Yin Ruobing ultimately still chose to let Jiang Yi carry her. That was because the astral winds and the sky flames had become stronger and stronger as they proceeded, much and much deadlier. After the trio had run for ten kilometers, the concentration of the astral winds was comparable to that of three kilometers up in the high skies. If it wasn’t for Jiang Yi, it would have been very difficult for Yi Chan to dash through.
This Trials of Wind and Fire would probably eliminate the majority of people, right? If one was not a three- or four-star martial expert or did not know any special techniques or possessed any treasures, it would be impossible to pass through!
Jiang Yi silently sighed. The sky flames were also becoming deadlier. They appeared every time with little warning, with their temperature also becoming higher and higher. Of course, this was not an issue for Jiang Yi. However, Yi Chan’s speed had decreased slightly.
After heading forward another thousand feet, he stopped. He looked at Yi Chan who was a hundred feet behind him and saw that her neck was dripping wet while her robe was soaked and that she was puffing like a cow. His brows narrowed as he asked, “Lady Yi, do you want me to help you along?”
“There is no need!”
Yi Chan gritted her teeth and replied, “I can walk. You can proceed.”
Jiang Yi looked at her once and didn’t say anything anymore. However, Yin Ruobing sent a voice transmission to Yi Chan: “Big Sister Chan, you should preserve some of your energy. The stage of A Golden Millet Dream would be even more dangerous. If something went wrong, you could be trapped inside.”
Yi Chan still shook her head. Yin Ruobing couldn’t do anything and stopped persuading. Yi Chan’s temper had always been like this. She looked down on all the men of the world; how could she let a man help her? Even if… the man was Jiang Yi!
Fortunately, after moving for another thousand feet, a few thousand feet ahead was the end of the bridge. The Trials of Wind and Fire was about to be over.
Carrying an absolute beauty and feeling the touch of her body—with his back occasionally coming into contact with her bosom, Jiang Yi actually didn’t have many fluttering thoughts inside him. Or perhaps, he didn’t dare to have too many fluttering thoughts!
Although Yin Ruobing had said she was going to reject the marriage proposal, Jiang Yi had not really thought much about it. It was not that easy to withdraw from this marriage. Even if that became possible, so what? Would Yin Ruobing abandon her clan, her parents, and her people to follow him? If that happened, the Yin Thearch would definitely kill him. Even if somehow Yin Ruobing really dared to do so, if Jiang Yi dared to accept the huge amount of affection from Yin Ruobing was another matter altogether.
Some debts were easy to repay; love debts were the hardest to bear.
Hence, Jiang Yi did not dare to have too many fluttering thoughts. He was only trying to repay her kindness and help Yin Ruobing. That was all.
Swish!
While he continued walking as he was deep in thought, the astral winds came again. This time, the astral winds were even thicker and had formed into something like astral wind blades; their speed had multiplied. Jiang Yi waved both his hands and used his Nameless Divine Art, absorbing the astral winds. His ninth star sphere could contain an unlimited amount of astral winds; he could even continue absorbing for another ten-odd years.
The way these astral winds fuse and the way I fuse are different.
Jiang Yi activated the State of the Union of Heaven and Man and gently investigated these astral winds. He found that the way they fused was even more perfect than the way he did. Jiang Yi’s method of fusing involved forcing the astral winds to come together; the astral winds here combined and twisted together—extremely tightly woven.
En. I can actually learn from this. If I can fuse my astral winds like this, the strength of my astral wind blades would probably be even stronger!
Jiang Yi thought about it as he slowed his pace. The speed that he was absorbing the astral winds also decreased. He forgot everything and was entirely focused on trying to grasp the way the astral winds here fused. This time, three gusts of fused astral winds came by. After Jiang Yi absorbed all of them, he found that the astral winds entered his body as tightly woven as before. These were perfectly fused astral winds.
Tsk! Tsk!
From the front, the sky had suddenly split; and three black fire dragons came roaring down. This time, the fire dragons were different from before. Each of the three dragons was actually morphed from two dragons. Jiang Yi was shaken again. The morphed fire dragons were similar to the fused astral winds; they were combined perfectly, so intricately woven that their power had more than doubled. The temperature had certainly increased by much more, too.
“Yi Chan!”
Jiang Yi suddenly thought of something. His divine senses furiously scanned behind him. He realized that the lightning bolts on Yi Chan’s body had doubled, and she could more or less withstand the current wave of attacks. It appeared that Yi Chan’s strength was impressive; she could continue holding. He also did not want to think too much. He continued to lock on the three fire dragons in the sky, trying to understand the technique behind its fusion.
How is this fusion being done? How can I fuse so perfectly?
Jiang Yi’s head was full of questions; he could not think of any answers. He could only reduce his pace even more and use his heart to try and realize anything. Previously, he had felt that this journey was rather long; however, at this point in time, he wished that it could be ten times longer. That way, he would have more time to observe the astral winds and the fire dragons here and discover the rationale behind the fusion technique.
Both Yin Ruobing and Yi Chan had said that one could not retreat while facing the Trials of Wind and Fire and could only proceed forward. As to why that was the case, the two had not said; and Jiang Yi had not bothered to ask. Hence, after walking past this stone bridge, Jiang Yi did not know if there would be any more astral winds and sky flames ahead of them.
“Jiang Yi, hurry up. I can still manage, but if you walk so slowly, I might not be able to anymore!”
Jiang Yi was deep in thought and was jolted awake by a voice transmission. His divine senses scanned behind him and realized that Yi Chan’s body seemed to be totally drenched. Her dress was stuck to her body, revealing her figure. Her neck and arms were extremely red; the high temperature was making her feel unbearable.
“Very well then.”
Jiang Yi could only increase his pace again, all the while using his mind and focusing on the astral winds and the fire dragons.
Three thousand feet, one thousand feet… three hundred feet!
Right in front of them was the end of the Trials of Wind and Fire. A sense of helplessness welled up in Jiang Yi. He still had not managed to decipher the trick behind the fusion of the astral winds and the fire dragons; he could only revisit this matter in the future.
“Go!”
They did not see Jian Wuying in front of them. That meant that he had long entered inside A Golden Millet Dream. Jiang Yi did not dare to delay any longer and increased his pace. As his body was about to pass by the stone bridge, there was huge turbulence in the sky. A huge astral winds wind dragon and another huge black fire dragon appeared in mid-air. The astral winds had obviously fused thrice while this fire dragon was made up of at least three small fire dragons.
“Not good!”
Jiang Yi was shaken and furiously used his divine senses to scan the back. He saw that Yi Chan’s eyes were filled with shock and fear, and she took a few steps back. However, once she retreated, the spatial zone behind her roiled again; and two similar wind and black fire dragons appeared there also.
“Remove your lightning bolt shield!”
Jiang Yi yelled at her as his body flew towards Yi Chan. Yi Chan regained her sense as she withdrew her lightning bolts and was carried by one of Jiang Yi’s hands. Jiang Yi’s other hand was waving, rapidly running towards the end of the stone bridge.
“Uh…”
Yi Chan’s clothing was soaking wet while Jiang Yi’s shirt was also torn. Hence, it felt as if the duo’s naked bodies were touching each other. Yi Chan’s body shuddered as she lifted her head and saw that Yin Ruobing was looking at her teasingly.
“Big Sister Chan, you can pretend I am not around, that I cannot see anything.”
Yin Ruobing’s lips moved as she smiled and sent a voice transmission to Yi Chan. Yi Chan became even more embarrassed, wishing there was a hole for her to hide herself in. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wanting to calm herself down and hoping that Jiang Yi would not notice anything. However, Jiang Yi’s voice swiftly rang out, “Lady Yi, you… can come down now.”
“Ah?”
Yi Chan opened her eyes and saw that they had reached the end of the stone bridge. There was a stone door that was shimmering with light in front of them. Jiang Yi was already standing outside the door and had let go of her. However, her two hands were still holding on to his body tightly.