The Road of Trials
Bi Fan stared blankly at the place. Why did it look so familiar? Wasn't it a little like the Dark Forest they had entered?!
Almost without thinking, he asked, "Xiao Lian, is this space real?"
Xiao Lian shook his head and said solemnly, "No. This space was materialized by the Azure Flame Vermilion Bird. You can think of it as his spiritual world."
"A spiritual world can be materialized so realistically? How miraculous!"
Bi Fan praised it. Sure enough, only after becoming powerful could one understand what true power looked like.
"Mm. However, this world was once real." Xiao Lian seemed a little wistful. "Before the Azure Flame Vermilion Bird perished, this place was where he cultivated. It was also the forbidden area we were in before coming here."
"Mm, I know." Bi Fan nodded as he looked at the trees surrounding them. So this place had once been teeming with life, long ago.
Unfortunately, the outside was now shrouded in black smoke, a land of utter silence.
Standing on his shoulder, Dragon Sable spoke up. "Master, weren't you supposed to go somewhere to undergo a trial?"
Bi Fan came back to himself and smiled at Xiao Lian. "Right. Let's hurry up!"
Xiao Lian glanced at him and said coolly, "You're in a hurry to take the trial now. Just don't run away when you face it later."
After saying that, he turned and led Bi Fan through the valley and into the forest. Pointing to a narrow path sealed inside a barrier, he said, "If you can walk this path all the way to the end, you'll have passed the Azure Flame Vermilion Bird's trial."
Bi Fan paused, then looked down the path, which seemed to have no end, and nodded. He turned and smiled.