There was no sensation of weightlessness, nor any feeling of deceleration. The Grey Fox's technological prowess was reflected to perfection in these subtle details, making it feel as if the Cicada Metamorphosis Pod had not operated at all.
Yet when the hatch opened, what met Yaxiu's eyes was merely an unfamiliar underground palace. A faint scent of mildew seemed to linger in the damp air. The pure-white flagstone avenue appeared seamlessly cast as a single piece without a single crack, beneath a dazzling yet unpretentious golden dome.
The trial was still a trial; nothing had changed.
Yet the person who could share a cup toasted to their homeland, a cup toasted to the past, was gone. From this moment on, all he had left was the distant horizon and tomorrow.
Yaxiu drew his sharp blade, stepped straight out of the Cicada Metamorphosis Pod, sent ripples across the water-drenched white flagstones, and charged at Silver Lantern, who had just emerged from her own pod!
*Clang!*
Without sorcery spirits, without miracles, the two nevertheless exchanged dozens of offenses and defenses within mere seconds. The Sword of Honeyed Words and Belly Dagger traded hands back and forth, splashing water across the floor, their limbs moving so swiftly that their afterimages were nearly impossible to catch.
They seemed like mortal enemies sworn unto death, every strike aimed to kill, yet they were also close companions who understood each other better than anyone else, unable to inflict the slightest injury no matter how ferocious or brutal their attacks were!
Though there was no distinct physical sensation, both acutely realized at this moment that their twins truly were gone.
Because the power of the twins had already flowed into their souls along the trajectory of miracles. The seamless, almost choreographed dance of combat unfolding between them right now was the clearest proof.
Before this, their senses could at most foresee only a single layer into the future. For instance, Yaxiu could foresee what Weise would do next, and Weise could foresee what Yaxiu would do in response; after they each made their adjustments, they would continue foreseeing the next step.
Precisely because they had to adjust their decisions at every moment, their earlier clash had ended in mutual devastation—each could use cunning adaptations to raise the difficulty of the other's calculations, thereby catching them off guard.
Now, however, both Yaxiu and Weise felt that they could see the future with absolute clarity.
The future they saw was one that already accounted for the fact that the opponent could also clearly foresee it. After infinite overlapping iterations of decisions, their foresight converged into a flawless spiral. No matter how fiercely or brutally they fought, neither could inflict any harm upon the other.
In a daze, they realized they were no longer merely seeing the future clearly—it was closer to weaving fate itself.
Both saw that neither of them would die in this brawl, and so neither of them would be hurt.
Almost at the exact same instant, Yaxiu and Weise stopped. Yaxiu then retreated three steps, widening the distance between them.
When both could see the future clearly, maintaining a safe distance was no longer necessary. Even pressed flush against each other, neither could assassinate the other. No spatial distance, however vast, provided a greater sense of security than being an instant away in time.
Yaxiu's movement was merely a statement of his attitude.
Weise walked up to him quite relaxed, a rare trace of a smile even surfacing in her voice. "Was there a fleeting moment where you wished all of this was just an illusion?"
"We are creatures of that sort: when heartbroken and sorrowful, we wish everything were just a nightmare so that upon waking, we've lost nothing; when blissful and happy, we fear everything is just a sweet dream so that upon waking, we possess nothing."
"Only eternity fears no loss; only eternity possesses all things. Even if you kill me, so what? What is meant to be lost still will not return."
"Such is the sorrow of living in illusion."
Yaxiu gazed at the figure behind the fox mask. "Are you really that terrified of death, Silver Lantern?"
As if she had heard a joke, Weise sneered, "Me? Terrified of death?"
"It is precisely because of fear that you so stubbornly look forward to the journey beyond death, going so far as to romanticize it and pray for it," Yaxiu said. "Though who isn't afraid? After all, death strips away all tangible things. Someone with nothing like you would naturally seek every possible means to escape death."
"But we are different," he said. "Love, respect, friendship, yearning—the treasures we hold dear cannot be diminished in the slightest, not even by death. Our thoughts and longing will pierce the veil of death to keep us connected."
The effects of the cicada metamorphosis were almost undetectable.
Had he not known about it explicitly, Yaxiu might have assumed this sensory enhancement was simply a qualitative breakthrough from his own efforts. Fortunately, he knew of all the silent sacrifices, which allowed him to remember that the twin's longing flowed within his blood and bones.
"What meaning is there in that lofty nonsense, thirty feet off the ground, that only survivors are entitled to spout?" Weise scoffed. "If there had been a chance to keep your other half alive, would you have given it up? Just now, you wanted to kill me simply because I took one of the slots, and in your humiliated rage you felt I robbed him of his chance to survive. But was I supposed to die up there in your place? It's not like I forced you into this trial!"
Yaxiu looked at her in silence, then finally nodded. "Indeed. You truly did nothing wrong just now; I was merely venting my anger on you. And those words of mine were nothing more than eulogies heard from a necromancer, mere comfort that the living offer themselves..."
"But you had to fight tooth and nail for that pod, while I was placed into mine." Yaxiu gently wiped the corners of his eyes and said earnestly, "That is the difference between you and me."
Weise had originally intended to seize this opportunity to torment Yaxiu thoroughly.
Guilt, rage, despair, dejection, sorrow, fear... anything would do. Even if he wanted to fight her for three days and three nights, she wouldn't have cared. She simply wanted to see Yaxiu hysterical—twisted with fury, weeping in sorrow, or even better, hurling curses at her.
*Am I not the finest target for your venting? Let all your negative emotions erupt before your enemy. Show me your pathetic state as you are tormented by fate. Let me see how miserable, how hideous, how desperate, how... endearing it truly is.*
What she detested most was this very demeanor: seeing the truth of fate clearly, yet calmly accepting the outcome and continuing to cherish life.
"You truly are a detestable person."
"The feeling is mutual."
Continuing to fight was pointless, so they decided to begin the final trial. Once victory was decided in the trial, life and death would naturally be settled.
The pure-white avenue led deep into the palace. Oddly enough, flowing water submerged the walkway ankle-deep the entire way. It was not due to the underground river seeping in from disrepair; the non-slip treatment on the floor made it obvious that the flowing water was an intended part of the palace's architecture.
They glanced back. The Cicada Metamorphosis Pods stood at the starting point of the pure-white avenue. Behind them was a dead end sealed by a wall carved with a massive cicada relief. Having come this far, even though they had seen no documents or records along the way, the name of the hall alone was enough for them to vaguely guess that this trial was likely connected to the Grand Law of the Fangyuan Cicada from the Fire Cat Divine Era.
Yaxiu and Weise stepped onto the stone avenue side by side. It was almost humorous: two people who had fought tooth and nail to kill each other at every meeting were now advancing together in calm accord. It was not because reconciliation was near, but because they knew the end was approaching.
The palace's terrain sloped downward the deeper it went. The starting point was actually the highest elevation, and the water flowed down from there. Every so often, four white pillar columns supported the ceiling.
Weise did not pay it much mind, but Yaxiu found it somewhat familiar: a white avenue, white pillars, a golden dome... He felt as though he had seen this combination somewhere before...
Soon, they spotted an anomaly—stone pedestals supporting statues had appeared on both sides of the corridor!
A statue sat upright upon one of the pedestals. Its features were unremarkable, but its attire swiftly drew the attention of Yaxiu and Weise: it was the exact same combat suit they were currently wearing!
It was a statue of a past trialist!
Their immediate reaction was: had former trialists been turned to stone? Was this Divine Fire Trial a harvest scheme, an outright scam?
Beneath the pedestal, however, was a nameplate: *Bulanduo Wubainian, Legendary Sorcerer, ascetic faction specialist.*
Seeing this, a thread of bewilderment arose in both of their hearts. It was normal for regular trialists to be duped, but could a Legendary Sorcerer be duped as well?
At this moment, Weise's finest quality found its use—faced with something that might be a living organism, she slapped it without hesitation, completely unconcerned with what might be inside.
Yet against Weise's strike, the statue remained entirely unscathed. Instead, ripples spread across the water over the flagstones. Both instantly realized this was a miracle of Kinetic Energy Transfer; any impact dealt to the statue was diverted and distributed across the floor.
Even though their combat prowess was now firmly superior to that of Two Wings sorcerers, shattering the earth with bare hands was still beyond them. Even Slay All Crows couldn't do it... or at least, might not be able to.
They pressed forward, finding the corridor lined wall-to-wall with statues on both sides. Every single statue depicted a Legendary Sorcerer—not a single Sanctuary among them! At this point, even Weise didn't believe these statues contained real people. Several dozen Legendary Sorcerers all getting tricked into stone statues? Did they think Legendary Sorcerers lacked miracles of prophecy, truth, and fate? Even if they couldn't withstand the danger, couldn't they foresee it?
Yet the Divine Fire Trial here was supposed to host sixteen people at a time, consuming at least fifteen each round. Could it be that during the Grey Fox Divine Era, Sanctuaries were as cheap as dirt and Legends walked everywhere, to the point that Legends were used as expendable fuel?
Weise quickly realized the flaw in her reasoning: the victor being a Legend did not mean the other trialists were Legends. It was far more likely to be fifteen ordinary people plus one Legend, consuming ordinary people to help the Legendary Sorcerer complete the trial ritual.
In other words, these statues were likely part of an honors hall, serving as mere decorations... right?
Yaxiu considered a possibility. "They won't suddenly come back to life and turn us into statues, will they?"
"Impossible," Weise said calmly. "Time is the most potent poison. People can forget things just from sleeping. These statues have existed for at least two centuries. If a person truly woke up after two centuries of slumber, they would probably forget who they were entirely, perhaps even having to relearn how to crawl..."
Both fell silent. Yaxiu reflected on why he had opened his mouth, and Weise reflected on why she had answered.
After walking for ten minutes, they finally reached the end of the palace corridor.
There stood a dais bearing a torch. The torch burned with a prismatic divine fire, shifting between blazing white, ghostly blue, and pale purple. The moment their eyes fell upon the torch, their senses began foreseeing frantically. Across countless overlapping futures of decision-making, they saw the identical scene: they touched the divine fire, their entire bodies ignited with flames of various colors, resonated with the Void Realm, and thoroughly metamorphosed into Divine Fire Seeds!
They didn't merely "see" it. The instant they foresaw that future, the divine fire had already begun burning upon them.
Yaxiu and Weise's expressions changed drastically. They instantly realized what bizarre trickery this was—how outrageous! The divine fire required no physical contact at all; the moment they "touched" it within their sensory foresight, the divine fire traversed their perception and flared directly onto them!
The medium for the divine fire's combustion was neither matter, nor sight, nor sound, but perception!
No wonder two people had to be left to enter the final trial. If there had been only one, they might have used a sleeve or something similar to test it in foresight. But with two competitors present, the very first foresight would inevitably involve charging forward to claim the divine fire fully, thereby triggering this mechanism!
They had no way to shake off the divine fire's blaze, forced to watch helplessly as their flesh burned translucent. In an instant, both became figures of vitreous fire. Then... as the final wisp of divine fire subsided into their bodies, Yaxiu turned to look at Silver Lantern. He saw that not only was her mask intact, but even her clothes were unblemished. Clearly, the divine fire did not burn tangible matter.
He checked his condition carefully, finding that his soul was largely unchanged. The sorcery spirits were sleeping as usual; his soul merely felt slightly more condensed, and the sorcery spirits seemed to sleep even more soundly.
This was the final trial? No missing limbs, no fried brains, not even a combat phase?
Unbelievable. If it wasn't meant to harm them, why flare up so abruptly?!
Still, this meant...
Yaxiu looked at Weise, his right hand tightening on his hilt, his gaze turning cold. Since there was no chance to dispatch Silver Lantern through the trial, it came down to a fight to the death.
Right then, a thunderous roar rumbled from behind. Yaxiu turned his head to see the statues along the corridor beginning to crumble, shedding ash-like crusts. Something seemed to be stirring within, poised to see the light of day once more.
Yet he felt little surprise; rather, a heavy weight lifted from his chest. In a trial so steeped in sinister mystery, it would have been weirder if a sudden flock of statues didn't require a fight.
"Ugh..."
Yaxiu looked back and saw Silver Lantern hugging herself tightly, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably. Though her expression remained hidden behind the fox mask, she had clearly fallen into an adverse state, unable to maintain even a facade of composure.
Take advantage of her vulnerability?
The thought had barely crossed Yaxiu's mind when his body honestly drew his sword and charged. But at that exact moment, an unimaginable upheaval occurred.
He was blasted back by a torrent of golden water.
A sphere of golden water suddenly manifested outside Silver Lantern and detonated in an instant. An endless, surging golden torrent blasted the ill-intentioned Yaxiu straight away. Not only Silver Lantern, but all the other statues were likewise shattered by golden water spheres, unleashing a tempestuous surge of golden water that converged into a flood through the palace corridor.
Yet the golden flood did not rush toward the torch dais at the bottom of the palace. Instead, it surged upstream, flowing toward the starting point where the Cicada Metamorphosis Pods lay!
Swept up by the deluge, Yaxiu and Weise collided as they were carried along, both glimpsing irrepressible horror in each other's eyes!
This endless golden water that seemed to spring from nowhere—how could high-tier sorcerers like them fail to recognize it?!
This was water from the Flowing Gold River, a spectacle of the Void Realm from the Time Continent!
At that moment, Yaxiu suddenly noticed an oddity: why was the Flowing Gold River's water erupting from Silver Lantern and the statues, while nothing whatsoever happened to him?
He quickly deduced the answer: the only conduit connecting reality to the Void Realm was the Gate of Truth. The Gates of Truth of Silver Lantern and the statues were likely connected to the Flowing Gold River, turning them into source nodes for its tributaries.
And he didn't have a Gate of Truth at all.
Chapter 591