Chapter 982: Entrusted by Others, Loyal to the Task

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Upon hearing his junior brother’s words, the young man’s body trembled. Both he and his junior brother bore the hopes of their other senior brothers and disciples.

“Junior brother, take care!”

The young man took a deep look at his junior brother, finally hesitated no more, and his figure transformed into a streak of rainbow light, surging forward. However, before he could fly out ten zhang, a wall of fire appeared, blocking his path.

It wasn’t just one wall; at this moment, three other walls of fire appeared, completely sealing off this space.

“There’s no escape!”

Seeing these fire walls, a look of despair appeared on the young man’s face. He turned to glance at his junior brother and saw the same expression in his eyes.

Back then, they had personally witnessed several senior brothers being trapped by these fire walls, ultimately losing their lives within them.

“Junior brother, it’s my failure as a senior brother. Master asked me to look after you in the Holy Fire Realm, and I haven’t been able to do that.”

The young man no longer ran, returning to his junior brother’s side, reflecting on Master’s instructions before entering the Holy Fire Realm, his face showing guilt.

“How can this be blamed on you, Senior Brother? The upheaval in the Holy Fire Realm is something no one could have anticipated, not even Senior Brother Chen survived.”

The junior brother shook his head. Even Senior Brother Chen, an outstanding figure among the Innate Third Realm, did not make it. How could his senior brother, who had only recently entered the Innate Third Realm, have done any better?

“Senior brother, may I ask a favor of you?”

“What is it?”

“Before the fire walls reach us, send me off. I don’t want to endure the pain of being engulfed in these blazing flames.”

The man had already witnessed how unbearable it was to be consumed by the fire in the Holy Fire Realm. Those few senior brothers who refined the Innate Fire, and could grit their teeth to endure the torment of Innate Fire rampaging through their bodies, screamed miserably when consumed by the fire walls.

He did not wish to experience such agony.

“Alright.”

After a moment, Zhang Qing agreed softly, and now the fire walls were just ten zhang away from them.

“Junior brother!”

“Senior brother!”

Just as the two brothers were looking at each other with deep emotion, a voice sounded.

“Excuse me, are you both disciples of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect?”

Hearing the voice, Zhang Qing looked to his right immediately, only to discover that the fire wall on the right had disappeared at some point, and a young man was standing there.

“Are you… Lin Chen?”

Seeing the young man’s appearance clearly, Zhang Qing blurted out.

“Yes, I am indeed he,”

Lin Chen nodded, then explained, “The Ten Thousand Flames Sect disciples who entered the Holy Fire Realm haven’t exited for so long, so I came in upon the instructions of your Sect Elders to check on the situation.”

Upon hearing Lin Chen’s explanation, Zhang Qing realized. Naturally, he recognized Lin Chen; he had vividly remembered Lin Chen’s appearance from when Lin Chen fought Zhao Haoyang, as he was watching below the stage then.

Initially, the hesitation in his tone was solely because this was the Holy Fire Realm, where Lin Chen wasn’t a sect disciple, so logically, he shouldn’t be here. But after hearing Lin Chen’s explanation, it all made sense.

He and his fellow brothers had been in the Holy Fire Realm for so long without leaving, causing the Sect Elders to worry, prompting them to send Lin Chen inside.

As for why they chose Lin Chen, it was due to his strength and ability to refine Innate Fire.

“Brother Lin…”

Let me deal with these fire walls first.

Lin Chen interrupted Zhang Qing’s words, flicked his fingers, and the Innate Fire within his body shot out, splitting into three and flying toward the other three fire walls, quickly consuming their flames completely.

Seeing Lin Chen so effortlessly deal with the fire walls, Zhang Qing and his junior brother both showed expressions of joy. The stronger Lin Chen was, the greater their chance of being rescued.

“Now can you tell me what you encountered here?”

“This time, powerful Innate Fire has reawakened in the Holy Fire Realm, and it’s not just one. Many of our sect’s brothers lost their lives…”

Since it was on the Elder’s orders that Lin Chen was sent in, Zhang Qing did not conceal the events that had occurred to them.

Before the Holy Fire Realm opened, one hundred disciples had entered. Initially, the disciples of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect were thrilled as the number of Fire Spirits inside the Holy Fire Realm exceeded what the elders of the sect had described.

A hundred disciples were divided into teams of ten to hunt these Fire Spirits, and in less than a month, each had collected about ten Fire Source Pearls, whereas in past events, at most they would gain three or four.

But the joy lasted only a month, for a powerful Innate Fire appeared, directly consuming one team of disciples. The remaining disciples, attempting to leave, discovered a fearsome Innate Fire blocking their rear.

Trapped by a pincer attack, all the Ten Thousand Flames Sect disciples could do was flee in other directions, discovering in horror that there were nearly ten such fearsome Innate Fires. In the end, Zhang Qing and his companions could only gather together and use the fire-resistant treasures given by the Sect Elders to ward off these Innate Fires.

However, these fire-resistant treasures couldn’t last indefinitely. To avoid resigning themselves to a grim fate, Zhang Qing and his junior brother managed to escape the encirclement of Innate Fires, thanks to the cover of other brothers, intending to reach the exit as fast as possible to relay the information and have the Sect Elders devise a solution for everyone’s rescue.

Upon entering the Holy Fire Realm, the transport location isn’t fixed, but it has one trait: everyone entering within a quarter of an hour is sent to the same area, within a thousand zhang of each other, while the exit is also in this area.

Lin Chen understood that Zhang Qing and the others entered at the same time and appeared in the same area before forming small teams to hunt Fire Spirits. They then encountered powerful Innate Fires, tried to escape back to the exit, only to find their escape route blocked by more Innate Fires, and are now barely holding on with the help of fire-resistant treasures.