The door to the stone chamber opened.
As the door swung open, light emanated from it, and Alka emerged from the light.
"It's truly the thing I'm most reluctant to face, the thing I hide deepest within my heart. It's also the regret I long to resolve," Alka muttered to himself.
The only regret was that he was using a dream to fulfill this scene he didn't want to face. To be honest, it didn't cause him much trouble.
Rather, it was a fulfillment.
After all, he relived his past death in his dream and chose the way he wanted to die.
He resolved his past regrets.
The last time, Alka hadn't even realized when he'd passed away in his dream.
He didn't have time to say goodbye.
But it was truly remarkable, Alka couldn't help but say.
The dreamlike feeling made him believe he'd just been dreaming.
Despite his status as the Dream King, he surprisingly didn't notice the problem right away.
It wasn't until later, as the flaws began to grow, that Alka finally discovered the problem through the illusion, targeting his inner weaknesses.
However, he didn't wake up immediately.
Later, he deliberately followed the dream. After all, such a situation was so rare, perhaps the only time in his life.
He hadn't expected this Trial Tower to be so powerful.
No wonder clearing the Trial Tower offered a scepter-level treasure.
Alka accepted the idea of being trapped in a dream for a while.
Having tricked a Dream King with his dreams, he now truly believed that the assembled twelve towers would unleash their incredible power.
...
"Huh, finally, finally passed." The controller of the twelve Trial Towers sank to the ground, panting.
The energy throughout his body was rapidly fluctuating.
The instructors who were maintaining and supplying energy nearby also leaned over.
"How many years has it been? This is the first time I've experienced such energy depletion."
"Does deceiving a Dream King in a dream require such an outrageous expenditure of energy?"
Some instructors couldn't help but wonder; this was their first time doing something like this.
In addition to supplying energy, they also had to contribute their own mental strength, essentially using their brains to provide computing power to the Trial Tower to perfect the dream.
This was primarily because Alka had entered the trial himself, willingly accepting the dream's enchantment.
Otherwise, attempting to forcibly trap a Dream King in a dream would be sheer wishful thinking.
But even with Alka himself accepting the enchantment, coupled with their exorbitant energy supply, perfection still wasn't achieved.
Just a tiny loophole and flaw, but Alka easily spotted it in his dream.
Then he woke up.
"Logically, he should have noticed the problem long ago. Why did he wait until the very end to clear the trial?" Ramadari asked, somewhat puzzled.
Based on his understanding of Alka, he shouldn't be that kind of person.
Alka was cautious and careful, and when necessary, he would make decisions without hesitation. He was decisive enough.
It's not right for him to remain trapped in the dream after waking up.
Otherwise, Alka would have cleared the trial long ago, and they wouldn't have to spend so much time and energy maintaining the dream.
The controller, finally regaining some energy, stood up and looked at Ramadari. "Everyone has a weakest, most fatal regret in their heart. If that regret is fatal enough, then this final stage will perfectly simulate that fatal scenario. You either break free from that fatal place or become forever trapped."
"If your trial-taker discovered the problem early on, then he simply wants to indulge himself a little longer.
Or, resolve that regret, so that it no longer remains a regret, no longer the weakest point in your heart."
Ramadari nodded.
He didn't quite understand this kind of inner longing; he was only skilled in external martial arts training.
"Ramadari, you are very talented, but it's a pity that your mind is too simple-minded and unwilling to understand the inner world of all living things."
Seeing that this controller was also their leader, Ramadari ignored him. Although he seemed to be doing him a favor, he was actually indirectly calling him a reckless man.
Alka should have stayed in there longer. You're exhausted.
But Ramadari was content with the current situation.
The inner world is so vast, yet so deadly.
How could he possibly possess the ability to understand, to help, to repair it?
The responsibility is too great.
Meanwhile, outside, within the Tower of Trials, Alka remained in the hall.
Perhaps this was a test of the soul, as he didn't feel refreshed in the hall because, fundamentally, he wasn't lacking anything.
The scene changed.
Once again, it was the training ground.
Ramadari stood in the center, smiling at him.
I don't know if it was an illusion, but the instructor seemed a little tired.
Alka walked over with a smile.
"Congratulations, Alka, congratulations on successfully completing this Trial Tower."
"The Dream Trial on the final level is quite impressive," Alka couldn't help but praise.
Hearing this, Ramadari's expression stiffened slightly, and he quickly changed the subject.
"Come, accept your reward."
As he spoke, a glittering orb of light descended from the sky into his hands, a shimmering, multicolored sphere.
Looking at this Scepter-level Divine Essence, Alka couldn't help but recall.
They had already handled many different Holy Grail-level Divine Essences.
On the other hand, they had only received the Scepter-level Divine Essence from Xinghe before.
The Scepter-level Divine Essence was, almost by its appearance alone, a stark difference from the Holy Grail-level.
Holy Grail-level divine essences appear to be a single, simple color, emitting radiant energy.
Pale purple, dark purple, blue, and so on.
But like the galaxy-like divine essence we saw earlier, the radiance of divine essences of this level begins to shift from color to color.
For example, the galaxy is a deep blue, dotted with stars, resembling the galaxies of the night sky.
And the one before us is a dazzling array of colors, each one like a twisting ribbon, these ribbons swirling and intersecting to form a floating sphere.
"Would you like me to encapsulate it?" Ramadari asked with a smile.
Arka thought for a moment and nodded. "Then I'll trouble you."
Ramadari waved his hand, and a kind of energy-like shell began to envelop the sphere. Then, the outer shell turned a deep black, becoming as hard as iron.
Just like that, the divine essence was firmly encased within, and a dense protective spell began to appear above it.
"To open it, you'll need to use your own magic power and chant the spell—Path of Trial—to unlock the outer shell."
With this, Ramadari handed the iron sphere over.
Arka took it. It was remarkably light, not at all as heavy as it appeared.
Arka held it, examining the sphere's shape.
Another scepter-level treasure.
And it would suit him perfectly.
"Can I know what type of divine essence this is?"
"From our observations, it's quite suitable for you, and for your current state.
Your current offensive capabilities aren't particularly powerful, are they?"
Arka nodded. This was what was bothering him. He had many methods, and a wide range of intrusive mental control and delaying methods were readily available.
This allowed him to be extremely agile in combat and in various situations.
But the price he paid was that he had almost no powerful offensive means.
For example, the former Galaxy, and even then, the Galaxy wasn't a purely offensive treasure.
Since Ramadari asked this, the meaning was clear enough, and Alka couldn't help but smile.
"So this divine essence is a very powerful offensive one?"
Ramadari smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's the kind with strong offensive power, wide coverage, and a high impact radius."
Hearing this, Alka looked at the iron ball in his hand and thought of the colorful streamers he had seen inside it.
Suddenly, an idea occurred to him: "Could it be a mixed elemental one?"
"Yes, it's an elemental one. You're quite perceptive," Ramadari praised.
"The main point is that you mentioned a wide range of attack. A mixture of various elements must have the widest range. The outward manifestation of divine essence actually corresponds to its inherent power."
Alka explained a few words.
Ramadari nodded. "It seems you've received many divine essences before, otherwise you wouldn't have this experience."
After saying this, Ramadari's expression suddenly shifted to something strange. He asked, "Your companions are also outside, right?"
Alka nodded, a little puzzled. Why was he asking this? Was he asking the instructors who had trained Sofia to prepare?
Who knew? Ramadari said, "Since you've cleared this Trial Tower, it will be closed for a month. Let your companions take on the Trial next month."
"Closed? Does it need another month of maintenance?" Alka hadn't expected this.
But on second thought, it made sense. After all, he'd cleared the Trial and obtained a scepter-level treasure.
Revisions were only natural. Without giving it much thought, Alka nodded. "Okay, I'll be out first then."
Ramadari smiled as Alka left, then cursed stiffly after Alka left.
"What a shame! They're still doing maintenance! When did the Trial Tower need maintenance? It's embarrassing to even mention it." He sighed.
But you can't say that the previous trials to maintain the dream trapped Alka and drained all his energy.
That would be even more shameful. How could a Trial Tower be like this?
And it wasn't just this one tower that needed to be shut down for a month; all twelve towers needed to be shut down, and the instructors had to recover their energy.
How shameful!
Just because of a trialist who wasn't even at the fifth level, the entire Trial Temple and its Trial Tower had been nearly completely drained of their energy.
If my god were to descend and witness this, he would undoubtedly unleash divine punishment.
After muttering a few words silently, Ramadari vanished from the spot.
As Alka appeared on the teleportation array,
The triangle that had been floating nearby suddenly crashed to the ground, as if it had lost its power, with a resounding thud.
Sofia and the others, who had been waiting outside, were startled and hurried over.
They looked at Alka standing on the teleportation platform and the triangle that had fallen to the ground beside him.
"You... you attacked him?" Jason couldn't help but ask.
The moment Alka emerged, they turned their heads and saw Alka and the triangle that had fallen to the ground.
"How could that be? It must have run out of power," Alka said, lifting the triangle from the ground.
It felt heavy, indeed constructed of fine metal.
And just as he'd imagined, it was indeed out of energy.
The surface showed no signs of damage, and upon inspection, the delicate interior revealed no signs of damage either.
At most, the outer shell was slightly worn, which was normal after such a long time.
"Out of power? How could it possibly be out of power?" Sofia asked curiously.
I'd never heard of him needing an energy supply.
Doesn't he usually absorb the surrounding magic power himself? The surrounding magic power was indeed fine.
The island's high magic power was still maintained.
However, just as he finished speaking, the entire Trial Tower suddenly began to absorb magic power crazily.
The incredible speed of the absorption even formed a hurricane around them. Alpha and the others quickly packed up their things and fled outside the ruins of the city.
An increasingly powerful magical hurricane began to gather, forming a distinct magical spiral around the Trial Tower, drawing the surrounding magic inward like a tornado. It was so noticeable that even the clouds in the sky began to swirl with it.
The surrounding magic concentration was rapidly decreasing, as magic from other directions filled in.
"What's going on? What's wrong?"
Julia and the others, who had been resting outside, hurried over and asked.
They stared at the dramatic magical tornado.
"Is there something wrong with the Trial Tower?"
This was the thought that crossed everyone's mind, and they all turned to Alka simultaneously.
After all, Alka had just cleared the Trial Tower, and yet it was already experiencing problems.
And Alka was clutching the paralyzed, powerless triangle in his hands.
"Don't look at me. I've cleared the Trial Tower. They said it needs a month of maintenance. Maybe this is normal," Alka said.
"Maintenance?" The word sounded strange.
I hadn't heard Triangle mention such a situation before.
But Alka was the first person to clear the Trial Tower since then.
"So if we want to continue the Trial, we'll have to wait a month?" Jason asked, watching the increasingly exaggerated magic spiral.
Alka nodded. "Yes, the instructor just mentioned this to me before he left."
"Okay then."
"Let's get back to the ship now. The magic energy around here is almost completely drained. Let's stay a little further away."
Alka said, leading everyone back to the Voice of Dawn.
Even at the island's harbor, they could still feel the magic being drained. With no other choice, their ship began to move away from the island, eventually sailing to a distance of approximately two kilometers.
Although they could still see the island, any further out would likely obscure the landmarks due to the currents of the vast ocean.
Alka stood on the deck, sensing the concentration of the surrounding magic power and the extent to which it was being drawn in.
Here, the pull between the magic powers had reached a certain equilibrium.
Although they could sense irregularities in the flow of magic power, the magic power in other directions would quickly replenish it, maintaining an overall average level.
Here, they could clearly sense it.
The magic tornado rising from the center of the island
As the magic energy was absorbed, it gradually transformed from invisible to tangible threads.
It looked incredibly strange.
"Isn't this amount of absorbed magic power too much?" Simon pulled out some incomprehensible equipment and observed the surrounding environment.
He couldn't help but exclaim as he looked at the data.
"According to observations, the concentration of the spiral magic power around the Trial Tower has reached hundreds of times the normal level, and this concentration is still being maintained, being absorbed into the Trial Tower.
How is it possible to absorb so much magic power? And where is all this magic power being stored?
We haven't found any place or device storing magic power under or around the tower before."
Simon was deeply puzzled by the current situation and focused on observing.
Everyone watched for a moment, then turned their gaze away.
Sofia looked at Alka and the iron ball he had been holding in his arms.
"So you should have cleared the trial, right?" Sofia asked, almost forgetting the most important thing.
Hearing this, the others turned their heads.
Alka nodded. "Yes, I have."
He then dragged the iron ball up.
"This is the sealed divine essence."
"So, are you planning to forge the essence first, or break through to the fifth stage?" Sofia asked Alka about his plans.
"My strength has been stuck at a bottleneck for so long, it's time to break through. Breaking through this bottleneck isn't difficult, so I don't need any more treasures to help me.
Besides, you still have to clear the trial, which will take so long. It won't be too late to start focusing on forging treasures after I break through to the fifth stage."
Alka said, planning his actions.
He planned to first raise his strength to the fifth stage, then proceed to increase his strength within his dreams, reaching the sixth stage.
This way, he would be able to see more within his dreams, perhaps gaining a more detailed understanding of the divine essence's abilities and crafting a treasure form more suited to it.
Therefore, improving his strength first and breaking through bottlenecks was his primary goal.