Three-legged toad
After confirming once again that she could not contact Wutong, Ruan Qingyu's expression changed slightly. Her gaze became increasingly cautious as she looked around; at first, she had thought this competition method was somewhat simple.
But looking at this dim and eerie place, Ruan Qingyu had to admit that she had been too hasty in her excitement when she first entered.
She walked towards the path opposite, even though there was no exit on the way she came, perhaps there would be a way out in the path opposite.
Ruan Qingyu quickly traversed all the paths she could find, only to discover that they were all the same as where she had come from—there was no exit.
The strange, sour smell grew stronger with each breath. Ruan Qingyu frowned as she looked at the still-flowing liquid. Could it be that she really had to follow this liquid out to see what was going on?
Hesitantly, Ruan Qingyu slowly approached the 'river'. The closer she got, the more the sour, foul smell almost stung her eyes, and she instinctively covered her mouth and nose with her hands.
A fierce internal struggle raged within him, as he repeatedly told himself that once his spiritual energy covered his feet, they wouldn't be contaminated in the slightest. But his feet seemed welded to the ground, not moving an inch.
While Ruan Qingyu was struggling with her inner turmoil, someone outside the Boundless Tower even checked her soul lamp several times, just to confirm whether she was still alive.
Fu Ran pondered for a while before saying, "In theory, there shouldn't be any demonic beasts beyond the Golden Core stage in this Boundless Tower. However, this three-legged toad seems to be comparable to the Nascent Soul stage because of something."
As they spoke, Fu Ran saw Ci Hang's face twitch, and two jade slips flew out of his hand in succession. Then, his expression visibly calmed down, and Fu Ran couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, if you really think about it, this matter is somewhat related to these elders. Each trial is indeed set by the previous generation of elders, but whether it can be used depends on the judgment of the current generation of elders.
Having agreed beforehand, everything had been considered. But all of that turned to ashes after a giant three-legged toad suddenly appeared in the river.
This floor happened to be inside the Boundless Tower, and it was the one that Fu Ran had inspected; therefore, she was now to blame.
Cihang frowned and glanced at Fu Ran. After all, Fu Ran was not an elder of the Xuantian Sect. Cihang simply nodded slightly: "Now it seems that this may be Junior Sister Ruan's good fortune."
Strictly speaking, Ruan Qingyu could indeed be considered Elder Cihang's junior sister. However, upon hearing this title, the expressions of the other elders, including Fu Ran, changed slightly.
At this moment, Ruan Qingyu's right foot had already stepped into the reddish-brown liquid. A thick protective membrane of spiritual energy solidified around her, separating her foot from the liquid.
Suppressing her discomfort, Ruan Qingyu continued walking into the foul-smelling river. Just then, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.
There were no loose rocks, nor any cracks in the ground. It was just a violent tremor, so much so that Ruan Qingyu accidentally fell completely into the reddish-brown viscous liquid.
When she stood up, she was in a completely different place. This place was filled with pinkish-white walls that rose and fell in a fixed pattern.
The fishy smell had lessened considerably, but the sound of the water droplets seemed clearer. Ruan Qingyu suddenly had an idea, but it was a fleeting flash of inspiration, interrupted before it could fully form.
"Miss Ruan!" Wutong's voice suddenly startled Ruan Qingyu. She then asked in surprise, "I called you for so long just now, were you affected by something?"
Hearing Wutong's voice again, Ruan Qingyu breathed a slight sigh of relief: "I called you several times just now, but you didn't seem to hear me."
As she spoke, the spot where Ruan Qingyu was standing began to shake erratically again. Seeing this, she simply used only a small amount of spiritual energy to send herself upwards.
After confirming that the changes in this place would not affect her for the time being, Ruan Qingyu then expressed her thoughts.
Wutong remained silent: "What Miss Ruan said makes sense, then we shall do as Miss Ruan says."
Having made up her mind, Ruan Qingyu acted swiftly. The Phoenix Divine Fire obediently shot out from her dantian and enveloped her hand.
The next moment, she punched the pinkish-white wall in front of her. Although she could sense a certain rebound force, Ruan Qingyu's force was greater, and the continuous blows quickly cracked the wall.
Bright red blood flowed out from the broken part of the wall, which further confirmed Ruan Qingyu's guess. Seeing this, Ruan Qingyu worked even harder.
Soon, the space began to tremble even more violently. Ruan Qingyu struggled to keep herself from falling and resolutely continued her attack on the blood-soaked 'wall of flesh' in front of her.
In the blink of an eye, Ruan Qingyu gradually detected a burnt smell amidst the stench. At the same moment, she felt the entire space reverse.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that where she had been standing not far from the ground, she had ended up on the other side after the space reversed, with the distance between her feet increasing from a few feet to tens of feet.
These changes happened in the blink of an eye, and Ruan Qingyu continued to burn the wounded area. The Phoenix Divine Fire spread continuously, further depleting her spiritual power.
Feeling her spiritual power constantly dissipating, Ruan Qingyu decisively took out several spirit stones, crushed them forcefully, and frantically absorbed the dissipated spiritual energy.
About an hour later, the charred black wall in front of Ruan Qingyu finally gave way and broke open with a large hole.
Along with crimson blood and the oozing of foul-smelling slime, Ruan Qingyu kicked out, her ankle forcefully widening the already crumbling wall of flesh.
In stark contrast to the dim yellow light inside, the outside was pitch black. The flow inside this boundless tower was the same as that outside, so the alternation of day and night was also synchronized with the outside world.
Sensing the other scents carried by the wind, Ruan Qingyu felt a slight sense of relief. With a sudden leap, she rolled out of the cave entrance.
Only after landing steadily on the ground and turning around did Ruan Qingyu realize where she had come from.
Behind her, motionless like a small mountain, lay the lifeless giant three-legged toad. Ruan Qingyu's doubts were finally answered; she had been moved from the location of the attack near the river.
Then there are those strange 'walls,' the bleeding flesh walls, and even the constantly trembling passageways—all of which are the work of this three-legged toad.
Even with its enormous size, it shouldn't have been able to trap her for so long; it must be the three-legged toad's own supernatural power that could have such an effect.
However, her Phoenix Divine Fire was invincible, and this three-legged toad was broken through from the inside, losing its life instead.
A gust of wind blew by, and Ruan Qingyu smelled an even stronger stench. She sniffed in disgust, then used a cleansing spell, finally feeling a little better.
After a moment's thought, a ball of phoenix fire, exceptionally bright in the darkness, was tossed onto the three-legged toad. The flames quickly engulfed the mountain-sized toad, leaving only ashes on the ground after a quarter of an hour.
Something glittered in the moonlight amidst the ashes.
Seeing this, Ruan Qingyu stepped forward and picked up the item. It was a perfectly round, glowing demon beast core, and an unexpected jade slip.
The fact that this thing was found together with the beast core clearly meant that the toad had swallowed the jade slip long ago. However, sensing the aura within the beast core, Ruan Qingyu was filled with doubt.
If a Nascent Soul stage demonic beast were placed inside this Boundless Tower, it would be manageable if a group of Golden Core stage cultivators rushed up to it. But if they came one by one, it would be suicide.
Looking at the fifteen points on the jade slip again, Ruan Qingyu put it away, feeling it was better than nothing. She felt that her luck was really hard to predict, sometimes good and sometimes bad.
Seeing that Ruan Qingyu was somewhat disappointed, Wutong couldn't help but smile and say, "Miss Ruan, although this toad is ugly, its demon beast core is the inner core of a Nascent Soul stage demon beast. Whether used in medicine or sold, it is very valuable."
He remembered that many people used to be greedy for money. This demon beast pill was precious, so it must be worth more than these jade slip points.
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qingyu raised an eyebrow: "After Wutong woke up, she seemed to know more about this matter than I did." Her tone was somewhat teasing, but she didn't seem discouraged.
"There's still time, and besides the points, the competition also depends on the number of people in the team." Ruan Qingyu thought that her luck was unpredictable, so she might as well find teammates first and then go to find the points jade slips as a team. It would definitely be better than her going it alone.
Having made up her mind, Ruan Qingyu took out the magical artifact she had agreed upon with Liu Yan and the others. The black disc was unremarkable in appearance. Ruan Qingyu pointed at it with her fingers, and a red light flashed between her brows.
"Ask, is there anyone within a hundred miles?" Ruan Qingyu's voice was extremely low. After she finished speaking, the black disc changed. A bluish-black light emanated from the disc, and then it began to spin rapidly.
The next moment, the light flew towards the southeast. Ruan Qingyu looked up and smiled slightly: "So it was over there. I wonder who it was."
As soon as she finished speaking, Ruan Qingyu had vanished from the spot. Only a streak of golden-red light could be seen flashing from the southeast, leaving a faint glow behind.
To the southeast lies a place of strangely shaped rocks.
A long whip cracked and snapped, and with each explosion, a gold-eating rat died instantly, turning into a blood-red mist.
Undeterred, the endless stream of gold-eating rats continued to gnaw at the center. Even the deaths of their kind around them couldn't dampen their love for food.
Jin Chengcheng glared hatefully at the other side, where the person had long since disappeared, gritting her teeth: "You really think I can't do anything to you? Once I get out of here, I'll have someone deal with you..."
As she spoke, dozens more gold-eating rats charged toward her face. Jin Chengcheng's eyes widened, and she swung her long whip in a semi-circular arc at the other end.
Jin Chengcheng's wrist twisted rapidly, but she couldn't react in time. She instinctively raised her left hand to shield her face, and the golden spiritual energy between her wrists flickered a few times before extinguishing.
With this wave of pioneers scouting ahead, the remaining gold-eating rats immediately found a breakthrough and leaped towards Jin Chengcheng's head in large waves.
The gold-eating rats that pounced on her all had bloodshot eyes and began to gnaw at Jin Chengcheng's arms, clothes, and even hair.
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