188: Chapter 187 Mr. Yu, who was so angry he was practically smoking.

After withdrawing his gaze, Xia Jin scanned his surroundings and, as expected, discovered a Stone Gate not far away.

"Huh? It seems this Stone Gate must be the exit from this Thunder Pool that Mu Qing mentioned!"

However, Xia Jin was in no rush to leave.

He found an inconspicuous spot nearby, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes to rest.

Taking advantage of the free time, he began to carefully examine the small, seven-colored snake within his Sea of Consciousness.

At this moment, the little thing was still lying obediently under the bronze bell, not daring to move an inch.

Xia Jin could feel that the bronze bell he had produced, while not yet the complete donghuang bell, seemed to possess an innate suppressive effect on demonic existences, even though this little snake was formed from thunder tribulation liquid and had the form of a demon but not the reality of one.

"I heard from that kid Mu Qing that a single drop of thunder tribulation liquid can temper the Physical Body and Divine Soul. Since this little thing is formed from the Fusion of over a hundred drops of thunder tribulation liquid, if I can refine it, it will be a tremendous stroke of fortune for my Physical Body and Divine Soul!"

A sharp glint flashed in Xia Jin's eyes, but now was not the time.

While waiting for Jian Wuhen and the others, he had seen several figures hurry out from the Stone Gate.

Those people were scorched black and in a wretched state, clearly having suffered quite a bit in the Thunder Pool.

Naturally, those people had also seen Xia Jin sitting nearby, but both sides merely exchanged a glance before looking away, without any communication.

In this temple, unless one had absolute certainty, no one was willing to easily provoke someone who could walk out of the Thunder Abyss alive.

Xia Jin did not care and continued to wait patiently.

Just as he was becoming impatient, three figures finally hurried over from the other side of the Thunder Abyss in the distance.

The one in the lead was Mu Qing, followed by Venerable Miaodi and Jian Wuhen.

"Huh?"

While moving, Venerable Miaodi suddenly had a sharp glint flash in his eyes as he descended directly from the Void Realm to stand before Xia Jin.

"Benefactor Xia!"

He pressed his palms together, a rare smile appearing on his face, "This monk did not guess wrong; you were a step faster than us."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jian Wuhen and Mu Qing also landed beside Xia Jin.

Jian Wuhen looked Xia Jin up and down, then suddenly thinking of something, leaned in close to Xia Jin's ear and asked in a low voice:

"Brother Xia, could it be... that you obtained that thunder tribulation liquid?"

Upon hearing Jian Wuhen's words, Mu Qing and Venerable Miaodi, who were standing to the side, also looked toward Xia Jin with curious gazes.

Xia Jin cast a faint glance at him: "What, are you very surprised that I, this Prince, was able to obtain that thunder tribulation liquid?"

"No, no, no, not surprised, not surprised at all!"

Jian Wuhen hurriedly shook his head, then asked with a smile: "By the way, Brother Xia, what exactly does that thunder tribulation liquid look like? Could you let us see it?"

Xia Jin looked at his expression and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, though he did not refuse: "You can see it, but we'll talk about it after we get out."

"That goes without saying, it's not very convenient here after all!"

"Alright, let's get out of here quickly!" Xia Jin waved his hand and walked directly into the Stone Gate.

Jian Wuhen was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted. He glanced at Venerable Miaodi and also stepped into the Stone Gate.

The moment he crossed the Stone Gate, Xia Jin felt a flash of light before his eyes, and the surrounding space suddenly shifted.

The next moment, he was standing on a huge plaza.

This was the entrance plaza for the Thunder Pool assessment.

Xia Jin scanned his surroundings and discovered that compared to the bustling scene when they first entered the Thunder Pool assessment, there were significantly fewer people on the plaza now. A rough count showed only a dozen or so remaining.

"It seems that not many people are able to pass the Thunder Pool assessment!" Jian Wuhen said, frowning.

"There should be more people coming out later. However, based on previous assessment situations, every Thunder Pool assessment eliminates about one-tenth of the people."

Mu Qing, who was beside them, let out a long sigh of relief. If Xia Jin hadn't given him a thunder bead this time, he likely would have failed the assessment.

"Hmm!? That guy is actually still here!" Xia Jin's gaze suddenly fell upon a figure not far away.

It was none other than Mr. Yu, who was standing at the edge of the plaza, looking coldly in their direction.

However, the expression on his face right now was uglier than if he had swallowed a fly.

"Hmph!"

Jian Wuhen followed Xia Jin's gaze and couldn't help but sneer, "It seems this guy is very dissatisfied to see us come out safe and sound. It's a pity that this guy doesn't need to enter the Thunder Pool assessment, otherwise, I would have had to swindle him this time."

"Swindle?"

Jian Wuhen's eyes rolled, as if he had thought of some mischievous idea. He suddenly raised his voice and shouted toward Mr. Yu:

"Mr. Yu!! We really owe it to you this time!! If it weren't for your care, it would have been as difficult as ascending to heaven for us newcomers to pass this Thunder Pool assessment!! Thank you so much!!!"

This shout was full of Qi and resonated across the entire plaza.

In an instant, everyone's gaze turned in unison toward Mr. Yu.

Mr. Yu's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

His eyelids twitched wildly, and the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily a few times.

"That bastard!!!"

He roared crazily in his heart, wishing he could rush up and slash Jian Wuhen with a sword.

However, he dared not. To take action against one of the temple's own people in full view of everyone, even he could not withstand the punishment of the temple.

Under the gaze of so many eyes, Mr. Yu could only suppress his anger, no matter how great it was.

He took a deep breath, forced a smile, and nodded at Jian Wuhen and the others.

That smile was incredibly stiff, uglier than if he had lost a loved one.

"Hmph."

Jian Wuhen snorted softly, feeling secretly pleased.

However, at this moment, not far behind Mr. Yu, the voices of two old men from the temple, who were whispering to each other, drifted into his ears.

"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect this. I thought Mr. Yu would squeeze those newcomers to death like usual. It seems I misjudged him this time?"

The other person shook his head and replied: "I don't think so. There must be a reason those newcomers were able to come out unscathed. I reckon those people have some private history with Mr. Yu; otherwise, they couldn't have achieved this. We veterans know what kind of person Mr. Yu is, even if others don't. He is petty and vengeful, and he would pluck the feathers off a passing wild goose..."

"That makes sense, that makes sense..."

"Hahaha!!!"

Although their voices were low, who among those present did not have keen ears and sharp eyes? They heard every word clearly.

Mr. Yu's face was now so black that it seemed as if water could drip from it.

His fingers trembled uncontrollably, and his chest heaved violently; he was clearly furious to the extreme.

Just as he was about to explode.

"Quiet!"

A majestic voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears!

Everyone felt a jolt in their hearts and looked up in unison.

They saw a huge mirror floating in mid-air above the plaza, though no one knew when it had appeared.

A golden light shot out from the mirror, landing directly on every person who had come out of the Thunder Pool.

The golden light swept over them, as if investigating something.

After a moment, the mirror seemed to have completed its task. The mirror surface flashed, turned into a streak of light, flew toward the distance, and quickly disappeared into the horizon.

On the plaza, Xia Jin and the other newcomers looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what had happened.

Only Mr. Yu and those old men from the temple looked toward the direction where the mirror had disappeared, a trace of awe flashing in their eyes.