"Of course I have. It hasn't been long since Kong Shi left …"
The Heavenwood Greenserpent nodded with a confident look on its face.
"It hasn't been long?" A bizarre thought suddenly surfaced in Zhang Xuan's mind. He could not help but ask, "How long has Kong Shi been away?"
The Heavenwood Greenserpent pondered for a moment before replying, "Around four hundred years, I guess?"
"I knew it!" Zhang Xuan's body jolted.
When the Heavenwood Greenserpent said that it had been captured by Kong Shi, he had thought that the flow of time here was different from the flow of time in the outside world. Otherwise, it would have been reduced to a pile of bones by now.
Hearing those words, he was finally able to confirm his suspicions.
It had been forty thousand years since Kong Shi had left the Master Teacher Continent, but only four hundred years had passed in the Heavenwood Greenserpent. Didn't that mean that the flow of time in the Heavenwood Greenserpent was a hundred times faster than that of the outside world?
In other words, a day in the Heavenwood Greenserpent was equivalent to a hundred days in the outside world!
If the Heavenwood Greenserpent was able to slow down the flow of time in the Heavenwood Greenserpent, it would be possible to extend their lifespan significantly.
"No, that's not right … I have comprehended the Time Quintessence. If there's really a difference in the flow of time in the Heavenwood Greenserpent, I should be able to notice it. But why can't I sense anything at all?"
A frown appeared on Zhang Xuan's forehead.
His comprehension of time was no longer as ignorant as before. If the flow of time in the Heavenwood Greenserpent was different from the outside world, he would have surely noticed that something was amiss. Yet, he was unable to sense anything at all. How was this possible?
"Forget it … I'll have to find the Temple of Confucius first!"
Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment, but he was still unable to think of a reason. Shaking his head, he said, "Bring me to the entrance!"
The Heavenwood Greenserpent led the way.
The cavern was vast, and there was a massive opening at the very center. Lava flowed furiously within it, and it felt as if it could melt anything.
"This is … the entrance?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
No matter how he looked at it, it looked like the mouth of a volcano.
"I'm not too sure either. Back then, Kong Shi instructed the five of us to guard this area, so it should be the passageway leading to the Temple of Confucius," the Heavenwood Greenserpent explained.
The way Kong Shi did things was unfathomable. It was not something that Saint Beasts like them could fathom.
Frowning, Zhang Xuan activated his Eye of Insight to scan the area, but he was unable to see anything amiss. Thus, he could only nod and say, "You should enter the folded space first. We'll know whether this is the passageway or not once we enter it!"
Knowing that he would never be able to find anything by waiting here, Zhang Xuan raised his hand and stowed the beasts into the Myriad Anthive Nest before diving right into it.
Even the Heavenly Flame could not burn his physical body. Even though the lava was scorching hot, it had no effect on him.
After swimming downstream for a while, a seal similar to the one in the Subterranean Gallery appeared before his eyes. With a slight shake, he dived into it.
Hula!
The next moment, Zhang Xuan felt dizzy. He had already arrived at a completely different place.
Previously, the place where the five Divine Beasts had been was a forest filled with dense vegetation. But now, it was a desert. The ground was scorching hot, and there was no end in sight.
With a flick of his wrist, the Heavenwood Greenserpent materialized before him.
"This is the entrance you were talking about?"
Zhang Xuan frowned helplessly.
Most likely, the desert before him was another folded space. It had nothing to do with the Temple of Confucius at all.
Could it be that he had taken the wrong path?
"This …"
The Heavenwood Greenserpent was also taken aback by the sight before it.
From the looks of it, it had never been here before. It had no idea that the entrance that it had been guarding all this while would be in such a state.
"Master, I have searched the entire forest, but there's only one entrance. Could this be a trial left behind by Kong Shi, such that the only way to find the Temple of Confucius is to continue searching for the entrance?"
The Heavenwood Greenserpent asked.
"That seems to be the only possibility …"
Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly.
Other than that, he could not think of any other possibility.
Most likely, this desert was similar to the forest. Only by finding the entrance would one be able to proceed to the next level. As for the real Temple of Confucius, he had no idea which level it was hidden in.
However, he had already known that it would not be easy to find the Temple of Confucius. Thus, he chose a random direction and proceeded forward on the back of the Heavenwood Greenserpent.
The desert was scorching hot, and there was not a single person to be seen. After flying for less than two hours, Zhang Xuan and the Heavenwood Greenserpent suddenly felt a little dizzy, and their lips were parched.
"Something's not right …"
Standing on the scorching sand, Zhang Xuan frowned deeply.
Given their strength, even if they were to lie in lava for two hours, they would not be affected in the slightest, let alone losing too much water.
After taking a look around, Zhang Xuan realized that the space in the desert was different from the outside world. Even with his strength, he was still depleting his stamina and water. Thus, Zhang Xuan flew forward once more. "It seems like this isn't an ordinary desert. I have to find the entrance as soon as possible. Otherwise, I might really die here!"
Zhang Xuan took out the Spirit Essence that he had kept in his storage ring and drank a mouthful of it. After which, he felt much better.
After flying for another hour, he suddenly saw footprints on the ground.
"Those are the footprints of a human. Could it be that a human has entered from the entrance?"
Zhang Xuan was perplexed.
He had only entered the desert after dealing with the Five Monarchs. Furthermore, the location of the lava was extremely well-hidden. Under normal circumstances, no one should have been able to find it. Yet, given how far away he was from the entrance, and the footprints seemed to have been stepped on not too long ago.
It couldn't be that someone had entered before him, could it?
"Let's give it a try …"
Zhang Xuan activated his Eye of Insight, and following the footprints, he quickly flew forward.
Not too long later, he found a group of people standing in front of him. Their auras were reminiscent of dragons, and it seemed like they were fighting with something.
There were around seventeen of them, and they were dressed in different attires. The strongest of them had reached the Intuitive Impulse realm whereas the weakest had reached the Aureate Body realm.
Their faces were pale, and their lips were parched. It seemed like they were in dire straits compared to him.
The one they were fighting was a giant made of sand. It had no facial features, but its aura was so powerful that it was comparable to a Sempiternal realm primary stage cultivator.
It was for this reason that even though they had the advantage in numbers, they were not a match for it at all.
"Break!"
As a fellow human, Zhang Xuan could not stand idly by the side. Thus, he whipped out the Skeletal Dragon and gathered his strength before pushing it forward.
Huala!
As if a sharp sword, Zhang Xuan's zhenqi surged forward and collided with the sand giant. In an instant, the sand giant's body was pierced through, and its vitality plummeted at an alarming rate. Huala! The sand giant fell to the ground and reverted back into yellow sand.
"Elder, thank you for saving our lives!"
Seeing that Zhang Xuan had dealt with the sand giant with a single spear strike, the crowd heaved a sigh of relief and bowed respectfully.
Judging from the disheveled state they were in, Zhang Xuan could tell that they had been here for at least several hours. Thus, he asked curiously, "How did you all end up here?"
"We were enveloped by the light emanating from the Temple of Confucius, and by the time we woke up, we were already here. Elder, may I know why you are asking such a question?"
The Intuitive Impulse expert in the crowd looked at Zhang Xuan doubtfully.
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