Passing through the seal formation, Yun Che was surprised to find that this was actually a flat stone chamber. The stone chamber was unusually wide, a hundred meters long and wide. Not to mention two hundred people, even if there were ten times as many, it would be enough to accommodate them. There was a long stone staircase on each side of the stone chamber, and it seemed that there was another level above. And right in front of the stone chamber, there was a long passage. The passage was about several dozen meters long, and at the end, there was clearly a slowly rotating red magic circle, the same as the seal formation outside.
The formation that sealed the entrance blocked the sight, but not the sound. The howling of the black magic mercenaries outside could be heard clearly and continuously.
"Blow up this formation for me!" This was the voice of the black devil.
Then, a slight crashing sound came from outside, and then suddenly a pig-killing scream was heard: "Ah! Fire! My hand is on fire, ah~~~"
"Back off! Everyone, back off! Damn it! This sealing formation is so weird, there must be some great treasure hidden inside! Take turns guarding here! I don't believe they won't come out!"
Although they had reached a safe place, the shadow of fear still enveloped all the Phoenix survivors, and the sounds coming from outside made them feel even more desperate. Yun Che frowned, and after thinking for a long time, he said to Lan Xueruo: "Senior Sister, how long will it take for your giant snow sculpture to wake up?"
Lan Xueruo shook her head and said worriedly, "I don't know either. Xiaoxue has overdrawn not only her strength this time, but also her vitality. It may take a long time for her to wake up, maybe a week, maybe a month... maybe even longer."
"If it can wake up, how many people can it take out at a time?"
"Ten people should be no problem." Lan Xueruo said.
"Ten people..." Looking at the more than two hundred people in the stone chamber, his brows tightened. If the giant snow sculpture woke up, it would be no problem for him and Lan Xueruo to escape. But he believed that with Lan Xueruo's temperament, she would never be willing to abandon these people... even though their lives and deaths had nothing to do with her.
"I finally hid here. I hope I won't offend the phoenix spirit." Feng Baichuan stood at the entrance of the cave, his face full of worry and resentment, as well as sadness and helplessness.
“At least you can save your life temporarily. The Phoenix is a sacred spirit, and it is impossible for it to blame you for something like this.” Yun Che walked to his side and said.
"I hope so." Feng Baichuan sighed, "For many years, our clan has been law-abiding and trembling with fear. We dare not do anything that may anger the Phoenix Spirit because we are really afraid. I didn't expect that today... and even so, we can only be safe for the time being. You have heard the voices of these evil thieves. They are obviously going to guard the cave entrance all the time. There is no food and water here. We can't hold on for a few days, and the elderly and children are even more... Alas."
“As for food and water, I do have some here. For more than 200 people, if we use them sparingly, we can support them for ten days to half a month,” Yun Che said.
"You?" Feng Baichuan looked at Yun Che with a look of disbelief. Yun Che was clearly clean and tidy, without bringing anything with him, so how could he have enough water and food to sustain more than 200 people for more than ten days?
Yun Che didn't waste any words. He wiped his left hand and handed six green space rings to Feng Baichuan. These space rings were also taken from the treasure house of Xiao Sect. They were filled with water and various foods. Obviously, the treasure house was not only used by the branch of Xiao Sect as a place to store valuables, but also as a refuge in times of crisis. The solid defense in front of the treasure house was extremely difficult to break. In case of an accident, they could escape to the treasure house. The water and food specially stored in it were enough to support them for a long time until the disaster was over.
Feng Baichuan explored the space ring, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face. At this time, Yun Che's voice came to his ears: "Feng clan leader, there are a few things I don't understand. Your clan has the blood of the phoenix, and the phoenix is an ancient divine beast. The blood of the phoenix is far more powerful and noble than the blood of mortals. Why can't your profound strength even break through the initial profound realm? I remember you mentioned "curse" before, is it related to the curse?"
Feng Baichuan was stunned, but did not speak for a long time.
“I am sorry for being so presumptuous. This should be your family secret and I shouldn’t ask too much.” Seeing Feng Baichuan was silent, Yun Che immediately said.
"No!" Feng Baichuan shook his head and laughed at himself: "This is not a family secret, it's just the punishment and retribution we suffered."
“Punishment? Retribution?” Yun Che was surprised.
Feng Baichuan closed his eyes slightly, and said with a heavy face: "The phoenix is an ancient mythical beast. It once descended on the Profound Sky Continent. In order to leave its flames on the Profound Sky Continent, it left behind many trial sites. Those who passed the trials could obtain blood inheritance. And this strand of phoenix blood can be passed on in reproduction. Thus, the Phoenix clan was born. According to the records of our ancestors, the Phoenix left two trial sites on the Profound Sky Continent. One was in the distant Shenhuang Empire, and the other was here. However, the one in the Shenhuang Empire is well known to the world, and has created the extremely powerful 'Phoenix Divine Sect', while the one in the Blue Wind Empire was found by our ancestors accidentally and is not known to the world at all. No one would have thought that in this desolate and dangerous Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, there would actually be a site left by an ancient mythical beast."
“That is to say, this is just a place for trials, and it is not at all a place for treasures as those evil thieves outside have guessed?” Yun Che said, tapping his chin.
“That’s right.” Feng Baichuan nodded. “My ancestor passed the trial here. At that time, the ‘Phoenix Divine Sect’ of the Divine Phoenix Empire had become the Divine Phoenix Empire’s national guardian sect, with overwhelming power. Even the name of the empire was changed to ‘Divine Phoenix’. That trial site also became the highest forbidden area of the Phoenix Divine Sect. Only the highest-level disciples were qualified to enter. The Phoenix bloodline is their greatest pride and glory. If they knew that there were Phoenix bloodlines in other places, they might not be sympathized with each other, but destroyed.”
Yun Che nodded secretly, agreeing deeply. The Shenhuang Empire was originally called the Heluo Empire. Later, the Phoenix Sect rose strongly and supported the new royal family. Even the name of the country was changed to the Shenhuang Empire. As a result, the Phoenix bloodline became the glory and unique symbol of the Shenhuang Empire. If they really found that there were other Phoenix bloodlines, they would definitely use any means to eliminate them.
"After passing the trials, our ancestors passed down the Phoenix bloodline from generation to generation. By the twelfth generation, it had developed into a powerful sect, but they never considered themselves a Phoenix clan, and the Phoenix mark on their foreheads was always hidden from others. In that generation, an ancestor used the Phoenix flame to fight someone, and the raging flames accidentally spread to a small town, burning all 32,000 innocent people in the town."
Yun Che: “…”
"This heinous crime attracted the wrath of the Phoenix Spirit of the Trial Ground, and cruel punishment was bestowed upon them. A curse mark was placed on the Phoenix bloodline of all the members of that generation, forcibly suppressing the profound strength of all the members of the tribe to the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, and they could never take another step forward in their lifetime. Moreover, even the Phoenix mark turned dark red and could no longer be hidden. It seemed that this mutated mark was used to make all the members of the tribe remember the heinous crime they had committed."
"Our ancestors had many powerful enemies, and their power was suppressed to such a low level that they had no choice but to hide... Later, they were horrified to find that this blood curse would be forcibly inherited. Their descendants were born with a dark red phoenix mark on their foreheads, and their profound strength could never break through the primary profound level. Our ancestors thought of countless ways to remove the curse mark, but it was left by the Phoenix God, and how could humans interfere? Now, a thousand years have passed, and the curse mark still remains in our blood and has never disappeared. Our clan can only hide in this Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, abide by the law, and pray every day to atone for the sins of our ancestors and beg for forgiveness from the Phoenix God."
"Today, our clan has withered into this state. A small mercenary group can force us into this desperate situation. Ha..." Feng Baichuan laughed sadly, and his heavy voice revealed too much helplessness and unwillingness.
Originally, this was a secret that could not be told to outsiders, but now that it was in such a miserable state, the so-called bloodline and the so-called secret of the race had become a joke. Perhaps the greatest wish of all their people was that they were not born with the bloodline of the Phoenix, but were born like ordinary people. He suddenly understood why Feng Baichuan did not immediately think of letting his people hide in the Phoenix ruins even when facing the huge crisis of the entire tribe being slaughtered. That's right, they were afraid. Their tribe had spent thousands of years and dozens of generations to atone for their sins. They dreamed of the forgiveness of the Phoenix God, so how could they dare to do anything that might be disrespectful to the Phoenix God.
He turned around and looked at the red seal formation at the end of the passage, and said, "Phoenix Clan Leader, is the place behind that seal formation the trial place left by the Phoenix?"
"That's right." Feng Baichuan nodded: "These two seals were left by our ancestors. Only the Phoenix bloodline can unlock them. The purpose is to prevent outsiders from entering."
Yun Che immediately made up his mind and said, “Then can you help me remove the seal?”
"...Do you want to?" Feng Baichuan turned his eyes away.
“That’s right!” Yun Che nodded: “I want to see what kind of trial this ancient mythical beast Phoenix left behind. Now that I have such an opportunity, of course I have to give it a try.”
Feng Baichuan did not refuse immediately, but asked: "Little brother, what is your current level of profound strength?"
“First level of the Nascent Profound Realm.” Yun Che answered truthfully.
“Absolutely not!” Feng Baichuan’s eyes showed disappointment, and then he flatly refused: “It’s not that I don’t want to let you in. It’s just… when our ancestors passed the Phoenix Trial, their profound strength had already reached the Spiritual Profound Realm, and they also possessed the Fire Element Profound Art. Even so, they passed it with great difficulty and only then did they obtain the Phoenix Blood and Phoenix God Pill. Later, some ancestors also passed the trial and obtained the Phoenix God Pill, but none of these ancestors’ profound strength cultivation was lower than the Spiritual Profound Realm.”
"After the bloodline curse was cast, no one has passed the trial. No one can even pass the first trial. After all, how can the strength of the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm withstand the trial of the Phoenix Flame? And over the years, some clansmen who wanted to force their way through the trial even died in it and never came out again. You only have the strength of the first level of the Nascent Profound Realm. There is no possibility of passing the trial at all, and you may even be in danger of your life."
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