CHAPTER 675: 675 A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

Pshh!

The moment Yun Xiao stepped through the entrance of the Boundary Tower, he felt as if the universe had turned over. His head went dizzy immediately, a sensation very much like the one he experienced when he entered the Demon Realm during the Countries Hidden Dragon Conference.

It seemed that Yun Xiao’s guess was not wrong--the Boundary Tower indeed was a special space. Additionally, it was even more peculiar than the Demon Realm, likely designed so that the people inside wouldn’t interfere with or even encounter each other.

As Yun Xiao’s consciousness blurred and sank, and when it cleared once more, he found himself in an extraordinary place—an expansive, empty grassland, the end of which one couldn’t see at a glance.

Beep-boop!

Just as Yun Xiao casually strolled forward, a slightly bizarre sound came from behind him. When he turned his head to look, he was in for a shock that was no small matter.

For behind Yun Xiao, the once lush and verdant grassland was, unbeknownst to him, emitting thick smoke, as if a wildfire had been lit, and the flames were ferocious, burning directly towards his location.

"Damn it, who set fire to the grassland?"

Upon seeing this, Yun Xiao muttered a curse to himself, but at this moment, he didn’t dare to stop for even a half-second. His figure flickered as he sprinted forward, hoping to get away from the wildfire before it could reach him and escape the onslaught of the flames.

Yun Xiao’s speed was undeniably fast, even surpassing some Earth-rank cultivators who had just entered the early stage of the Qi Seeking Realm, which is why at this moment his figure was almost like lightning, nearly turning into a thin line.

However, to Yun Xiao’s horror, no matter how fast he ran, the fire raging behind him seemed to burn even faster. In just a few breaths’ time, he felt the scorching pain on his back.

In a state of alarm, Yun Xiao turned his head back only to have his expression darken further as the fire that was initially a dozen yards behind him had already caught up, the dense smoke now brushing against the clothes on his back.

Boom!

In the moment Yun Xiao turned his head, the raging fire enveloped his entire body. A spark touched his clothes, and instantly they were reduced to ashes.

Fortunately, there were no other people around, so Yun Xiao didn’t feel too embarrassed, but the intense pain from the flames was extremely hard to bear, as if his skin was going to crack and burn completely.

"Hmm? Something’s strange!"

Just as despair crept into Yun Xiao’s mind, he suddenly realized that the wildfire which burned off his clothes, upon touching his skin, wasn’t as fatal as he had imagined, and was within a tolerable range for him.

"Could this be the first trial of the Boundary Tower?"

Feeling the flames that did not burn through his skin, Yun Xiao already vaguely understood something: these flames, while appearing to be direct fire, actually had a much lower temperature on the skin than real flames.

Nonetheless, despite this discovery, Yun Xiao still felt rather uncomfortable, as the flames, though not at their highest temperature, were indeed still fire. In no time, he was sweating profusely, his face beet-red.

With temporary endurance, Yun Xiao could still hold on, as he had previously tempered his body with Stone Heart Marrow, Body Tempering Golden Crystal Silk, and Earth Burst Stone Lotus, thus his physical strength was long incomparable to that of an ordinary Peak of the Spirit Vein Realm cultivator.

What Yun Xiao did not know, however, was how long such scorching heat would last. If it were to exhaust the Meridian Qi in his body and reach a limit his flesh could withstand, then even if the flames were not the strongest, they could still bake him into a mummy.

The time passed quickly, a full day and night, and during this entire period, Yun Xiao traversed within those flames, sweating like rain, and at this point, he found out that his Waist Storage was unusable—he could not even take out water to quench his thirst.

After all the water and salts within his body had evaporated, an unbearable thirst ensued. So at this moment, Yun Xiao’s lips were cracked, and it seemed as if even his consciousness was starting to blur.

In his dazed state, Yun Xiao faintly thought that the trials of the Boundary Tower might be based on the cultivator’s level of cultivation. Because if it were an ordinary cultivator at the Peak of the Spirit Vein Realm under such fierce fire, they would likely have been unable to endure long ago.

After all, Yun Xiao’s physical strength was now comparable to that of a Seventh Rank Low-Level Vein Demon, and yet he was close to being roasted alive, let alone those ordinary cultivators.

Pshh!

As Yun Xiao’s eyes turned blank, staring at the endless fire and black smoke ahead, suddenly, the scenery in his eyes drastically changed.

The fiery inferno that filled the sky moments before had disappeared without a trace, replaced by the lush verdant grassland he saw upon entering the Boundary Tower—where was there any sign of the devastating fire?

If not for his current overwhelming thirst, Yun Xiao might have even thought that everything that had happened before was just an illusion. This sudden change was, after all, a bit too abrupt.

"Hmm?"

However, just as Yun Xiao caught his breath, thinking he could take a short rest, the sky above the grassland began, to everyone’s surprise, to flutter with heavy snowflakes as big as goose feathers.

The snow arrived so suddenly that in just a moment, the once lush green grassland was covered with layers of thick snowflakes, and the temperature also plummeted by dozens of degrees.

From extreme heat to extreme cold, it seemed as though only a few breaths had passed. Mere moments ago, Yun Xiao had been drenched in sweat amid the scorching heat, and now, he was shivering in this snowy, icy world.

What made matters worse was that because of the recent fiery burning, Yun Xiao was stark naked, unable to retrieve clothes from his Waist Storage. The outcome of entering this icy world in his bare skin was predictable.

"Shh..."

The sudden chill made Yun Xiao inhale a cool breath involuntarily. Fortunately, he had already realized that this must be the second trial of the Boundary Tower, and it seemed that he had just passed the first trial.

"Could it be that the tests of the Boundary Tower are related to the Ancestor Vein within my body?"

Because of the fiery onslaught he’d just endured and the frost covering the sky at that moment, another thought crossed Yun Xiao’s mind. His hair and eyebrows had already become frosted with snowflakes. He looked like an old man nearing a hundred years old.

The snow on his hair and eyebrows could not cause Yun Xiao any harm, but the extreme cold had turned all ten of his fingers and toes red. It was uncertain how much longer he could endure.

Another day and night passed, and just when Yun Xiao felt his blood was about to freeze and stop flowing, the heavy snow and unbearable chill that filled the sky suddenly vanished in an instant.

"At last, I persevered. It seems that each trial just happens to last twelve time periods!"

Even though Yun Xiao’s mind had almost been frozen solid, he still retained a trace of clarity and calculated the duration of the two trials to reach a conclusion.

However, when the blizzard ceased, it did not return to the previous verdant grassland. Instead, it seemed as if he had arrived in a desolate Gobi, with fallen rocks and broken stones everywhere, prompting Yun Xiao’s heart to stir.

"Could the next one be the trial of the Five Elements Earth?"

Since Yun Xiao had previously surmised that the tests of the Boundary Tower might be related to his Five Elements Ancestor Veins, the sight of that desolate scene led him to another guess.

Whoosh... Whoosh...

A strong wind suddenly approached, and then Yun Xiao watched in horror as the rocks and broken stones that had been scattered haphazardly on the ground began to be swept up by the wind, dancing and drifting chaotically in the air.

One could only imagine the strength of the wind, given that it could cause even huge rocks to soar into the sky. Moreover, these wild winds seemed to possess some kind of sensing ability; after sweeping up the rocks, they changed directions in an instant and furiously attacked Yun Xiao.

"Are you kidding me? This is too thrilling!"

As countless rocks of all sizes sped toward him in the raging winds, Yun Xiao was shocked and frightened. There was simply no avoiding the onslaught of rocks aiming straight for him.

"There has to be an opening!"

At that moment, Yun Xiao’s mind became incredibly sharp. Despite previously being tormented by heat and cold, he knew that if he couldn’t get past this test, his only option besides death would be to crush his Boundary Crossing Token, thus abandoning this Boundary Tower challenge.

"As expected!"

Watching the approaching rocks of various sizes, Yun Xiao’s eyes lit up for a moment. He slightly shifted to the left, and then a large rock whizzed past his right side, crashing far away on the ground.

It seemed Yun Xiao’s guess was right. Those wind-whipped rocks, which from afar seemed to leave no room for escape, when they came close to him, were not too tightly packed after all; there was at least enough space for a person to fit through.

Although the trials of the Boundary Tower were brutal, they would always leave a sliver of hope. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be about selecting talents for the Tenglong Continent but rather destroying them.

Of course, the Boundary Tower was incredibly magical, and with Yun Xiao’s current speed and reaction, if an ordinary cultivator at the Peak of Spirit Vein Realm were to come here, they probably wouldn’t be able to dodge many times before being crushed into a pulp by the countless rocks.

At this moment, Yun Xiao was using the Ghost Trace Step that he inherited from the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud. With his strength at the Peak of the Spirit Vein Realm and executing this technique, he was undoubtedly more adept than during the competition at the Outer Sect of the Jade Pot Sect.

Furthermore, with Yun Xiao’s Power of Soul reaching a High-level Heavenly, even though those wind-blown rocks came incredibly fast, they could not escape his sharp eyes. Despite being completely naked, he appeared to stroll leisurely at this moment.

If it continued this way to the end, it would be much more relaxed than the previous two trials of ice and fire. But this is the Boundary Tower. Would it let Yun Xiao pass this third trial so effortlessly?

The answer was, obviously, no!