Hidden Trial

Hou and Lily were descending at a fast speed in the endless flames.  

They didn't know their destination nor bother to think of an escape route.  

Because Hou was suffering and wailing in pain.  

His face turned paler and paler over time while various chaotic Qi crashed each other trying to devour his fire Qi inside his body.  

Gradually, an extreme heat and cold invaded his organs damaging and slowing its function.   

Furthermore, his stomach slowly enlarged and glowed bright red as if a warning sign for an explosion.   

He spoke with a pained voice.  

"Lily, I'll meditate to resist and control these Qi. You need to take care of my body."  

Afterwards, he closed his eyes and sat in a lotus position before circulating those chaotic Qi using his Rhythm Heart breathing technique.  

Slowly, on each heartbeat, he absorbed a tiny part of those chaotic Qi toward his dantian's core and refined it into fire Qi.  

Then, on the next heartbeat, he emitted out the refined fire Qi toward his body and strengthened his fire Qi to resist those chaotic Qi.  

Once the fire Qi held its position, those chaotic Qi halted invading his organs any further and his stomach cooled down.  

Noticing the changes, Hou heaved a sigh of relief before he continued refining those chaotic Qi.   

Meanwhile, Lily nodded her head and formed a barrier around them using her Qi.  

Then, she scanned her surroundings.  

However, she couldn't find a way toward the exit as they have been descending for quite a long time.  

With no option, she looked downwards and waited for any sign of the bottom.  

However, even after waiting for a week, she couldn't spot the bottom. It resembled a bottomless deep pit.  

She became worried and anxious about their situation.  

Afterwards, she glanced at Hou and noticed his body was no more glowing red instead it was returning to normal size.  

Just as she thought at least one problem solved.  

Suddenly, the pressure and temperature increased at a rapid speed.  

The surrounding flames intensified and bypassed her barrier before burning all her clothes.  

Before the flames approached near Hou, she instantly released her purple fire Qi and formed a new barrier around them.   

Now she realised their situation has changed and become unpredictable and dangerous.  

Even with her realm, she hardly resisted the flames.   

Furthermore, she knew once they descend deeper, the higher flame pressure would raise. And she won't withstand those flames.  

Hence, she pondered and acted with an extreme precaution.  

She quickly unsheathed her sword and formed a dragon soul before unleashing a strike toward a random direction.  

She focused carefully and listened the sound, but it hit nothing.  

A grave expression appeared on her face.  

However, she didn't stop and kept striking occasionally.  

Meanwhile, Hou finished refining 1/3 of those chaotic Qi.  

As he refined, he discovered a tiny pure Heavenly Qi formed inside his core.  

He tried to change it into his fire Qi but failed on every attempt.  

So, he left it without bothering.  

Slowly, when the pure Heavenly Qi increased half size as his core, it swept out of his dantian and flowed toward his damaged organs.  

Soon, it regenerated his organs to normal and stopped those chaotic from damaging more.  

When Hou discovered it, he realised that pure Heavenly Qi only healed the injuries and the reason it didn't convert into fire Qi.  

He pondered for a second whether to start a breakthrough here, but he quickly dismissed that thought.  

Even though he had control over the situation, he still needed to finish refining those chaotic Qi.   

Furthermore, he had no knowledge about his outside situation.  

Hence, he only concentrated refining and resisting those chaotic Qi.  

Unbeknownst to him, the flickering colourful fires within his eyes glowed and seemed ready to seep out.   

But discovering his condition was stable, it didn't.   

Though the blue fire among them rotated around others as if showing its dissatisfaction.  

Meanwhile, Lily had almost reached her limits and would lose her conscious in a few moments.  

Her whole body burned into red flames while she wailed in excruciating pain.  

Even so, she didn't stop flowing her Qi toward the purple fire barrier around Hou.  

Just as she slowly closed her eyes and circulated her last drop of Qi, a tiny shinning dot caught her sight far away.  

Instantly, she recovered her clarity and looked toward the tiny shinning dot with a relieved expression.  

Afterwards, she entered the barrier and glanced at Hou's face. Then, she reached toward his face with her hand, but she stopped an inch away.  

She merely shook her head and channelled all her Qi toward her sword.  

Once she formed 3 dragon souls that surrounded around the barrier before aiming a strike toward the tiny shinning spot.  

In low roars, the 3 dragon souls dragged the barrier toward the spot with a rapid speed.   

While, inside the barrier, Lily showed a dazzling smile and tears poured out of her eyes.  

Finally, she closed her eyes while slowly her body burned to ashes.  

Later, the ashes swept toward Hou.  

Suddenly, Hou opened his eyes and a speck of ash entered inside his eyes.   

Before he could process anything, the barrier crashed on something hard.  

A loud bang and crack noises rang before the barrier dissipated into nothingness.  

Once the barrier disappeared, Hou fell and smashed onto it. 

An indistinct voice came. 

"Welcome to the hidden trial." 

However, Hou had already fainted.  

Above Hou, 3 dragon souls returned into the sword and lied on his chest.  

High above the endless flames, a pair of eyes looked slightly surprised and observed him.