Chapter 1047: 遗迹开启

At this moment, Feng Xun felt like dying.

He had thought his opponent had already displayed their strongest abilities in the previous fight. Now, he realized they might not have even used one-fifth of their combat power.

In other words, they had utterly brutalized him with only a fraction of their strength. Now, for some unknown reason, they were unleashing their full power, and he felt like he didn't want to live anymore from the beating he was receiving.

And besides...

What was going on? It was just a sparring match, wasn't it? He had already won... so why was the other party coming back to beat him up again? What was the situation?

Seeing his opponent getting increasingly joyous with each blow, Feng Xun could no longer hold back. He secretly released the restraints on his body, elevating his power to Saint 1-dan. Yet, just like before, nothing changed; he was still being mercilessly pummeled.

What made him want to vomit blood was that his opponent didn't even seem to notice his increased strength!

Gritting his teeth, he continued to raise his power to Saint 2-dan, but his opponent still didn't notice... and he was still being beaten into a pulp.

He was a centurion of the Combat Master Hall, a top-tier genius one in ten thousand, capable of fighting above his rank with ease and pleasure... yet, against this guy, he had exceeded his rank by two major levels, and the opponent hadn't even noticed...

The immense blow was driving him mad.

"Fine, forget about dignity..."

His face contorted in a grimace, Feng Xun, casting aside all restraint, gritted his teeth and released all of his suppressed power.

He was originally a peak Saint 3-dan expert. With his power fully unleashed, his aura surged, soaring skyward.

"I'll make you pay..."

With a roar, he clenched his fist, intending to strike his opponent, but then his vision went dark as a foot connected with his face.

The kick was not only powerful but also struck a vital point and a flaw in his cultivation. Before his excited shout could even finish, his vision went black, and he collapsed heavily, lying flat on the ground!

Only then did he truly understand one truth: cherish life, and stay away from Zhang Xuan!

Although he also had a reputation as a genius, compared to the person before him, he was simply not on the same level, at least a hundred thousand miles apart.

No wonder direct disciples could apply to become Combat Sages, and even casually taught students could utterly defeat people from their Master Teacher Hall...

It was truly monstrous!

After knocking Feng Xun unconscious, Zhang Xuan finally felt the pent-up frustration in his chest disappear. He stretched, feeling refreshed, and once again headed towards Luo Ruoxi's courtyard.

Before he reached it, he saw Master Mu emerge.

"Uncle-Master, Master Luo is already resting. She specifically said that anything can wait until tomorrow!"

"Uh!"

Seeing that she had no intention of meeting him, Zhang Xuan could only scratch his head and walk back to his residence.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, everyone gathered in the reception hall of the Master Teacher Hall. After a night of recovery and treatment, Feng Xun's aura had largely recovered, but his entire body was still severely swollen.

"Combat Master Feng, what happened to you? If you're not up to it, you don't have to go..." President Han, who was leading the group, couldn't help but ask upon seeing his appearance.

The guy was perfectly fine yesterday; how did he end up like this overnight?

"It's nothing, just a small mishap during cultivation yesterday. I've already taken medicine, so it won't cause any delays..." Feng Xun quickly waved his hand.

He had gone to challenge a From Saint, only to be beaten to such a state; he would rather die than admit it!

"Cultivation?" President Han shook his head.

Although he wasn't a Master Teacher, he wasn't a fool either. How could one end up like this from cultivation? It was clearly from being beaten up.

However, since the other party didn't want to explain, he didn't bother to press further. He looked around and said, "Since everyone is here, let's depart!"

The seal of the ancient domain was about to open; it was time to go.

Standing on the back of the Saint Beast, Zhang Xuan secretly glanced at Luo Ruoxi. Seeing the same serene expression on her face, seemingly not blaming him for yesterday's events, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly approached her.

"Master Luo, the ancient domain is full of dangers. If we go together, we can look out for each other..."

"Mm." Luo Ruoxi nodded.

"Excellent!" Seeing her agree, Zhang Xuan knew she wasn't angry, and he finally relaxed.

A few minutes later, the colossal Mount Yanlin reappeared before them.

Everyone landed.

The seal below was no different from a few days ago. The formation flag Zhang Xuan had inserted still stood quietly within the formation, with streams of dense energy erupting from all directions, releasing immense power.

"According to calculations, the seal will open today. The exact time is uncertain, so we just need to wait patiently!"

President Han explained.

For such a powerful seal, being able to deduce the exact day of its opening was already impressive; knowing the precise time was almost impossible.

Understanding the difficulty, no one was in a hurry. They waited in place, and after about an hour, the seal, which had been a white mist, slowly began to change, turning red, and then a seven-colored passage appeared before them.

"It's opening!"

Seeing the change, everyone's eyes lit up, knowing that the seal was indeed opening.

President Han looked ahead for a moment, then turned to explain to the group, "This is the Seven-Colored Rainbow Bridge to enter the seal. It will only be visible for a quarter of an hour, so let's hurry in!"

With that, he led the way.

The others followed closely.

Although this seven-colored passage was merely formed by a formation, it was incredibly sturdy. Walking on it felt no different from walking on solid ground; there was no discomfort whatsoever.

Following the others, treading on the multi-colored rainbow bridge, Zhang Xuan looked around. The blue sky, white clouds, green mountains, and clear waters interplayed with the hot air currents below, creating an ethereal sensation, as if two worlds were merging.

"To be able to create such a sturdy rainbow bridge in a place that was originally empty, the person who arranged this ancient domain is truly formidable..."

He mused inwardly.

He could also use his true qi to construct a rainbow bridge for people to walk on, but setting up a formation to make it operate as such a bridge was beyond his capability.

Not only could he not do it, but even a 7-star formation master would likely find it difficult.

It seemed, as he had previously guessed, the senior who left this ancient domain must have reached at least an 8-star level of power!

No wonder the old Dean was so wary and, knowing it would be difficult to return, had left a cenotaph in advance.

"Eye of Insight!"

As he walked forward, his eyes subtly shifted, peering ahead.

At the end of the rainbow, a seven-colored light membrane stretched across their path. Below, magma churned, and immense heat seemed ready to erupt at any moment, incinerating anything into ash.

"The structure of this light membrane... is somewhat similar to the seal in the grotto..."

After observing for a moment, his brows furrowed.

The light membrane before him had a peculiar structure; it was surprisingly similar to the seal found in the grotto that sealed the Outer Realm battlefield, though simpler.

Even so, without it opening, it would be almost impossible to force one's way in.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to keep the entire Foreign Tribe out for tens of thousands of years, allowing at most a few small fry to slip through.

Feeling perplexed, he followed the others and soon reached the light membrane.

The others finally got a clear view of what lay beyond the light membrane, and their faces all turned pale.

"There's magma ahead. Could it be... that the ancient domain they spoke of is inside this molten rock?"

A Master Teacher asked, puzzled.

Magma is molten rock, incredibly hot. Steel would melt into liquid if placed in it. Even though everyone present possessed Saint-level strength, they dared not rashly enter.

"My information is limited. The specifics can only be known once we're inside..." Master Wu shook his head.

He didn't know much about the specifics either.

"Then..."

"Don't overthink it. Since we're here, let's go in and see!"

Seeing everyone looking bewildered and unsure what to do, Master Wu's expression turned solemn. He took a step forward: "How about this, I'll go in first and test it. If there's any danger, then don't follow."

He was the highest-ranking and strongest Master Teacher among them; if there truly was danger, he had to lead by example.

Without waiting for anyone to speak, he unleashed his true qi from his acupoints, enveloping himself, and then with a leap, he shot straight towards the membrane before them.

The membrane offered no resistance. With a "whoosh!", Master Wu plunged into it, disappearing from everyone's sight.

Immediately afterward, they saw his figure appear within the membrane. Although his form was indistinct, they could clearly see him waving, indicating there was no danger inside.

"Let's go in!"

President Han followed closely.

Zhang Xuan also followed immediately. As his body touched the membrane, it felt like touching water. The next moment, he appeared above the scorching magma. Waves of heat assaulted him intermittently, making his scalp tingle.

He looked down.

It was a huge volcanic crater, over ten kilometers in diameter. Flames erupted occasionally, threatening to engulf anyone at any moment.

"Could it be... that the ancient domain is really beneath the magma?"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had expected there to be passages around leading them into the ancient domain, but upon arrival, he found nothing but molten rock.

If the ancient domain truly lay beneath, this place was likely more dangerous than he had imagined.

Aside from the scorching temperatures, simply considering the vast area and the inability to see inside, a single misstep could lead to getting lost and never returning.

"Which way do we go?"

Master Wu, who had entered first, also frowned and couldn't help but look at President Han beside him.

President Han was a grandmaster of formations; perhaps there were some invisible formations hidden here that could allow them to enter smoothly.

"Let me see..."

President Han nodded, took out a compass, and circled the volcanic crater. His brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

"The aura around here is stable; there are no formations. It seems that to find the entrance, we'll have to slowly explore..."

"Explore?"

Everyone glanced at the molten rock, over ten miles in diameter, below them, and their mouths twitched. How were they supposed to explore that?

Were they really expected to dive in?

Even if they could withstand the temperature, their clothes certainly couldn't!

A group of 6-star and 7-star Master Teachers and Combat Masters couldn't possibly strip naked and proceed as a team...

If it came to that, they would probably die of shame before even finding the ancient domain!

Having thought of this point, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but look at Luo Ruoxi, who was not far away, and, stroking his chin, with a worried expression, mused, "What if she strips? Should I... look or not?"

"You... what nonsense are you thinking?"

As he was pondering, unsure what to do, he heard the girl's furious, almost explosive voice transmission in his ear, gritting her teeth.