When Big Fatty Zhang saw what was happening, he immediately got nervous, and cried out, “Xiaochun!”

Chen Manyao was also taken aback. As for Master God-Diviner, without even thinking about it, he began to perform an incantation gesture in the hopes of divining some information about Bai Xiaochun’s safety.

Even Song Que was completely shocked.

As for everyone else, they were also stunned, but at the same time, somewhat happy. However, in the following instant, their expressions flickered wildly.

“Why... why isn’t he teleporting out?”

“Don’t tell me he ran out of time....”

“Maybe he didn't bring in a teleportation pendant?”

“No way! Did he really die, just like that?” The sudden turn of events left everyone flabbergasted, and unsure of how to react. Based on everything they knew, Bai Xiaochun should have just teleported out as soon as he realized he was in danger.

However, after nobody appeared on the outside, they realized that he hadn’t even pulled out a teleportation pendant, leading to various reactions.

“He didn’t really die, did he...?”

“Well, that is everfrigid water. I’ve seen a few people fall into it before, and all of them died instantly....”

“This....” Nobody was really completely sure of what to say. The situation really seemed very strange.

However, that was when, all of a sudden, the eyes of one of the cultivators in the audience went so wide they almost popped out of his skull. Pointing up at the stars, he shouted, “S-swim... he... h-he’s... he’s swimming again!!”

Quivering, everyone looked up at the climbing star, whereupon gasping sounds began to ring out.

Moments before, back in the yellow trial by fire, within the black sea-like channel of water, Bai Xiaochun’s head had just popped up into the open. Taking a deep breath, he shivered and looked around, his face looking a bit blue.

“Where the hell am I?” he thought, shivering on the verge of tears. “I feel like I’m about to freeze to death.” By now, he was convinced that these trials by fire weren’t fun at all. They either involved searing heat or freezing cold, and were all a torment.

“If it weren’t for that medicinal plant, I definitely wouldn’t come to this place. What kind of a crappy trial by fire is this?” At the moment, he was mostly out of options. Flight was restricted, and the sword was nowhere to be seen. Therefore, he decided that he might as well start swimming through the frigidly cold water....

“Don’t tell me this trial by fire is a test of swimming skill?” Sighing and shivering, he proceeded to swim forward. As he did, the people watching on the outside devolved into complete chaos.

Of course, Bai Xiaochun had no way of knowing that. As he swam along, the freezing cold caused his face to turn bluer and bluer. Even his joints started stiffening up. It was at that point that he realized the frigid qi in the area was actually boring into his pores and swirling into his Heaven-Dao Gold Core.

“Eee? Don’t tell me the frigid qi here can actually help my cultivation?” Without any hesitation, he unleashed his Frigid School Will-Evolving Incantation, sending frigid qi swirling out from inside of him. In the blink of an eye, it had filled the entire area.

In response, the frigid qi in the water around him suddenly began to surge toward him. Cracking sounds could be heard and the sea began to freeze as the qi rushed into Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun’s mind was spinning as his Heaven-Dao Gold Core rotated with maddening speed, constantly absorbing the frigid qi and building up greater reserves.

Delighted, Bai Xiaochun drew even more deeply upon the Frigid School Will-Evolving Incantation, watching as the absorbed frigid qi caused his Heaven-Dao Gold Core to slowly increase in size. At the same time, his cultivation base began to advance!

Before, he had been in the mid Gold Core stage, but now, he was rapidly approaching the late Gold Core stage. Furthermore, he was also moving away from the Frigid Adept level, and nearing the Frigid Master level.

This sudden stroke of good fortune left Bai Xiaochun feeling so ecstatic that he couldn’t help but cry out at the top of his lungs.

“Good fortune! Woohoo! This trial by fire is awesome. I can't believe there’s so much good fortune to be had! Hahaha!” Thrilled, he began to absorb the frigid qi at an even more rapid pace. Gradually, a whirlpool began to build up around him as nearly all of the frigid qi within the sea of water began to madly rush in his direction. Eventually, the water ceased being black, and started becoming increasingly transparent.

One could well imagine how, if all of the water in the sea began clear, it would no longer be a channel of frigidly cold liquid.

Everyone on the outside was watching with gaping jaws, completely struck numb by the god-like performance being put on by Bai Xiaochun.

“Were the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars trials made for this guy?”

“He swam through the red trial by fire, and sought enlightenment in the orange one. And now in the yellow trial he’s practicing cultivation?!”

“What’s going on!?!?”

A whole din of voices could be heard, most of them filled with jealousy. Big Fatty Zhang and the other Dao protectors sighed in relief, except for Song Que, whose eyelids were twitching, and whose hands were clenched into fists as he thought back to the Fallen Sword World....

“Wherever Bai Xiaochun goes, he razes the place to the ground!” he growled through gritted teeth.

Many people throughout the rainbow districts of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect were now watching Bai Xiaochun, and could hear his exclamations of delight at how his cultivation base was rising. As of this moment, he was only about 3,000 meters away from the exit, but had already stopped swimming and was just floating there, reveling in the feeling of growing stronger.

“Hahaha! This place really is like a holy land for me!” Bai Xiaochun watched excitedly as his cultivation base continued to climb. Just when he was thinking that breaking through to the late Gold Core stage in this place wasn't just a dream after all, he got the intense feeling that someone was watching him.

Looking up nervously, he saw that the gigantic blacksmith was staring straight down at him....

Bai Xiaochun shivered as an intense sensation of deadly crisis spread through him. As quickly as possible, he stopped absorbing the frigid qi.

“Okay, I guess I’ll leave now th--” Before he could offer any explanation, the blacksmith howled and began to swing his enormous hammer down toward Bai Xiaochun.

Shrieking, Bai Xiaochun began to swim like mad. As the hammer descended, the black liquid in the channel filled with waves from the force of the incoming blow.

Blood sprayed out of Bai Xiaochun’s mouth as the waves swept him about. Then, he sent frigid qi surging out of him, not for 3,000 meters, but instead for 9,000 meters, causing everything to turn to ice. Although flight was prohibited, Bai Xiaochun could use his frigid qi clones to switch positions in something like a teleportation, which was exactly the method he employed to race toward the exit.

Almost as soon as he vanished, the huge hammer smashed down into the spot he had just occupied, shattering the layers of ice and sending a huge shockwave out in all directions. Blood sprayed out of Bai Xiaochun’s mouth, and yet, he still managed to accelerate.

He was now very close to the exit, but in the blink of an eye, the blacksmith had raised his hammer and was sending it back down. Shrieking, Bai Xiaochun barreled through the exit of the yellow trial by fire and was teleported to the next level.

Upon seeing Bai Xiaochun vanish, the huge blacksmith snorted coldly, then looked down at the black water, frowning. He had not swung his hammer with full force just now; if he had, Bai Xiaochun would never have escaped. This blacksmith was different from the stone golems, and was actually on good terms with the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. As such, when this insect came along and began to steal his frigid liquid, all he could do was drive him away.

Everyone who saw what had just occurred was left gasping in shock. In fact, more gasps had come out of the mouths of these disciples than normally could be heard in a whole year.

“He actually pissed off the guardian....”

“He’s not challenging the trials by fire, he’s actually there to steal stuff!!” Angry exclamations and expressions of disbelief could be heard everywhere. Almost no one outside of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars trials was sure whether to laugh or cry.

“In any case, this Bai Xiaochun is definitely a top Chosen. However he managed it, he's gotten through three trials, and is closing in on the top 1,000!”

“Yeah, well let's see how he does in the next challenge. It’s incredibly difficult. If he gets past it, he’ll be in the top 500!!”

Although Zhao Yidong was already in the fourth challenge, nobody was even paying attention to him anymore. Everyone was looking closely at Bai Xiaochun’s star, and wondering how he would fare in the fourth level, the green trial by fire!