this large chunk of words from Hou Hu, Xiao Yan immediately felt a giddiness in his head. A long while later, he helplessly shook his head, pointed at his eyes and said, “Old Brother Hou, the Qi Method which I practice may not be of a high class but it has a little special effect; it has a certain resistance toward poisons like the Fire Poison. Hence, you need not worry that I will be injured in any way because of the Fire Poison. As for adaptation, you can also rest assured. I have heard that usually those who are at the strength of around a five star Da Dou Shi would usually be able to enter the third level to train. I am now only entering the second level. There would not be too much of an effect.”
Hou Hu was stunned as he stared at Xiao Yan’s dark black, ink-like eyes. After working in the Inner Academy for so many years, he understood the Fire Poison extremely well. Hence, as long as he saw the other party’s eyes once, he would be able to identify whether there was Fire Poison in a person’s body. However, when he looked at Xiao Yan’s eyes at this moment, it appeared that Xiao Yan had really not been affected by the erosion of the Fire Posion.
“Alright, I believe that you have a resistance to Fire Poison. However, even if this is the case, it does not really follow the rules…” It was a long while later before Hou Hu sighed and nodded as he spoke somewhat grudgingly.
Seeing Hou Hu’s indecisive manner, Xiao Yan took a step forward. He flipped his hand and another jade bottle was stuffed into Hou Hu’s hands without leaving a trace. He smiled and said, “Brother Hou. You frequently work inside this tower. Although you are strong, it is likely that it is extremely difficult for the Fire Poison that your body absorbs everyday to disappear. This bottle of medicinal pill is called ‘Ice Spirit Pill.’ It may not be of a high tier but it has the effect of suppressing Fire Poison.”
Hou Hu’s heart pounded when a jade bottle was once again stuffed into his hand. After he heard Xiao Yan explain the effect of this medicinal pill, the hand of his which was holding the jade bottle immediately tightened. It appeared that he was afraid that it would immediately flee. It was just as Xiao Yan had said. As they frequently worked in this tower, the Fire Poison that the instructors suffered from was actually much more serious than the students. Moreover, there was the additional issue of not having sufficient rest occasionally. Hence, it was difficult to completely resolve the Fire Poison issue in them. After continuing in this manner for a long while, it was unavoidable that the flame in their hearts would rise occasionally, resulting in problems during their training.
Everyone knew the danger should something go wrong with one’s training. Hence, when Hou Hu came to know that this medicinal pill actually contained the effect of suppressing Fire Poison, his heart was filled with surprise and joy at this moment.
Although it merely had a suppression effect and could not expel the Fire Poison, Hou Hu was still extremely satisfied. Therefore, after musing for a while, he laughed bitterly and sighed. His gaze eyed Xiao Yan somewhat strangely and said, “The things that you take out always cause people to be reluctant to reject your requests. Ah, alright. I will take a risk for you today. Follow me!”
Once he said that, Hou Hu’s eyes swiftly swept all around him. After which, he pulled Xiao Yan, passed through a corner before swiftly walking to a spot in the middle of the room.
Xiao Yan heaved a long sigh of relief as he followed behind Hou Hu. The refinement of this ‘Ice Spirit Pill’ may be a little complicated, but it was not difficult. It was really unexpected that it actually had such a unique effect when it was used to bribe people. It really was a situation of something being used in the most suitable area.
After following behind Hou Hu for nearly five minutes, Xiao Yan finally sensed that the former had slowly reduced his pace. His eyes looked to the front and was coincidentally able to see that there was a spiral-shaped staircase at a corner not far away. It was likely the entrance to the next level.
“Fortunately, I am guarding the door today. Otherwise, I really could not let you down. Hei, don’t move, be careful. There is a space glass placed here. You will only be rebounded by the force contained on it if you randomly charge in. The fate of that is to be, at the very least, seriously injured.” Hou Hu swiftly walked to the entrance to the stairs. He said those words before he hurriedly held Xiao Yan who wanted to walk around him.
Only after being reminded by Hou Hu did Xiao Yan realize that the space at the entrance indeed had a faint feeling of being distorted. Immediately, he could not help but release cold sweat from being shocked. The interior of this ‘Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’ really had various mechanisms and traps all around. If one was not careful, one would end up being seriously injured.
After shocking Xiao Yan until he was still, Hou Hu extended his hand and removed the badge on his chest before he carefully placed it in a hidden notch on a wall to the side.
As the badge pressed on it, a slight fluctuation suddenly appeared in the space in front. In the time it took to blink a couple of times, Xiao Yan realized that the distorted space feeling had already completely disappeared.
“Can I go in now?” Xiao Yan carefully asked.
“Yes, the space glass has already been removed. You can now go down by yourself. After you enter, I need to continue watching this place. Only tomorrow morning when the tower door opens will this place be opened.” Hou Hu nodded and said.
“Brother Hou Hu, thank you very much.” Xiao Yan rejoiced when he heard this. He cupped his hands toward Hou Hu with gratitude before carefully extending his hand into the empty space in front of him. He touched around before he felt at ease as he walked down the stairs.
“Remember, if you cannot endure the grilling of the Heart Flame at the second level, find a place to rest. Come back up to train after the tower is opened tomorrow.” Hou Hu reminded Xiao Yan.
“Ke ke, I understand. Thank you very much Brother Hou.” Hou Hu’s kind reminder caused Xiao Yan to smile and nod his head. He once again cupped his hands toward the former. With a flash of his body, he entered into the corner of the spiral staircase and disappeared.
Hou Hu tossed the jade bottle in his hand before carefully storing it away. He eyed the spot which Xiao Yan had disappeared from and sighed gently. In a soft voice, he said, “Little fellow, training in the lower levels may allow you to train faster but that is on the precondition that you can withstand the Heart Flame…”
“Hopefully, you will really be able to endure…”