Li Xiaoya naturally had no idea that, even without his reporting the matter to the Purple-Light Daoist Patriarch, the Giant Race cultivator was already in serious trouble.
The Giant Race cultivator himself had no idea trouble had come knocking, either. Shortly after the other cultivator finished his transaction and emerged, the center of the square trembled slightly. An enormous pit opened up, and an intensely scorching aura surged skyward from within, making the entire square blisteringly hot...
Just then, the cultivator who had entered earlier came out. He was a Blue-Haired Race cultivator, and he emerged looking thoroughly dejected.
"Hehe! Fellow Daoist, it's your turn!" The Giant Race cultivator chuckled at Li Xiaoya. "Heaven-and-Earth Realm cultivators have no time limit inside. Stay as long as you like. We'll talk when you come out..."
"All right!" Li Xiaoya replied mildly. He had already received the instructions for using the Heavenfire Furnace and paid the fee, so he strode casually toward the entrance...
Just then...
"Huh?! Wasn't it my turn?" a Greenfolk cultivator dressed in purple asked in surprise.
"Hey! According to the rules, Heaven-and-Earth Realm cultivators have priority!" Before the Giant Race cultivator could speak, another Greenfolk cultivator beside him hurriedly explained.
"..." The Greenfolk cultivator was immediately left speechless. What could he do? The other man was a Heaven-and-Earth Realm cultivator, and he wasn't.
Without so much as glancing at that cultivator, Li Xiaoya flew straight into the pit leading to the Heavenfire Furnace. As soon as he entered, the door overhead, several zhang thick, slowly closed.
Li Xiaoya looked around. The passage was circular and over a dozen zhang wide, its walls built from a stone that gave off a faint blue light. Countless runes shimmered blue across them. The shaft plunged straight down into unfathomable depths, waves