Sunflower of Holy Light

Chen Chuan waited outside. Through the gap in the rift, he could see someone moving around inside. Alia had not raised her hand to signal him, which meant it was safe for the moment.

As the second interval of three minutes and sixteen seconds drew near, Chen Chuan took a deep breath and silently activated Speed of the Gale. He leaped lightly into the air and passed through the rift like a feather.

There was none of the dizziness he had expected. He only felt himself pass through a slightly cool membrane of energy, and tiny goosebumps rose on his skin.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an entirely new world.

It was a vast cavern, roughly twice the size of a basketball court.

The ground was not hard rock but soft black soil, covered in a layer of pale golden moss that gave off a faint glow.

A vast sea of Flowers of Light stretched out before him. Their pale golden blossoms gave off a soft glow in the darkness, like fallen stars, bathing the entire cavern in a dreamlike light.

One unusual sunflower-shaped flower nearby stood out in particular. A layer of holy white light flowed from its center to its petals, and the aura of the holy element washed over him, lifting his spirits.

Chen Chuan could feel his own spiritual power.

"This... there are an astonishing number of Sunflowers of Holy Light." Chen Chuan spoke to himself. Even though he had prepared himself outside, he was still startled by how many Sunflowers of Holy Light were here. Although most were Flowers of Light, he estimated that there were at least twenty Sunflowers of Holy Light.

"That's not the point. Look up." Alia's voice trembled slightly, breaking Chen Chuan's train of thought. She pointed toward the highest spot in the center of the flower sea, where the light was most concentrated.

Chen Chuan looked up at her words, and his pupils contracted sharply. A fluorescent, eight-sided crystal as tall as a person floated above the highest spot in the center of the flower sea.

The entire crystal emitted a faint, multicolored glow, rhythmically brightening and dimming like breath, as though it had a life of its own.

Most strangely, no matter how Chen Chuan released his spiritual power, the crystal remained as unresponsive as an ordinary stone, as though rejecting every attempt to probe it.

"This is..." Chen Chuan was speechless for a moment. He could sense the terrifying power contained within the crystal, far beyond that of any treasure he knew.

"The Ruin Plane Core." Alia took a deep breath, struggling to steady her trembling voice. "I saw records of it in my family's library." Her words carried a note of incredulous shock.

"What?" Chen Chuan's thoughts were in disarray. He had no idea what it was.

"The core material for advancing from the third tier to the fourth," Alia said, enunciating every word. "The key that can let someone become a god." Her voice was both excited and fearful.

Information about the Blue Star plane flashed through Chen Chuan's mind—there were only two publicly known fourth-tier professionals.

Yet the crystal before him could add another fourth-tier powerhouse to Blue Star's ranks, greatly reducing the pressure on the Valot Continent.

He looked warily at Alia, but she said seriously, "Don't get any ideas. This isn't something we can lay our hands on right now. I have a feeling it's very dangerous here. A treasure like this appearing is bound to be accompanied by bloodshed and slaughter. We should think about how to stay alive first."

Chen Chuan came to his senses. His first priority was indeed the Sunflowers of Holy Light. "I'll gather some first. Everything else can wait." His gaze returned to the Sunflowers of Holy Light, and he put the crystal out of his mind for the time being.

Alia did not object. She simply watched as Chen Chuan walked into the sea of Flowers of Light and found the nearest Sunflower of Holy Light. Its slender stem stood about half the height of a person. Chen Chuan bent down and carefully extended a finger to touch one of its petals.

It felt warm and smooth as jade. A trace of domineering magic power bearing a holy radiance flowed into his body through his fingertip.

Chen Chuan was inwardly shocked. The holy element truly was a higher element. Just a trace of it gave his body a slight burning sensation, as though a ball of holy fire were burning in his meridians. He had heard that the power of the holy element was devastating against negative elements and soul power. He wondered whether he would have a chance to master it.

He took out a specially made collection bag, its surface inscribed with runes that isolated magic power, and gently placed the entire plant inside.

The moment the bag touched the Sunflower of Holy Light, the runes lit up, completely sealing the flower's holy power.

Time passed, and in just thirty minutes, Chen Chuan had gathered fifteen Sunflowers of Holy Light.

He carefully placed the collection bag in his storage ring and swept his gaze toward the depths of the flower sea, where larger, more intact Sunflowers of Holy Light grew.

"Chen Chuan, wait."

Alia's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a barely perceptible tremor.

She stood on a protruding black boulder nearby, one hand braced against its rough surface, her fingertips slightly pale from the pressure.

Her gaze was fixed on the sea of golden flowers, her brows tightly furrowed. An inexplicable sense of familiarity pierced her mind like a fine needle.

"I keep feeling... the arrangement of this flower sea is too orderly. It doesn't look like it grew naturally."

Alia's voice was low and cautious. Her right hand pressed unconsciously against the staff at her waist, her knuckles whitening from her grip.

"They look like formation nodes that were deliberately placed to suppress something."

The instant she finished speaking,

The eight-sided crystal floating above the center of the flower sea suddenly began to tremble violently. The colored light flowing across its surface intensified, transforming into countless purple beams as fine as hair. They poured down like rain from the heavens, falling precisely on the swaying flowers below.

Chen Chuan instinctively held his breath and watched as the Flowers of Light and Sunflowers of Holy Light, which had been blooming quietly, suddenly began to tremble violently.

Their stems stretched at a speed visible to the naked eye, and their petals opened and closed frantically beneath the beams, greedily absorbing the pure magic power.

The entire flower sea was like an awakened beast. Waves rolled through it in the darkness, rustling like a tide lapping against the shore.

"Look at where the energy is flowing!" Alia shouted to Chen Chuan.

The flowers began to glow more brightly after absorbing the magic power. Countless specks of pale golden light rose from their petals and gathered like fireflies into visible streams, flowing toward the ground along invisible patterns.

Alia's face turned deathly pale. She jerked back a step, her boots making a grating sound against the loose stones.

"I understand now... this isn't an ordinary plantation. It's a sealing formation!"

Her voice was filled with incredulous horror. "These flowers... they're part of the formation!"