Chapter 367: The Choice Between Life And Death
Lava washed over the exposed bare rocks as the Sea of Raging Fire receded. Numerous cultivators not far away flew down from a high platform and landed on the stones. They leaped forward from one rock to another and rushed forth.
Behind the other cultivators were Zen and Lewis, who both quickened their paces. They were on high alert as they followed the rest of them.
As they trailed behind the group, Zen intentionally increased his speed to get rid of Lewis. However, he didn't expect the guy to be much faster than him. When Zen sped up, Lewis kept up; when Zen slowed down, he also slowed down. Moreover, Lewis kept talking to him by his side.
“Zen, what on earth is in the silver treasure chest on the third floor?” Lewis asked. Zen only rolled his eyes at Lewis' question.
Was he really that naive to believe that Zen would answer his question?
Lewis didn't miss the impatience in Zen's eyes. Although he felt embarrassed, he smiled and continued talking. He changed topics instead and said, “The hidden test was so hard. Do you think so too, Zen?”
'Hard?' Zen thought to himself.
The answer was yes.
Ever since he had stepped on Cloud Road, he didn't find the tests difficult except for the hidden one. Several elite disciples had previously died in the former tests. It was because they were unlucky, or they simply weren't good enough to be called as elites.
He did have to admit that the hidden test was ridiculously difficult.
When he chanced upon the hidden test, he aimed for the black treasure chest at the top.
It turned out that despite his best efforts, he only got the silver treasure chest on the third floor and those below it.
The Shadow Wolf King on the fourth floor was more powerful than Zen had imagined. He wouldn't gamble his life with no certainty of success. Thus, he backed off the challenge.
It was clear that the hidden test was immensely difficult. The elite disciples of every sect found it extremely hard to even get the red treasure chest on the first floor. The disciples of Cloud Hall who were eligible to enter the Cloud Road were equal to the top disciples of a second-grade sect. However, they too had failed to obtain the chest on the first floor.
The level of difficulty on each floor determined the preciousness of the treasure in the chest. Maybe it was even impossible to find such treasures in the Cloud Hall.
If it were the Cloud Hall who had arranged all the tests, would they really put “Malicious Wheel of Life and Death,” a tier 5 cultivation method, as a reward in the chest? It was highly impossible.
Such a top-level method was unlikely to be accessible even for Kenneth, and more so as a reward in the Cloud Road for the disciples.
Thus, how could it have appeared there? Perhaps the answer was hidden in the “Blood Fiend Emperor.”
A strong man had once lived in this place and was called emperor. It was safe to say that the ancient ruins were a region of a sixth-grade sect.
For some reason however, the sect fell apart and the Blood Fiend Emperor got injured, so he had to leave. Before he left, he hid all the treasures in the Cloud Road. That made the tests more difficult.
It was the most plausible reason why the hidden test was so excruciating but yielded amazing rewards.
Therefore, the treasures in the golden and black treasure chests must be the most coveted heirlooms of the sixth-grade sect.
However, they were all guesses--but Zen was determined to get those two treasure chests, whether his speculations were right or wrong. As for how to obtain the chests, it took time to plan it out.
“Hey! What are you thinking about? You haven't answered me yet,” Lewis said when he saw Zen had spaced out. Zen curled his lips.
He didn't really want to talk to Lewis so he sped up, but the guy was like a sticky candy that he couldn't get rid of.
Just then, a column of molten lava that was about a hundred feet high, suddenly emerged from the Sea of Raging Fire in front of them. The molten lava shot up high in the sky, then rained down. A lot of hot liquid splattered down to where the disciples stood.
“Careful!” someone cried out.
The cultivators heard the warning, so some of them exerted their life vitality to protect themselves. Others used the protection treasures as a shield against the raining lava.
Zen also emitted a sword intent, which wrapped around him and whisked away the molten lava.
Meanwhile, Lewis used his black cloak. It looked ordinary, but it was a magic treasure. Not only did it conceal his breath, it also formed a special force field which enabled the molten lava to slip down the cloak when it splashed on his body.
The rain soon cooled to a damp mist and the column of lava disappeared. However, it was just the calm before the storm. A huge monster suddenly rose from the Sea of Raging Fire. It was a thousand feet high with a body as big as a mountain.
“Fire Whale! It's a Fire Whale!” one disciple exclaimed in panic.
“Keep calm. The Fire Whale has a very docile temperament and it seldom attacks humans. We can guarantee our own safety as long as we do not enrage it.”
Zen looked at the huge Fire Whale in deep shock. He didn't expect for such a monster to have appeared in the Sea of Raging Fire.
The giant whale poked its head above the lava and lazily swam around. It looked similar to the ordinary whales because they all had blue backs and white abdomens. Their only difference was the Fire Whale had red stripes on its back.
No one could allow themselves to disturb such a monster. It could splash the lava around to at least a hundred feet high with its tail if it got angry, and they would all be killed in an instant.
Zen had previously planned to swim across the rest of the Sea of Raging Fire, but now it seemed impossible.
Although his invulnerable body could withstand the burning lava, he couldn't imagine how many other terrible creatures were in the sea. He wasn't sure if he could fight against all of them.
Everyone moved so cautiously so as not to disturb the Fire Whale. They all moved slowly and held their breaths.
Fortunately, the Fire Whale seemed to have no interest in these tiny humans. It surfaced for a breath of air, then slowly dived down and disappeared.
The cultivators heaved a long sigh of relief when the whale swam away. They picked up their speed and continued to swiftly run forward.
Another wave seemed to approach them as they progressed. Luckily, the cultivators had already jumped on a high platform before it arrived, and successfully avoided the surging tide.
Zen thought there would be no one on the platform, because the third platform was the same as the first platform and they were just temporary resting places. The disciples should have left when the tide had gone out. After all, the end of the Sea of Raging Fire was just up ahead and no one would waste time staying on the platform.
However, to Zen's surprise, the third high platform was full of people.
It seemed that all the disciples of the five second-grade sects and Cloud Hall had gathered in the small platform.
“Rocher?” Zen called out. He immediately spotted him among the group.
When Rocher heard his name being called out, he whipped his head around and saw Zen. “We are trapped here,” he said bitterly with a wry smile.
“Trapped here? Can't we get through?” Zen asked. Rocher just shook his head. “I'm afraid we can't. The rocks ahead of us have been badly destroyed,” he answered.
Zen's forehead creased when he heard this.
“How could the rocks be destroyed?” He was surprised. He never imagined that such an emergency could happen.
Although several rocks were damaged on their way behind, they left a short gap just enough for them to jump across.
This time however, more than a hundred rocks in front of them were destroyed. None of them could jump quite far, and flying was forbidden on the Cloud Road.
Therefore, all the warriors were trapped.
In such a case, people found it both funny and annoying that they didn't know what they should do. They had a hard time getting here. Did they have to go back to the way they came from? Thus, most of the cultivators decided to return to the high platform to make a countermeasure first.
Zen looked around and didn't see Patrick. “Why isn't Patrick here?” he asked.
The platform wasn't that big, so he should have easily found Patrick if he was there. Zen was confused. Patrick had gone ahead of him, but he never met him along the way and he wasn't on the platform as well. Where did he go? Was he dead already?
Zen thought that it was unlikely for Patrick to die on the Cloud Road due to his strength.
“He has chosen another way,” Rocher said with a smile.
“Another road?” Zen asked. “I have never heard that there was another road,” he added. He was even more surprised.
“Yes, there is. Frank, Lois, Patrick and the other two disciples have all chosen that way. There are only a few damaged rocks on that road and it isn't that hard to cross,” Rocher explained.
“So, why didn't you take that way?” Zen asked. “Because that road is called Death Road,” a disciple of Cloud Hall coldly interrupted. Rocher nodded in agreement.
“According to the disciples of Cloud Hall, there is a fork in the road ahead. It diverges into two roads. One is called Life Road, the other is called Death Road,” he added. The Cloud Road was certainly full of mysteries.
Almost all the disciples had chosen the Life Road when they were in the fork.
Although there were once disciples who had chosen the Death Road, they didn't survive in the end.
As time passed, the people had gradually forgotten about the Death Road and believed that the Life Road was the only way.
The so-called “Death Road” was actually not a road, but just a trap. For them, it was a way that led to death and no one could ever get through it.