This new hall was more spacious than the trial corridor before it. Dark stone slabs paved the floor, and there was no ceiling overhead, only an even wash of light shining down from above, clearly outlining the entire hall.
A statue of the Sea God Poseidon stood in the center. Its material resembled that of the statue Xiao Yun had seen earlier, but it was taller, with no additional ornaments or inscriptions on its surface. Neither incense nor Consecrator offerings covered it; only a faint halo flowed slowly over its surface.
He approached the statue and touched its surface once with his divine sense, checking whether the structure within that halo was intact.
The response was steady and continuous, with neither rejection nor delay. The halo simply flowed over the statue at the same rate as before his touch, neither accelerating nor stopping, as though waiting for him to make his next move.
As the halo flowed along the statue's edges, it missed no corner, maintaining the same luster even as it passed over the seam between the pedestal and the floor.
He raised a hand and pressed it against the statue, beginning to absorb that power. His divine sense also reached inside, probing the workings of the Divine Position and Godhood and analyzing the conditions under which a God-Bestowed Spirit Ring formed, gathering samples for reference in his coming research.
As that power flowed into him, the hall produced no unnecessary tremors or sounds. The light within the Divine Temple remained steady; only the flames of the ever-burning lamps on the stone walls flickered slightly in unison at one point.
He did not look up at the lamps. He simply remained before the statue, waiting for the last wisp of the halo to flow into him. Like a line