Boom!

"Help, help..."

"Someone's invading..."

The mages who were burned by the black flames screamed miserably as they rolled on the ground, but the sand and soil they touched only became fuel to the fire.

Ash walked forward with his hands in the pockets of his dark red coat, stepping over the gruesome corpses and emerging from the thick smoke.

Igula took out a perfume bottle from her skirt's hem and sprayed it on her waist and the back of her neck to dispel the strong tar smell. Gwen followed behind, offering eye drops and a hot towel, because earlier Igula unleashed a widespread spiritual shock, which not only consumed magic power but also severely pressured the optic nerves, requiring immediate eye care if possible.

Holding hands, Harvey and Alice walked out of the black smoke together, as if attending a banquet. However, Alice was no longer in her normal form; she appeared as a rotting corpse, with countless flies and maggots forming her new skin, exuding a dark green decay odor. This was the result of a new necromancy miracle called 'Death Breath,' researched by the necromancer. It didn't require close contact; simply gazing upon Alice's deathly form could drive the onlooker into madness, fear, terror, and other negative states, and they would forget to breathe. If they didn't switch breathing to manual in time, they might suffocate to death.

Qikara, who was at the back, subdued the flames; besides his pants, all other garments of the beastman were nearly burned clean. There might be controversy in one-on-one battles, but if it was about crowd attack, no one would likely dispute that Qikara was number one; his destructive black flames pierced through all obstructions along the way.

"There are actually no traps."

Ash stepped into the ancient stone tunnel constructed of bricks, his Heart Sword Technique Spirit sweeping the area fifty meters ahead, bursting forth with an extremely bright and penetrating warm white light. This move had very low damage but a strong interference effect, enough to trigger most miracle traps.

This wasn't a miracle, just a special application of the Heart Sword Technique Spirit. Having played with the Heart Sword Technique Spirit for so long, Ash had grown fond of it and unlocked some new tricks over time.

"Other than the Holy Sanctuary Mage, who else could break through here?" Igula said. "If it is a Holy Sanctuary Mage, then what's the point of traps?"

Behind them was the hexagonal fortress established by the Four Pillars God Sect at the entrance of the Silent Spiral. Although Ash and the others wanted to take a stealth approach, their group of six was too large a target, and the Four Pillars God Sect had reconnaissance miracles targeting Holy Sanctuary Mages. They were discovered soon after entering the giant vine city.

But luck was finally on their side this time—as Ash resolved to storm into the vine city, the Qinri Alliance's army finally arrived at the Silent Spiral and launched a probing attack.

Taking advantage of the Four Pillars God Sect's diverted attention by the Qinri Alliance, with most forces gathered on the city walls, Ash and company swiftly cut through, relying on their configuration of four Holy Sanctuary Mages to directly slay through half the camp—facing four mages immune to all damage, the believers of the Four Pillars God Sect were like butter met with a hot knife, instantly melting away.

Before the Divine Sect bishop of the Four Pillars could arrive, they had already conquered the hexagonal fortress guarding the Silent Spiral. This was a life-and-death race against time to infiltrate the Four Pillars God Sect's stronghold; no one dared to hold back, forging a path with brilliant death and blasting open doors with cruel miracles.

Ash pointed behind him, and the Heart Sword etched hundreds of sharp space ink traces at the tunnel entrance, even cutting through the black smoke. "Even if you're a Holy Sanctuary Mage, it will take quite some time to disable this trap," he said. "For now, we don't need to worry about pursuit from behind."

He converted sword-colored magic power using the Faded Dream Secret Poison, combined with wielding the Four-winged Heart Sword and Four-winged Sword Trace, with Four-winged magic power and the Four-winged Technique Spirit, enough to elevate this Heart Pen miracle to a legendary level!

Screams of battle and curses echoed from behind, but no one dared to cross those ink traces.

As Ash and his team turned the spiral corridor, the noise on the ground faded into a distant illusion.

True to its name, the Silent Spiral was an unusual passage spiraling downward endlessly, constructed of square stone bricks with mushroom-green grass seeping luminescent material from between the bricks, allowing visibility while traversing it.

When the crisp sound of boots clicked on the stone slabs and the echoes resonated through the corridor, paired with the dim lighting, it created a hazy dream-like sensation.

But no one relaxed their vigilance; everyone knew the path so far was merely an appetizer, and the real challenges from the Four Pillars God Sect lay below. As they had broken in, they no longer hoped to ambush the Mercury Wooden Horse. Avoiding being ambushed was good enough.

"We are still in the 'foyer' of the Silent Spiral. The foyer has about eighteen spiral levels, and anyone can enter it without restriction," Qikara reminded once more. "But to step out of the foyer and enter the first level of the Silent Spiral, the 'New World'—or 'Trial'—must be unlocked with Great Skill."

"Each trial level requires a Great Skill to unlock. The Tribulation Holy Temple, at its peak, had five Great Skills, and it could unlock up to the fifth level of the Silent Spiral. Of course, the Tribulation Holy Temple wouldn't dispatch all Great Skills to unlock the Tribulation Fire Trial—because there's no need; the trials on the first and fifth levels are the same."

"If the Four Pillars God Sect has already established many trial layers here..." Qikara's expression grew peculiar, "I suspect we might be blocked by these trials before we even encounter the Mercury Wooden Horse."

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