Chapter 831: Excitement! No. 3 Peril Zone!

"What is this?!"

Xu Jingming's eyes widened sharply, his breathing turning rapid.

If a plus sign appears after the ability level, doesn't that mean the Dou Tian Shen Lei at SS rank can now be enhanced?!

The sudden surprise made even the usually calm Xu Jingming's heart race, his chest filled with joy.

Since last time, when one million ability points weren't enough to enhance his ability,

he had temporarily abandoned the idea of upgrading his ability, planning to first enhance his level and combat techniques.

But he never expected the ability enhancement to come so suddenly.

"Teacher Ling, let's go back."

Xu Jingming grabbed Ling Shuang's small hand and flew toward the cave.

When I upgraded my S-rank Zi Xiao Shenlei to SS rank, the commotion was enormous—nearly a hundred li around felt it.

This time, upgrading to SSS-rank ability, the commotion will likely be even greater!!

Moreover, he had a vague premonition that this ability transformation wouldn't be completed instantly like last time.

Therefore, he needed to find a safe place first.

"Go back? Back where?" Ling Shuang asked, puzzled as she was pulled along in flight.

"To the temporary base near the cave."

Hearing Xu Jingming's voice, Ling Shuang's cheeks flushed slightly.

They'd just met—wasn't he rushing things a bit too much?

But remembering the side effects of Xu Jingming's body cultivation technique, she let it go.

After all, they'd been in the secret realm for so many days; the side effects must have accumulated to a terrifying level.

Thinking this, Ling Shuang fell silent and let Xu Jingming carry her through the air.

But Xu Jingming suddenly halted in midair, ceasing flight.

"Jingming, what's wrong?" Ling Shuang looked at him, puzzled.

"Teacher Ling, I want to change locations," Xu Jingming said after a pause.

"Change locations? Where to?" Ling Shuang tilted her head, confused.

"No. 3 Peril Zone," Xu Jingming replied thoughtfully.

In the Ye'er Secret Realm, rare treasures often emerge, usually accompanied by extraordinary disturbances.

This time, upgrading his ability from SS to SSS rank, the disturbance won't be small.

When the energy radiates, it will surely draw nearby ability users.

If the ability transformation completed instantly, that'd be fine—but if, like Song Qiuyun and Jiang Chuxuan, it takes time to transform,

it will put both him and Ling Shuang in grave danger!

Therefore, he needed an absolutely secure place to enhance his ability.

According to intelligence, No. 3 Peril Zone is a sea of flames; even the central region is inaccessible to ninth-rank ability users.

That is the ideal place to enhance his ability—and only Ling Shuang's spatial ability can enter it.

"No. 3 Peril Zone? Why are we going there?"

At these words, Ling Shuang realized she'd misunderstood Xu Jingming's intent and asked aloud.

"I feel my ability may undergo a transformation—I need a safer place."

Xu Jingming didn't hide it; he spoke directly.

After all, to others, his ability had already mutated twice; one more mutation wouldn't matter.

"Ability mutation?"

Ling Shuang froze, then covered her mouth in disbelief: "Are you saying your lightning ability is about to evolve again?!"

At this, Eva also widened her eyes.

"I'm not sure,"

Xu Jingming shook his head, speaking vaguely:

"All I feel is that my Dou Tian Shenlei is boiling, as if shifting toward some new direction."

The system's existence was his deepest secret—even Ling Shuang couldn't be told.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Teacher Ling, but spiritual ability users were too terrifying.

If this leaked, he would fall into irrecoverable ruin.

"That must be the sign of ability evolution!!"

Ling Shuang's expression grew excited: "Your ability was already SS rank—this evolution might reach SS+ rank!"

Ability evolution was rare enough; for Xu Jingming to evolve three times was utterly unprecedented!

Still, Ling Shuang didn't dwell on it—ability evolution became harder the further one progressed.

Xu Jingming's ability was already SS rank; even if it evolved again, its power wouldn't increase much.

"According to my database:

There are only three known SS+ rank lightning abilities—I wonder which one your S-rank ability will evolve into."

Eva added, equally eager.

These three SS+ rank lightning abilities had each appeared briefly in history.

The highest-ranked user among them had only broken into the ninth rank before perishing soon after.

"No. 3 Peril Zone is less than two hundred kilometers away—I'll take you there directly."

Ling Shuang clearly understood the importance of ability evolution; she gripped Xu Jingming's hand and initiated long-range teleportation.

After four teleportations, Xu Jingming and Ling Shuang finally arrived before No. 3 Peril Zone.

Boom~~~~

This was a world of fire. Endless flames erupted from beneath the earth, and the searing heat made even terror itself twist.

Even standing at the outermost edge, one could feel temperatures of over a thousand degrees!

"This is Desperate Ground No. 3." Xu Jingming marveled inwardly.

Just the outer region alone was somewhere a rank-six or lower ability user could not enter.

"Teacher Ling, let's go."

Desperate Ground No. 3 covered a vast area — fully ten thousand square kilometers.

Humanity's rank-eight explorers had only made it close to the core before they could endure no more.

Clearly, at the very center, the fire's power was bound to be even more terrifying!

Under such conditions, rashly using a space-type ability to teleport would absolutely be a suicidal act.

So Xu Jingming took Ling Shuang and flew together into this sea of fire.

The color of the flames was not constant — at first orange-red, then gradually turning yellow-white, then cyan-blue.

After penetrating sixty-three kilometers into Desperate Ground No. 3, looking out, it was already a sea of purple flames.

And at this point, Xu Jingming felt the barrier of thunder formed by his SS-rank Doushen Shenlei being constantly devoured by the flames.

It could hold out at most another two minutes before the thunder would be completely consumed by the fire.

"This spot is already the limit for rank eight. Going any deeper, I'm afraid even rank nine wouldn't hold up."

Xu Jingming let out a long breath, looked at Ling Shuang, and asked, "Teacher Ling, how do you feel?"

In this Desperate Ground No. 3, the key point was not him, but Ling Shuang.

"More than enough — the flames here can't hurt me," Ling Shuang said with a light laugh.

This was the advantage of a space-type ability.

No matter how fierce the fire's power, one could use the force of space to isolate it.

"That's good then."

Xu Jingming nodded and continued asking,

"If we stay in here the whole time, Teacher Ling, how long can you hold out?"

"About ten days or so. If we go any deeper, I'm afraid I could only hold out seven or eight days."

Ling Shuang sensed the fire's power ahead, then opened her mouth to reply.

In truth, if it were only her own space-type ability, she could hold out at most half a day or so.

But she also had that space-type supreme-being relic 'Nine Kite Hairpin' that Xu Jingming had given her before.

This Nine Kite Hairpin was a top-tier elemental weapon of the space type.

Besides amplifying her space-type ability, it also had the function of stabilizing space — which was why she could hold out so long.