132: Chapter 132 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (80)

Time passed gradually, and the sunlight spilled down, baking the ground until it was scorching hot. Soon, it was noon.

An old man wearing a red robe walked out slowly. His hair and beard were completely white, his complexion was ruddy, and his eyes were bright and spirited.

"I am the Guardian Elder of Rongtie Cave." The old man's voice was loud and clear, reaching everyone's ears.

Instantly, the open ground fell silent. Everyone looked toward the Guardian Elder of Rongtie Cave.

"Now, I will distribute the access tokens to you all; the Iron Melting Cave is about to open." The Guardian Elder of Rongtie Cave said in a deep voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, the cliff wall behind him suddenly emitted a series of rumbling noises. The smooth cliff wall slowly parted to the sides, revealing a pitch-black cave entrance.

A wave of scorching hot air gushed out from the entrance, mixed with a rich metallic scent. The Iron Melting Cave had opened.

The Guardian Elder of Rongtie Cave flicked his sleeve and took out a large number of tokens from his storage ring. With a flash of light, all the tokens fell into the hands of the disciples present.

Chu Shi looked closely and discovered that these tokens were divided into three categories: black iron tokens, yellow copper tokens, and silver tokens.

The vast majority of the disciples held black iron tokens. The remaining small number of disciples held copper tokens, while as for silver tokens, there were very, very few.

Afterward, upon careful observation, he discovered that it seemed to be distributed according to cultivation realm, yet it also seemed not to be. This was because, although iron tokens were basically issued to Stone Skin Realm disciples and copper tokens to Iron Skin Realm disciples, there were exceptions. Li Hao, who was beside him, as well as Seventh Prince Xiao Yuan, Princess Xiao Xiao, and Chen Lingxi, had all received copper tokens. It seemed there was another set of evaluation rules.

As for himself, Chu Shi rubbed the silver token in his hand, fiddling with it gently. The silver token felt cold to the touch, and a complex rune was engraved upon it.

He looked up and glanced around again. He discovered that very few people had received silver tokens. Besides him, there were only Zhou Xuan, Han Bing, and three Core Disciples from previous years. There were only six people in total. The silver tokens were indeed very precious.

Li Hao fiddled with the copper token in his hand with a smile, then looked at Chu Shi, an expression of envy appearing on his face.

"Alright, the tokens have all been distributed." The Guardian Elder of Rongtie Cave clapped his hands and said loudly.

"I will emphasize the rules once more. This Iron Melting Cave secret ground will be open for two and a half months. After two and a half months, the entrance will automatically close. At that time, regardless of whether you have finished cultivating or not, you must come out. Otherwise, your life and death will be up to fate!"

"Inside the Iron Melting Cave are completely identical independent stone chambers. On the wall of each stone chamber, there is a slot where a token can be inserted. Different tokens represent different access levels, representing different concentrations of Iron Essence Qi. The silver token is the highest, the copper token is next, and the iron token is the lowest."

"After you enter, each of you should choose a stone chamber, insert your token, and cultivate in peace. Note that although Iron Essence Qi is gentle, too high a concentration will also place a burden on the body. Once you feel physical discomfort, withdraw immediately; do not force yourself. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" All the disciples replied in unison.

"Good." The Guardian Elder of Rongtie Cave nodded and stepped aside to clear the path.

Afterward, the disciples looked at each other, and without any modesty, they filed in one after another. After all the disciples had entered, the Guardian Elder of Rongtie Cave waved his hand, and a red light barrier rose at the entrance. He then sat cross-legged beside the entrance and muttered to himself:

"I wonder how many disciples will successfully advance this time, and how many geniuses will be able to rise directly to the peak of the Iron Skin Realm, saving years of hard work. Forget it, forget it, why think so much? Everything will wait until after two and a half months." Having said this, he slowly closed his eyes.

On the other side, Chu Shi held the silver token and walked alone into the Iron Melting Cave. Before his eyes was a long, narrow passage, and on both sides of the passage were rows of tightly shut stone doors. Each stone door was engraved with a number. The light inside the cave was dim, with only the fluorite embedded in the walls emitting a faint glow.

He walked along the passage for a while, randomly chose a stone chamber numbered "36", pushed the door open, and walked inside. The stone chamber was not large, only about a dozen square meters, and was also illuminated by fluorite. It was empty inside, and apart from a meditation cushion, there was nothing else.

Afterward, Chu Shi discovered a slot on the wall directly facing the door. He walked to the wall and inserted the silver token in his hand. With a clear "hum", a slight vibration came, and the array within the stone chamber was instantly activated. The next moment, the stone door slammed shut.

A wave of Iron Essence Qi, rich to the extreme, gushed out from all directions, wrapping Chu Shi within it. Chu Shi took a deep breath. He only felt a stream of warm air pouring into his body through his nasal cavity, then spreading to his limbs and bones. He could clearly feel his skin beginning to tingle slightly and heat up. It was as if countless tiny iron needles were gently pricking his skin membrane. Every cell was cheering and greedily absorbing this Iron Essence Qi. The iron-ordering process was being passively advanced.

"It truly lives up to its reputation." Chu Shi thought to himself. Afterward, he hurriedly sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion and began to circulate the Blazing Sun Body Casting Method according to the Trinity Method his master had described. He began to guide the True Qi within his body, drawing the Metal Qi from between heaven and earth to converge upon himself.

To speed up his progress, Chu Shi took out a low-grade Origin Stone from his storage bag and held it in his hand. The Origin Stone felt cold to the touch, and a stream of pure Metal Qi immediately poured into his body through his palm. With the assistance of the Origin Stone, the convergence speed of the Metal Qi instantly increased several times over. Immediately after, he took out a Bigu Pill and swallowed it. The Bigu Pill melted upon entering his mouth, turning into a gentle, warm current that merged into his blood and Qi. His blood and Qi, which had been somewhat depleted due to cultivation, instantly became full again.

Now, the materials, the adhesive, and the power—the trinity—were all ready. Chu Shi moved his mind and began to guide the three to fuse within his body. The Iron Essence Qi was like countless tiny iron sand, the Metal Qi was like an adhesive, tightly binding these iron sands together. And the blood and Qi were like a rushing river, pushing these bonded iron sands, bit by bit, into every cell of his skin membrane.

This process was slow and painful. Chu Shi could clearly feel his skin membrane being torn apart and reorganized bit by bit. Every cell was undergoing earth-shattering changes. The originally soft cells were becoming hard and dense bit by bit, shimmering with a faint metallic luster. His iron-ordering progress was increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. 4%, 7%, 11%...

Days passed one by one, and Chu Shi's progress became faster and faster. Soon, it was the seventh day. People began to leave the Iron Melting Cave one after another.