Aside from these powerful individuals, many others who had come to try their luck were now standing hesitantly in place, with some even turning back and retreating through the fissure after seeing the sea of molten lava.
Although they had heard about the first trial of the Jade Dragon Secret Realm, humans are often stubborn, refusing to turn back until they hit a wall. Without seeing it with their own eyes, they always held onto a sliver of hope.
Still, such people were commendable, at least they knew when to retreat.
However, there was a small group among them who, even after hitting the wall, refused to turn back—or perhaps they simply couldn’t.
This small group clung to cheap fire-warding talismans, gritted their teeth, and leaped into the lava. And then, there was no "and then."
Clearly, they had been scammed by unscrupulous merchants.
Earlier, outside the secret realm, Gu Qingfeng had noticed some peculiar individuals. They weren’t there to challenge the realm but instead moved mysteriously through the crowd, whispering to people and discreetly lifting the inner lining of their clothes to reveal rows of fire-warding talismans, asking, "Need talismans? Authentic, straight from the Heavenly Master's Mansion."
Some inexperienced rogue cultivators or disciples from minor sects actually bought them, as the sellers swore on their lives, promising that the talismans were genuine, even offering to compensate a hundredfold if they were fake!
After observing the scene, Gu Qingfeng saw that the elite disciples from prominent families had already covered a third of the distance. The fastest prodigy from the Spirit Herb Mountain was halfway to the volcano.
However, once they passed the halfway point, their pace began to slow. From the lava emerged flame-wrapped, magma-dripping fire demons. These humanoid demons, some as tall as five meters and others around three meters, roared and blocked their path.
The weaker ones began to be eliminated by the fire demons, and the number of participants sharply decreased. Screams of agony echoed from time to time.
Gu Qingfeng stretched slightly, preparing to set off. But he pondered, should he follow the same process as everyone else, or should he just clear the trial outright?
After a moment of thought, he came to a conclusion: "I’m a god now, why should I keep a low profile?
Didn’t you see how those grandmasters from the major factions were showing off outside?
With power comes the freedom to act as one pleases. Why should I play house with these kids?"
With that thought, Gu Qingfeng took a step forward and landed on the surface of the lava.
His figure stood calmly on the molten rock, the scorching heat nothing more than a triviality to him. The boiling lava, as if recognizing its sovereign, ceased its churning and became as still as stagnant water.
In the next moment, his innate fire-control ability activated. An invisible, peculiar wave emanated from beneath his feet, instantly covering the entire sea of lava.
Suddenly, all the lava in the molten land stopped flowing, as if a raging ocean had abruptly turned calm.
The abrupt shift from extreme motion to utter stillness instantly caused panic among the crowd.
"What’s happening? The lava has stopped moving!"
"Look at the fire demons!"
A shout drew everyone’s attention. They turned to look and were shocked to see that the once-ferocious fire demons now wore expressions of human-like fear, halting their attacks.
In an instant, all the fire demons’ gazes focused in one direction.
Following their line of sight, the crowd saw only a mass of lagging participants. No one could tell what the fire demons were looking at.
Then, something even more shocking happened. All the fire demons knelt in that direction, their bodies trembling slightly, as if begging for mercy or paying homage to some terrifying entity.
Just as everyone was utterly baffled, the lava began to stir again.
Those standing on the lava suddenly lost their footing. Those with higher cultivation managed to stabilize themselves, but weaker individuals fell onto the lava. Fortunately, the lava seemed to have cooled, or else they would have been severely injured, if not killed.
"What’s going on? The lava… the lava is retreating!"
To their horror, the lava beneath their feet began to flow backward toward the entrance like water being sucked away, as if something was drawing it in.
Panic set in. To keep their balance, they had to run forward against the flow of the lava, like they were on a treadmill.
The lava flowed faster and faster, and a terrifying pressure began to emanate from the depths, as if something immensely powerful was about to emerge.
Then—
Boom!
The lava exploded, and a deafening dragon’s roar echoed across the sky.
Roar!
What followed was a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
An endless stream of lava coalesced into a colossal, dark-red dragon, thousands of feet long. This dragon seemed to have emerged from the depths of hell, its upper body towering above the lava, its tail still connected to the molten sea, exuding an overwhelming aura.
As it appeared, the surface of the lava sea dropped by several feet, and in lower areas, the scorched ground was exposed.
The emergence of this thousand-foot dragon had nearly drained the entire sea of lava!
The moment the dragon appeared, a wave of scorching heat swept over them, as if the sun had risen, with the power to incinerate everything in its path.
Countless prodigies and disciples from prominent families stared in terror at the sky-obscuring lava dragon, their faces pale and filled with panic.
"A dragon! Why is there a dragon here?"
"The Jade Dragon Secret Realm has existed for over a century and has been opened many times, but there’s never been a dragon in the first trial!"
"Run! We’re no match for this. Let’s get out of here!"
Screams of fear erupted as people instinctively tried to flee. But then, someone with sharp eyes noticed something astonishing—there was a person standing on the dragon’s head!
"Look! There’s someone on the dragon!"
The shout drew everyone’s attention. They looked and thought they were hallucinating.
Because there really was someone standing on the dragon.
It was Gu Qingfeng.
Gu Qingfeng stood arrogantly on the dragon’s head, his expression cold and his gaze contemptuous, looking down upon the masses.
Watching the shocked and panicked faces of the prodigies, Gu Qingfeng sighed inwardly.
This was the demeanor befitting a god.
"Make way."
His cold, commanding voice, amplified by his formidable soul power, reverberated throughout the space, reaching everyone’s ears.
Then, Gu Qingfeng activated his fire-control ability, steering the lava dragon like an emperor on a grand procession, heading straight for the volcano.
Wherever it passed, waves of heat surged, and the lava churned, growing hotter with every step.
Faced with this sky-obscuring behemoth, all the prodigies and disciples from prominent families stepped aside in fear.
"Who is this person?"
"Is he also here to challenge the Jade Dragon Secret Realm?"
"Impossible! With this level of power and the ability to transform lava into a dragon, he must at least be a grandmaster! How did he even enter the secret realm?"
Countless questions filled their minds. They tried to sense Gu Qingfeng’s cultivation level, only to discover, to their shock, that he was only at the Qi Gathering Eighth Level!?
What… what kind of joke is this?
With such mastery over fire and this terrifying thousand-foot dragon, how could he possibly be at the Qi Gathering Eighth Level?
Could he be using a technique to conceal his true strength?
But that didn’t make sense either!
The Jade Dragon Secret Realm restricts entry to those at the True Qi Realm and above. If he were a grandmaster, how did he get in?