Chapter 45 (1/2)

At the martial pavilion.

When Xia Qingchen returned, he reported to Qin Lin.

“So fast!” Qin Lin had a smile on his face. “That’s good too. I will pass you the reward for getting first place in the external training.”

For this external training, the first place of each class would receive a very unique reward.

Qin Lin took out a round pearl that was fiery red.

“This is the proof for you to be able to enter the martial pavilion’s fire lake.” Qin Lin smiled.

Xia Qingchen was shocked.

The fire lake was a place only senior students could enter. That place was filled with an abundance of fire-attributed essence qi.

The density was three times that of the outside world!

However, even for senior students, they were only permitted to enter there once a year.

Because the damage caused to the body was extremely great, if one used it for a long-term cultivation, the consequences would surely be dire.

Entering once a year was already the limit.

“Truly, a special reward.” Xia Qingchen was very satisfied.

Next, he wanted to put all his heart into cultivation and try his best to break through to the middle constellation stage before the Wind-Cloud Meet.

If he could achieve this, he would know the seventeen-year secret from his father.

He then arrived at the fire lake.

A lava pool three hundred zhangs in diameter appeared in his eyes.

There were hundreds of man-made cultivation chambers jutting out from the lava.

Standing at the edge of the fire lake, one could already feel that the density of essence qi here was far thicker than in the outside world.

However, there was a streak of fire qi within the essence qi.

If one overly absorbed it, the fire qi would remain in one’s martial meridians and might damage them.

Xia Qingchen took a small breath and discovered that the fire qi that entered his body was naturally expelled from his pores.

This was due to him consuming Dragonblood Powder over a long period of time, which led to his body doing this as a habit.

The medicinal potency of the Dragonblood Powder was extremely fierce. The scorching degree completely didn’t lose out to lava.

Hence, the fire qi here couldn’t harm him.

He was now observing the distribution of the cultivation chambers. Before he came, he had already heard that the deeper one went, the denser the essence qi would be.

Since he wasn’t afraid of the damage caused by the fire qi, he would choose one of the cultivation chambers situated at the deepest part of the fire lake.

“Senior sister Zhou. It’s rare for us to encounter each other. Since that’s the case, why don’t we have a little competition and see which of us can cultivate longer in the middle area?” A slightly familiar voice drifted into his ear.

Xia Qingchen turned his head and saw that the one who had spoken was none other than Zhao Tianyu.

He was accompanying a cold-looking, tall young woman. She was clad in a yellow-colored round neck dress.

From his tone, one could see that Zhao Tianyu was fawning on her.

“Given your endurance, let’s just forget it. It isn’t even one-tenth of mine,” said the young woman directly, not giving Zhao Tianyu any face at all.

Zhao Tianyu awkwardly laughed. He was already used to it, but he didn’t accept her words as correct.

Suddenly, Zhao Tianyu noticed Xia Qingchen who was standing at the side of the fire lake. He called out involuntarily in shock, “Xia Qingchen!”

The woman with the cold expression glanced over and asked in astonishment, “What an unfamiliar face, are you acquainted with him?”

Zhao Tianyu’s expression turned complicated.

How could he not be acquainted with Xia Qingchen?

It was precisely because he had meddled in the matter between Xia Qilin and Xia Qingchen that had caused him to implicate his father. His father had been forced to kneel for one day and one night at the entrance of the Rainbow Cloud Villa.

In the end, he was still expelled from the Rainbow Cloud Villa. This caused Zhao Tianyu’s entire clan to sink into a huge commotion.

Fortunately, Zhao Tianyu’s relationship with this cold-looking young woman wasn’t bad. The Zhao Clan, which had lost their power, had submitted to the clan the cold-looking young woman belonged to and found their footing once more.

Hence, he was thinking of all sorts of ways to fawn on her.

Seeing Xia Qingchen again, Zhao Tianyu naturally felt hatred in his heart.

“I met him a few times before. He’s a first-year student from the D class, Xia Qingchen.” Zhao Tianyu’s voice was filled with contempt.

Senior sister Zhou suddenly understood as she mumbled, “No wonder.”

Several days ago, the first-year students of A, B, and C class, Lin Tianyou, Wu Yanfei, and Chen Junlong, joined forces and came here to the fire lake to cultivate.

She cast a glance at Xia Qingchen and spoke, “I advise you to leave here right now. The fire lake isn’t a place where people like you are qualified to come in contact with.”