At noon the next day, the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower was quieter than ever before.
All students and Elders had been cleared out, and a cordon had been set up around the tower.
Su Qian personally led several of the strongest Elders in guarding the outside, and the atmosphere was extremely grave.
Soon, Su Qian led Gu Long down the spiraling stone steps, descending step by step toward the lowest level, which had never been opened to students.
The farther down they went, the hotter the air became, and the denser the Heart Flame Energy that stirred irritation within people's hearts grew.
The stone walls were no longer cold black, but glowed a dark red, as though they had been tempered by the fires of the earth's core for countless years.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the empty tower. Other than that, there was only the low hum of flowing energy.
Every so often, a heartbeat like that of a slumbering colossal beast sounded from the depths beneath the tower—that was the pulse of Falling Heart Flame's true body.
At last, after descending the final step, the space before them suddenly opened up.
This was an immensely vast underground chamber, with a high dome overhead and dark red rock walls all around.
At the center of the chamber lay an incomparably enormous pit, its bottom impossible to see at a glance.
Only a heart-palpitating dark red glow shone from below, casting the entire space in an eerie light.
Above the pit, countless thick energy chains crisscrossed one another.
These chains were formed from silvery-white energy. Countless profound and intricate runes were inscribed across their surfaces, radiating powerful Seal Power.
Together, these chains formed an enormous net that tightly covered the entrance to the pit.
Yet at this moment, the giant