Death... and me

It didn’t take long for Rean’s group to find out why. The second level was different from the rest of the Lost Star Realm. Instead of a snow-covered area, it was a place filled with volcanoes. Of course, Hurio and Lilia knew this much already, and it shouldn’t be enough of a reason for them to stop at the entrance. The problem was that the Light Element wave stirred up the Fire Element and Divine Energy in the area. Because of that, all the volcanoes started to erupt nonstop. It had become ridiculously complicated to resist the environment at the moment.

However, the top ten powers’ didn’t give up, and they didn’t seem too concerned either. Obviously, they already expected such a thing, so everyone thought the area would reach a state where they could enter again sooner or later.

*Boom!*

Sometime later, an explosion could be heard coming from far ahead, beyond the entrance of the second level. It was so big that even the ground where everyone was staying trembled and started to crack. It wasn’t hard to guess that another volcano had erupted. Unsurprisingly, this one was much stronger than any of the previous ones.

Theoretically, that should be a signal that it was still not the right time to enter the second level. However, as soon as the top ten powers’ disciples and elders heard that, they hushed their companions, much to the rest of the cultivators’ surprise.

Of course, Rean’s group didn’t just watch and stand still as those people disappeared into the entrance. Whatever might have happened, they had to go as well. The same could be said for the cultivators of other groups.

The entrance of the second level was different from the first one. Instead of going down through a crack, everyone went up on a mountain that had two peaks. The entrance, obviously, was in between those two peaks and was the only entrance to the second level. It was useless to try to go around the mountain, as an extremely concentrated cloud of ash and smoke made it impossible to pass through. According to Hurio, that thing was too dangerous. They should avoid clouds as concentrated as that when they got inside.

Soon, they all arrived at the gap between the two peaks as ash began to fall from the sky. When they finally passed through, they were able to see the second level from that advantaged point. It wasn’t just a few volcanoes, though. As far as the twins and Kentucky could see, there were volcanoes spewing out lava nonstop. In fact, there should be even more. However, because of the constant ash falling from the skies, their vision was hampered after a certain distance.

That wasn’t the most concerning part, though. The moment everyone passed through the two peaks, they were assaulted by a huge searing sensation because of the area’s chaotic Fire Element and Divine Energy. They all had to create a Divine Energy Barrier to try to keep it all out from reaching their bodies.

In Rean’s group, Rean was pretty much fine since elements attuned to Yang Energy like this had little effect on him if they weren’t being used to attack. Hurio was fine, too, since he was good with all mainstream elements. Then again, he got Lilia to come closer to him, as she was a Wind Element Affinity cultivator. He used his power to help protect her against the searing sensation.

Kentucky, well, had a heaven-defying defense, and it wasn’t just physical, so that didn’t bother him at all. As for Roan, he didn’t have an easy time as Rean, who could simply ignore the environment. Nevertheless, he was more than good enough with Yin Energy to use it to create a barrier capable of protecting him.

Then again, it was quite unfortunate that not everyone had their own methods, especially the low-level cultivators. Some of them were forced to retreat after just a few minutes as they couldn’t resist it. They would have to think about some other method to do that. Well, the only ones who cared about them were the people from their groups. The rest simply ignored their issue as they had nothing to do with it, Rean’s group included.

As the rest came down from the mountain with two peaks, they got to watch the ground area as well. Rivers of lava could be seen everywhere. Every now and then, a molten rock would fall from the skies, forcing the nearby cultivators to dodge. Everyone was ready for that anyway. After all, they could now hear the eruptions that happened much easier.

There was a problem for the majority, though. Even though they could somehow drive the chaotic Fire Element and Divine Energy of the environment away, the cultivators were quickly spending their Divine Energy reserves to do that. It was even worse than when a few of them tested it earlier, as that big eruption they heard from outside made things even worse.

Rean’s group had an idea, though. ‘The next beast pools would probably only appear in this kind of environment. It’s supposed to be a selection, after all. It’s definitely not supposed to be easy.’ They were right. The top ten powers’ disciples could not get the second marks any other time. It had to be while the second level was in its most hazardous state.

After a few minutes, the cultivators following the top ten powers’ disciples finally gave up. Most of them didn’t have the capability of sustaining their presence in this place for too long, so they separated themselves and headed to the exit of the second level. The only ones who remained were people with high-level cultivation, such as those at the Elemental Transformation Realm and above. Or, of course, those who had effective methods to defend against the environmental conditions, like Rean’s group.

After seeing that most of the cultivators following them left, the top ten powers’ disciples also decided to separate. After all, they had to find their own marks.

That was what Rean’s group was waiting for, actually. ‘Should we follow the same group as before, or should we tail the other Dragon Tail Brotherhood groups?’