When Fain and Tulilei woke, a full day and night had already passed.
The Tenth Layer was a beautiful grassland. Endless green grass rippled like waves in the breeze, with occasional clusters of wildflowers blooming in broad patches among it. The air was so fresh that it left a sweetness in their lungs.
Compared with the lava, ice fields, and deserts before it, this layer seemed like a Sovereign's final kindness to the challengers.
After the two woke, Desri brought up the Life Source Pearl again.
Everyone sat in a circle on the grass, about to discuss who would receive the pearl.
Fain pulled Tulilei aside and spoke in a low voice, his words unknown to the others.
The two stood with their backs to the group for a while. Tulilei went from frowning to silence, then finally waved a hand and turned to walk back.
Fain followed him, his face expressionless, but his steps a little lighter.
"Give it to Fain." That was all Tulilei said.
No one asked any questions. Fain took the Life Source Pearl and merged it into his body. Emerald light flashed across his chest and vanished, and the lingering pallor on his face disappeared completely.
They began searching the Tenth Layer for the passage to the Eleventh Layer. Though the grassland was vast, the terrain was flat and the view unobstructed. After they had flown for over an hour, Bebe, who was farthest ahead, suddenly shouted in delight, "Look! There's a stone pillar up ahead. There seems to be a passage entrance beneath it."
The pillar was about three meters in diameter and nearly twenty meters tall, grayish-white throughout and covered in carvings of the Profound Mysteries. There was no telling how many years it had stood there.
There was indeed an entrance at