"That much I doubt. After all, nearly every ancient text that touches upon this trial ground mentions the River of Divine Consciousness. But what sort of river it truly is—that is another matter. You will have to see it with your own eyes and grope your way through it. Perhaps it is indeed a legendary river capable of tempering the divine consciousness, but it may just as well be a treacherous river with hidden dangers lurking in wait. Take care, all of you," Xin Yi'an said.

The crowd exchanged uneasy glances. If there was one thing they had looked forward to most in this Primordial Trial, it was none other than that legendary River of Divine Consciousness. Xin Yi'an's words were like a basin of cold water poured over their heads.

"In any case, do as you see fit, all of you. After you are teleported across, this old man will remain here on guard for one month. Should anything go wrong, find a way to teleport back. But once a month has passed, the tide will rise again over this place, and then there will be nothing to be done. At that point you will have no choice but to seek out another one-way transmission formation and return directly to the Primordial Little World. As for the map of that one-way formation, each of you has a copy—only it may differ from the reality." So Xin Yi'an gave his final instructions.

In other words, within a single month they still had the chance to back out if things looked grim. After all, this trial ground opened only once in a thousand years, and no one knew what it had become. If danger lurked at every turn and their retreat was cut off, so that a whole batch of prodigious disciples were wiped out to the last one, that would be no laughing matter.

But once the month had passed, even the chance to turn back would be gone. However sinister and unfathomable the trials that followed, they would have to grit their teeth and find that other one-way transmission formation—otherwise they could only be trapped in the trial ground, waiting to die.

Xin Yi'an at once began setting out a great quantity of spirit jade to activate the transmission formation. Wei Zhao exchanged a glance with Qiu Lingshan and the others. By Xin Yi'an's account, coming back from this trip to the Primordial Trial would be no easy matter. If they could not return directly through the formation, they would have to go by way of the Primordial Little World, and who could say how much time that would take. If things went badly, dragging on for years, even decades, would be quite normal.

Fortunately, they had all long since steeled themselves for this. They had taken leave of family and friends beforehand, and with one another to look out for, a longer delay was not such a great concern.

Everything was in readiness. The transmission formation finally activated, and with a flash of white light, the scene before Wei Zhao and the others changed in an instant.

"Why is it so dark?!" At first everyone assumed their eyes simply had not adjusted, but after quite some time it was still pitch black, and only then did they begin to clamor. Even on a night so dark you could not see your own hand, surely there would be some trace of light.

"Don't panic, everyone. It's a cave," Wei Zhao said, reassuring them. Then he reminded Qiu Lingshan and the others beside him: "When your eyes fail you, use your divine consciousness. This is an important skill you will have to adapt to from now on—you must grow more familiar with it."

Once one reached a certain level, practically everyone relied on divine consciousness as their primary means of perception. If you truly depended on your eyes alone, you would struggle even to follow an opponent's footwork, let alone fight them.

"It really is a cave. And a narrow, deep one," Leng Leng said with a nod. She was the second-strongest among Wei Zhao's group, a fellow cultivator at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment, so naturally her reactions were far quicker than Qiu Lingshan and the rest.

The others quickly caught on as well, using their divine consciousness to sense the surroundings. Though there was no visual color to it, their perception of shapes and outlines became all the more precise and distinct.

"Why would the ancients set a transmission formation in such a deep, dark cavern? It's enough to scare a person to death," everyone marveled, clicking their tongues.

"Whatever the case, let's get out first," someone said, already groping his way toward the mouth of the cave. The others had no mind to linger either, and followed one after another.

Only Wei Zhao stayed behind, studying the transmission formation beneath his feet for a while. Its structure was entirely identical to the one on the Transit Isles. In theory, so long as enough spirit jade was inserted, the transmission could be activated. But as Xin Yi'an had said, in a month's time this place would once again be covered by seawater, and the Blackstone Plum Blossom Formation would surely take effect once more. Whether the transmission formation would still work then was very much open to doubt.

Just then, a miserable shriek suddenly came from somewhere not far ahead, followed by a burst of panic—the ones who had gone out earlier had all fled back. All but two: Xue Jianming and Bing Wushuang.

"Everyone, be careful!" Wei Zhao at once signaled Qiu Lingshan and the others to form a defensive formation to watch over one another. It had been specially drilled in anticipation of the various crises they might encounter in the Primordial Trial. Still, this formation was stronger on defense than offense; all it could do was make them a little safer.

No one dared be careless. Whatever could send so many elite disciples of the Primordial Alliance fleeing in such disarray was surely no small threat.

Sure enough, after the crowd ahead fled back, a swarm of beings like flickering firelight came screeching in close pursuit—and in enormous numbers, a good eight or ten thousand at least by the look of it.

"What is that?" Qiu Lingshan and the others were startled at the sight. These creatures were incredibly fast, blotting out the sky as they pressed in the blink of an eye. One Primordial disciple at the early Foundation Establishment stage, slower to flee, was caught and torn to pieces in an instant, his flesh sizzling and smoking—a sight too ghastly to bear.

"Fire bats!" Wei Zhao blurted out. He had seen them in the Compendium of All Things on Cloudstep Isle: a species of exceedingly vicious, bloodthirsty spirit beast. Individually they were not strong—at most at the early Foundation Establishment stage—but they always moved in swarms. Like now, thousands upon thousands of them blotting out the sky, they were a threat no ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator could handle.

The strongest among them were undoubtedly Bing Wushuang and Xue Jianming, both Golden Core cultivators. Had the two been willing to act with all their strength, dealing with this swarm of fire bats should have been no trouble at all. Unfortunately, they had no such intention; they simply passed straight through the swarm and went on their way, leaving a crowd of Foundation Establishment cultivators penned in here.

The fire bats pressed in close, and with the lesson of the one who had died right before their eyes, no one dared entertain the notion of holding back any longer. They hurriedly unleashed their most adept martial techniques in counterattack, thunderous booms ringing out without cease, and for a time the scene turned exceedingly lively.

Yet the fire bats were tiny, swift, and exceedingly nimble in reaction. The crowd's disordered attacks could hardly land a hit, and for a time everyone was scorched and battered, able only to cover their heads and scurry about.