The entire trial by fire shook violently, including the desert, the swamp, the plain and the jungle!

Of the hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators who had survived all of the dangers thus far, most had either gotten lucky, or possessed extraordinary cultivation bases or intelligence.

However, all of them were deeply shaken by what was happening. They weren’t the only ones to react in such a way. The other living beings who existed within the trial by fire were trembling at the realization that a huge catastrophe was imminent. Soon, screams and cries began to rise up from within the lands of the trial by fire.

“What’s happening?!?!”

“The lands are quaking, and even the sky is churning. What’s going on!?”

By now, most of the surviving cultivators had gathered into groups of three, four, or five. Furthermore, many such groups had already set up methods of communicating with each other. After all, in a dangerous place like this where no one knew what exactly was going on, it was more important than ever to stay abreast of events elsewhere.

Therefore, many people began to pull out transmission jade slips and send messages back and forth.

Before long, shocking news began to spread....

“Someone... found the exit to the trial by fire. It’s in the desert! However, a wall is blocking the way out, and we need to join forces to break through it!!” It was astonishing news. After all, because of how dangerous this trial by fire was proving to be, many people had already begun to give in to despair.

Now that the exit had been found, countless eyes went bloodshot. Some people were still thinking about the prizes at stake, and others just wanted to escape. Either way, all of them began to head toward the desert.

Bai Lin, Zhao Tianjiao, and various other powerful experts from the other rivers all began to head in the same direction.

Master Thousand-Ghost was currently in the swamp when he got the news. His eyes flickered as he suddenly transformed into a mist of ghosts that headed toward the desert, taking Sun Wu, Big Fatty Zhang, and Song Que with him.

In the jungle, Guru Spirit Immortal from the Exalted Zodiac Moon Domination Sect transformed into a shooting star that split the air in the direction of the desert.

On the vast plain, Du Lingfei and her group all looked in the direction of the desert. The young man in the group was clearly very excited, and his eyes began to shine brightly.

“There it is... at long last!” He threw his head back and laughed uproariously, his energy surging, although he kept it suppressed. Finally, he flicked his sleeve, picking the rest of the group up with power far beyond that of a deva as he flew up into the air.

In that same moment, a young woman could be seen in the desert, sitting atop a huge sandworm, a broad smile covering her face. She waved her finger at the sandworm, which immediately withered up and transformed into black smoke that she absorbed into her finger. Shockingly, she was surrounded by tens of thousands of sandworms, although instead of their usual vicious deportment, they all were trembling in terror at her aura.

“I used to raise you little earthworms to feed my three ghosts. Who would ever have thought that you would grow up to be so big?” A smile spread out across the young woman’s fair face.

She was none other than... Hou Xiaomei!

However, if Bai Xiaochun were here to see her, he would immediately recognize that her aura was not that of Hou Xiaomei!

“Well I guess it doesn’t matter... as long as I’m back.” She covered her smile with her hand, and yet, that didn’t conceal... her bizarre dual pupils!! Chuckling, she blurred into motion, heading toward the location of the exit that had been found in the desert.

As everyone in the trial by fire stirred into motion, Bai Xiaochun and the twin Master Cloud Lightnings both received messages via jade slip.

“Someone found the exit!” The twin Master Cloud Lightnings’ eyes went wide. Ignoring Bai Xiaochun, they both turned and blasted off into the distance.

The news had come to Bai Xiaochun from Big Fatty Zhang, who, thanks to Master Thousand-Ghost, was now able to send messages at a much greater range. Bai Xiaochun looked at the information, and his heart began to thump in his chest.

“The exit is in the desert? But I went through the whole desert and never found a thing!” He suddenly felt bad that he hadn’t taken a bit more time to thoroughly search the desert....

“Well, too late to worry about it now....” he thought, sighing. Of course, by this point, everyone in the entire trial by fire would be hurrying in the same direction.

Considering how far away he was right now, it didn’t seem there would be much of a chance to come out as a winner. Of all the places the exit could have appeared, why did it have to show up in the desert?

“Wait. No. There should still be time! I have to at least go check it out!” Gritting his teeth, he also began to speed toward the desert.

As he traveled along, strange things began to happen long before he even got close to the desert. Rumbling sounds echoed out, and a shocking aura began to fill the air.

Off in the direction of the desert, the sky had begun to turn yellow, and furthermore, a brilliant light appeared that was apparently some sort of defensive shield.

The color of the sky and the defensive shield seemed to be connected in some way.

“What kind of place is this exit? Why does it have a shield?”

In almost the same moment that the shield appeared, the swamp, plain, and jungle all began to rot and wither!

In the plain, over which Bai Xiaochun currently flew, the grass began to dry up and die, revealing black soil beneath. The living beings that remained in the plain all trembled and passed away. The entire plain... was transforming into a land of death!!

Even the black soil seemed to lose any life that was in it. It began to dry up and crack....

Bai Xiaochun was completely shaken by what he was seeing.

It wasn’t just the plain. Any living beings that remained in the swamp were dying, and the swamp itself was going dry. Cracking sounds could be heard as crevices opened up everywhere....

It was also the same in the jungle.

It only took a few breaths’ worth of time for the entire trial by fire, with the exception of the desert, to be transformed into a realm of death!

Bai Xiaochun wasn’t the only one to be shocked by this. All of the cultivators hurrying toward the desert felt very ill premonitions because of the withering, dying lands around them.

“What the hell kind of place is this?!”

A powerful aura of death began to fill the air, causing the entire world they were in to begin to grow dark and sinister, as if it were a realm of ghosts!

Everything was happening too quickly. Within moments, no clouds were visible in the sky, only turbid darkness filled with the faint images of evil ghosts, who looked down on the land with greed and hunger!

Because of how the other three areas were withering and dying, the brightly lit desert became more eye-catching than ever.

By now, the cultivators flying toward the desert had abandoned all thoughts of becoming some apprentice of the Celestial. They just wanted to escape with their lives!

Bai Xiaochun was so nervous he was panting. Furthermore, he was actually familiar with this particular sinister aura, although right now he was too flustered to think about that. After a few hours passed, he was in the swamp, continuing on toward the desert, when he noticed something off in the distance!

A spot of white light could be seen on the ground, very eye-catching because of the darkness around it. Before, the swamp had been filled with murky liquid and decomposing soil. Because of that, this light hadn’t been visible. But now... with the lands withering away, and crevices opening up everywhere... that white light was very conspicuous.

“What’s that?” Bai Xiaochun thought, surprised. He changed directions, flying over until he was above the very spot with the light. At that point, the ground shook, shifting the soil to reveal... a magical device!!

It was... a copper coin!!

The instant Bai Xiaochun saw that, his eyes went as wide as saucers, and his mind began to spin!

“Impossible!!”

---

Note from Er Gen:

Guess whose copper coin that is? It’s been there for a while now. Hahaha!