Chapter 59: Heading to the Heavenly Blazing Flame Refining Tower

As the sun rose, the seventh day came to an end.

Figures traversed the passage, returning to the plaza at the bottom of the mountain ravine, except this time the crowd was divided into two distinct groups.

One group was large in number, but most of them kept their heads lowered with dejected expressions.

On the other side, there were only ten people. These individuals held their heads high, their faces filled with excitement and thrill.

Because they were the ones who had passed this round of the examination.

"Huncang, you passed too? Did they not give you a hard time?" Among the ten, Lin Fang widened his eyes as he saw a familiar figure walking over.

"It was just a misunderstanding," Huncang replied with a faint smile. "Besides, the senior students were very kind. Realizing it was a misunderstanding, they even specially gave me some Fire Energy as compensation."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Luo Fei, Keyu, and other inner court students emerged from the passage.

Hearing this, the faces of those students twitched violently.

They even gave him Fire Energy? Lin Fang wore an envious look, thinking to himself that such good fortune actually existed.

However, when his eyes swept over the senior students from the inner court, he noticed they were all glaring at Huncang with gazes that looked ready to devour him alive.

He instantly realized that things were probably not as pleasant as Huncang made them sound.

Among the eliminated group, a female student noticed Lin Fang and Huncang. Deep remorse welled up in her eyes; if even she couldn't escape under those circumstances, Lin Fang passing the examination must have been related to Huncang.

If she had known earlier, she wouldn't have kicked someone while they were down...

Once everyone had gathered, the gryphons landed one after another.

The crowd was split into two groups, led respectively by Dean Hu Qian and two elders, boarding the gryphons to fly in different directions.

Feeling the wind brush past his fingertips, Huncang wore a look of anticipated excitement on the corner of his lips.

Entering the inner court meant he was one step closer to the Fallen Heart Flame.

"Huncang, if not for you this time, I probably wouldn't have passed the exam," Lin Fang said with a serious expression. "Once we enter the inner court, you stick with me. I have a cousin inside who is very powerful, and he will definitely protect you."

"Is that so? Are you sure he can?" Huncang glanced at him sideways before shifting his gaze to the surroundings.

The inner court students were also riding the gryphons back together, though their complexions were far from pleasant. Unspoken, hostile glances swept over Huncang continuously.

Some even wore expressions of grinding their teeth in sheer frustration.

"Gulp..." Lin Fang swallowed hard, his confidence faltering for a moment.

What on earth had Huncang done? Why did it feel like he had offended every single senior student involved in the inner court examinations?

After circling around for a while, the inner court finally came into view.

***

Luo Fei, Keyu, and the others had already completed their mission and left first.

As for Huncang and the new arrivals, they had just joined the inner court and had many instructions to listen to.

After offering a series of reminders, the elders led them to their living quarters, issued their identity credentials, and then departed.

"Elder Lin, didn't you say you wanted to take on a disciple? Why don't you go talk to him?" On the way out, Elder Su looked to his side with a hint of curiosity.

Elder Lin chuckled softly. "No rush. That kid has offended so many people; he's going to have a hard time in the days ahead. If I go now, he certainly won't appreciate it. Once he's bullied to the point of having nowhere else to turn, I'll step in. Taking him as a disciple then will be as smooth as water flowing into a channel."

Elder Su was slightly startled, then shook his head with a wry smile.

One had to know that in the inner court, if Elder Lin expressed an intention to take a disciple, even students who had been in the inner court for three or five years would scramble desperately to sign up.

Yet no one was quite like Huncang, letting such a golden opportunity slip by without a second thought.

***

Huncang remained entirely oblivious to Elder Lin's plan, nor did he give the elder's words a second thought.

After taking a brief look at his living quarters, he stepped out and headed straight in the direction of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

Having plundered those senior students, his Fire Energy had skyrocketed from thirty straight up to one hundred and fifty, meaning he could spend a full one hundred and fifty days in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

In truth, students rarely stayed for such a long duration all at once.

This was because the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower's ability to accelerate cultivation ultimately stemmed from the Fallen Heart Flame, which could directly form a mental flame within everyone's body.

When one controlled their Dou Qi to pass through the flame, it possessed a purifying effect.

Yet under such circumstances, there was also a hidden danger: fire poison.

The longer one stayed, the deeper the accumulated fire poison within the body would become. Over time, not only would it cause problems in cultivation, but it could even affect one's state of mind.

However, these hidden dangers were nothing to Huncang, who possessed a Heavenly Flame.

Arriving at the edge of the huge crater, Huncang beheld the architecture where only the tower's peak remained visible above ground.

As Huncang walked toward the tower entrance, quite a few figures clad in inner court attire halted their steps and cast their gazes over.

"Newcomers again."

"You can tell at a glance they just passed and came straight to the Qi Refining Tower."

"Heh, looks like there's a good show to watch."

Groups of two or three students stood in place with teasing smiles in their eyes.

Huncang paid them no mind. He walked into the tower without the slightest hesitation and headed straight for the downward entrance.

***

"Why is he completely fine?"

"How strange. When I first entered the tower back then, discovering the flame inside my body scared me out of my wits."

"Call that anything? If the elder hadn't intervened in time back then, I nearly spontaneously combusted."

The onlookers were completely dumbfounded by Huncang's actions, their faces practically plastered with the words: *I do not understand.*

At that moment, several other students arrived in a group. Judging by the expectant and nervous expressions on their faces, they were clearly new members of the inner court as well.

The surrounding crowd stopped discussing and watched as the newcomers slowly walked into the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. Then, the new arrivals froze in their tracks, their faces turning pale and their entire bodies trembling too much to dare move an inch.

Ah, right! That was the proper reaction to entering the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower for the first time!

Those onlookers nodded in satisfaction and walked away with smiles on their faces.

***

The further down one went into the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, the higher the temperature and the fewer the people.

With a flat expression, Huncang passed through layer after layer until he was blocked by a black set of doors.

"Entry further down is prohibited."

Standing before the doors, Huncang heard a voice echo from behind him and turned around.

An elderly man sat cross-legged in the corner, his complexion yellowish-brown with flickers of firelight occasionally flashing through his eyes.

As Huncang looked at him, the old man was likewise sizing Huncang up, a trace of astonishment gradually welling up in the depths of his gaze the more he inspected him.

From Huncang's appearance and attire, he could be certain that this was a newcomer—a newly admitted inner court student.

With the strength of a Greater Dou Shi, he was actually able to walk all the way down to this level in one go? That was truly rather formidable.

"Excuse me, what conditions must be met to pass through these doors?" Huncang asked politely.

The old man swept a glance over him. "Down below is the place where the Fallen Heart Flame is sealed. Only those in the top ten of the Strong Ranking each year are granted the qualification to go down."

"Are there any other ways?" Huncang frowned. With nearly a year remaining until the Strong Ranking tournament, that was a bit too long.

The old man shook his head. "For you, no. After all, apart from the students in the top ten of the Strong Ranking who hold a quota, the only ones permitted to move about freely are the elders."

With that, the old man closed his eyes, appearing unwilling to converse any further.

Huncang glanced at the heavy doors, offered a word of thanks, and chose a nearby cultivation room, stepping right inside.