Chapter 731: The Earthfire Passage

Zhang Xuan turned his head to look.

It was a young man around thirty years old, with five dazzling stars on his chest—a five-star master teacher!

Senior Luo Yan!

Seeing this person, the woman named Li Xuan was startled and couldn't help trembling.

Hehe, Senior Luo Yan is a top-ten master teacher among the fourth-year students, and one of the top few among the five-star peak artifact refiners in the Artifact Hall. This guy speaking arrogantly in front of him—isn't he asking for a scolding?

Indeed, at just over twenty, so frivolous—where did this guy pop up from?

I've seen all the famous figures from the first and second years, but I've never heard of such a person!

Probably a delusional fool trying to attract attention...

...

The record passage represents a milestone for artifact refiners in the Master Teacher Academy. Those who dare come here are all top figures proficient in artifact refinement. Usually, when they come, they study and research how to break limits; few actually experiment personally.

This guy came up and directly said, 'It can be done, but it's a bit troublesome'—it's hard not to attract attention.

So many famous artifact refining prodigies in the academy wouldn't dare speak like this. For this guy, just over twenty, to say such things, it's good that the crowd didn't surround him and teach him a lesson.

Reporting to senior, this... this is...

Seeing this famous fourth-year student staring at her, Li Xuan's body trembled: "I'm a newly enrolled student this year, just wanted to come and take a look..."

"New student?"

Thinking it was some formidable figure, upon hearing it was a new student, Luo Yan shook his head: "Young people nowadays really have no manners! The record channel is a monument left by countless predecessors of the academy who spent immense effort—how can just anyone come to observe and critique it?"

With that, he raised his eyebrows and said sternly: "Withdraw now!"

"Yes..."

Li Xuan quickly nodded and tugged at Zhang Xuan beside her, but he didn't move; instead, he looked helplessly at the senior not far away: "Are you the dean of the Artifact Academy?"

"No..."

Luo Yan was taken aback, and the other onlookers, not understanding what he meant, looked over in confusion.

"One of the Ten Great Masters?" Zhang Xuan continued.

"Not that either..."

"Then you're an elder of the academy?"

"No... What do you mean?" Luo Yan's gaze darkened.

"Not the dean of the Artifact Academy, not one of the Ten Great Masters, and not an elder of the academy—then what the hell are you shouting about?" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

I'm talking to someone else—what business is it of yours?

Truly meddlesome!

"Ah..."

Li Xuan thought he was going to say something, but upon hearing this, her body swayed, nearly scared to death on the spot.

Do you know who the person in front of you is? Talking like that?

A fourth-year academy student, a five-star top-grade master, whose strength has already reached the eighth level of Mortal Transformation, and you, a freshman who just arrived, speak like that—aren't you afraid of being beaten to death on the spot?

The others also exchanged glances, their eyes nearly popping out.

They had seen arrogant freshmen, but never one this arrogant!

Luo Yan's face flushed crimson, nearly bursting: "What did you say?"

"Nothing, just telling you to go about your business and not waste my time earning credits!"

Too lazy to bother with him, Zhang Xuan continued looking at the wall.

Having studied countless books on artifact forging, his understanding of the craft had reached an extremely profound level; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the dean of the Artifact Academy was inferior to him in artifact forging.

The only shortcoming was his cultivation.

If he reached the Saint Domain, he would surely break all records, leaving none untouched.

But with his current strength, it might be difficult.

"This one, then!"

After quickly selecting one and pondering for a moment, Zhang Xuan felt he had a good chance of succeeding. He then looked at Li Xuan, who was not far away: "Help me apply; I want to challenge a record!"

"Challenge?"

Li Xuan was startled.

Don't you know anything? What record are you challenging? Don't tell me you actually think these records can be broken so easily?

The crowd of onlookers also exchanged glances.

Not only did he offend an upperclassman as soon as he arrived, but he also wanted to challenge a record—this guy was too unreliable, wasn't he?

With such a personality, how did he even become a master and get into this academy?

"Yes, I want to take on this Earthfire Passage. How do I apply?"

Zhang Xuan said calmly.

The Earthfire Passage was a scorching area formed by harnessing earthfire. The longer one stayed inside, the stronger their physical body, and the more they could stay clear-headed when burned by charcoal during artifact forging.

It was a test of an artifact forger's physical constitution.

He chose this because he had cultivated the Five Radiance Golden Body and had tempered his body with earthfire. Although this place was terrifying, persisting for a while should not be difficult.

All things considered, it was much easier than challenging other records.

"Earthfire Passage?"

"Does this guy have a brain? Choosing this... does he think his life is too long?"

"I don't know; maybe the newcomer doesn't understand what it's about!"

"And here I thought he might actually break a record. Turns out he's just a fool..."

Hearing what he wanted to challenge, everyone looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Even Luo Yan, who had been furious a moment ago and wanted to slap him to death, widened his eyes.

The Earthfire Passage, known as the Passage of Death, also called the Death Record. Throughout history, those who challenged this record either died or were left crippled.

Not to mention others, the record holder, a six-star artificer named Liu Han, managed to stay inside for seventeen minutes and break the record, but his entire body was scorched without a patch of good flesh, damaging his foundation, and he died before reaching one hundred and fifty.

For a six-star artificer who had stepped into the Saint Domain, dying so young was definitely an early death.

Luo Yan had also challenged this record back then; he couldn't hold out for three minutes and actively fled.

Even those who had never entered had heard the rumors and knew how terrifying it was.

If one were to categorize the records marked on the record wall, this one would definitely rank first as the one everyone least wanted to break!

Everyone feared it like snakes and scorpions, yet he chose it as soon as he arrived... and even boasted that he could pass through. Did he think he couldn't die fast enough?

"The Earthfire Passage has countless flames gushing out, impossible to dodge, scorching hot... Would you like to reconsider?"

Li Xuan was also startled and quickly said.

This guy before her, though foolish and ignorant, was still someone she had brought here; she couldn't just watch him seek death.

"No need. Just arrange it. If I can't hold on, I'll come out."

Knowing her concerns, Zhang Xuan said.

"This..."

Seeing his insistence, Li Xuan knew she couldn't dissuade him and had to say: "Actually, to challenge a record, you don't need to apply. Just press your palm against the portal of the record passage ahead and say which record you want to break, and the mechanism will automatically send you to the corresponding place!"

Zhang Xuan nodded: "Thank you!"

With that, he walked toward the passage.

"Newcomer, what's your name?"

Seeing that this guy was really going to the Earthfire Passage, Luo Yan snorted: "If you can come out alive and last more than three minutes, I'll let bygones be bygones regarding your offense earlier!"

Although this newcomer was arrogant and seemed foolish, knowing how terrifying the Earthfire Passage was and still daring to challenge it showed he had backbone.

That was still admirable.

"Record challenger, Zhang Xuan!"

With a faint smile, he pressed his palm against the portal, and with a creak, the record passage opened. Zhang Xuan stepped inside.

As soon as he entered, the door closed, and everything went pitch black.

"Challenge the Earthfire Passage record!"

Standing still, Zhang Xuan spoke.

Creak!

As his words ended, he felt the ground beneath his feet shake continuously, as if some mechanism had activated.

Artificers and craftsmen are related, so the two academies have close ties. This passage was clearly equipped with extremely precise mechanisms that could understand human language and send him to the desired location.

After a moment, it stopped.

Zhang Xuan looked up and saw that he had arrived in a wider passage, filled with darkness so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

Just as he was about to activate his Eye of Insight to see what was around, a flame ignited right before his eyes, and then raging fire engulfed everything around him, a tremendous heat surging in, as if to scorch his skin.

"So hot!"

His expression solemn, Zhang Xuan's face turned grave.

He had thought the Earthfire Passage would be like the earthfire in the Cleansing Pool, containing magma, allowing him to absorb spiritual energy and temper his body while inside. Now it seemed... he had overthought it!

Flames surrounded him on all sides; maintaining true qi to resist the flames was already a struggle, let alone cultivating!

Right now, he felt as if he had fallen into an oven. Once his true qi stopped circulating, he would likely be roasted alive.

No wonder everyone looked at him with such sympathy when he chose this. It was indeed terrifying.

"At this rate, I can't last even two minutes, let alone seventeen!"

Circulating his true qi to resist the scorching heat, Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had thought this would be an easy trial, but now it seemed not so simple.

Even though he had been training day and night recently, making his true qi increasingly dense, he couldn't hold out long in here.

"That's not right. Normal earthfire shouldn't be this hot!"

Amid his lament, he was also puzzled.

Normal earthfire, even from the depths of magma, could be withstood to some extent by his peak Mortal Realm Sixth Layer Bridge Heaven Stage cultivation, and he could even swim in it without being scorched.

This clearly exceeded that range.

In fact, the temperature of this flame not only burned the body but also damaged the soul.

"If it really comes to it... I could let my clone out for a while and take shelter..."

He rubbed his brow.

Although he couldn't hold out long, he wasn't too worried about breaking the record.

This earthfire, though terrifying, might overwhelm his main body, but his clone would have no problem.

It would just be a bit of cheating.

"Let's not rush. First, let's see what's really going on with this earthfire."

After hesitating for a moment, he suppressed the urge to release his clone, and his eyes flashed as fine lines appeared around his orbits: "Eye of Insight!"

Buzz!

Under the illumination of the patterns, he quickly noticed something amiss.

"This isn't a naturally formed passage, but a man-made formation. The foundation is... four Flame Stones... no, these aren't Flame Stones, they are..."

After observing for a while, Zhang Xuan's eyes suddenly lit up, and his whole body trembled with excitement: "Earthcore Floodrock!"