Not long after, Chu Luoyan arrived directly at the Soul Refining Ground. She looked around and asked, "Where is Zhou Yan?"
"Zhou Yan? I don't know anyone by that name. I only saw a sneaky fellow being sent here for punishment, so I put him in," the Enforcement Elder said, lying as if it were second nature, as if it were the truth.
"What, you actually locked him up? You old fool!" Chu Luoyan quickly checked and indeed found Zhou Yan undergoing punishment in the Soul Refining Ground. She then exploded in anger, "Are you trying to kill him?"
"Does this fellow look like he's about to die? Look, look closely, examine him carefully," the Enforcement Elder replied.
Chu Luoyan observed carefully and found that Zhou Yan was emitting screams from inside. These screams were loud and clear, proving Zhou Yan was very much alive, even if they sounded tragic.
"This young fellow is much stronger than you were back then. You were twenty-two when you went in and fainted after a day. I wonder how long this one will last," the Enforcement Elder seemed to say with some anticipation.
"How can his mental strength be so strong? He's only eighteen and has only awakened the Lord's Heart for less than two months," Chu Luoyan was very confused.
"This fellow is not as simple as you imagine," the Enforcement Elder muttered.
"Old man, do you know something? All that effort, was it just to shield this kid?" Chu Luoyan suddenly recalled the grand formation from before.
"When this kid can't take it anymore, I'll throw him out. You can leave now," the Enforcement Elder did not answer Chu Luoyan's question.
"You'd better be careful, he's already been listed as one of the Saint Son candidates for Ziwei Academy," Chu Luoyan warned.
"Oh, this young fellow has quite a background. He's listed as a Saint Son candidate as an introductory disciple," the Enforcement Elder was somewhat surprised, as if there were many things he didn't know.
Chu Luoyan left and replied to Wu Qingfeng, "He won't die, he'll just suffer a bit."
Hearing this, Wu Qingfeng was relieved.
Although he had recommended Zhou Yan to be a Saint Son, many elders still objected, which was within his expectations. After all, previous Saint Sons had to become core disciples to be eligible.
Zhou Yan was too young. However, he hadn't expected one of the Grand Elders to appear and agree to the matter.
That Grand Elder, who rarely appeared, had always been stationed within the Ziwei Star Palace.
Even he had spoken, so the matter had passed.
But Wu Qingfeng vaguely felt that the previous upheaval at Ziwei Academy might have been related to Zhou Yan. Otherwise, given that Grand Elder's usual conduct, he would never have interfered in this matter.
The Ziwei Star Palace was extremely mysterious, and even he was not qualified to enter.
He knew that it was a place where the world's situation, destiny, rise and fall, and more could be observed. It was the most revered place in Ziwei Academy.
Precisely because of this, that Grand Elder had only said, "I agree," and after that, no one present objected.
They naturally would not reveal this matter. Often, saying too much would be detrimental to Zhou Yan.
However, in the coming days, Ziwei Academy would have many trials targeting Zhou Yan.
This was considered tempering for him, and at the same time, an opportunity.
Zhou Yan himself was naturally unaware of such matters. Everything would be conducted in secret.
This was also a consistent tradition of Ziwei Academy. All Saint Son candidates in the past were cultivated in secret. Even after they graduated and left, they would not know that they had once been cultivated as Saint Sons.
The selection of Saint Son candidates was extremely strict, and Ziwei Academy had to pay a great price to cultivate them.
Wu Qingfeng was quite surprised by Chu Luoyan's words. He hadn't expected that the Enforcement Elder would also be interested in Zhou Yan.
It had made him busy running around, and in the end, the kid had benefited from misfortune.
This would have considerable benefits for his future.
Now, Wu Qingfeng was relieved. Although that old man was indeed stubborn, he would not make things difficult for an introductory disciple.
...
The Soul Refining Ground.
Zhou Yan was already in immense pain. The power of these flames was immense, burning every inch of his skin.
He felt as if he were Sun Wukong thrown into Lao Tzu's Eight Trigrams Furnace to be incinerated, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
He now understood how Sun Wukong must have felt in the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
It was agonizing.
All his golden fingers were within his territory and could not be used outside.
All the pain here had to be endured by himself. Every minute and every second was a great torment for him.
He was no different from being alive and wishing he were dead, as if countless ants were gnawing at his skin, blood, bones, and soul.
The Enforcement Elder outside heard Zhou Yan's beautiful screams with satisfaction. It seemed this fellow's aptitude was indeed extraordinary.
"Whether you can be reborn depends on your own fortune," he said.
After speaking, the Enforcement Elder took out several treasure chests. After thinking for a long time, he sighed, "If your fortune is sufficient and you can fuse this, what if I give it to you."
He took out one of the black treasure chests, which was sealed with dense runes. It could be imagined how precious the contents were.
He looked at Zhou Yan's current state and saw that he was still lacking.
Therefore, he added more fuel to the fire, raising the temperature inside again.
"This fellow should be able to withstand it. I can't waste my treasure," the Enforcement Elder was still a little worried. But after thinking about it, without the courage to seek survival from the brink of death, how could one become a strong person? If he couldn't even pass this test, he wouldn't deserve this item.
The black treasure chest in his hand sealed an extremely powerful soul force. If the fusion were successful, one would obtain a heaven-defying divine soul.
However, the process was extremely difficult, and the younger one was, the easier it was to fuse.
Zhou Yan's age was the youngest he had ever seen, and his soul force was the strongest. Therefore, he wanted to give this heaven-defying opportunity to him.
But he was afraid of failure and wasting the treasure. He had to first temper the opponent's soul to be stronger and more solid, otherwise, it was highly likely that he would be devoured by this soul force.
To obtain a supreme treasure, great danger was inherently involved.
Regardless of whether Zhou Yan was willing to accept it or not, since he had come here, he had no choice.
"Ah~~~"
Earth-shattering screams could only be heard in this Soul Refining Ground.
Unfortunately, the Enforcement Elder outside was a ruthless person. The louder Zhou Yan screamed, the more it proved his capacity to endure, and the more excited he became.
Zhou Yan didn't know how much time had passed. He felt like he couldn't even scream anymore. The flames were too terrifying; they had completely defeated him.
He found that his four attributes had dropped from over eight thousand to around four thousand.
His four attributes had been halved.
He had indeed become stronger, though it wasn't the kind of strength he desired.
But he couldn't refuse; he could only endure.
Two days passed, and Zhou Yan's attributes were only around two thousand.
Three days passed, and Zhou Yan's attributes were finally compressed to around one thousand.
This had reached his limit. It was at this time that he no longer felt any pain. He was resting, recuperating, and he was determined to get revenge!