John hastily retreated and pulled out his scythe, but was unable to find the source of the voice.
"Who's there?" John asked as he scanned the room closely.
"You can put your weapon away. I am unable to harm you," the voice responded in a monotone tone.
Unwilling to believe the voice, John kept his scythe out, continually scanning for any threats.
"I am the artifact spirit in charge of monitoring this temple. As I said earlier, you should leave this place. You have no chance to obtain the opportunity here."
John thought about it and put away his scythe after some time.
'I guess it's like the voice we heard back in that first palace. I suppose it's telling the truth. But I can't just leave this place before finding out what it is. Besides, he said I have no chance to get the opportunity, not that one doesn't exist. So there must be something good to obtain here.''
John looked around the room once more before his eyes rested on the round object in the middle of the room. A bright aura emanated from the object, making it hard to see clearly. The only details John could make out was that the object was spherical.
"You said I have no chance to obtain the opportunity here, not that it doesn't exist. What is the opportunity, and why am I not qualified?"
Silence filled the temple for some time before the voice responded once more.
"The opportunity is something beyond your imagination, but I am unable to divulge the secrets of it. Only the one who is successful in this trial may learn of its secrets. As for why you are not qualified…"
The voice paused for a moment, and John felt an incredibly powerful and profound divine sense wash over him.
'So powerful. If it wanted to, this artifact spirit could most likely annihilate me with a single thought.'
John started to sweat as he felt the powerful sense sweep over him. He knew that if the artifact spirit wanted him dead, it would have done so already, but it was still nerve wracking to not be in control of his fate.
After a few more seconds of scanning, the divine sense faded and silence once more filled the room.
John stood there for some time before getting impatient. The pocket realm was only open for three months, and each second was precious. Standing here doing nothing was a complete waste of time in his eyes.
John was about to speak up when the voice boomed throughout the temple once more.
"Interesting...Your body is very...interesting. It's unlike anything I've seen before….but unfortunately, it is not what is required to pass this test."
John furrowed his brows at the bad news. "Then what is required to pass this test?"
"This is the Elysian Lightning Temple, located in part of what was once the Elysian Lightning World. Its inheritance is obtainable only for those with lightning talents, and only the most heavenly of those talents are worthy of this prize."
"Elysian Lightning Temple? Elysian Lightning World? Just what are those?" John couldn't help but ask curiously.
"That is not for you to know. Besides, when I inspected your body, I saw no lightning cultivation, no lightning attribute body, nothing. You have no fate with this temple."
'Lightning body? Its true that I don't have one yet, but I know how to cultivate the Celestial Lightning Script, it's just unfortunate that I haven't had an opportunity to do so.' John was quite dejected by the words of the artifact spirit.
"What type of trial is this? What would I need to do to obtain the reward. Can you answer that much at least?" John asked, hoping that there was some way forward.
"I suppose I can tell you that much. The reward for this trial is that object in the center of the room. As you approach it, a lightning field will erupt and attack you. As you approach closer and closer to the object, the lightning field will grow stronger and stronger. If you can successfully withstand the lightning field and grasp the object, you can be counted as having passed the trial."
John looked towards the object in the center of the room once more before speaking out. "That can't be that dangerous then, can it? If I can't withstand the lightning, can't I just leave?" John wanted to see if he could withstand the lightning. Maybe, he could even use this opportunity to start cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script.
"I'm afraid that's impossible. Once you enter the lightning field, the way backwards is cut off. You can only proceed through the trial successfully, or perish. There is no other option."
John gulped at the trials description, and couldn't help but glance at the corpses on the ground. Clearly they had underestimated the might of the trial, and were only able to perish miserably. John looked closer and noticed that the bodies at the edge of the trial were mostly intact skeletons, while closer to the object, the skeletons had been ground to dust and ash, a testament to the power of the test.
"Has anyone ever passed the test?" John couldn't help but ask.
"No, none have passed, or this trial would not exist anymore."
"Isn't that a little too harsh then? What good is a trial if its never to be passed?" John asked dejectedly.
"The reward for passing this trial is grander than you could ever imagine. In fact, even in the nine Hegemon Worlds and thirty six Great Worlds, this prize would be coveted greatly."
"Hegemon Worlds? Great Worlds? What are those?" John once again asked curiously, but was quickly disappointed by the artifact spirits refusal to clarify.
John once again stared at the object in the middle of the room, and started wracking his brain for ideas.
"Can I ask you questions about the trial?" John asked the voice.
"I am constrained by certain rules on what I can and cannot answer, but if I can, I will do so," responded the monotone voice.
"You said I didn't have a lightning attribute body, and therefore could not pass the test. Does that mean if I have a lightning attribute body, I would be able to pass the test?"
"Not necessarily. All those corpses you see before you had lightning attribute bodies, and you can see the results for yourself."
John sucked in a breath of cold air. Attribute body cultivators were considered heavenly geniuses, and would normally stand at the top of the cultivation world, but they had all died here without a chance to resist.
'Just what is this world? How are there so many lightning attribute cultivators gathered in one place. And they all died as well. This pocket realm is far too bizarre.'
John wanted to ask about how old this pocket realm was, but based on the artifact spirits previous answers, John could tell that it was unable to give much detail regarding this world or other secrets.
"Then, what level of lightning attribute body would be needed to pass this test?"
Silence filled the temple for some time before the voice spoke up again.
"I am unable to answer that question."
'What good this spirit is. Whatever, I'll figure it out myself then.'
John looked towards the center of the room, and noticed a faint line which circled around the object in the center.
'This must be the starting line of the trial...I wonder.' John's eyes lit up as he thought of something and carefully approached the trial starting line.
The artifact spirit watched John approach the line and sighed, dejected at having to see another genius perish, but said nothing to stop John's advancement. It was here to monitor and control the trial, not prohibit those from entering.
John stopped a foot away from the line and stared at it carefully. Slowly, inch by inch, John raised his hand and pointed out his finger, sending it forward towards ever so slightly.
Just as John's finger broke the plane of the trial, John opened his eyes wide as lightning explosively struck out towards him.