Chapter 346 The Test of the Core Guardian

As the temple door slowly opened, Qin Feng and his companions set foot on the road to the core of the secret realm. The light inside the temple was dim, but the air was filled with a strong spiritual energy, as if every step went deeper into the unknown realm.

"This place is really weird." Chu Tian said in a low voice, raising the torch in his hand, trying to see the road ahead clearly.

"Yeah, it feels like everything here is full of mystery." Ye Li responded. Her frost fox walked cautiously in front, sniffing the air.

"Everyone be careful, there may be traps here." Ye Ying reminded the team from behind, "No ancient ruin will allow anyone to enter the core easily."

Qin Feng nodded: "Yes, everyone should be vigilant, we must be cautious."

They walked along the winding corridor. The walls around them were engraved with ancient runes. These runes flickered with faint light, as if telling some ancient story.

"These runes look so strange." Wang Yue carefully observed the runes on the wall, "It seems that they are telling about the inheritance of some kind of power."

"It may be a warning left by the master of the secret realm." Zhang Meng guessed, "Telling future generations not to enter here easily."

"Or some kind of guidance." Qin Feng continued, "No matter what it is, we must keep moving forward."

After walking for a while, the corridor in front suddenly became wider, and a huge circular hall appeared in front of us. In the center of the hall stood a huge stone statue, which looked like a majestic warrior holding a huge sword in his hand, as if guarding something.

"Is this... the guardian of the secret realm?" Ye Li guessed.

"It's possible." Ye Ying walked forward and looked at the stone statue carefully. "This stone statue looks very old, and it seems to have a powerful spiritual power fluctuation."

"Look, there are some words under the statue." Chu Tian said, pointing to the base of the statue.

Qin Feng walked over, looked down, and found a line of ancient words engraved on the base: "Only by passing the guardian's test can you enter the core."

"It seems we have to face another test." Wang Yue said with a wry smile.

"We have gone through many tests, and this time is no exception." Qin Feng said firmly, "Are we ready?"

"Of course!" everyone answered in unison.

Just as they were ready, the statue suddenly emitted a low humming sound, and then shook violently. The ground began to shake slightly, as if some powerful force was awakening.

"Everyone be careful!" Ye Ying shouted, and everyone immediately went on alert.

The eyes of the stone statue suddenly lit up with a red light, and the statue slowly lowered its head, as if alive. It said in a low and majestic voice: "Intruders, are you ready to accept the test of the guardian?"

Qin Feng took a step forward and answered loudly: "We are ready!"

The statue was silent for a while, then said: "Very good. You will face three challenges, each of which will test your courage, wisdom, and strength. If you can pass these challenges, you will be able to enter the core of the secret realm."

"We accept the challenge!" Chu Tian shouted confidently.

"Well, the first challenge is courage." The statue slowly raised its giant sword and pointed it at a dark area in the center of the hall.

"What is that?" Ye Li asked.

The stone statue did not answer, but raised the giant sword and swung it violently. A beam of light shot out from the giant sword and rushed straight into the dark area. In an instant, dozens of pairs of red eyes lit up in the dark area, and then a group of strange-shaped spirit beasts rushed out from the darkness.

These spirit beasts are shaped like tigers, but have huge wings. There is a blue flame burning on the claws of each spirit beast, making them look extremely ferocious.

"These guys look difficult to deal with." Zhang Meng said nervously.

"They are Void Tigers, creatures that are said to live in void cracks," Yeying explained. "They are extremely powerful and can launch surprise attacks in an instant."

"Everyone be careful and keep in formation!" Qin Feng shouted.

The Void Tigers roared and pounced on Qin Feng and others. Chu Tian's Storm Wolf took the lead and swung out with one claw, thunder and lightning, repelling a Void Tiger.

Ye Li's frost fox was not to be outdone, and quickly spit out a stream of frost, freezing several approaching tigers. Zhang Meng's giant rock bear slapped the ground hard, creating a crack that trapped several tigers.

"Well done! Everyone keep in formation!" Qin Feng encouraged.

However, there were too many of these Void Tigers, and they emerged from the darkness in an almost endless stream. Their attacks were extremely swift and fierce, as if they had no fear at all.

"They are not afraid of death at all!" Wang Yue exclaimed, "We can't keep fighting like this!"

"She's right, we have to think of a way!" Ye Li agreed, "Otherwise we will be exhausted to death!"

Qin Feng calmed down and looked around carefully. Suddenly, he saw that the Void Tigers seemed to be emerging from a deep pit in the center of the hall.

"Everyone, concentrate on attacking that deep pit!" Qin Feng shouted, "Stop them from coming out!"

Everyone immediately concentrated their firepower and aimed at the deep pit. Ye Li's Frost Fox released an ice arrow, Chu Tian's Storm Wolf attacked with Thunder Claws, and Zhang Meng's Giant Rock Bear slammed the ground hard, trying to seal the deep pit.

The Void Tigers' offensive was suppressed and gradually reduced. Finally, with a loud bang, the pit was completely sealed and the Tigers' offensive stopped.

The stone statue made a deep voice: "You have passed the challenge of courage."

"We succeeded!" Chu Tian shouted excitedly.

"Don't be too happy too soon." Yeying reminded, "There are still two challenges."

The statue's eyes flickered again, and this time it said, "The second challenge - wisdom."

A circle of light suddenly appeared on the ground in the center of the hall, and a huge chessboard slowly rose up in the circle of light. The chessboard was covered with black and white chess pieces, and it seemed that a chess game was in progress.

"This is..." Wang Yue walked forward curiously, "A chess game?"

The statue explained: "This is an ancient chess game played by wise men. You must crack the game to pass the challenge of wisdom."

"Crack the chess game?" Ye Li frowned, "I'm not very good at chess."

Qin Feng looked at the chessboard and thought for a moment: "This game seems to be a dead end, but if we can find a way to break it, we can turn the situation around."

"Then what should we do?" Zhang Meng scratched his head.

Yeying walked forward, looked at the chessboard carefully, and said, "This is an endgame. We need to find the only way to win."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Yeying." Qin Feng nodded.

Ye Ying observed the chessboard attentively, his fingers gently running over the chess pieces, as if he was deducing various possibilities. After a moment, his eyes lit up and he made a quick move.

The chessboard made a low humming sound, and the chess pieces began to move automatically. Then, a flash of light appeared on the chessboard, and the black pieces gradually disappeared, and the white pieces occupied the entire chessboard.

"Success!" Wang Yue shouted in surprise.

"You have passed the challenge of wisdom." said the statue again.

"Great!" Chu Tian clapped his hands.

"It's the last challenge." Ye Li breathed a sigh of relief.

The statue's eyes flickered again, and this time it said, "The third challenge - strength."

A huge circular arena suddenly appeared in the center of the hall. The arena was covered with ancient runes and emitted strong spiritual fluctuations.

"It seems that this is going to test our combat effectiveness." Qin Feng tightly grasped the Dragon Shadow Sword, "Everyone, get ready."

The statue said: "Only by defeating your opponent in the ring can you pass the challenge of strength."

A huge figure slowly rose in the center of the ring. It was a fully armed stone warrior, holding a huge battle axe, with a fierce red light flashing in his eyes.

"This guy doesn't look simple." Zhang Meng said in a low voice.

"We have to do our best." Qin Feng reminded.

The stone warrior roared, raised his huge battle axe, and slashed at Qin Feng and others. The arena shook instantly, and a deep crack appeared on the ground.

"What a strong power!" Chu Tian exclaimed.

"Everyone, spread out and attack in turns!" Qin Feng commanded.

Ye Li's frost fox launched the first attack, and the frost air pounced on the stone warrior, but the opponent didn't care and shattered the frost air with a wave of his battle axe.

"Its defense is very strong!" Ye Li warned.

Zhang Meng's giant rock bear followed closely behind and punched the stone warrior on the leg, but the stone warrior was as steady as a rock and did not move at all.

"It seems we need a stronger attack." Yeying analyzed.

Qin Feng nodded: "Everyone gather your spiritual power and focus on attacking its weaknesses!"

Everyone gathered together and injected spiritual power into their weapons. Qin Feng raised the Dragon Shadow Sword high and shouted, "Look at me—Dragon Shadow Slash!"

A dazzling blue light burst out from the Dragon Shadow Sword and rushed straight towards the stone warrior. The stone warrior raised his battle axe to block, but the blue light penetrated the battle axe and hit his chest directly.

The stone warrior let out a low roar, and cracks began to appear on his huge body. Finally, with a loud bang, it shattered and turned into a pile of stones.

"We did it!" Wang Yue cheered.

"You have passed the challenge of strength." The voice of the statue said slowly, "You have proven your courage, wisdom, and strength."

The eyes of the stone statue gradually went out, and a light gate leading to the core appeared in the center of the hall.

"We can finally enter the core!" Chu Tian said excitedly.

"Let's go, everyone." Qin Feng waved his hand, "Let's take a look at the real secret of this secret realm."

Everyone nodded to each other and walked towards the light gate with expectation. They knew that there might be unprecedented challenges ahead, but they were ready for everything.