The Four Symbols Trial of the Mist Forest

[System notification: Main quest "Find the Four Symbols Keys" activated. Current area: "Mist Forest". Objectives: Find the "Wood Key" at the heart of the forest, break the Four Symbols Guardian Array, and survive for ≥72 hours.]

Chapter 1: The Mist Illusion and the Trial of Wood

The mist in the Mist Forest was alive.

The moment they stepped into the forest's edge, milky-white mist coiled around their ankles like icy silk, rising past their knees in the blink of an eye. Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flame Origin flickered in his palm as he tried to burn the mist away, but strands of it wrapped around the flames. The seemingly soft mist was actually made up of countless tiny plant tendrils, greedily absorbing the flames' heat.

"Careful, this mist devours energy." Spatial runes flickered at Lu Mu's fingertips, forming a transparent barrier that temporarily held the spreading mist at bay. "This is no ordinary forest. It's a trial ground the Gu Clan cultivated with the 'Myriad Forms Wood Spirit.' Every three steps, the illusion takes on a different form."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding mist suddenly condensed into the silhouettes of trees. Towering ancient trees rose from the ground, their trunks covered in eye-shaped markings. Their leaves rustled, but what fell from them were not leaves, but countless specks of green light. When the specks landed on their bodies, they felt like ant bites, and red rashes immediately appeared on their skin.

"They're the wood spirit's 'Energy-Devouring Needles'!" Ye Xinlan quickly pulled out antidote pills and handed them to everyone. "Take them, quickly! This toxin will gnaw away at your Dou Qi along your meridians!"

Zi Yan's Dragon Phoenix Flame suddenly surged, burning a clearing through the approaching tree silhouettes. "These tree shadows are copying our movements! Look at the thickest ancient tree. Its branches are swaying at exactly the same speed as Xiao Yan's punches!"

Sure enough, the ancient tree at the very front suddenly bent its trunk, sweeping its branches at them like arms. Its movement was identical in every detail to the way Xiao Yan had just blocked the mist. Xiao Yan's heart tightened. He deliberately slowed down, raising his left hand at an extremely slow pace. The ancient tree's branches slowed with him, only to accelerate suddenly just before they touched him!

"Now!" Xiao Yan abruptly changed his move, gathering Heavenly Flames into a spear in his right hand and stabbing straight at the ancient tree's heart. With a puff, the tree shadow burst apart, splattering green sap across the ground. The Energy-Devouring Needles in the mist immediately grew much sparser.

[System notification: First layer of the wood illusion broken. Obtained "Wood spirit favorability +10", reducing the mist's energy-devouring efficiency.]

Three li deeper into the forest, the mist turned dark green, and countless vines emerged from the ground, winding toward their ankles like snakes. These vines could speak human language. When they wrapped around Zi Yan, they even spoke coquettishly: "Pretty big sister, play with us for a little while, or we'll pull off your dragon scales and make wind chimes out of them~"

Annoyed by the vines wrapped around her, Zi Yan whipped her dragon tail and snapped them, only for the severed vines to suddenly turn into green powder and slip into her sleeves. The next second, a few tender leaves sprouted on her arm, creeping up her skin and making her itch.

"It's a 'Parasitic Vine.' It grows along the flow of Dou Qi!" Ye Xinlan hurriedly took out a specially made spirit-removing solution and poured it over Zi Yan's arm. "Whatever you do, don't use Dou Qi to drive it out. The more you stir it, the faster it grows!"

What the vines feared most was "stillness." Xiao Yan immediately told everyone to stand where they were and let the vines wind around their feet. Sure enough, once the vines reached their knees, they climbed no farther. Instead, as though they had encountered an obstacle, they slowly retreated into the soil. Only the tender leaves on Zi Yan's arm continued to sway. Ye Xinlan pierced the leaves with a silver needle and squeezed out the green sap inside. "There, it's a prank by the wood spirit, not a real attack."

[System notification: Trial of wood passed. Obtained "Myriad Forms Wood Spirit's approval", allowing clear vision in the mist.]

Chapter 2: The Water Illusion and Reflections on the Ice Field

After they passed through the wood region, the mist suddenly grew damp. It felt cool against their skin, and in the blink of an eye, it condensed into tiny grains of ice. Shallow water seeped out of the ground, flowing downhill to form a stream, but the figures reflected in it were not their own. In the stream, Xiao Yan saw a young man dressed in Gu Clan clothing, holding a flaming longsword as he faced a dark figure whose face could not be seen.

"There's something wrong with these reflections!" Wu Hao shattered the thin ice on the stream's surface, but his reflection suddenly drew an axe and chopped at the real Wu Hao. Wu Hao instinctively blocked, but the axe passed through empty air. Instead, an ice spike that emerged from the stream cut his wrist.

"Don't touch the water!" Lu Mu spread spatial runes across the surface, forming an invisible barrier. "This water is a branch of the 'Spring of Memory.' It draws out the deepest obsessions in your heart. Whatever you care about most, the reflections will use it to attack you."

Xiao Yan crouched and looked at the Gu Clan youth in the stream. The youth's flaming longsword bore some resemblance to his own Heavenly Flame Origin. The youth suddenly turned, pointing the tip of his sword at Xiao Yan's brow. The reflection in the stream abruptly burst apart, and countless ice needles leaped from the surface, shooting at his face like a torrential downpour.

"Heavenly Flame: Burning Heaven!" Flames poured from Xiao Yan's palm, melting the ice needles into vapor. But the vapor condensed in the air into another "Xiao Yan," clad in the Evil Clan's black armor. He grinned viciously and said, "Do you dare admit it? You cultivate Heavenly Flames so you can get stronger and take revenge on everyone who looked down on you!"

"Nonsense!" Xiao Yan roared, only to see the "Evil-transformed Xiao Yan" suddenly charge at Zi Yan. The black flames in his hand collided with her Dragon Phoenix Flame. As the two flames struggled against each other in midair, Zi Yan's reflection also appeared on the water, crying, "Xiao Yan doesn't care about you at all. He only wants your Dragon-Phoenix Bloodline!"

"I won't let you talk nonsense!" Zi Yan slapped her dragon tail against the water, but her own reflection caught it and dragged her toward the bottom. Xiao Yan leaped into the air, and his Heavenly Flames joined forces with the Dragon Phoenix Flame, burning both reflections into water vapor. "Don't believe its nonsense! We're partners!"

The surface gradually grew calm, and the reflections in the stream finally returned to normal. Ye Xinlan collected a bottle of stream water in a porcelain flask. "This water can draw out obsessions, but it's also a good thing. Use it to refine pills, and it can give them a 'clear mind' effect, just the thing to counter illusions."

[System notification: Trial of water passed. Obtained "Spring of Memory sample", capable of resisting low-level mental attacks.]

As they continued forward, the mist turned into great flakes of snow, and the stream on the ground froze over. Faint shadows of fish swam beneath the ice. The ice up ahead suddenly cracked, and a giant ice-blue fish emerged. With a slap of its tail, shards of ice shot toward them like flying daggers!

"It's an 'Ice Soul Fish'! The wood spirit said its scales can reflect attacks!" Lu Mu quickly set a spatial trap, confining the Ice Soul Fish in place. "Attack its belly. There are no scales there!"

Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames formed a spear and pierced the Ice Soul Fish's belly with pinpoint accuracy. The giant fish let out a muffled grunt, its body gradually turning transparent before finally becoming a blue ice crystal. Embedded in its center was a crescent-shaped key-the "Water Key."

[System notification: Obtained "Water Key". Four Symbols Keys collected: 1/4.]

Chapter 3: The Fire Illusion and the Lava Cage

At the end of the ice field lay a sea of fire. Countless cracks split the ground, boiling lava churned within them, and sparks floated in the air. Every breath felt like swallowing a ball of fire. The mist here had been baked golden, and it left burning red spots wherever it touched their skin, as though they had been scorched by hot coals.

"The trial of fire is 'Scorching the Heart,'" Lu Mu read from the ancient scroll. "It's said to make people see the failures they fear most. If their resolve isn't firm, their own fear will burn them to ashes."

Before he finished speaking, the sea of fire before Xiao Yan suddenly parted, revealing a scene from Ten-Thousand-Ren Peak. He was lying in a pool of blood, with Zi Yan, Lin Yan, and the others fallen beside him. His Heavenly Flame Origin had gone out, and the Evil Clan's Mother Empress stood on his chest, laughing wildly. "Look, you can't protect anyone at all!" The Mother Empress's voice was like a poisoned needle, piercing Xiao Yan's ears.

"Impossible!" Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames erupted, burning a hole through the illusion, but more "scenes of failure" emerged from the hole: Heavenly Mist City was overrun by the Evil Clan, civilians running and wailing; the Burning Heaven Palace's flames turned black, and Palace Master Yan Lie knelt on the ground, begging for mercy...

"Enough!" Xiao Yan punched the ground, sending lava splashing. "None of this is real!"

"Whether it's real or not is for you to decide." An aged voice came from the sea of fire as the figure of a Gu Clan Elder slowly took shape. "Back then, I was trapped here, forced to watch my clansmen burn to death, powerless to do anything. In the end, I burned myself to ashes too."

The elder's figure suddenly pointed behind Xiao Yan. "Look! Zi Yan got entangled in evil power trying to save you!"

Xiao Yan whipped around. Sure enough, Zi Yan was bound to a pillar of fire by several black chains of flame. Her Dragon Phoenix Flame was growing weaker and weaker, and her face was filled with pain. "Zi Yan!" He wanted to rush over, but the Gu Clan Elder stopped him. "This is your heart demon. Only you can resolve it. If you believe the illusion, she really will burn to death. If you don't, the flames will go out on their own."

Xiao Yan stared at Zi Yan on the pillar of fire, then looked at the Heavenly Flames in his palm. The real Zi Yan's Dragon Phoenix Flame held a trace of warmth familiar to him, but the flames of Zi Yan in the illusion were edged with black Qi unique to the Evil Clan. He took a deep breath, turned to the Gu Clan Elder, and said, "My partner would never be brought down so easily."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zi Yan and the chains of flame on the fire pillar vanished at once. The Gu Clan Elder smiled. "Not bad. You're stronger than I was back then." His figure turned into a ball of flame and merged into the nearby lava pool. In the center of the pool, a burning key slowly rose: the "Fire Key."

[System notification: Trial of fire passed. Obtained "Fire Key". Four Symbols Keys collected: 2/4.]

Lin Yan had also passed the trial on the other side. His illusion was of his flames suddenly going out while he was surrounded by the Evil Clan, and he had forced himself to rekindle the Burning Heaven Flame through sheer willpower. Now he held up a burning short blade and waved it proudly. "A little scene like that can't stop me!"

Chapter 4: The Metal Illusion and the Metal-and-Stone Puppets

Beyond the sea of fire, the ground became hard black metalstone. The mist condensed with a metallic sheen, clinking as it landed on them, as though they were putting on iron armor. Hundreds of puppets stood in the stone forest ahead, all carved from black metalstone. Some held swords, others raised shields, and their red gemstone eyes turned to follow the group's footsteps.

"These puppets copy attack movements," Lu Mu said, examining the patterns on them. "If you punch, they punch; if you use a sword, they draw one. They're also as hard as Dou Zong-level defensive armor. Ordinary attacks can't break them at all."

Hu Gan tried punching the nearest puppet. With a clang, the impact numbed his fist, but the puppet did not budge. Instead, it raised an arm and returned a punch with the same force. Hu Gan was knocked back three steps, and a shallow dent appeared in his Black Tortoise Armor.

"Good grief, does it even boost the force?" Hu Gan shook out his fist. "If we get surrounded, won't we be flattened by our own strength?"

Xiao Yan noticed tiny gaps in the puppets' joints, with silver patterns embedded inside. "Attack the joints! That's the weak point in their energy transmission!"

He condensed Heavenly Flames into a fine needle and drove it precisely into a puppet's elbow joint. Its red gemstone eyes suddenly dimmed, and its arm fell to the ground with a clang. Sure enough, the silver patterns in the joints were "Metal Spirit Threads" that controlled the puppets' movements. Once the Heavenly Flames burned through them, the puppet became ordinary stone.

"This works!" Wu Hao used his Space-Splitting Axe to strike at the puppets' knees, sending black metalstone fragments flying. He soon cleared a path.

Deep in the stone forest stood a Golden Hall. Its doors were made from a single block of black metalstone, with a Four Symbols diagram carved into them. Only the spot for the "Metal Key" was empty. On a raised platform inside the hall sat the largest puppet of all, wearing a crown and holding a scepter. Its eyes were two pigeon-blood rubies, and the Metal Spirit Threads covering its body were ten times as dense as those on the ordinary puppets.

"This is the guardian of metal." Lu Mu's runes suddenly flickered violently. "It can copy the attacks of every one of us, and it can do it all at once!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the puppet on the platform suddenly stood up. It conjured an illusory image of Heavenly Flames in its left hand, flung a wisp of Dragon Phoenix Flame from its right, and even had spatial rune fluctuations beneath its feet. It was copying the abilities of Xiao Yan, Zi Yan, and Lu Mu at the same time!

"Spread out!" Xiao Yan shouted. "Don't let it copy multiple people's attacks at once!"

Everyone immediately scattered. Xiao Yan circled behind the puppet, directing his Heavenly Flames at the joint at the back of its neck. Zi Yan drew its attention from the front, deliberately slowing her Dragon Phoenix Flame so the puppet's imitation also became sluggish. Lu Mu took the opportunity to set a spatial trap beneath the puppet's feet.

"Now!" As the puppet's right foot stepped into the trap, Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flame needle pierced the joint at the back of its neck, and Zi Yan's Dragon Phoenix Flame simultaneously blasted into its ruby eyes. The puppet's movements suddenly froze. Its gemstone eyes cracked with a snap, and its body came apart at the joints, collapsing into a pile of black stones. A golden key rolled out of its chest.

[System notification: Obtained "Metal Key". Four Symbols Keys collected: 3/4.]

Ye Xinlan picked up the Metal Key and found a line of small characters engraved on its handle: "Metal and stone open the way; without breaking, nothing stands firm." She smiled. "It seems this trial wants to tell us that no matter how hard something is, there's a key that can open it."

Chapter 5: The Earth Illusion and the Heart of the Earth

After they collected three keys, the center of the Mist Forest revealed its true face. There were no trees, but a circular mound of earth, with a recess at its peak just large enough to hold four keys. But the ground around the mound was alive. Their feet sank when they stepped on it, as though they were walking through a mire, and every step consumed twice as much Dou Qi.

"The trial of earth is 'Settling the Heart.'" Lu Mu looked at his ankles, which were sinking deeper and deeper. "The ancient scroll says the soil here pulls people down in response to their restlessness. The more anxious you are, the faster you sink."

Lin Xiuya planted his sword in the ground and used it to steady himself. "Then should we walk more slowly?" He tried slowing his steps, and sure enough, he sank more slowly.

Most troublesome of all, many ocher "mud monsters" emerged around the mound. They had no fixed shape, flowing like mud, and grew heavier and heavier when they stuck to someone, until they dragged that person underground. Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames could burn the mud monsters back, but they could not burn them all away. Each time he burned one apart, another immediately emerged from the soil.

"These mud monsters are the earth's 'impurities,'" Ye Xinlan suddenly realized. "Just like distracting thoughts in a person's heart, the more you try to drive them away, the more of them come." She stopped and let a small mud monster crawl onto the back of her hand, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The mud monster circled the back of her hand, then slowly shrank into an ocher bead.

"Huh?" Ye Xinlan opened her eyes. The bead glowed in her palm. "It stopped clinging to me!"

Xiao Yan tried it, and sure enough, when he stopped deliberately driving the mud monsters away and focused only on walking toward the mound, they seemed to lose their target. Some became earth beads, while others flowed away along the ground. Zi Yan smiled. "So we're not supposed to fight them, but accept them."

When they reached the top of the mound, the final key suddenly rose from the recess-the "Wood Key." It had been hidden here all along, appearing only after the other keys were collected. The four keys fit into the recess, and the mound suddenly trembled and split open down the center, revealing a fist-sized crystal. Pale golden light filled the crystal, like a beating heart.

"Is this the 'Heart of the Earth'?" Xiao Yan reached out and touched the crystal. A warm current of energy flowed along his arm and through his entire body, sweeping away the exhaustion from being entangled by the mud monsters.

[System notification: Four Symbols Keys collected. Obtained "Heart of the Earth Fragment", capable of purifying evil power and granting immunity to the Four Symbols illusions.]

The mound slowly closed, and the mist in the Mist Forest began to disperse, revealing the sunlight outside. Lin Yan stretched. "We're finally out. This forest is even more exhausting than the Evil Clan's camp."

Xiao Yan held the Heart of the Earth Fragment, feeling the energy inside it faintly resonate with his Heavenly Flame Origin. "This is only the beginning. The Gu Clan's secret land is still waiting for us."

Zi Yan's dragon tail swept gently over the ground, stirring up a trail of golden specks of light. "With us here, we can get through any hardship."