United

Bi Zihan looked at the stone wall before him, pondering for a long while before saying, "Taking you up with me will be difficult, but not impossible. As long as you don't hold me back, the two of us still have a good chance of climbing up alive."

"Hold you back? You're the one holding me back! I'd like to see how you plan to climb up." Qian Renxue snorted coldly, deeply irritated by Bi Zihan's remark about her holding him back.

"Rest for a while and get ourselves back into shape before we climb the stone wall." After saying that, Bi Zihan lay down on the ground to recover his strength.

"Then let's rest for a while. I need to recover my strength too." Qian Renxue leaned back and lay on the ground as well, closing her eyes to rest.

Although both of them lay on the ground, their minds remained on high alert, wary of any danger or other strange developments that might arise around them.

No one knew how much time had passed. It seemed as though a long time had gone by, yet it also felt like only an instant. Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue suddenly opened their eyes and swept their gazes across the surroundings.

Cracks had appeared across the ground around them, and scorching magma continuously surged out from those fissures. The magma gradually spread over the ground. Even from a considerable distance away, the two of them could feel its blazing heat.

"There's no time to rest. Let's climb the stone wall first." Bi Zihan immediately rose from the ground after speaking. Yet the moment he stood up, he sensed that something was wrong.

Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue looked at their hands, only to discover in surprise that the iron chains around them had vanished. What was more, neither of them had noticed when the chains had disappeared.

But neither of them gave it much thought. They swiftly ran toward the stone wall and reached out to begin climbing its steep face.

By then, the ground had already been completely covered by magma, which was steadily rising. Though it rose rather slowly, the stone wall was so steep that Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue could not climb very quickly either.

Bi Zihan climbed in front, while Qian Renxue followed behind him, ascending along the route he had taken.

The stone wall rose so high that its top was nowhere in sight, while the magma below continued to rise. It could be said that they had only one path left: climb up the stone wall.

Sweat constantly dripped from their foreheads. Rock climbing was already an exhausting task, let alone climbing a stone wall whose summit could not be seen.

Perhaps they had been climbing for too long, or perhaps the rocks were simply too smooth, but Qian Renxue failed to get a firm grip on one of them. Her body immediately fell downward.

Looking at the magma below, Qian Renxue tried to summon her martial soul, but she could not release it at all. Despair appeared in her eyes. Just as she closed them, she felt someone seize her hand, and a slightly hoarse voice drifted into her ears.

"I told you not to hold me back! Don't move around—hold on tight. I'll get you up." One of Bi Zihan's hands gripped Qian Renxue's, while the other clung tightly to the stone wall before him.

"You're the one holding me back. Did I ask you to save me? Even without your help, I could climb up myself." Qian Renxue looked up at Bi Zihan and curled her lips. Yet she could clearly see pale golden blood continuously flowing from his hand and dripping into the magma below.

Bi Zihan ignored her words. He exerted force with his hand and pulled Qian Renxue back up.

"Hold on tight. I'll take you up." After saying that, Bi Zihan scanned the stone wall, searching in advance for places that could serve as handholds.

Qian Renxue grabbed Bi Zihan's shoulder and looked at the hand that continued to bleed pale gold. "Why did you save me?" she asked.

"I wanted to, so I did. Do I need a reason?" Bi Zihan answered indifferently before starting to climb upward. However, his hands had been badly injured when he slipped down the stone wall earlier. Every time he gripped a rock, intense pain shot through them.

"Is your hand all right?" Qian Renxue could not help asking as she watched Bi Zihan carry her upward.

"Talk less. Save your strength so you can climb on your own later. Let me save some strength too." Bi Zihan drew a deep breath and did not answer Qian Renxue again, focusing instead on climbing the stone wall.

With another person hanging from him, the difficulty of climbing had increased by who knew how many times. Several times, he nearly failed to hold on and almost fell straight down.

Gradually, more and more sweat gathered on Bi Zihan's forehead. His vision became somewhat blurred by the sweat, but they were now only around ten meters from the top of the stone wall.

After climbing a little farther, Bi Zihan gripped two protruding rocks tightly and said, "We're only about one meter from the top now. Step on me and climb up. I'll get up by myself afterward."

"Can you still manage in your current state?" Qian Renxue looked at Bi Zihan, who was gasping heavily, uncertainty in her voice.

"Hurry up. It'll be much easier than carrying you." Bi Zihan's voice carried a trace of urgency.

Qian Renxue did not hesitate any longer. Bracing her hands against Bi Zihan's shoulders, she climbed upward. Since there was only one meter left, she easily grabbed the top edge of the stone wall and quickly climbed over it.

After Qian Renxue got up, Bi Zihan felt his body become much lighter. He looked upward, searching for a protruding rock that would make a suitable foothold.

After finding one, Bi Zihan grabbed it. Just as he prepared to pull himself up, he heard a cracking sound. The rock he had just grasped shattered.

A sense of foreboding had barely risen in his heart before his body began to fall. Yet just as he felt himself dropping, Qian Renxue grabbed his hand.

"Bi Zihan, get up here!" Half of Qian Renxue's body leaned over the top edge of the stone wall. With a hard pull, she hauled Bi Zihan up.

Bi Zihan looked at the top of the stone wall, reached out to grab it, and pulled himself over. He lay on the ground, gasping heavily, feeling utterly exhausted.

Qian Renxue sat down on the ground as well, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she tried her best to recover her strength, while her gaze continuously swept over the surroundings.