Apotheosis

Lava washed over the exposed bare rocks as the Sea of Raging Fire receded. Numerous cultivators not far away flew down from a high platform and landed on the stones. They leaped forward from one rock to another and rushed forth.

Behind the other cultivators were Zen and Lewis, who both quickened their paces. They were on high alert as they followed the rest of them.

As they trailed behind the group, Zen intentionally increased his speed to get rid of Lewis. However, he didn't expect the guy to be much faster than him. When Zen sped up, Lewis kept up; when Zen slowed down, he also slowed down. Moreover, Lewis kept talking to him by his side.

"Zen, what on earth is in the silver treasure chest on the third floor?" Lewis asked. Zen only rolled his eyes at Lewis' question.

Was he really that naive to believe that Zen would answer his question?

Lewis didn't miss the impatience in Zen's eyes. Although he felt embarrassed, he smiled and continued talking. He changed topics instead and said, "The hidden test was so hard. Do you think so too, Zen?"

'Hard?' Zen thought to himself.

The answer was yes.

Ever since he had stepped on Cloud Road, he didn't find the tests difficult except for the hidden one. Several elite disciples had previously died in the former tests. It was because they were unlucky, or they simply weren't good enough to be called as elites.

He did have to admit that the hidden test was ridiculously difficult.

When he chanced upon the hidden test, he aimed for the black treasure chest at the top.

It turned out that despite his best efforts, he only got the silver treasure chest on the third floor and those below it.

The Shadow Wolf King on the fourth floor was more powerful than Zen had imagined. He wouldn't gamble his life with no certainty of success. Thus, he backed off the challenge.

It was clear that the hidden test was immensely difficult. The elite disciples of every sect found it extremely hard to even get the red treasure chest on the first floor. The disciples of Cloud Hall who were eligible to enter the Cloud Road were equal to the top disciples of a second-grade sect. However, they too had failed to obtain the chest on the first floor.

The level of difficulty on each floor determined the preciousness of the treasure in the chest. Maybe it was even impossible to find such treasures in the Cloud Hall.

If it were the Cloud Hall who had arranged all the tests, would they really put "Malicious Wheel of Life and Death," a tier 5 cultivation method, as a reward in the chest? It was highly impossible.

Such a top-level method was unlikely to be accessible even for Kenneth, and more so as a reward in the Cloud Road for the disciples.

Thus, how could it have appeared there? Perhaps the answer was hidden in the "Blood Fiend Emperor."

A strong man had once lived in this place and was called emperor. It was safe to say that the ancient ruins were a region of a sixth-grade sect.

d.

Therefore, all the warriors were trapped.

In such a case, people found it both funny and annoying that they didn't know what they should do. They had a hard time getting here. Did they have to go back to the way they came from? Thus, most of the cultivators decided to return to the high platform to make a countermeasure first.

Zen looked around and didn't see Patrick. "Why isn't Patrick here?" he asked.

The platform wasn't that big, so he should have easily found Patrick if he was there. Zen was confused. Patrick had gone ahead of him, but he never met him along the way and he wasn't on the platform as well. Where did he go? Was he dead already?

Zen thought that it was unlikely for Patrick to die on the Cloud Road due to his strength.

"He has chosen another way," Rocher said with a smile.

"Another road?" Zen asked. "I have never heard that there was another road," he added. He was even more surprised.

"Yes, there is. Frank, Lois, Patrick and the other two disciples have all chosen that way. There are only a few damaged rocks on that road and it isn't that hard to cross," Rocher explained.

"So, why didn't you take that way?" Zen asked. "Because that road is called Death Road," a disciple of Cloud Hall coldly interrupted. Rocher nodded in agreement.

"According to the disciples of Cloud Hall, there is a fork in the road ahead. It diverges into two roads. One is called Life Road, the other is called Death Road," he added. The Cloud Road was certainly full of mysteries.

Almost all the disciples had chosen the Life Road when they were in the fork.

Although there were once disciples who had chosen the Death Road, they didn't survive in the end.

As time passed, the people had gradually forgotten about the Death Road and believed that the Life Road was the only way.

The so-called "Death Road" was actually not a road, but just a trap. For them, it was a way that led to death and no one could ever get through it.