Enrollment Blew Up the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower

"Isn't it over yet?" Huo De asked the middle-aged man in charge.

Everyone else had already come out, and the hourglass countdown had ended. Only Hun Cang and the young man beside him remained.

"No rush." The middle-aged man slowly shook his head. A glimmer seemed to flash through his eyes as his gaze repeatedly swept over Hun Cang and the other youth.

Before the stone stele, the young man cracked his eyes open and glanced at Hun Cang, cursing inwardly. Damn it, where did this guy come from? I only have one pill left.

Should I just give up? First place is only an empty title anyway.

A thought flashed through the young man's mind when a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. "The one who lasts the longest will receive an additional thirty days of Fire Energy."

Thirty days?

The onlookers, Mentor Huo De, and the other Jia Nan Academy disciples all widened their eyes, staring at the middle-aged man in disbelief.

Fire Energy was an extremely precious resource to Inner Academy disciples.

That was because the Inner Academy had a Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower. Cultivating there was immensely beneficial to one's advancement in cultivation, practically like cheating.

And the requirement for entering the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower was Fire Energy.

Since the young man had come prepared for the test, he naturally knew about such matters. Upon hearing about the thirty days of Fire Energy, his spirits rose, and he decided to keep holding on.

"Even if I can't use it for now, I can trade it with the senior brothers and sisters of the Inner Academy. To those in the Inner Academy, Fire Energy is no less valuable than money."

Filled with motivation, the young man looked at Hun Cang again, a trace of determination in his eyes.

Time continued to pass, and soon it was nearly an hour.

Damn it, where the hell did this guy come from? The young man had already swallowed his last pill, yet Hun Cang remained completely unmoved, seemingly unaffected by the heat radiating from the stone stele.

Gradually, the young man's consciousness began to blur. Without pills to ease the effects, he was now relying purely on willpower to endure.

The middle-aged man caught sight of this and flashed forward, silently arriving before the young man.

At that moment, Hun Cang's brows twitched. He suppressed the urge to open his eyes. Stay calm. With my strength, if I can sense his movements, it'll definitely draw attention.

"Would you like another Spirit Cleansing Pill?" The middle-aged man bent down and asked gently.

"Yes, I do! I do! Give me one quickly! I don't want to lose! I want first place!" The young man was like a drowning man clutching at a lifeline.

Just as the young man finished speaking, a man outside the crowd had a drastic change in expression. He regretfully slammed his fist into his palm. "Oh no, I gave it away. All that effort was for nothing."

The young man reacted as well. Opening his eyes and seeing the middle-aged man before him, he scrambled backward in fright.

"You dared to cheat in Jia Nan Academy's entrance test? Have you got a death wish?!" The middle-aged man's expression darkened.

The young man instinctively wanted to argue, but when he met the middle-aged man's eyes, he instantly felt as though he had been seen through. The words at his lips were swallowed back down.

No, I refuse to accept this! I clearly already passed!

It was him!

The young man pointed at Hun Cang. "He cheated too! He must have cheated too! How else could he have lasted this long?"

His expression was crazed, like a mad dog barking wildly.

"He didn't." The middle-aged man glanced at Hun Cang, who had opened his eyes, and spoke with certainty. Yet a flicker of curiosity passed through his eyes.

Before the young man could say anything else, he casually flicked out a blast of force and knocked him unconscious. Academy personnel immediately came over and carried him away.

"Don't even think about cheating. Jia Nan Academy will never accept someone like that, not in this lifetime. Remember that." The middle-aged man swept his gaze around, his voice incomparably stern.

Then he searched for Hun Cang with his eyes, only to see him curiously raise a hand to touch the stone stele.

"Careful." The middle-aged man froze for a moment before warning him.

Hun Cang withdrew his hand and smiled awkwardly. He had wanted to sense the aura of Falling Heart Flame on the stone stele and gauge the strength of its true body.

It probably possesses strength at the Dou Zong level, he muttered inwardly.

The middle-aged man walked over to him. "You seem unafraid of Falling Heart Flame's power."

"Maybe because of this." Hun Cang had long been prepared. He spread open his palm, and a cluster of white flames emerged.

"A Heavenly Flame?" The middle-aged man widened his eyes, then nodded in realization. He could not help taking another deep look at Hun Cang. At such a young age, he already possessed a Heavenly Flame. The force behind him was far from ordinary.

He could not help thinking of another young girl within the academy. The existence backing her was likewise not to be underestimated.

Huo De hurried over from afar. "Elder Lin, his name is Hun Cang. He's my disciple."

"What? Afraid I'll steal him?" Elder Lin shot him an irritated glare, then turned to Hun Cang. "Kid, I don't care what background you have. Since you've come to Jia Nan Academy, study properly and I'll welcome you with open arms. But if you want to cause trouble, you'd better weigh your options carefully."

"I understand." Hun Cang smiled guiltily.

A large part of Jia Nan Academy's fame came from the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower. Because of Falling Heart Flame's existence, it greatly aided cultivation speed in the early stages.

Elder Lin nodded and carried the black stone stele away from Heping Town.

"Rest for a while. I'll take you all to Jia Nan Academy later." Only after Elder Lin had vanished from sight did Huo De withdraw his gaze and smile at Hun Cang. "I didn't expect you to be so capable while keeping such a low profile. Cultivate with peace of mind from now on. I'll fight for an Inner Academy slot for you."

"Then thank you in advance, Mentor Huo De." Hun Cang smiled faintly. "By the way, why did he take that stone stele back?"

With the residual aura of Falling Heart Flame on the stele, leaving it in Heping Town could also provide some cultivation benefits to the stationed students. Wouldn't that be great?

Huo De explained, "Because that stone stele has been continuously scorched by Falling Heart Flame and undergone a miraculous transformation. After the academy uses it, it generally returns it to its original place."

"Back to Falling Heart Flame's side?" Hun Cang's expression stiffened slightly, and a bad feeling rose in his heart. He had just touched it, but he had left behind traces of Zhen Fen Jue.

Huo De nodded, not noticing Hun Cang's reaction. He merely thought Hun Cang was curious, then went off to attend to other matters.

About fifteen minutes later, everyone who had passed the test lined up together and boarded Flying Magical Beasts one after another, heading for Jia Nan Academy.

Many of them were experiencing flight for the first time. In high spirits, they leaned over to look down at the Primeval Forest below.

"Hey, look..."

At that moment, someone pointed into the distance. The sky over there seemed to have been dyed red by flames, and an enormous blaze burst forth like fireworks.

Then several figures shot out. Only after various streaks of light flashed did they suppress the flames.

"Mentor, what part of the academy is that?" someone asked Huo De curiously. "Was that some kind of experiment just now?"

Huo De's mouth twitched, and his expression darkened slightly. "No. That was the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower... it exploded."

The last time Falling Heart Flame had apparently erupted had been more than a decade ago. By the usual pattern, it was not yet time for another outbreak.

Huo De was completely baffled.