Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

"Junior sister, how are your injuries?" Yan Bipo helped Zhao Ying up and asked with concern. It wasn't that Yan Bipo cared so much about Zhao Ying's life or death, but that Zhao Ying was an important helper to him, and her combat strength was also extraordinary. When it came to the crucial moment of competing for the Escape Ruler, Zhao Ying could play a vital role.

With Yan Bipo's help, Zhao Ying slowly stood up, clutching his chest. Blood was still flowing from the piercing wound in his chest, and his red outfit became even more crimson because of the blood. "It's just a minor injury, nothing serious. Chief Yan, please wait a moment while I bandage it up, and then I can continue fighting."

Weaklings without value will be decisively abandoned. Although she and Yan Bipo are from the same sect, there are also differences in the closeness of their relationship within the sect. The two have a senior-junior brother-sister relationship, but it is not very close. They are not like brothers and sisters. Their relationship is more about mutual use and mutual help.

Zhao Ying retreated into the shadows and disappeared. She specialized in the study of shadows, and both her physical skills and magic were related to shadows. She could move freely in the shadow world. When she was in the shadow world, she was immune to physical and magical damage of the same level from the outside world, but at the same time, she could not cause any damage to her enemies.

With her mastery of shadow magic and physical skills, her true combat strength is terrifying, and she can firmly hold a place among the top in her class.

In the outside world, if Zhao Ying were to fight an ordinary cultivator at the Devouring Fiend Realm, it would be a one-sided and crushing defeat.

Unfortunately, everyone present was no less capable than her, and Yan Bipo was even more dominant, holding the top position among the true disciples of the Incense Path and being the undisputed first candidate for the position of sect leader. As long as he was around, no true disciple could ever dream of sitting on the top position.

In addition, he also has a well-known nickname in the martial arts world of Sihai City.

The number one person below the Four Realms!

As long as no cultivator at the Poisonous Eater Realm intervenes, Yan Bipo is invincible within the Fiend Eater Realm.

In the shadow world, Zhao Ying undressed, changed her clothes, bandaged herself, swallowed the healing pills she carried with her, and waited quietly for a moment until the pain in her wounds subsided and no longer affected her movements. Only then did she slowly walk out of the shadow world and coldly nod to Yan Bipo: "Chief Yan, thank you for keeping me waiting."

Just then, Li Ergou ran over carrying his double maces: "Chief Yan, Senior Sister Zhao, wait for me~~~"

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s go. The final challenge is just ahead. Tian Xingyi and Jiang Yunjian have already set off; we’re lagging behind.” Yan Bipo put his hands behind his back, glanced at the two of them, and leaped over the lava pool, disappearing into the passage.

Li Ergou and Zhao Ying hurriedly followed into the passage, and the three of them quickly walked deeper into the passage.

A look of concern appeared on Li Ergou's honest face: "Senior Sister Zhao, how did you get injured in your chest?"

Zhao Ying responded coldly: "I was careless and suffered a minor injury while breaking through the barrier."

Yan Bipo said calmly, "Stop talking nonsense. We're already a step behind. Hurry up and catch up."

After the three of them entered the cave, they found that it was a naturally formed, pitch-black cave. Fortunately, there were still blue and red stones shimmering on the cave walls, illuminating the entire cave. These fire-evil essence stones contained abundant evil energy, which could be directly absorbed to increase magic power, or used to refine magic weapons and pills. They had many wonderful uses.

The three of them were not there to collect materials, so they didn't have the time or energy to waste on collecting Fire Fiend Essence Stones. They simply focused on following the route extending from the cave and continued their rapid ascent towards the mountain peak. In the blink of an eye, they had caught up with Zhou Qingfeng and the others at a very fast speed.

Zhou Qingfeng also intentionally slowed down to wait for them, because the final hurdle was just ahead, and no one knew what dangers or enemies they would encounter. He wasn't confident he could get through it, and he didn't want someone else to take advantage of him while he was trying to pass the hurdle. So, he simply waited for them to come together.

The group walked through the long cave, and when they emerged from the cave entrance, they had already reached the mountaintop.

At the summit of Flaming Mountain stands a large altar and several statues.

A golden rooster sits on a jade platform in the center of the altar.

At the eight corners of the altar stood eight six-zhang-tall rock statues in different poses, each holding a different object and facing completely different directions.

"This is the final test. Where is the guardian? Where is the Heavenly Ruler?" Yan Bipo frowned slightly, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the edge of the altar. After a moment's hesitation, he took a tentative step forward. The altar showed no reaction or signs of danger, so he continued to walk forward until he reached the center of the altar. He looked around, with Zhao Ying and Li Ergou accompanying him on either side.

Zhou Qingfeng looked around and said calmly, "Look around carefully, don't touch anything."

"Understood." Jin Wei nodded slightly, pressing down on his sword with one hand to examine the rock statues.

Zhou Qingfeng looked down at the golden rooster placed on the jade altar.

Yan Bipo also approached to take a look.

The golden rooster is so lifelike, it looks like a real, living golden rooster.

Suddenly, the golden pheasant spread its wings, raised its head, and crowed: "Cricket, cricket~~~~"

The commotion startled Yan Bipo and Zhou Qingfeng, who both took a step back and watched the golden rooster on the stone platform warily.

Jin Wei, Li Ergou, and Zhao Ying were also quickly drawn over by the commotion.

After the golden rooster crowed, its cross-eyed eyes swept over the group of people in front of it: "I am the guardian of the final checkpoint. The fact that you have made it this far proves that you have already overcome the previous checkpoints. If I were to advise you to go back now, I doubt you would give up, so I will not waste any more words."

"Listen up, you juniors! I will only say this once. Do you see the eight statues surrounding me? You only need to find the correct order and face the statues towards me in that order. Then you will have successfully passed the trial, and the Heavenly Ruler will naturally appear. If the order is wrong, I will not need to say anything more; you will know the consequences."

Zhou Qingfeng frowned slightly: "Senior, you didn't give us any hints and you expect us to guess? How can we possibly guess the correct order?"

The golden rooster raised its head proudly and said, "Of course I won't let you guess. Listen carefully, the correct order is hidden in this riddle poem."

"The golden rooster stands alone on the jade platform, first welcoming the first wind from the east; then watching the stars circle the North Star, the moonlight falls without being touched by dust."

"An old vow made on the Stone of Three Lives, a long road of love awaits your return; I wander the world, my home is the four seas, where in the world are flowers not in bloom."

"A bountiful harvest celebrates the year, and joy is shared by all; six dragons soar into the sky and disappear beyond the sun, the urgent flames of war of yesteryear are nowhere to be seen."

"Seven stars accompany the moon, illuminating the nine heavens; a pot of wine between heaven and earth; the Eight Immortals cross the sea, displaying their supernatural powers; the final answer lies here."

"Juniors, I've finished giving you the hints. Whether you remember them or not is none of my business. I've already completed my mission. Good luck, and farewell!"

After saying this, the golden rooster turned into a lifeless object again, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

The crowd looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Some even couldn't remember the entire poem after hearing it, and had no idea what it was about.

"Fellow Daoist, this is a riddle poem I quickly sketched down for your reference." Jin Wei reacted quickly. Just as Golden Rooster was about to reveal the key information, to prevent any mishearing or omissions, he specially took out his brush and a small notebook for recording statements. He quickly sketched down the entire poem, tore it up, and handed it to Zhou Qingfeng.

"Hmm." Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly, took the page containing the riddle poems, and began to read it.

Yan Bipo was a little embarrassed at this moment, and walked over awkwardly: "Um... Fellow Daoist Tiandao, we didn't record it completely just now, could you lend it to me to take a look?"

Zhou Qingfeng glanced at him sideways, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "What do you think?"