Chu Tian observed his surroundings, preparing to see if he could find Wei Jin and the others.
The people around him hailed from different levels of the secret realm.
All of them had been teleported here at once, so Wei Jin and his companions should also be here.
However, there were simply too many people.
Even more peculiar were the strange races.
Boom…
As Chu Tian continued his search, a deafening sound erupted.
The entire volcano began to tremble.
The lava below churned and surged.
It was as if something was about to emerge from the magma.
The rumbling continued unabated, and the lava continued to rise.
Chu Tian felt an urge to escape.
He thought to himself, "Is this volcano about to erupt?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a pillar of fire shot into the sky.
"Damn it… it's really erupting!"
Chu Tian turned and flew away, not caring whether the sky was safe or not.
He activated his Swift Flight form and shot out with a *whoosh*.
"Wei Jin… Miao Zuo… Xiao Hei… where are you? Don't die here."
Unable to see them at this moment, he could only offer a silent prayer.
The surrounding fire energy was exceptionally active. Those who could fly took to the air, and those who could run fled. In an instant, chaos erupted.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…*
With the surrounding fire elements so concentrated, many people spontaneously combusted.
Everyone accelerated forward. They understood that to survive, they had to charge ahead; there was no room for retreat.
Only by leaving this place could they find a sliver of hope.
Watching countless people grit their teeth and flee, a flicker of worry appeared in Chu Tian's eyes.
The volcanic eruption's lava column reached its apex and began to pour back down. In that instant, it felt as if an invisible world was pressing down, making it difficult to breathe.
But as people continued to die and self-ignite, the fire elements here posed a fatal threat to everyone.
Even the Fear Demon King, who had been teleported from the fifth level, wore a look of panic.
Flapping his massive wings, he shot towards the distance.
However, due to the flames, the air began to thin.
Their flight speed was greatly reduced.
Even Chu Tian found his aerial movements becoming unstable.
The air had become so thin that breathing was becoming difficult.
"No… I don't want to die…"
Someone broke down, watching those around them perish one after another. With the molten rock pouring down from above, the despair was palpable.
From the moment the lava column began to erupt until now, only two short minutes had passed.
All the participants in the trial, totaling millions, had been teleported here.
Yet, in those mere two minutes, at least half of them, lacking sufficient cultivation to withstand the erosion of fire elements, had burned into ash.
For the remaining few, only death awaited them amidst unwilling roars.
Even Chu Tian felt fear creeping into his heart.
A natural disaster… it was too terrifying!
Regardless of race or species, no one could defy the will of nature.
However, Chu Tian was unaware that he was the instigator of all this.
If he knew, one could only wonder if he would feel guilt.
It was merely because he had been trying to find his lost memories within the environment.
His efforts to recall and depict them had almost brought the City of Life and Death into existence within the illusion.
As a result, a trace of order from the underworld had pierced through the endless void and swept by.
This caused the destruction of all levels from one to seven of the Sacred Spirit Realm.
The Sacred Spirit Realm's own order had teleported everyone to the eighth level.
However, although the Sacred Spirit Realm was powerful, it was merely a small world.
How could it compare to the true order and laws of the underworld?
The volcanic eruption here was precisely because of the tremors from levels one to seven of the Sacred Spirit Realm.
No one here knew that the instigator of all this was among them.
If they had known, they would likely have wanted to grind Chu Tian's bones into powder and scatter them to the winds.
"Roar…" A sky-shattering roar echoed in the distance.
A wave of fire rose from the ground, sweeping towards the falling lava and forming a protective shield there.
Many were using defensive or offensive skills to blast the lava.
However, this fire wave-shaped shield was so large that it caught Chu Tian's attention.
Chu Tian narrowed his eyes, recognized the person below, and made a sharp turn.
"Xiao Hong… can this move of yours work?"
A young girl in red, with hands forming seals, continuously supplied energy to the flame shield.
Puffs of molten rock struck the shield, causing it to vibrate incessantly.
"I've told you, my name is not Xiao Hong, and I can't do it alone… you do it!"
The red-clothed girl angrily retorted to the black-clothed youth who was making sarcastic remarks.
"Uh…"
The black-clothed youth grinned and rubbed his nose. "I say, Xiao Hong, isn't the shield too large? Is it a bit strenuous? Look… there are only four of us!"
Upon hearing this, the girl he called Xiao Hong shot him a glare.
Clearly, this girl, though outwardly fierce, was kind at heart.
"No… please don't shrink the area!"
"Yes, if you shrink the area, we'll all die!"
…
The people under the shield panicked when they heard the black-clothed youth's words.
"If you die, what's it to me?" the black-clothed youth retorted, glaring.
Just then, a burly man beside him patted his shoulder.
"Wake up, Xiao Hei. See if you can find a way to help Miss Xiao Hong!"
The speaker was Wei Jin, whom Chu Tian had been searching for.
Miao Zuo stood beside him.
The black-clothed youth was Mo Qilin Xiao Hei.
They had been fortunate to be teleported to a location not too far from each other.
Following their traces, they had found each other.
"I am not Xiao Hong!"
The girl, hearing Wei Jin's words, also turned and glared at him.
Wei Jin was left speechless by the retort.
He didn't know what the girl's name was. Hearing Xiao Hei call her Xiao Hong, he had just gone along with it.
"I don't know what to do either!" Xiao Hei spread his hands.
"You're stupid… transfer fire element spiritual energy to her!" Wei Jin said, exasperated.
"But transferring spiritual energy requires physical contact, and she won't let me touch her!" Xiao Hei said with a helpless expression, a hint of longing in his tone.
He walked behind the girl, rubbing his hands.
Just as he spoke, the red-clothed girl turned back and said, "If you dare touch me, I'll cut you!"
Wei Jin felt a headache coming on. This girl's temper was truly fiery.
At a time like this, why was she still concerned about such things?
With lava raining down, everyone here would die.
Who exactly was this girl? Why was Xiao Hei always sticking around her?
He never talked back, even when scolded or hit.
Could it be… Xiao Hei was in love?
Wei Jin couldn't help but wonder this as he covertly scanned Xiao Hei's face.
"Old Wei…" Suddenly, Miao Zuo leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear.
"What? You say he's fire…"
Wei Jin exclaimed loudly after hearing Miao Zuo.
Miao Zuo quickly tugged at him and nodded, "Look at the tattoo on her neck, isn't it similar to Xiao Hei's?"
Wei Jin then took a closer look. It wasn't just similar; it was identical.
Xiao Hei knew his tattoos when he transformed into human form.
They were from his true form, the Mo Qilin. If that was the case, then wasn't this Miss Xiao Hong a Fire Qilin in her true form?
Qilin were already rare in the world, and Mo Qilin were even more so.
This was what Miao Zuo had cautioned him about: never let anyone know that Xiao Hei's true form was a Mo Qilin.
He had never paid much attention to it before because his understanding of the Qilin clan was too limited.
It wasn't until Miao Zuo recounted the history of the Qilin clan that he realized how noble and symbolic the Qilin were.
No wonder Xiao Hei was so attentive; he had met a female!
"Old Wei…" Just as Wei Jin was surprised, Miao Zuo tugged at him again.
"What is it now?"
Wei Jin was exasperated. Miao Zuo was always so cunning and sly.
"That… that… they stole my spatial pouch. Help me get it back. If my talismans are still there, I have a way to safely bring everyone out!"
Following Miao Zuo's direction, Wei Jin looked at someone who had just entered the edge of the protective shield.
"Are you sure?" Wei Jin asked, stunned.
"Yes, if the talismans are still there, I can perform a Grand Teleportation Array Talisman that will at least ensure our own safety," Miao Zuo stated with certainty.
"I say… are you sure I can defeat that guy? Aren't you trying to set me up?" Wei Jin added with a bitter expression.
"Uh…" Miao Zuo froze, his face filled with bitterness. "Holy cow, he's actually broken through to the War God realm? When he robbed me, he was only in the Nirvana realm!"
It was only then that he remembered that the person had descended from the sky and flown into the protective shield.