"Challenger, half-step Earth Sovereign. Challenge authorization: Golden Flood Dragon Disciple."
The voice came from every direction at once, layer upon layer of echoes circling above the plaza.
There was no intelligence in that voice. It was utterly hollow, like a shell long bereft of its soul mechanically following some preset program, every word delivered with cold, emotionless precision.
This Dragon Ascension Gate was once a sacred artifact with an intelligence of its own. But now, it seems that intelligence was destroyed too... Hearing that emotionless voice, Lin Ming felt a faint stir in his heart.
An intact sacred artifact was enough to make even Heavenly Sovereigns fight over it. Although this Dragon Ascension Gate could still function and conduct disciple trials, its intelligence had clearly been completely erased in the calamity ten thousand years ago.
Now it barely maintained its most basic functions through lingering instinct, like an old man who had lost his memory, still remembering how to walk and eat but no longer able to think or converse.
A trace of regret passed through Lin Ming's heart, but he promptly suppressed it.
He raised his head, his gaze returning to the dozen or so stone pillars. The multicolored radiance emanating from their stone figures reflected in his abyss-black eyes, while a dim light slowly flowed deep within his pupils.
"Challenge authorization: Golden Flood Dragon Disciple?"
Lin Ming murmured the words. His quiet voice echoed across the empty plaza, carrying a thoughtful note.
He raised his head and looked past the dozen or so stone pillars, finally fixing his gaze on the ninth.
That pillar stood slightly taller than several of the others, and the runes carved into it were denser and brighter than those on its neighbors. Arranged in a particular pattern, they formed the image of a