Lin Mu looked at the area that was another Lava lake. This one was about a kilometer wide, but seemed to be a bit different. There were several whirlpools swirling in it from time to time and waves could also be seen flowing on its surface. "The fire elemental immortal Qi here is stronger." Little Shrubby informed.
"And so is earth elemental immortal Qi." Lin Mu could both the elements in the lava.
Though Metal elemental immortal Qi was lacking it it, possibly due to the fact that the lava was mostly made from earth. The composition of lava could vary greatly depending on how it was formed, thus it was not usual for it to be missing some metal elemental immortal Qi.
"It certainly looks a bit strange." Lady Kang spoke, while her Immortal sense swept over it. "No signs of enemies for now though." She added.
Lin Mu nodded and looked for a key but couldn't spot it anywhere on the surface like before. "Let's go closer. Perhaps the key might be hidden still." Lin Mu suggested and the group moved towards it. "Ashy stay up there and inform us if you spot anything different." He informed the bird.
"Okay~" The small bird replied.
~SHUA~
The group reached the edge of the lava lake and started scouring it.
~step~step~step~
Lin Mu directly walked onto the surface of the lava lake and used his Immortal sense to probe it. He wanted to see if there were any signs of the enemies or if the key was hidden in there. While doing this, Lin Mu discovered that the lake was a lot deeper than the other lava lake.
'At least a kilometer deep…' Lin Mu thought to himself as his Immortal sense reached the bottom of the lake.
It was not easy to control his Immortal sense in the lava, as it was quite dense and full of Immortal Qi that disturbed the movement of his Immortal sense. Still, Lin Mu simply used more focus to do that and started to scan the entirety of the lake.
After about five minutes or so, there were no sings of the enemies but he did find out that there was something strange inside the lake. "The whirlpools… They are forming due to the flow of immortal Qi inside the lake." Lin Mu determined.
With his Immortal sense, he could feel currents of lava beneath the surface which were being caused due to the Immortal Qi. This immortal Qi flowed in specific ways and pulled the lava along with it creating the currents. But what Lin Mu could not figure out why these currents were being formed.
"Lady Kang, can you also check the lake. I think there is more to these currents." Lin Mu requested.
"Of course," Lady Kang replied.
The two thus scanned the depths of the Lava lake and about ten minutes later discovered something.
"There's a sphere in the lake!" Lin Mu sensed.
"Oh?" Lady Kang followed Lin Mu's Immortal sense and quickly found what he was talking about.
A reddish orange sphere was floating in the depths of the lake and moving around.
"This is definitely linked to something." Lin Mu was sure.
But not just that, he could see that the lava currents were actually pushing the sphere around!
Lady Kang also noticed this and furrowed her brows. "Let me check something," She said before jumping up high.
~WOOSH~
From the top, she glanced at the lava lake below and saw the appearing and disappearing whirlpools. Watching them she knew there was some link between them and the sphere below the lake.
~THUD~
She landed back on the lake side and had figured it out.
"It's a puzzle." Lady Kang informed. "I've seen a few of them being used as tests in various sects and clans." "What kind of puzzle?" Lin Mu asked.
"The whirlpool are the indicators for the currents, which move the sphere around. The sphere is the clear target, but to obtain it one needs to resolve the currents themselves." Lady Kang said before shooting a small star towards a whirlpool. "Like this," she said.
~SPLASH~
The attack struck next to a whirlpool, and caused the lava to ripple. This changed the flow of the whirlpool and caused it to dissipate.
"Huh… the current changed." Lin Mu muttered and then used his Immortal sense to observe the sphere in the depths of the lake.
~SWOOSH~
The movement of the sphere was certainly updated as the lava current pushing it around had been reduced by one. "If we are to obtain the sphere, we have to get rid of all the whirlpool and thus the currents." Lady Kang stated. "Once we do that the sphere will probably float up." She added.
"I see…" Lin Mu nodded but then saw a new whirlpool forming in the lake. "It's back?"
"There's definitely a time limit to it." Lady Kang guessed. "It needs to be done in a continuous pattern or the current will form again, thus leading to the creation of new whirlpools.
But hearing this, another idea appeared in Lin Mu's mind.
"If we are to only disrupt the currents won't a large scale attack be enough to do the same?" Lin Mu questioned.
"If this is similar to the puzzles I know, there will be a penalty to it. That sphere will probably be destroyed if you use the wrong method." Lady Kang answered, having see several tests like these before.
"I see…" Lin Mu furrowed his brows. "And what if I directly go down and pick up the sphere?" he asked.
"Considering the movement of the currents, you coming near it might cause them to go erratic and possibly destroy the sphere and whatever is inside it." Lady Kang hypothesized.
Her guesses were rather accurate too as this was a Trial and was meant to test the skills of those that entered it. Unlike the previous lake where they could use might to solve it, one needed skill to solve this one.
