Hearing this, Evan Chu immediately swept his spiritual sense over the area ahead. With his powerful perception, he quickly spotted something off—sure enough, about a hundred meters to the right, there was a faint energy fluctuation, exactly as Tom Chu had described.
"Jade, Tom! We're heading into the Death-Tower Grounds now. Let's see how terrifying this so-called land of no return really is," Evan said.
He instantly brought the two of them over with a flash, arriving at the entrance. "Big Brother, it's just a basic illusion barrier—its whole purpose is to hide the entrance. Once you find the right spot, you just walk straight in," Tom Chu explained.
Evan nodded and stepped inside. As soon as he entered, he found it looked no different from the outside: endless yellow sand everywhere. The only change was the temperature—it was much higher here, making it tough to get used to.
Evan glanced at Jade and Tom, then said, "How do you feel? Want to head back into the storage ring for now? Once we’re past this hellish stretch, you can come back out."
Jade laughed, "Big Brother, you’re underestimating me and Tom! Even if you can't handle it, we'll be fine—don’t forget, our defenses are way tougher than yours. Just take care of yourself!"
Evan felt his face flush. He really had forgotten—whenever he faced powerful attacks, it was these two little troublemakers who helped him hold out. Saying this now was kind of embarrassing.
He took a few steps through the yellow sand and instantly found it nearly impossible to walk—every step sank him down to his calves. No telling how big this deadly place was, and he had no clue where the Death-Tower itself was. If only he could just fly straight there.
Evan glanced back at the spot where he'd just entered. It had completely changed—no more energy fluctuations, and the surroundings all looked the same. He stood at the absolute center, feeling totally isolated.
“Lin Feng, this is a special zone—no flying allowed, and even instant movement is blocked! You’ll have to walk the whole way, step by miserable step. Enjoy it while it lasts!” Luna’s voice rang out, full of schadenfreude and mockery.
"What? No flying allowed? That’s just like the Land of the Undead! Over there, at least you could cheat with Phantasite and soar above everything. But here? Not a single monster, and zero loopholes! What am I supposed to do, crawl my way across?" Evan grumbled, voice full of indignation and disbelief.
The thought of Phantasite suddenly sparked something in Evan’s mind—maybe it’d work here too? Yellow sand everywhere, flight restrictions everywhere, maybe there was a trick he hadn’t found yet. If there was even a tiny chance, he was going to try!
So Evan dumped all his Phantasite stones out of the storage ring and waited. Nothing—dead silence. He tried Shifting Position—still no luck. Tried flying—no way. "Damn it! Not a single reaction! Is the whole world against me? This is driving me nuts!" Evan cursed, his frustration boiling over, refusing to back down.
Luna snickered, "Lin Feng, you idiot! This is a real place, not some illusion field—Phantasite’s useless here! You really crack me up. Stop clowning around and use Shifting Position, that’s your only ticket out!
Let Jade help you scout the Death-Tower’s location, then head straight for it. Honestly, you’re getting more clueless by the day—I don’t even know how to scold you anymore!" Luna added, her tone dripping with disappointment and exasperation.
Evan had Jade check the area. After about half an hour, Jade finally said, "Big Brother, this place is enormous. If you could fly, it’d take at least three days to cross. Plus, the Glasswind here is way fiercer than the one in Skywind Valley—be careful.
There’s also Coldflame and Glassfire here, both extremely dangerous. Honestly, for most people, getting out of here is harder than ascending to the heavens. No wonder they call it the Death-Tower Grounds—the name fits perfectly."
Evan nodded, "Got it. You two should head back into the storage ring for now. Once I’m out of this hellhole, I’ll bring you back out. I still don’t get why flight’s forbidden here—it’s just weird."
Jade and Tom returned to the storage ring, and Evan quickly started circulating his wind element. Right now, combining Wind Element with Shifting Position was the only way to get out of this cursed place fast.
With a thought, a faint cyan glow enveloped Evan’s body—the effect of Windshift. He shot forward in a blur, leaving afterimages as he raced ahead. At his current level, chaining Shifting Position was almost as good as flying: the wind roared past his ears, and in just a few breaths he was already miles away.
Evan kept chaining Shifting Position for half a day before finally stopping—right ahead was the Glasswind Jade had mentioned. But this Glasswind was pitch black, and all the yellow sand nearby had already been swept up into the air.
Judging by the energy swirling around, Evan was sure that even a First-Layer Venerable Martial expert would be torn to shreds if they got caught in there. His own defenses were strong, but even he felt uneasy.
He just had to wait for the Glasswind to pass before moving on. Evan watched from a distance as the towering wind column—hundreds of meters high—moved his way. He quickly activated Earthshift and burrowed into the sand. But only a few meters down, he was hit by a wave of scorching heat.
Looking closer, he realized the sand around him wasn’t yellow anymore—it had all turned fiery red. "What kind of hellhole is this? The heat’s insane, it’s like even the sand wants to burst into flames! Is the Netherworld trying to roast me alive? This is nuts!" Evan cursed, voice full of indignation.
Luna snorted, "Evan, this is exactly because you’re still too weak! If your strength was truly high, your Windshift could tear out Glasswind-level attacks with a flick of your finger. All your other elementals would be just as terrifying—every one of them could unleash apocalyptic power! So don’t you dare get complacent just because you’ve learned the first seven transformations of Ninefold Stellar Transformation. You’re not even close to the real thing yet!"
If Ninefold Stellar Transformation is called a heaven-defying art, then it must have heaven-defying power! Crushing mountains, overturning seas—should be as easy as snapping your fingers! If you want to stand at the very top, you have to master it completely. Don’t slack off for even a moment—work harder!" Luna urged, her voice sharp and relentless.
"I hear you loud and clear, Luna! Don’t worry, I’ll never let you down—never! Someday, I’ll stand at the very summit of the world and make all beings bow before me. Just you wait!" Evan’s voice was full of steel, and his eyes blazed with confidence and defiance.
"With the heat this intense down here and the Glasswind overhead, I bet there’s some kind of treasure or rare item in this zone. Want to check it out?" Luna suggested.
The moment he heard the word 'treasure,' Evan’s eyes lit up like torches. If Luna said so, there was no way it wasn’t true—her instincts were never wrong! "How could I not look? If I’ve come to a mountain of treasures, there’s no way I’m leaving empty-handed. That’s just not who I am!" Evan declared, his voice fierce and unyielding.
“Try digging down below. There’s a high chance earth-fire is hidden here—and sometimes earth-fire can birth Glassfire Crystals! That stuff is priceless, and it’ll send your Fireshift power through the roof. If you want real strength, you’ve got to chase after these treasures!” Luna urged, her tone full of temptation and challenge.
Ninefold Stellar Transformation has nine shifts, and each shift has three tiers. Right now you’re only at the basic tier. To level up, you need to find different elemental energy bodies. Five-Element Fruit might help, but it’s not that useful.
But if you’re lucky enough to find a Glassfire Crystal in this earth-fire, you could push Fireshift up a whole tier! But listen up—Glassfire Crystals are even rarer than Fire Spirit Pearls. Whether you get one or not depends entirely on your luck and guts!
As for the black Glasswind up there, it might have a Glasswind Crystal inside—but you’re nowhere near strong enough to get one yet. The Immortal Realm has tons of Glasswind zones, so once you’re stronger, you can get them yourself. Don’t worry about it for now," Luna said.
Only now did Evan finally get it—why, even after learning the first few shifts of Ninefold Stellar Transformation, his attacks still felt weak. For a heaven-defying technique, it should’ve been terrifying, overwhelming, unstoppable! He finally understood the reason behind his underwhelming power.
Sure, his strength had grown, but he was only drawing out part of the power. Against real experts, it wouldn’t be enough. With this figured out, Evan decided to dive down and see for himself—maybe he’d get lucky and find a Glassfire Crystal.
The deeper he went, the hotter it got. Evan had to use Earthshift to fully armor his body, since there weren’t any open flames to merge with Fireshift—he just had to endure the brutal heat.
After descending thousands of meters, the soil around him was no longer sand—it was fire-red clay. Here, he could feel tongues of flame bursting out from the earth. The stone armor around him glowed red-hot, and it felt like his skin was being roasted alive.
But Evan’s endurance was incredible. Compared to the agony of breaking through the seventh layer of Starforge Body or tearing his Nascent Soul out of his body, this was nothing.
Gritting his teeth, Evan dove a few hundred meters deeper. This was probably his limit—his whole body felt like it was on fire, and the temperature here was even higher than around the Fire Unicorn. But now he could finally use Fireshift to slowly merge his body into the surrounding fire element.
Once Fireshift was activated, the pain dropped sharply. Evan finally understood how amazing this transformation was—the fire element here was incredibly dense, and now and then, a patch of black flame would erupt from the soil.
Evan went down a few hundred meters more before stopping. There was no soil left around him—just a hollow shell, and below was a vast sea of fire-red magma. Evan knew the temperature here was way higher than when he’d faced the Fire Unicorn.
If he’d put the Fire Unicorn’s egg here back then, who knows how monstrous it would’ve grown. Taking a deep breath, Evan asked Luna, "Luna, is the Glassfire Crystal inside this magma?"
"Not here—it’s in the earth-fire below the magma. To get a Glassfire Crystal, you’ll have to actually enter the magma itself. It’s risky, but I believe you can do it!" Luna said.
"You’ve got to be kidding. I have to go into the magma? Isn’t that just suicide?" Evan was stunned.