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Chapter 40: The Third Trial, Part 4
The trial was still ongoing, and the gods were anticipating what was about to occur. Dan Cianxi and Shui Haixiao were hiding behind a large boulder in the flower field when they heard a voice on the small device Xin Yue had given them.
"U-Uhh... everyone?" It was a feminine voice.
Dan Cianxi pushed the small button and replied, "Yes, what is it?" She asked while looking at Shui Haixiao, who was giving her a meaningful gaze.
"U-Uhh." The female's voice seemed faltering and scared, but she still tried to make her voice clearer. "We were at our designated position on the west side of the wide lake. This place is filled with human statues. I don't know—it seemed weird to me. I'm scared, Sister Cianxi."
"I understand," Dan Cianxi replied as she nodded to Shui Haixiao. "For now, try to be calm and alert. There might be suspicious things or creatures in there, so prepare your weapons," Dan Cianxi instructed.
"Yeah," the woman replied, and the conversation came to an end. Shui Haixiao made a circling motion with her hand, and two to three small blue mermaids appeared. The small blue mermaids flew around Shui Haixiao's body, making high-pitched sounds. "Hihihihi!~ We'll play later! Go to the west side of that lake for now!" Shui Haixiao said as she pointed in the lake's direction.
The mermaids nodded with their tiny round heads and then vanished from view of Dan Cianxi and Shui Haixiao. Dan Cianxi clutched her waist belt tightly and cast her gaze around the room. We can't fail here. This is my chance to prove myself to my father. I won't fail. I'll be a full-fledged god!
"Okay." Xin Yue tapped the stone to the ground and glanced at the participants. "Before I make a plan, I need to know all of your abilities first. You can just tell me some of your abilities, not all, since it may be confidential to some of you."
"Okay."
"Who among you had crowd-control abilities?" Xin Yue asked.
"Me!" Shui Haixiao raised her hands. "I can do wide-range attacks too! But I'm best when it comes to crowd control!"
Dan Cianxi nodded beside her. That's right. And that is why Shui Haixiao-shijie won the second trial in only five minutes.
"Mmn." Xin Yue nodded while putting his hand on his chin. "I see. The others?"
"Me too."
"I am also!"
"Me."
"Me, Your Highness."
"I also have that kind of ability."
"Me."
"Oh, so seven crowd control in total..." Xin Yue drew on the ground and redirected his gaze on everyone again. "How about stuns? Paralyze abilities? Or abilities that can do fatal damage to someone?"
Dan Cianxi raised her hand and said, "I have that ability, Your Highness. Though I usually battle in close range."
"Me too. But I can also battle with long and close range." Xuan Feng raised his hand.
"Me!"
"Me."
"I also have that!"
"I too!"
"Me, Your Highness."
"Add me also!"
"Me!"
"Me too."
"So it's ten." Xin Yue nodded and drew another symbol on the ground.
"How about illusions, hallucinations, full-range abilities, and also runes or traps?"
"I have that, your highness." Leng Baiyun smiled.
"I know," Xin Yue replied sarcastically.
"Me."
"Me too."
"Me also."
"I can do that too!"
"I have that ability!"
"Me!"
"I also have that!"
"Add me!"
"Nine on this group..." Xin Yue drew another symbol on the ground. "How about long-range attacks with weapons or anything? Magic or physical, as long as it's long-range?"
Thirteen people raised their hands. Xin Yue drew another symbol on the ground and returned his gaze to them as he repositioned the strand of hair behind his ear. "This is the last one. The close-range ones or mid-rangers. Full damage or agility, dual attacks, anything as long as it's close to mid-range."
Lu Sitong and Qian Lian, as well as the other fourteen participants, raised their hands. Xin Yue drew another symbol on the ground and murmured, "Sixteen." So, out of the hundreds of participants at the start of the trial, only fifty-five remain? Well, that's at least acceptable, but it's not enough for battling such a monster.
Loud explosions were heard inside the massive temple of the Divine Guardian, causing the entire dimension to shake, followed by a wide, thick smoke covering the entire temple. Dan Cianxi raised her hands, and a heavenly spear formed by her thunder attribute materialized from her body, while Shui Haixiao made a seal symbol, followed by two glowing balls of water floating in her direction. The other participants prepared for battle as well, their gazes fixed on the silent, massive temple.
Shui Haixiao frowns in suspicion. "Why is it so quiet?"
The other participants could not stand the sound waves filled with divinity and fell to the ground with their ears bleeding as a roar reverberated throughout the dimension. Shui Haixiao raised her left hand, and one of the floating water balls soared into the sky, forming a large barrier that engulfed most of the participants throughout the dimension. "Fuck! That was dangerous!"
"How about His Highness?!" Dan Cianxi asked with a worried tone.
"Oh, I forgot that His Highness is inside," Shui Haixiao murmured.
Dan Cianxi's eyes widened and he started to walk forward. "We should go and look for him! He might have lost his consciousness inside."
"Hahahaha! Where are you going, Shui Haixiao?" Shui Haixiao called out while pulling back Dan Cianxi using her water ability. "His Highness is not that weak. If he was like that, how did he even defeat the Demonic Guardian? You worry too much!"
"Sister Cianxi!" The loud feminine shouts resonated on the small devices that were near Dan Cianxi and Shui Haixiao's ears. "The human statues are moving! What should we do?!"
Dan Cianxi frowned. She doesn't know what to do anymore. "How about your situation? Did someone get hurt in the west?"
"N-No." The woman answered through her pants, "Luckily, Shui Haixiao-shijie's mermaids saved us. They killed some of the human statues, but the statues were recovering themselves."
"For now, retreat there and go to a safe place. Wasting your divinities is a bad decision," Dan Cianxi replied as she floated up in the air. "Shui Haixiao-shijie, let's move now."
"Okay———"
A loud roar reverberated again, followed by a gigantic statue of a foot showing amid the thick smoke. The soldier statues that were standing stiff like a sky pillar earlier were now moving like a living person. Dan Cianxi cursed under her breath and gritted her teeth. "That Divine Guardian is troublesome. Why didn't it just come out by itself and not control these things?!"
"Haixiao, remove the barrier." It was Xuan Feng's voice.
"Okay, Xuang Feng-shixiong!" Shui Haixiao replied as she flicked her hand. The large barrier that was covering half of the dimension slowly shrank, molded itself back into a water ball, and came back to Shui Haixiao. "Uhm. What should we do to them?" Shui Haixiao asked as she looked at the six to eight gigantic soldiers gazing down at them with a blank expression.
"Kill them all," Dan Cianxi answered. With a tap of her foot, she soared up the sky, and in a flash, she was already in front of one of the soldier's faces, stabbing its left eye with her heavenly spear.
The soldier statue let out a growl and tried to grab Dan Cianxi with its left hand. However, before it could grab Dan Cianxi, a sharp wind swiftly chopped off its left hand. Dan Cianxi turned around and glanced at Xuan Feng from afar, who was looking back at her. She nodded at him before going back to battle.
The beautiful temple, filled with relaxing air and a peaceful atmosphere, was now a nightmare. The magnificent, gigantic temple was now destroyed, and the relaxing air was completely gone, slowly changing itself into a heavy air filled with deadly divinity. All of the statues that were displayed beautifully earlier were now moving and trying to kill the participants that trespassed on their temple. It was a very messy sight as the battle started to happen and the number of participants slowly decreased.
"..........."
"This looks so horrifying."
"It's a dimension. Don't worry."
"Y-yes. The young ones are alright."
"Y-Yes...."
"But still, it looks scary."
"Is this only half of the Divine Guardian's power?"
"How terrifying...."
"I can't believe the God of War tried to fight something like this."
"Truly unbelievable...."
The gods were speechless as they watched the Divine Trial. They expected that they would watch the young generation of gods portray their battle abilities and their divinities to everyone, but they were now watching a terrifying battle on the rectangular glass instead. The Heaven Realm is a sacred place; that's why killing each other was forbidden. In the Heaven Realm, it was expected that peace and beauty would be shown around the mighty and holy beings.
But on the dark side, Heaven Realm was nothing like what mortals expected. It was no different from the mortal realm and the other two realms. It was either kill or be killed to survive; gods were not as holy and kind as they expected, and the path to becoming a full-fledged god was filled with bloodbaths. It was no different from what mortals, demons, and ghosts do to survive.
"These things are troublesome," Dan Cianxi murmured as she watched the soldier statue regain its left hand and eye. They are recovering too fast. What should we do? Is there an artifact hidden in this place? I should think first before engaging in a clueless battle.
"Leave the Divine Guardian to me."
Dan Cianxi and the others paused when they heard Xin Yue's voice. Dan Cianxi and Xuan Feng glanced at each other before Dan Cianxi pushed the button to reply, "Your Highness, are you hurt? What was that explosion earlier?"
"Oh, I bombed the whole temple," Xin Yue replied bluntly. "——and I'm not hurt, so worry about those annoying statues that suddenly woke up."
"But Your Highness, these statues keep recovering. Is there a way to stop that?" Dan Cianxi asked amid her dodges on the soldier statue's attacks.
"It's because of the Divine Guardian that they keep recovering," Xin Yue answered. "Buy me some time before I completely let out this monster. It's irritating because I can't find it even though I bombed its home."
"I understand," Dan Cianxi answered. "If something happens, remember to call for reinforcement."
"Mmn."
Dan Cianxi heaved a breath and shifted her attention to the solder statues. "What to do? My divinity is almost drained."
Shui Haixiao pouted as she stared at the participants when a thought suddenly popped inside her mind. She grinned and pushed the button on the small device that Xin Yue gave her. "Everyone, I have a plan! Let's gather at the flower field while I put up a barrier!"
"Haa..." Xin Yue wiped the sweat on his forehead and also on his neck as he proceeded to walk around the destroyed temple. His clothes which Guan Xiushi put his effort into fixing into a proper style were now disheveled and crumpled, and his hair which was combed properly by Guan Xiushi was now messy and was tied into a messy ponytail. His whole body was a mess.
"Fucking divine guardian..." Xin Yue scowled. "Do you think this is a game of hide and seek?! If you don't show up, I will bomb your home even more."
Xin Yue glanced at the fallen pillars of the temple and tried to find something suspicious, but the whole temple was empty. He was about to grab another set of bombs on his waist belt when he heard a clanking sound beneath his feet. Xin Yue arched his brows and glanced at the small ancient symbol on the ground that was slightly radiating a white glow. Xin Yue stepped back and crouched down on the unusual tile on the ground. He grabbed the dagger that he made earlier and tried to scrape the tile out of the floor, but the tile didn't budge.
Tsk! So troublesome! Xin Yue scowled and knocked on the unusual tile. If I had something useful on me, then I would've used it—oh, wait! Xin Yue glanced to his left and right before leaning his head down to the tile, using his sense of hearing to see if there was something below the temple.
Low growls and a sound of flowing divinity were heard below the temple. Xin Yue slowly raised his head, his lips curving into a mischievous smile. He grabbed another set of bombs as he stared down at the floor of the temple with a grin. "I'm sorry. I don't like solving riddles and puzzles, so I might as well destroy it."
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