Upon seeing the races of the Deep Space, Geoffrey asked, "Should we be going too?"
Elder Xue walked out of the oval building and looked up at the sky. "It's not the right time yet."
"But they've all sallied forth," said Geoffrey.
Elder Xue shook his head. "Today is the Power-boosting Day, so the innate skills of those races native
to the Deep Space will soar. It's indeed a good day for them, but not for us."
In the past few days, Geoffrey had learned much about the races living inside the Deep Space. He
knew that a portion of their power came from the annular sun above their heads, and the light it
released today was indeed very dazzling.
"What about them?" Geoffrey looked at the members of the Elemental race.
"They'll naturally go too," said Elder Xue.
He then selected four members of the Elemental race. These guys had long prepared themselves
thoroughly, so when Elder Xue chose them, they quickly gathered in front of the door, ready to set off.
After Elder Xue gave them a few words of advice, they stepped on the green lines and headed straight
for the chimney.
"Actually, they don't have to go," said Geoffrey as he gazed at their receding backs.
"You're surprisingly quite kind-hearted," Elder Xue said with a smile. "Don't worry. I've taught them a
new method. If the method succeeds, they'll be able to go even farther inside the chimney."
"But they'll die..."
Geoffrey murmured.
After staying here for a few days, he found that the members of the Elemental race weren't as hateful
as they looked.
Furthermore, they had learned the language of the fourth-grade world from Elder Xue, so they could
have simple conversations with Geoffrey.
Now that he had a better understanding of them, Geoffrey couldn't help but feel very sad to watch them
heading to their deaths.
Elder Xue remained unconcerned. His gaze was fixated at the chimney in the distance as he wanted to
observe the movements of the other races in the Deep Space.
Beams of green light began to rise from the surface of the chimney.
Some went out after they rose about forty feet, some were extinguished after they rose about eighty
feet, and some others rose all the way to a height of more than a hundred feet—an excellent record,
and it would have been even more excellent if it wasn't obtained at the cost of those creatures' lives.
"There are many surprises this time. The Wrona race did a good job, and the Cold Ape race is
unexpectedly weak.
Anyway, it's our turn now,"
Elder Xue, who had been keeping an eye on the results, said.
He considered each result important and always analyzed them. Through thousands of trials and
errors, he had managed to roughly figure out some of the techniques to be used in the chimney.
When the four members of the Elemental race entered the chimney, they could see four new beams of
green light slowly rising up.
The speed at which the four members climbed up was very slow, and they even stopped for a brief
moment sometimes. In the end, however, they kept going up.
The first beam was extinguished when it reached one hundred feet high. As Elder Xue saw this, the
corner of his eyes twitched slightly, and his black claws were clenched into fists.
The second beam didn't die out until it reached one hundred and thirty feet high. This time, Elder Xue's
expression looked a little better.
When the third beam climbed up to one hundred and sixty feet high, the members of the Elemental
race in the oval building let out a cheer.
This was their previous record, and it seemed that they could climb up ever farther today.
Excitement was also etched on Elder Xue's face. His judgment was right.
One hundred and sixty feet, one hundred and seventy feet, one hundred and eighty feet...
The higher the green light beams rose, the louder the shouts of the members of the Elemental race
became.
Expectations started to grow in their hearts. They hoped that the two clansmen could reach the top of
the chimney and get the thing left by the Fostering race to end this nightmare-like exploration.
To their disappointment, however, one beam suddenly dispersed at the height of two hundred feet.
"The light is off."
"We still have one person left!"
"He's still rising!"
The members of the Elemental race placed their hopes on the last beam.
But it also stopped at the height of two hundred feet and then went out.
The Elemental race fell into silence.
Although this result was within their expectation and they were also used to this process,
disappointment still crept into their hearts.
They failed again.
Elder Xue stood there like a sculpture, staring at the chimney in silence.
Every time the Elemental race failed, he always stood there for a long time to analyze the reason.
After a long time, he suddenly turned around and said, "Next time, Geoffrey and I will go in."
Upon hearing his announcement, the remaining four members of the Elemental race changed their
expressions greatly.
"Elder Xue, how can you go in?"
"You're more important than even the leader of our race. You mustn't go in!"
"Our lives are of little value. We still have many members who are willing to sacrifice themselves. You,
on the other hand, have only one body. You'll die if you fail!"
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the Elemental race held Elder Xue in much higher regard than
they held their own leader in.
Elder Xue wasn't very strong. Any strong member of the Elemental race could kill him easily.
But the Elemental race could reach this point because of Elder Xue. It was Elder Xue who discovered
their talents. It could be imagined how important he was for the Elemental race.
"Did the young man ask you to do that? Elder Xue, you mustn't listen to him. I'll throw him out now!" A
member of the Elemental race glared at Geoffrey.
Geoffrey couldn't understand the language of the Elemental race, so he was naturally baffled by the
sudden death glares they shot at him. Why did they hate him all of a sudden?
A faint smile appeared on Elder Xue's face. "No, he didn't."
"Then why? You only plan to go in by yourself after he came here—it must be because of him!" that
certain member continued aggressively.
"It's because of the information he brought—an important one at that," Elder Xue explained. "If we don't
get that thing as soon as possible, the Deep Space will soon be completely downgraded, and you'll all
disappear during the downgrading process."
"What?!"
"No way!"
"I don't believe it!"
The members of the Elemental race shook their heads in denial.
Although the Deep Space had shattered, it was still stable and didn't experience any further
downgrading.
Faced with their refusal to believe this fact, Elder Xue remained calm and patient. He was indeed used
to their stubbornness. After all, he was the one who had been educating them, which really wasn't an
easy thing to do. In the end, he roughly explained the reason why the Deep Space collapsed, the
current situation, and what had happened in the third-grade and the fourth-grade worlds.
The members of the Elemental race were confused, but they roughly understood what had happened.
The person, who had caused the Deep Space to fall into such a situation, was currently making trouble
in the third-grade world. Once he succeeded, the third-grade, fourth-grade, and fifth-grade worlds
would collapse. Only by obtaining that object would they be able to save the world.
"So, I have no choice," said Elder Xue. "I'll go in with Geoffrey on the Rippling Water Day five days
later."
"What about us?" a member of the Elemental race asked.
"You can come with us, but you'd better leave one person behind," said Elder Xue.
That person could later replace him and continue to fight for the slim chance.
The members of the Elemental race no longer objected, but they were now arguing over who should be
left behind.
All of them were more than willing to sacrifice themselves. Now that they had reached this step, no one
was willing to be left behind. After a discussion, the one who came with Geoffrey was finally chosen to
stay behind.
Five days later, the Rippling Water Day came.
The surface of the annular sun in the Deep Space emitted a ripple-like golden light, and the sunlight
became soft and warm.
The warm golden light put all the races in the Deep Space at ease. Geoffrey, Elder Xue, and three
members of the Elemental race finally set off towards the chimney.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda