Transmigration and Self-Saving Cultivation

Chapter 294 The Test at the Entrance.

Upon learning that the mysterious force had launched its operation in the Heart of Darkness, Jun Luochuan, Su Yao, Ye Ying, and Ling Shuang were extremely anxious and rushed towards the Heart of Darkness. However, as they approached the entrance to the mysterious place again, the surrounding space suddenly underwent a strange change. The previously spacious passage instantly became narrow and cramped, with eerie runes flickering on the walls on both sides. A powerful and oppressive force enveloped the entire area, as if announcing the severe test they were about to face.

"What's going on?" Su Yao gripped Jun Luochuan's sleeve tightly, her eyes showing a hint of tension, but even more so, determination. She keenly sensed that this power was no ordinary force; it was likely a test specifically set up at the entrance.

Jun Luochuan frowned, his gaze sweeping rapidly around him, trying to pinpoint the source of this power. "It seems that passing through this entrance won't be so easy. This must be a series of trials set up by the Heart of Darkness to prevent outsiders from entering." He gripped the Spirit Control Divine Sword tightly, the blade trembling slightly, as if sensing the impending danger.

Nightshade gently stroked the longsword in his hand, his expression resolute. "No matter what trials we face, we will face them together." His voice was steady and powerful, bringing a glimmer of confidence to everyone in the oppressive atmosphere.

Ling Shuang nodded slightly, her cool expression showing no fear. "Yes, everyone be careful. These trials are probably closely related to the secrets of the Heart of Darkness." She gripped the blue-glowing dagger tightly in her hand, ready to unleash her magical arts at any moment.

Just then, the ground suddenly trembled violently, and black cracks spread rapidly like a spider web. A plume of black smoke billowed from the cracks, quickly enveloping the four of them. From within the smoke, faint, eerie roars could be heard, as if countless dark creatures were stirring restlessly in the darkness.

"Be careful, there's something strange about this smoke!" Jun Luochuan shouted, quickly circulating his spiritual energy to form a spiritual energy shield around everyone. However, the smoke seemed to be corrosive, constantly eroding the spiritual energy shield and making a "sizzling" sound.

Su Yao immediately cast a light spell in an attempt to dispel the smoke. She quickly formed hand seals, and a bright light shot from her palms, illuminating the surrounding darkness. However, the smoke was too dense, and the light spell could only barely create a small area of ​​light around the shield.

"This smoke is too hard to dissipate, we need to think of another way," Su Yao said anxiously.

Ling Shuang closed her eyes and concentrated on casting a spirit illusion spell. She attempted to disrupt the formation of the smoke by creating a reverse spiritual energy fluctuation. A faint blue light emanated from her body, merging into the smoke like threads. However, the smoke seemed to possess immense power; the spirit illusion spell only caused a slight fluctuation and had no real effect in dispelling it.

Nightshade observed the movement of the smoke and suddenly noticed that it seemed to react to a specific kind of spiritual energy fluctuation. "Listen up, everyone," he said, demonstrating the spiritual energy fluctuation he had sensed. "I think we can try using a specific frequency of spiritual energy fluctuation to counteract this smoke."

Jun Luochuan pondered for a moment and felt that Ye Ying's suggestion might be feasible. "Alright, everyone, let's try it together according to Ye Ying's method."

The four of them simultaneously channeled their spiritual energy, releasing fluctuations at the frequency indicated by Nightshade. As the fluctuations spread, the smoke began to change noticeably. The originally dense smoke gradually thinned, and less and less smoke emerged from the cracks.

"It seems to be working. Continue to increase the output of spiritual energy!" Jun Luochuan shouted.

With the combined efforts of the four, the smoke was finally dissipated. However, before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, a group of enormous dark golems suddenly appeared in front of the passage. These golems were made of black rock, exuding a powerful dark aura, and wielding huge battle axes. They slowly walked towards them step by step, each step causing the ground to tremble.

"These dark puppets look tough to deal with, everyone be careful of their attacks," Jun Luochuan said.

Nightshade charged forward first, unleashing the Starry Sky-Splitting Sword Technique. His movements were lightning-fast, his sword blazing brightly, unleashing a crisscrossing array of sword energies that shot towards the dark puppet. The sword energies struck the puppet, sending sparks flying, but the puppet's defenses were extremely strong; only a few small cracks appeared on its surface.

Seeing this, Ling Shuang quickly used her illusionary magic to create many phantoms, attempting to confuse the dark puppets' actions. The puppets appeared somewhat bewildered within the phantoms, and their attack rhythm was disrupted.

Su Yao then fused her light spiritual power with fire elemental power, condensing it into balls of flame imbued with purifying energy, which she shot towards the dark puppet. The flames burned on the puppet's body, emitting a pungent odor and further weakening its power.

Seizing the opportunity, Jun Luochuan unleashed the brilliance of his Spirit-Controlling Divine Sword, unleashing his strongest sword technique. A dazzling sword aura slashed towards the leg of one of the puppets. The sword aura, like a sharp blade, severed the puppet's leg. The puppet, now missing a leg, crashed to the ground, turning into a pile of black rubble.

Under the combined attack of the four, the dark puppets fell one by one. But just then, an even larger dark puppet king slowly emerged from the depths of the passage. It exuded an even denser aura of darkness, and the battle axe in its hand gleamed with an eerie light, as if it could devour everything.

"This Puppet King is far more powerful than the previous puppets, so everyone be careful," Jun Luochuan said.

The Dark Puppet King let out a deafening roar, then swung his battle axe violently, unleashing a black axe beam that swept towards the crowd. Wherever the axe beam passed, space seemed to be torn apart, and the surrounding walls collapsed.

Jun Luochuan swiftly cast a defensive spell, forming a sturdy spiritual energy shield in front of everyone. The axe blade struck the shield, causing it to tremble violently and develop cracks.

Su Yao hurriedly cast a healing spell to repair the shield. Ling Shuang, meanwhile, used illusion magic to try and disrupt the Puppet King's actions. Night Shadow seized the opportunity and unleashed its strongest sword technique, a sword aura imbued with the power of stars shooting towards the Puppet King's eye. Sensing the danger, the Puppet King tilted its head, and the sword aura grazed its cheek, leaving a deep wound on its face.

The Puppet King roared in fury, swinging its battle axe once more as it charged towards Nightshade. Seizing the opportunity, Jun Luochuan flashed to the Puppet King's side, his Spirit-Controlling Divine Sword piercing the Puppet King's joints. The Puppet King cried out in pain, frantically shaking its body, trying to shake off Jun Luochuan. Su Yao and Ling Shuang then used the opportunity to unleash powerful spells, attacking the Puppet King's weak points.

Under the combined attack of the four, the Dark Puppet King finally succumbed and collapsed to the ground, turning into a pile of black rubble.

"Phew, finally solved." Nightshade wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Is everyone alright?" Jun Luochuan asked with concern.

Everyone assured them they were unharmed. However, before they could even rest, strange runes suddenly appeared on the floor of the passage. The runes shimmered with an eerie light, and a powerful gravitational force emanated from them, attempting to pull the four of them in.

"Oh no, there's something strange about these runes! Everyone, hold your ground!" Jun Luochuan shouted.

The four immediately channeled their spiritual energy, attempting to resist the gravitational pull. However, the pull grew stronger, and their bodies began to slide uncontrollably toward the runes.

"This can't go on; we need to find a way to decipher these runes," Su Yao said.

Ling Shuang carefully observed the runes, trying to find a way to break them. "These runes seem to be an ancient sealing rune, which requires specific spiritual energy fluctuations to break."

Just then, Jun Luochuan suddenly remembered some rune clues he had seen in the mysterious place. A thought struck him, and he said, "Perhaps I know what to do."

Jun Luochuan began to circulate his spiritual power, releasing a special spiritual energy fluctuation according to the rune clues he remembered. As the spiritual energy fluctuation spread, the light of the runes began to flicker erratically, and the gravitational pull gradually weakened.

"Everyone, do it my way!" Jun Luochuan shouted.

The four of them simultaneously channeled their spiritual energy, releasing identical fluctuations. Through their combined efforts, the rune was finally deciphered, and the gravity disappeared.

After this series of trials, the four were somewhat exhausted, but their eyes were even more determined. They knew that even more severe challenges awaited them ahead, but they were fully prepared and determined to stop the mysterious force's conspiracy at all costs.

The four continued deeper into the entrance, but when they arrived at a huge circular hall, a black stone platform suddenly rose in the center. Standing on the platform was an old man dressed in a black robe, his face hidden in shadow, his expression obscured, but he exuded a powerful and mysterious aura that sent chills down their spines.

"You outsiders, how dare you trespass into the entrance to the Heart of Darkness? The trials here are not so easy to pass." The old man's voice was deep and hoarse, as if it came from the deepest hell.

Jun Luochuan stepped forward and said without fear, "We came to stop the conspiracy of the mysterious forces. No matter what trials we face, we will not back down."

The old man sneered, "Stop the mysterious force? With your abilities? However, since you've come here, you must pass my test."

Having said that, the old man waved his hand, and suddenly many black flames appeared around the hall. The flames roared and surrounded the four people. Within the flames, some terrifying phantoms faintly appeared, seemingly telling them dark stories.

"This flame is the guardian flame of the Heart of Darkness. If you can endure it for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, you will have passed the test," the old man said.

Jun Luochuan looked at the surrounding flames and understood the difficulty of this trial. But he showed no sign of backing down. "Everyone be careful. The temperature of these flames is extremely high, and they seem to contain some kind of dark curse. We must concentrate and circulate our spiritual power to resist them."

The four quickly circulated their spiritual energy, forming a spiritual energy shield around their bodies. The black flames continuously impacted the shield, causing it to tremble slightly under the erosion of the flames.

Su Yao gritted her teeth and said, "This flame is so powerful, our spiritual energy is being consumed very quickly."

Jun Luochuan said, "Everyone, hold on. We'll take turns casting defensive spells to conserve our spiritual energy."

Following Jun Luochuan's suggestion, the four took turns casting defensive spells. Ling Shuang used illusion magic to try and disrupt the spiritual energy fluctuations of the flames; Ye Ying used a defensive sword technique to extinguish the approaching flames; Su Yao used light magic to counteract the dark flames; and Jun Luochuan continuously adjusted the strength of his spiritual energy shield to ensure its stability.

Time ticked by in the tense atmosphere, and the time it takes for an incense stick to burn was almost up. However, at that moment, the flames suddenly intensified, and a powerful dark force surged from them, attempting to break through their defenses.

"Oh no, the power of the flames has increased!" Jun Luochuan shouted.

The four immediately increased their spiritual energy output, resisting with all their might. Their foreheads were covered in sweat, and their bodies trembled slightly due to the massive depletion of their spiritual energy.

"We can't give up, we must hold on!" Nightshade shouted.

After the four people put up a stubborn resistance, the flames finally went out after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The old man looked at them, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "I didn't expect you to pass the test. Alright, you can continue. But remember, the dangers ahead are far greater than this."

After saying this, the old man disappeared into the darkness.

The four breathed a sigh of relief, exchanging glances that revealed a mixture of relief and determination in each other's eyes. They knew this was merely a test at the entrance; what awaited them ahead was the ultimate secret of the mysterious force and the Heart of Darkness. But they were fearless. No matter how many difficulties and obstacles lay ahead, they would forge ahead, thwart the mysterious force's conspiracy, and safeguard the peace of the cultivation world.

End of this chapter