Apotheosis

400 feet...

300 feet...

200 feet...

Their eyes gazed at the stones that loomed before them as they drew nearer to a dead end. Could they still survive in such a desperate situation?

The atmosphere grew more tense as their uncertainty increased. If it was a common dead end, they had no choice but to die.

"Colors! They have different colors!" Zen suddenly shouted. He was the first one who noticed the difference in color. He found that there were rows of runes on the stone pillars' surfaces at the dead end.

"March!" Rocher said and rushed forward. His eyes glinted as he charged with gritted teeth. Although he didn't know what the runes meant, he saw a silver lining. Besides, they had no way back.

The lava tide surged again. The stone pillars would be soon submerged in it, since only the tops of the pillars were visible now.

There were ten stone pillars in the dead end, and every pillar was circled by runes. When Zen stepped on them, the runes lit up.

He swiftly moved past ten pillars, and each one of them lit up.

Finally, Zen came to the end. Suddenly, a vortex appeared.

The dark bluish-grey vortex was similar to the vortex that they had encountered under the arched gateway of the Cloud Road.

"A road!" Zen exclaimed. His eyes brightened and a smile found its way to his face. It turned out that he was right in the gamble.

At the same time, Rocher had followed and caught up to him. When he reached the last pillar and stepped on it, a vortex appeared in front of him as well.

Did that mean everyone had a vortex?

At that moment, another person rushed to the scene. Lewis looked like he fell into the waters but was able to grasp at a life-saving straw. When he saw the vortex, he raced so fast that he w

it. It is Ice Pill for treating wounds from empyrosis."

Lewis looked at him gratefully. He took the pill and put it into his mouth.

As Lewis swallowed the pill, Zen and Rocher looked around to check the surroundings.

The road they had chosen was the Death Road, but the test they had gone through just now wasn't as difficult as they had imagined. They could easily conquer it as long as they were firm enough. Since they picked the Death Road, then the real test lay ahead.

They seemed to have entered a separate space after they went through the vortexes. The space was dim and the sky was grey, with only a few flashes of light in it. The surroundings had a depressing effect. It was like a cramped place where daylight would never come.

There was a jungle in the distance. The darkness in the jungle was even more frightening, as no one knew what mysterious and powerful beings would lurk in there.

"Let's go!" Zen announced. Rocher followed him closely. Lewis hurriedly stood up and hobbled along behind. Although cultivators usually recovered rapidly and Lewis took an Ice Pill from Rocher, it still took some time for the wound to heal completely.