Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
Xinyue's footsteps echoed through the silent hallway.
Time had been passing slowly for so long already, yet she never stopped walking.
Alexandra was forced to doubt her intentions.
'We've already passed several doors with powerful auras behind them. Along with that, there were three ancient steles and even a Law Comprehension area that could massively boost one's abilities. Yet…she hasn't stopped at a single one.'
How could she not be confused? Even the most stalwart genius wouldn't be able to sit still in front of such a grand array of treasures.
But no matter how much Alexandra wanted to ask, she couldn't find the courage to do so.
Something about the current Xinyue rang major alarm bells in her head.
Alexandra suddenly remembered Xinyue's words from before they entered this hallway.
'Right now, anyone skilled with spiritual intent can kill me like a chicken…'
Alexandra's eyes moved to Xinyue's cold and indifferent back figure.
'Is she…one of these experts?'
Her body shuddered at the thought, but it didn't seem like an unlikely possibility. Especially since Xinyue could see her spiritual form and even knew so much about spirits in general.
'She couldn't be thinking of enslaving me, could she?'
Events would change depending on one's perception of them.
So far, Alexandra had only viewed Xinyue as a friend. She was a friend who was willing to protect Alice and even accompany her in search of medicinal treasures to heal her body.
But if she swapped the lens with which she viewed the situation…
Xinyue currently had Alice hostage in a spatial treasure under her command. She was possibly a spiritual master who was aiming to kill or even enslave Alexandra for her own benefit.
Alexandra found herself in a dilemma. Which of these sides was she to adhere to?
Before she realized it, Xinyue had halted her steps.
She stared at a large monument. It was a figure of a domineering man covered in bloody battle armor. Headless corpses littered the ground around him, and the heads that belonged to them decorated his spear tip. The spear itself pointed towards the heavens as if declaring war on them after killing all of its enemies.
"Sky Emperor Wu Mo," Xinyue muttered.
'You know this man?' Alexandra asked.
"Mm, he is an important figure in our universe's history. The Sky Emperor was the only person in existence to harness the power of the sky to defeat his enemies."
"He was a human genius that played an immense role in the forgotten war that took place 100,000 years ago. Unfortunately, all traces of him vanished at some point, and even the ancient experts were never able to find him."
"In the end, the Sky Emperor was declared deceased, and an empty grave was erected in his honor. I never would have expected to see a monument depicting his figure here."
Xinyue's eyes and tone didn't carry a single hint of expression, but Alexandra felt like there was something hidden beneath that indifference.
Only, she wasn't in a position to find out what that was.
'Is this place the legacy tomb of the Sky Emperor?' She asked
"It should be," Xinyue confirmed with a nod. "There is no possible reason for this monument to exist other than to remind the future generations of his existence."
'I see…he was truly an unfortunate soul.'
"You could see it that way."
Xinyue walked up to the base of the monument and placed her hand on the small plaque decorating it.
"Sky Emperor, we, the descendants of Grand Heavens Boundary, have come to seek your guidance."
She pushed a trace of mana into the plaque, and immediately, it went alit with bright blue splendor.
Rumble!
The statue quaked slightly, and unexpectedly, its stone eyelids fluttered, giving way to two orbs of divine light that substituted the statue's eyes.
"Entrants…identified…"
A booming voice rolled through the air, causing the wind to tumble.
The statue's neck twisted, causing debris to fall off and crash against the floor.
Its head turned to look down at Xinyue and Alexandra.
"The skies stand second to the Heavens. I stand above the skies, therefore I am the Heavens!"
The words were powerful, so powerful that they sent the mana in the atmosphere on a chaotic rampage.
"Worthy descendants of our Great Mother, obtain my inheritance and protect her from all harm!"
The chaotic mana swirled around Xinyue and even the ethereal Alexandra. Their bodies turned light, and the scenery around them shifted like a movie playing in fast-forward.
When the nauseatingly blurred surroundings cleared, they'd been moved to an entirely different location.
"Stay wary. We have no idea about the trials to come." Xinyue warned.
Alexandra nodded and prepared her defenses. Even if she was weakened in spiritual form, she wasn't weak.
She wouldn't be a burden to anyone.
The duo walked forward together, and the scenery around them began to change.
The surroundings had no face at the beginning, but as she continued walking, Alexandra started to see many familiar scenes.
The happy memories she shared with her guildmates, the peaceful life she lived before the start of the war, and…
A family of four resided happily in a mountainside cottage in the middle of nowhere. Their faces were decorated with pure smiles, unlike anything one would see in Eien.
'Father…Mother…'
The sky turned red.
Demons descended onto the world and began to wreak havoc.
The biggest kingdoms and influences fell first. Their rulers and experts were executed down to the last.
But the demons didn't end their rampage after taking over the world, no, the inhabitants of the world were a scourge they couldn't stand.
Even a small family living quietly in the mountains wasn't spared.
Two little girls no older than 10 and 4 returned to their small cottage only to be met with the reeking smell of blood.
It splattered across the cottage walls, it pooled in the well, it stained the grass crimson.
From the small tree that the two girls used to swing from every day, a body hung, lifeless.
The man was a husk of his former self. His body was hardly even human anymore, and the expression of frozen insanity on his face made it evident that his death wasn't a good one.
Further into the house was a woman.
Her body was in better condition than the man's, but her expression was dull as if she'd had her spirit sucked out of her.
A knife protruded from her neck, leaking blood onto the bedsheets.
She'd been defiled and impregnated by the demons. Unable to bear this weight, she chose to kill herself rather than let the corrupted child be born into the world.
The couple's two daughters were only 10 and 4.
The younger of the two was too young. She'd forgotten a majority of the event's details as she grew older.
The elder sister, however, never forgot.
The incident was stained in her memory for eternity.
Alexandra's eyes went red.
Her mana flared unwittingly, pushing fierce winds into the surroundings.
Pah!
A crisp slap landed on her cheek.
Her incorporeal state didn't seem to hold any weight against this slap.
Her eyes cleared from the sheer shock of the impact.
The first thing that came into view was Xinyue's ice-cold gaze.
"Focus. Do not get distracted by mere illusions."
Alexandra's body shuddered.
That was all…just an illusion?
It was so real that she couldn't resist its pull even with her 6th revolution strength, and the scene it decided to show was exactly the scene that would provoke the greatest reaction from her.
She couldn't imagine merely shrugging it off as if it never existed.
She floated in the air behind Xinyue, keeping her attention on the latter's back so as to not fall prey to illusions, but seeing how steady she was walking, Alexandra was forced to wonder:
Just what was Xinyue seeing?
And just how could she remain so indifferent?
