Zane gasped, but it felt as though he was outside his body, not quite there. No, his body felt slowed, stuck, while his mind was intact. Whatever skill it was, it was preventing him from the psychological effects of 'drowning'.
He moved his arm, but it was slow, and the guandao struck his arm. He pushed himself back despite the effort and tried to move. How was it that he could sense the effects of drowning physically? But couldn't feel the inherent pain?
He knew what drowning felt like, recalled it intimately as well. When he'd been young, some of the kids in the Royal Academy of Evangeline had been angry with him for a long time. 'For what?' Zane couldn't quite recall.
But they'd tried to drown him in the lake during one of the competitions the academy hosted. If it hadn't been for his brother, yet again, he'd have died.
Water had its own mind, he'd give it that, and unlike the God Zhurong, Zane did not look down on Gong Gong's purpose. He instead dragged his own finger along Ember's blade.
[You have triggered the elemental nature of Ember!]
[Ignis lvl 1 is responding to your mana!]
The sword glowed a sheen of orange in runic alphabets before it heated up. Zane swung the sword at the ground and felt steam hiss.
[An elemental reaction has taken place!]
[Both attacks have been nullified!]
Zane immediately parried and defended himself against the incoming blow that the guandao brought.
[Little player] Gong Gong said, his eyes glowering at Zane. [You dare to challenge water? With fire? Is that you again?! Huh Zhurong!? Is it this wretched system wanting to bring me to shame again?!]
[The Second God of the semi-genesis tale is baring his weapon at the bureaucracy!]
[
[
While it was true that Gong Gong was being referred to as a God, it wasn't linguistically accurate. There existed beings beyond the watchers, for example, the creator of the skill that somehow had resonated within Rhian.
Yet, the ranking once again depended on perspective and how one chose to look at it. In the tale, Gong Gong was a God. And as long as his story remained as a semi-genesis, or rather, less known, the system would never bother acknowledging his 'name'.
They'd refer to him as second every time without another thought. Zane couldn't help but feel pity for him.
Gong Gong was surely an ill-tempered man who was rather crude, but he was kind with his actions. He healed lands destroyed by Zhurong and offered water to those who needed it.
"I am not related to Zhurong," Zane told him.
[Is that so?] Gong Gong asked. [Yet you wield fire, player]
"Fire is an element," Zane said as he dodged another incoming blow. "Just like water is. The thing that wronged you is not the element, but rather the person who stands for it!"
[The First God of the semi-genesis tale is showing animosity towards you!]
Black shards of repercussion struck the other statue behind him.
[You speak well, but I will not be ashamed again!]
Zane blocked the incoming attacks, but it was only due to the fact he had increased his stats to some degree.
[You've triggered the 1st attribute of Wisteria!]
[The attribute, Defender is strongly activated!]
[You have triggered the elemental nature of Wisteria!]
[Electrus lvl 6 is on standby!]
[
[
Now, with this combination, Zane needed one thing the most. And that was to enrage Gong Gong enough to make him trigger 'it'. Zane used Wisteria to grab a pillar and pull himself away, narrowly escaping a nearly fatal hit.
[Little player, this is irking me!]
[The Second God of the semi-genesis tale is angry!]
[Time limit: 10 minutes]
Zane really wished he'd listened to his mother and trained his right hand more, if he had, then he'd be better off using both his hands at the moment. Gong Gong moved fast and in a split second was in front of Zane.
Zane grabbed the other end of Wisteria with the hand that used Ember. He used the whip as a shield while simultaneously using his sword.
[
[
[100 species have been sponsored for entertainment!]
Zane grunted as he was shoved back into a wall and then brought closer to one of the green fires.
Zane bit hard into his bottom lip.
[Temporary skill, Golden Thread lvl 6 has been activated!]
The golden threads formed a web behind him that prevented him from being pushed into the green fire basin.
[Your fatigue is rising!]
Zane turned on his footing and slipped away from the side, leaving the guandao to cut through the webs left behind.
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats is reminding you if the skirmish is not over under the time limit, you'll become imprisoned in the Temple's spire!]
Zane gritted his teeth. 'Why was that a recurring idea? To be shoved into the spire and used as life support if you didn't finish the requirement?'
Albeit, he knew Gong Gong must've gotten a similar warning of sorts. The half-serpent man seemed even more angry than prior.
[Time limit: 3 minutes!]
[The Second God of the semi-genesis tale has triggered personal skill, Floods of the South lvl??]
Zane felt terrible doing this now.
Gong Gong charged at him again, and this time Zane felt the same feeling once more. He was drowning, but at the same time wasn't. The water was metaphorical, and his body was responding to it.
[Die! Let me be given a second chance!]
[Some
[
[You've triggered electrus!]
Electricity surged through him and amplified at the tip for Ember. Zane pointed the sword towards Gong Gong. "Forgive me, but I can't die just yet," he said.
[Time limit: 2 minutes]
[Elemental reaction has taken place!]
Gong Gong let out a scream so loud Zane felt his own core shake. It held the poor man's worst nightmare and his own kindness that had been weaponized.
[Ignis and Electrus have dissipated any hydrus and have impacted the Second God of the semi-genesis tale!]
[I won't die so easily, you—]
But what was water against the sky?
Gong Gong screamed until the time limit ran out and then he went silent. In his place lay the pieces of rock that had once made up the statue of Gong Gong.
[You've defeated one of the Gods of the semi-genesis tale!]
[You've earned 5000 species]
Zane crouched down next to the rubble and picked up a piece that seemed to be the water God's heart.
[You've earned a story vestige!]
The rock gave way to an aquamarine jewel. 'Wait,' Zane paused, opening Clandestine Chest to see the items he'd gotten from the Fenghuang.
He sighed in content when he noticed that the both of them were as he hoped, connected.
[
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats suggests you leave the fourth dungeon]
Zane glanced at the rubble that once held Gong Gong's statue. It was quite pitiful indeed. After Zhurong had cast Gong Gong back to the mountain, and the floods had begun, one may think it ended there.
But no, his suffering didn't end. Zane recalled the reasoning he'd read in the book, which had been annotated by someone who read it before him.
〈 But in the villages that remained, old women still whispered, 'He did not mean to break the pillar. He only wanted to prove that water could be as mighty as fire. He only wanted to be seen.'
Nüwa came after. She gathered five-colored stones and melted them to patch the sky. She slew a giant turtle and used its legs to brace the four corners of the earth. The world was saved.
And Gonggong?
He was never seen again.
Some say he sank to the bottom of the eastern sea, still grieving. Some say he became the rain that falls without being asked.
And some say, on nights when the river runs high and the moon is thin, you can hear a voice beneath the waves, not angry, not vengeful, only tired.
Asking why no one ever asked what he wanted.〉
[
Zane glanced up at the message from the Temple Lord. "No," he said. "I need to search for a piece of the amulet."
'Half of the amulet was with Shu Meiying, who was fighting against Hua Huiliang, and the other half was here, the other piece was with someone else.'
It didn't matter who had the amulet, as long as it was in the Temple, there was no way the main trial or the auxiliary would come to an end. Even if Hua Huiliang killed Shu Meiying and retrieved the half of the amulet, it would mean only the passing of the main trial.
This Jade Palace? It would become a hub for trouble. If the amulet was in the hands of the Temple Lord, he would have to take him down.
'It was not implausible, given that the Temple Lord wasn't necessarily a 'watcher', thus fighting them was something achievable. Albeit, I wouldn't be able to do so alone.' Zane gritted his teeth.
He decided to check the dungeon once before he made any claims that would get him killed. Searching for the amulet was better than threatening to kill the Temple Lord.
—
Rhian climbed up to the roof of the fifth floor that hung off the edge. 'Finally.'
When he had speculated how to climb the palace from outside, he had noted that there was a balcony for the fourth floor. He initially wanted to use the ropes of lifeless lanterns and talismans but decided against them due to being weaker.
He had ended up using Golden Thread to drag himself up.
From what he was able to deduce using the logic of all 'Temples', it was clear that the Jade Palace was just a pseudo for the new Temple that came to be in Draknir. That being said, he had spent enough time observing it through numerous different dungeons.
He hadn't run into Zane or any of those mentioned in the list of participants. It was said that Lu Huan was here, yet Rhian couldn't trace the older man's mana even the last bit.
He gazed out at the ruins that lay outside the palace. In the distance, he could see his father and Shu Meiying still fighting, or at least, the mana that they were erupting in loud bursts of light.
[
Rhian clicked his tongue and stood on the narrow roof. It didn't matter how many dungeons they kept finishing. Unlike the 31st Temple, where there was a singular dungeon, it seemed that the Temple's spirits within the jade palace were much stronger and their strength allowed the formation of these many dungeons.
'That leaves the same method again,' he thought to himself. 'Find the spire. And kill the creatures powering this place.'
He had scoured the entire place and could tell that the temple world encased a great imperial palace, and the topmost floor, the twentieth, had to hold the spirits.
It was either that method or it was finding and killing the Temple Lord. However, no matter how much he had searched, he hadn't found a telltale 'throne'.
He scoffed to himself and activated Golden Thread. The golden tendrils shot out of his fingertips and he jumped off the roof. He continued falling until the tendrils wrapped themselves around the tenth floor's roof.
He pulled himself up and repeated the process until he was at the narrow protrusion of the twentieth floor, in front of a translucent window. Furthermore, he pressed his palm against it and began mustering mana into it, then began vibrating as it absorbed it.
[You're using an unorthodox method!]
[Repercussions will be given for skipping the previous floors!]
Black shards exploded around him, cutting into his skin and drawing out blood. He hissed but continued to push mana into the window until the thing became oversaturated with it and shattered. Rhian fell inside the room it had sealed off and felt the breath leave his lungs.
[Earned skill, Golden Thread lvl 6 has been activated!]
He managed to grab the chandelier above before he plummeted and broke some bones. He slowly lowered himself to the ground and paused, glancing around. It wasn't pitch black, but neither was it well lit, and Golden Thread and the chandelier seemed to be the only things lighting the place up.
[You've entered the Temple's Spire!]
Basins on the edge of the room began filling with pits of the same jade fire. Rhian was hesitant about this, given that unlike the last time, he didn't have any key to open any 'door' for him. However, considering that he was already in…
When the last fire had lit, Rhian's eyes narrowed at what lay in the midst of it all.
[
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats is frowning!]
[The Temple Lord, He Who Drinks the Blood of Ten Thousand Defeats demands you leave the spire!]
An intricate array was drawn over the floor of the spire, connecting to each of the nine basins of fire. Rhian inspected it carefully, walking in between the lines to ensure there were no breakings in the drawing.
Once he had inspected it thoroughly, he came to a conclusion. 'This must be the 'key'.'
He moved to the middle of the array and crouched down. He closed his eyes and mustered mana into his palms as he rested them flat on the ground.
[4% mana is in use!]
[The array is taking in your mana greedily!]
Rhian used the blood from wounds he'd gotten by the repercussion shards to place onto the array formation. He was never particularly good at using just his 'mana' with how late he'd started, but his expertise lay within arrays.
Arrays didn't always require mana. Spiritual energy and blood worked just fine, but then the ties became more intimate.
The moment more than two drops of blood were given, the array began glowing a sheen of gold and lit the entire space up.
[
Rhian hesitated. The lines of the array under him changed, as though unlocking a design-based lock, and within moments he was plummeting again. 'Seriously?! Again?'
[ Veiled Trial: ␣ One of The Temple's Main Monsters
Grade: B
Time Limit: ??
Conditions: ␣ one of the temple's main monsters!
Failure: You will be sealed within the spire!
*The Main Trial will continue.
Reward: 10,000 species ]
[Earned skill, Golden Thread lvl 6 has been activated!]
He held onto the same chandelier and lowered himself to the 'ground' slowly. It didn't quite feel like ground, as it felt… wet. Almost like salt flats. The ceiling above him closed off and the basins in the corner of the room lit up with the same pits of fire again.
Rhian frowned as he spotted a bed, except there seemed to be someone resting on top of it. As he approached closer, he noticed a child.
His blood iced.
There were these… thin tendrils that had been impaled into the child's chest and surrounded their head. 'What was this?'
The child, by their features, seemed to be a young girl. Rhian immediately reached for the tendrils. Was she powering the temple? How could a child so young do such a task? As he stared at her face, he couldn't help but feel as though he'd seen her somewhere.
〈"Gege!"
Rhian had stopped at that voice, he turned around on Xinghe Du to see a young girl approaching him.
"What can I do for you?" He asked.
"Can you please buy one of these hair swords?!" she asked, bowing as she held up a couple of hair swords.
"Hey, hey, you don't have to bow," Rhian said as he crouched to her level. It must be because he was wearing the imperial robes for the meeting Hua Huiliang was asking him to attend. "Can you tell me about these?"
She peeked up to meet his eyes and Rhian watched as they filled with something close to light. Little golden eyes which seemed much warmer. "Okay, okay," Rhian said as she began buzzing with happiness.
He glanced at the hair swords, they looked delicately crafted. Some had a flower on their tips, and some had a phoenix. "Did you make these yourself?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied. "I used mana to mend broken glass."
"That's quite a genius idea," he said. She beamed at him. "What are the prices?"
"Five hundred species each!" she said.
"You should sell it for more since you are the one who made it."
"Okay, a thousand," she said.
Rhian reached for his pouch and pulled out two parchment notes, each of a thousand species each. "There you go," he said. "I'll take these two."
He chose the hair sword with a gold rose for Hua Yi and one with a phoenix for Hua Anhe. The girl handed it to him and beamed at the money. "Thank you so much, gege!" 〉
Rhian stared in horror at what it had come down to.