Daniel felt somewhat awkward as he saw Amon running by his side. The last time they travelled together was during the Scavenging. At the time, Daniel had to hold back and take several breaks, but now Amon was following his pace with ease. He most likely could go even faster without a problem.

While Daniel was thinking about how much things had changed, Amon was absent-minded. He was thinking about the way his mother had acted, and the anxiousness he couldn't get rid of in the depths of his mind. He had a deep frown on his face as he lightly stepped on the gra.s.s, propelling himself forward.

It took no more than a few minutes for the Northern Station to appear on the horizon. Amon and Daniel exchanged glances and started running even faster. They entered the Station and rushed to the main plaza.

There dozen of members of the Outer Sect gathered there, looking above with amazed expressions on their faces. A few children couldn't stop waving to whatever they were looking at in the sky as they jumped with red faces, full of excitement.

Amon and Daniel paled slightly as they saw the scene, also looking up as they rushed even more.

A few meters above the plaza, hovering on the air, was a ma.s.sive spirit vessel. It had a deep red color, so dark it was almost black. It was very similar to the spirit vessel Amon had seen Jake using before, but its scale was even bigger. This combat vessel could easily accommodate more than thirty pa.s.sengers.

Even so, there were only six pa.s.sengers there. From the distance, they would seem like nothing more than faint silhouettes, but Amon could see them clearly. Standing with a clearly annoyed expression as he sat on the golden circle in the middle of the vessel, the Third Elder Richard Layn gazed at him.

Neither Amon nor Daniel stalled anymore as they jumped up, surprising the people around them. They heavily landed on the prow of the spirit vessel, but it didn't even move after the impact.

"You are late." The Third Elder snorted as he looked at them with a piercing glance.

"We are very sorry." Daniel took a step forward and lowered his head. He made no excuses for their delay, for he knew it would only displease Richard even more.

"Do not let such things happen again." Richard said in a cold voice as he turned the spirit vessel toward h.e.l.l's Keeper Mountain. The golden circle around him flashed once and the spirit vessel sped forward suddenly, making Amon nearly lose his balance.

After he found his footing, he looked around. He saw the red-haired Joshua as well as Karen and Jake sitting on the back of the spirit vessel with their legs crossed and their eyes closed. They seemed to be focusing before the Trials started, so Amon decided not to greet them.

Sitting next to them, there was a young blond girl and a black-haired youth, also meditating and focusing. Daniel leaned closer to Amon and spoke in a low voice.

"These two are Evan Wylde and Skylar Burton." He explained to Amon briefly. "They are disciples of the Fourth and Seventh Elders."

Amon gave him a slight nod. It seems all of the Elemental Purification members came from Sky Reach Village, what was not surprising in the least.

"What about the Body Tempering disciples in Sky Reach?" Amon asked as he raised a brow.

"They are too young. They don't have the maturity to make proper use of the Trials." Daniel shook his head. "The best choice is to use common members of the Inner Sect at an appropriate age and close to Elemental Purification."

There was no Body Tempering cultivator in the Sky Reach Village above eleven years old. They were far too talented to be at that level in what would be an appropriate age for the h.e.l.lblaze Trials. As such, the common Inner Sect members, that had more maturity and experience, even if less talented, would be a better choice.

Daniel did not mention that the only reason he was going was because of his fighting style. If something dangerous did happen, as Jake had warned him, Daniel would be a valuable a.s.set in the fight. Thinking about this, he did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He was the less talented member of the Abyss Sect in the h.e.l.lblaze Trials, but somehow he ended up being some sort of ace in the Body Tempering level.

The air around the spirit vessel seemed to twist and distort as it flew in such an absurd speed that Amon could not even locate himself. All he could see clearly was h.e.l.l's Keeper Mountain growing larger and larger in front of him by the second. There seemed to be some sort of ward in the spirit vessel, as Amon felt no wind at all, even when the spirit vessel travelled at such speed.

Without stopping, the spirit vessel suddenly divided, and traversed the golden gates to h.e.l.l's Keeper City as if the curtain of light blocking it did not exist at all. They rushed through the tunnel and suddenly they were above h.e.l.l's Keeper City.

The spirit vessel finally slowed down as Richard looked at the Ashen Heart Tree. He breathed a sigh of relief, and directed the spirit vessel to it in a gentle flight, unlike his previous rush. Amon looked carefully at the Ashen Heart Tree as they approached, and he saw a few figures standing beside it.

The spirit vessel took a sharp turn as Richard made it fly at a low height, barely above the buildings. It was necessary, given that otherwise they would hit the crown of the Ashen Heat Tree.

They came to a halt as soon as they reached the major plaza, and Richard carefully landed the spirit vessel near the Warrior Hall. As soon as it touched the ground, Jake, Karen and the others opened their eyes and stood up

"Good to see you again." Jake greeted Amon politely while Karen waved her hands and Joshua shrugged. The youth called Evan and the girl called Skylar didn't seem to bother with being polite at all, and simply ignore him as they jumped out of the spirit vessel.

"Nice to see you too." Amon greeted him back as he jumped down the spirit vessel with Daniel and approached the people gathered near the Ashen Heart Tree.

There were a handful of cold-faced Elders looking at Richard Layn with raised brows, but they dared not voice their objections. Richard was a High Elder, and they were below him. Seeing this, Richard had an annoyed look on his face.

"My apologies for the delay." He said in an uninterested tone, in a clearly half-hearted apology. Nevertheless, it somewhat eased the expression of the other Elders. It showed that Richard at least knew he was in the wrong.

Next to the Elders, two youths and a girl awaited with anxious faces. The girl in particular couldn't stop moving her hands, holding them together and twisting her fingers nonstop. Her brown hair was neatly arranged in a ponytail, and her yellow clothes seemed to be fluttering due to her incessant movements.

When she saw Jake approaching, her face turned red and her fingers started moving even faster. She quietly stepped behind the brown-haired boy by her side with a bashful expression, but never took her eyes away from Jake.

"Not now, sister." The boy said between gritted teeth in a clearly annoyed tone. His sister didn't seem to mind as she kept looking at Jake with a flushed face, making the boy even more annoyed.

Amon heard a snort by his side, and he saw Karen glancing at the girl with cold eyes. The girl, however, showed no signs of hearing that, as she kept following Jake with her eyes.

"h.e.l.lo, Malia." Karen said with a cold expression.

The girl suddenly froze in place as she heard that indifferent voice. She slowly turned her head and saw Karen glaring at her. Like a frightened kitten, she shuddered and shrunk her body behind her brother, making him give a long sigh and look at Karen with pleading eyes.

Karen snorted again, but looked away and walked past them, rus.h.i.+ng to Jake's side.

"Youngsters..." Amon heard someone say in a low and weary voice, almost a sigh. He looked around, but only person he saw from the direction he heard the voice was the Third Elder. He was walking with a cold and authoritative expression, not at all looking as if he said something like that. Amon looked at him suspiciously, but Richard seemed to not notice his gaze at all.

As they approached the Ashen Heart Tree, the ten members of the Abyss Sect chosen for the Trials stood side by side in absolute silence. Amon closed his eyes, trying to calm himself and focus.

"Our guests should be arriving soon." Richard said in his serene voice after some time of silence.

Not long after, a low, piercing sound started echoing somewhere far away from them. Amon opened his eyes and saw in the distance three bright blurs shooting in their direction.