Stranger Danger

While Yi Pin was muttering under his black, the charred half-corpse that was Ye Qing suddenly opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of blue smoke. A tiny pulse of vitality also washed out from his body.

“Oh, thank the heavens he’s still alive! That really gave me a scare.”

Yi Pin let out a sigh of relief before downing a drop of Nature’s Water to celebrate.

It wasn’t all good news though. Although this confirmed that Ye Qing was still alive, his vitality had felt as weak as a dying candle. It wouldn’t be surprising if it was snuffed out by a particularly strong gust of wind. Besides that, Yi Pin had no way of checking Ye Qing’s current condition without disturbing his concentration.

Thankfully, things took a turn for the better. Slowly, Yi Pin realized that the Purple Sun Trueflame inside the room was gathering toward Ye Qing. His surroundings slowly turned hotter and brighter until he was shining like a purple sun.

Even better, only the spot where Ye Qing was sitting was particularly hot. The rest of the room were much, much cooler than before.

Yi Pin’s eyes lit up as he let out a huge sigh of relief, “Phew! Looks like everything is going to be just fine.” It would be terribly sinful and disadvantageous for his survival if he accidentally killed Ye Qing.

Time passed slowly. Some two hours later, a supernatural chirp resounded throughout the Earthly Sovereign’s Coffin one last time before the outside temperature abruptly nosedived. The temperature inside everyone’s room slowly began to drop as well. For a time, everyone was basking in refreshing coolness and the joy of having survived another trial.

Everyone, except one old Taoist. The reason was simple. Instead of cooling, his room was growing hotter and hotter.

He could no longer see Ye Qing with his eyes. No, his eyes were perfectly fine, but Ye Qing’s whole body was submerged by what looked like a gigantic purple fireball. Looking more like a purple sun than ever, he was giving off so much heat and light that Yi Pin could feel himself cooking alive again.

This was just a pale imitation of the real thing. The real purple sun could’ve killed millions with its sun rays.

“I know I dug myself into this hole, but come on! How could I have known that this was going to happen?!” Yi Pin moaned in pain and self-loathing. One moment ago, he was still praising his own intelligence. The next moment, reality was slapping him hard in the face. His poor face! But what could he do? The only one who could bear the consequences of his actions was himself!

“This is too much. I need to get out of this place right now.”

A moment later, Yi Pin finally couldn’t stand the heat any longer and raced for the exit. Although it was dangerous to hang outside one’s room for too long, he was going to cook alive now if he stayed.

After Yi Pin left the room, he made sure to shut the door tight so that no one would notice that a purple sun was burning inside. Even through the door, he could still feel the insane heat inside the room.

The space outside the room was still hot since the Purple Sun Trueflame just disappeared a while ago, but it was far cooler in comparison.

“Phew... this is much better!”

Yi Pin let out a huge sigh of relief and produced a bottle of fine wine from his Nature’s Shell. Then, he began drinking greedily.

Bang!

Unfortunately, he had just taken two sips when a man suddenly barged out of the opposite room. He was completely naked, and not a single hair could be spotted on his person. Every part of his body was charred and steaming, and Yi Pin could vaguely smell the scent of roasted flesh. It was clear that today was a bad day for the warrior.

The warrior’s name was Zhang Jun, and he was a late-stage Spirit Purifier. He was a member of Endless Sand, the most powerful gang of the northern lands. It was said that Endless Sand was where the heroes of the entire realm were gathered, and their numbers were so numerous they could give the sand of a desert a run for its money. The metaphor might have been an exaggeration, but their numbers were certainly most impressive.

Zhang Jun was a genius among his sea of peers in the Endless Sand. That was why he never imagined that he would be in such a weakened, embarrassing state until now. If it wasn’t for his Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact, the fire would have burned him into a pile of ash already. Even so, he was horribly injured and looking more dead than alive right now.

After somehow surviving the Fire God Moth’s ungodly flames, he decided to leave the room because it was too hot and suffocating inside. He didn’t grab himself a new set of clothes before heading out because one, his room was literally hotter than hell at the moment, and two, he was sure that everyone else would be recuperating inside their rooms at the moment, so no one would catch him in his embarrassing state.

He was wrong. As soon as he rushed out of the door, he was met with the sight of a well-dressed, celestial-like Taoist enjoying a delicious bottle of wine. To say that the old man looked like he was enjoying the time of his life would be an understatement.

Jealousy sank its talons into Zhang Jun instantly. We both went through the same trial, so why do I look like this, and why do you look like that?!

At first, Zhang Jun thought that the old Taoist was a senior he couldn’t afford to provoke or something. When he probed him with his senses though, he discovered that the old Taoist was just a Vessel Augmentor.

This old Taoist was a small fry he could crush with a finger, but right now he was smiling at him and drinking his wine like he was a clown. To say that he felt humiliated and angry would be an understatement.

How dare he revel in my misery! How dare he look fine while I’m not! Is there anyone in my position who could swallow this indignity without retaliation? Nay, nay I say!

And so Zhang Jun allowed his evil side to get the better of him. “The fuck you’re looking at, old man?”

Yi Pin was completely confused. He just gave the man a look, that’s all. Why was he so angry?

Still, he was a worldly, magnanimous senior, so Yi Pin decided not to take offense and looked away. If he doesn’t want me to look at him, then sure. Like I would want to look at a naked man who’s as burned as coal, he thought while enjoying another delicious sip of wine.

I knew it! Unbeknownst to Yi Pin, Zhang Jun took his submissive gesture as a sign of weakness. He was angry, but he wasn’t that angry that he would start a fight without doing some probing. It might look like Yi Pin was a Vessel Augmentor, but who could say that he wasn’t a powerful warrior who was just pretending to be weak? That was why he had issued a verbal challenge.

His words weren’t particularly insulting, but it could definitely be taken as an insult. Assuming that Yi Pin was hiding his strength, then he would definitely retort against him.

Zhang Jun was very confident in his strength. He believed that he was the strongest warrior in this place besides Sun Xuanzhen, Huo Linglong and Yue Juejiang, so even if Yi Pin was hiding his strength, he couldn’t possibly be stronger than him. At most, he was his equal. If that turned out to be the case, then Zhang Jun was going to let bygones be bygones, apologize, and put this matter behind them.

However, if Yi Pin really was just a Vessel Augmentor, then he wouldn’t dare to mouth a retort. That would be his cue to vent his frustrations.

On a related note, he was surprised that a Vessel Augmentor was able to survive such high temperatures with nary a scratch on his person. After the trial was over, he even had the leisure to enjoy some wine. This could only mean that he possessed a valuable treasure or two. If he could obtain whatever treasure the old Taoist was holding, then the pain and suffering he endured since being kidnapped into this place would be worth it.

Zhang Jun’s heart became inflamed with greed when he thought of this.

His decision made, Zhang Jun grinned savagely at Yi Pin and asked, “Why are you looking away, old man? Are you lookin’ down on me?”

Yi Pin: “...” You hate it when I’m looking at you, but when I look away, you say that I’m looking down on you. What do you want then, boy? You obviously have something against me.

Fine. I can’t beat you, but I can definitely hide from you, can’t I?

So, Yi Pin rose to his feet without a word and got ready to return to his room.

“You think you can run?” Zhang Jun felt even more confident when he saw Yi Pin’s reaction. “You’re dead, old man. No one looks down on me and gets away with it!”

Zhang Jun immediately gave chase, but he purposely slowed down a little because he didn’t want to kill Yi Pin out in the open. Someone could be spying on them after all.

As soon as Yi Pin opened the door and stepped inside, Zhang Jun crossed over the threshold like a lightning bolt while yelling arrogantly, “Nowhere left to run, old—”

The next moment, he felt an unbelievable wave of heat washing over him. It almost felt like he had jumped into a pool of lava.

When his mind caught up to his eyes, he realized that he was looking at a fireball. A massive, purple fireball that might as well be a mini sun.

A fireball? Why is there a massive fireball inside the room? And why is it purple-colored as well? Zhang Jun’s mind raced. Wait, why did I use the words “as well”?

He didn’t have the time to think. The next moment, the old Taoist shouted at the fireball, “Brother, save me!”

“Did you just call a fireball your brother? Are you crazy, or am I crazy?” Zhang Jun couldn’t help but blurt out. This was all so ridiculous he could laugh, but for some reason, he could sense a tinge of fear and panic in his voice. Why? Why am I worried?

“Quit pretending and just die already, old man!”

Zhang Jun’s anxiety was getting to him. His instincts told him to get away from this room as soon as possible, but the realization also made him embarrassed and angry. So, he reached out to grab Yi Pin.

His arm was about halfway there when suddenly, something pitch black and charcoal-like reached out of the fireball and grabbed his arm. It was such an unexpected and ludicrous thing that Zhang Jun was unable to process what he was seeing for a time.

The object was blackened like a burnt tree branch and covered in purple flames. There were five shoots at the end of the branch, and despite the scratchy, scorching sensation pricking against his skin, they felt like a... hand.

A hand?

A burnt hand?

A burnt hand caught my arm?

The triple confusion protocol self-executed inside Zhang Jun’s brain.

A burnt hand just grabbed my arm. What should I do? Can someone give me the answer like, right now?

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