Chapter 335: 193: Slippers in Water

“I guess quite a few more people have died…”

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly.

Although the river in front of him wasn’t deep, its surface was wide. To continue forward, one would have to wade across it, which involved another rule.

That was… “Remove shoes when encountering water”!

This was also what Empyrean Kong shi had said before: upon encountering water, one must take off their shoes, otherwise they would definitely be punished by the rules.

It seemed that most people, unaware of this, were unlikely to do so.

While pondering over this, Zhang Xuan indeed saw everyone hesitate for a moment before one of the cultivators stepped forward.

Their shoes-clad feet touched the water and in the next moment, their bodies immediately burst into flames.

In agony, they hurriedly plunged into the water, not knowing that the flames were not afraid of the river water at all. The mingling of water and fire only added to the pain, and in a short time, the person had turned into a corpse.

“Entering the water will trigger the rules!”

Mo Baiye’s scalp tingled.

They hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the artifacts yet, and already seven people had died!

On their side, including Su Chen and others, there were about twenty people in total. Losing a third of them was bad enough, but the key issue was that most people had already committed two rule violations. Another offense would surely result in them being seriously injured, even if they were not to die.@@novelbin@@

“We can’t jump over without touching the water either…”

Looking at the width of the river, Su Chen felt as burdened as if his head were as big as an ox.

This river was at least a hundred meters wide. Limited by the height of the cave, it was impossible to jump over. They couldn’t wade through it either, so what were they supposed to do? Were they to die here, trapped after having come this far?

Unable to help himself, he looked to Mo Baiye, wanting to hear his opinion.

At this moment, they no longer had the will to fight with one another, but only wished to figure out how to enter the cave without violating any rules and find the so-called artifacts.

“I have an idea! I’m not sure if it will work.”

A flash of determination crossed Mo Baiye’s eyes as a Mo Dao appeared in his palm. With a casual toss, the Mo Dao embedded itself into the water’s surface not far away.

He then threw two more weapons over, each spaced about ten meters apart. From a distance, they looked like pillars erected on the water’s surface.

“Since touching the water triggers the rules, we can avoid them if we jump across on the weapons, right?”

Mo Baiye said.

Su Chen’s eyes lit up.

“I came up with the idea; now you send someone to try it,” Mo Baiye waved his hand.

Su Chen nodded and turned to call someone again.

This time, it was a Galaxy 5-dan powerhouse named Qin Xiaofei, a wandering cultivator who rarely participated in trials and thus was not well-known to many, appearing quite unfamiliar.

He was chosen because his body was relatively thin and small, and his movement technique was quite nimble.

Upon receiving the order, Qin Xiaofei leapt onto the Mo Dao. While others might find it difficult to stand on such a narrow knife handle, he had no problems.

He landed steadily and let out a sigh of relief: “This should be fine…”

Before he could finish speaking, a cluster of flames rose from his body and began burning fiercely.

Even so, he was still breaking the rules, which caused Qin Xiaofei’s face to change. Paying no heed to further talk, he leaped into the river. At the same time, he took out a smooth fruit and swallowed it.

The next moment, a surge of icy coldness spread throughout his body, countering the flames, which, after about twenty breaths, gradually died down and extinguished.

Finally relieved, Qin Xiaofei’s face turned deathly pale.

However, he had managed to save his life and had not died.

“Did I…survive the Third Path of punishment?” His eyes red with excitement, Qin Xiaofei clenched his fist.

He had thought he would die just like the others, but the fruit, taken in desperation, had played a crucial role.

“It’s the Ice Cold Fruit!”

A gleam flashed in Mo Baiye’s eyes.

“`

It seemed that flames from the third offense rule didn’t necessarily have to burn a person to death; one just had to endure for twenty breaths to stay alive.

Although it was confirmed that the rule wasn’t meant to be deadly, how to cross the river remained a mystery!

Stepping on weapons, without touching the water’s surface, also proved ineffective in keeping one safe.

“Weapons won’t work, how about making a boat?”

Su Chen speculated.

“A boat? Where do we find a boat?” Mo Baiye responded, somewhat at a loss for words.

Though everyone had storage rings, who the hell would keep a boat in there!

“We might not have a boat, but I brought a large wooden barrel that might serve as one!”

Su Chen flipped his wrist, and a large barrel appeared before everyone. It was quite big, resembling a water vat and seemed capable of holding a person without a problem.

“You… why would you carry that?”

Mo Baiye was filled with bewilderment.

It was the first time he had seen someone store a water vat in their storage ring.

“I needed to carry a lot of water for my last trial, so I brought one…” Su Chen casually explained, without dwelling on the issue, “It’s your turn to dispatch someone now!”

Mo Baiye nodded and scanned his own group.

His side originally had fewer people than the other, and with several already dead, there were hardly any left.

“Mu Xiaoqing, you go!”

The choice was swiftly determined.

Among the crowd, this girl had the fewest offenses, with just one. Even if she tested incorrectly, she should be able to withstand the wind blade tribulation the second time.

Casting a glance at the sect leader, knowing that she couldn’t refuse, Mu Xiaoqing bit her lip, stepped forward to the barrel, and carefully picked it up before carrying it to the water’s edge and jumping in.

She was light, and the barrel floated just fine, but, just like Qin Xiaofei before her, the moment she entered the water, the blade of wind immediately assaulted her.

“No good…”

Mo Baiye felt a surge of frustration.

The barrel didn’t work, and neither did building a bridge. Were they supposed to be trapped here and die?

After the same twenty breaths had passed, the blade of wind ceased, and Mu Xiaoqing, covered in wounds, climbed out of the barrel, panting heavily.

Her strength was too low; even the blade of wind had nearly cost her half her life. Mu Hongtao hurried forward and fed her a recovery pill, which finally brought her some relief.

The sound of water rushing filled the air while everyone was still trying to figure out what the exact rule was. They heard the flow intensify, and saw Qin Xiaofei, who had fallen into the water before, stride toward the opposite bank of the river.

Violating a rule once only brought on punishment once; in other words, even if one offended again, it was as if they had a protective amulet.

Thus, there was no longer any need to care about what the rule was, as they could simply wade through the water.

“Hold on!”

Seeing him moving further away, Mo Baiye couldn’t help but call out.

“What is it, Master Mo?” Qin Xiaofei turned back to look.

“Do you still have any of the Ice Cold Fruits from earlier? I’m willing to exchange an Earth Dragon Grass for it!”

Mo Baiye gritted his teeth and held up a medicinal material.

The Earth Dragon Grass was worth about the same as the Ice Cold Fruit, both rare medicinal materials usually considered equivalent in a trade. However, here, the latter could guard against the Water and Fire Tribulation triggered by the third offense, instantly raising its value.

Understanding his intentions, Qin Xiaofei smiled faintly, “You want it, Master Mo? Sure, for ten Earth Dragon Grasses, I’ll make the trade!”

“What?”

Mo Baiye’s eyes narrowed.

A trade that usually would be one-to-one was now increasing tenfold; it was outright extortion.