"Spi... Spirit Nest…" The people gasped with the sudden appearance of the Spirit Nest, sending chills down their spines.
Just like many others who brought their members, Spirit Nest brought all their relatively small numbers into this place. If anyone said they were coming with a full force, but also didn't bring more than anyone else here, they were not wrong.
Alex took a glance at Song Yu and Song Jia, finding another nine people behind them. Considering they had gotten five boxes from here, the Blackwade Clan picked them by looking at their talent and background, making sure no one was suspicious with the little time they had.
Song Yu didn't come to his side because they were in front of many people. It would be bad if she was too friendly with him and made others misunderstand their relationship."
Actually, Alex had already arrived at this place an hour ago. He waited outside the town to avoid any problem with the other influences.
And to stop everyone from saying anything, he walked inside the plaza just a bit before the gate opened.
Obviously, no one was foolish enough to say something to Alex before observing him. In fact, they were waiting for someone to make a move first, so they could use them as a stepping stone to knowing more about this Spirit Nest.
At this time, the barrier shone brightly before the gate slowly opened a small entrance for Alex and the others to come in.
"Look!"
"It's opening. Let's come inside."
Even the first-rate influences took their gaze off Alex for a few seconds to see the barrier opening. It revealed one thousand white planks that were infused with a certain energy. The planks itself could only hold ten people.
Alex took a glance at these white planks and confirmed the energy inside them. It would seem the energy would attack him if he stepped on them. That might be the reason why the people couldn't reach the thousandth plank because he could see that the energy continued rising in every plank.
The moment it opened, Alex quickly stepped aside, letting the cannon fodder to check first before he went inside. In any case, the information said no one could attack him inside, so he would be safe inside. The only problem would be his spirits.
"Master, should we go now?" Sherry asked.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"No. We will wait for a bit since I want to see what kind of thing they experience before stepping inside." Alex shrugged before turning to Anna and the others. "All of you guys should be prepared too. I don't know what would happen to you guys later."
Anna pondered for a moment before sending a thought transmission. 'Don't worry. We will just watch your progress from the side since the barrier starts clearing… The N squad will stand by and check other movements and will retreat if we have any trouble.
'However, you might not be able to retreat when you are inside. And I am sure there is a space element inside preventing you from using the teleportation array. In other words, if someone chooses to attack you, this will be the right time.'
Alex nodded and answered, 'At that time, we can only break through this place. I still have my master's token anyway. Even if several Martial Saints come, I can kill them with this. As for Martial Monarch… As long as they are not too absurd, we will just buy time from them and escape.'
Anna furrowed her eyebrows and asked, 'That means, if there are enemies, we will escape and wait for your instruction? And depending on the enemies, we will see whether to escape or battle.'
'That's basically it.' Alex nodded.
'Alright, I will take care of the details with Anya.' Anna nodded.
'Sure. I leave it to you.' Alex smiled before turning around, observing how the trial worked. He was a careful guy, so he needed information first before going inside. In fact, he was prepared to go last.
People started coming one by one, testing the water. Most of them were loose cultivators or from second-rate or city lord families. Alex quickly turned around and watched what would happen to them with his Spirit Eyes.
The first guy that went inside was a middle-aged man. It would seem he was coming from the second-rate influence after considering his age and his 1-Star Martial Emperor cultivation.
Alex didn't know how he could get it, but it must be a hard process. He didn't care about his life and just observed what he would get inside.
The middle-aged man stepped onto the first plank. He suddenly stopped and froze in the first plan, making the others anxious. From everyone's point of view, they saw nothing wrong with this man. However, Alex could see the energy that covered the plank suddenly spiked and entered his body.
It was not by his body or anything, but more like an attack. The energy hit his body, brain, energy, and heart.
The instant Alex saw this, he instantly remembered about the records. If they started walking inside this place, their physical ability would slowly go down, leading to a few injuries. After that, they would start feeling tired as their consciousness slowly became fuzzy. Not long after, they would feel exhausted and die if they continued.
'This must be the works of the energy inside those planks. Body for physical ability, brain means Mental Energy, then Spiritual Energy, before it starts killing them when they have no protection anymore.' Alex was enlightened after watching the first man. He looked at the man, who had stopped for a few seconds, suddenly moved to the second plank. 'It would seem he is trying to get used to the energy before moving to the second plank. This concept has been popularized by someone and shown a better result than charging blindly.'
Though the question would be whether Alex used this technique or not. He decided to watch the second, third, and so on.
After watching for ten minutes, there were already ten people inside. He didn't know why but the people didn't really want to get close. It might be because he had yet to see how the group would come in since those people were alone.
"Look, it's the Gilberta Family, the city lord family of Ansel Town." Suddenly, a person shouted, staring at a woman entering the gate.
All of the influences furrowed their eyebrows. They certainly didn't want to be the first to move because the others could watch their example before using that knowledge to their advantage.
And with a city lord family entering the fray, the event finally made progress. She entered together with a man side by side. They thought they were a couple, so they just observed their progress.
Unlike the previous middle-aged man, it would seem they made faster progress.
Alex furrowed his eyebrows, noticing another thing from this place. It would seem the trial didn't judge only on strength but also on one's age. Age, Strength, Cultivation, and other things. Combining all of them gave a big trial for them.
'If the trial is like this… doesn't it mean the trial is fair?' Alex thought of an idea. 'Those variables will create a trial that suits your own… If that happens, then isn't everyone should be able to finish the trial? Then, how can they die inside the trial?'
He fell into deep thought, pondering the matter over and over. 'Did they lack anything?"
Alex turned around and looked at Anna, "Do we have any information why the participants died?"
"No, we only have one information. It would be like they are trying to pass their limit or something, but still unattainable because they lack something… That is the rumor around the continent, and it should be pretty accurate considering it comes from all first-rate influences." Anna shook her head.
"Lacking something? What are they lacking?" Alex looked down, remembering a certain thing back in the previous world. He muttered to himself, 'The supreme should be the one who set up this trial… Why would he set up a trial that can't be cleared… Wait? Is this the reason why Supreme released that lore?'
He recalled the lore of the Supreme. The Neptune even said they altered it a little bit. If that were the case, the Supreme would already know he was going to set up this trial. However, the problem would be the reason… why would he leave many things, including the lore…
Alex recalled every encounter in the lower world, wondering if he issued anything. This was the only clue he had right now, so whatever he lacked must be from that world.
"Wait a minute…" After thinking for a few minutes, Alex realized something important.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Alex?" Anna turned around and looked at him in confusion.
He crossed his arms and supported his chin with his hand, thinking, 'The supreme should leave something in the previous world, which I lack right now. Neptune gave me three keys… it should have a meaning… What is the meaning?'
Alex frowned, making the others worry. Even Song Yu, who was busy with her group, suddenly turned to Alex, not knowing why he had such an expression.
"Alex? What are you thinking right now? How about you share it with us? Maybe we can help you think about it. Take a look, we have me and the others or even Stina." Anna smiled, pointing at everyone.
"Stina…" That name enlightened him as he looked up and grabbed Stina's shoulder. "That's right. You are the answer! How can I not think about it?"
"What? Master?" Stina was obviously clueless about Alex's excitement.
Alex finally realized what he was lacking. The three keys were the clue, and it turned out to be the three races. The Supreme was a half-dragon and half-phoenix. It represented each race, which was Dragon and Phoenix Races. And along with him, it would mean three races, which would require three keys if it was only for their representatives.
However, Alex might not understand that vague clue before coming to this place, so the Supreme asked the Dragon Race to keep a single technique and give it to someone.
It turned out the answer to this trial was the Dragon Strengthening Technique. Alex sighed in amazement. There were two phases of this Dragon Strengthening Technique, and Alex only mastered one that gave him a couple of Dragon Strength.
However, he couldn't understand the second part. It was like preparing something for him, but didn't bring any effect. In the end, he gave up on the technique after doing everything he needed to do.
"I see. I have the answer now." Alex smiled as he turned around, only to see everyone was already gone. Only Song Yu's group still waited for him. He realized that he forgot about the other existence.
The spirits didn't want to alarm him while he was in deep thought, so he didn't realize the others already stepped inside.
"Alex, Want to come together?" Song Yu sent a thought transmission to Alex, who was in thought for a long time.
Alex furrowed his eyebrows, looked at Song Yu and her group, and shook his head. "No, I will go a bit later."
"..." Song Yu felt a bit disappointed but couldn't show it on her face. She didn't know why Alex showed such a happy expression, but it should be related to this trial. She threw that thought away since Alex had no obligation to inform her as she turned around and smiled, "Let's go."
Song Jia also took a glimpse of Alex's face before following her sister inside. With Song Yu's group gone inside, only Alex's group had yet to go.
The last group would also become the center of attention again as they would surely wait for Alex's group to observe them while watching over their and other influences.
After watching the process, Alex finally stepped forward, "Let's go."
"Yes." Sherry, Kyle, and Stina nodded, following him inside.