Chapter 105 Heading to the Deepest Part of the Blood Pool

"You all came up together?"

In the moment Feng Qing'er was stunned, Gu He had already nodded.

Feng Qing'er's beautiful eyes flickered as if water were flowing within them. "Hmph, so what if you made it up?"

"However... taking up four whole spots, you're quite something."

Not long after, others succeeded in passing the trial one after another, including Mu Qingluan in her green dress and two men of extraordinary status.

There were exactly eight of them.

On the other side, Jin Shi dismissed the dozen or so people who had failed the trial, flew up, and then slowly landed on the ground.

Then he walked directly toward the depths of the mountain Peak. "Let's go, follow me."

Hearing this, Feng Qing'er and the others didn't dare to delay and quickly followed Jin Shi's pace. In contrast, Gu He trailed slowly behind with an air of nonchalance.

On the Peak of the Tianmu Mountain Range, jagged rocks stood like a forest. Looking up, one could see the dense fluctuations of the energy tide in the sky.

The faintly spreading energy pressure made people involuntarily feel a chill.

The multicolored energy tide spread outward in waves like a storm, a spectacular sight.

Braving the energy tide in the sky, they shuttled through the jagged rocks. After a while, they gradually came to a halt as Jin Shi stopped.

The eight of them ascended a high slope, and the sight before them made them gasp.

"Whew~"

Before them was an extremely wide volcanic crater.

Wisps of scorching smoke, laced with fire poison, were constantly being spewed out.

In the center of the crater was a small pool about several dozen feet wide.

At this moment, the liquid in the pool was very scarce; only a hint of crimson could be vaguely seen, looking like boiling magma.

"That is the Tianshan Blood Pool. However, it is not yet the Peak of the energy tide. When the Peak period arrives, the energy of the entire mountain range will converge in this crater..."

"At that time, the Blood Pool will overflow, and you will need to enter it then."

Jin Shi pointed at the pool in the center of the crater and spoke indifferently. However, despite his calm tone, his eyes involuntarily stared at Gu He as if there were flowers on his robes.

He could sense an aura that made him feel fear, even making his Soul tremble!

He snapped out of it and advised, "Please keep in mind that the Tianshan Blood Pool contains extremely intense fire poison. And as the depth increases, the concentration of the fire poison will gradually grow."

"Therefore, the time you stay in the pool should not be too long—at most... only three days."

"The fire poison here has accumulated over countless years. If you exceed this time and the fire poison invades your body, even your teachers won't be able to save you."

"Unless it's some Advanced Alchemists, I'm afraid no one can remove this fire poison...!"

After Jin Shi finished his explanation, he didn't leave immediately but called out to Gu He alone.

In a secluded spot, the two began a conversation.

"Sir... you are an Alchemist, right?"

Jin Shi had made a firm decision before using a respectful title for Gu He, considering he was many years older than him.

Gu He looked at his fawning smile and nodded indifferently.

"Are you looking for me because of your injury?" Gu He asked straightforwardly.

Jin Shi suppressed his surprise. "You really can see my injury!"

As a powerhouse of the Gold-Devouring Rat Clan, Jin Shi could faintly sense the powerful Heavenly Flame within Gu He's body. The Tianshan fire poison that had plagued him for a long time could only be completely cleared by a Heavenly Flame.

Gu He placed his hand on Jin Shi's arm, and his Soul power invaded through the arm. After a short while, he let go.

He raised his arm, rubbing his thumb and index finger together.

"The fire poison has entered your body and reached your marrow. It's not difficult to cure your fire poison, but... I wonder what reward Elder Jin has for me?"

The phrase "this humble one" made Jin Shi's beard tremble.

You broke the power of four people's sonic waves with a single move, and yet you call yourself "this humble one" in front of an old man like Jin Shi?

Jin Shi no longer hesitated. A look of fierce determination flashed across his old eyes.

He didn't want to suffer the pain of that Tianshan fire poison any longer!

"As long as you can completely expel the Tianshan fire poison from my body, I will help you enter the place where the Blood Pool's energy is the purest!"

Jin Shi's gaze focused on the massive volcanic crater as he spoke solemnly:

"With every energy tide, although most of the energy condenses into the red liquid within the Blood Pool, a small portion still settles and eventually permeates to the deepest part of the Blood Pool."

"This part of the energy is scarce, but perhaps due to the accumulation of years, it is exceptionally pure."

"That place was discovered by our Gold-Devouring Rat Clan; it can be said to be a secret territory of our Gold-Devouring Rat Clan."

"It is protected by a Spatial Barrier. If you are willing, we shall make... an equal exchange."

Gu He listened patiently until he finished. For a Seventh-Rank Alchemist like him, clearing poison was a simple task.

"Fine. However, I will only treat your injuries after I come up from the bottom of the Blood Pool."

Jin Shi: "It's a deal!"

He took out a dark-gold Rat Skull and handed it to Gu He. Seeing him put it away, Jin Shi let out a heavy sigh.

"Safe travels... I will wait for you here."

"Mhm."

Jin Shi hesitated repeatedly but finally asked, "May I ask what rank of... Alchemist you are, Sir?"

He was very curious.

"Only Seventh-Rank."

!

Jin Shi's eyes widened.

He hadn't expected that his respectful address of "Sir" would be so well-deserved; a Seventh-Rank Alchemist was actually going to treat his poison!

...

A sudden, intense light enveloped the entire Tianmu Mountain Range, and the thick fog thinned within the radiance.

The energy vortex trembled, and multicolored energy pillars erupted like energy cannons, pointing straight at the volcanic crater.

The light pillars were extremely swift, instantly crashing into the crater and triggering a massive airwave that caused the jagged rocks to explode!

A massive multicolored vortex appeared above the crater, spinning as energy raged within.

Jin Shi spoke, "The timing is perfect now. Go in."

The two fairly large Golden Devouring Rats following behind him were also eager to try.

Everyone moved. Before setting off, Gu He had instructed Yun Yun and the others to just stay on the outskirts of the Blood Pool and not to go deep.

And they didn't need to wait for him.

Several figures blurred away, with Feng Qing'er being particularly impatient, but Gu He's goal was the bottom of that Blood Pool.

Several people leaped into the Blood Pool one after another, and the crater returned to tranquility.

...

The resistance in the Blood Pool was not small.

But Gu He, clutching the dark-gold Rat Skull, broke straight through the red liquid and quickly swam toward the bottom of the Blood Pool.

The deeper he went, the more intense the fire poison became. In an instant, Gu He wrapped his body in a bluish-white Heavenly Flame, like a layer of film covering a tree in winter.

The terrifying temperature evaporated all the blood-red energy nearby, and the fire poison contained within that red energy was forcibly pushed away by the bluish-white flame, unable to touch Gu He's body.

This continuous descent lasted for about ten minutes until the dark-gold Rat Skull in Gu He's hand gradually became hot and emitted a trace of light.

"Tsk."

In the space below, Gu He could vaguely sense a distorted strangeness.

The red liquids seemed to have encountered an invisible barrier and were separated. Gu He knew this was the barrier of those rats.

Gu He slowly raised the dark-gold Rat Skull in his hand and gently pressed it against the invisible Spatial Barrier.

Upon his touch, the Rat Skull instantly erupted with a brilliant light, and ripples began to undulate across the Spatial Barrier.

Immediately after, a passage large enough for one person to pass through appeared before Gu He.

Gu He used the Heavenly Flame to protect his body before continuing to swim through...

...