Chapter 155 - 81: Stage 2, Volcanic Purgatory! A God-Tier Player

Chapter 155: Chapter 81: Stage 2, Volcanic Purgatory! A God-Tier Player

Thanks to her strong mental fortitude, Lin Rongjin’s mocking words had no effect on Su Wanyi. However, the perilous sight of the second trial stirred a hint of worry in her heart.

This was because neither of them had seen Jiang Xuan’s earlier performance.

The Road of Purgatory was a semi-illusory, sealed Illusionary Space.

To view the situation inside from the outside, one had to use a special Technique to project the events within to the outside world in real time.

However, the Road of Purgatory was vast, and the external screens were limited, meaning each projection could only display a small area.

And clearly, whether it was Song Zhou, Chen Chengguang, or Cheng Jin, they would only focus on the powerful contenders like Qin Feng, Xie Hanshuang, Qiao Yue, and Chen Qianjun.

Jiang Xuan... was just considered one of the unremarkable ones.

Furthermore, the instructors had been too busy arguing about the trial’s difficulty to switch the view.

As a result, the moment where Jiang Xuan effortlessly crushed his peers—a display of his deeply hidden strength—was never witnessed by anyone on the outside.

Few people on the inside saw it either. At the start of the wilderness trial, the scene was too chaotic. Everyone was focused on their own survival or helping their subordinates, with no time to pay attention to anyone else.

Additionally, when Jiang Xuan made his move, there were no flashy sound or light effects.

This was why, even now, many people still saw him as nothing more than an unremarkable participant.

And it was precisely because she was unaware of all this that Lin Rongjin didn’t think he could survive the deadly second stage.

As for Su Wanyi... while she had some faith in Jiang Xuan’s strength, she couldn’t help but furrow her brow in private.

’This terrain is a huge disadvantage for Jiang Xuan. It’s a perfect counter!’

...

While Su Wanyi worried, Jiang Xuan gazed at the distant landscape and also frowned slightly.

’So I’ve really come to Purgatory.’

For this joint academy exam, Cheng Jin had indeed cranked the difficulty to the maximum. After racing through the wilderness for a short while, just as Jiang Xuan, Qin Feng, and the others were beginning to adapt to the rhythm of the slaughter, the surrounding scenery abruptly transformed. The vast wilderness vanished, replaced in an instant by a sprawling chain of violent volcanoes.

The moment Jiang Xuan and the others set foot in the Volcanic Area, this Purgatory immediately gave them a taste of its power.

RUMBLE!

With a heaven-shattering roar, the massive chain of volcanoes erupted.

Under the great power of Heaven and Earth, countless streams of scalding magma, wreathed in flame, shot toward the heavens like Falling Stars.

The next moment, the volcanic rock rained down upon the students, trailing long, crimson tails of fire and blotting out the sky.

RUMBLE...

Meteors burned across the sky, while hidden dangers lurked on the ground.

To say nothing of the rivers and lakes of magma flowing everywhere.

What made Jiang Xuan raise an eyebrow was that searing pillars of fire would also erupt without warning from beneath the ground.

Such attacks were nigh impossible to defend against.

Beyond the natural disasters, the Demon Beasts living here were even more difficult to handle.

Fire Snakes coiled in the lava, Fire Lizards stalked the scorched earth, and Molten Rock Demons stood guard amidst the flames. Not only were these monsters wreathed in fire, making them difficult to approach, but they could also attack from a distance, launching Fireballs and forming flaming arrows from the safety of the lava lakes.

Meanwhile, in the sky above, flocks of cawing Fire Crows circled and Flame-Winged Beasts patrolled the air. With threats from the air, on the ground, and from beneath, it was a three-pronged assault that closed in from all sides, leaving no path to survival.

Bombardments from the sky, sieges by Demon Beasts, and eruptions from the ground—this triple threat created a desperate situation. All of it made travel perilous for the students of the three academies, with danger at every turn.

Even Jiang Xuan had no choice but to land and proceed on foot with the others.

There were too few who could fly, and being in the air made one far too conspicuous.

If he flew, he would have to face all the airborne Demons alone, and he would also be a target for ranged fire attacks from the Demon Beasts on the ground.

Of course, that alone would have been manageable. If he were by himself, Jiang Xuan was confident he could use his Nether Abyss Dharma Eye, which he controlled as if by instinct, to deftly dodge every attack.

But he was escorting two others, which reduced his mobility by a factor of three to five, making it impossible.

’Sigh, this is all a debt of favor I have to repay... Fortunately, after this, my debt will be settled.’

VMM!

The moment they landed, Dong Hao’s entire body went rigid. He scanned his surroundings warily, paying special attention to the ground beneath his feet, not daring to let his guard down for even a second.

The geysers of fire that erupted from the earth were incredibly sudden, giving one the sense that they were impossible to guard against.

On top of that, the falling meteors and the fire attacks from the surrounding Demon Beasts all posed a fatal threat to him.

Between the numerous dangers and the extreme heat of the area, he was already drenched in sweat just a few moments after landing.

Su Linyin, beside him, was in a similar state.

Just as their Heart Spirits were fraught with anxiety and terror, a calm, steady voice, as reassuring as heavenly music, sounded in their ears.

"Don’t be so tense, and don’t resist my power. Just follow my lead and keep moving forward. Leave the rest to me."

"Since I’ve accepted payment, I’ll ensure you make it through safely."

Jiang Xuan didn’t speak loudly, but upon hearing his words, both Su Linyin and Dong Hao felt the tension in their hearts subconsciously ease.

Of course, at first, neither Dong Hao nor Su Linyin dared to completely let their guard down.

As they walked, they remained cautious, glancing around from time to time.

And then, they witnessed countless tragedies.

Someone was caught off guard by a jet of lava from the ground and instantly incinerated into a charred husk.

Another dodged a burst of lava only to be struck by a Fireball from a Flame Demon Beast, which sent them flying into a lake of magma, letting out a bloodcurdling scream.

Another unlucky soul, busy fending off Demon Beasts and dodging lava flows, neglected to watch the sky.

BOOM!

Then, with a deafening roar, he was struck squarely by a falling flaming meteor and instantly smashed into a paste of flesh and blood.

In just three minutes since entering the Volcanic Area, nearly a hundred students from the three academies had been killed.

The sight made Dong Hao break out in a cold sweat. He saw many people of similar strength to himself who had died in the lava fields simply due to bad luck.

His former rival, Zeng Jun, for example, was in dire straits. He hadn’t died, but he had lost an arm in a siege by Flame Demon Beasts.

Even then, he only survived because one of his subordinates sacrificed their life to save him, and because he had been following closely behind Xie Hanyan.

Dong Hao acknowledged Zeng Jun’s strength, so seeing him in such a miserable state naturally made his heart pound with fear.

However, as his heart trembled at the surrounding carnage, he soon noticed something strange. All around them, the earth was splitting apart, flames were raging, and battles were nonstop, yet the area immediately around the three of them was perfectly calm.

Yes, perfectly calm.

The surrounding Demon Beasts rarely spat Fireballs in their direction.

The lava from below seldom erupted at their feet, and even the meteors from the sky never fell anywhere near them.

After walking through the Volcanic Area for a full three minutes, Dong Hao and Su Linyin realized that they were, in fact, just walking. They hadn’t encountered a single danger.

It was as if the three of them were being completely ignored by the disaster and the Demon Beasts.

If not for Jiang Xuan, who was leading them, intentionally controlling their pace, they might have overtaken all the other students and been walking right behind the proctor.

???

They were in a Scorched Earth Purgatory, yet their immediate vicinity was completely serene. The bizarre scene made Dong Hao and Su Linyin exchange a look, both of them shaken beyond belief.

Of course, neither of them was foolish enough to believe they were simply lucky.

They knew very well that this had to be Jiang Xuan’s doing.

What truly shocked Dong Hao and Su Linyin was that they had no idea—not the slightest clue—what method Jiang Xuan was using. How could he possibly carve out a tranquil haven, a safe passage untouched by the chaos, in the middle of a murderous, volcanic Purgatory?

’I can’t see the slightest hint of how he’s doing it... Has the gap between me and Jiang Xuan really grown this wide?!’