Currently, Xiren was going wall from wall, trying to find a hidden passage out. She tried going back to the way she came from, but cave pathway was blocked.
"Tang Di wasn't jesting when he said that Mythos mountain is full of mystic traps and enchantments".
After hours and multiple attempts, Xiren was not able to find any exists. Dispirited, she came back to the golden tomb to rest and made a bed of golden ingots.
As she laid, she pondered. 'How many days has it been? I've lost count.'
Xiren closed her eyes and sighed. It was impossible to tell the time and day inside these caves. Xiren reached inside her bag and pulled out some dried jujubes to snack on. "I need to get out of here. In 2 days' time, my water and food supply deplete into nothingness. All I have in my bag is some raw vegetables and a bag of peanuts. How sad is that!"
In her frustration, Xiren grabbed a gold ingot nearby and threw it towards the gold fox statue sitting on top of the golden mountain.
*tukk*
A sound resonated when the ingot hit its mark, knocking the golden fox statue down.
*scrack.... Scrack... scraaaacccckkkkk*
Suddenly, the cave started to shake violently!
Xiren jumped up and dashed towards a corner. Xiren could not believe what she was seeing. She pinches herself just to check if she was dreaming.
"Ouch..not a dream!"
Out from beneath the mountain of treasure, a ladder rapidly protrudes up towards the ceiling, extending over 500 feet high. As the ladder was about to reach a dead-end, the enclosed cave ceiling crumbles down—opening a hole.
Overcome with joy, Xiren jumped up and down in excitement. Then, she rushed at and climbed the ladder up towards the exist.
[T/N: Yay! She's finally out.]
It took some effort, but Xiren managed to climb out safely.
Xiren continue to climb up the mountain for a few hours until she reached the peak. In front of her, she could see a large golden gate and an interesting looking 5-stories tall building with a large sign that writes: Mythos Hall.
At the front gate, a young boy—around age 8 or 9— wearing a rabbit mask was diligently sweeping leaves into a large pile. The boy busied himself and was completely oblivious to Xiren's praying eyes.
She walked up and tapped on the boy's shoulder—surprising him. The boy gave a meek yelp and fell over backwards onto the dirt ground.
"Ahhh! You gave me a fright!", the boy cried.
Xiren scratched her nose and awkwardly showed an apologetic smile, then she extended a hand out and helped the boy up.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to scare you. Little rabbit, are you the gatekeeper here?"
"Humph! Indeed, it is I", the boy replied.
"Tell me little rabbit...how can I get pass the gate to meet the Lord of Mythos Hall?"
"Give me gate fee. If it is to my liking, then I will open the gates for you!"
"Alright!", Xiren happily replied; she had expected this to happen. Bribes makes the world go round. Xiren reached in to retrieve a small pouch filled with gold coins that she had painstakingly saved up. Then, she handed it to the boy.
"No. Don't want gold or money!"
Xiren eyes twitched. 'Don't want gold or money?', she thought to herself. 'Who doesn't want gold or money; apparently this weird little rabbit.'
Xiren put the money pouch back into her bag, and tried to think of something that the little rabbit would want...
'Could it be?' An idea suddenly popped up in her mind.
Xiren rummage through her bag and took out a carrot and some radishes.
"Good vegetables!", the boy exclaimed and stuffed them inside his sleeves.
Satisfied with the offerings, the little rabbit boy opened the gate and allowed Xiren inside. After walking around the courtyard, she discovered a room with the doors slightly opened. Xiren peeked in and asked if anyone was inside, but no one answered. Then, she stepped into the room and shrieked when her head suddenly crashed into a hard object.
"Ouch!" Xiren rubbed her poor, throbbing head.
"I'm surprised you made it this far child," a deep and orotund voice of a male said. "You actually broke through my mystic trap and arrived here with everything intact. Very good! Hahahaha!"
Xiren paused and looked up to see a large black figure in front of her. The said person wore a long black cloak and a traditional Hannya (demonic) mask that covered his whole face.
"Lord Mythos?!", Xiren exclaimed and bowed down on her knees and lowered her head to show respect. Wang Xiren never thought the legendary Lord Mythos would look like this, but she was more scared than before.
The black cloaked man said nothing and just continued to scrutinize her in the dead silence.
After an hour has passed by, Xiren could not take the pain from kneeling any longer and lost her balance—falling over onto her butt.
"Get up, child," Lord Mythos said and walked over to a large chair to sit.
"Think carefully before you ask me a question. I have the answers to virtually everything in this realm, for I am a seeker. However, I will only allow one question and nothing more." His tone was drawn out, sounding cynical.
"Yes, I understand my Lord," she replied and swallowed hard before asking, "I would like to know the true cause to why I am unable to cultivate. My dantian and veins are undamaged, yet I am unable to cultivate. Furthermore, when I force myself to cultivate, I will suffer a strange ailment. This problem has been bothering me for ages. Can Lord Mythos answer this for me?"
"Hmm..interesting," Lord Mythos mumbled.
Instantaneously, a palm size, clear translucent crystal appears in Lord Mythos hand.
"This is a Soul Crystal that I refined myself. It is much more advance than the Attribute Crystal that the large sects used. This Soul Crystal can invoke and determine the soul force, mental force, yuan (physical) force, and even the dormant attribute of the user with 100% accuracy. Even you are a non-cultivator without an ounce of innate talent in your body, the Soul Crystal will still show and give you a detailed report of your abilities since every human on earth holds soul, mental, and yuan force."
Lord Mythos placed the soul crystal on the table.
"Take it and then put a drop of your blood on it, then injecting it with a bit of soul force."
"En." Xiren bite her index finger and squeezed out a drop of blood onto the crystal. Immediately, the blood was absorbed by the crystal and disappeared. Then she grabbed the crystal and interjected it with her soul force.
"Concentrate and clear your mind", a voice whispered and glided her through the process.
~~
Meanwhile Xiren was concentrating on interjecting her soul force into the crystal, Lord Mythos was observing with a furrowed brow underneath his Hannya mask.
'Why isn't the Soul Crystal showing any change? It's impossible for the crystal to malfunction....Could it be that this child's constitution is abnormal?"
~~
After a few minutes, Xiren halted and open her eyes to look at her results.
"Eh? Why is there no change!", Xiren exclaimed. "Are you sure this thing is 100% accurate my Lord?"
"Why indeed...", Lord Mythos replied in a low voice that failed to hide his curiosity.
Was it her imagination, or did Lord Mythos suddenly sounded a bit strange?