Chapter 45: Trial (2)
Taking a deep breath Shen calmed his wildly beating heart. At these moments the worst thing he could do was to be too tense and fail to react properly.
Just a moment ago he was completely sure that he didn’t step in any strands of qi but the trap still triggered. Not to mention the force behind those arrows were unimaginable for him.
What now? The simple answer that came to his mind was stepping on the pentagram shape formed by the connection of qi from different statues. As the path connects toward the podium in the middle, the pentagram shape becomes higher in number and smaller in size. Anyone who sees this will naturally take it as the trigger for traps. Similar to the concept the closer you are to the goal. The more danger you are in.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen jumped on the pentagram. He knew the danger. The traps might not just be arrows. Inside the hall, there were only skeletons and not any weapons. Most likely they died by something that's not an arrow. And what kind of attack it was, Shen had no idea.
Like before he jumped back as soon as his feet touched the floor.
2 seconds... 3 seconds...
'Nothing, does that mean I successfully avoided the trap? Then maybe for the next 12 steps, I'll have to step on the pentagrams to avoid the traps. I can only try this, I will figure out what to do after the next twelve steps.'
Like Shen guessed the next twelve steps were smooth and he successfully avoided triggering any traps. Even though, Shen avoided the traps. The whole time his senses were tense, indicating the danger of his life.
Alternating the 12 steps from before Shen decided to step on the space without any pentagram or strand of qi. The same choice he took at first. Unlike how he expected a trap to trigger, there was nothing.
Like this, Shen passed 144 meters out of 200 meters. This was also the place where the first skeleton died. The skeleton had a pair of wings on its back and it was blood red in color. Even now there was a faint hint of bloodlust in the bones. With a wave of his palm, Shen stored the skeleton inside the Absolute Realm. Just three meters away from Shen was a human skeleton, right beside it was a skeleton with a pair of horns.
He didn't choose this path on a whim. He chose this path because it had the most skeletons. While it might seem silly that this path is the most dangerous one, in fact, it wasn't. The reason the other places had less amount of skeletons was anyone hardly chose those paths. In fact, every path was the same. No matter which path someone takes, the difficulty is the same for everyone.
Now, the 145th step, also around the space where most of the experts lost their life. If he could count from his position, the number would amount to 48, while the total number of the skeletons were 63.
It shows the overwhelming number of deaths around this space. Or to say, the real trial starts from here. He couldn’t use the same methods he used until now. The pentagram on the floor changed to circle with different type of symbols.
As he carefully looked through the symbols he on the circle, he realized he knew them. After spending 10 minutes he finally figured out, this was from Absolute Alchemy. Rather than triggering traps, its used for strengthening the effect of different types of herbs, treasure or even vital energy. But to lay such a formation, one needs various types of rare metals and herbs. And one would need at least the power of the Divine Realm to lay a small amount of this formation.
As for such a large formation, it might take someone who already surpassed the boundary of this cultivation world.
This thought caused Shen’s heart to beat wildly. If what he guessed was really true, then this was an Ascension Realm experts legacy? Even with Shen’s two cheats, he can assuredly say that he will reach the Ascension. But he won’t dare to say his path will be extremely smooth. After all, it was a realm that was a peak of Kyushu.
But if he really managed to obtain an Ascension Realm experts legacy, breaking through the said realm won't be a dream. It will be something he will say with assurance. After all other than Talent and Cheats, there was something else that cultivators needed.
Fruitious encounter! Only with fortuitous encounter did many experts surpassed their current limits and became a Dragon among men and Phoenix among birds.
Shen calmed his wildly beating heart. Same tactic as before he will rush inside and come back with his fastest speed. But he will take extra measures this time. The best methods of defense he had so far was Earth Qi. If he uses Absolute Qi his defense will be strengthened by five times.
Chaos color Qi enveloped Shen's body as only his eyes were left to see the world. He jumped passed the circle as his feet landed on the empty space. As soon as his feet touched the floor he shifted his force backward.
But there was something that was faster than Shen. Black fire from the floor, a bamboo twig from the left and a big lump of metal from right side surrounded him in an instant.
The world slowed down in Shen's eyes. He finally understood why so many experts fell in this place. He hugely underestimated this trial.
Triggering the trap and going back to his original position? With his pitiful speed? He couldn’t even react as the three forces already surrounded him.
The black fire on the floor burned the Absolute Qi and caught Shen’s left foot. The metal collided on Shen’s right shoulder, sending him flying fifty meters above the ground. The bamboo twig pierced his Absolute Qi defense easily but it slowed down the momentum greatly. If not for the metal’s hard push, it would have pierced his heart.
As Shen’s body flew above the floor more bamboo twigs flew on his direction. But before they pierce the fragile body disappeared out of thin air. The bamboo twigs flew in different directions before falling on the ground.
The eyes of the four symbols (mythical beasts) lit up again as the space inside the hall vibrated before everything returned back to its normal state. There was no arrow inside the hall neither any bamboo twig or the big lump of the metal. If it was not for the missing skeleton nobody would even know if someone entered this place or not.