Ancestor's Inheritance?

Damn it!

Hawkins quickly supported Ai Miye, sending his consciousness into hers, only to find that her consciousness was unharmed. But then he discovered that the little bead was nowhere to be found in her body either, as if it had never existed.

Humans, in the end, were not gods.

Although Hawkins possessed experiences and abilities beyond ordinary imagination, he was always only human, not a god.

Sometimes, unless people went through hardships, they would never know their own helplessness. Just like "I can turn the tables and kill them instead"—in the end, it was only an illusion.

Hawkins held Ai Miye as a long-lost sense of powerlessness surged into his heart. Yet there was still nothing he could do but wait for the final outcome.

He did not know whether what had happened to Ai Miye was good or bad. He could not even be sure what that little red bead was.

What could not be observed could naturally not be understood.

Hawkins clenched the Eternal Sea Chart tightly and waited in silence.

Half an hour later, Ai Miye's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she awoke from her coma.

"Where am I...?"

Ai Miye was still somewhat dazed when she woke up, but the instant she saw Hawkins's face, she snapped awake.

She struggled to sit up and stammered, "What happened to me? Are you all right?"

"That's what I should be asking. Are you all right?" Hawkins could not help but smile bitterly.

Ai Miye shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm very well. It's just that... I think I know who I am now."

"What do you mean?" Hawkins frowned, slightly puzzled.

Ai Miye looked toward the corpse beside them and sighed. "He is my ancestor. Just now, I saw my Lineage. I saw many things."

"So that little bead was actually a piece of memory?" Hawkins guessed.

Ai Miye shook her head. "That was Bloodline Inheritance. Only members of our Lineage can trigger it."

"All right, then do you know how we can leave this damned place now?" Hawkins asked.

"Then how do we obtain the ancestor's inheritance?" Hawkins asked with a frown.

Ai Miye looked ahead and answered, "We only need to pass the trials to obtain the ancestor's inheritance."

"Then let's go. The sooner we obtain the inheritance, the sooner we can leave." Hawkins nodded.

He took Ai Miye's hand and continued onward. Before long, the space ahead suddenly opened up, revealing an Arena.

Ai Miye explained, "This is the first trial. As long as you step onto the Arena and defeat the enemy, the path to the next trial will open."

"Are you going up, or am I?" Hawkins looked at the Arena and asked.

Ai Miye looked at Hawkins speechlessly. Hawkins could only say helplessly, "All right, looks like I'm going up. But does this count as cheating?"

"It doesn't. You were allowed to bring someone you trust to help from the start," Ai Miye answered.

Hawkins nodded and walked straight onto the Arena.

The Arena was broad, roughly half the size of a football field, with many strange patterns around its edges.

Once Hawkins stepped onto it, the patterns began to move one after another. Then black lines pieced themselves together into a stick figure. It held a long spear and took up a stance across from Hawkins.

"So my opponent is a stick figure?"

Hawkins asked Ai Miye below the Arena. But before she could answer, he felt a fierce gust of wind rush toward him. He immediately spun like a drunken old man, dodging the stick figure's life-taking spear thrust.

Fast!

Its speed in switching from left to right was incredibly quick. In the blink of an eye, the spear in its left hand stabbed toward Hawkins's brow.

Hawkins retreated swiftly. The spear chased after him, remaining only a finger's width from his brow, as if it would not rest until it pierced him.

But Hawkins suddenly sidestepped. Once the spear passed him, he drove a fist directly into the stick figure's body. The sensation was far from pleasant—it felt soft and cottony, and he could not find any point to exert force against.

The stick figure, meanwhile, had the spot struck by Hawkins's fist cave in. A moment later, it recovered and charged at Hawkins again with its spear.

At that moment, the Eternal Sea Chart in Hawkins's hand abruptly unfolded.

Although the Eternal Sea Chart was a Sea Chart, its material was exceptionally tough, and its edges were as sharp as a paper cutter.

In an instant, the Sea Chart sliced across the stick figure. Its lines broke apart, but in the very next second, the severed lines rejoined one another.

The attack was ineffective!

In fact, those two attacks had both been Hawkins's probes.

The first had been an ordinary physical attack. Since Curse Power could not be released outside his body, that punch had carried no additional abilities.

The second attack had used the cursed properties of the Cursed Relic, but it still had no effect whatsoever.

Hawkins felt that the stick figure before him probably required special conditions to kill.

Whoosh!

The stick figure attacked again. After one spear thrust missed, it immediately turned around and struck again.

The stick figure flew backward, but quickly flipped over and landed. With a push of its toes against the ground, it lunged at Hawkins once more.

"Even electricity doesn't work?"

Watching the stick figure return, Hawkins muttered to himself.

The stick figure's nature was peculiar. Its body was incomparably soft, but when it attacked, it became hard as iron. Especially the spear in its hand—under its control, it could be hard or soft, extend or shrink, grow large or small. It was exceedingly troublesome.

As Hawkins fought it, he felt its weapon become a whip at times, a staff at others, and only finally a spear.

Because of this highly flexible ability, Hawkins found it difficult to find an opportunity to attack. Even when he did find one, he could not inflict effective damage on it.

After fifteen minutes, Hawkins had no choice but to consider ending the battle.

Over those fifteen minutes, the amount of exercise he had done was nearly equivalent to a marathon runner completing three marathons.

Because of the curse, his metabolism had always been much faster than an ordinary person's. Under such intense exertion, a portion of his stored energy had already been depleted.

That's about enough. Looks like I can only end the research!

Hawkins sighed inwardly. He had actually discovered the stick figure's weakness long ago, but he had been curious about what it was made of, so he had spent the time circling around it and observing it.

At that moment, the stick figure attacked again. Hawkins dodged the spear, closed in directly, and slammed his shoulder into the stick figure's body.

The stick figure was very light. The impact instantly sent its body stumbling.

In that instant, Hawkins seized the chance, bent down, grabbed the stick figure's leg, and spun like he was throwing a frisbee, hurling it straight out of the Arena.

"Bye-bye!"

Hawkins chuckled, then lightly tossed aside the spear.

Just as he had expected, when the stick figure landed outside the Arena, its body immediately disintegrated into countless lines. At last, they flowed back into the Arena like ink and became those strange symbols again.

Being alive was truly wonderful.

It was precisely because he could encounter things he had never seen and never experienced that Hawkins did not want to die.

He jumped down from the Arena and smiled at Ai Miye. "All right, let's go see the next trial."

The passage to the next trial had already opened. The two entered it and walked forward. After around ten minutes, the next trial appeared before them.

"Your ancestor really had no imagination. Another Arena?"

Hawkins looked at the even larger Arena before them and whispered to Ai Miye.

Ai Miye's expression remained calm. "What need is there for imagination? As long as it can test people, that is enough. I'll have to trouble you again this time."

"All right. Who told me I've always respected the old and cared for the young?" Hawkins smacked his lips and stepped onto the Arena.

Countless patterns gathered on the Arena, and gradually, a giant composed of blue energy appeared.

The giant was at least five meters tall and extremely bloated. Yet it floated in midair, its feet never touching the ground. So despite its bloated appearance, it likely possessed extraordinary agility.

Hawkins gripped the scroll and did not attack first.

Seeing this, Hawkins smiled at Ai Miye beneath the Arena. "All right, looks like it wants me to make the first move. Pretty polite!"

"Focus. Don't lose to it," Ai Miye said with a dissatisfied frown.

Hawkins made an OK gesture, then looked toward the Blue Giant.

Since the Blue Giant would not attack first, Hawkins would make the first move. But to be safe, he would test it first.

This world had too many strange and bizarre abilities. Sometimes, they truly came from impossible angles.

He extended a finger, and an electric orb the size of a marble shot directly from it. But when it hit the Blue Giant, it had absolutely no effect.

Its defense was not bad.

The electric orb had been small, but it was still not something an ordinary person could withstand. Its power was roughly comparable to a handgun; if it struck a vital point, it could still be fatal.

When Hawkins saw that the Blue Giant still did not move, he raised his hand. The next moment, Ball Lightning blasted out.

Boom!

With an explosive crash, the Blue Giant's cheek caved in, while Hawkins's own cheek felt as if someone had punched it, immediately swelling red.

Damage reflection?

A burning pain flared across Hawkins's cheek as he thought inwardly.

If he had truly attacked with full force just now, the reflected damage might have caused his body to collapse in an instant.

This enemy was somewhat troublesome.

He could not kill it, and throwing it out of the Arena like the stick figure would not be easy either. The thing was so huge that it would be difficult to move even while standing still. If it suddenly attacked, that would be far too dangerous.

As for dragging things out with time, Hawkins had not considered that at all.

The victory conditions for this Arena were simple and straightforward: either drive the opponent out of the Arena or kill it. There was no third method.

Hawkins's metabolism was already relatively fast. Stalling for time would only push him into an even more disadvantageous situation.