A streak of dark-red light surged from "Shang's" hand and struck the archway.
In the next moment, the dense magic patterns on the two dark-red magic pillars suddenly lit up, white light surging. In the blink of an eye, a white light screen formed inside the archway.
After that, "Shang" turned to look at Mu Yang and the others, saying, "Your Highness, trial-taker, this is the passage leading to Hell Road. I wish you success in your assessment."
Without much hesitation, cupping his hands toward "Shang," Mu Yang pulled Shui Bing'er along and stepped into the light screen.
The moment they entered, Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er felt their vision spin, and then they appeared in an unknown space.
It was a world shrouded in gray mist. In front of them was a slightly curved black road about a hundred meters wide, while both sides of the road and the sky above were entirely obscured by thick gray fog.
Immediately, to be safe, golden radiance flashed over the two of them as they donned their Spirit Gold Battle Armor.
Then, Mu Yang released his spiritual power, intending to probe the gray mist for any hidden danger.
But to his surprise, his spiritual power could not penetrate into the gray mist at all. Mu Yang's expression immediately became solemn: "Bing'er, stay alert. This gray mist is strange—it completely blocks my spiritual power detection."
Earlier, "Shang" had said that the opponent in the second trial was the Abyssal Demons. Combined with this gray mist that blocked both sight and spiritual probing, Mu Yang had every reason to suspect that the Abyssal Demons were hiding within it.
No sooner had he spoken than, before Shui Bing'er could reply, the gray mist on the left side of the road churned, and a lizard-like creature about three meters long, gray-black all over, covered in hook-shaped spikes, leaped out from the black fog and charged toward them at high speed.
"Hmph—"
With a cold snort, Mu Yang raised a finger. Ice-blue soul power light flashed at his fingertip, and an Iceflame Arrow shot forth.
"Bang—"
The Iceflame Arrow struck the head of the gray-black creature with precision. With a collision sound, the Abyssal Demon was directly shot through the head and died instantly, its entire body dissolving into a cloud of gray mist.
Seeing this, Shui Bing'er arched a delicate brow and said, "Its aura doesn't even seem as strong as an ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beast. Looks like this Abyssal Demon is nothing special.
But since a god test can't possibly be too easy, if the strength of the Abyssal Demons is so low, that must mean the number of them appearing later will be extremely large."
The very next second, Shui Bing'er's words came true—the gray mist on both sides of the road churned violently, and over a dozen Abyssal Demons identical to the earlier gray-black lizard surged out of the fog.
"Secret Art: Extreme Ice Phoenix!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the icy-blue radiance of soul power flashed over Shui Bing'er's body as she activated her secret art. Accompanied by a phoenix cry, a lifelike Extreme Ice Phoenix spread its wings and flew forth.
"Whoosh—"
The Ice Phoenix flapped its wings, releasing a biting cold current. Wherever the cold passed, the charging dozen-plus Abyssal Demons were instantly frozen, then eroded by the frigid air until they dissipated into gray mist.
But before Shui Bing'er could feel pleased, even more Abyssal Demons surged out from the gray mist on both sides of the road, just like brainless mobs in a game instance rushing at players who came to challenge them.
What was worse, the newly emerged Abyssal Demons were no longer limited to gray-black lizards—they now included mantis-like, snake-like, rat-like, and scorpion-like Abyssal Demons. And although most were still below the strength of a ten-thousand-year soul beast, there were also quite a few matching that level, and even many possessing long-range attack abilities.
"Iceflame Domain!"
With so many Abyssal Demons charging, Mu Yang didn't just stand by. Surging blue light burst forth as the Iceflame Domain expanded, filling the area with illusory iceflames that constantly dissolved the Abyssal Demons' life force.
The awakened domain skill—Illusory Iceflame—was indeed a minion-clearing machine. Any Abyssal Demon entering its range perished within seconds to over ten seconds at most, all dissolving into gray mist, as if reaping wheat.
The battle continued. Already, the number of Abyssal Demons slain under the Extreme Ice Phoenix and Iceflame Domain was at least in the hundreds, yet they still poured endlessly from the gray mist on both sides of the road, seemingly inexhaustible. Mu Yang couldn't help but frown.
"Secret Art: Extreme Ice Dragon!"
With the sudden roar of a dragon, an ice-blue divine dragon soared into the air from behind Mu Yang, charging toward the Abyssal Demons attacking from the front along the avenue.
Immediately after, Mu Yang turned his head toward Shui Bing'er, who was at his side controlling the Extreme Ice Phoenix in a slaughtering frenzy, and said, "Bing'er, don't get entangled with these Abyssal Demons."
The Abyssal Demons that appeared were at most equal in strength to ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts, with the vast majority still below the ten-thousand-year level. With such strength, Mu Yang naturally didn't take them seriously—no matter how many came, he could kill them all.
However, he understood clearly that killing them all depended on having enough soul power in his body.
Moreover, barring any surprises, the second trial—the real Hell Road—likely had the same breakthrough mechanism as when he had cleared Hell Road after the Hundred Consecutive Wins. It did not require killing every opponent along the way—passing through was enough.
"Understood!"
Shui Bing'er nodded, controlling the Extreme Ice Phoenix to cover the rear, then with a flap of the battle armor's wings on her back, she and Mu Yang sped forward in low-altitude flight along the avenue.
It wasn't that the two of them didn't want to fly high into the air, but the high altitude was also shrouded in gray mist. Moreover, they knew very well that flying-type Abyssal Demons would most likely appear later, so the skies were not an absolutely safe place either.
As expected, it wasn't long before the gray mist above the avenue began to churn, and a flock of flying-type Abyssal Demons with human faces and eagle bodies emerged.
After the appearance of land-based melee demons and long-range attack demons, the flying demons had now taken the stage.
Blocked ahead, chased from behind, and with the enemy even deploying an air force—judging by sheer numbers alone, it seemed as though Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er were about to be swallowed by the demonic tide.
However, this was not the case. Leaving aside the Iceflame Dragon clearing the way in front and the Extreme Ice Phoenix guarding the rear, the Iceflame Domain radiating from Mu Yang alone formed a "natural moat" that blocked the tide of demons.
The Abyssal Demons might have had large numbers, but their quality was poor—they simply could not withstand the dissolution of life caused by the illusory iceflames filling the Iceflame Domain.
It could be said that, if not for the small number of Abyssal Demons possessing long-range attack methods, the demonic tide before them would not have posed even the slightest threat to the two before Mu Yang's soul power ran dry.
Half an incense stick of time later, Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er, who had been charging straight ahead, had no choice but to halt their advance.
They saw that the avenue ahead was already shrouded in gray mist, leaving no path forward.
"No way through?"
Looking at the gray mist ahead, Shui Bing'er couldn't help but furrow her brows.
"Perhaps… we have to take down the leader or king of the Abyssal Demons before we can pass?"
Glancing back at the demonic tide blocked behind them by the Iceflame Dragon and Extreme Ice Phoenix, Mu Yang pondered aloud.
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