After making their agreement, the two brought their attention back, gazing at the tunnel ahead. Step by step, they cautiously moved forward until a faint black-blue glow appeared ahead.
"There's light!" Nina Ye exclaimed in delight.
"Yeah, let's go check it out," Evan Yang replied.
Excited, Nina Ye followed Evan Yang forward. But as they exited the tunnel, the scene before them startled them both.
All they saw was darkness ahead, with faint blue light scattered throughout, making it look like a terrifying underground ghost city.
As for the tunnel behind Evan Yang and Nina Ye, it was just a steep wall.
"What is this place?" Nina Ye asked in shock.
"No idea, but it's really strange." Evan Yang noticed many floating stones nearby, each barely large enough for one person to step on.
"What should we do now?" Nina Ye asked curiously.
Evan Yang activated his divine sense, only to find it limited here—he could see no farther than his eyes could. "Damn, my divine sense is restricted," he muttered.
Nina Ye, curious, activated her divine sense, and just like Evan Yang, could only see as far as her eyes could.
"This is so strange, what kind of place is this? The elder didn't explain clearly, so we don't even know why we're here." Nina Ye, who had expected a good place, felt frustrated seeing this environment.
Evan Yang didn't complain but said, "Since the elder sent us here, he must have his reasons. Let's try stepping across those floating stones."
"Why not just fly across?" Nina Ye asked suspiciously.
"If I'm not mistaken, flying shouldn't be possible here. Otherwise, those stones wouldn't be floating like that." Evan Yang analyzed, looking at the stones.
Nina Ye, trusting, tried to fly across, but as soon as she stepped out, she was left floating in midair with no support, unable to move forward or backward. Seeing this, Evan Yang quickly reached out, grabbed her foot, and pulled her back.
Back in place, Nina Ye exclaimed, "That was so dangerous! Thank goodness for you. It was terrifying."
"How did it feel?" Evan Yang asked curiously, seeing that Nina Ye had experienced it firsthand.
"It felt like all my strength was useless. No matter how I tried, I couldn't move forward or backward, just floating there like those stones," Nina Ye explained, sweating.
"Looks like my guess was right. Since that's the case, let's step carefully across these stones. Be very cautious—if you fall or miss a step, you might end up stuck like you just were," Evan Yang replied after some thought.
Nina Ye nodded, then Evan Yang cautiously jumped onto one of the stones.
"How does it feel?" Nina Ye asked curiously after seeing Evan Yang step onto the stone.
"It's like stepping on a floating stone, but you can use the stone's force to move forward," Evan Yang replied to Nina Ye.
"Alright, you go ahead and I'll follow you," Nina Ye said, noticing the stone was too narrow for both to stand together.
Evan Yang nodded, then leapt accurately onto the next stone. Seeing this, Nina Ye also jumped onto the first stone.
"Whew, it really works!" Nina Ye said happily, but seeing the darkness below, she felt a bit uneasy.
"Don't look down, just focus on the stones," Evan Yang quickly instructed, seeing Nina Ye's expression.
Nina Ye nodded. It was her first time seeing such a strange place and she hadn't fully adapted yet, so she followed Evan Yang's instructions and didn't look down, jumping forward after him from stone to stone.
In this way, the two moved one after the other, keeping a stone's distance between them. After crossing over a hundred stones, Evan Yang saw that the other side was a rocky platform, much like the tunnel platform they entered from.
"There's a landing spot ahead. Let's check it out," Evan Yang said to Nina Ye after spotting the platform.
Nina Ye looked at the spot ahead of Evan Yang and, indeed, saw a platform. She nodded. "Mm."
The two then took a dozen more steps and arrived at the platform.
"Whew, I really don't know what kind of place this is," Nina Ye complained, seeing the strange space where flying was impossible.
"When we get out, we should ask the elder what this place is and why it's so strange," Evan Yang exclaimed.
"Yeah, I wonder what danger the elder meant. He also told you to stay at early Soul-Gathering and not advance, but since you just broke through, you won't be able to advance again within three months." Nina Ye thought about the strange place and the training Elder Marcus Whitebeard mentioned, where different cultivations face different trials.
Nina Ye's words reminded Evan Yang, but he looked around and saw only stones everywhere. Where was there any trial?
"Maybe we just haven't reached the trial area yet," Evan Yang comforted himself, looking at the surrounding stones.
"Maybe. Shall we continue?" Nina Ye agreed with Evan Yang's view.
Evan Yang nodded, looked behind him, and saw there was no tunnel—only more stones to cross.
So the two continued on, crossing hundreds more stones and encountering another platform. After passing a dozen platforms, they couldn't tell if it was day or night, but after most of the day had passed, they finally saw another platform wall with a tunnel.
It looked exactly the same as when the two of them first entered from the tunnel.
"Let's go in and take a look," Evan Yang said excitedly as he reached the tunnel entrance.
Nina Ye was excited too—finally, a proper entrance instead of wandering in the air, always worried about falling off the rocks.
The two walked through the tunnel, and when they saw light again, they were surprised: this time there were blue, red, and black lights.
They walked out curiously and were stunned by what they saw inside.
Ahead was a city wall and buildings floating in the air, and fortunately, lively sounds could be heard there.
"People?" The two were delighted to finally hear human voices.
They saw people patrolling the city wall ahead. Under the floating city was black light, their platform glowed blue, and above was red light; the three colors intertwined, making the scene especially eerie.
They're from the human world,' an adult explained.
They also saw people flying around in the air. Seeing others fly, Nina Ye smiled, "Let me try."
Nina Ye was able to fly freely in the air. "It's working, let's go see what kind of city this is."
Evan Yang nodded and flew over with Nina Ye. The patrolling guards on the city wall had already noticed them coming out of the tunnel.
These people wore strange robes, their hair tied in knots, and different designs painted on the backs of their necks.
"Are you from outside?" the leader of the patrol asked.
Evan Yang understood that 'outside' meant his world, so he nodded.
"First, you'll be tested. If you pass, you can stay here for half a month. If not, you'll be sent out—life or death doesn't matter," the person said to Evan Yang and Nina Ye.
Evan Yang really wanted to know what this place was, but for the test, he could only do as told, so the two were led by the group.
People around were curious about Evan Yang and Nina Ye. Some children even asked adults, "Who are those two? Why are they dressed like that?"
"They're from the human world," an adult explained.
"The human world? Is it fun there?" the child asked curiously.
"No, it's not fun. There are many terrifying monsters outside that will eat you," the adult exaggerated.
The child, frightened, quickly hid in the adult's arms upon seeing Evan Yang and Nina Ye.
Of course, Evan Yang heard all their words. "The human world? Are they not human?"
This discovery surprised Evan Yang, so he curiously asked the leader, "What is this place?"
The leader replied, "The Sha Realm."
Sha Realm? Evan Yang and Nina Ye wanted to leave, but had never heard of any place besides the human world.
"What's the difference between here and the human world?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Figure it out yourselves. You only have three months. Staying too long will do you no good," the leader said to Evan Yang and Nina Ye.
Evan Yang and Nina Ye really wanted to know what this place was, but the leader wouldn't tell them—only its name and how long they could stay, nothing else.
This made Evan Yang and Nina Ye even more curious. Everything here, the people and the events, was beyond their knowledge. Never having heard of the Sha Realm, they followed the group with a different feeling.
Soon, Evan Yang and Nina Ye were brought to a mountain. "This is our Trial Mountain. Once inside, you'll experience various illusions. If you want to stay here, you must be recognized by the mountain. Otherwise, if you fail or die, we'll send you back."
"This mountain? How do we get in?" Evan Yang asked, seeing there was no entrance.
"Both of you close your eyes. I'll send you in. Whether you succeed or not is up to you," the leader said.
Evan Yang and Nina Ye looked at each other, then closed their eyes. They heard the leader muttering, and Evan Yang felt all sound disappear from his ears.
After a while with no sound, Evan Yang felt worried and opened his eyes, finding himself in a dark space: red above, blue in the middle, black below, standing on the blue layer.
"Where is this? Is anyone here?" Evan Yang called out after noticing nothing moving.
Just then, a voice sounded around him: "Soul-Gathering early stage cultivation, intermediate trial begins."
"Intermediate? What kind of intermediate?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
Just as Evan Yang finished asking, four people flew out, each with Soul-Gathering early stage cultivation.
"So many!" The four quickly surrounded Evan Yang from four directions, each holding a staff.
"Are you from the Sha Realm?" Evan Yang asked, seeing the four bare-chested, wearing tight pants, and all with images on their necks.
The four didn't reply. Instead, they spun their staffs, which instantly doubled in length.