At the end of the mine tunnel is a natural underground hall.
The dome is about ten feet high, and the rock wall is embedded with fine white gold crystals, like Xingdou all over the sky.
On the stone wall at the deepest part of the hall, there is a huge Stone Gate embedded in it. It is about three feet high and two feet wide. Its surface is covered with dense runes.
Those runes have the same origin as the lines on both sides of the mine tunnel, as well as the mark between Chen Jieqi's eyebrows.
They are not dead, light flows slowly between the lines, like blood flowing in blood vessels, very slowly, but really moving.
Chen Jieqi stood in front of Stone Gate, breathing softly involuntarily.
There was a rustling sound behind me.
He didn't look back, the mark between his eyebrows lit up, and five cold breaths were coming from the depths of the mine, less than a hundred feet away from him.
Evil Soul Master.
They have been waiting, waiting for him to find Stone Gate, waiting for him to open the door, waiting for the fisherman to profit.
The voice of Sheng Hui sounded in Soul Ring.
"Behind."
"Know."
Chen Jieqi did not turn around, he pressed the feather towards the groove in the center of Stone Gate.
There is a feather-shaped depression there, the size of which exactly matches the outline of the two feathers put together.
Platinum-gold light exploded from the grooves and spread to the four corners along the lines of the runes, like dead trees blooming in spring, like stagnant water flowing again.
Stone Gate made a low roar, not the sound of opening, but the sound of a thousand-year seal being broken.
White light seeped out from the crack in the door, getting brighter and brighter, becoming more and more dazzling, until the entire hall was illuminated as bright as day.
Evil Soul Master behind him screamed.
He wasn't attacked, he was burned by the light.
The Holy Light's restraint on the dark aura was clearly revealed at this moment. Their eyes seemed to be pricked by needles, and they retreated covering their faces.
Some collapsed directly to the ground, with green smoke rising from their skin under their black robes.
Chen Jieqi Without looking back, he stepped forward and walked into the white light.
Stone Gate slowly closed up behind him, isolating the screams of Evil Soul Master.
Behind the door is a huge circular space with a dome so high that the top cannot be seen.
Incredibly crafted, the ground is paved with flat white jade slabs, each piece engraved with fine golden lines.
Twelve stone pillars surround the surroundings, and the pillar bodies are carved with angels, knights, and some kind of rune creature that Chen Jieqi does not recognize.
A ball of white-gold light hangs in the center of the dome, like a sun compressed to the extreme.
The light is not dazzling, but leaves no shadow in the entire space.
Sheng Hui's voice sounded in Soul Ring, with a suppressed calmness.
"The core hall of Temple of Light, where God of Light received worship from believers."
Chen Jieqi continued to walk forward, the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty hall,
Every step he took stepped on the light pattern, which lit up and darkened again, as if to welcome him.
There is a stone platform under the light ball. There is nothing on the platform, only a shallow groove.
It is exactly the same as the groove on Stone Gate, in the shape of a feather.
Chen Jieqi walked to the stone platform and put two feathers into the groove.
The space shook.
The light ball on the dome suddenly expanded, and a white-gold light curtain exploded from the center, covering the entire hall.
Pictures emerged from the light curtain, some intermittent images and fragments, like broken mirrors being forcibly put together.
Three figures stood side by side, standing in the endless void.
The one on the left is completely white and has six wings spread out. It is Angel God.
The one in the middle was wrapped in platinum-gold light, and its face couldn't be seen clearly, but its aura was exactly the same as Heart of the Naaru.
The one on the right holding a trident is Sea God.
Opposite them was a shapeless dark abyss, a squirming abyss like a living thing.
The screen flashed and the darkness was torn to pieces.
God of Light slowly raised his hand, and in his palm lay a small golden token, shaped like a feather.
He handed the feather to the angel god, who took it with both hands.
God of Light's figure began to fragment, instead of dissipating, it broke into countless tiny white-gold light spots and dispersed into the void.
The screen is broken.
The light curtain disappeared and the hall returned to calm.
Chen Jieqi stood there, the warmth of feathers still lingering in his palms.
He looked down at his hands, his eyebrows twitching.
The voice of Sheng Hui sounded.
"See? God of Light sealed the last inheritance here before his death.
Your Heart of the Naaru is the incarnation of his fragments."
"I know." Chen Jieqi raised his head and looked at the floating ball of light,
"Then what?"
"Then..." Sheng Hui's voice paused,
"You have to accept the test, not by fighting and killing, but by facing yourself."
The ball of light suddenly dimmed.
The hall fell into darkness for a brief period, and then light rose from the ground.
It's not white light, it's faint blue, like moonlight, like a dream.
Chen Jieqi found himself standing in a strange land.
Not a mine, not Heaven Dou City, not any place he knew.
The sky is gray-white, the earth is cracked, and not a blade of grass grows.
There is a collapsed building in the distance, with vague lines carved on the remaining pillars.
It is very similar to the rune of Temple of Light, but it is too damaged to be seen clearly.
He looked down and saw his hands.
It was not the hand of a fourteen-year-old boy, but the hand of another person, larger, with distinct joints and calluses on the palm.
Sheng Hui's voice came from far away, as if separated by a layer of water.
"This is the memory left in the core of God of Light. You are not you, you are him."
Chen Jieqi continued towards the collapsed building.
Among the ruins, he saw a figure. Strictly speaking, it was not a human figure, but a group of dissipating light.
There are six-winged outlines at the edge of the light, but they are so blurry that they are almost invisible.
He heard a voice without seeing the source, as if it appeared directly in his head.
"You're here."
Chen Jieqi stopped.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time."
At the last moment before dissipating, the light condensed into a vague human shape.
He couldn't see the face clearly, but Chen Jieqi could feel it looking at him. To be precise, he could see the mark between his eyebrows.
"... my fragments..."
The voice is getting softer and softer.
"Light... is not used to judge... but to illuminate..."
The light is broken.
Chen Jieqi Open your eyes.
He was still standing in the main hall, in front of the stone platform, with two feathers lying quietly in the groove.
The light ball on the dome is still there, but its brightness is darker than before, as if it has consumed some energy.
Sheng Hui's voice was filled with rare fatigue.
"You just... went in for a moment."
"I feel like it's been a long time."
"The time in the memory fragments is different from the outside."
Chen Jieqi looked down at his hands. The hands of a boy who was no more than fifteen years old had no calluses or cracks.
"He said that light is not used to judge, but to illuminate."
Sheng Hui said nothing.
Chen Jieqi raised his head and looked at the ball of light.
"What am I going to do?"
"Accept the inheritance." Sheng Hui said,
"Inject your Soul Power into the ball of light, and it will feed you back.
The combination of the two is resonance, and your Heart of the Naaru will awaken new abilities."
Chen Jieqi was silent for a moment.
"So, what's the price?"
Sheng Hui did not answer immediately.
"The price is that you can't retreat from now on."
"What do you mean?"
"Evil Soul Master will smell your breath, darkness will lock onto you, Spirit Hall will re-evaluate you."
Sheng Hui's voice is rare and solemn,
"You will become a target, but you will also become a beacon. More importantly, you will gain the ability to gather faith."
Chen Jieqi frowned. "Do you believe?"
He stretched out his hand and pressed it on the ball of light.
Platinum-gold light poured in from the palm of my hand and climbed up along the meridians. It was warm, as if someone had lit a lamp in the bones.
The mark between the eyebrows began to change. It was originally just a pale golden crystal mark.
The lines are now deeper and denser, like a blooming flower.
In the picture, he saw the villagers of Dawnlight Village kneeling on the ground and calling him "benefactor".
I saw Yu Feng saying, "Team Chen, you can allocate it, I have no objection."
"Do you feel it? This is faith. They are not your people, they are your light."
Platinum-gold light seeped out from the brand, illuminating his entire face.
The voice of Sheng Hui sounded in Soul Ring.
The ball of light was much darker, but still bright.
"It's not over yet." Sheng Hui said,
"This is just the first step. The real power is in your body and you need to dig it yourself to make others believe in the light."
Chen Jieqi nodded. He took out the two feathers from the groove and put them away.
The twelve stone pillars of the main hall began to hum.
The light ball on the dome slowly descended, submerged into the stone platform, and disappeared.
The hall fell into darkness, with only the light patterns on the ground still shining.
"Stone Gate will reseal it." Sheng Hui said, "You will need another key to enter next time."
"What key?"
"Yourself. When your light is bright enough, the door will naturally open."
Chen Jieqi turned around and walked towards the direction he came from.
Stone Gate slowly opened in front of him.
In the mine tunnel, Evil Soul Master's body was still there, but the body under the black robe had been burned by the holy light until it was no longer human.
There were still a few living people huddled in the corners of the mine tunnel, covering their eyes with trembling hands, not daring to look at him.
Chen Jieqi walked past them without stopping.
Behind him, the light of the runes on Stone Gate went out layer by layer, like a closing eye.
It was almost dawn when he walked out of the crack.
Dugu Bo stood at the mouth of the valley, his green robe stained with morning dew.
He glanced at Chen Jieqi, and his eyes paused for a moment on the new mark between his eyebrows.
"How long?"
"One day and one night." Dugu Bo said,
"You said it for three days, but I've only waited for one day and I'm going crazy."
Chen Jieqi is not smiling.
He walked to Dugu Bo, stood side by side, and looked at the white fish belly rising on the horizon.
"Grandpa."
"Hmm."
"Tang Hao will come again, and Evil Soul Master will come too."
Dugu Bo was silent for a moment. "Are you scared?"
"I'm afraid," Chen Jieqi said, "But I won't retreat."
Dugu Bo glanced at him and said nothing.
He turned around and walked towards the chapel. After taking a few steps, he stopped and did not look back.
"Then don't retreat."