Chapter 162: The Enlightenment Chamber

These materials can be queried within the Wind and Cloud Guard. I will briefly explain them now. If you wish to understand them better in the future, you can check them yourselves.

Ling Qinghe had already regained his composure, or at least his expression betrayed none of the turmoil within. "Luo Tian, since you cultivate fire elemental force, you should head to the Fire Enlightenment Chamber. Your time is one hour. If you finish early, you may come out ahead of time."

With that, Ling Qinghe tossed a grey stone to Luo Tian. "Place this Enlightenment Stone into the recess of the platform inside the room, and you may begin."

After a brief pause, Ling Qinghe continued, "Once Luo Tian returns, I will take all of you to collect the Wind and Cloud Guard equipment and other supplies together."

To be honest, Ling Qinghe was already filled with a degree of regret. Normally, sending a captain to oversee a Wind and Cloud Guard assessment would have sufficed. Yet, he had insisted on personally mocking Liu Changtian, only to find that this disciple of the Divine Sun Sect was unexpectedly capable—it was simply preposterous.

Had he known things would turn out this way, he would have stayed out of the matter entirely. Even if the disciple had failed in the end, it would not have been this humiliating.

It seemed that once this batch of Wind and Cloud Guards officially began taking on missions, he would have to find an opportunity to properly temper and toughen Luo Tian. Otherwise, the nagging sensation of having a fishbone stuck in his throat and needles pricking his back was truly uncomfortable.

Ling Qinghe knew that every time he saw Luo Tian in the future, he would likely be reminded of today's stifling humiliation.

"Commander Ling, must a group of us wait for Luo Tian? In my opinion, why don't we go ahead first? Once Luo Tian comes out, he can collect his items separately."

Hua Zefeng said with a blank expression. As the leading disciple of the Hua family, missing out on the top three was one thing—after all, win or lose among the Hua, Ling, and Han families was all in a day's work. But to actually lose to two sect disciples was an absolute disgrace.

Therefore, whenever there was an opportunity to make their skin crawl, Hua Zefeng did not mind seizing it. Did they really think anyone would dare start a fight right here within the Wind and Cloud Guard?

Besides, even if a fight broke out, he had no fear. Would he and his brother really be afraid of Luo Tian?

If the fellow dared to act out, they would teach him what it meant to have numbers on their side!

Yet, even as this thought crossed his mind, Hua Zefeng failed to realize that he was already becoming too cowardly to challenge Luo Tian in single combat.

"How can you say such a thing?"

Jiang Zihe also said coldly, "In any case, Luo Tian won't achieve any insights and will be out quickly. We might as well wait for him for a little while, otherwise it would appear far too arrogant!"

Though these words sounded as if they were supporting Luo Tian, they were actually laced with malicious intent.

"Senior Brother Jiang is entirely right!"

Hua Zefeng chimed in without hesitation, hoping to disrupt Luo Tian's state of mind while venting the anger burning in his own chest.

To their surprise, Luo Tian completely ignored them and spoke directly to Ling Qinghe: "Thank you, Commander Ling. Sorry to trouble you."

Having said that, he strode directly toward the Fire Enlightenment Chamber, leaving behind Hua Zefeng and Jiang Zihe, whose faces were contorted with reluctance and gnashing teeth as their punch landed on empty air.

That bastard Luo Tian was simply too arrogant!

...

Luo Tian approached the Fire Enlightenment Chamber and observed it closely.

The structure was not tall; rather, it resembled a simple stone chamber. The exterior material possessed a grayish-blue hue, appearing neither quite like metal nor ordinary stone. Luo Tian shook his head slightly, dismissed his wandering thoughts, and pushed the door open to step inside.

Upon entering the so-called Fire Enlightenment Chamber, Luo Tian bolted the door shut, took two steps forward, and placed the Enlightenment Stone into the central recess on the platform.

Immediately afterward, changes began to take place within the room.

Luo Tian stared intently at the small flame that had abruptly appeared in the empty space before him, a hint of puzzlement in his heart.

The Fire Enlightenment Chamber was only about forty or fifty square meters in size. Outside light could not penetrate it, and once the door was closed, it became entirely sealed.

Though the room was dark, Luo Tian's physique as a Pulse Flow realm cultivator kept any discomfort at bay, and the Enlightenment Stone had been accurately placed into the platform's recess.

However, where had this sudden flame come from?

In the dim and quiet enlightenment chamber, this flicker of firelight appeared exceptionally glaring and eye-catching.

Leaving aside the untraceable manner of its appearance, the sudden swaying of its light alone made it impossible for Luo Tian to ignore.

The small flame, which had been swaying slightly, suddenly trembled after Luo Tian stared at it closely for a moment. Then, as if fueled by a generous supply of energy, it flared up with a "whoosh," expanding instantly from a tiny spark into a roaring blaze.

Luo Tian even fancied he heard the soft sound of a "poof" echoing in his ears.

This is...

Seeing this scene, Luo Tian felt a stir in his heart.

Following that, the cluster of blazing fire began to expand and swell. The leaping flames rushed rapidly in all directions—up, down, left, and right—naturally including the direction where Luo Tian stood.

An illusion!

Luo Tian finally realized the nature of this so-called enlightenment chamber, and his heart immediately settled.

Sure enough, just as the tongues of flame were about to lick his face, they suddenly stopped and advanced no further. Even so, it still gave Luo Tian a start.

Though he knew it was all fake, seeing flames surging toward one still triggered an instinctive sense of fear.

Looked at this way, the enlightenment chamber was actually a restrictive illusion array, with the enlightenment stone serving as the energy carrier. Once the array received a supply of energy, it would immediately materialize flames according to its initial programming for cultivators to observe in hopes of gaining insights.

Though it fell somewhat short of the ideal cultivation environment, achieving this level was already quite commendable.

Luo Tian knew what kind of conditions Qin Tianying enjoyed. While envious, he also understood that, for the time being, the enlightenment chamber of the Wind and Cloud Guard was already quite decent and barely serviceable.

At the very least, the Divine Sun Sect possessed no such place.

At that moment, the light emitted by the flames grew increasingly dazzling, and correspondingly, the temperature began to rise higher and higher. A fine layer of sweat quickly seeped across Luo Tian's forehead.

He felt rather helpless regarding this phenomenon.

This was naturally the handiwork of the illusion array; the actual temperature inside the room had not risen at all. However, because his brain was affected by the illusion array and convinced that the external environment was intensely hot, his body reacted naturally, causing him to sweat.

An illusion array...

Truly formidable!

Luo Tian sighed in silent admiration. At the Pulse Flow realm, a cultivator's elemental force was more condensed and formidable compared to the Qi Condensation realm, granting them the capability to study a wider range of disciplines. Aside from the common practices of alchemy and weapon forging, runes were another field.

And arrays were the natural progression that occurred once one's mastery of runes reached a certain level.

When the temperature climbed to a certain height, it suddenly began to slow down and recede, the entire mass of flames slowly contracting back toward the center.

Luo Tian stopped his wandering thoughts, focused his attention entirely, and watched without blinking.

Suddenly, an irresistible thought popped into his mind: if he were to view this with his divine eyes, would he be able to discover something unusual?