That person was Chu Ning, who had disappeared for a long time.

He struggled to get up, but it was a pity that his strength seemed to be exhausted. He only managed to get up forcefully after trying a few times.

His hands and knees were covered in quite a bit of soil, but with his currently disheveled appearance, this did not count for much.

He straightened his body with much difficulty and breathed. As a result of this series of actions, his face became even paler, and there seemed to be a sharp pain circling in his chest, almost shredding his organs!

A few of his bones were broken, and he was overly exhausted. Now, he was just relying on his stubborn willpower to continue walking forward.

He lowered his head to take a look. There was a broken and sharp white bone on the dried grass.

Half of it was stuck in the ground, and the other half was hidden in the grass. As he didn’t see it previously, he stepped right onto it.

Someone’s corpse was just left here.

Chu Ning retracted his gaze and continued walking forward. The chains on his arms and legs seemed heavier as they suppressed him, and he couldn’t breathe.

Every step he took seemed to be walking on the tip of a sword.

Everything on his body was either lost or damaged. Only his tortured body was living like a zombie.

He didn’t know how he came to this place, and he couldn’t recall how long he had been here. The only thing he could do was walk forward continuously, hoping that he could leave this place one day.

Chu Ning swallowed the bloody taste in his mouth and clenched his teeth tightly. I… can never die! Yue’er is still waiting for me! 

…

Ling Xiao Academy.

Fengmin Mountain.

On the first floor, after Elder Meng repaired the barrier and the main entrance, he couldn’t help but turn back, shake his head, and sigh. Luckily, basically nobody comes to Fengmin Mountain, and very few people appear in the vicinity. If not, the commotion that Rong Xiu previously caused would… If word got out, many people would be shocked until their jaws dropped. 

Elder Meng flicked the dust away and stroked his beard, planning on going up to take a look. Suddenly, a strange commotion came from the six doors.

He knitted his brows and focused on the six doors floating in midair!

On the surface, these doors looked exactly the same as they normally would. However, Elder Meng had guarded this place for many years and was very familiar with everything. He could confirm that it was not an illusion!

He walked nearer to the six doors and meticulously examined them for a while. However, that ripple didn’t appear again.

Everything was normal.

Elder Meng knitted his brows. For some reason, these few doors seem amiss lately…

Thinking of this, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly went upstairs!

When he passed by the second floor, he stopped in his tracks and said to Rong Xiu, “Rong Xiu, take good care of him. You can tell me if anything happens!”

Rong Xiu lightly nodded. “Thank you, Elder Meng.”

Then, Elder Meng rode on the dust and continued going upward. His steps seemed hurried.

Rong Xiu squinted his phoenix-like eyes slightly. Then, he got up and walked a few steps forward.

Standing by the stairs, he looked down.

There should’ve been seven doors there, but only six were left.

His hand gently held the pole, and his slender and white fingers knocked against it twice before he looked up.

The stairs in the middle of the pagoda spiraled all the way up.

Looking up from here, the stairs of every floor intersected and formed a disciplined and illusionary image.

Elder Meng’s figure quickly disappeared into the top floor.

Rong Xiu seemed calm, yet his phoenix-like eyes were so deep that one couldn’t see the bottom of them, causing one to be unable to see through him.

The location of the last door… seemed to be understood without speaking.

A soft sleepy voice came from behind.

Rong Xiu looked over and tightly held the pole as veins vaguely appeared on the back of his hand. Her failing to break through at such an important juncture will definitely cause some harm to her. But luckily, she failed when she tried to break through to become an intermediate stage-nine warrior—this can still be handled. 

If something happened when she broke through into the Apotheosis Realm… Rong Xiu’s eyes turned dark.

After a moment, he took out something from the Cosmic Ring. Then, he lightly extended his fingers, and a layer of faintly golden dust scattered in the air.

…

Outside Fangzhou City.

In the deserted land of a hidden place, the air rumbled. Following a ray of purple light, a tall and slender figure walked out from the dark space!

It was a young lady dressed in red. Her skin presented a healthy malt color, but it didn’t hide the youthfulness in her almond-like eyes.

“Hu… I’m finally here!” She lightly exhaled. I felt like I was in the transportation formation for ages… But luckily the process was very stable, or perhaps because that person was too strong, so I didn’t feel any aftereffects at all.

“Did he directly create a transportation formation…” She smacked her lips and guessed with some uncertainty, feeling even more shocked.

She wondered about the extent of that person’s strength…

A slight breeze attacked her and blew her hair, causing it to stick to her face and tickle her slightly.

Mu Hongyu pushed the loose strands of hair behind her ear and looked up.

A large and magnificent city lake was not far away! It was like a gigantic fiend with a shocking aura!

That should be Fangzhou City, right? Mu Hongyu took a deep breath in and clenched her fists to give herself courage before walking over.

…

Fangzhou City had no door, so everyone came in and out very freely.

Mu Hongyu walked over curiously, but after walking on the streets for a while, she realized that the situation seemed slightly different from what she had expected.

There didn’t seem to be as many people as she had predicted here. There were only a few pockets of people on the road, and it definitely was not considered crowded.

Didn’t they say that one has to pass by Fangzhou City to get into Ling Xiao Academy? As the top academy in the God Residence Realm, there should be countless cultivators rushing toward this place in hopes of getting a chance to cultivate, right? But now, why… 

Mu Hongyu walked for a while and asked a passerby.

Before she came, Diwu Zhangze had already told her many things. Hence, she knew that after she came, she just had to find Ling Xiao Academy’s assessment venue directly and go through with the assessment.

Hearing that she was asking about Ling Xiao Academy, the other party guided her rather heartily. However, he looked at Mu Hongyu with a slightly strange gaze.

Mu Hongyu found it weird and touched her own face. “Big Brother, is there something wrong with me?”

The other party shook his head. “Hehe. Miss, it’s your first time here, right?”

Mu Hongyu nodded.

“Do you know what has happened to Ling Xiao Academy lately?”

Mu Hongyu shook her head.

“That explains it…” That man raised his chin and lowered his voice. “You don’t know, but previously, quite a few top-tier aristocratic families came to Fangzhou City together to go against Ling Xiao Academy! Even though the two parties didn’t fight in the end… there must be something that caused them to do such a thing publicly! Now, many people want to silently observe the situation just in case they get into trouble. It has been more than half a month since anyone went to participate in Ling Xiao Academy’s admission examination in Fangzhou City!”