Awooo—!
A wolf howl suddenly rang out as a massive pack of carapace wolves appeared ahead.
"Wolves—why are there wolves here?"
But he never could have guessed that Fang Yuan controlled this checkpoint. He said in a low voice: "We're here primarily to scout things out. The situation has changed, so let's kill this pack of wolves first and see what happens."
"Right!" Pan Ping nodded.
The two joined forces and charged into the wolf pack.
At first, they held the upper hand, slaughtering freely. Ordinary carapace wolves were no match for the two of them.
But soon the wolves kept coming without end, and other breeds appeared—Crimson Flame wolves, Water wolves, Wind wolves, and more. Then mutant wolf packs showed up as well: Mad wolves, White-eyed wolves, and others.
Gradually, the two began to struggle.
"How can there be so many wolves?"
"Could this trial actually be testing a Gu Master's combat ability?"
Massive numbers of Thousand Wolf Kings and Ten Thousand Wolf Kings joined the battlefield, and the expressions of Pan Ping and Chang Biao grew increasingly grim.
"This trial is so hard!" Pan Ping lamented.
"The Eighty-Eight Angle True Sun Tower—the later the trial, the harder it gets. Especially trials ninety through the final hundred, those are the most difficult," Chang Biao agreed.
After fighting a while longer, the two could hold on no longer.
"We've scouted enough. The ninetieth trial not only has a maze, but also wolf packs!" Chang Biao summarized in a heavy voice.
"There are walls on both sides—narrow terrain that severely limits us against their human-wave tactics. What do we do?" Pan Ping frowned.
"Let's retreat first and discuss this properly." Chang Biao sighed.
Neither he nor Pan Ping possessed the Juyang bloodline. To enter the Eighty-Eight Angle True Sun Tower, they had used visitor tokens.
Visitor tokens were precious, so every time the two of them went in and out, it cost a great deal.
"Fine!" Pan Ping had long been wanting to retreat. He glared hatefully at the wolf pack before them. "Those damned wolf pups—I'll trample your wolf king under my foot someday and humiliate him properly! Hahaha…"
He swore an oath. The "wolf king" he spoke of was naturally a veiled reference to Fang Yuan.
"Ugh!" The next instant, Pan Ping's loud laughter cut off abruptly, his face freezing in terror.
"What's going on? We can't get out?" Beside him, Chang Biao had discovered this serious problem as well.
Normally, the two would enter and exit the tower using visitor tokens—all it took was a thought, and they could leave. They had gone in and out many times and were thoroughly familiar with the process.
But now that Fang Yuan controlled this floor, the Five-Corner Tower Lord Token far outranked their visitor tokens. The two of them were now like birds in a cage, trapped in a desperate situation.
"Damn it—what do we do now? I've only got thirty percent of my True Essence left!" Pan Ping shouted, his voice filled with panic.
Chang Biao's expression was grave as he barked: "Stay calm!"
His situation was somewhat better than Pan Ping's—his Empty Orifice still held half its True Essence. But even at full capacity, the wolf pack before them was endless. Sooner or later, it would all be drained.
"This is very unusual—how can you be unable to leave the Eighty-Eck Angle True Sun Tower? This trial is extremely peculiar. It's very likely testing a Gu Master's courage! You must not lose your nerve!" Chang Biao pondered for a moment, then called out.
Hearing his words, Pan Ping's panic eased slightly. He remembered that throughout history, there had indeed been strange trials that tested nothing other than a Gu Master's state of mind. In those trials, the more afraid a Gu Master became, the more powerful the monsters they faced.
The two of them forced themselves to stay calm and attempted to break through the wolf pack's encirclement.
But with Fang Yuan controlling this trial, the so-called maze was crystal clear to him—he knew every corner. He directed the wolf packs with effortless ease. No matter how Pan and Chang fought and charged, wolves kept pouring in to block and chase them.
"No—I absolutely cannot die here! Take this, you damned wolf pups—eat my killer move!" Pan Ping's True Essence was nearly depleted, and with no other choice, he activated the "Six-Armed Heavenly Corpse King" killer move.
He transformed into an eight-armed zombie, his combat power skyrocketing. Everywhere he went, he swept aside all opposition, inflicting devastating losses on the wolves—none could withstand him.
Chang Biao conserved his True Essence, following behind Pan Ping and saving a great deal of effort.
But the good times didn't last. Before long, Pan Ping's True Essence was completely spent.
Chang Biao rushed to rescue him: "In desperate times, only by working together can we have any hope of escape. You rest—use Yuan Stones to recover your True Essence. I'll protect you!"
Chang Biao also activated the Six-Armed Heavenly Corpse King killer move, shielding Pan Ping firmly.
In this way, supporting each other, they actually stabilized the situation.
Seven or eight days passed like this, until both Chang Biao and Pan Ping had burned through all their True Essence once more and could hold on no longer.
"Am I going to die here?!" Pan Ping roared at the heavens.
"Curse it—there has to be a way out, there has to be!" Chang Biao had lost all his usual composure, bellowing and shouting.
Just as the two were falling into despair, they suddenly saw a large pile of Yuan Stones stacked up at the corner ahead.
"Yuan Stones!"
"A mountain of Yuan Stones—that many, am I seeing this right?!"
Finding hope where all seemed lost, the two were overjoyed. They mustered their remaining strength, fought their way over, and absorbed True Essence from the Yuan Stones, stabilizing their situation once more.
"I get it—I get it! This trial is testing a Gu Master's endurance!" Chang Biao screamed with wild joy.
"So that's what it was." Hearing this, Pan Ping suddenly understood as well.
In their delight, neither of them noticed the strange changes beginning to appear on their bodies.