Solving the Riddle

Ye Sha rose from his meditation and dashed deeper into the cave.

He had cleared all the Fire Spirits in his vicinity, so he faced no resistance as he made his way to the end of the tunnel. In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he reached his destination.

Lie Yan, who was monitoring the trial, gasped in shock when he saw someone arrive at the second test so quickly.

He rubbed his eyes as he witnessed Ye Sha devouring hundreds of Fire Spirits with ease. Ancient symbols floated above Ye Sha's head as he absorbed the Soul Essence and the Heat Qi of the Fire Spirits, boosting his cultivation rapidly.

"This is impossible! How can he have such a terrifying talent? Is he a reincarnated Ancient Devil? I can't let him obtain the Fire Pavilion Inheritance!"

Lie Yan teleported in front of Ye Sha, and his expression darkened.

"His aura far surpasses the perfection stage of the Core Formation Realm! If he breaks through to the Nascent Soul Realm, he will surely become a Monarch Tier genius!"

In the Blue Sky Mortal Realm, there were four tiers of geniuses who could fight beyond their own level in the Nascent Soul Realm.

The first tier was the King Tier. Those who belong to this tier could dominate their peers and are unrivaled if they did not encounter an Emperor Tier genius or higher!

The second tier was the Emperor Tier. Those who belonged to this tier could fight against opponents one minor realm higher than them.

The third tier was the Monarch Tier. Those who belonged to this tier could fight against opponents two minor realms higher than them.

The fourth tier was the Saint Tier. Those who belonged to this tier could fight against opponents three minor realms higher than them.

"If he becomes a Monarch Tier genius right after reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, I fear that his combat strength might be even more shocking in the Soul Palace Realm…"

Lie Yan tried to act superior and glared at Ye Sha with disdain. "Hmph! You ancient fossil, why did you come back to life?"

Ye Sha wrinkled his nose and muttered to himself, "This is a bit annoying… This old geezer won't let me get the inheritance easily. I didn't expect that he still had some of his consciousness left after being dead for so long…"

But then Ye Sha smirked as he realized something.

Ye Sha taunted the other party. "Haha! You call yourself Emperor Crimson Peach, or was it Emperor Crimson Sun? I don't know, never heard of you. Maybe you should change your name to Emperor Crimson Face, because you look so red and angry right now. Or maybe Emperor Crimson Butt, because you're about to get kicked by me."

"What a mouthy brat! He must be Devil Sovereign Ye Sha. My master told me that he was one of the prodigies of the Ancient Devil Race. He was one of the few who dared to challenge him in his prime," Lie Yan instantly realized who he was facing.

It was extremely easy to identify his identity.

Ye Sha's sharp tongue was famous in the Blue Sky Mortal Realm. This Ancient Devil had no limits.

"Hmph! Cat got your tongue?" Ye Sha taunted.

Lie Yan snorted and said, "You were trounced by my master, Sage Vast Heaven. Why are you so cocky, when you were clearly humiliated?"

Ye Sha didn't flinch at all. "What do you know? He was in the late stage Mortal Extremity Realm, how could I have beaten him into a pulp? If he was in the same realm as me, I could've made him cry for his mommy with two hands tied behind my back and a blindfold on."

Lie Yan's face got red with anger. "Hmph! I want to see how you will get the Fire Pavilion Inheritance."

Ye Sha smiled slightly and said, "Sure, sure, Emperor Crimson Face. You're so generous to let me have it. No need to be shy and pretend to be angry."

Lie Yan decided not to talk with Ye Sha anymore. He really couldn't win against the latter's cheeky remarks. It was a shameless tongue.

Lie Yan did some hand seals and an extremely powerful aura surged from him. Although he was long dead and only a trace of his consciousness, he could still control the insides of the Fire Element Trial.

Ye Sha's face got ugly as he saw Lie Yan blocking the path to the second test for him. It was really unlucky.

Ye Sha calmed himself and said, "Hmph! Emperor Crimson Face, why are you being so clingy? Don't you have anything better to do than bother me? Fine, I won't play with you anymore. I will leave the Fire Element Trial."

Lie Yan didn't even bother to respond to Ye Sha, afraid of being annoyed by the latter's words.

Ye Sha thought to himself, "It's really unlucky that he still had some of his consciousness left, but at least I've broken through to the late stage Core Formation Realm. I should be able to beat anyone in this Secret Realm."

Meanwhile, inside Wu Yang's cave…

After a while, Wu Yang opened his eyes and muttered to himself, "After thinking about this for a while, I've come up with a way for me to pass this test."

"It's not good for fighting, but it will help me now. I will call the technique that I've created, the Water Cooling Technique."

It's not even worthy of being called a Yellow Grade technique, but it was useful in a cave full of Fire Spirits.

He circulated the Formless Fire Qi in his body and tried to hide his presence from the Fire Spirits.

Besides circulating the Formless Fire Qi, he activated the Water Cooling Technique, which made the temperature around him stable.

Wu Yang shook his head and thought to himself, "It's like drawing a snake and adding feet. It's really not that necessary, but it works for this situation."

Wu Yang walked through the cave and he saw the Fire Spirits roaming around the cave. They weren't able to sense him at all.

The Fire Spirits' appearance was extremely cute. They were balls of red flames with eyes and mouths, but no other features. They looked very similar to some creatures from the games that he played in his previous life.

Several hours later, Wu Yang arrived at the end of the cave where he was greeted by a stone tablet.

The end of the cave was a large circular chamber, with a high ceiling and a pool of lava in the center.

The stone tablet was placed on a pedestal above the pool, surrounded by four pillars that emitted a faint light. The chamber was filled with a hot and dry air that made Wu Yang sweat.

The stone tablet looked extremely domineering, its text being written in ancient runes that glowed with a crimson light. Wu Yang felt like these runes contained a profound meaning and a challenge to him.

The runes also exuded a pressure on him, making it hard for him to breathe and think.

Wu Yang muttered under his breath as he read the riddle, "I am the end of a journey and the beginning of a legend,"

"I can be found in the sky or in the earth, in the past or in the future,"

"I can be a friend or a foe, a teacher or a student, a master or a servant,"

"I can be hidden by a cloud or a mountain, by a name or a title, by a word or a silence. What am I?"

Wu Yang couldn't help but feel amazed. These words are so arrogant!

He wondered, "Is it related to Fire Dao? After all, it's the Fire Element Trial."

But he quickly dismissed that idea. "No, that's too obvious. Emperor Crimson Sun didn't say that it's related to the Fire Dao, only that it can test my wisdom and understanding of the Dao."

He racked his brain for clues. "I am the end of a journey and the beginning of a legend… could it be an Immortal?"

Wu Yang felt a flash of insight. "Yes, that makes sense. Immortals are the ultimate goal and mystery of cultivation. Why do cultivators in the Blue Sky Mortal Realm cultivate? Of course, to ascend to the Immortal Realm."

Wu Yang was puzzled. "Why was this riddle so easy? It should've been more difficult…"

Wu Yang sighed and began to write the character for 'Immortal'.

Each stroke was more challenging than the previous one, and he couldn't complete the character. The pressure from the blood runes on the stone tablet made it harder and harder for him to write.

Wu Yang sighed inwardly. "Of course it's not that easy. Nothing in this world is simple. Now, I have to figure out how to finish writing the character."

He tried a different approach. "Maybe I shouldn't write the character for 'Immortal', but rather 'Xian', since it's simpler to write."

After making this decision, Wu Yang erased his previous attempt. He started writing the simpler character for 'Xian'.

[A/N: The word for 'Immortal' in Chinese has three different forms, but I can't use them here because of the website's limitations (you won't be able to vote for my novel after I use these characters). This affects the meaning I wanted to convey in the previous paragraph, where Wu Yang tries to write two different forms of the same word, one more complicated and one simpler.]

Wu Yang drew the character and he soon heard a loud cracking sound as the wall that supported the stone tablet split open.

Rumble...

Rumble...

Behind the wall, there was a portal that glowed with a fiery light, just like Lie Yan said.

He was in a place surrounded by blazing fire. It was a circular arena that spanned about a hundred meters in diameter.

The arena was enclosed by a high wall of stone that had no openings or exits. The only way in or out was through the portal that brought him here.

In the center of the arena, there was a complex array formation that covered the entire ground. It was made of red lines that formed various patterns and symbols. The array formation glowed with a fiery light and emitted a scorching heat.

Wu Yang knew that this was the source of the puppets that he had to fight.

Information about the third test appeared inside Wu Yang's mind.

"The third test is a test of combat prowess. There are going to be three rounds."

"In the first round, I'll be fighting against ten puppets with the cultivation base of the early stage Core Formation Realm."

"In the second round, I'll be fighting against ten puppets with the cultivation of the middle stage Core Formation Realm."

"In the third round, I'll be fighting against ten puppets with the cultivation of the late stage Core Formation Realm."

Wu Yang's face turned grim as he realized that. It seemed like this was not going to be easy.

"I can't fight against ten puppets with the cultivation of the late stage Core Formation Realm. I can barely handle five puppets, and that's not because I can match five cultivators of the late stage Core Formation Realm, but rather, because puppets are simpler to defeat."

"I should probably take my time and study the early stage Core Formation Realm puppets, since they might give me some clues to passing this test."

Wu Yang nodded and quickly calmed himself. "That's the best strategy for now."

He then infused some Qi into the array formation that was laid on the ground of the arena.

Ten puppets with the cultivation of the early stage Core Formation Realm emerged slowly from the array.

They looked like wooden dummies with no facial features or clothing. They only had limbs and joints that allowed them to move.

They radiated a cold and ruthless aura that would make even a middle stage Core Formation Realm cultivator shudder.

Wu Yang drew his Sealed Flame Sword and infused it with the Formless Fire Qi.

He didn't intend to use any techniques, since he could easily destroy these puppets with a single strike.

"My only rival should be Wu Feng. I doubt anyone in the Fire Element Trial can be faster than me, since they are all Inner Disciples at best."

Although Wu Yang was also an Inner Disciple, his combat skills were superior to most of his peers.

"The difficulty of the trial is also tailored to the cultivation realm of the participant."

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