Chapter 991 - Catching Up

The scarlet light was filling the depths of the desert.

Looking at the desert that stretched as far as the eye could see, the end was finally starting to appear. At the end of it was a massive scarlet light that enveloped down. It was a naturally formed barrier that split heavens and earth apart.

The temperature of the scarlet light was clearly extremely high, and as the lustre spread out, it had caused space to distort, as if it wanted to incinerate everything within.

The scarlet light that spread out in the desert was nothing compared to this scarlet barrier.

At this moment, there were several silhouettes that stood in the sky before the scarlet barrier and their faces were somewhat unsightly as they looked at the scarlet barrier.

“This is the barrier that leads to the second level...”

Standing at the front, Zong Teng stood in the sky, holding onto the golden umbrella that had a golden roc spreading its wings, which negated the majority of the scarlet barrier. But even so, his entire body was covered in beads of sweat and his skin was extremely dry. Even his face had turned abnormally red.

In another corner of this region, Mo Feng, Han Shan of the Demonic Rhino Clan and Xu Kun of the Sky Elephant Clan had arrived and they looked at the scarlet barrier before them with grave expressions.

They could naturally sense how hard it would be for them to get through this scarlet barrier. The high temperature was something that even they wouldn’t dare to underestimate. If they were careless, they might be stripped of a layer of skin.

Behind them, there were still several streaks of light flying over, but facing the obstruction of this scarlet barrier, no one dared to enter for the moment.

However, the scarlet barrier only seemed to envelop a thousand feet in radius.

If it was at a normal time, it would only take a blink of an eye for them to travel this distance. But in this place, a thousand feet was similar to the path of death, which made them feel fearful...

The silence in this region lasted for a long time, before everyone decided not to stay any longer. Zong Teng was the first to gnashed his teeth and did not speak a word. His body blossomed with a golden lustre and a pair of golden wings unfolded behind him. On the surface of his body, golden layers of feathers started to appear that enveloped him like armour.

After utilising this defence, Zong Teng was still not assured, but he tossed the golden umbrella in his hand. As the golden light flickered, a golden lustre had enveloped him.

After fortifying himself with layers of defences, only then did Zong Teng feel assured and he stepped into the scarlet light without any hesitation.

Tssssk! Tsssk!

In that instant when he stepped into the scarlet light, Zong Teng’s face had instantly distorted as a cloud of white smoke rose from his body. Even the golden layers of feathers had started to melt at this moment.

The intense pain had made Zong Teng feel like his scalp was exploding.

However, Zong Teng was, after all, a genius of the Sky Roc Clan. So he would naturally not retreat so easily, since he had activated all his defences and charged towards the scarlet light.

Behind him, when Han Shan and Xu Kun saw this scene, they didn’t want to allow Zong Teng to get through, so they had brought out their various means, fortifying themselves and charged out as well.

“Arghhhh!”

But evidently, there was someone that underestimated the scarlet light. Soon after they stepped into it, they had issued a shriek after being burnt. As the white smoke rose, it practically felt like he was burning. Although his entire body wasn’t incinerated, the Spiritual Energy in his body had dimmed down and he had clearly been heavily injured.

This commotion had caused the hearts of Han Shan and the rest to shiver and they became even more careful, slowing down their speed as they tried to move through the scarlet light.

While Zong Teng and the rest were slowly moving through the scarlet light, they had suddenly looked towards the distance at their rear and their brows lightly knitted together. At that moment, they had felt a peculiar Spiritual Energy fluctuation spreading out...

Did someone come?

“Looks like Zong Teng, Han Shan and the rest have reached the end of the first level. As long as they can endure this, they will be able to move on to the second level...”

At this moment, everyone outside the Body Refining Pagoda was immersed in a discussion as they watched the light dots slow down. But they weren’t worried, since Zong Teng, Han Shan and the rest were all geniuses of their clans, thus they came well-prepared. As long as they’re careful, it should be a certainty for them to get to the second level.

“Mhm?”

While everyone was paying attention to Zong Teng and the rest, an exclamation suddenly rang out, “That Mu Chen has increased his speed!”

Everyone was startled and had shifted their eyes and saw that the dot of light that was slowly travelling behind the others had started to speed up.

“Heh. Finally moving? But by the time he catches up to them, the rest will probably be on the second level. Such an achievement, don’t mention about obtaining any opportunities.” When Liu Qing of the Sky Roc Clan saw this scene, she mocked.

When she finished speaking, a commotion broke out in the surrounding and many experts had a change in their expressions. That’s because they could see the dot of light travelling at an unbelievable speed. It was speeding towards the end of the first level so swiftly that the long torment on the first level no longer seemed to obstruct him.

“What a fast speed!”

“He’s going even faster than Zong Teng and the rest!”

“According to this speed, he will probably soon catch up to Zong Teng, Han Shan and the rest!”

“How is that possible? He isn’t afraid of the torment on the first level by travelling at this speed?”

Exclamations incessantly resounded and everyone had disbelief on their faces. They did not expect that the person that they had practically given up on would be so mighty all of a sudden at this moment...

Liu Qing’s face had turned pale from the commotion and her gaze was fixed onto the swiftly moving light dot, before gnashing her teeth. “What’s the use of travelling so fast? In the end, he still won’t be able to get through the first barrier!”

In another corner, Nine Nether and Mo Ling felt heavily relieved of breath. Since that was the case, Mu Chen still had the chance to strive with the rest. It’s just that they didn’t know what that fellow was doing when he was moving like a snail...

Under everyone’s attention, the last dot, which was lagging behind, was swiftly catching up to the other nine dots of light...

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

...

In the massive barrier of scarlet light, Zong Teng and the rest were carefully moving with the layers of defences covering them, obstructing the terrifying dissolving energy of the scarlet light.

“Mhm?!”

And at this moment, their faces had suddenly changed and they had abruptly turned their heads back. They were shocked to see a silhouette flying over from the distant sky. In just ten-odd breaths, he was already outside the scarlet barrier.

The speed of that silhouette made them startled. Who was so daring to travel so fast under the terrifying scarlet light, wasn’t he afraid of being incinerated to ashes?

“That’s...” As the numerous gazes shot over, their pupils suddenly contracted.

That silhouette gradually cleared up and a young figure appeared before their sight.

“It’s that human brat!”

“It’s actually that Mu Chen?!”

Zong Teng’s pupils contracted and his eyes turned darker. At the same time, he felt a little disbelief. How did Mu Chen manage to catch up in such a short period of time after being shaken off by them? This speed was something that even he was inferior to!

When Mo Feng saw this scene, he felt relieved in his heart. Mu Chen was truly a person that brought one surprise after another.

“Hmph, so what if he managed to catch up. The scarlet light here is several times more powerful than the light outside. With the physique of a human, he will be dissolved by the scarlet light if he dares to step in.” Someone coldly snorted in their heart. Clearly, that person did not think that Mu Chen would dare to enter the barrier of scarlet light. After all, even they had to use several defences before they could slowly move in.

However, as they coldly snorted, Mu Chen lightly smiled outside the scarlet barrier, before he stepped into the scarlet light under numerous widened eyes.

“He’s simply courting death! He actually dared to enter based on his physical body, without even utilising his Spiritual Energy?!” When they saw how he moved, several people had widened their eyes and waited for Mu Chen to die.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

When Mu Chen stepped into the scarlet light, the terrifying temperature immediately corroded over, which made him feel like he was suffocating as a white smoke immediately rose on the surface of his body. His skin was being burnt and destroyed as a sizzling noise resounded, making one’s hair to stand from his body, as he was being incinerated.

The terrifying pain had wreaked havoc once again.

Mu Chen’s face instantly distorted, but he immediately pulled the corner of his lips. The scarlet light was clearly more overbearing than it was outside.

However, his resistance for the scarlet light had already been greatly strengthened through the period of having his body previously burnt and the powerful adaptability from the Dragon-Phoenix Physique.

Therefore, when he raised his head, he gently smiled when he looked at those pitying and ridiculing gazes. Shortly after, the True Dragon Tattoo on his chest wandered and his entire body felt like it was awakening at this moment. As his muscles twitched, it was absorbing the scarlet light energy that entered his body.

His body seemed to show signs of strengthening once again.

The white mist that was emitting from the surface of Mu Chen’s body gradually dissipated and his silhouette had appeared under countless gazes once again...

The eyes of Zong Teng, Han Shan and the rest suddenly contracted.

At this moment, the surface of Mu Chen’s body was emitting a golden light and his skin was as good as before. Not only did the scarlet light not cause any destruction to his body, but it had also even reflected a peculiar dark-golden light on the surface of his body.

The powerful dissolving scarlet light didn’t seem to be doing anything to Mu Chen!

“How is this possible?!”

Murmurs of disbelief resounded from everyone’s hearts.

But at this moment, Mu Chen couldn’t be bothered about the shock in their hearts. He slowly clenched his fist and the corner of his lips gently rose when he saw everyone travelling like turtles.

“Everyone, looks like I will be taking a step ahead this time.”

After he spoke, he suddenly stomped his feet and turned into a golden streak of light that charged out in a rustle. In the blink of an eye, he had already shaken Zong Teng and the rest far behind.

As everyone looked at his speeding figure, their gazes were stunned and couldn’t recover from their astonishment for a long time.