All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 68: The Red Lotus Trial

Zhanyue wasted no time, burrowing straight down into the earth. Coincidentally, beneath the fifth-grade spirit beast’s cave was another hidden passage. This passage might have had other methods of entry, but Zhanyue, with his earth burrowing ability, came directly to the passage. But he didn’t stop there, continuing to burrow downward. Below the passage was another cavern, and below that, an underground palace, like the eighteen levels of hell.

Counting, Zhanyue had burrowed about eight times before stopping. This time, he emerged in a pathway deep underground. What stopped him was a mysterious barrier; the ground below had an extremely powerful restriction preventing him from burrowing further.

“The ancestors who built these underground secret passages seem to have guarded against earth burrowing techniques. But why didn’t they use this method in the previous levels, allowing me to slip through?” Zhanyue pondered. Today’s discovery was indeed significant; there was truly another world underground, and that spirit beast cave might be the entrance to the underground caverns, though he didn’t know how to activate it.

Following the path forward, the underground world was illuminated by illumination stones. What met his eyes were crude rock walls and pillars supporting this underground space, covered in mysterious green glowing runes. The space was vast. After walking for a long time, Zhanyue finally reached the end of the space. There stood an ancient, grand bronze door, about two zhang high, carved with mysterious patterns resembling both fish and dragons. In front of the bronze door was a bronze sarcophagus.

Looking at the sarcophagus, Zhanyue thought to himself that he really had a connection with coffins, though this time there was no chance of a peerless beauty inside. As he approached, the sarcophagus creaked open on its own. First, the head part of a suit of armor flew out, followed by the body armor and limb protectors, as well as gloves and boots. The armor was overall white-gold in color, with the luster of a special metal shimmering with flowing light, inscribed with mysterious patterns. Terrifying killing intent enveloped the armor. With a flash of golden light, the armor automatically formed a human shape, with a large red cape behind the body armor, embroidered with the same fish-dragon pattern as on the bronze door. Finally, a ji halberd flew out of the coffin and was grasped by the ‘hand’ of the armor.

“Heavens! The armor has come to life!” Zhanyue’s eyes widened. Though clearly no one was wearing the armor, it seemed to have a human form. The empty head had no eyes, yet Zhanyue felt he was being locked onto.

Zhanyue had confirmed that this was a cenotaph, the kind that buried weapons and armor but not people. However, this armor could somehow move on its own.

Armor is a man’s romance, and the suit of armor before Zhanyue was incredibly cool. Zhanyue could already imagine himself wearing it. However, the armor had its own ideas. It didn’t want to be worn by Zhanyue, but instead swung its ji halberd to attack him.

Zhanyue used the Phantom Light Step to dodge hurriedly, but discovered a terrifying fact: this armor monster couldn’t be fooled by his techniques. It had no eyes and didn’t rely on eyes to lock onto enemies.

“Damn!” Zhanyue panicked inwardly. He couldn’t use earth burrowing, and the Phantom Light Step and Phantom Form Sword techniques had no effect on it. He was at a great disadvantage.

Zhanyue moved nimbly, quickly dodging the armor’s vertical slash. The ji halberd fell beside Zhanyue, accompanied by earth-shaking power, leaving a terrifying crack in the barrier-reinforced ground. It was fortunate that this space was reinforced with barriers everywhere, preventing collapse.

Seeing the power of this strike, Zhanyue drew in a sharp breath. If he were hit, he’d likely be instantly killed. Fortunately, this thing wasn’t very fast.

“Even those Profound Being experts probably wouldn’t dare to face this armor’s strike head-on,” Zhanyue couldn’t help thinking, instantly wanting to retreat. This armor wasn’t something he could handle now.

“Could this be the depths of some trial ground?” Zhanyue somewhat regretted his bug-exploiting behavior, coming directly to the bottom level of the trial. With his strength, he couldn’t cause even the slightest damage to this armor. This was not an opponent he could deal with.

“Run!” Zhanyue ran as fast as he could, just hoping to reach a place close to the upper ground where he could burrow and escape upward.

Unfortunately, the armor had no intention of letting him go. A divine thought transmitted from the armor to Zhanyue’s mind. Though Zhanyue didn’t understand the language, he directly understood the meaning.

“The Red Lotus Trial does not allow giving up. Only by passing the final level’s test can one leave.”

As it spoke, mysterious runes appeared in the soil layer above Zhanyue’s head. Now he couldn’t burrow in any direction – up, down, or sideways. The space was completely sealed off.

“Senior, I just accidentally entered this place. I’m not here to participate in the trial,” Zhanyue pleaded, not knowing where the divine thought came from. At this moment, he had already cursed the Ghost Shark clan’s ancestors thoroughly. Why would a secret realm that only allowed those below Profound Realm to enter have such a terrifying place? Zhanyue didn’t think any being below Profound Realm could pass this Red Lotus Trial. That armor was like Lü Bu reborn; even his two extreme fires hitting it were like tickles.

“The Red Lotus Trial does not allow giving up, nor cheating. Since you came by burrowing, bypassing the first eight levels of trials, you must pass the final level’s test to leave.”

That divine thought was like a broken record, repeating only this sentence no matter how Zhanyue shouted.

The “Lü Bu” in the flesh attacked again. Zhanyue could only dodge. Each strike had earth-shattering power. If it weren’t for this thing’s slow speed, he would have been killed in one hit long ago. Although its speed was lacking, this armor possessed terrifying attack and defense, far beyond what Zhanyue could handle.

Finding an opportunity, Zhanyue finally created some distance and threw out a Fierce Explosion Pill. The terrifying explosion’s aftermath sent Zhanyue flying, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. He quickly used State Reversal to recover from his injuries. As the smoke cleared, the armor walked out unscathed, without even a tiny mark left on it.

“Is this all a Fierce Explosion Pill that can harm Profound Beings can do?” Zhanyue despaired. Forget about blasting the armor apart, he couldn’t even make it move.

“Am I going to die here?” Zhanyue looked at the Sun Divine Stone in his palm. “No, if I die, big sister will perish too. It’s truly one death, two lives. I can’t give up no matter what. But even though the Sun Divine Stone can still unleash an attack like before, I’m afraid it won’t work on this armor.”

The Sun Divine Stone could naturally protect its master, once again unleashing power that could burn half a mountain. But Zhanyue intuitively felt that even that move couldn’t destroy this strange armor.

“Damn it, who is this Red Lotus Trial made for? Below Profound Realm? Who would believe that?” Zhanyue couldn’t help complaining. He wasn’t wrong; this trial indeed wasn’t aimed at weaklings like him. He had exploited a bug, bypassing the previous trials to come directly to the final level. This was the consequence of exploiting bugs and being punished. It’s worth noting that even at the entrance to the secret realm’s cave, there was a fifth-grade spirit beast guarding. The Azure Sky Secret Realm wasn’t developed by the Ghost Shark clan, and they didn’t know much about what was inside. Just because those below Profound Realm could enter didn’t mean Profound Realm strength could dominate inside.

“This is the only way left. Although it’s dangerous, I have to try. Big sister, I hope you can bless me, or we’re both done for!” Zhanyue prayed, then charged directly at the armor.

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