Chapter 145: Dragon Claws and Snake Skin

"People from Tianmu Academy." Dao lowered his head and reminded Ye Bai. The person carrying the crimson crystal giant sword was the exact same opponent he had fought during the clash with the Fire Crystal Tiger. That person possessed formidable strength; if not for his own unique physique, he might have been no match for him at all.

"Where?" As Ye Bai looked toward Bai Wan'er, Bai Wan'er also spotted him and Dao, smiling to signal that he and Dao were safe.

"Over there, the two mud-covered figures." Seeing that Bai Wan'er was looking at him, Dao smiled back at her as well.

"How come there are only two of them left? Why does it look like so many people are missing?" Originally, the Terrene Clan, Purple Star Academy, and Tianmu Academy had each sent five people to participate in the exploration of the new space. Yet now, every exit had only two people remaining. Could the others have...

"What's wrong with you?" After exchanging greetings with Bai Wan'er, Dao noticed that Ye Bai's expression had turned somewhat grim. Could it be that seeing the people from Tianmu Academy had soured his mood?

Ye Bai looked toward Huixin and Langxin standing by the last exit. "Why are there so few people left? Where are the others?"

"Are you talking about that?" Dao had noticed this as soon as everyone emerged, but assuming he and Ye Bai were together while the others might have been trapped in different locations, he hadn't thought much of it. "The ancient castle is this vast. Who's to say the others aren't stuck elsewhere?"

"I hope so." Ye Bai was hardly able to look after himself at the moment; as for the others, he could only pray they were safe and sound.

Huixin and Langxin were the last to come out, both lingering cautiously at the edge of the circular platform. Having just walked through the jaws of death, calling the pair terrified birds would be no exaggeration.

With any newly appeared phenomenon, Huixin and Langxin refused to make contact lightly unless safety was strictly verified.

"Langxin, look, is that Tianxin?" The circular platform sat slightly higher than the cliff edge, and Huixin, being rather petite, couldn't see the faces of the people opposite her unless she stood right upon the platform.

Langxin directed his gaze to where Huixin was looking and indeed spotted two figures, one of whom was unmistakably Tianxin, and both were standing firmly on the platform.

"Come on, Huixin, let's get on the platform." With that, Langxin lifted his foot, but before it could touch down, Huixin grabbed him tightly.

"Are you out of your mind?" Huixin gripped Langxin fiercely, preventing his raised foot from descending, as if taking that step would make her vanish instantly. "Have you forgotten how Yuxin and the others died?"

A strained, bitter smile touched the corners of Langxin's mouth. He hadn't expected the death of Yuxin and her companions to deal such a heavy blow to Huixin. "It's fine, silly girl. What you saw is real—that is Tianxin, and right now, she's waving at us."

"Really? You're not lying to me?" Huixin said, though her grip remained firm, a smile finally blooming on her face.

"Really, I'm not lying to you."

"Alright then, lift me up so I can see, but you're not allowed to step onto the platform."

"Alright, alright, Your Ladyship." Langxin retracted his lifted foot and gently hoisted Huixin into his arms, letting out a long breath of relief. He had feared that Huixin's lingering gloom might make her fall ill.

As Langxin slowly straightened up, the first thing to enter Huixin's field of vision was a hand waving continuously, followed by an arm, until she finally saw Tianxin's head and her smiling face.

"Langxin, it really is true! There are people in every direction around here!" Huixin also raised her hand and waved toward where Tianxin stood, though tears continuously streamed down her smiling face.

"See? I didn't lie to you, did I?" Holding Huixin, Langxin finally stepped onto the circular platform. A warm tear fell onto his hand; Langxin smiled and said nothing more.

"What's wrong with her?" On the other side, Bai Wan'er asked Tianxin, unsure whether Huixin was laughing or crying.

***

Although Tianxin was smiling, her brow was deeply furrowed. Aside from her mouth, her entire face betrayed not a hint of joy, and a dull ache blossomed in her heart as if she had suddenly foreseen something ominous. "Nothing. Just a silly girl."

Yet the very second Langxin stepped onto the circular platform, the platform—which should have remained stationary—seemed to awaken, beginning to vibrate violently.

"What's going on?" Ye Bai planted his feet apart to maintain his balance. As his eyes swept across the circular platform where the people from Tianmu Academy stood, he finally detected something terribly wrong.

"Why are there only two people on every circular platform? The presence of survivors from the Terrene Clan and Purple Star Academy could still be understood—after all, they had separated at the boundary line, and the others might simply be trapped elsewhere. But Tianxiu Academy never encountered the giant python attack; where are the rest of their people? Why are there only two of them left as well?"

Ye Bai looked at Dao, whose eyes were filled with confusion, clearly just as oblivious to what was happening. The two of them tried their utmost to keep their bodies steady.

At the same time, across the entire crimson sky region, the red clouds began to churn wildly, and the red earth below grew viscous, turning into thick mud within moments. From time to time, unidentifiable shapes crawled out of the mire, slithering toward the ancient castle.

Meanwhile, in the opposite grey sky territory, winds howled and clouds surged, as if an invisible giant were stirring the grey expanse with a massive rod. A persistent rustling sound echoed constantly between heaven and earth, while the grey mist grew thicker and the rustling grew deafeningly loud.

Suddenly, a colossal grey silhouette manifested behind the grey fog—one layer, two layers, three layers—piling up block by block in an ascending spiral that resembled a towering python piercing the heavens.

The crimson territory churned with blood-red clouds; the grey territory raged with gales and roiling fog.

"Boom."

Suddenly, amidst the churning red clouds of the crimson territory, a bolt of blood-colored lightning plummeted from the skies, instantly followed by a torrential downpour of blood rain. The monsters that had crawled out of the mud managed only a few steps toward the castle before their bodies came into contact with the crimson rain, dissolving instantly to become part of the red earth once more.

The grey mist roiled endlessly, turning the entire grey zone into a chaotic vortex where dragons seemed to roll and tigers to leap. Without warning, a massive fissure rent the sky, and all the churning fog surged frantically into the opening.

In the blink of an eye, every wisp of grey mist vanished entirely. Yet with the grey fog gone, the region remained stubbornly obscured, impossible to pierce with mortal sight.

Suddenly, a soft chime rang through the air, and countless tiny serpents began to writhe and crawl forward in a frenzy, while the vanished grey mist gradually began to bleed back in from the edge of the horizon.

At the border between the grey and crimson territories, right where the boundary marker stood, a blood-red character signifying 'Awakening' materialized upon the stone.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Several more blood-red lightning bolts raced downward from the churning red clouds, tearing the red-mud monsters on the ground to shreds and merging them into the soil. Below, the advancing grey serpents grew increasingly frenzied, condensing together like a giant python hurtling forward.

Ye Bai's body shuddered violently, and he only kept his footing by leaning heavily on Dao.

"Was that thunder just now?" Dao hesitated before voicing the thought. The sound had undoubtedly been thunder, but why would thunder strike here and now?

"It must be. An anomaly must have occurred outside, causing the ancient castle to transform." They had been trapped here for so long without any abnormal occurrences, and Ye Bai refused to believe the castle itself could influence the entire external world.

On the other platforms, Huixin clutched Langxin's shoulders tightly, biting her lips so hard she made no sound. Langxin's expression was equally grim; clearly, the sudden changes had dredged up memories they wished to forget.

Bai Wan'er and Tianxin truly proved themselves to be among the strongest of all present. Like unyielding boulders, they stood unmoved as the stone disc beneath their feet trembled furiously.

Xiao Ming and Liu Yun from Tianmu Academy fared similarly, though their mud-spattered attire made them look utterly disheveled no matter how they tried to compose themselves.

***

Suddenly, as if resonating with the upheaval, the stone disc beneath their feet ceased its violent shaking and began to ascend.

"Huixin, hold onto me tightly. The disk seems to be moving." Langxin gently patted Huixin's back to chase away her fear. "No matter what happens, I'm right here."

"Okay," Huixin whispered through lips marred by toothmarks, her voice trembling.

"Look, what is that?" A terrified cry pierced the air.

Dao finally lifted his head, wondering what manner of cursed place this truly was.

Xiao Ming and Liu Yun looked down, their faces pale with disbelief, each seeing unadulterated terror reflected in the other's eyes.

"Why are there still more of them down there?" Liu Yun's hands brushed frantically against the crimson crystal longsword at his waist, drawing not a shred of comfort from the contact.

"How should I know!" Xiao Ming snapped, casting a glance at the other three stone discs where the students of Purple Star Academy and the Terrene Clan stood. "No matter what friction we had before, if anyone wants to get out of this cursed place alive, we'd better figure something out right now—and whatever you do, don't let that red rain touch you!"

"What's going on? Do you know what those things below are?" Ye Bai shouted at Xiao Ming.

"I don't know the specifics, only that they devour the elemental power within you. Three of our people ran completely dry of elemental power and were consumed by the red rain." Xiao Ming recounted what they had experienced on the crimson earth.

By now, the circular platforms in all four directions had stopped ascending, hanging steadily in mid-air. Everyone looked down, realizing with a chill that they were truly beyond the reach of heaven or earth.

No one knew how tall the ancient castle was, nor how long the discs had been rising, but now, the space beneath the platforms was an abyss of unfathomable depth, while the space above was equally endless.

In the massive central corridor, the red rain surged upward with ever-increasing velocity. Although the discs had climbed high enough, the crimson deluge was already closing in on them.

"Hurry! If we don't get out now, we're all going to die here!" Xiao Ming roared, his mud-caked face contorted with fury and panic.

Ye Bai glanced at Xiao Ming without a word; truly, there was nothing left to say. He and the others had no means of escape, and since Bai Wan'er and Tianxin stood silently in place without moving, they likely had no solutions either.

The red rain churned furiously beneath their feet, drawing every ounce of attention downward, so that not a single person noticed a stone gate suddenly appearing a short distance above their heads.

Terror bloomed ever deeper on Xiao Ming's face, mirrored by Liu Yun. Finally, amidst a muffled groan, the rising tide of crimson water swallowed them all whole.

Yet at the very instant of immersion, Bai Wan'er caught sight of the stone gate overhead, and the recessed patterns carved upon its surface.

"Are those... dragon claws and python scales?"