Breaking Through the Trial, Opening the Stone Gate

Xu Yang carried Ling Feng on his back as he advanced along the corridor. Soon, he rounded a bend and saw a red barrier blocking the path ahead. Ling Feng said to Xu Yang with a solemn expression, "The end of this corridor is where the stone gate lies. To reach it, we must break through the nine barriers along this hallway."

"These nine barriers are all unique, representing the nine attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, and dark. Each barrier possesses an attack power roughly equivalent to the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Now that I am severely injured, I can no longer break through them myself. Everything from here on depends on you!"

Xu Yang nodded at Ling Feng to show he understood. He immediately quickened his pace and walked toward the barrier. As Xu Yang approached, the red barrier instantly emitted a crimson glow, manifesting into various low-level fire spells—fire arrows, fire walls, fire dragons, and more—all surging toward him.

Xu Yang was only at the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Breaking through these barriers would be no easy task and would inevitably consume a great deal of time and energy. However, with pursuers behind them who could arrive at any moment, they had to break through these barriers and push open the stone gate to enter the inner sanctum of the cave dwelling as quickly as possible to ensure their safety.

Therefore, Xu Yang did not dare to delay for even a second. He immediately activated his Iron Body and exerted his Iron Wall ability to its limit. A cyan-black light screen enveloped the two of them, and without paying any heed to the incoming fire spells, Xu Yang charged straight into the barrier.

The fire arrows and fire walls were all scattered by Xu Yang's impact. Only the fire dragon managed to block his charge, but it too was sent flying. Xu Yang accelerated repeatedly and, with a loud boom, slammed into the red barrier. The barrier trembled and flew upward, and Xu Yang immediately seized the gap to dash through.

Ling Feng was greatly astonished to see this. He had not expected Xu Yang's body-refining techniques to be so powerful, allowing him to pass through a barrier in such a simple and brutal fashion. This speed was even faster than his own had been.

After passing the barrier, Xu Yang looked back and discovered that the barrier had returned to its original position without the slightest damage. Xu Yang felt a jolt of surprise; he had not expected the barrier to be so sturdy that it remained unscathed even after his full-force collision.

Seeing Xu Yang's expression, Ling Feng explained, "These barriers are extremely powerful. Because we are cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm and meet the conditions to enter the cave, they did not activate at full power. Otherwise, even a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm would perish beneath them."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yang felt a sense of relief. No wonder the barrier had been unharmed by his full-force strike! Without further delay, Xu Yang quickly moved inward. Next, he charged through the four barriers of earth, metal, water, and wood in succession, arriving before the wind-attribute barrier.

According to Ling Feng, from this barrier onward, the power of the spell attacks would increase once more, reaching the peak of the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Xu Yang's Iron Body was only at the mid-stage of the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm; although his Iron Wall ability was powerful, it would not be easy to break through the remaining four barriers.

Ling Feng felt a sense of urgency as well, for he could sense that Hu Xinrong and his two companions were rapidly closing in on them. If the three of them caught up, their situation would become dire.

With Xu Yang's keen perception, he naturally sensed the danger as well. He tapped his Qiankun Bag, and the Yellow Heaven Bell immediately flew out, hovering above their heads and casting a yellow light shield that attached itself within the Iron Wall ability.

With the Iron Wall on the outside and the Yellow Heaven Bell on the inside, their defense increased significantly. Xu Yang then quickly charged into the wind-attribute barrier. With a boom, the wind barrier was pushed back, and Xu Yang passed through. He then wasted no time in breaking through the lightning and light barriers, arriving before the final dark-attribute barrier. Vaguely, he could already see the stone gate behind it.

However, Xu Yang's physical exertion was immense, and he could barely maintain his Iron Wall; it had nearly collapsed back at the light barrier. Xu Yang stared solemnly at the dark-attribute barrier before him. It was pitch black, completely still, and devoid of any fluctuations.

But Xu Yang knew that once he entered the barrier's detection range, he would be subjected to fierce attacks. Dark-attribute spells were synonymous with being insidious and bizarre. Very few cultivators in the cultivation world possessed a Dark Spiritual Root; it was as rare as a Void Spirit Root and even rarer than a Light Spiritual Root. Cultivators born with a Dark Spiritual Root were natural practitioners of the demonic path.

After observing for a moment, Xu Yang felt his strength recover slightly. He could not afford to delay any longer. With a stern expression, he charged toward the dark barrier. With a loud boom, the dark-attribute barrier emitted a thunderous sound. Unlike the previous barriers, which had unleashed four or five spells at once, this dark-attribute barrier fired only a single black beam of light at Xu Yang.

Before Xu Yang could react, the beam struck him, landing directly on his cyan-black Iron Wall. A hissing sound erupted as the beam immediately eroded a large hole in the Iron Wall, striking the yellow light screen emitted by the Yellow Heaven Bell.

Xu Yang's face changed drastically, and he quickly dodged to the side to avoid the black beam. Before he could recover, the Iron Wall gave a crisp snap, and cracks appeared across the cyan-black barrier before it shattered into specks of light and vanished.

Seeing this, Xu Yang's expression turned grim. Without the defense of the Iron Wall, relying solely on the power of the Yellow Heaven Bell—a high-grade magical tool—would not be enough to pass the dark-attribute barrier. Furthermore, it would take at least two hours before he could condense the Iron Wall again.

For a moment, Xu Yang looked extremely troubled. He thought to himself, It seems I have no choice but to use the Talisman Treasure, the Samadhi Ring. Otherwise, I won't be able to pass the final barrier in such a short time.

Thinking of this, Xu Yang raised his hand to retrieve the Talisman Treasure. Just then, Ling Feng, who was on his back, spoke up: "The attack power of this final barrier is too strong and highly unpredictable. When I passed this barrier before, it didn't unleash such a powerful attack, nor was it a black beam. Judging by the power of that beam, it clearly reached the level of the early Foundation Establishment Realm."

Xu Yang asked Ling Feng with a grim face, "Then what should we do? We can't just stop here! The pursuers behind us are coming!" Ling Feng thought for a moment and said helplessly, "It seems I have no choice but to reveal my trump card. Here, take this; using it will guarantee you can pass this barrier."

As he spoke, Ling Feng took an object from his Qiankun Bag and handed it to Xu Yang. Xu Yang reached out to take it and curiously looked down at the item in his hand. It was a small golden sword, about a finger's length, with exquisite and mysterious runes engraved on its surface.

Xu Yang held up the small sword and shook it at Ling Feng, his eyes showing a questioning look. Seeing Xu Yang's action, Ling Feng said with a pained expression, "This is a sword-shaped talisman, known as the Mystic Gold Sword Talisman. Its power is immense. I obtained it in an ancient cave dwelling and never had the heart to use it. I never expected to use it here!"

Xu Yang suddenly realized; it was another talisman created by an ancient cultivator. He had never imagined such a talisman could exist, and he had truly learned something new today. Thinking of this, Xu Yang raised his hand and returned the Mystic Gold Sword Talisman to Ling Feng. Ling Feng caught the sword talisman and looked at Xu Yang in surprise, not understanding what he meant.

As Xu Yang took out the Samadhi Ring Talisman Treasure, he said to Ling Feng, "I have a Talisman Treasure in my possession that I can use repeatedly until its power is exhausted. While this Mystic Gold Sword Talisman is powerful, it is a one-time-use item. With a formidable enemy approaching, it is better for us to keep more trump cards in reserve."

Upon hearing this, Ling Feng was first astonished, not expecting Xu Yang to possess a treasure like a Talisman Treasure. Then, he felt that what Xu Yang said was very reasonable; it was better to keep the sword talisman to deal with the enemies behind them. He immediately stopped talking and cleanly tucked the sword talisman back into his Qiankun Bag.

Xu Yang took out the Talisman Treasure and immediately channeled his Gang Qi into it. The Talisman Treasure transformed into the Samadhi Ring, and under Xu Yang's control, it released a massive wave of Samadhi True Fire that surged toward the barrier in front of them.

The dark-attribute barrier once again emitted a black beam of light, which collided with the Samadhi True Fire. A series of crackling sounds echoed out; the black beam was immediately forced back by the flames, and after a moment, it was pushed back into the barrier itself. The Samadhi True Fire then wrapped itself around the barrier.

Seeing this, Xu Yang was overjoyed. He immediately manipulated the Samadhi Ring to suppress the barrier, and he seized the opportunity to dash through. After crossing the barrier, Xu Yang quickly withdrew his Gang Qi and restored the Talisman Treasure to its original state before putting it away. The activation had consumed a portion of the Talisman Treasure's power, which made Xu Yang's heart ache.

After crossing the barrier, Xu Yang looked ahead and discovered that he had reached the end of the corridor. A massive stone wall stood before them, and on it was a semi-circular stone gate.

Xu Yang pushed off with his feet and quickly arrived before the stone wall, carefully examining the stone gate. Ling Feng, on his back, said to Xu Yang, "Fellow Daoist Xu, look to your left. There is a stone tablet there that records the details of the stone gate."

Xu Yang immediately turned to his left and indeed saw a stone tablet about a meter high standing there. He hurried to the tablet and crouched down to read the inscriptions.

The content recorded on it was exactly as Ling Feng had described: the stone gate was protected by a powerful barrier that was immune to all magical attacks; only pure physical strength could open it.

Seeing this, Xu Yang did not dare to delay. He immediately went before the stone gate. The gate was five meters high, gray, and appeared quite ordinary, though there were three silver barriers on it that were currently glowing faintly.

Xu Yang raised his hand and unleashed a blast of Gang Qi at the stone gate. The three barriers on the gate immediately flared with light, shattering his Gang Qi. Xu Yang realized then that if he could not break the three barriers on the gate, he should not dream of breaking the gate with Gang Qi; he had to follow the method on the stone tablet.

Seeing this, Xu Yang did not hesitate. He set Ling Feng down on the ground and approached the stone gate. After taking a moment to catch his breath and recover some of his exhausted energy, he crouched down, grabbed the bottom edge of the stone gate, and lifted upward with all his might.

Xu Yang pushed his Iron Body to the limit, and waves of immense power surged through his body. The stone gate let out a loud boom and slowly began to rise. As the gate moved higher, Xu Yang felt the pressure increasing, as if an opposing force was struggling against him.

Seeing this, Xu Yang had no choice but to grit his teeth and exert his full strength to contend with it. Veins bulged on his neck and cheeks, a sight that made Ling Feng, watching from the side, deeply worried. He had not expected the stone gate to be so heavy that even Xu Yang would struggle so much.

Under Xu Yang's all-out effort, the stone gate began to rise faster. Soon, he had lifted it above his head. With a crisp click, the stone gate caught in the grooves of the stone wall, preventing it from falling back down, and it remained fixed above Xu Yang's head.

Ling Feng was overjoyed to see this and struggled to stand up, walking into the stone gate. Seeing that the gate was stuck and would not fall, Xu Yang immediately let go and sat on the ground, panting heavily. At the same time, the cyan-black color on his body quickly faded, as the exhaustion of his physical strength had caused his Iron Body to deactivate.