MONSTER PARADISE

701-720

Chapter 701: The Book of Sorcerer Dao
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The seventh level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower was located in a wooden room. It did not look very big, and the decoration was simple. It was the complete opposite of the luxurious setting in the castle earlier. Lin Huang took a quick look around and focused on the stone tablet that was not far in front of him. It was not as simple as the golden lines on the previous stone tablets. There were now 36 advanced rune lines.

Lin Huang's eyebrows knitted together. He could tell that it should not be a sealing rune, but some other rune. He did not summon Bloody or ask the grinning face above. He sat down in the corner of the wooden room as he started memorizing the 30,000 advanced completed runes and the 8,000 high-level completed runes. Three days went by just like that, and he had finally memorized all of the completed runes that Bloody had shared with him.

In the middle of the night on the fourth day, Lin Huang finally opened his eyes and walked to the stone tablet. He now understood what the rune was referring to.

"So, this is an invitation rune."

Sorcerers sent the invitation rune. Only people who could read as well as decode runes would be invited. It was like a door that required a custom-made key to enter.

Lin Huang smirked. The more he studied Witchcraft Rune, the more he thought that being a sorcerer was an interesting job. The invitation rune was one of the runes that Bloody had come up with. He soon found the decoding rune in his head and drew the rune on the stone tablet. A while later, the invitation rune transformed into stars and flew into the sky. Then, a golden door appeared. Although Lin Huang knew it was the effect of the invitation rune, he was still surprised when he saw the door. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open and walked into it.

As he stepped in, Lin Huang appeared in a large battle ring. There were hundreds of occupied seats surrounding the ring, and the audience members were wearing robes of all sorts. There was a certain high in the atmosphere, and many people were screaming excitedly from their seats.

"What's this?" Lin Huang was stunned to see this. As he was trying to figure out what had happened, a female voice came from above.

"This is a sorcerer's battle ring that's reflected from the time river. You'll have to fight the sorcerers from the ancient times, and you'll pass this level if you get a 100-battle winning streak. You'll have to kill your opponent to be considered a victor. Once you lose, your winning streak will be deemed ended, and you'll have to start from the first battle again."

"Did I not come here with my flesh and blood? Wouldn't I die if I lose the battle?" Lin Huang asked.

"You won't. It's your consciousness that opened the door while your real body remains on the seventh floor of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower. This is just the projection of your consciousness. If you die here, the projection of your consciousness will be recreated."

"So, is there any restriction in the battle ring?" Lin Huang asked.

"You can only use Witchcraft and not any other skill. You wouldn't be able to use any skills even if you wanted to. There's no other restriction besides this."

"But I'm not a sorcerer! I've only learned some runes, and I can't even perform any Witchcraft. How do I fight with those sorcerers without using any other skills?" Lin Huang was astounded because he had not performed the rune on his soul, and neither did he have any book related to Witchcraft nor tools with him.

"Perhaps you weren't a sorcerer before, but now you are." As the female above spoke, six golden beams shot out between his eyebrows and transformed into a book.

The book had a golden cover, and it was just the size of an adult's palm when it was closed. It did not look thick, but when Lin Huang opened it, there were hundreds of thousands of pages with completed runes in it. Besides those that he had obtained from the Sorcerer Goddess Tower earlier, there were also the advanced and high-level ones that Bloody had discovered.

"Is this the Book of Sorcerer Dao?!" Lin Huang was shocked as only real sorcerers would own The Book of Sorcerer Dao or the Sorcerer Book. He had never cultivated the Sorcerer Dao; all he did was memorize runes.

Suddenly, the thought of the six golden beams that transformed into the Sorcerer Dao book earlier came to his mind.

"So, the six golden glows that I obtained from the Sorcerer Goddess Tower combined into a complete Sorcerer Dao?"

"That's right. It's the beginner inheritance that the Sorcerer Goddess left in the Sorcerer Goddess Tower. As long as a person manages to break through the sixth level, the six memory seeds will combine into a complete Sorcerer Dao heirloom. This inheritance can be added to a sorcerer's Sorcerer Book, but for a non-sorcerer, it allows one to obtain the Book of Sorcerer Dao directly and become a sorcerer."

Lin Huang did not expect to obtain a side-job out of nowhere. All he wanted from the Sorcerer Goddess Tower was the Sorcerer Goddess's relics. He never wanted to be a sorcerer. However, what he could not understand was that according to the documentation in the secret skill that he obtained on the first level, the runes would only be recorded in the Book of Sorcerer Dao when the sorcerer had completely mastered the meaning of each rune or created their own runes.

Meanwhile, all Lin Huang did was merely memorize the hundreds of thousands of runes without understanding them, let alone master them. However, the runes that he forced himself to memorize were printed on the Book of Sorcerer Dao.

"Perhaps the Book of Sorcerer Dao thought I understood the runes because Bloody does?" Lin Huang could not think of any other better explanation than that.

Although he did not understand it, he knew that it was a good thing. The Book of Sorcerer Dao would be blank if it followed what he understood and he would not be able to fight in the ring. There were hundreds of thousands of completed runes in the Book of Sorcerer Dao which were sufficient for the battles that he was soon going to face. He knew very well that a sorcerer who understood more than 30,000 completed runes would be an elite among all of them. One who understood more than 50,000 runes would be a talent while mastering more than 80,000 would be considered a genius. It was rare for a sorcerer to understand more than 100,000 runes during the ancient times. Those who were still alive would have been a Sorcerer Goddess by now.

"The 100 opponents on this level have the same combat level as you do. They'll only be using basic runes, not advanced or high-level runes. However, there's no restriction for you, so you can perform any of the runes that you know. I hope you don't lose too quickly."

As the female voice faded away, the arena became utterly silent. The timer on top of the battle ring started counting down from ten seconds. The opponent across Lin Huang gradually appeared.

Chapter 702: Sorcerer Lin Huang
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang's first opponent was a handsome, young man wearing a white robe with a blonde ponytail. As soon as he appeared, almost all of the females in the audience screamed in excitement. Lin Huang recalled that the emcee had said that the battle ring was a projection of the time river. He figured that his opponent must be a popular man back in those days. The audience's deafening cheer was most probably a projection of what had happened in the past.

The white-robed man sized Lin Huang up obnoxiously as he appeared in the ring.

"How dare you challenge I, Tai Yun? Prepare to die."

Lin Huang raised his eyebrow as he did not expect to be challenged so daringly. He replied, "We'll find out who'll die later."

Although Lin Huang had never fought with anyone with Witchcraft, he was experienced and was not afraid of imperial-levels or even demigods. Fighting a sorcerer who had the same combat level as him was nothing to him. The battle was just a show for him to perform with a huge audience watching.

Soon, the countdown ended. Tai Yun scoffed and a Sorcerer Book covered in white appeared in front of him. He extended his right hand and placed it on top of the book which flipped open on its own while a red rune lit up from the page and transformed into a flame boa. The flame boa then sped towards Lin Huang who was tens of meters away.

"A flame boa... Fire attribute rune?" Lin Huang smirked as he could tell which rune the man was performing at one glance.

"Alright then. I shall use you as practice then."

He pressed his hand on top of the Sorcerer Book as well. In the next second, the book opened on its own with a blue rune lighting up. A terrifying chill came out of the book with icy blue arrows that bolted out of it and swallowed the flame boa.

Within seconds, the flame boa was pierced by the icy arrows hundreds of times and disappeared. However, the remaining arrows were now hurtling towards Tai Yun at an alarming speed. Tai Yun was shocked, but he did not panic. He placed his palm on top of the book again, and this time, a yellow rune lit up. Pieces of thick bricks started stacking in front of the white-robed man until a barrier which was tens of centimeters thick was formed and blocked the arrows that were coming towards him.

Although some of the arrows penetrated the wall, none of them managed to pierce through and get to Tai Yun.

"Break it!" Lin Huang shouted.

Silver arrows shot out of the book in a spiral form. In the air, the arrows spun like drills with an intense sound of the wind, rushing towards Tai Yun.

Tai Yun was stunned. He thought the barrier would buy him some time to think of a strategy, but the drilling arrows seemed to be able to pierce through his wall of bricks easily. Helpless, he had to strengthen the barrier. As he placed his palm on the book, a layer of frost spread out of it and soon, the barrier was now frozen. Lin Huang's drilling arrows could not pierce through the barrier that was now reinforced with a layer of ice.

As Tai Yun felt relieved, he was coming up with strategies to attack next. Although Lin Huang's attacks had been blocked twice, he did not panic at all since he had mastered the battle rhythm while Tai Yun was just defending himself from his attacks.

"You use ice. Then, I'll use fire." Lin Huang grinned.

He placed his palm on the book again. Sparks of flames that were the size of a thumb roared towards Tai Yun's barrier like a meteor shower. Tai Yun thought that he could relax for a bit, so he was shocked to see what was coming towards him. Before he could react, the stars collided against the barrier. Sparks flew, and explosions were heard. The explosions melted the ice on the barrier at an alarming rate while many of the bricks were smashed. Lin Huang had retreated to the edge of the ring, unaffected by the explosion.

It was a different story for Tai Yun. The spiral arrows that were stuck on the barrier were shot in all directions when the explosion happened. Tai Yun was devoured entirely in the explosion flare, and it felt like death for him.

"I think I've overdone it. Will he die just like that? I thought I found someone to practice with me," Lin Huang mumbled to himself. Fortunately, the explosion muffled his mumbling, or else, Tai Yun would be pissed if he heard what he had just said.

Soon, the hundreds of explosive stars burned out, but smoke still lingered in the ring, and nobody could see how Tai Yun's condition was. However, Lin Huang was sure that he had not perished as there was no announcement declaring the loser. Lin Huang did not continue to attack as he waited for the smoke to disperse patiently.

The challenges in the Sorcerer Goddess Tower were tricky. Although the arrangement of the opponents was random, they would be more powerful than the other. Tai Yun should be the least powerful one among the 100 opponents on this level. He was the best for Lin Huang to practice with, so Lin Huang did not wish for him to be killed that easily so that he could practice more.

It took a while for the smoke to clear. A clumsy person appeared amidst the smoke. The person's body was black like it had been charred. His hair was frizzy from the heat of the fire. Although he looked disheveled, people could still recognize that it was Tai Yun in his once-white robes. He could not bother about his image anymore as he panted hard. If he had not managed to defend himself with Witchcraft, he might be dead in the ring now.

"Hey, can you still fight like that?" Lin Huang teased.

"We can proceed if you're still able to fight. If not, I'll send you out of the ring."

Tai Yun glared lethally at Lin Huang as he noticed that Lin Huang was ready to attack him again. He then said unwillingly as he clenched his teeth, "I surrender!"

"What? You surrender just like that?" Lin Huang did not expect that at all.

The announcement of the female voice was heard.

"The winner of the first battle - Lin Huang! 1% of winning streak completed."

"You can choose to rest for half an hour after each battle. Would you like to take a rest?"

"There's no need for that. please continue." As he had gotten the hang of fighting with Witchcraft, Lin Huang decided to proceed with the battle since the first battle did not drain any of his energy at all.

Chapter 703: The Lady in Red Robe
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The second opponent that Lin Huang encountered was a sorcerer in a black robe. He was just slightly more powerful than Tai Yun, but that was it. After confirming where he stood in terms of ability, Lin Huang did not kill him instantly. Instead, he treated his opponent as an experiment as well as his practice partner.

Different runes kept lighting up from the Sorcerer Book and charging towards his opponent. The black-robed man was finally killed following Lin Huang's 29th attack after defending himself fiercely from the previous 28 attacks. Lin Huang won his second victory. However, he had yet to be satisfied with the practice. The coming battles became his solo performance in which he did not even give the slightest chance to his opponents as he would always attack first as soon as the battle started. All of the opponents became his moving targets. Only some of them managed to strike back while the rest were killed almost instantly.

Just like that, Lin Huang won battle after battle. The first one, the second one, the third one, the tenth one... Until the 67th battle. It was a tall lady with red chiffon covering her face with only her eyes revealed. Her entire body was wrapped in a dark burgundy robe, but Lin Huang could see her seductive body. The lady was almost 1.8 meters tall. However, he noticed that she was wearing heels underneath her robe, but he had no idea how high they were.

The lady was not Lin Huang's first female opponent. After glancing at her, he thought that he would not have to hold back on her. As soon as the countdown ended, he did what he usually did, which was to attack first. This time, something out of his expectations happened. The lady placed both her palms on the books and opened the both of them. Two runes of defense and attack lit up at the same time. Lin Huang was shocked to see that as it was his first time encountering a person who managed to handle two runes at the same time.

As the two runes lit up, a large hemispherical frost shield and a frost ranged attack appeared. The chill spread all over the battle ring.

"Ranged attack?" Lin Huang raised an eyebrow as such an attack did not have much effect, but he knew what the lady was up to. Besides strengthening her frost shield, the frost ranged attack could also turn the battle ring into her show. As soon as the ring was covered in frost, she could attack with any frost rune from any corner.

"It seems like I've encountered someone powerful." Lin Huang grinned. No matter if it was her Witchcraft performance or her battle instinct, this lady was so much more powerful than the opponents that he had encountered earlier. He became serious. Then, he placed his palm on his book. As a red rune lit up, waves of flames flowed like waves in the ocean. The white frost collided with the waves of fire. The ring was now half-flaming red and half-frost white.

However, this only lasted for less than two seconds. A blue rune lit up on the lady's book, and a dripping sound was heard in the ring. It started raining heavily. As both the frost and the rainwater suppressed Lin Huang's fire wave, his attack was soon washed away. It was his first time being subdued in the battle since his winning streak.

A red rune lit up on Lin Huang's book, and a fiery tornado appeared like a flame dragon, attempting to devour the heavy rain. The battle came to a tie once again. Lin Huang had finally broken free from the lady's suppression. The lady had a potent ability. It proved that besides the ability to perform two runes at the same time, she was also very agile in different types of runes. Lin Huang was attacked by her restraint rune and was almost defeated.

However, Lin Huang was becoming more familiar with the runes as they fought. He even managed to learn how to use two runes at the same time as she did. Besides that, his performance in runes improved. As they fought for more than an hour, the lady became slower in the frequency of her rune performance as her energy was drained. That was how Lin Huang turned the tables around and won the battle.

After the battle ended, he took a half an hour's rest not only to recover his Life Power but also to digest the lessons that he had learned from the battle. The battle with the red-robed lady had benefited him significantly and transformed his standard in using runes. He was now excited for the opponents to advance.

However, the opponent in the 68th battle was mediocre and was not as powerful as the red-robed lady before. The same happened to all of her opponents after that. None of them could compare to the red-robed lady. They were not even on the same level compared to her. Lin Huang won all the way to more than 90 battles, but none of the opponents could pique his interest.

"What's with the red-robed lady? Why is she so much powerful than the opponents that were sent later?" Lin Huang could not understand it.

Although the last blue-robed man that he encountered was much stronger than the opponents before, he still could not compare to the red-robed lady. Just like that, Lin Huang won the 100 winning streak with disappointment.

"Congratulations, you've completed the 100 winning streak and passed the test!"

Lin Huang asked immediately when he heard the announcement, "What's with the red-robed lady that I encountered in the middle of the battle?"

"She's a special challenger who might or might not appear," the female voice explained. "It depends on your luck."

"That means I might still encounter special challengers in the eighth and the ninth level?" Lin Huang understood immediately.

"Yes." The female voice gave an assuring reply.

"They might or might not appear. The sequence of their appearance is random too."

"I get it now." Lin Huang nodded and was sent out of the ring.

Chapter 704: Heart-Glimpsing Rune
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang learned a lot from winning the 100 battles on the seventh layer of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower, especially the battle with the red-robed lady. The lady had plenty of battle experience, and her battle instinct was just as honed as Lin Huang's especially her performance in Witchcraft that was much more powerful than his. If Lin Huang did not have that much Life Power in him, he might have been defeated.

After he completed the 100 winning streak, Lin Huang got to the eighth level of the tower. Instead of decoding the invitation rune on the stone tablet, he sat with his legs crossed as he revised all the details of the 100 battles that he had just gone through. He was studying the mistakes that he had done. A few hours went by before he walked to the stone tablet after concluding all his errors.

The invitation rune this time was a high-level rune with nine lines. After decoding the rune, the golden door appeared again. Lin Huang then pushed opened the door and stepped inside. He was sent to a battle ring that was the same size as the previous one which was hundreds of meters long and wide. However, there were more seats this time. There were 4,000 to 5,000 seats this time, and they were all occupied.

The female voice came from above again. "You'll have to achieve a 300 winning streak this time! The rules are the same as the previous one, but your opponents this time won't be using basic runes only. They'll also use advanced runes."

Lin Huang nodded without saying anything. The timer started counting down above him, and his first opponent appeared slowly.

Like he usually did, Lin Huang made the first move. However, he soon realized that the basic runes did not have any significant effect on his opponent this time around as there were defense techniques added to the advanced rune which was difficult to be penetrated with the primary runes alone. Lin Huang then started fighting with the advanced rune. He had never used any such runes even when he was fighting the red-robed lady. However, since his opponent was using advanced runes now, he did not plan to hold back anymore.

As soon as Lin Huang executed the advanced rune, his opponent, who could not be perturbed at all, did not see what was coming. After struggling for a while, he was finally killed in less than 20 blows. It proved that even a sorcerer who had mastered the advanced rune could not handle Lin Huang's attacks that rained on him like a storm. He emerged as victor all the way to the 223rd battle without any obstacles. On the other hand, he started to get familiar with the advanced runes.

Lin Huang was stunned when he saw his opponent on the 224th battle. It was the red-robed lady! Although he had never seen the lady's face, he could tell that it was her from her body, her height and those pair of alluring eyes. Lin Huang sobered up because he knew that the lady would be much more powerful than before as she would definitely perform advanced runes this time!

As the countdown ended, Lin Huang did not even test the waters as he attacked with two advanced runes using both his hands at the same time. It was a restraint rune and an arrow rune. Many black chains and arrows dashed towards the lady. She did not panic at all as she performed a substitute rune that attracted all the attacks to her clone while her real body was not harmed at all. At the same time, she attacked using the frost rune.

The battle became stagnant again. This time, Lin Huang did not want to drag the battle on until the lady was out of energy as it was not as glorious as he thought it would be. Besides high-level runes, he had used all the runes that he could think of. The battle lasted for more than an hour, and he finally got the opportunity to perform his ultimate move: meteorite rain.

After half an hour of rest, the battles onwards were much easier, and he achieved the 300 winning streak without breaking into a heavy sweat. Finally, he passed the eighth level. As he was sent out, the gigantic face could not help but ask him, "Have you broken through the eighth level?"

"What do you think?" Lin Huang simpered and placed his palm on the stone tablet. He was then sent to the ninth level.

"You surprised me. I didn't even think that you could pass the battles on the seventh level. I didn't expect you to break through the eighth level." The face soon appeared on the wall of the ninth level, stunned.

"Nothing's impossible as long as you do your best," Lin Huang said wisely and sat with his legs crossed. He did not continue chatting with the huge face but focused on revising the details of the 300 battles earlier instead.

A couple of hours later, he stood up again and walked to the stone tablet. He was puzzled as he looked at the rune on the stone tablet.

"So, it isn't an invitation rune anymore," he thought drily to himself, but he could not find any complete or decoding rune that matched this one. Without any clue, he summoned Bloody.

Lin Huang then pointed at the stone tablet. "I don't understand this rune."

Bloody floated to the stone tablet and observed it carefully. It only turned around after a while.

"This is a heart-glimpsing rune that can reflect a person's deepest fear. There's no need to decode it. All you'll have to do is activate it. As soon as you do that, the opponents that you encounter might be those that you're most afraid of encountering."

Lin Huang did not expect the Sorcerer Goddess Tower to throw him something completely different from the seventh and eighth levels.

"My deepest fear, huh?" Lin Huang frowned.

There were many opponents that he did not want to encounter such as the imperial-level king sea monsters that had demigod abilities, the misty monster made of a Virtual God's arms and those demigods who had attacked Mr. Fu... Any one of them could easily kill him.

If the heart-glimpsing rune could really summon those nightmares, he would definitely die. After a moment of silence, Lin Huang nodded eventually.

"I'll have to face them one day anyway. Activate it!"

Seeing that Lin Huang had made his decision, Bloody shared the activation rune with him. Without hesitation, he then stepped up to the stone tablet and drew the rune on it.

As the rune formed, a white glare lit up on the stone tablet and engulfed Lin Huang entirely. A while later, he shut his eyes like he was fast asleep.

Chapter 705: Lin Huang's Past

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Where's this place?"

Lin Huang looked around the vaguely familiar place that he was in. He was shocked when he realized where he was. It was an apartment with a room, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen. The decoration in the apartment looked exactly the same as the one that he used to stay in two years ago before he traveled to another world. To be exact, it was his home before he left.

The hole that he had accidentally burnt with his cigarette after falling asleep was still on the couch in the living room. On the coffee table, there was a crack on the ashtray that had slipped when he was washing it. In the multipurpose cabinets under the television were the novels that he had collected. Lin Huang then rushed into the bedroom. The blanket was folded like he usually did on the bed, covering half of the bed. The pillowcase was the one with the dark blue night sky and stars that matched his quilt cover. His watch and keys were placed on the left side of his bed head beside the lamp. His jeans, t-shirt, underwear, and socks hung on the balcony outside his bedroom.

"I'm... back on Earth?" Lin Huang had a complicated expression as he glanced around. He had thought of many manifestations of his deepest fears that the heart-glimpsing rune would show him after activating it, but he did not expect to be brought back to Earth at all. Just as he was digesting everything, his mobile phone in pocket started vibrating. He had gotten used to the Emperor's Heart Ring for the past two years and had almost forgotten about the existence of mobile phones.

He took out his Fruit7 phone and realized that it was Xiao Wang who was calling. He did not know what to do. Should he pick up the call? Too much had happened in the past two years, and he could not really remember who this Xiao Wang was. He did not pick up the call as he held his phone in his hand. However, the phone did not stop vibrating. This Xiao Wang guy sure was stubborn. Lin Huang thought about it and decided to pick up anyway.

"Xiao Wang, are you looking for me?" Lin Huang still had no idea who Xiao Wang was.

"Handsome, come drink with me tonight?" Listening to the voice and how he addressed him, Lin Huang recalled who the person was.

Xiao Wang's real name was Wang Zhi. He was his junior from the same university. He was a smart guy, and they worked together. After he became Lin Huang's junior at work, he started inviting Lin Huang out for drinks, spa, and massages as well as helping him at work every week. They became close after that, so it was natural that they would drink and eat together occasionally.

"I have something up today. Let's do that some other day," Lin Huang declined. After all, he had yet to recover his memory and would be exposed easily if he met someone who knew him.

"Oh, alright then. Go ahead with your stuff." Xiao Wang then hung up.

Lin Huang walked around the apartment. The kitchen and bathroom were still the same, and the floor mat in the bathroom was still wet. Even the trash in the kitchen was still there. He roughly remembered that it was how his home had looked like the day before he set off. He then looked at the date on his phone. It was 3rd June 2017, Saturday, which was the day he had left.

"So, I've gone back to the day I left?" Lin Huang looked at the time. It was 9.41 a.m.

"I remember peeking at the time before I left. It was 9.40 a.m. That means this is when I just left." Lin Huang could not understand why the heart-glimpsing rune had sent him here. There was nothing that he was terrified of on Earth as he had seen too much on the other side throughout the years. Any transcendent-level monster could kill the entire human race if it was placed on Earth.

Lin Huang then returned to the living room and sat on the couch. He lit up a cigarette without any idea what was going to happen next. The silence only lasted for less than three minutes. The phone in his pocket started vibrating again. He was shocked when he saw who was calling. It was his mother who had passed away in a car accident when he was nine. He hesitated for a long time before finally picking up the call. A familiar voice came from the other side before he started speaking.

"Xiao Mu Tou, it's the weekend. Will you be home for lunch? I've made dumplings for you with chives and egg filling."

Xiao Mu Tou was Lin Huang's nickname. Her mother called his father Mu Tou, therefore when he was born, his father was called Da Mu Tou, and Xiao Mu Tou naturally became Lin Huang's nickname.

He could not move when he heard that voice. He had never imagined that he would hear his mother again. Dumpling with chives and egg filling was his favorite food when he was a kid. His mother would always make him dumplings whenever he got excellent results in his primary school.

"Hello, can you hear me? Why aren't you speaking?"

Lin Huang's tears started pouring.

"Mom... I miss you."

"What's wrong? Did someone bully you?" Although his mother did not hear him crying, she knew that something was wrong.

"No." Lin Huang calmed himself down and asked, "Is dad home?"

"Your dad is here. I'll get him to speak with you." His mother had no idea what happened as she passed the phone to his father.

"Son, what's wrong?" His father's energetic voice came from the other side. Lin Huang's tears proceeded to pour, but he managed to calm down.

"I'm alright, Dad... I'll be home for dumplings later."

"Oh, be safe on the road." His father reminded him.

As the phone went dead, Lin Huang started shaking and started crying. When he had been on Earth, his mother had passed away from a car accident when he was nine. His father became depressed since then and died of a heart attack when Lin Huang was 13. His grandmother took care of him until he graduated from high school and got into university. His grandmother passed away when he was halfway through university. He only managed to get through university with loans and by working part-time, which was why he was much more hardworking than others.

The Earth that he was sent to this time was not the Earth that was from, but it was a parallel world where his parents were still around. Speaking to his parents that he had lost when he was young made Lin Huang, who had been suppressing his emotions all along, to lose himself completely...

Chapter 706: I'm Back (In first person point of view)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Mom and Dad are still alive..." I dropped onto the couch shaking, and my tears could not stop pouring. I finally calmed down after a while. It was past 10 a.m. when I rechecked the time. I stood up and went to the bathroom, peering at myself in the mirror. Besides my eyes that were slightly red, I looked perfectly normal. After washing my face with cold water, my mind was clearing up.

The heart-glimpsing rune was meant to bring one's deepest fear to life. Unlike an illusion, you could not get out of it. Just like a movie that was 100-minutes long, the story would go on without skipping any second. Once the heart-glimpsing rune was activated, the person would not be able to leave the movie as the main character and had to continue until it ended.

I knew that activating the rune was not a simple act. To be exact, it was a test of the human emotion. Since I could not leave, the only way was to go on with it. However, I had no idea what kind of test I was given and how I would pass the test. All I could do was to go with the flow and allow the story to develop.

"Xiao Hei?" I whispered, but nobody answered me.

"Xiao Hei!" I shouted. This time, I even attempted to contact Xiao Hei with my consciousness, but my message was as though it was drowning in quicksand without any response. I panicked when my reliable Goldfinger did not answer me. I tried looking into my body, but that did not work as well. I attempted to summon Bloody, Bai, and the rest but there was nothing.

"It can't be!" My heart skipped a beat as I knew that something was wrong. I tried using my Life Power, but I could not sense anything. The same happened with my Telekinesis. I could not summon my telekinetic flying daggers. My Sword Dao that was already on level-5 could not be activated as well.

"Witchcraft..." With my last hope, I tried summoning the Book of Sorcerer Dao, but there was only nothing. My body felt like it was dead. I was now an average, helpless person.

This terrified me. I had never felt like this before even when I encountered the Virtual God's arm and the king sea monster as I knew I had everything under control. However, nothing was in my control now.

"I'll definitely die if the rune sends that king sea monster or the Virtual God's arm here now." That was my biggest concern. I had no idea what was in the rune script.

"Forget about it! Since I'm here, I'll just have to go with the flow." I let out a sigh and looked into the mirror. I was in a blur as the face looked unfamiliar to me now. After all, I had been in another body for the past two years. Perhaps because my body was different now, everything that I had on the other side was not here with me.

I shook my head to get the thoughts out of my head after staring at myself. I then walked out of the bathroom after adjusting my clothes. Hailing a cab after leaving the house, I headed to see my parents. I could not wait to see them after so many years. They were still young in my memory, but I had no idea how they looked like now since I was already a young man of 25.

Half an hour later, the cab stopped outside a small, old village. I had not been in this area for many years. My fear was boiling in the pit of my stomach...

As I stood at the entrance, my heart became full of complicated emotions again. Tears were flooding my eyes, and my heart was beating fast. I had no idea what I should say when I saw them. I could not expose myself. After taking two deep breaths, I calmed myself down and walked in with as much courage as I could muster.

A couple of minutes later, I arrived at our old home. The door was the new anti-theft door, but the couplet was still the same pair that I remembered.

'The grind of stone makes a mighty sword. The bitter cold gives fragrance to the cherry blossom.'

The streamer was 'Spring comes after winter'. I had written the couplet the year my grandmother passed away as a reminder for myself. However, I could recognize my handwriting; what I was seeing was not the one that I had written. It had been bought somewhere else. Memories were coming back to me as I stood there. I prepared what I was going to say before pressing the doorbell.

A moment later, the door opened, and a person stood in front of me. My mind became blank. Whatever I had prepared to say evaporated. All I could think about was the middle-aged man that was standing in front of me. Father had not really changed, but he had gained some weight, and his hair was now gray. I recognized him right away. Rooted to the spot, I attempted to speak, but I just could not. All I felt was tears welling in my eyes.

"Get your sh*t together!" I kept telling myself that I had to suppress my emotions.

"You're back." Father smiled as he looked at me, but he soon noticed that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

"Dad!" I snapped out of my own thoughts from the familiar voice. I tried to hold my tears back, but I could not help myself from going up to give my father a firm hug. The words just slipped out of my lips.

"Dad, I miss you."

"What's wrong, you silly boy?" Father was stunned. Although I was taller than him now, he patted my head anyway.

I let go of him after calming myself down.

"I'm alright. Where's Mom?"

"She's sorting the vegetables in the kitchen." Father looked at me skeptically.

I avoided eye contact with him and walked directly into the kitchen. Mother was wearing an apron and sorting vegetables while perched on a chair. She plucked the leaves from the stems and threw them into the plastic basket.

Noticing that there was someone at the kitchen entrance, she held her head up and looked at me.

"Oh, you're back?" Mother looked at me with a smile. She had lost weight, and there were wrinkles at the corner of her eyes. Although she was a little different from what I remembered, the memory was coming back.

"Mom." I calmed myself down and walked over to her. I squatted down and helped her with the sorting.

"Nevermind, I'll handle this. Go talk to your Granny." Mother said.

"Granny?" My hands stopped moving when I heard her.

"Where's she?"

"She's in her room watching TV. She has been watching this 'Fighter of the Destiny' and she's basically been stuck to the TV every day." Mother smiled while rolling her eyes.

"I'll go see her." I stood up immediately, not expecting Grandmother to still be alive in this world.

As I stood at her room door, I saw the old lady with gray hair on a wooden chair. She was staring at the TV, oblivious to my existence. My emotions were threatening to come up again although I could only see half of her face. She was the person who had brought me up since Father passed away. She took care of me from 13 to 18 years of my age all by herself. Unfortunately, she passed away before I started working and never got even to enjoy her life.

My tears started pouring as I said, "Granny, I'm back."

Chapter 707: Let's Get Married (In first person point of view)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ever since I started working, I have never expected what would it be like if my parents and Grandmother were still alive. I never thought that it would happen with the help of the heart-glimpsing rune. I could not resist the happiness in my heart. Although I knew this was not real, I indulged in it anyway. We had dumplings for lunch as a happy family, and I could not help but feel that this was bliss.

Although I lost myself in front of Granny, she did not dwell on it after I came up with an excuse. She was a smart lady, not even telling my parents about me crying in front of her. She also got me out of the awkward situation when Mother asked me about my red eyes at the table.

"I got Xiao Mu Tou to bring me my stuff, and something got into his eyes."

I stayed at my parents' place during the weekend, enjoying the family reunion that I had lost for 20 years in this familiar yet unfamiliar house. After dinner on Sunday, I hailed a cab and went back to my place. The two days brought back most of the memories of my job scope at work. On Monday morning, I went into my office early as I wanted to spend more time familiarizing with my work.

Since the heart-glimpsing rune's script was written this way, I had to go with it instead of quitting my job. As soon as one portion of the script went wrong, it would create a domino effect, and many uncontrollable things would be affected. Following the script gave me an idea of what the story was going to turn out like as well as the techniques to work with the flow. Things would become unpredictable if I changed the script on my own.

It was 7 a.m. I got to the office and found my seat immediately. It took me a while to recall my computer password. After I logged into the computer, I looked at what had I been working on recently. Although it was unfamiliar, I got used to the computer soon and found my work list on a spreadsheet. I then started checking the documents following the list. When it was 7.40 a.m, Xiao Wang from our group had arrived. He greeted me as soon as he saw me.

"Bro Lin, you're here."

I nodded at him and proceeded with my work. There were six teams in the sales and marketing team. I was one of the team leaders, a supervisor with eight employees under my watch. After taking some time to familiarize with my work, I looked at the contact list for each department on the table and matched their names with their faces in my head.

After thorough preparation, I did not expose anything. Soon, one week had passed, and I had completely adapted to work. I went to see my parents during the weekends. As we had dinner on Saturday night, Mother came up with an awkward topic out of nowhere.

"Xiao Mu Tou, you aren't young anymore. You're already 25. It's time to get a girlfriend and think about marriage."

I was stunned to hear that, and this popped into my head: "Would marriage change the story?"

I smiled as I nodded.

"I want that too, but first, I'll need to find someone suitable."

"I heard about this lady that your Aunt Liu knows. She's half a year younger than you, and she's a newbie at work. She's pretty cute." Mother grinned.

"Are you interested in meeting her?"

"It depends if she wants to see me." I knew that Mother could not wait for me to get married.

"It's Sunday tomorrow. You can meet her tomorrow if you want." Mother clearly could not wait anymore.

"Alright then, I'll meet her." Lin Huang did not have any opinion on marriage. Since this was how the story developed, he thought he should see her anyway as it could be crucial to the story.

After agreeing to meet the lady, Mother called Aunt Liu without even doing the dishes after dinner. The lady agreed to meet us as well. The next morning, I arrived at the cafe that we were meeting 20 minutes earlier. I waited patiently after ordering a cup of coffee. We had agreed to meet at 9 a.m. I saw a familiar person walking towards the cafe when it was 8.50 a.m.

The girl wore a white short-sleeved shirt with a pair of jeans. She had a ponytail and sunglasses that covered half of her face. She carried a khaki brown handbag, and I found her attire refreshing during the summer season. I was just as shocked as she was when she saw me upon entering the cafe. She hesitated before walking towards me as she took off her sunglasses.

"Long time no see..." I did not expect to see the girl that I once wanted to kiss and had allowed me to.

"I didn't expect to see you as well." Zhang Yan sat down. Silence came between the both of us. I had no idea what to say while she seemed to be awkward as well.

"When did you come back?" I decided to break the ice with a safe topic.

"I just came back a month ago." Zhang Yan peeked at me secretly from under her glasses

"Yanyan... Let's get married." I did not know how that slipped out of my lips, but I really did not want to let go of the girl that I had spent almost two years with. If I had to marry someone on Earth, she would be the perfect girl.

Zhang Yan became silent again as she seemed to be hesitating.

"I'll spend more time with you at home. I'll try to decline unnecessary entertainment." I knew very well why had she left me.

"You promise?" Zhang Yan's eyes lit up.

"I promise!" I nodded hard.

"Promise me. We'll get married, have two kids, and grow old with them."

Zhang Yan giggled as she covered her mouth. "You're still so silly."

"Promise me, okay?" I looked at her passionately. I had never wanted to spend my life with a person as much as this before.

"You didn't even get a ring! Hmph!" Zhang Yan pouted and looked away.

"Erm, I didn't know that I would propose today..." I panicked and stood up immediately. "You wait here. I'll go buy one!"

"Buy what?"

"The ring!"

"Do you think I'll say yes if you buy the ring?" Zhang Yan smirked.

"You..." I was stunned, but I caught her mischievous expression.

"I don't care. I'll buy it even if you say no! If you don't say yes today, I'll ask you again tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. I'll propose to you every day!"

"You sure you want to stick with me for the rest of your life?" Zhang Yan smiled.

"I'm sure. I know you're the one," I said in all seriousness.

"Then... I do." Light shone in her eyes as she recollected our beautiful memories.

Chapter 708: My Life (In first person point of view)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

I decided to make up to my regrets since it was a test from the heart-glimpsing rune. I knew how devastated I was when my parents and Granny passed away, not to mention breaking up with Zhang Yan. Those were the reasons for my lack of confidence. I could only set myself free if I completely got over it, so I decided to follow my heart and propose to Zhang Yan.

My parents did not expect me to marry Zhang Yan as they thought it was our first time meeting each other. My parents and Granny had passed away when I started dating Zhang Yan, so they did not get to meet her. In this parallel world, perhaps the heart-glimpsing altered my memories when it was writing the script because Zhang Yan had never met my parents. After informing them that we had been dating for two years, they realized that our wanting to get married was not a hasty decision.

After they met each other, the wedding date was soon decided. It was the 7th of July, the Chinese Valentine's day. The wedding was well prepared to be held two and a half months later. Time passed by quickly, and soon it was the big day. Zhang Yan wore a white wedding dress like an elegant swan among everyone else. Fortunately, I was not a toad. If I may say so, I looked like a black swan in a black suit.

We exchanged rings in the presence of our friends and families as witnesses. I felt a great sense of achievement as I put the wedding band on her beautiful ring finger. During our two years of dating, I had considered spending my life with this girl more than twice. I did not expect that my dream would come true with the heart-glimpsing rune. My parents and Granny were still alive, I was married to the love of my life, and I had no regrets in my life.

However, I was well aware that I was still in a story. It had been going too smoothly; it was almost perfect. Until now, I had no idea what the heart-glimpsing rune test was about. At the end of the night, Zhang Yan and I went back to our wedding room after sending our friends and families off. As we turned off the light, the bright moonlight glowed on the bed through the balcony sliding door. My heart almost stopped beating when I saw Zhang Yan taking off her clothes under the moonlight.

Her skin was as fair as snow, and she looked like she was glowing. I was utterly indulging in the moment, forgetting everything about the heart-glimpsing rune...

On the second morning, I felt like I had forgotten something when I woke up from the bed. I could not recall anything, but I had a terrible headache from a hangover as well as an unrealistic sense of reality.

"Lin Zhi, come drink this honey ginger tea." Zhang Yan brought a glass over. I took the cup and had a sip, smirking when I look at her.

"I think you should call me something else now, wife?"

Zhang Yan blushed as she bent down and looked into my eyes.

"Okay, my husband!"

"Come, kiss your husband now," I teased and got closer to her.

"No, you haven't washed your face." Zhang Yan pouted like she was disgusted with me.

"Oh no, my head is hurting." I pretended.

"Drink this. It'll help with your hangover." Zhang Yan knew how bad hangovers made me feel.

"I'll drink it if you kiss me," I insisted playfully.

As soon as her warm lips touched my face, she stood up and looked at me angrily.

"Finish it, don't leave a single drop behind!"

"Alright, my wife." I finished the drink once and for all. I even licked the last few drops at the bottom of the cup.

"I think I'll need to sterilize the cup..." Zhang Yang pretended to be repelled as she picked up the cup with two fingers and left to the kitchen.

...

We entered our honeymoon period. Since we had dated for two years, we knew other so well that we could understand each other just with a single glance. I completely indulged myself in this sweet life, losing all semblance of what was real and what was fake anymore.

I had even forgotten about Xiao Hei, Bai, Charcoal, Tyrant...

I had forgotten about Life Power, Sword Skill, Telekinesis, Witchcraft...

I had forgotten that my parents and Granny had left me...

When I woke up every morning, I would feel that something was missing, but I could not put a finger on what that was. Three months into our marriage, Zhang Yan got pregnant. I stopped fretting about what was missing. The happiness of fatherhood occupied my heart, my head, and even my soul.

Zhang Yan gave birth to a son when she was nine months pregnant. Our creation of love made us even happier than ever. It was challenging to bring a child up, but we managed to get through it. To be exact, there was more happiness than pain. My wife was pregnant again when our son was almost one. It was a daughter this time. Our kids grew up, and our life was finally much more relaxed when they went to kindergarten.

I got promoted and became the department manager while my wife started working again. Our life was getting better day by day. The only bad news that I had was that Granny passed away. On the day she passed away, some unsettling images flashed vaguely through my head. However, the images disappeared immediately, so I did not figure them out.

Time was passing by swiftly, and our kids grew up from kindergarten, primary school, junior high, high school, and university. My wife and I had finally completed our role in bringing our kids up. They then started working, and we did not have to worry about them anymore. It was then that I realized that time had flown by. My wife and I were old. Our hair was getting gray...

Father passed away the day our son got married. There was an odd image that flashed in my head again, but it disappeared quickly. I did not manage to figure out what it was. Our daughter got married later on, and we soon had grandkids, followed by Mother passing away...

Although our life was getting better, my wife and I were getting older day by day. She passed away when she was 87. Our marriage lasted for 62 years, but our love could not fight the fate of life...

Many images flashed in my head the day she passed away, but I was drowning in the pain of losing her and treated those images as ridiculous hallucinations. Losing a person that you have spent 62 years with was like your soul being wrenched away, and you felt completely alone...

After my wife passed away, my health went downhill. I would dream of my wife whenever I closed my eyes. Not sure if I was not feeling well, I was eating less, and I was becoming weaker.

Although my kids tried to help me, I could not stop time from making me older. I woke up from a coma on the hospital bed, and I had an oxygen mask on my face. I knew I did not have much time left.

"Dad..." My son's eyes were red, and I knew he had been crying.

My daughter was holding my hand.

"Dad, are you trying to tell us something?"

I tried my very best to nod. The tiniest movement made me tired. Taking the oxygen mask off, they came closer to me.

"Dad, speak to us. We're listening."

I tried my very best to speak, but my voice was low and weak.

"I have... no regrets... in this life..."

After saying that, I felt like I had lost all my strength. As I stared at the white hospital ceiling, I felt my body was drowning as though I was falling somewhere.

"I think I forgot something. What's that?" Suddenly, an odd thought came into my head. I was trying to think about what I had overlooked.

I heard my son and daughter sobbing in the hospital room as well as somebody else wailing. However, the sound was getting further away like it was being isolated. Images started flashing through my head. My father opening the door for me, Mother sorting our vegetables in the kitchen, Granny watching TV in the room, my wife's fair skin under the moonlight...

Wait, why were those memories starting from when I was 25? What had happened to my memories before that? I thought that it was odd. Suddenly, another reel of images started playing. It was a rainy night when I was 9 and completing my homework in the house. The phone was ringing. My father ran out of the house like a lunatic after answering the phone without bringing an umbrella with him. He looked devastated when he got home. I only found out from my Granny that Mother was not coming back the next day.

When I was 13, I went to junior high. My class teacher called me when I was revising at school.

"Lin Huang, something's happened to your dad. Let me send you home."

Granny was crying when I got home. I kept asking my class teacher what had happened and soon found out that my father had a heart attack. It was too late when he was sent to the hospital. When I was 19, and at school, I got a phone call from my aunt saying that Granny had passed away... When I was 24, Zhang Yan called and broke up with me...

I was doubtful that of all these images that were completely different from the reality I had been living in.

"Where did all these memories come from?! Why is the timeline wrong?"

My body was getting heavier as images looped in my head like a movie. Every detail was clear from the beginning to the end.

Just when I felt like I was falling into an abyss, a subtly familiar name flashed in my head.

"Xiao Hei?"

As the name came up, more and more names appeared in my mind.

"Bai, Charcoal, Tyrant, Kylie..."

"Oh yeah, my name is Lin Huang. I've Life Power in me. I also have Telekinesis and Witchcraft. I know the Sword Skill and flying daggers. I can also summon monsters... I'm now in a virtual world that the heart-glimpsing rune has created!"

As that thought came to me starkly, the feeling of falling completely disappeared. There was a bright light ahead, and the dark world started to shatter. A moment later, my consciousness returned to my body. I realized that I was standing in front of a stone tablet. A golden glow shot out of the stone tablet and went in between my eyebrows.

Chapter 709: The Sorcerer Goddess Shrine Key
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang looked lost as he stood before the stone tablet. The effect of the heart-glimpsing rune felt like he had just been given an opportunity to relive his life. He had been aware in the beginning and kept reminding himself that it was a virtual world that the heart-glimpsing rune had created. However, he completely fell for it on the night he and Zhang Yan got married. He forgot about what had happened in reality and could not pull himself together as he drowned himself in the virtual world.

As his family passed away one by one, the truth was revealing itself but was soon covered by the heart-glimpsing rune quickly. The death of Zhang Yan was actually the best time for him to break free from the heart-glimpsing rune. However, he had been in too much pain that he thought the images that flashed through his mind were just some hallucinations as a result of not resting. He realized that he was trapped in the world that the heart-glimpsing rune created when he realized that he had no recollection of his memories before the age of 25 when he was dying.

Those realistic memories were a paradox to prove that the virtual world was not real. When Lin Huang realized that, the virtual world started to crash in, revealing the true reality that Lin Huang was in.

"Was I in the dream or was the dream in me?" Lin Huang forced a grim smile. The heart-glimpsing rune was terrifying. The script that it had written for him was the kind of life that he had been dreaming of on Earth, a life without any regrets. He had fallen for it completely and almost lost himself.

"You passed?!" The large face was shocked. "I've always thought that no matter how powerful you are, you'd definitely fail this."

"The heart-glimpsing rune is really scary. I fell for it without even realizing it." Lin Huang had goosebumps as he thought about it. The soft approach from the heart-glimpsing rune was much more terrifying than powerful monsters as one would fall into the trap without even knowing.

"Do you know that nobody has ever broken through the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower since the tower was built? Nobody in our epoch could do it," the face told Lin Huang truthfully.

"The Sorcerer Goddess herself wrote this heart-glimpsing rune on the ninth level, not only does it reflect a person's deepest fear, but also their greatest regrets. As soon as the rune is activated, nobody can get out from the trap. Well, you're the first one who has ever gotten out of it."

"Actually, I fell into the trap too..." Lin Huang moved his lips, but he did not say that out loud. He then smiled forcefully while shaking his head and changed the topic.

"I was told that once a person passes the test on the ninth level, the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine will be activated? And that I'll also get a reward from the Sorcerer Goddess?"

"Yes, you might be able to obtain the Sorcerer Goddess inheritance as well," the face added.

"If you manage to obtain the Sorcerer Goddess's inheritance, you might help us to get out of here."

"But the world will perish from the monsters coming out of the abyss, so wouldn't it be more dangerous for you guys to leave this place?"

"You might not understand that freedom is more important than life to us. We've been trapped here for more than 30,000 years. We're always looking out at a piece of land with snow," the huge face sighed as he said.

"Not everyone has the patience to stand the loneliness of 30,000 years. Some people decided to kill themselves, and some went crazy while others started wars..."

Lin Huang became silent and only spoke again a while later.

"I understand now, so what should I do next?"

"The golden glow that went in between your eyebrows was the key to the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. As soon as you insert your energy into the key, you'll activate the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine," the face continued, "But I hope that you don't activate it now. Give us a day or two to prepare ourselves and activate it after that."

"Why?" Lin Huang could not understand. He did not have much time left there, so it made sense for him to want to activate the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine earlier to get his reward.

"As soon as the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine is activated, it'll be open to the public for ten days. According to their combat levels, all of the holy fire- and immortal-levels will come in. We hope that you only activate it after we've prepared ourselves so that we can enter right away without wasting any time." The gigantic face requested in embarrassment. "Then again, of course, you can activate it if you're in a rush."

"Since it doesn't really make any difference as it'll be open to the public after activation, I'll wait two days." Lin Huang thought it was necessary to decline his request, but he had his doubts.

"Since anybody can enter the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine after it's activated, does that mean that it doesn't matter who holds the key?"

"Of course, it's different. The person with the key will be sent directly into the shrine to pick a Sorcerer Goddess's treasure of the person's choice as well as to look at the Sorcerer Goddess tablet. Not only that, the person will be able to control some of the doors in the shrine while the rest will have to enter from the entrance."

"Alright, I understand now. Prepare yourself as well as you can within the next two days and inform me once you guys are ready. Then, I'll activate the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine." Lin Huang nodded since Bai Gu, and the rest had taken such good care of him during his visit.

"Thanks, I'll inform the leader. You can practice on this level within these two days. We'll inform you as soon as we're ready." The face was glad to find out that Lin Huang was a grateful person.

As the large face disappeared, Lin Huang sat down with his legs crossed on the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower. The thick spirit energy had accelerated his Army Attack Tactics rotation in his body, so he focused on that since he had nothing to do for the next two days. The rotation speed was tens of time faster than before. If the speed had been like a flowing stream before, it was now like an angry, flushing river. His collection of skill card pieces accelerated at a pace that could be seen with the naked eye.

Meanwhile, the face had contacted Bai Gu outside the Sorcerer Goddess Tower.

"You mean the young man really passed the test on the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower?" Bai Gu was shocked to find out about that. He did not expect that to happen at all. He thought he would just let Lin Huang try to break through the Sorcerer Goddess Tower and had never expected him to get beyond the third level and above. However, Lin Huang was a living miracle who managed to pass through again and again. To be honest, he was surprised to discover that Lin Huang had broken through the seventh level, but he did not expect the young man to go all the way to the ninth level. Now, he had even broken through the ninth level which was out of everyone's expectations.

"I saw the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine key go in between his eyebrows with my own eyes. It has to be real." The gigantic face was sure of it.

"He's agreed to give us two days to prepare. Should we inform the other tribes? They'll realize something's happening if we don't move quickly.

"The Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine being activated is something huge. There's no way that we can hide it. It doesn't matter if we enter the shrine one or two days before the others do. They'll lose hope in us if we do that. Let's just inform them and work together. If they want to fight, then we shall entertain them. It's not like we've never done that before since we've been here tens of thousands of years." Although Bai Gu nonchalantly said that, he still sounded upset.

"I'm afraid this Lin Huang kid might be targeted by many. We'll have to try our best to protect him..."

Chapter 710: The Opening of Sorcerer Goddess Shrine

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Soon, two days passed. Lin Huang had been practicing his Army Attack Tactics throughout the two days. The spirit energy on the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower was hundreds of times thicker than the outside. The regular one hour of practice would get him more than 3,000 skill card pieces, but now that the speed of rotation was more than 20 times faster in the tower, he could get 80,000 skill card pieces in an hour.

Having practiced the Army Attack Tactics besides eating and sleeping for those two days, he obtained more than 2.4 million card pieces, but he was still far away from obtaining 10 million card pieces to get to level 10 of the skill. If it were not for the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, he would rather start there until he broke through to level 10.

However, the large face appeared on the morning of the third day.

"Hi, Lin, we're ready now. You can activate the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine anytime you want. To avoid trouble, we didn't tell anyone about your identity. We've even used a unique way to spread the news whereby no other tribe will know where this news is coming from. Nobody knows that you're the one who's going to enter the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine and nobody knows that you've broken through the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower and are holding the key with you. However, to be honest, you might be in trouble as you've managed to get into the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine with your current combat level, so we're suggesting you that you try your best to sneak out as soon you've taken your reward from the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine."

"Thanks for reminding me, Sir. I'll know what to do." Lin Huang nodded.

As the gigantic face disappeared, a golden token floated out of his head. The token was as large as half a fist with a carving of a lady in a dress standing sideways on top of a giant rock. There was an odd Witchcraft Rune at the back of it with complicated rune lines. There were some lines that he had never seen before. He could not tell what the effect of the rune was. The token was naturally the key to the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine.

The instruction flooded into his head as he thought of it. He then inserted his Life Power into the token slowly. Soon, the token expanded into a golden whirlpool that was three meters in diameter. Without hesitation, Lin Huang stepped into the whirlpool. The whirlpool disappeared as soon as he stepped into it. The face appeared slowly on the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower and looked at the direction of the golden whirlpool.

As he appeared, a tall and skinny person stood next to him.

"Hopefully, this kid can leave this place alive..." The face looked concerned.

"How far he'll go depends on him. Whether he'll die, escape alive, or obtain the Sorcerer Goddess's inheritance..." Bai Gu said slowly.

"Leader, do you think that he'll obtain the Sorcerer Goddess inheritance?" The large face was surprised.

"I don't know about that, but I know that the force is with him and he might be able to change the fate of the new epoch." Bai Gu gazed at the direction of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine.

"You looked into his future?" The gigantic face asked immediately.

"I tried, but I couldn't see anything. He might have a relic with him or something else that's even more powerful than that and can't be penetrated." Bai Gu still remembered the day his investigation stopped and when his soul was almost harmed as a result.

"If he really had such treasure with him, he should be able to protect himself," the face sighed.

"But would it be a good thing for the Sorcerer Goddess's inheritance to fall into the hands of an outsider?"

Bai Gu then looked at the gigantic face. "The Sorcerer Goddess decided to leave her inheritance here, and she wouldn't mind who inherits it. To us, it's good news as long as it doesn't fall into those lunatics' hands."

"It's the first time the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine is being activated for the past tens of thousands of years. Those lunatics would definitely go for the Sorcerer Goddess's inheritance." The face viewed the matter negatively. "If they manage to get that, they'll definitely come for us."

"Don't be such a pessimist. There'll be so many of us. We don't know who'll last until the end," Bai Gu said.

Suddenly, a white glow shot into the sky. The entire floating land started shaking. Bai Gu and the gigantic face looked at the direction of the light pillar. In reality, besides Bai Gu and the face, all the living things on the floating land sensed the source of the light. Although those who were far away could not see the light pillar, they peered at the direction like a large-scale worshipping was going on.

All the human teams who entered the floating land felt the tremendous phenomenon.

"Must be something good! Let's go!"

"It must be. Let's get there as soon as we can before everyone else does!"

"There must be wealth at risk. Let's just bet our lives on it!"

The human teams, who had no idea about the existence of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, joined the adventure. The floating land became crowded. Thousands of beings surrounded the light pillar that was in the middle of the floating island including different types of toys, rotten samples, corpses, and humans. If Lin Huang had been there, he would recognize that he had met most of the people there as they were the two teams from the Union Government as well as the team from Dynasty.

However, the tribes were not surprised by their existence. They did not even bother to look at them.

"The Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine is really open!" A scary, middle-aged man looked at the light pillar and mumbled to himself. As the light pillar was disappearing, the ground was shaking even more like something was going to burst out of the ground.

Sensing that, almost everyone retreated hundreds of meters away while waiting for what would emerge out of the ground patiently. Time passed by, and the land that was covered in snow collapsed while a gigantic building made of ice crystals surfaced from the ground and floated hundreds of meters from the ground. It was a massive shrine! Following the sudden and bizarre emergence of the shrine, the wind and the snow stopped completely while the thick clouds faded away, revealing sunshine that had not appeared in a long time.

Chapter 711: Sorcerer Goddess Blood

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang appeared in a shrine when he walked out of the golden whirlpool. It was crystal white around him with gusts of chilly wind all around.

"Is this ice crystal?" He could not help but touch a pillar near him. A striking chill blasted out of the pillar, confirming his speculation.

The shrine seemed to be made of the frost attribute and was probably created by powerful people. Added with the powerful Witchcraft Rune as well as a long period of cultivation, this shrine was as powerful as a god relic. Just as Lin Huang managed to find his footing, the ground started to shake. His feet detached from the ground and floated tens of centimeters off ground. The trembling continued, but that did not affect him anymore. He ignored it and started to observe the area around him

This shrine was made of compressed ice crystals. There were countless Witchcraft Runes carved on the walls, pillars, ceiling, and even on the ground. Lin Huang was dizzy from just looking at them. However, he noticed that the dozen ice crystal cases were arranged in circle. Just when he wanted to check them out, a familiar female voice was heard.

"As a challenger who's broken through the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower, you can pick any of the treasures as your reward."

Lin Huang was shocked to hear that as the voice sounded familiar. He looked at the source of voice and saw a lady in a white dress appearing from thin air. She looked like she was only 20 years young. She was short at only 160 centimeters with black waist-length hair. She wore a white dress and was barefooted. She had a face as pretty as a porcelain doll with skin as white as snow. She was flawless.

"Who are you?" Lin Huang asked carefully. Although the lady was beautiful, her appearance was rather strange.

"Don't you recognize my voice?" The lady smiled mischievously at Lin Huang.

"Your voice..." Lin Huang was stunned as he recalled that it was the voice who had explained the instructions whenever his consciousness was taken out of the tower.

"You're the person who explained the rules on the Sorcerer Goddess Tower?"

"Yes, that's me. My name is Wu Mo, but this is only my consciousness as I'm dead," Wu Mo said in a sad but composed manner.

Looking at the barefooted lady in white, Lin Huang thought of something and summoned the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine key. He then compared the lady that was carved on the token and looked at Wu Mo.

"You're the owner of the Sorcerer Goddess Shrine?" Lin Huang was shocked.

The side profile of the lady carved on the token looked exactly the same as the lady standing in front of him.

"Busted." Wu Mo smiled without confirming her identity.

Of course, Lin Huang knew that the owner of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine was the Sorcerer Goddess herself. Wu Mo was the True God who had moved this piece of land into the sky above the Peaceful Ocean 30,000 years ago.

Lin Huang had his own idea of how a True God in the middle epoch would look like, but he did not expect her to appear as the 20-year-old lady standing in front of him. She did not look like she had the power of a god. In fact, she seemed more like a cute, mischievous person.

"Master Sorcerer Goddess..." Lin Huang did not dare to be rude after confirming her identity. Although it was just her consciousness, killing him would only need a flick of her finger.

"I hate people calling me Master. That makes me sound old. You can call me Momo. All of my friends used to call me that." Wu Mo did not sound like a True God at all.

"I don't think that's proper. You're a Master after all," Lin Huang answered shyly.

"It's just an address. Don't take it so seriously."

"If you think that it's rude to call me by my name, you can call me Sis Momo then."

"Alright then." Since she insisted, Lin Huang decided to go with it.

"Sis Momo, did you say that I can pick any one of the treasures that I like here?"

"Yes, all 12 items in the shrine are god-level treasures. Because you've broken through the ninth level on the Sorcerer Goddess Tower, you can pick any one of them as your reward." Wu Mo nodded.

"Sis Momo, do you have any suggestion?" Lin Huang was playing it smart.

"I can't do that, you'll have to decide yourself." Wu Mo shook her head and stayed silent.

Feeling helpless, Lin Huang walked to the cases and looked carefully at the items one by one.

Suddenly, Xiao Hei spoke, "Pick the blood of the True God!"

Lin Huang was surprised to hear its comment. He walked around but did not see any liquid blood in any of the cases, so he contacted Xiao Hei in his mind.

"I don't see it."

"The purplish-gold crystal that's the size of a fist."

Lin Huang turned around and looked at the irregular crystal that he had seen earlier. He walked slowly to the case and observed it before he then contacted Xiao Hei once again.

"This looks more like a piece of mineral. Shouldn't blood be in liquid form? Or is the blood hiding in the mineral?"

"Not that it's hiding inside. The entire crystal is the blood of the True God. As soon as the blood gets out of the body, it solidifies into a crystal."

"Are you sure about that?" Lin Huang was still skeptical.

"I'll remove myself from you and get you a better Goldfinger if I'm wrong."

"Oh, alright then. I trust you." Lin Huang stopped doubting after hearing what Xiao Hei said.

"Don't you want to seize this opportunity to get a better Goldfinger? You won't have the opportunity again if you miss this one. I suggest that you consider it. There're many Goldfingers that are more powerful than me. Some of them can be upgraded after killing a couple of Swine Beasts, while some of them are powerful since the beginning where even an ordinary person will be able to slap a god to death..."

"Never mind, I've gotten used to you." Lin Huang scratched his nose to cover the white lie that he had just told.

"Alright then, I was messing with you. In reality, no traveller can change the Goldfinger that they're assigned. Also, God is an existence from the level-3 of the life level. Stop using your limited brain capacity to craft how a higher life should look like."

Lin Huang was speechless.

"Have you picked one?" Wu Mo was curious as she watched Lin Huang standing before the purplish-gold crystal without moving.

"Yes, I'm picking this one." Lin Huang nodded and pointed at the crystal.

"Are you sure?" Wu Mo asked.

"Yes!"

"Alright then, as you wish!" Wu Mo said and placed her palm on top of the case.

The case that was sealed with ice broke as Wu Mo caught the fist-size purplish-gold crystal in her hand. She then flicked it into Lin Huang's chest.

Chapter 712: The Conditions to Enter the Sorcerer Goddess Shrine

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"You've obtained the blood of the True God. Would you like to turn it into a card?"

"Will this thing be restricted after it becomes a card due to my combat level?" Lin Huang asked immediately.

"Yes, the card will be sealed immediately."

"Then, I shan't make it into a card at the moment." Lin Huang then looked at Wu Mo after declining Xiao Hei's request.

"Sis Momo, I understand that I'll obtain your inheritance here besides the reward, won't I?"

"That's right, but my inheritance isn't that easy to get." Wu Mo cunningly grinned at Lin Huang.

"I'll give it a try whether I can get it or not. I might be able to get it." Lin Huang smiled back.

"Follow me," Wu Mo said and left. Lin Huang caught up to her immediately. After walking not far away, he saw a familiar charcoal grey stone tablet. It looked exactly like the one at the Sorcerer Goddess Tower.

Wu Mo pointed at the stone tablet and looked at Lin Huang as they stood before it.

"You know what you need to do."

It was a sealing rune that was made of complicated rune lines that Lin Huang recognized immediately.

Wu Mo spoke again as he was ready to decode the rune, "This is a Ten Thousand Sealing Rune. Over time after you decode it, there'll be a new sealing rune which appears. It'll only be decoded entirely after 10,000 times. If you fail in the middle, you'll have to start from the beginning again. It'll be a completely new set of runes that are different from what you've decoded before, so it's best if you go through it once instead of doing it all over again.

"Also, you're only given 30 seconds to decode each rune. You'll have to start over again if you take more than that. As soon as you decode each rune within 30 seconds, the new rune will appear instead of waiting for the 30 seconds to be up."

Wu Mo added after she was done with the conditions, "You can get your little pet monster to help. It's allowed since your summoning monsters are also one of your abilities."

It was clear that Wu Mo had already seen Bloody at the Sorcerer Goddess Tower. There was nothing that Lin Huang should hide, so he summoned Bloody immediately.

"Let me try first. I'll ask for your help if I can't manage to do it," Lin Huang said to Bloody. Bloody looked at Wu Mo who was standing aside without saying anything. It nodded, then wrapped itself around his left wrist while Lin Huang started drawing the decoding rune on the stone tablet with his right hand.

He completed the first decoding rune successfully in less than 20 seconds. As the first sealing rune faded away, the second one appeared automatically. Now Lin Huang knew that what Wu Mo had said about the Ten Thousand Sealing Runes was real as the second sealing rune appeared immediately. Just as soon as he managed to decode the second one in 22 seconds, the third one appeared.

Lin Huang decoded them one by one patiently and carefully since a single error in stroke would break the entire rune. Time was passing by in the Sorcerer Goddess Shrine, but he had no idea what was happening outside. Even if he did, he did not have the time to do anything about it.

...

A female voice was heard as the Sorcerer Goddess Shrine drifted into the air and the shaking stopped. All of the people below heard her crystal-clear.

"The Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine welcomes all holy fire- and immortal-levels to enter. Those whose combat level don't qualify will be killed without mercy if you come in by force! Those who are hiding or suppressing your combat level can try if you're not afraid to die."

Many of the tribal members turned around and fled as they were afraid to become targets while some of them stood where they were without moving.

"Those who are qualified to come in may enter the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine after I'm done explaining the conditions of the assessments.

"There are a dozen external shrines around the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine with an assessment each. You'll only be able to go to the next one after you've passed the assessment. All challengers who pass the 12 external shrines are eligible to enter.

"There're 12 god-level treasures inside. Besides the one that was taken away by the activator of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, the remaining 11 will be randomly given out to those who manage to break through the 12 external shrines. If more than 11 people pass, the one who comes later won't receive any of the treasures. That being said, only the first 11 who breakthrough will be rewarded with the treasure."

Many people became excited when they heard about the treasure, but they proceeded to listen patiently. After all, it was the first time the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine was open, so nobody knew what the conditions of entering were. It would be a pity if any of them accidentally broke the conditions and were disqualified.

"There's something that I must emphasize here. No fighting is allowed in the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. Nobody is allowed to use any techniques to interrupt anybody. Whoever picks a fight or interferes will be disqualified immediately. Besides being sent out of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, the treasure will be confiscated, and the troublemaker will be blacklisted from the entering the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine forever. If the person tries to enter the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine again, he will be killed without mercy!"

Although fighting was harshly punishable in there, it also meant that they were allowed to fight outside. Many of them managed to read between the lines. Those who planned to rob treasures from others had to come up with another plan.

"The Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine will be opened for ten days. Throughout this period, all of the people who qualify may enter and exit the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine as they wish. The shrine will be closed ten days later. Everyone, including the activator, will be sent out of the shrine no matter which level they are on.

"If anybody manages to get the Sorcerer Goddess inheritance within ten days, the person will have the right to handle the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine whereby he or she will have the right to decide whether to close the shrine and send everyone out..."

Wu Mo read out the conditions to everyone clearly although she was nowhere to be seen. After that, she answered everyone's questions one by one and eventually announced, "The Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine is officially open. All those of you who are qualified to come in may enter the door to the first shrine to join the assessment!"

As Wu Mo said that, thousands of people thronged the entrance of the first shrine like a swarm of locusts.

Chapter 713: The Challenge Has Begun!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As the challengers entered the first shrine, they soon realized that they were not inside a shrine, but it was more like they were being sent to a corner of the ruins. There was snow everywhere, and the place seemed to be an endless sprawl of white while heavy snow fell from above. Many of them were stunned, but they soon realized that instead of having been sent somewhere, it was, in fact, the first shrine of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. They did not care whether it was an illusion or if the space was imbued with special effects as the most important thing was the content of the assessment.

As soon as the 4,000-odd people entered, Wu Mo's voice came from above again.

"Welcome to the first level of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine! Since the first batch has arrived, let me explain what this level is going to be like.

"In this level, you'll be tested on your personal ability. There'll be a monster horde soon in which the least powerful creature will be an immortal-level rank-1 and the most powerful will be an imperial-level black gold-level."

"There are three conditions to passing the level. The first is to survive the monster horde. The second is to kill 5,000 monsters in the ten hours, and the last one will be to kill ten imperial-level black gold-rank monsters in the ten hours. You'll have to fulfill all three conditions to pass the level. Those who fail will be sent out of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine and won't be allowed in anymore.

"You're allowed to work together with the others on this level, but the number of monsters killed will be calculated individually. The person who manages to kill the monsters eventually will be considered the killer. No matter how much damage you've done to the targeted monsters, the tally won't belong to you as long as you're not the one who killed the monster."

Everyone was excited to hear that they could work together, but they became upset when they heard the last rule. According to the method of calculation, there would definitely be conflict among the teams as everyone would want to be the last who killed the monster. Those who failed to do so would be bumped off. As long as there was conflict among the teams, the possibility of being disqualified was high.

After all, since they would have to kill 5,000 monsters in ten hours, that would mean that everyone would have to kill a monster in 7.2 seconds on average. A couple of minutes of conflict would affect their efficiency significantly. Therefore, the teams had to plan among themselves properly before the assessment started to prevent any friction happening.

"Don't be afraid. Don't worry that you'll die in this assessment. This is just a space for your consciousness. Your consciousness will return to your body after you die," Wu Mo reminded.

"That's all from me. You can ask whatever questions that you may have now before the assessment starts."

Among the crowd, a man in a Union Government military uniform raised his hand.

"If I managed to kill 5,000 monsters and ten imperial-level monsters before the ten hours ends, will I be exempted from the first condition and head to the second shrine right away?"

"No, you'll have to fulfill all three conditions to pass the level."

This time, a member of the Dynasty spoke. Up, "Since this level is restricted to ten hours, that means that everyone who passes will be sent to the second shrine after the ten hours has passed without any difference in time. I'd like to know if there'll be many levels with time restrictions like this. If yes, doesn't that mean it'll be difficult to have any time difference between each challenger?"

"Including the first level, there are only two levels that have a time restriction, so as long as you have sufficient ability, you don't have to worry about the time difference."

A couple of people asked their questions after that, and Wu Mo answered them one by one.

"Alright, if there are no more questions, you guys may start the assessment now."

As Wu Mo said that, the monster horde advanced from far away. Apart from some of them, most of the challengers teamed up with people that they were familiar with. It was a monster horde after all, and besides some of the powerful people, it was hard for the rest to survive on their own. Teaming up would increase their survival rate.

However, the conflict started after the teams were formed.

"There are five of us. The efficiency will be poor if we take turns to kill one at a time. So, do the remaining four just watch while one person kills the monsters? I think this is such a waste of time!"

"What do you suggest? Help one person to kill all 5,000 monsters and the next person will continue after that? If that's the case, do you think the person who has fulfilled the mission will have the strength to help the next person? We only have ten hours. It's possible for the first four people to complete the mission within the time limit, but what about the fifth person? Who can guarantee that the fifth person will fulfill the condition? And who is willing to be the fifth person?"

Everyone on the team became silent as nobody was willing to be the last person.

A moment later, a person put up his hand and suggested, "Why don't each of us kill a hundred. The next person will go after the first person fulfills the 100 kills? This way, the last two people will be left with 100 monsters each, so it doesn't really matter who goes last anymore."

Everyone supported this suggestion, and many teams carried out the same strategy to minimize the conflict. Soon, the first monster horde finally arrived. Millions of monsters dashed towards them. They were mostly blue frost corpses on immortal-levels rank-1 to rank-3. Although there were many monsters in this round of horde, the combat level of the monsters was considered low. However, everybody knew that the next horde would have more powerful monsters.

"Since the monsters in this horde will be the least powerful, let's not hold back and kill as many as we can since the later ones are more difficult to kill," a person said to his team members and the rest nodded. However, they were not the first team to think that way. Many of them had the same strategy.

Before the monsters came closer, they initiated the attack by dashing into the horde and starting the massacre. Most of them who entered the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine were immortal-levels rank-7 to rank-9. The monsters that were on immortal-levels rank-1 to rank-3 were like herds of goats entering the territory of tigers whereby the humans were on the winning side. It was not a battle anymore, but a one-sided grisly massacre!

Chapter 714: A Powerful Challenger

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Not long into the first level of the challenge in the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, a few challengers stood out. They did not form teams with anybody and just fought solo. None of the monsters that passed them managed to survive. They were like fishes swimming freely in water whereby none of the monsters could stop them from whatever they wanted to do. Moreover, they did not only kill one monster per attack. Instead, they were like Grim Reapers, exterminating everything that came their way.

The first monster horde lasted for around two hours before the second one came. This time, there were immortal-levels rank-4 to rank-6 monsters. This stressed many of the teams as their efficiency significantly dropped while those who were weaker were injured, which affected their productivity even more.

However, the few powerful lone rangers remained moving among the monsters, making it look like there was no difference with the first monster horde. The second horde also lasted for two hours before the third one came. This time, there were monsters of immortal-levels rank-7 to rank-9. Since the monsters were much more powerful, most of the challengers slowed down.

At the same combat level, the number of monsters had far surpassed the number of challengers. The monsters could bring harm to most of the challengers, so they were more careful this time. Even the lone rangers who stood out experienced a significant drop in their efficiency. Previously, they could kill a bunch of monsters at once, but now they could only kill a couple or only one at a time.

The third monster horde brought trouble to many of the teams. Some of them could not attack anymore and started defending themselves instead. Three minutes into the third monster horde, a challenger was killed by a monster and was disqualified. The team that lost their member failed in less than ten minutes later as their team members were killed and disqualified.

It was just the beginning. Soon, the second and the third teams started to fall as well. In less than half an hour, seven teams had fallen, and 37 people were disqualified. It was not the end yet. After the seventh team was disqualified, so were the eighth and ninth teams. An hour into the third monster horde, 13 teams were disqualified. As the monster horde was coming to an end after close to two hours, 21 teams and more than 100 people were disqualified.

As soon as the third monster horde ended, the fourth monster horde arrived. The imperial-level monsters were finally here. Gigantic Frostyape Corpses marched towards the challengers in a deadly manner. Besides imperial-level monsters, the number of monsters this time was a few times more than the third monster horde. It was even more than the three monster hordes added up as there were millions of them.

Many of them were terrified when they saw the Frostyape Corpses. Even the tribe members who could transform into dolls were fearful of them. The Frostyape Corpses were not only mighty in terms of defense, but they also had terrifying strength too. Most of the imperial-level humans could not even break through the Frostyape Corpses' defense, let alone kill them. However, a few of the challengers among them were fearless as they stared deadly at the Frostyape Corpses.

"The whole carcass of a Frostyape Corpses can be sold at a high price, but it's too bad that this is just virtual reality." A plump man from the Dynasty smiled grimly.

"Whether you can sell them or not, killing ten of them is our mission," retorted a tall, skinny man next to him.

"Let's see who can kill faster!"

"I don't want to reveal my real ability here. You can look for someone else," the plump man said, smiling.

"This is just a game that I play out of boredom. Nobody is asking you to reveal your real ability." The tall, skinny man pouted.

"Don't you know how I am? I'm not interested in all these games." The plump man smirked back.

"If you really want to play, I think we can bet on the treasures in the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. The loser will have to surrender his treasure to the winner. What do you think?"

"F*ck off!" The tall, skinny man cursed.

"You might not lose. Don't you want to try?" The plump man smiled to the extent that his eyes became long, thin slits.

The tall, skinny man glared at him and ignored him. He then shot out as a golden glow towards one of the Frostyape Corpses. As the man started forward, the other lone rangers picked their own Frostyape Corpses and dashed forward. Among the lone rangers, the plump man from the Dynasty was the last to attack. He seemed to be chilled as he ambled and blocked the way of a Frostyape Corpse.

He then smiled as he looked at his target.

"I'm sorry. You shall not pass."

The Frostyape Corpse understood what he meant, and it slapped him without hesitation. The slap was terrifyingly fast with a scary chill as the air became frosty. As the slap reached the plump man, he stood where he was with his smile frozen on his face like he did not have the time to dodge the attack.

However, as the slap was inches away from his head, he raised his hand. A golden glow flashed, and a gold battle sword appeared in his hand. He raised the sword slowly and placed the back of his sword on his shoulder as he covered his mouth with his left hand while yawning.

"This level is so boring."

Just as he uttered those words, the Frostyape Corpse stopped moving like it was frozen. The Frostyape Corpse's palm stopped less than ten centimeters away from his head. Some of the challengers noticed the bizarre scene.

"Why isn't that Frostyape Corpse moving?"

"Is this a space restraint?"

All of a sudden, a blue crack appeared in between the Frostyape Corpse's eyebrows. It was like a thread that was being pulled downwards that soon arrived at the Frostyape Corpse's chin. Until then, blue fluid gushed out of the crack and exploded. Blue blood spurted everywhere like a fountain. The huge monster collapsed like a mountain. Above its neck, its head was cut in half like a watermelon in summer.

Chapter 715: Increasing Difficulty With Each Level
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Not long into the first level of the challenge in the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, a few challengers stood out. They did not form teams with anybody and just fought solo. None of the monsters that passed them managed to survive. They were like fishes swimming freely in water whereby none of the monsters could stop them from whatever they wanted to do. Moreover, they did not only kill one monster per attack. Instead, they were like Grim Reapers, exterminating everything that came their way.

The first monster horde lasted for around two hours before the second one came. This time, there were immortal-levels rank-4 to rank-6 monsters. This stressed many of the teams as their efficiency significantly dropped while those who were weaker were injured, which affected their productivity even more.

However, the few powerful lone rangers remained moving among the monsters, making it look like there was no difference with the first monster horde. The second horde also lasted for two hours before the third one came. This time, there were monsters of immortal-levels rank-7 to rank-9. Since the monsters were much more powerful, most of the challengers slowed down.

At the same combat level, the number of monsters had far surpassed the number of challengers. The monsters could bring harm to most of the challengers, so they were more careful this time. Even the lone rangers who stood out experienced a significant drop in their efficiency. Previously, they could kill a bunch of monsters at once, but now they could only kill a couple or just one at a time.

The third monster horde brought trouble to many of the teams. Some of them could not attack anymore and started defending themselves instead. Three minutes into the third monster horde, a challenger was killed by a monster and was disqualified. The team that lost their member failed in less than ten minutes later as their team members were killed and disqualified.

It was just the beginning. Soon, the second and the third teams started to fall as well. In less than half an hour, seven teams had fallen, and 37 people were disqualified. It was not the end yet. After the seventh team was disqualified, so were the eighth and ninth teams. An hour into the third monster horde, 13 teams were disqualified. As the monster horde was coming to an end after close to two hours, 21 teams and more than 100 people were disqualified.

As soon as the third monster horde ended, the fourth monster horde arrived. The imperial-level monsters were finally here. Gigantic Frostyape Corpses marched towards the challengers in a deadly manner. Besides imperial-level monsters, the number of monsters this time was a few times more than the third monster horde. It was even more than the three monster hordes added up as there were millions of them.

Many of them were terrified when they saw the Frostyape Corpses. Even the tribe members who could transform into dolls were fearful of them. The Frostyape Corpses were not only mighty in terms of defense, but they also had terrifying strength too. Most of the imperial-level humans could not even break through the Frostyape Corpses' defense, let alone kill them. However, some challengers among them were fearless as they stared deadly at the Frostyape Corpses.

"The whole carcass of a Frostyape Corpses can be sold at a high price, but it's too bad that this is just virtual reality." A plump man from the Dynasty smiled grimly.

"Whether you can sell them or not, killing ten of them is our mission," retorted a tall, skinny man next to him.

"Let's see who can kill faster!"

"I don't want to reveal my real ability here. You can look for someone else," the plump man said, smiling.

"This is just a game that I play out of boredom. Nobody is asking you to reveal your real ability." The tall, skinny man pouted.

"Don't you know how I am? I'm not interested in all these games." The plump man smirked back.

"If you really want to play, I think we can bet on the treasures in the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. The loser will have to surrender his treasure to the winner. What do you think?"

"F*ck off!" The tall, skinny man cursed.

"You might not lose. Don't you want to try?" The plump man smiled to the extent that his eyes became long, thin slits.

The tall, skinny man glared at him and ignored him. He then shot out as a golden glow towards one of the Frostyape Corpses. As the man started forward, the other lone rangers picked their own Frostyape Corpses and dashed forward. Among the lone rangers, the plump man from the Dynasty was the last to attack. He seemed to be chilled as he ambled and blocked the way of a Frostyape Corpse.

He then smiled as he looked at his target.

"I'm sorry. You shall not pass."

The Frostyape Corpse understood what he meant, and it slapped him without hesitation. The slap was terrifyingly fast with a scary chill as the air became frosty. As the slap reached the plump man, he stood where he was with his smile frozen on his face like he did not have the time to dodge the attack.

However, as the slap was inches away from his head, he raised his hand. A golden glow flashed, and a gold battle sword appeared in his hand. He raised the sword slowly and placed the back of his sword on his shoulder as he covered his mouth with his left hand while yawning.

"This level is so boring."

Just when he said that, the Frostyape Corpse stopped moving like it was frozen. The Frostyape Corpse's palm stopped less than ten centimeters away from his head. Some of the challengers noticed the bizarre scene.

"Why isn't that Frostyape Corpse moving?"

"Is this a space restraint?"

All of a sudden, a blue crack appeared in between the Frostyape Corpse's eyebrows. It was like a thread that was being pulled downwards that soon arrived at the Frostyape Corpse's chin. Until then, blue fluid gushed out of the crack and exploded. Blue blood spurted everywhere like a fountain. The colossal monster collapsed like a mountain. Above its neck, its head was cut in half like a watermelon in summer.

Chapter 716: The Rune Cliff
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After the Ten Thousand Sealing Rune had been decoded for more than 300 times, Lin Huang encountered a rune that he was unfamiliar with for the first time. Bloody accepted the mission without hesitation and rapidly drafted the sealing rune.

Having decoded the rune for about 900 times, Lin Huang faced some problems for the second time. Bloody helped him out again.

With Bloody's assistance, Lin Huang only managed to unseal more than 800 runes after working on it for precisely two days without any rest.

As he continued unsealing the runes, he sensed an energy wave coming from the shrine.

Lin Huang then turned his head back and looked in the direction where he sensed the source of the energy wave. A plump, young man appeared in the shrine.

The golden armor revealed his identity that he was wearing.

"It's the people from Dynasty!" Lin Huang frowned.

Zhu Xing soon noticed Lin Huang who was hundreds of meters away from him. He was stunned when he saw Lin Huang at first glance. However, he was able to confirm Lin Huang's identity soon and started sizing Lin Huang up.

However, due to the rules that Wu Mo had mentioned earlier, he did not take the initiative to talk to Lin Huang.

Lin Huang caught a glimpse of Zhu Xing and shifted his focus back on to the stone tablet. He knew the rules of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine as well. Therefore, he was not worried that the person would attack him.

Zhu Xing knew that Lin Huang was only a purple flame-level at first glimpse. He was not even an immortal-level. Of course, he was envious of Lin Huang as the fellow with such low combat level could own the key to the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. Furthermore, Lin Huang had even entered the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine two days ahead of him.

Zhu Xing then quickly shifted his gaze from Lin Huang towards the 11 treasures that remained in the frosted cabinet.

"The Sorcerer Goddess's blood isn't here. The fella must've taken it." Zhu Xing glanced at Lin Huang again, and greed flashed in his eyes.

As he was about to shift his gaze and carefully study the treasures, the cabinet suddenly vibrated. White, jade-like phalanges shot out of the cabinet abruptly. The phalanges entered Zhu Xing's body when he was unaware of it.

Zhu Xing immediately sat down with his legs crossed and started digesting the item that he had just obtained.

After sitting down for a while, he felt a stir in the space in the shrine. It was a tribal member that was being sent there. His body was in the form of a teddy bear that was more than two meters tall.

Zhu Xing opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of the guy, and soon, he immediately closed his eyes to complete his task.

Lin Huang did not bother to turn around this time. Since the first person was sent, he knew that the number of people sent to the shrine would only increase after that.

Da Xiong soon noticed the presence of Lin Huang and Zhu Xing. Zhu Xing was familiar to him as the man had exhibited outstanding performance and it was hard for him not to notice him.

Seeing that two items had disappeared from 12 of the cabinets, Da Xiong could confirm Lin Huang's identity as well.

As a tribal member, he was curious about Lin Huang, who had obtained the key to the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. He secretly sized Lin Huang up.

After a short while, the cabinet vibrated again. A book slowly floated in front of Da Xiong. He then extended his hand and grabbed the item that he had chosen.

The book turned into a ball of light that gradually merged in between Da Xiong's eyebrows.

Da Xiong immediately sat down with his legs crossed as well, watching the item that he had just obtained.

In the last ten hours, before Lin Huang could complete decoding the Ten Thousand Sealing Rune, five people were sent to the shrine one after another.

Wu Mo guided them to a stone tablet that looked similar to the one in front of Lin Huang. They started the assessment of the Ten Thousand Sealing Rune as well.

As for Lin Huang who had not rested for almost 60 hours, he finally carved the last rune on the last sealing rune of the Ten Thousand Sealing Rune.

The outer body of the stone tablet peeled away, revealing the dark bronze metal. Soon after, the complete form of the stone tablet appeared in front of Lin Huang - it was a metal door.

As the outer body had been completely peeled off, the metal door expanded rapidly and soon, a door that was three meters tall and a meter wide formed.

The changes that happened on Lin Huang's side had attracted the attention of the five of them who looked at the metal door.

The four of them immediately shifted their focus back to their work, but Zhu Xing did not. His eyes stared dangerously at Lin Huang, but his hands did not stop decoding the runes. He was just drawing blindly.

Lin Huang did not see this, and neither did the other four.

Lin Huang was standing in front of the door. However, he did not push it open.

Right at this moment, Wu Mo appeared next to him and said, "Please enter. The next assessment is the key to decide if you can inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory."

Lin Huang nodded, extending his hand and pushing against the door. He then strode into the dark space behind the door.

Right after Lin Huang disappeared, the dark bronze door that was transformed from the stone tablet faded away as well.

Wu Mo then turned around, exchanging glances with Zhu Xing who had been staring at Lin Huang.

Zhu Xing took a glance at her and soon, shifted his gaze back to the stone tablet in front of him.

Lin Huang appeared in front of an extremely high cliff right after he entered the door.

The cliff was thousands of meters tall. There were intricate carvings on the cliff which were made of various types of complete runes. There were at least 100,000 or millions of them.

Wu Mo's voice was heard again.

"On the rune cliff, there are 1,080,000 complete runes. You're given three days to memorize all the runes. If you can't finish it within three days, you won't be qualified to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory. Your memory regarding what you've seen from the cliff will be erased as well."

"Memorizing 1,080,000 complete runes in three days..." Lin Huang had no confidence that he could achieve it. He even doubted if Bloody could do so.

"You can ask your pet monster to help you. However, whatever that it memorizes won't be considered. You have to memorize it by yourself. Despite its talent in Witchcraft Runes going beyond comparison, it's still a monster and won't be able to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory." Wu Mo felt disappointed. If it were human, it might be the one to inherit her memory.

"Bloody, I'm counting on you." Lin Huang knew that he would not be able to do it on his own.

Bloody nodded and started memorizing the complete runes.

Lin Huang had no choice but to memorize the complete runes one by one. However, he was slow at memorizing. He managed to memorize less than 20,000 runes in a day.

Even Bloody was only able to memorize less than half of the total number of runes in a day.

"I won't have much time left in the afternoon." Lin Huang knew that he would not be able to finish it according to their efficiency. He frowned as he started thinking of solutions.

While he was immersed in his thoughts, an idea suddenly ran through his mind. A golden card suddenly appeared in his hand...

Chapter 717: Epiphany Card

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Epiphany Card: Gives the user a chance for an epiphany.

"Remarks: Consumable, can only be used once. The effective period and effect depend on the user's credentials and talents."

Looking at the Epiphany Card he had on hand, Lin Huang seemed disconcerted. He could only get three of such cards in the next two years and one of what he had had already been used. However, as he thought about the fact that it was redeemable in the future, he felt relieved.

No matter what, it was definitely worth inheriting the True God's memory by using one or two Epiphany Cards.

Without hesitation, Lin Huang immediately crushed the Epiphany Card that he had.

The card transformed into a bright, golden glow and merged in between Lin Huang's eyebrows. However, Wu Mo did not notice that.

As soon as the Epiphany Card became effective, Lin Huang felt like his brain had detached from his body as his thoughts were much clearer than ever before. It seemed like the mist had cleared away, and the world was incredibly clear now.

Whatever that he could not see clearly in the past was now all revealed.

Even the runes on the cliff no longer looked like simplified runes. Instead, they looked like numbers. The rune lines that befuddled Lin Huang had become simple calculations. Lin Huang was able to grasp the meaning in an instant.

As he looked at the cliff again, Lin Huang managed to memorize all the intricate runes in one glance. He could even understand the constitutive principles and the constructive process of the runes perfectly well.

The impact of the Epiphany Card was beyond Lin Huang's expectations.

Soon, a day passed, and the effect of the Epiphany Card still remained. With the help of the Epiphany Card, Lin Huang managed to memorize more than 600,000 out of 1,080,000 of the runes. He was catching up with Bloody's progress.

Despite Wu Mo not finding out that Lin Huang actually used the Epiphany Card, she realized that Lin Huang had entered the state of experiencing an epiphany. She thought that Lin Huang was lucky because she clearly knew that although Lin Huang was not weak in Sorcerer Dao, he was not a pro either. He had solely relied on Bloody to pass through the Sorcerer Goddess Tower. She did not have faith that he was capable of inheriting the Sorcerer Goddess's memory. She was just giving him a chance to try his luck. However, she never expected that Lin Huang would enter the state of epiphany at the last minute.

The effect of the Epiphany Card lasted until the afternoon of the next day. It no longer became effective right after Lin Huang had completely memorized the 1,080,000 runes.

Bloody had not finished memorizing the runes by the time Lin Huang was done.

"You're kind of lucky to be able to experience an epiphany at the very last minute," Wu Mo whispered.

"Yes, I am." Lin Huang nodded as he knew that she would not be able to see Xiao Hei's card and had mistakenly thought that he had an epiphany simply by luck.

"The last round of the assessment isn't as simple as merely memorizing the runes." Wu Mo remained calm. Apparently, she did not think that Lin Huang would be able to get through the last round of the assessment.

"It's fine. I'm confident enough to accept the challenge." After memorizing all the runes, Lin Huang was positive.

"Are you sure?" Wu Mo turned back and looked at Lin Huang when she heard what he just said. She smiled wryly.

"Yes, of course, I am. I've nothing to lose," Lin Huang answered optimistically, "Of course, I'll be happy if I'm able to get it, but it's within my expectations if I fail to do so."

"It means you're not really that confident though." Wu Mo pouted.

"My confidence in accepting the challenge doesn't mean that I'll be able to go through it," Lin Huang told her the truth with a smile.

"So, are you ready to accept the next challenge?" Wu Mo asked, raising her brows.

"Wait a minute so that Bloody can get its stuff done," Lin Huang suggested. "I want to recall what I've just memorized as well."

"Alright, then let's wait." Wu Mo nodded and agreed with him.

Bloody was still memorizing the contents on the cliff while Lin Huang was sitting down at somewhere not far away from it with his legs crossed. Soon, he closed his eyes and started recalling what he had just memorized.

After recalling the runes that he had just memorized twice, Lin Huang then slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing that Bloody was still busy, he did not interrupt it and just waited patiently.

"You're rather kind to your pet monster," Wu Mo commented, seeing that he had nothing to do.

"Bloody has helped me a lot in the past. It's the most intelligent pet monster among all the pet monsters I have." Bloody was indeed the most reliable companion to Lin Huang.

"Is it called Bloody? But I thought it's purple in color?" Wu Mo wanted to ask if he was color blind, but she did not. Instead, she cocked her head at Lin Huang with a strange expression.

"It was originally red in color. However, it looked like this after going through its mutation. I'm used to addressing it this way that's why I didn't bother to change," Lin Huang explained.

"Oh, I see. This at least explains that you aren't color blind."

Lin Huang was speechless.

Both of them remained quiet for a while. Lin Huang then asked, "Can you transform back to your real body with the remaining consciousness that you have?"

"Theoretically, it could work, but it's difficult to do so," Wu Mo took a glance at Lin Huang and said after keeping quiet for a long while. "To be honest, I don't hold out much hope."

"Since it's going to work theoretically, there's still a glimmer of hope. How can I help you? Do let me know if there's anything that I can do for you," Lin Huang offered.

"Let's just forget about it since you're only on this combat level. You might be able to help if you're a True God." Wu Mo laughed. "I don't know when you're becoming a True God!"

"Instead of staying here, why not give it a try? Leave together with me as soon as everything that happens here ends. Let's look for a way so that you can transform back to your real body," Lin Huang suggested.

"If you want to bring me along, let's talk about it later after you've inherited my memory, without which, I won't leave." Wu Mo kept quiet for a while before saying, "Another thing that I'll have to clarify is that if I were to leave the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, I could only stay in the droplet of the True God's blood. I'll be asleep, and I won't be able to help you out."

"Even if you aren't asleep, I don't think that there's anything that you can help me in your current state." Lin Huang laughed, shaking his head. "As for inheriting your memory, I'll try my best to do so. Please don't forget me when you're able to recover to your original state in the near future."

"Alright." Wu Mo smiled.

As time passed, it was already late at night. At midnight, when the deadline was near, Bloody had finally completed memorizing everything on the cliff.

After recalling Bloody, Lin Huang then looked towards Wu Mo. "Let's begin now."

Chapter 718: The Final Assessment
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"What's the final assessment about? Is it going to be a real battle?" He made a wild guess based on the practice of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine.

"It isn't going to be a real battle. After you've mastered the Witchcraft Rune, as long as sufficient training is provided, you'll be able to do well in the actual battle. Also, your ability in an actual battle has already been proven since you're here now. The final assessment wouldn't be meaningful then if it were the real battle." Wu Mo smiled evilly.

"If it's not a real battle, then what could it be?" Lin Huang had absolutely no idea.

Wu Mo's facial expression was grave as she announced, "You have to create new rune lines and new complete runes."

"Create new rune lines?" Lin Huang was stunned.

"Yes. You should know that the Witchcraft Rune has a total of 108 basic runes lines. During our epoch, 36 advanced rune lines are available in public and also nine high-level lines. You should also realize by now that among the 1,080,000 runes you memorized yesterday, there are actually many new rune lines," Wu Mo continued.

"Yes. 76 of them are new rune lines."

"These are the new rune lines provided by the Virtual God during our epoch. The 1,080,000 complete runes are basically the encyclopedia during our epoch, which took us tens of thousands of years to develop. Aside from the rune lines which one owns privately and won't be recorded, basically, all of that covers almost all of the runes available during our epoch. Despite the many rune lines and the complete runes, they belong to others. To be a qualified sorcerer, you will need to create your own rune lines. Therefore, the final assessment will lead you to become a real sorcerer."

"In order to pass the final assessment, you have to create at least three rune lines that belong to you and develop 3,000 complete runes," Wu Mo shared the exact content of the assessment with him.

"Creating three rune lines and developing 3,000 complete runes?" Lin Huang frowned. "I might be able to accomplish the task if sufficient time is given. However, I don't think there's much time left for the opening of the Sorcerer Goddess's Tower."

"You still have four and a half days to go. It's one of the challenges of the assessment. However, compared to those who are often exposed to the Witchcraft Rune, it's easier for beginners like you to develop your own rune lines since your thoughts aren't restricted. As for people like us who're used to the Witchcraft Rune, we won't be able to think out of the box. It takes us a long time to create new rune lines. Moreover, rune lines are easier created at the beginning. It's possible to create a few new rune lines for the first time.

"Forcing you to create three or more rune lines in four and half days is actually a test on your credentials and talents in Sorcerer Dao. If you lack talent, you definitely won't be able to do so.

"Additionally, this assessment aims to test your understanding of the Witchcraft Rune. If you don't have a good understanding of the Witchcraft Rune, it's impossible for you to create your own rune lines."

Lin Huang knew that creating new rune lines was like creating new alphabets other than the 26 alphabets that were already in existence. He had to develop the 27th and the 28th alphabet along with creating new words by using the alphabets that were previously available. A new word with a new meaning had to be created. In addition, the creation could not deviate from the language system itself. The newly created word would be an extension of the existing language after having a solid grasp of the original language system. It was not something that could be created blindly.

The combination of the rune lines was rather precise. If they were incompatible, the complete rune would not work.

Creating new rune lines and developing the new runes required a certain level of understanding of the Witchcraft Rune. Only those with a keen understanding of the Witchcraft Rune would be able to do so. Compared to this assessment, the rest of it meant nothing to Lin Huang.

"There's not much time left. Let's start now." After listening to Wu Mo's explanation, Lin Huang did not wish to have any delay. In the next four and a half days, each passing minute and second were precious to him.

Wu Mo nodded her head. She extended her hand and summoned a silver door. "Get in."

Lin Huang entered without a moment of hesitation.

As he strode to the silver door, Lin Huang was stunned. In front of him was an infinitely large, starry sky. He was floating in the air like a speck of dust.

He then turned back and found out that the silver door had already disappeared. As he wondered how would he return, Wu Mo's voice was heard again.

"Don't worry. Four and a half days later, regardless of the result, you'll be sent back here on time. Just focus on what you have to do now."

Lin Huang was relieved after listening to what Wu Mo said.

As he gazed upon the sky, he snapped himself out of his deep thoughts. After crushing the second Epiphany Card he had in his hand, he gradually closed his eyes.

Soon, the Epiphany Card did its magic, and Lin Huang was immersed in his thoughts again.

The human brain was transformed into a cosmic brain in an instant as the brain had no limit for its capacity and its speed of processing thoughts. The complete runes appeared in his mind. They were analyzed in reverse order whereby they were decomposed into rune lines.

It seemed like the rune lines were alive as they were automatically being sorted into various valid groups.

Lin Huang was like a witness, observing the runes being created and decomposed. The rune lines were like soldiers on a battleground, continually changing their formation to produce different effects.

Soon, four days passed.

On the final half of the day, he still had not started creating new rune lines or newly complete runes.

Wu Mo watched everything that happened in the sky.

Despite her astonishment, noticing that Lin Huang had gotten an epiphany again, she thought that Lin Huang was lucky again and did not think any further. Although Lin Huang had entered the state of epiphany, Wu Mo did not believe that Lin Huang could complete the final assessment given that only half a day was left.

As it was closer to the closing of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, the lower the probability that Lin Huang could get through the final assessment.

Right when Wu Mo felt that Lin Huang was going to fail, she suddenly sensed a vibration coming from mid-air. She then looked in the direction where the vibration came from, and a bronze metal door opened.

A plump, young man then stepped out of the metal door and approached her.

The plump man waved his hand at Wu Mo as he saw her and said, "Hi, Sorcerer Goddess."

Wu Mo squinted her eyes and asked, "Who are you?"

"Is that important? I've passed all the assessments, and I've got to the second last challenge," Zhu Xing said haughtily while looking around. However, he did not see Lin Huang. His facial expression change. "Did the guy manage to get to the final challenge?"

"Yes, you're right. He's gone there for four days already. He's almost gotten the inheritance," Wu Mo taunted.

"It means that he hasn't got it yet." Zhu Xing grinned and said confidently, "It seems like I'm going to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory!"

Chapter 719: Getting C*ckblocked at the Last Minute
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wu Mo frowned as she looked at Zhu Xing, the plump man. She felt that he was somewhat sinister, but she could not figure out what was wrong. Since she was not in the actual body of the Sorcerer Goddess, her sight was limited.

Zhu Xing walked calmly towards the cliff where millions of runes were carved. He stood still and looked through the runes.

Managing to look through all the runes at one glance, his speed far surpassed Lin Huang who received an epiphany.

Wu Mo was shocked. Soon after, she frowned as if something had dawned on her.

Zhu Xing spent less than eight hours to look through all the runes on the cliff. He then closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. After a short while, he turned back and said, "I've memorized all of them. Can I proceed to the next round?"

"You've seen the cliff before! Who are you?" Wu Mo asked in a deep voice.

"Sorcerer Goddess, does it matter?" Zhu Xing asked as he tilted his head slightly. "I guess that you don't have the right to bother who I am as long as I'm qualified to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory. Am I right?"

Wu Mo remained silent. He knew very well that Wu Mo was just a shell with her remaining consciousness. She did not have the authority to make any decision regarding who would inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory.

"Don't waste my time anymore. Let's proceed to the last round." Zhu Xing waved his hand at her. "I know you wish for the fella to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory rather than me. However, there are only four hours left. I think you know very well that the fella will stand no chance to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory anymore."

Wu Mo did not refute. Lin Huang had gone in for four days. In the last four hours, not a single rune line had been created. The probability that he could complete the assessment was close to zero.

Wu Mo did not say anything else. A silver door soon appeared as she waved her hand. "Get in."

Zhu Xing did not continue provoking her. Instead, he caught a glimpse of Wu Mo before entering.

As the silver door closed, Wu Mo pondered herself. A scene of Zhu Xing in the final assessment was being projected. She was still monitoring him.

In the projection, Zhu Xing was not nervous at all as he was sent to a dimension that looked like the vast universe. Even then, he was not shocked at all.

After closing his eyes for a moment, he opened his eyes again in less than half a minute. He extended his hand and started drawing rune lines in mid-air with his Life Power.

Yes, it was an entirely new rune line. It did not belong to any of the rune lines that were already available in public. It did not belong to the rune line that was decomposed from the 1,080,000 completed runes carved on the cliff as well.

Wu Mo frowned when she saw what just happened. She could confirm that Zhu Xing did not master the essence of the runes on the spot. He had been prepared for this.

Wu Mo could confirm her thoughts as she watched what Zhu Xing did next. After drawing the first new rune line, he immediately drew the second rune line, followed by the third rune line.

Similarly, two of the rune lines did not belong to any of the rune lines that Wu Mo already knew.

After finished drawing the three rune lines, Zhu Xing grinned.

He then lifted his wrist. Without even pausing for a moment, he started drawing the new runes. In just a few seconds, a complete rune was drawn. Next, there was the second one, the third one...

During the final hour of the assessment, 3,000 complete runes were drawn by Zhu Xing.

After drawing the last rune, Zhu Xing stopped.

"I've completed the requirement of the final assessment. Am I qualified to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory now?" He said as if he was talking to himself. It seemed like he knew that Wu Mo was spying on him.

"Are you sure that you aren't going to add any new runes or rune lines to increase the probability of your winning?" Wu Mo's voice echoed.

"No, there's no need to do so. It's less than an hour away from the closing of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. The fella who has gotten the key to the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine won't be able to get through this. If the rest of them can complete the second last round, they won't be able to enter the last round. Even if they're already prepared for it like I was, they won't be able to achieve the drawing on time." Zhu Xing was extremely confident.

Wu Mo remained quiet again as what Zhu Xing said was a fact. Lin Huang would be unable to get through this since he had not created a single rune line yet. Two others managed to get through the second last challenge. However, it was too late for them to get to the final assessment as they no longer had enough time to get through the final assessment.

It seemed like Zhu Xing was going to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory.

Right when Wu Mo was immersed in her thoughts, Lin Huang, who had been closing his eyes in the sky, finally opened his eyes.

As he opened his eyes, dazzling stars moved around in his eyes. Of course, the peculiar phenomenon disappeared in an instant.

Wu Mo felt that right at the moment when Lin Huang opened his eyes, she experienced an illusion. As she looked at him carefully, there was nothing different than usual in Lin Huang's eyes.

After opening his eyes, Lin Huang did not get out of his epiphany. Instead, he pointed in mid-air and drew a completely new rune line with his Life Power.

Soon after, he drew the second, the third, the fourth... He stopped right after drawing the 11th rune line.

Wu Mo was stunned to see what just happened. Lin Huang's performance was completely beyond her expectations. Soon after, a thought ran through her mind, "Damn it! You don't have enough time!"

In the air, Lin Huang had utterly forgotten about the time limit. After drawing 11 of the new rune lines, he started drawing the complete rune.

Although she felt that he would be unable to complete it on time, still, she reminded Lin Huang, "Lin Huang, you don't have enough time to finish the drawing. You have less than an hour left. You have to finish drawing the complete rune as soon as possible."

As soon as he heard Wu Mo's voice, Lin Huang suddenly paused. He then retracted his arm, and threads extended mid-air, controlled by his telekinesis.

More than 9,000 threads were created, and they all started drawing the Witchcraft Rune at almost the same time.

What Lin Huang did was out of Wu Mo's expectations again. She initially had no faith in Lin Huang as it was almost impossible for him to draw 3,000 runes in an hour. This indicated that he had to finish drawing one complete rune in about a second. It was an unconventional way for Lin Huang to draw thousands of runes at the same time and he quickly managed to complete drawing more than 9,000 complete runes.

Lin Huang did not recall all the threads that were controlled by his telekinesis power after drawing more than 9,000 of the complete runes. He kept about 6,000 threads with him and started the second round of training.

After more than ten seconds, about 6,000 complete runes were drawn. He then slowly recalled all the threads.

Lin Huang exited his epiphany after he had completed all the drawings. He was collapsing as dizziness struck him. He felt as if he was suffering from an intense bout of flu and fever.

Chapter 720: Zhu Xing's Ambition
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Zhu Xing inserted both of his hands into his pocket and was waiting leisurely in the vast expanse of the sky. "Sorcerer Goddess, do I really have to wait here for the last 40 minutes?"

"Are you sure you want to end the assessment before it's over?" Wu Mo asked.

"I've already completed the assessment. It's meaningless for me to wait here since I must be the one who's going to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory." Zhu Xing sneered upon the rest of the challengers.

"Before the assessment ends, nobody knows who's going to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory." Of course, by looking at Lin Huang's performance, Wu Mo knew that Zhu Xing would be disqualified. However, she was not going to tell him.

However, Zhu Xing could vaguely sense that something was wrong based on Wu Mo's tone. "Sorcerer Goddess, you're worrying me. Could somebody else have completed the assessment too?"

"You'll know that as soon as the assessment ends." Wu Mo gave an ambiguous reply.

"You refused to answer my question. It means 80% of what I guessed might be correct," Zhu Xing analyzed, stroking his chin. "You didn't want me to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess's memory, but you sound like you're not fearful of anything. It means that most likely that person is going to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess' memory and I won't be able to surpass that person in the remaining 40 minutes."

Wu Mo chose to keep quiet.

After several moments, seeing that Wu Mo did not respond to him, Zhu Xing said again, "Your silence means that I made the right guess. I can basically confirm that about a 90% chance that the person has surpassed me."

"Who's the one who did that?" Zhu Xing narrowed his eyes. "Less likely that the few of them who are lagging behind me can get through this. Most probably it's the fella who has the key to the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine... Of course, he must be capable if he can get the key. I've underestimated him."

Zhu Xing knew the truth through the tiny bit of clue he had, and he was sure that Lin Huang was the one who surpassed him.

"If he's the one who inherits the Sorcerer Goddess' memory, it's simple. As long as I can catch him alive, I'll force him to transfer whatever he has inherited to me," Zhu Xing said, nodding his head as if he had made up his mind. He was whispering to himself and did not notice that Wu Mo was watching him. It seemed like he purposely wanted to tell Wu Mo this.

"I think I know who you are," Wu Mo said, "I never expected that you'd still be alive."

"I think you've got the wrong person, Sorcerer Goddess." Zhu Xing refused to admit it.

"I can't be wrong. You're Wu Zhi," Wu Mo stated confidently. "If I'm not mistaken, you must've implanted the God's soul in your son's body. Your soul was awakened as soon as I activated the Sorcerer Goddess Shrine. After occupying your son's body, you seized the opportunity to transfer the soul to an outsider's body."

"I don't understand what you're trying to say," Zhu Xing insisted on denying.

"Don't you understand? I'll explain to you then." Wu Mo did not doubt that he was Wu Zhi. "Wu Zhi is a Virtual God during our epoch. He's the most intelligent among all my followers. However, he made a mistake due to a disaster that happened in the abyss. He did not try to defend us against the abyssal monsters. Instead, he took the opportunity to gather all the Virtual Gods' corpses. He intended to reach his goal of becoming the True God by evilly offering a sacrifice. He even encouraged the rest of the Virtual Gods to act with him. He took advantage of the war and did not contribute to the battle. As soon as I discovered it, he attempted to flee and ended up being killed by an abyssal monster."

"Evilly offering a sacrifice?" After listening to what Wu Mo said, Zhu Xing could no longer stand his curiosity. "Is it a cruel way to reuse the dead bodies? Isn't it evil to sell the monster carcasses for money and eat their meat? They are all dead bodies. Why should humans deserve better treatment than monsters?!"

"Wu Mo, I chose to avoid the battle previously because I didn't want to burn bridges. If I were a True God, the tribal members wouldn't need to stay here for ages. If the True God protected us, the tribal members would have ruled the new epoch, let alone the old epoch!"

"You're the one who talks about principles and stopped me from becoming the True God. Look at the tribal members. They're all living in puppets. They're struggling to survive! Why not just kill the entire ethnic?!"

Zhu Xing finally admitted his identity. Wu Mo kept quiet for a long time after listening to what he said.

"However, what you did was still wrong," Wu Mo sighed after a long while.

"Is it right to allow the people from the old epoch and the new epoch to rule the world? Why can't the tribal members rule the word?!" Zhu Xing was triggered.

"Our epoch has been destroyed. That's certain. Since it's already ended, why can't you just let it go?"

"It's not that I don't want to let it go. Instead, here's a chance for the rise of the tribal members. In less than five years, the abyssal monsters will wipe out the entire land again. After the monsters return to the abyss, we shall make a comeback. The entire land will belong to the tribal members! It's an opportunity given by the God for the rise of the tribal members!"

"Wu Mo, as long as I'm the one that inherits the Sorcerer Goddess's memory, I'll lead the tribal members to march towards prosperity and create a new epoch that solely belongs to the tribal members!"

Wu Mo remained silent again. After a long while, she said, "The era doesn't belong to us. This will cause war and create more suffering."

"As a Sorcerer Goddess, why do you always think about the others instead of the tribal members?" Zhu Xing questioned. "You want an outsider to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess' memory instead of me."

"That's fine. Even if the fella who owns the key to the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine successfully inherits the Sorcerer Goddess's memory, I'll have my way to grab it. I'll not only take away whatever that he has inherited, but he'll also be my slave so that he can be my toy and completely be under my control!"

...

On the other side, after Lin Huang had completed the assessment, but his body had given way to exhaustion. After about half an hour, he slowly recovered.

"It's less than ten minutes away from the closing of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine. I've completed the assessment, so if I'm not mistaken, I'll be able to inherit the Sorcerer Goddess' memory." Lin Huang was satisfied with his performance.

Suddenly, Wu Mo's voice was heard. "Lin Huang, before inheriting the Sorcerer Goddess's memory, I have some bad news for you."

"Bad news?" Lin Huang was stunned.

"After the closing of the Sorcerer Goddess's Shrine, you'll have to leave the floating land as soon as possible. Someone knows that you're going to obtain the inheritance, and he'll attack you and grab the inheritance from you. He might want to enslave you."

"Eh, is he strong?" Lin Huang asked.

"According to the usual way of classifying combat strength, he's an immortal-level rank-9. However, his ability has far surpassed that. A Virtual God is living in his body."

Lin Huang's face turned grave as he heard that. He never expected to encounter a Virtual God. "How does he look like?"

Wu Mo projected Zhu Xing's appearance. "He has now parasitized this person's body. However, it's easy for him to wear a disguise."

After remembering Zhu Xing's appearance, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. "I know. I'll be careful of him."