The Key to the Third Trial
The sky Sea God Island has returned to normal, but the world on the ground is no longer the same.
After Yun Jingheng finished his third bowl of porridge, Ya Li went out to answer a call. When she returned, her brows were furrowed. She pressed him into a chair, pushed the fourth bowl of porridge in front of him, and then briefly explained the situation.
Chaos is raging in major Federation cities, and all senior students from Shrek Inner Court and Outer Court have been conscripted to assist local authorities in maintaining order.
Taking advantage of the chaos, members of the Holy Spirit Cult jumped out shouting "The Second Coming of the Holy Son." Some people burned shops and looted in the streets. Sixty percent of the Soul Guidance Train were stopped, and half of the communication network was blocked.
So don't wander off before we get back.
Ya Li patted his head. "You're the only one left in the Inner Court now. There are still some younger ones in the Outer Court who haven't moved yet, but the overall strength has been drained."
"And you?"
"I need to go out too. There's a group of Soul Beast migrating in the southeast that we need someone to check on."
Where is my dad?
He's already gone.
Yun Jingheng finished the last mouthful of porridge, placed the bowl upside down on the table, and watched Ya Li turn and walk towards the door. Halfway there, she turned back, took out a silver badge from her sleeve, and pinned it to the inside of her collar.
"You wear this. Once activated, it will allow you to contact me and let me know where you are. Don't run away from the academy, okay?"
She softened her tone when she said the last two words, and Yun Jingheng nodded. "Okay."
Then Ya Li left too.
The skies Sea God Island suddenly became eerily quiet.
Yun Jingheng stood at the entrance of the cafeteria, looking at the empty courtyard. The leaves of the Golden Tree rustled in the afternoon breeze, and in the distance, the Sea God Lake shimmered with a pale golden light.
He glanced down at the badge inside his collar; its smooth, warm, silvery-white surface was slowly absorbing the surrounding light.
He was the only one left in the Inner Court.
He stood there for a while, then suddenly remembered something.
He hadn't been back to that detached cottage in the Outer Court for a long time.
Anyway, nobody's too busy to keep an eye on me right now, so I'll go back.
Yun Jingheng patted his clothes, then took a step, carefully controlling the moon-white light beneath his feet. He learned from his previous experience of leaping twenty feet and falling into the lake, so this time he only released about one-tenth of the amount.
The silver light lifted his feet three inches off the ground, and he slowly slid forward a short distance, at a speed roughly twice that of normal walking.
It can be controlled.
He released a tiny bit more air, increasing the speed, but without losing control.
The pale moonlight swirled around his ankles, as light as stepping on a thin layer of water.
The distance from the Inner Court to the Outer Court wasn't far. He glided along the edge of the Sea God Lake, passing through several deserted corridors and the empty Martial Arts Arena.
The Outer Court was quieter than he had expected—most of the senior students had been transferred away, leaving only those with lower cultivation levels.
He walked all the way to the door of his detached house without encountering a single person along the way.
He took the key out of his Storage Soul Tool and pushed open the door.
The air inside was a bit stuffy; it had indeed been uninhabited for quite some time.
But to his surprise, the room wasn't actually dirty.
The bed was still the same as when he left, and there wasn't much dust on the table. The window was closed tightly, and the afternoon sunlight cut a golden angle on the floor through the glass.
He stood in the middle of the room and looked around, feeling a strange sense of peace, as if he were "home".
Then he sensed someone outside the door.
I couldn't hear any footsteps; it felt like there was a ghost outside the door.
Yun Jingheng turned to look at the door, and at the same time, the door was pushed open.
A girl was standing outside the door.
She was a little shorter than Yun Jingheng, and wore a school uniform from the Outer Court, with the cuffs rolled up twice to reveal her slender, white wrists.
Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her features were so delicate they almost seemed unreal.
She stood outside the threshold, looking at Yun Jingheng standing in the middle of the room, her expression... a half-smile?
The two stared at each other for about two seconds.
Yun Jingheng blinked. "... Gu Yue?"
"Surprised?" she replied, then stepped over the threshold and came in, closing the door behind her.
The door closed very quietly, locking with a click.
Gu Yue walked to his desk, pressed her fingertips against the cover of the travelogue on his desk, her fingertips tracing the edges of the spine, then turned to look at him. "You haven't been back for a long time."
"I have something to take care of in the Inner Court..."
Yun Jingheng scratched the back of his head. "How did you know I was here?"
Has no one ever told you that you're like a light bulb emitting special effects lights?
... This is yet another peculiar metaphor.
"You've condensed Soul Core? And passed both trials?" she asked again.
"How did you figure it out?" Yun Jingheng didn't think he could hide it from her.
"I'm a First-Class Deity, after all. I only suppressed it, not lost it." Gu Yue rolled her eyes at him and walked over.
Is there anything I can help you with?
Yun Jingheng frowned slightly. "Then your acting was superb."
"That's... Don't you even know who I am?"
Yun Jingheng silently rolled his eyes. "So why did you come to me?"
"I think you need my help," Gu Yue said seriously.
Yun Jingheng looked at Gu Yue with a strange expression.
There's no other reason than that he might actually need Gu Yue's help.
because...
[The Third Trial of the Nine Trials of the Lunar Moon God: Absorb pure lunar spiritual power to further transform the already condensed Soul Core into Golden Core.]
Time limit: one year
Assessment status: Already started
Success: One Soul Bone
Failure: The assessment is halted, and cultivation level regresses.
Yun Jingheng withdrew from his sea of consciousness, looked at Gu Yue was tilting her head and waiting for an answer, and twitched his lips. "How did you know I needed help?"
"Because your information about the God Trial has changed."
Gu Yue spoke as if she were discussing something quite ordinary, "When you condensed your Soul Core, you drew upon a large amount of Moonlight, a process that changed the Yue Shen's assessment of you."
"Therefore, your evaluation will definitely change."
How do you know so much?
Gu Yue did not answer.
She simply straightened up from the edge of the desk, walked to the window, and ran her finger across the glass.
A thin layer of white frost had formed on the windowpane, and the path of the Frost Mark was exactly the same as the silver trail she had traced in the air.
"Because I am Gu Yue," she said.
"... This answer is as good as saying nothing at all."
"Good to know."
Yun Jingheng took a deep breath, reached across the table, but found nothing to throw at it, so he gave up.
You said you'd help me, how do you plan to help?
Gu Yue turned around, her pupils gleaming with a cool, moist light in the afternoon sun.
She raised her right hand, palm up, and a white storage ring floated from her fingertip, slowly rotating in the air.
"You'll find what you need here."
As she spoke, she tossed the ring to him.
Yun Jingheng examined the ring and asked, "What's inside?"
Gu Yue smiled at him, "What's inside..."
"Tai, Yin, Shen, Jin."