"The third trial is actually very simple."
Hua Yao spoke blandly and waved a hand. A thick layer of ice immediately formed over the pond before them.
"As long as you remain on this ice for three days, you will pass. Remember this well: you must stay on the ice for exactly three full days. More or less will not do."
Xu Chunniang nodded and looked at the frozen pond before her, pondering in secret.
Spending three days on this ice seemed easy enough, but since Headmaster Hua Yao had made it the content of the third trial, there was surely more to it than met the eye.
Could it be that some great fiend lurked beneath the pond, waiting to strike the moment she stepped onto the ice?
Whether that was so or not, she would only know by trying.
Xu Chunniang drew a deep breath, walked toward the pond, and stepped onto the ice.
When she viewed the pond from the shore, it had not seemed particularly large.
Yet as she stood on the ice and looked around, she had the strange illusion of being in a world of icy mirrors, with endless expanses on all sides.
So this pond was actually a lake, refined by Hua Yao with great magical power.
She had barely steadied herself when she heard movement coming from beneath the thick ice.
"Hiss, crack..."
Her expression changed slightly. It was the sound of ice breaking. Something was coming up through it.
The ice melted at an astonishing speed. Before long, Xu Chunniang saw through the thick layer of ice a savage beast wrapped in black flames.
It had an enormous head and resembled a qilin, yet upon closer inspection, it differed in many ways. It was unmistakably a Sky-Gazing Hound.
Xu Chunniang was