Lin Huang looked lost as he stood before the stone tablet. The effect of the heart-glimpsing rune felt like he had just been given an opportunity to relive his life. He had been aware in the beginning and kept reminding himself that it was a virtual world that the heart-glimpsing rune had created. However, he completely fell for it on the night he and Zhang Yan got married. He forgot about what had happened in reality and could not pull himself together as he drowned himself in the virtual world.
As his family passed away one by one, the truth was revealing itself but was soon covered by the heart-glimpsing rune quickly. The death of Zhang Yan was actually the best time for him to break free from the heart-glimpsing rune. However, he had been in too much pain that he thought the images that flashed through his mind were just some hallucinations as a result of not resting. He realized that he was trapped in the world that the heart-glimpsing rune created when he realized that he had no recollection of his memories before the age of 25 when he was dying.
Those realistic memories were a paradox to prove that the virtual world was not real. When Lin Huang realized that, the virtual world started to crash in, revealing the true reality that Lin Huang was in.
"Was I in the dream or was the dream in me?" Lin Huang forced a grim smile. The heart-glimpsing rune was terrifying. The script that it had written for him was the kind of life that he had been dreaming of on Earth, a life without any regrets. He had fallen for it completely and almost lost himself.
"You passed?!" The large face was shocked. "Iâve always thought that no matter how powerful you are, youâd definitely fail this."
"The heart-glimpsing rune is really scary. I fell for it without even realizing it." Lin Huang had goosebumps as he thought about it. The soft approach from the heart-glimpsing rune was much more terrifying than powerful monsters as one would fall into the trap without even knowing.
"Do you know that nobody has ever broken through the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower since the tower was built? Nobody in our epoch could do it," the face told Lin Huang truthfully.
"The Sorcerer Goddess herself wrote this heart-glimpsing rune on the ninth level, not only does it reflect a personâs deepest fear, but also their greatest regrets. As soon as the rune is activated, nobody can get out from the trap. Well, youâre the first one who has ever gotten out of it."
"Actually, I fell into the trap too..." Lin Huang moved his lips, but he did not say that out loud. He then smiled forcefully while shaking his head and changed the topic.
"I was told that once a person passes the test on the ninth level, the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine will be activated? And that Iâll also get a reward from the Sorcerer Goddess?"
"Yes, you might be able to obtain the Sorcerer Goddess inheritance as well," the face added.
"If you manage to obtain the Sorcerer Goddessâs inheritance, you might help us to get out of here."
"But the world will perish from the monsters coming out of the abyss, so wouldnât it be more dangerous for you guys to leave this place?"
"You might not understand that freedom is more important than life to us. Weâve been trapped here for more than 30,000 years. Weâre always looking out at a piece of land with snow," the huge face sighed as he said.
"Not everyone has the patience to stand the loneliness of 30,000 years. Some people decided to kill themselves, and some went crazy while others started wars..."
Lin Huang became silent and only spoke again a while later.
"I understand now, so what should I do next?"
"The golden glow that went in between your eyebrows was the key to the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine. As soon as you insert your energy into the key, youâll activate the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine," the face continued, "But I hope that you donât activate it now. Give us a day or two to prepare ourselves and activate it after that."
"Why?" Lin Huang could not understand. He did not have much time left there, so it made sense for him to want to activate the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine earlier to get his reward.
"As soon as the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine is activated, itâll be open to the public for ten days. According to their combat levels, all of the holy fire- and immortal-levels will come in. We hope that you only activate it after weâve prepared ourselves so that we can enter right away without wasting any time." The gigantic face requested in embarrassment. "Then again, of course, you can activate it if youâre in a rush."
"Since it doesnât really make any difference as itâll be open to the public after activation, Iâll wait two days." Lin Huang thought it was necessary to decline his request, but he had his doubts.
"Since anybody can enter the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine after itâs activated, does that mean that it doesnât matter who holds the key?"
"Of course, itâs different. The person with the key will be sent directly into the shrine to pick a Sorcerer Goddessâs treasure of the personâs choice as well as to look at the Sorcerer Goddess tablet. Not only that, the person will be able to control some of the doors in the shrine while the rest will have to enter from the entrance."
"Alright, I understand now. Prepare yourself as well as you can within the next two days and inform me once you guys are ready. Then, Iâll activate the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine." Lin Huang nodded since Bai Gu, and the rest had taken such good care of him during his visit.
"Thanks, Iâll inform the leader. You can practice on this level within these two days. Weâll inform you as soon as weâre ready." The face was glad to find out that Lin Huang was a grateful person.
As the large face disappeared, Lin Huang sat down with his legs crossed on the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower. The thick spirit energy had accelerated his Army Attack Tactics rotation in his body, so he focused on that since he had nothing to do for the next two days. The rotation speed was tens of time faster than before. If the speed had been like a flowing stream before, it was now like an angry, flushing river. His collection of skill card pieces accelerated at a pace that could be seen with the naked eye.
Meanwhile, the face had contacted Bai Gu outside the Sorcerer Goddess Tower.
"You mean the young man really passed the test on the ninth level of the Sorcerer Goddess Tower?" Bai Gu was shocked to find out about that. He did not expect that to happen at all. He thought he would just let Lin Huang try to break through the Sorcerer Goddess Tower and had never expected him to get beyond the third level and above. However, Lin Huang was a living miracle who managed to pass through again and again. To be honest, he was surprised to discover that Lin Huang had broken through the seventh level, but he did not expect the young man to go all the way to the ninth level. Now, he had even broken through the ninth level which was out of everyoneâs expectations.
"I saw the Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine key go in between his eyebrows with my own eyes. It has to be real." The gigantic face was sure of it.
"Heâs agreed to give us two days to prepare. Should we inform the other tribes? Theyâll realize somethingâs happening if we donât move quickly.
"The Sorcerer Goddessâs Shrine being activated is something huge. Thereâs no way that we can hide it. It doesnât matter if we enter the shrine one or two days before the others do. Theyâll lose hope in us if we do that. Letâs just inform them and work together. If they want to fight, then we shall entertain them. Itâs not like weâve never done that before since weâve been here tens of thousands of years." Although Bai Gu nonchalantly said that, he still sounded upset.
"Iâm afraid this Lin Huang kid might be targeted by many. Weâll have to try our best to protect him..."