Less than ten breaths later, he saw a rapidly moving figure darting out from the mountaintop ahead.

That figure moved extremely fast, so fast that even Duan Gujin was barely able to lock onto its step pattern.

"What incredible speed!"

He took a sharp breath in, his aura bursting forth in an instant.

In less than twenty breaths' time, his body had integrated with the Giant Demon Elephant Martial Soul.

At this moment, every part of him was enveloped by the Giant Demon Elephant Martial Soul the size of a thumb.

The Giant Demon Elephant Martial Soul wrapped around his body, protecting it on one hand, and on the other hand, it also made his Combat Power much stronger.

Moments later, a black figure appeared about a hundred meters ahead.

Duan Gujin took a deep breath, knowing that the enemy was about to arrive.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Then, he heard a series of thunderous breaking sounds coming from the void in front.

His face changed drastically; he saw a series of black fireballs suddenly appear in the void.

These fireballs flew rapidly towards the position of his body; friction with the air created a huge tail behind them, and the temperature around him rose by dozens of degrees instantly.

Duan Gujin intended to dodge to avoid being surrounded by those fireballs.

But in the next instant, his brow furrowed tightly, as he found a powerful binding force immobilizing his feet, making them unable to move at all.

He took a sharp breath in, and his Divine Sense extended outward, the next moment he saw a strong binding force suddenly appearing underneath his feet.

That binding force was very strong, sealing his feet.

After confirming that he really couldn't move at all, he circulated his Primordial Power, forming Dharma Seals in the void one after another towards it.

These Dharma Seals, condensed by Primordial Power, formed in the void and quickly enveloped his entire body.

Immediately after, countless fireballs struck those Dharma Seals encasing his body, causing a series of deafening explosions in the void.

"Pfft!"

Duan Gujin's body suffered a severe collision, breaking several ribs.

He instantly took a sharp breath in, his heart filled with shock, and a thought flashed quickly through his mind; he wanted to know if the attack he was currently facing was real or an illusion.

"Why does it feel so real?"

If he hadn't seen with his own eyes that the path ahead was changing at a visible rate, he would never believe that what he was experiencing now was an illusion.

He used his Divine Sense to introspect his body, and after a while, he arrived at a conclusion—the damage to his body was real.

"The Magic Attacks here are real! And the demon beast that emits the Magic Attacks is very likely to be fake! Whether real or fake, I must eliminate it!"

Knowing the terror of his enemy, Duan Gujin felt he had to fight with all his strength.

"Roar!"

He activated his Primordial Power, letting the Giant Demon Elephant Martial Soul's Combat Power burst forth.

The figure in front stopped, roaring at Duan Gujin.

"So it's a Heavenly Fox!"

Only then did Duan Gujin clearly see the figure's appearance; he took a deep breath and launched his strongest offensive towards the Heavenly Fox in front.

At this point, his feet were bound by the binding force, and he couldn't dodge to avoid the Heavenly Fox's assault; he could only rely on strong Defensive Power to defend himself.

At the same time, he knew he had to rely on his powerful offensive abilities to inflict some damage on the Heavenly Fox in front.

"I didn't expect the first challenge to be so difficult already!"

He recalled how Zhan Luan had referred to this place as the Land of Despair, and only now did he personally understand why it was named so.

The power of the Illusion Array here was too strong, making all the living creatures who enter think everything is real, thus leading to despair!

Duan Gujin released his Primordial Power, forming a Shield around his body.

Under the fierce attacks of the Heavenly Fox in front, he found his inner Primordial Power depleting extremely quickly; he was barely able to hold on.

"That Heavenly Fox keeps attacking me; I can't keep going like this!"

Duan Gujin's eyes flickered, he envisioned that he absolutely couldn't keep defending passively.

"Does the Heavenly Fox in front have no weakness?"

He furrowed his brows in thought for a while, and after a moment, he realized that the Heavenly Fox in front of him did not launch a close-range attack on him. Instead, it kept running around, using his body as the center.

While it was running, it occasionally spewed fireballs towards him, enveloping him in layers of fireball assault.

"Could it be that all I can do is passively take hits?"

Duan Gujin was burning with anxiety. After being passively hit before, he had already used up nearly half of his Primordial Power.

If he couldn't find the Heavenly Fox's weakness, he wouldn't last much longer and would eventually be hit by the fireball released by the fox.

Duan Gujin felt incredibly shocked; he never thought that he couldn't even get past the first stele.

Although he wanted to hold on for a bit longer before, after his feet were bound by a restraining force, he could only brace himself.

The Heavenly Fox he faced kept releasing fireballs at him. He could only defend and not directly clash with the fox.

After persisting for the duration of 15 minutes, the Primordial Power in his body had depleted to less than one-tenth.

"Damn it!"

He became aware of the dire situation when a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

However, at that moment, the restraining force on his feet suddenly disappeared.

His eyes flashed, and his feet quickly moved to dodge to the side of the path.

As soon as both of his feet landed on the gravel outside the pathway, the scene in front of him instantly vanished.

Duan Gujin looked around, his heart pounding violently.

"The illusion just now was so lifelike!"

At this moment, his surroundings were desolate; there were only dense fog and gravel.

Duan Gujin was again profoundly shocked. He tried to calm himself down, and afterward, he walked toward the direction of the first stele.

After a while, he saw the first stele.

At the very top of that stele, there was a very clear inscription, indicating that this was the first stele.

Duan Gujin returned the way he came, without lingering any longer.

A moment later, Duan Gujin saw Zhan Luan.

Zhan Luan asked, "Duan Gujin, how many steles have you passed?"

Duan Gujin's face turned red as he replied, "I didn't even get past the first stele!"

"Oh, how could this be? Tell me about it!"

Zhan Luan immediately became interested.

Duan Gujin promptly told Zhan Luan everything that had happened after he entered.

After listening, Zhan Luan's eyebrows furrowed tightly.

"No way, you faced a Burning Sky Fireball attack as soon as you started?"

Zhan Luan found it somewhat unbelievable.

"Yes, I saw it clearly. What stopped me at the first trial was a Heavenly Fox that could spit fire! I didn't expect that I couldn't even pass the first trial!"

Duan Gujin said with emotion.

Zhan Luan looked at Duan Gujin with a strange look in his eyes. After pondering for a moment, he finally asked, "Duan Gujin, do you have any connection to our Heavenly Fox Clan? Did your ancestors have any relations with the Heavenly Fox Clan?"

"I don't know! Is there something wrong with me?"

Duan Gujin asked, puzzled.

Zhan Luan said very seriously, "Yes, you don't know the reason, but as soon as you entered, the stele's test for you entered the highest difficulty, which means that the test you just experienced is the most difficult one for the Heavenly Fox Clan!"

"What does that mean? Are you suggesting that the tests have different levels like normal, hard, and hardest?"

"Yes, there really are different levels, and the test you just experienced is the hardest one for our Heavenly Fox Clan! What I don't understand is, the level of test you experienced is only supposed to be encountered by the pure-blooded Sky Fox Clan! You seem like a pure Human Clan member, how could you encounter a test that's only meant for the pure-blooded Sky Fox Clan? It's really puzzling to me!"

Zhan Luan said, feeling amazed.

Hearing this, Duan Gujin had an epiphany.

Since the test he encountered before was only meant for the pure-blooded Sky Fox, Zhan Luan couldn't help but doubt his identity.

That's why Zhan Luan asked, wishing to know whether he had any blood ties to the Heavenly Fox Clan.

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