Chapter 160: The Entrance
The brilliant light retracted from Vice Dean Qinghua's body, and she transformed back into an old woman of eighty or ninety years old.
She spoke to the ten young students seated on the griffin's back: "In the Demon Ridge, there are many powerful and ferocious barbarian beasts. Some of them, even I can only flee from when encountering them."
"The deeper you go into the Demon Ridge, the stronger the barbarian beasts you will encounter. In the future, if you enter the Demon Ridge for training, you must not venture deep. There are many forbidden zones in the Demon Ridge for you."
The griffin flapped its wings and continued flying toward the direction of the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion.
Half a day later, they arrived at a desolate region.
It was said that during the battle between the human army and the Four-Winged Earth Dragon, this land was blasted into ruins, and to this day, nothing grows here.
In the ground, a huge canyon several thousand meters long and two hundred meters wide had split open, plunging straight down into an unfathomable depth. It resembled the mouth of the earth, capable of devouring everything in the world.
Standing at the edge of the canyon and looking down, there was only pitch-black darkness, with wisps of black miasma rising from the depths.
A narrow stone staircase had been carved along the canyon's edge, leading all the way down to the depths of the earth.
It was said that underground lay the former lair of the Four-Winged Earth Dragon, the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion.
When Vice Dean Qinghua led the ten students of the West Courtyard to the top of the canyon, the students from the East Courtyard, North Courtyard, and South Courtyard were already standing at the canyon's edge.
Vice Dean Leng Qiao of the East Courtyard let out a cold laugh and said, "Vice Dean Qinghua, your West Courtyard arrived far too late. Everyone has been waiting for you for quite some time."
Vice Dean Qinghua gripped her wooden staff, her steps unsteady, and said, "We encountered a Profound Flood Dragon on the way, which delayed us."
Vice Dean Leng Qiao said, "According to the old rules, the order of entry into the intermediate ruins must follow the order of our arrival. Therefore, this year, the West Courtyard students will enter fourth."
"No problem!" Vice Dean Qinghua said.
The first to arrive at the canyon mouth were the students of the East Courtyard, so the tenth-ranked student of the East Courtyard entered the intermediate ruins first.
The tenth-ranked student of the East Courtyard was Dugu Lin.
Dugu Lin stepped onto the stone staircase leading underground, activated his movement technique, and quickly rushed down.
About three minutes later, standing at the canyon's edge, Dugu Lin could no longer be seen.
The tenth-ranked student of the North Courtyard also entered the canyon and rushed underground.
Then came the tenth-ranked student of the South Courtyard.
After the tenth-ranked student of the South Courtyard also disappeared underground, the tenth-ranked student of the West Courtyard, Zi Qian, walked toward the underground.
Students participating in the intermediate ruins exploration exam had to enter the underground one by one. Moreover, lower-ranked students entered first, while higher-ranked students entered later.
The reason for this arrangement was actually to avoid mutual killing among the students.
After lower-realm students entered first, they could immediately head to the depths of the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion or hide themselves.
If higher-realm students entered first, they might wait at some entrance underground to kill the lower-realm students who came later.
Xun Guihai stood among the students of the East Courtyard, staring coldly at Zhang Ruochen, not hiding the killing intent in his eyes at all. He was extremely furious in his heart, "Zhang Ruochen, so what if you're engaged to Princess Yanchen? As long as you die in the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion, Princess Yanchen will already be my woman by then."
He glanced at Guo Haidong, the fifth-ranked student of the East Courtyard, and said in a low voice, "Guo Haidong, you will enter the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion before Zhang Ruochen. You can wait for him underground. Once he enters the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion, you must kill him at all costs."
Guo Haidong had received five drops of Half-Saint True Liquid from Xun Guihai and had already agreed to help Xun Guihai kill Zhang Ruochen.
Guo Haidong smiled confidently and said, "Senior Brother Xun, I am a master ranked 874th on the Mysterious Ranking. Killing Zhang Ruochen will be an easy task for me."
Xun Guihai said solemnly, "You must not be careless. Although Zhang Ruochen's martial realm is not as high as yours, his sword intent realm has already reached the peak of Sword Follows the Heart. If you find that you are no match for Zhang Ruochen, do your best to stall him. As long as Lang Xin arrives, the two of you can attack from front and back, and Ning Xiaochuan will have no chance to escape."
Xun Guihai glanced at Lang Xin standing beside him.
Lang Xin nodded and said, "Zhang Ruochen dares to steal Senior Brother Xun's woman—that means he is opposing our East Courtyard."
Lang Xin was ranked fourth in the East Courtyard and 580th on the Mysterious Ranking.
Duanmu Xingling stared at those few students from the East Courtyard, narrowed her eyes slightly, and warned, "Junior Brother, after you enter the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion, you must be careful of Guo Haidong and Lang Xin from the East Courtyard. They are both Mysterious Ranking martial artists with extremely strong strength. One will enter the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion before you, and the other after you. If the two of them join forces against you, it will be very difficult for you to escape."
Zhang Ruochen followed Duanmu Xingling's gaze and saw the two young students standing beside Xun Guihai, memorizing their appearances. He said, "Entering the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion will be quite dangerous. Senior Sister Duanmu, you must also be careful."
At that moment, Guo Haidong, ranked fifth in the East Courtyard, walked toward the canyon mouth. Before stepping down the stone staircase, he glanced at Zhang Ruochen, curled his lips slightly, and revealed a cruel smile.
Then, the fifth-ranked student of the North Courtyard and the fifth-ranked student of the South Courtyard also entered the canyon one after another. Finally, it was Zhang Ruochen's turn.
As soon as Zhang Ruochen reached the canyon's edge, he felt a bit dizzy—a sign of poisoning.
The miasma in the canyon was extremely potent. Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen wore the Poison-Avoiding Pearl, which blocked most of the miasma. Otherwise, even if he inhaled just one mouthful of the miasma, he would have fallen unconscious from poisoning.
Zhang Ruochen mobilized his Jade Pure True Qi, circulating it through his meridians for one cycle, and immediately purified the poison in his body, recovering.
Activating the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow movement technique, Zhang Ruochen reached his maximum speed, like a nimble ape leaping along the steep cliff walls, rushing toward the underground.
He only had three minutes. After three minutes, Lang Xin, the fourth-ranked expert of the East Courtyard, would enter the underground.
If Guo Haidong, the fifth-ranked expert of the East Courtyard, was really waiting for him underground, then Zhang Ruochen had to eliminate Guo Haidong within three minutes. Otherwise, if he was caught in a pincer attack by two Mysterious Ranking martial artists, it would be extremely disadvantageous for Zhang Ruochen.
Although Zhang Ruochen was confident he could defeat either Guo Haidong or Lang Xin individually, who could guarantee that they weren't carrying any killing moves?
Once inside the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion, any means could be used—it wouldn't be a simple sparring match.
The canyon was extremely deep. Zhang Ruochen rushed down the stone staircase for over a thousand meters but still hadn't reached the bottom.
Standing at the bottom, everything around was pitch black.
Zhang Ruochen looked up. The canyon mouth, originally several thousand meters long, had become as small as a needle's eye, emitting a faint white light. It felt like a tiny white crack had split open in the pitch-black night sky.
To Zhang Ruochen, it felt as if he had been swallowed by the earth, never to see the light of day again.
If someone with poor mental fortitude were in this situation, they would feel immense fear and might even collapse.
Zhang Ruochen looked downward. Deep underground, a dark red glow appeared, and a wave of heat surged up.
"If many evil people and demons are truly imprisoned underground, it must be a very tormenting experience for them."
Zhang Ruochen channeled his true qi into his eyes and continued rushing downward. The temperature in the air grew higher and higher, and the rocks were scorching hot.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen had purchased a Cold Essence Ice Soul in advance. Hanging it around his neck, he not only felt no heat but was actually quite cool.
After descending to an unknown depth, he finally reached the bottom. Before him stood a massive stone door.
The stone door was a full one hundred and thirty meters high and twenty-seven meters thick. The surface was embedded with black iron, forming the shape of an iron dragon.
The two enormous stone doors, weighing who knows how many tens of thousands of jin, had now opened a two-meter-wide gap.
Zhang Ruochen pressed his palm against the stone door, activated his full true qi, and pushed hard.
The stone door didn't budge.
"Such a heavy stone door. It would probably take a Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouse from the Martial Market Academy to push it open."
Zhang Ruochen stared at the two-meter-wide gap in the door, his gaze sharpening as he became cautious.
"Space-Time Domain!"
Zhang Ruochen released his Space-Time Domain, covering a space of eighty meters in radius. Using the power of the domain, he probed to see if Guo Haidong was hiding behind the stone door.
A moment later, Zhang Ruochen detected Guo Haidong's aura within the Space-Time Domain.
Zhang Ruochen drew the Snow Dragon Sword, dragging the blade as he walked into the stone door.
"Boom!"
As soon as Zhang Ruochen stepped through the stone door, a crimson spear, carrying a wave of scorching flames, stabbed toward his back.
Zhang Ruochen had already prepared. His body sprang up, easily dodging the spear's attack.
He leaped five meters high and thrust his sword toward Guo Haidong's neck.
Guo Haidong felt a chill on his neck, his expression changed, and he immediately withdrew his spear, explosively retreating backward. He narrowly dodged Zhang Ruochen's sword strike.
After dodging the strike, Guo Haidong was still shaken. He thought to himself, How did he know I was hiding behind the stone door?
Zhang Ruochen retracted the Snow Dragon Sword, stared at Guo Haidong, and said, "That strike was a warning. If you still want to kill me, I won't hold back."
Guo Haidong held his spear, suppressing his earlier shock. He recalled what Xun Guihai had told him: if he couldn't defeat Zhang Ruochen, he should stall him until Lang Xin arrived, then the two of them could join forces to deal with Zhang Ruochen.
Guo Haidong smiled slightly, cupped his hands in a bow, and said, "As expected of the top freshman of the four courtyards—your martial skills are truly admirable. Actually, I only wanted to test your strength. I never really intended to make a move."
Zhang Ruochen could clearly see through Guo Haidong's intentions. He said, "If you still refuse to give up, I guarantee you won't leave the Crimson Sky Secret Mansion alive."
Seeing the look in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, Guo Haidong's smile faded. Although he was afraid of Zhang Ruochen's swordsmanship, he also had a trump card. Even if he wasn't a match for Zhang Ruochen, stalling him for a few minutes was definitely achievable.
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