There were two parts to the main trial. The first was the armageddon that would take place near the temple against the Shu Clan's members. It was comparatively small, and the whole point of it was to prevent the destruction of the central temple and not let the destruction reach the Imperial Palace.
Rynn supposed it was the first time that she'd seen the Fei Resurrection. The Fei Resurrection had been broken, according to what she'd found out from the scholars she'd saved. The amulet had been split into nearly five pieces for the original clan leaders who'd made it. However, Sect Leader Shu seemed to have attained at least three pieces of the amulet somehow.
One of the clan's masters had already gone insane after transferring too much of their mana into the amulet. Thus, that had made the first Armageddon easy to complete. According to Sect Leader Hua Huiliang, there were no deaths and only a limited number of casualties.
Now, the second Armageddon was supposed to be bigger than that. In fact, at this time, the Sect Leader of the Shu Clan was supposed to be there as well. Hua Huiliang's body language gave away enough. Sect Leader Xue was to arrive, while Sect Leader Lu's arrival still hadn't been announced. Mei Clan's advanced disciples had sent a carrier pigeon to them, informing them of the situation.
Shu Meiying had wiped out most of their clan and had taken their dead as well. Which inadvertently left them with a great magnitude of loss.
"Why do you look constipated?"
Rynn blinked before she glanced to her side to see Adrian. His turtleneck's sleeves had been burnt when he made the stupid decision to try to take the Fei Resurrection user head-on. "Why, do you like looking at my face?" Rynn asked.
"You think I like your face?" Adrian muttered before handing her a small woven basket that Adrian had picked up from the city. Rynn stared at it for a few moments and ended up having it stuffed into her arms. She blinked up at Adrian again, and the man simply sat down on the grass.
She sat down as well and opened the cover. "Why are there so many fruits?" she asked. "And lotus pods? How do you eat lotus pods?"
"You're insufferable," Adrian mumbled as he reached into the basket and picked up an orange.
"Sorry, apparently I have you," she replied. She watched as Adrian peeled the orange and broke the pieces. His calloused hands were doing it with surprising expertise. Once he'd gotten all the pieces, he handed Rynn three pieces.
They ate in silence.
"Do you ever get this feeling that something is just missing?" Rynn asked suddenly.
Adrian glanced at her before nibbling on the slice of orange with a thoughtful hum.
'How does he have the patience to nibble on oranges?' Rynn thought, before she cleared her throat. "What I mean is that something is just not making sense—or, adding up. It's like when you want to pile pieces together, but you simply can't."
"Are you talking about the Celestium incident?"
"How thoughtful," she murmured, smiling a little. "But do you really think someone was able to escape that place? That too, that easily? Did you know that the Celestium even had that way out?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"What if that man—whatever his name is—happens to be a prophet?" she asked. "I mean, we did encounter that kind of person during one of the auxiliary trials, didn't we?"
"The Neyeir lady?" Adrian asked, handing Rynn another piece of orange.
"Yes. She predicted that there were going to be cursed spirits chowing the area, and boom. We see them, don't we?"
"I'm sure that is not what you mean."
"Of course, that's not what I mean." Rynn flattened the pleats in her pants. "She had said something in her creepy way. What was it? For the first time, one will draw the card of death. They will be the ones to bring salvation."
"I think the Church has brainwashed you."
"It surely has," Rynn said.
The two of them heard footsteps and looked up to see Hua Huiliang looking down at them. "I'm glad that you two were present in the Armageddon," he said. "There could have been fatalities if you hadn't taken the brunt of the shot."
"No shit, old man," Adrian said, and Rynn pinched the side of his calf.
"When will the main Armageddon start?" she asked.
"In two days," Hua Huiliang said. "But we can't really trust the system, given that this is the human mind we're referring to."
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"Human capital is a joke," Rynn murmured. "Is that why the days have been rearranging themselves?"
"More or less. The system could be taking internal drawbacks into consideration. Which should disturb me." Hua Huiliang let a butterfly come to sit on the tip of his index finger. "I don't think there should ever be a system that overlooks such a thing. It makes life sound more mechanical."
"I'm sure you enjoy basking in power," Adrian murmured.
Hua Huiliang looked at the man. "Sorry to disappoint you, young man. But the system of control here is far different from that where you reside. My people and I respect each other, and although I may be offered a more luxurious life, there is no poverty here."
"I suppose that's true," Rynn said, then her eyes narrowed. "Let's quit beating around the bush, shall we?"
"What bush?" Hua Huiliang asked, smiling pleasantly.
'Man, I want to rip that smile off his face. But he does look beautiful,' Rynn thought, and sighed as she could feel her sword's hilt click against her belt. "Why did the location of 'Rhian Amren' end up here?"
"There is no such person by the name of 'Rhian Amren,' I'm afraid," Hua Huiliang said.
"Do you know the price of fostering a fugitive?"
"Unfortunately, I have a tendency of wanting to find the truth myself before blindly turning to whatever other people say."
Adrian nudged Rynn's shoulder. "Not a bad ideology."
"You are blind, Adri," Rynn huffed. 'Although… the files at the Celestium never really specified why that person was even imprisoned.'
Suddenly, Rynn could feel an intense aura radiate from Hua Huiliang. It would have intimidated her if her mana level was any less. Her eyes narrowed at the man in front of her.
"Do you still want to talk business?"
Rynn stood up from where she sat and nodded. Hua Huiliang turned, and the butterfly fluttered its wings and took flight. "There is someone… that I want you to keep an eye on."
"And that is…?" Adrian asked, standing up and leaning against the tree.
"I'm unsure of his name as of now. However, a blood kin of mine brought him here."
"May I know the name of this 'blood kin'?" Rynn asked. There could be a chance Hua Huiliang was bluffing. The fact that this man wanted them to keep an eye on someone surely meant either curiosity or distrust.
"The name of the blood kin is," Hua Huiliang began, then gently adjusted his golden pendant. "Hua Xiaoshi. And the name of the man I want you to keep an eye on goes by the name, 'Zane' from what I've inferred."
—
Zane sat up and ran a hand down his face and scratched his nape. "Sixteen days?"
Rhian nodded. "Also, what do you think is happening inside the temple as of now? Ahn Anxi kind of just forcefully pushed us out."
[Personal skill, ␣␣ lvl ?? Is flickering]
Zane clutched his temples as a sharp pain ran through his skull. "We should get out of here, first of all," Zane said.
"Can you stand?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look at your leg," Rhian said. "And your neck—there are literally hand-shaped bruises on it."
Zane glanced at his leg; sure enough, blood was oozing out of a gash on his calf. It must've happened when he collided with one of the monsters. He reached to his dusty robes and ripped out a piece of cloth before moving his hands forth to wrap it around.
"How you've survived up until now is a wonder," Rhian said and moved closer to Zane. He took the cloth from Zane's hand and crouched down. Zane watched as a warm golden light emitted from Rhian's palm and cascaded over the injury.
He couldn't prevent a hiss at the sudden warmth. "Now, you help me tie it," Rhian said. Zane nodded and brought his hand to hold the ends of the cloth and tie them together. "Now just try focusing your mana there. I doubt you can utilize it as much as you'd like, so just do as much as you can."
Zane nodded. He tried moving his leg and could feel a dull pain. 'Not as bad as the whip hits I'd received from the soldiers.'
"The marks on your neck…" Rhian murmured. "Do they hurt?"
"No, but I'm sure they look sexy," Zane said, raising his brows.
Rhian stared at him incredulously before his lips lifted into a smile he struggled to bite down. Zane couldn't help but wonder if it was the first time he'd seen the other man smile. "What?" he asked. "Never heard about marks being hot?"
"Whatever," Rhian muttered, rolling his eyes as he stood up. He extended a hand towards Zane. Zane stared at it for a few moments before he took hold of it, letting Rhian pull him up. His leg didn't hurt that much, but a sharp ache still spread through him the moment he took a step.
"Oh, right," Zane said. "You had mentioned something about nothing being free, right?"
Rhian glanced at him as they carefully descended the stairs and walked towards the door. "As much as my ego hurts, I wouldn't have been able to do that shit without you."
'Not in this body. At least.' Zane pushed open the door and glanced at Rhian. "Well, I hope you like your 'gift'."
"It is what you owe me. And I expect some distribution of the magic crystals from the Celestium," Rhian said.
Zane's eye twitched. 'I should have kept my mouth shut.'
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[Congratulations! You've cleared the Auxiliary Trial!]
[Auxiliary Trial: Choose Your Companion
Difficulty: A-
Conditions/Directions: To accompany you to battle, choose your companion (alternative: let your companion find you).
*one blood sacrifice (amount unspecified)
Time limit: ??
Failure: ??
Reward: Self-satisfactory reward]
[Trial has been ended.]
[You've leveled up to
Zane glanced at Rhian, quick enough to catch the holograph that left him.
[You've leveled up to
"You can access Clandestine Chest now, right?" he asked.
"Yes," Rhian said as they stepped out of the temple. "What were you giving me?"
Before Zane could say anything, he caught sight of a man on a horse who was coming towards them. "Who is that?"
Rhian turned around, and Zane watched as the taller man's eyes widened. 'Did he know who this was?'
"Xiaoshi!" the man said and jumped off the horse before rushing up to Rhian and embracing him in a hug that promised to be bone-crushing. Rhian reciprocated as much as he could but eventually had to push the other man away to breathe.
"Where the hell were you?" the unnamed man asked. "I heard of your arrival and just got back from my post. I've been searching for you for two days. And here I find you, battered up. Where the hell were you? Wait—is that an Executioner?"
"What the hell were you thinking? You fool! An Executioner? Is it the genesis?" He grabbed the hilt of Rhian's sword and let it go in an exhale of relief. "But why would you do that? Were there no other swords available?"
"Are you hurt? When the hell did you sign up with the System?"
Zane could feel Rhian twitching with annoyance. He simply took a step back and let the whole thing unfold. Maybe that was a wrong choice, because now the unnamed man's attention was on him.
He was beautiful as well, with golden-white hair like Rynn's. They reached his waist, and there was a messy bun on the back of his head, probably in that state due to equestrianism. "Who is he? Why is he also a mess? Wait. What is wrong with you! Why are you with people you don't even know?"
"Gege, will you stop?" Rhian snapped. "Just… keep quiet."
Zane felt an inclination to laugh, but he knew his brother or sister was no better when it came to him. The unnamed man pursed his lips, and Rhian rolled his eyes. "I'll explain everything once we're back in the siheyuan."
"But…"
"I am alright. If anyone's hurt, it's this idiot," Rhian said, pointing at Zane.
'Well, if anyone's an idiot. It should be you,' Zane thought.
"Now shall we head back?" Rhian asked, sending a tight-lipped smile towards the unnamed man. Zane couldn't help but envision a dog. If this man had ears, they'd certainly be drooping.
However, that didn't stop Zane from wondering how long Rhian had been in the Celestium for. How old was he? Although there wasn't much time for questions, as Rhian had already started walking ahead, not really waiting for anyone to catch up to him.