Chapter 289

After the Roc bird left with the group of demons.

Wu Hao took the initiative and said: "The teleportation array for the special area of the stone tablet is about to open. Let's enter together later; opportunities will depend on each person's own ability."

"I was originally wondering if entering this special area would be unfair to you all, since you discovered it first. Since you have personally invited us, we will not decline," Li Jia said, speaking with polite formality.

"It is only right," Wu Hao said with a light smile. "If Brother Li Jia hadn't come, that arrogant demon squad would likely have fought us for it, and at that time, we probably wouldn't have been able to defeat them. We should be the ones thanking you all for coming."

Just then, the teleportation array in front of the stone tablet finished forming.

Li Jia did not stand on ceremony; he led his people into the teleportation array first, turning into white light and vanishing. After their group of ten had teleported into the special area.

Wu Hao sighed and said: "Things can only be this way. Let's go in too." After finishing, he walked into the teleportation array.

Daoist Zixu, Lingguang Sanren, and Liu Tong did not say anything; at that moment, if it had been them, they could only have done the same.

Even if Wu Hao had said he was unwilling to let Li Jia and the others enter this special area, it would have been of no use; it was better to do a favor as the situation flowed.

Lv Fang was the last one to enter the teleportation array. He had not made a sound just now because when Li Jia's group arrived, the Demon Heart had told him that the slightly stronger aura of the "Punishment" was among this group.

Furthermore, the other party had also sensed the existence of the Demon Heart just now.

In other words, the fact that this group could appear here might mean they were specifically looking for the Demon Heart inside Lv Fang's body, only they happened to discover the special area of the stone tablet.

Among Li Jia's group, the strongest was a First-Rank cultivator.

Lv Fang had nothing to fear. If they entered the special area and the other party did nothing, then so be it; if they truly wanted to do something, then he would just happen to take this opportunity to wipe them out.

At the same time, a beam of teleportation white light enveloped Lv Fang and the others, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the teleportation array.

By the time Lv Fang regained his senses, he had already appeared in a special world. The blessed land outside was full of vibrant trees everywhere, while this world inside the stone tablet was incomparably dead and silent.

This was a place filled with red dust and sand; this redness was very eerie, and it even permeated the very air.

The sky was red, and the ground was red.

Looking at it, it was a world of red. Aside from sand piles and dunes accumulated from red dust, there were no trees, flowers, or grass—it was a scene of utter deathly silence.

"What kind of hellish place is this!"

Li Jia and the others who had entered first had not left but were standing in place, looking at everything in the special area; everyone's expression was somewhat uneasy.

Wu Hao saw everything before him clearly, looked back, and did not find the teleportation array to leave from here. He said with some panic: "It was simple to enter this kind of special area, but I'm afraid it won't be so easy to get out."

Lv Fang nodded. Up to this point, he had not sensed any signs of life in this special area.

His gaze subconsciously swept over Li Jia and the others. Because they were all staying together, he simply could not distinguish who exactly had the aura of "Punishment" on them.

"There seems to be a line ahead!" Li Jia, who was flying in mid-air to observe, shouted and took the lead, flying over.

The others hurriedly followed.

When Lv Fang and the others rushed over, they discovered that there was indeed a line ahead. This line flickered with a faint light and looked completely out of place in this area.

Someone tried attacking the line, and they saw a light screen emanate from it. A line of large characters gradually appeared on it—"The fastest to run to the end of the 'line' on the other side can enter the Treasure House to choose one treasure."

Just then, a First-Rank cultivator flew toward the light screen, but he ended up as if he had hit a wall and was directly sent flying.

"How could this be?"

Wu Hao frowned and said: "Didn't the light screen say the fastest to run to the end of the line? Why won't it let us in?"

The words had just fallen.

The light screen suddenly vanished.

"Now is the time!" Liu Tong shouted loudly and took a large stride across the line. However, a magical scene appeared; he suddenly looked troubled and said: "This place is so strange; one can only walk using pure physical strength."

The others also entered the "line" one after another. They felt the same thing—they could not use their respective cultivation origins to run quickly and could only run using their physical bodies.

Moreover, because there were special restrictions, the longer they ran, the more strenuous it became.

Lv Fang also walked into the line. It was indeed as the others had said; in this special place, one could not use any other means and could only compete in speed using physical strength.

By this time, some people had already run a certain distance, but soon they could no longer run, and even taking a single step became incomparably difficult.

Among those who entered, Liu Tong was the only martial artist. Aside from Lv Fang, Liu Tong's physique was the strongest, so he was walking in the lead. The second person, surprisingly, was Li Jia, who was a Confucian cultivator.

As expected of a descendant of a great family; he was indeed much stronger than most.

Lv Fang cast a glance at Li Jia. He suspected that this guy was the one with the aura of "Punishment" on him; at the very least, for now, Li Jia was the prime suspect.

"Why is it so hard!" Lingguang Sanren, who was slightly ahead, had his brows almost knitted together. His physique did not look strong, and every step he took appeared incomparably laborious.

Daoist Zixu was no better off; he was only a little bit ahead of Lingguang Sanren. He gazed into the distance and muttered: "The light screen over there should be the end of the line. It doesn't look far, but I'm afraid it won't be so easy to walk over there."

Wu Hao also had an ugly expression. He said with some self-abandonment: "I feel like we have no chance; it's impossible for us to reach the end of the line first. However, Liu Tong still seems to have some hope."

Lv Fang did not make a sound. After pondering for a while, he ultimately decided to take this reward. His physique was very, very strong; there should be no problem with him being the first to reach the end of the line.

After figuring this out, he moved forward step by step. Although every step he took was not fast, he showed no signs of pausing.

Soon, Lv Fang overtook Wu Hao and the others, leaving them dumbfounded. In their view, Lv Fang was likely the weakest in physique among the five, yet they had not expected his physique to be this strong.

What surprised them was yet to come.

Lv Fang did not just overtake them; he quickly overtook the others as well and arrived behind the second-place Li Jia without any effort.

"Eh?" Li Jia sensed the movement behind him, turned his head to glance at Lv Fang, and smiled: "This is truly incredible; a Second-Rank Confucian cultivator actually has such a strong physique."