Chapter 287 - Twelve Trials
The occupants of the silver thrones voiced their opinions one after another, merrily deciding how they should “deal with” Shi Feng.
Standing a short distance from the golden doors of this chamber, Shi Feng silently muttered, “Crap! Don’t players have any human rights?”
However, Shi Feng had no choice under the circumstances.
The NPCs before him were all apex powerhouses of God’s Domain; Shi Feng was merely an ant in their eyes. It would be fortunate if they even decided to give him a few extra glances, not to mention involve him in their discussion.
At this moment, a youth garbed in white robes, one of the occupants of the silver thrones, moved and instantly appeared before Shi Feng.
Although this youth was simply standing in front of Shi Feng, showing no animosity whatsoever to Shi Feng, the formidable pressure Shi Feng felt from him was much more overwhelming than what he’d felt from White River City’s Magistrate Weissman.
This white-robed youth was none other than Ucarus, the Star-Moon Temple Lord of the War God’s Temple, whom Shi Feng had been instructed to look for.
“Young man, we already know your reason for coming to this place. Although the Endless Abyss has indeed been unsealed, this is something that would have happened sooner or later. After all, no seal is eternal. In the face of time, everything is powerless. It is already good that the seal could suppress the Endless Abyss for hundreds of years.
“In the near future, we will join forces to suppress the Endless Abyss, preventing this matter from escalating.
“However, before we go and suppress it, we need to choose a person to collect the materials needed to reseal the Endless Abyss. However, this person must be a heaven-blessed person, and you just so happen to be one. Hence, we’ve decided to send you to collect the materials for us. Before we send you on your way, though, we need to first take a look at your potential. If you are no good, we will have no choice but to look for someone more suitable for the task.”
By “heaven-blessed person,” the NPC meant a player. In the NPCs’ settings, heaven-blessed people were immortal existences, as even if these individuals died, they could still revive shortly after. Hence, heaven-blessed people were the best candidates for collecting the materials needed for the seal.
“We have decided that your test will be the War God’s Temple’s Twelve Trials. You will be considered to have passed the test as long as you can clear six of the twelve trials. Of course, we won’t make you go through the trials for nothing. As long as you can clear up to the 2nd trial, you will be rewarded with 100 War God’s Temple Merit Points. Also, the rewards will be doubled with every subsequent trial you clear. After you’re done with a trial, you can use the treasury of the War God’s Temple to exchange your Merit Points for treasures.
“You should know that the treasury of the War God’s Temple contains the most treasure throughout God’s Domain. An ordinary Secret-Silver ranked item only costs 200 Merit Points, while a Fine-Gold ranked item costs 500 Merit Points, a Dark-Gold ranked item costs 1,500 Merit Points, an Epic ranked item costs 4,000 Merit Points, a Fragmented Legendary item costs 15,000 Merit Points, and lastly, a Legendary item costs 60,000 Merit Points.
“If you have sufficient strength, you can even exchange for a Divine Artifact. However, that would require 200,000 Merit Points.”
While Ucarus was giving his explanation with a smile, Shi Feng’s heart was already pounding madly with excitement.
Shi Feng couldn’t help but admit that a Legendary ranked Main Storyline Quest was indeed amazing.
The highest ranked item Shi Feng had seen before was only of Legendary rank. He had only heard rumors about Divine Artifacts; he had never personally seen one before. Now that he had the chance to actually see one, his gains from this trip to the War God’s Temple was already plenty.
However, Shi Feng knew his own limits. Even a Legendary item was already a luxury for him, not to mention a Divine Artifact. Shi Feng did not even dare fancy the notion of owning one. He would be satisfied as long as he could take a look at it.
Just as Shi Feng was imagining what a Divine Artifact looked like…
Ucarus started chanting some incantations, while drawing complex divine runes with his fingers.
After Ucarus finished chanting, a pair of large golden doors appeared before him. There were twelve scenes carved into the dazzling golden doors, and each scene told of a cruel battle. When the doors parted, a very ancient and violent aura gushed forth from within, as if there was a ferocious primordial beast housed beyond those doors.
“Young man, the Twelve Trials lies beyond these gates. Go ahead,” Ucarus said slowly as he pointed towards the golden doors.
Shi Feng nodded in reply. Step by step, he slowly walked towards and beyond the doors, soon vanishing from the Eternal Throne.
“Hahaha! That little guy sure is brave! Doesn’t he know that the Twelve Trials is the cruelest trial of the War God’s Temple?”
“Ucarus, you’re a devious bastard yourself as well! You actually used such a temptation against that little guy! Moreover, you’ve only mentioned the abundant rewards he could gain, but not the penalty for death!”
“The Merit Points needed for the Divine Artifact… Even after saving for an entire lifetime, this old man still hasn’t collected the necessary amount… If he wishes to obtain the Divine Artifact, at the very least, he needs to clear the 11th trial. Ever since the War God’s Temple was established, from ancient times until now, only one person has ever managed to do so. However, that great personage was a mighty god who had saved the entire continent in the past.”
“This lady has read plenty of ancient texts relating to the Twelve Trials. According to the information in those ancient texts, the majority of the people that had entered the trial only managed to clear up to the 3rd or 4th trial. Meanwhile, the ones that were capable of clearing up to the 6th trial were as rare as a phoenix’s feather and a qilin’s horn. Ucarus, your requirement for him sure is high.”
“Collecting the Seven Treasures is a matter of great importance. Without sufficient strength, how can he expect to gather all of them? Besides, we can’t afford to waste any energy on a weak little ant.”
Just as the occupants of the silver thrones were having another round of discussions among themselves, one of the occupants of the golden thrones, who had remained silent throughout the prior discussion, finally spoke.
“This matter is decided. Just as Ucarus has said, the old monsters sealed within the Endless Abyss are becoming restless. We can’t afford to waste too much energy on a single weakling. If he can pass the 6th trial, I will lend him a hand as well.”
“As you command, my lord.”
The occupants of the silver thrones could not help but feel astonished when they heard one of the lords of the golden thrones speak.
They never expected that this great personage would take action as well. This was a fortune that could not be obtained even if one begged for it.
Soon after, Ucarus waved his hand, summoning a water screen into the Eternal Throne. The water screen that was suspended in mid-air showed the image of Shi Feng who was currently facing the 1st trial.
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Shi Feng’s current location was at the summit of a precipice. Aside from the 100-yard or so plateau available to him, he was surrounded on all sides by deep cliffs. In addition, the winds here were extremely violent, and a single misstep could send him plunging into the endless abyss.
Shi Feng quietly sat on a platform paved with stone slabs. Immediately, he discovered that, aside from the weapons and equipment he had on him, everything else he possessed was unusable.
The powerful Frost Grenades could only lie quietly inside his bag. Even the Magic Scrolls Shi Feng had prepared beforehand were completely useless, and the same went for recovery potions. Instantly, Shi Feng’s combat strength had been reduced sharply.
It seems that these trials are meant to purely test my combat power. I wonder who my opponent will be? Shi Feng took a look at his surroundings and failed to discover any monsters. He then thought to himself in bewilderment, Don’t tell me the monster is invisible?
Having thought up to this point, Shi Feng immediately extended his five senses to their limits.
Invisible monsters were not unusual in God’s Domain. In fact, some of the truly powerful monsters were even capable of serial teleportation.
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Meanwhile, inside the Eternal Throne, the big shots of God’s Domain were excitedly observing Shi Feng’s trial.
After all, it had been close to a millennium since the Twelve Trials had last been activated. None of the occupants of the silver thrones were that old yet, so they were naturally very curious about the Twelve Trials.
“I wonder who will be his first opponent?”
“Though there are no records about it in the ancient texts, I did hear that the creatures inside the Twelve Trials are all primordial beasts that are extremely ferocious. However, this is only the 1st trial. That little guy isn’t even a Tier 1 Swordsman yet, so the monster’s strength should be barely within the Tier 1 realm.”
“Look, something’s flying over.”