After a safe but eventful journey, the griffins landed across from a mountain ravine more than an hour later. The students were all rather puzzled, unsure why they had stopped. Looking around, they saw nothing but a bottomless ravine and endless greenery. Forget the Inner Academy—there was not even a single person in sight.
"What's going on?" Hu Jia, Han Yue, and the others exchanged glances, every one of them wearing a puzzled expression.
Xiao Yan and Hu Gan looked at each other, both seeing amusement in the other's eyes. Nodding, Hu Gan stepped forward to open the spatial barrier. Xiao Yan turned around and explained, "Stop discussing it, everyone. You've already arrived at the Inner Academy..."
"What? We're really here already? Impossible! There's nothing here!" Xiao Yan had not even finished speaking before he was interrupted. Helpless, he could only continue, "All right, listen to me. This is indeed the entrance to the Inner Academy; you simply cannot see it. The Inner Academy was isolated from the outside world by the headmaster using great supernatural abilities. A special method is needed to open the spatial gate. What you see the vice headmaster doing now is opening that gate."
Hu Gan waved his hand, and a streak of energy shot from his palm toward the space before them. Then, a strange sight appeared. As the energy passed through a certain patch of empty air, it created ripples like waves on water. The ripples fluctuated rapidly, and at last, a pale gate seven or eight zhang tall appeared out of thin air!
Han Yue and the others were all startled as they stared at the strange silver gate. Clearly, none of them had expected such an ordinary-looking place to conceal such mysteries.
Under everyone's gaze, the silver gate slowly opened with