Chapter 72 - The Dark Willows and the Bright Flowers

“How did it go?

Did you find it?” Lu Hong anxiously waited on the shore, and after a long time, Lai Li finally emerged from the lake surface.

“I found it.” Lai Li used her Power of Soul to envelop Lu Hong and signaled, “Follow me.”

Lu Hong, overcome with excitement, dived headfirst into the dark red magma, but in the magma, he couldn’t see anything clearly and instantly lost his sense of direction.

“Lai Li?” Lu Hong called out.

“Stop yelling, and come over here.” Lai Li reached out and grabbed Lu Hong’s belt again, pulling him through the water as they glided along.

Lu Hong only felt himself being dragged deeper and deeper, and it was fortunate that Lai Li’s Power of Soul protected him, or he would have been boiled alive or crushed to death by the water pressure.

After quite a while, Lu Hong was finally pulled out of the water by Lai Li.

“This is the place!” Lu Hong looked at the familiar cavern—it was the secret passage leading to the Blood Temple.

“Where’s this secret passage you talked about?

I don’t see anything,” Lai Li scanned the empty cave, but to call it a cave was perhaps inaccurate; it could also be described as inside the body of a Demon Lord.

At that moment, the two were actually standing on a bone of the long-dead Demon Lord.

“Don’t worry, watch this.” Lu Hong walked to the center of the cave, inserted his weapon into the ground, and kneeled on one knee, muttering, “Oh great War God, I plead to you as a warrior!

I am willing to sacrifice everything, including my life!

I vow to protect human territory forever; I will stand on the other side of the World Bridge, turn into an eternal monument, the warrior’s blood shall flow to the ends of hell, Human Race!

Forever enduring!”

This incantation Lu Hong was reciting, which he had gotten from a game, was the key to unlocking the secret passage.

“You seem to imply something profound in those words!” Lai Li naturally heard something in those words, “Does it mean that the other shore of the Sea of Flames is the World Bridge?

The legendary bridge that connects different worlds?”

“I’m not clear on that, but it probably is.

You will find out once we get to the other side.” As Lu Hong finished his prayer, a dazzling red light suddenly lit up in the cave, engulfing them both in an instant.

When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves at the end of the Sea of Flames.

The sky overhead was a dull gray, and before Lai Li stood a surprising sight: a massive bridge cut clean through.

“Is…

is this the World Bridge?” Lai Li walked slowly toward it; although the bridge was severed, the mysterious runes and arrays on it still glowed brilliantly.

Even someone with extensive knowledge like Lai Li felt dizzy trying to decipher these runes.

“Stop looking, you don’t know the mysteries of space, you won’t be able to decipher these runes,” Lu Hong kindly reminded her.

But Lai Li seemed bewitched, motionless and completely ignoring Lu Hong’s warning.

“Lai Li!” Lu Hong sensed something was wrong and shouted loudly.

This finally awakened Lai Li’s soul from the engraving of the runes; blood spurted from her mouth as she bitterly smiled, “I indeed took a loss this time; my essence has been damaged.”

“Who told you to covet the mysteries of these runes?” Lu Hong said irritably.

“Don’t you think this is a treasure left by the Heavenly God to us?

If we could decipher these runes and arrays, traversing the myriad worlds wouldn’t be an issue, and it might even provide us with the key to the Domain of the Gods!” Lai Li couldn’t help yearning for the world of the Gods, the place all of humanity longed for.

“Then keep looking,” Lu Hong said sarcastically.

Lai Li quickly shook her head, with a hint of fear in her voice, “Just this brief glimpse has severely damaged my soul’s essence.

It will take at least thirty years to recover.

If I kept forcing myself to look, I’m afraid my soul would be lost within them.

Maybe Tower Master Vili from the White Tower could study this and find something useful.”

“Vili?

Forget it, he probably won’t be able to.” Lu Hong shook his head; he didn’t know Vili anyway.

“Maybe Vili has already been here,” Lai Li speculated, “As a Mage of space, he has the ability to traverse space, I believe there’s no place in the Continent of God’s Grace he hasn’t been to.”

“But it’s impossible for him to reach here,” Lu Hong was very sure, “Because this place doesn’t belong to our space-time.”

“What do you mean?” Lai Li was startled and asked curiously.

“If we crossed the Sea of Flames to reach the end, we would only see the cliff and the magma flowing into the sea, but the place we entered through the secret passage, although it’s the end of the Sea of Flames, this is a space severed by the War God.”

“The prophecy says that when the War God broke the World Bridge, he also cut off the space-time here, casting it into the endless void, out of our world.”

After hearing Lu Hong’s explanation, Lai Li carefully surveyed the surroundings, “It’s truly magical.

I thought my father and I had touched all the world’s secrets, but I didn’t expect that coming out with you would be so rewarding.

Father would absolutely regret not coming.”

“Ha ha ha, indeed.

Not just anyone can come here, and there are also three warrior’s Holy…” Lu Hong turned and pointed toward the distance, but the three grand Holy Temples that had stood tall in the game were now just ruins.

“Good heavens, are you kidding me?!” Lu Hong was on the verge of spitting blood in rage; it was just like when he first entered the game—first the class transition temples had collapsed, and now the three supreme Warrior Temples were gone?

“Are these three ruins what you were looking for?” Lai Li pressed on.

“Find a fart!” Lu Hong roared angrily, “This is fucking playing with me!” With the supreme Holy Temple collapsed, where would his quest items be?

“You’re looking for a sword, right?

What if it’s in the ruins?” Lai Li made a simple assumption.

Lu Hong shook his head, “The sword I’m searching for is the very pillar that supports the Temple from falling.

As long as the sword exists, the Temple won’t collapse.

Now that the Temple has fallen, it could only mean that the sword is destroyed or has been taken.”

“What are we going to do?” Lai Li spread her hands, indicating that this problem had nothing to do with her, and she was powerless to help.

“Look around I guess, what else can we do?” Lu Hong sighed, his spirits deflated.

There went his hopes for Second Transition.

Why does something always go wrong at the crucial moment?

You might as well not have had a cave at all, then I wouldn’t have entered this place full of excitement.

“This Stele seems to be vibrating with a soul’s fluctuations,” Lai Li noted, utilizing her soul’s perceptive powers, she detected something unusual about a massive Stele in front of the three ruins.

“Oh.” Lu Hong was uninterested, for if the three Holy Temples had not collapsed, this place would already be filled with numerous resentful spirits.

What’s so unusual about one or two lingering souls now?

“Let me check.” Lai Li placed her hand onto the Stele, which had eroded to the point where the inscriptions were no longer visible.

Suddenly, a suction force from her palm began to draw away a considerable portion of Lai Li’s strength.

“Help me quickly!

It’s absorbing my power!” Lai Li cried out in panic, attempting to free herself from the Stele’s grasp to no avail.

Seeing her predicament, Lu Hong immediately rushed over and rescued Lai Li.

“Run!” Lai Li weakly shouted.

At this moment, her strength was nearly drained.

If something unexpected happened, they would stand no chance of survival.

Before the pair could even rise, the Stele began to transform rapidly after absorbing the Power of Soul from Lai Li, as if time itself were flowing backward.

The Stele gradually became pristine and substantial, and the inscriptions on it became progressively clearer, emitting a dazzling golden light.

“It’s been a long time since someone woke me up.

Young ones, hello…” the soul of an elder emerged from the Stele, but before he could finish speaking, Lu Hong hoisted Lai Li onto his back and took off running.

“I’m really not a bad person!” The elder let out a wry smile, raising his arm toward Lu Hong’s retreating figure and pulling the two back in front of him.

“Elder…” Lu Hong quickly greeted.

“I’m not a bad person.

You don’t have to be so nervous,” the elder said amiably, looking at them with a kind face.

“If you’re not a bad person, then why did you suck away all my power?” Lai Li was pouting and disgruntled.

“I needed to awaken!

It’s been too long since anyone has supplied me with Soul Power nourishment, so I apologize for taking a bit too much,” the elder said, somewhat embarrassingly.

“May I ask the elder’s name?” Seeing that the elder had no intention of harming them, Lu Hong boldly asked.

“Me?

If I told you, you wouldn’t know anyway,” the elder chuckled without answering Lu Hong’s question, then turned to ask, “But what business brings you here?”

“We came looking for the Blood Holy Sword,” Lu Hong complained.

“But we didn’t expect the Holy Temple to have already collapsed.”

“The Blood Holy Sword?

Child, you’re only at First Transition.

Are you sure you’re qualified to inherit this Holy Sword?” the elder asked solemnly.

“I don’t know, but I have to try.”

“The times are indeed changing.

Now, even a First Transition warrior wants to lay claim to the Holy Sword,” the elder lamented, clearly dissatisfied with Lu Hong.

“Hey!

I don’t like hearing that kind of talk.

While I respect you as my elder, you can’t just belittle others right off the bat,” Lu Hong, who hated being looked down upon, immediately took offense.

The elder did not grow angry at Lu Hong’s impudence; instead, he laughed heartily, “Hahaha, do you know how many warriors at the Third Transition Peak in the past have stepped into the Holy Temple wishing to receive the Holy Sword’s inheritance?

The way I’m speaking to you now is already elevating you.”

“Predecessor, times have changed.

There have been no Third Transition warriors for a long time, didn’t you know?” Lai Li chimed in from the sidelines.

At these words, the elder suddenly looked confused, then closed his eyes as if to establish some connection but did not receive any response.

After a moment, he turned to Lai Li with a serious expression, “Why would you say that?

What exactly happened?

Why can’t I get in touch with the great War God?!”

Hearing the elder’s words, both of them were shocked.

Goodness, so this old man was a liaison to the War God in the past?

A Divine Envoy?

Impressive!

“The Warrior Temple has collapsed, and the lineage of warriors has been severed,” Lu Hong explained.

“Impossible!

How could the Warrior Holy Temple collapse?

The great War God would never fall!” The elder became agitated, trying to communicate with all his might, yet still receiving no response.

Seeing that contact with the War God was irretrievable, the elder fell silent for a long time before speaking again, “Is what you’re saying all true?”

“Of course, why would I lie?” Lu Hong rolled his eyes at the old man.

“Well, I’ll take your word for it.

Even if the warriors’ Holy Temples have collapsed, the legacy remains!

These three Holy Temples behind me represent the final inheritance left to the human race!” The elder pointed towards the ruins behind him, declaring loudly.

“Listen here, elder, are you seeing things?

These three Holy Temples are all collapsed, collapsed…” Before Lu Hong could finish, the ruins of the three supreme Holy Temples rose from the ground just like the Stele, reverting to their former glory as if time had reversed, and the grandeur of the magnificent temples unfolded once again.