Chapter 1619: Chapter 1615: The Test

Nie Cai Zhu leapt gracefully onto the back of the Sand Lizard, taking a seat beside Shen Luo, her chest heaving slightly.

“Let’s go.” Shen Luo commanded the Sand Lizard and set forth.

As the Sand Lizard traveled, Shen Luo was busy inspecting several treasures he had seized from Wanshui Zhenren.

The first thing he picked up were the Cloud Chasing Lightning Boots, which he put on after a brief examination.

He had been very curious about these Spirit Boots. According to the Fire Spirit Child, they were crafted by an Ancient Thunder God, containing supreme divine abilities. Wanshui Zhenren had previously demonstrated the powers of these boots, which were astonishingly fast, much faster than the Pacing Azure Cloud Boots.

Shen Luo activated his Mana and infused it into the boots which immediately started to emit strands of purple thunder and lightning. His face showed a look of surprise.

The Cloud Chasing Lightning Boots contained sixty-four layers of prohibitions and had reached the Perfection Boundary. Moreover, these prohibitions were linked one after another, although they were sixty-four layers, they were integrated as one, far superior to the other Perfection Boundary Magical Treasures he held.

With the aid of these boots, Shen Luo felt unusually light, as though he could dash off into the air at any moment.

However, flying was forbidden in this Third Layer of Space, so naturally, he dared not to actually soar into the air.

Shen Luo soon stopped activating the Spirit Boots as his inner Mana had only recovered a little and needed to be conserved for use.

He checked the other Magical Treasures one by one, with his gaze finally resting on the Treasure Coin.

The Treasure Coin also contained sixty-four layers of prohibitions, also interconnected and unified, distinctly different from ordinary Perfection Boundary Magical Treasures.

“Could it be that to advance further after a Magical Treasure’s prohibitions reach sixty-four layers, the layers must be linked with one another?” Shen Luo thought to himself.

After examining the Treasure Coin, he hesitated slightly but decided to refine and activate the treasure despite the Mana consumption.

This treasure possessed the miraculous effect of knocking down the enemy’s Magical Treasures, with just a bit of refinement it could be used to great effect immediately.

The Sand Lizard was quite fast, carrying the two of them swiftly forward, and they had traveled for a full day and night in no time.

During this time, Che Qingtian and the others did not appear, Shen Luo didn’t know if they had not pursued or simply failed to catch up, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, without the guidance of the Stone Stele, he had no idea where the correct direction was and could only proceed based on his instincts.

Ahead was still an endless sea of sand, with no sign of reaching an end, and the scenery around him remained unchanged from the beginning.

Suddenly, Shen Luo had a thought and wondered if he had gone in the wrong direction. He stopped the Sand Lizard, a look of hesitation on his face, unsure whether to continue.

At this moment, Nie Cai Zhu, who had been meditating with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes and looked towards the front left.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Luo asked, looking over.

“There was a fleeting fluctuation of witchcraft power in that direction just now,” Nie Cai Zhu said.

“Witchcraft power? Why would there be witchcraft power here?” Shen Luo was startled.

“It was just a flicker that vanished quickly; I’m not sure either.” Nie Cai Zhu pondered and spoke.

“No matter what it is, even a slight change is worth checking out. Let’s go over there.” Shen Luo said after a moment of silence, urging the Sand Lizard to move towards that direction.

They traveled for half a day more and discovered nothing, nor did they find the source of that hint of witchcraft fluctuation.

“It seems the sensation before was just an illusion.” Nie Cai Zhu said somewhat abashed.

“It doesn’t matter, since we don’t know where to go anyway. Changing direction might lead us to other discoveries.” Shen Luo waved his hand and didn’t change direction, continuing to move forward.

After another half day’s journey, he suddenly looked up into the distance, and at the end of the horizon, a trace of red could faintly be seen.

“Cai Zhu, look, what is that?” Finally noticing a bit of change, Shen Luo’s eyes lit up. He pushed his Ghost Eye of the Netherworld to its limits but still couldn’t see clearly.

“It seems to be a fire cloud,” Nie Caizhu said, her eyes emitting two substantial beams of golden light.

“Your eyes! Is this a kind of pupil technique?” Shen Luo asked upon seeing this.

“This is the Golden Vision Divine Ability, one of the legacies of God Hou Yi, which complements his archery skills and is adept at sighting from afar. However, using this ability consumes a great deal of witchcraft power, and since I have just mastered it, I still can’t control it freely,” Nie Caizhu said.

“Since your inner vitality has not yet recovered, and this technique consumes vitality, don’t use it casually,” Shen Luo said anxiously.

Nie Caizhu nodded and dispelled the golden light in her eyes.

The two continued towards the direction of the fire cloud, and after another two-hour period, they finally reached where the fire cloud was.

The sky was filled with crimson fire clouds, like burning flames, while the ground below was indeed a scarlet sea of flames, burning fiercely and emitting an extremely hot aura.

The sand lizard couldn’t withstand such high temperatures, so Shen Luo released it far before approaching.

“How can there be a sea of flames? Could we have taken a wrong turn?” Nie Caizhu frowned as she looked at the sea of flames before her.

With her current strength, even getting close to the sea of flames was intolerably hot.

“No, I actually think it’s the opposite. This is exactly our destination, and it’s also one of the trials of the Third Layer,” Shen Luo said.

“A trial? Yes, that’s possible!” Nie Caizhu was taken aback, and then agreed.

“Cai Zhu, use your Golden Vision Technique to see what is within the sea of flames,” Shen Luo hesitated for a moment before suggesting.

Although he wasn’t troubled by the sea of flames before him, considering Cai Zhu’s safety, it was best to probe the depths of the sea of flames to prevent any unexpected changes.

“Okay,” Nie Caizhu stamped her foot on the ground fiercely and leapt high into the air, her eyes shooting out two piercing beams of golden light, before quickly falling back down.

“How is it?” Shen Luo asked.

“There is indeed something different deep within the sea of flames. Roughly ten miles or so away, there seems to be a golden magma river with an even higher temperature than the surrounding sea of flames,” Nie Caizhu said with a grave expression.

“A magma river? How wide is it?” Shen Luo inwardly noted that this sea of flames was truly no ordinary feat, and then asked.

“Very wide, about twenty or thirty miles. The air is so distorted within the sea of flames that I couldn’t see clearly what is on the other side of the magma river,” Nie Caizhu said.

“We can’t traverse by flying. How are we to get across a magma river that’s twenty or thirty miles wide?” Shen Luo furrowed his brows, unable to come up with a plan after some thought.

“Cai Zhu, you stay here, and I’ll go over to the magma river to check it out,” he then said.

“You’re going alone? It’s too dangerous,” Nie Caizhu said, her expression tensing up.

“I have my Pure Yang Sword to protect me, which is enough to withstand the high temperature of the sea of flames. It won’t take much time to go there and back, so it won’t be too dangerous. Just wait here in peace,” Shen Luo reassured her.

Nie Caizhu knew about the capabilities of Shen Luo’s Pure Yang Sword, which contained Heavenly Fire and was supported by four fire-attribute sacred bird sword spirits, so she knew it would withstand the sea of flames. Recognizing that following Shen Luo might actually require him to protect her, she did not insist.

Shen Luo took a deep breath, stepped forward, and approached the sea of flames. As he did, a crimson light flashed beside him, and four Pure Yang Swords appeared, each blade emanated raging flames, which were actually the Southern Ming Separation Fire.

The sword light from the four flying swords connected with each other, forming a fiery light screen, and effortlessly separated all the flames within the sea of flames.

Shen Luo turned back to give Nie Caizhu a reassuring look, lightning flickered around his feet, and he swiftly swept forward with incredible speed.