The golden glow of the setting sun cast a warm hue over the Saint Mountain. Li Yu stood at the peak, the golden light of the Aquarius Cloth shimmering in the afterglow.
He gazed into the distance, seeing several stumbling dark figures appear at the end of the mountain path. Five Bronze Saintss carried a stretcher, exerting all their strength to rush towards the Sanctuary.
On the stretcher, Saori Kido's white robe was soaked with blood, and the tail feather of the golden arrow in her chest trembled slightly with her faint breathing, emitting a dazzling light in the twilight.
"Have they finally arrived?" A complex light flashed in Li Yu's eyes.
The Athena statue on the mountaintop suddenly erupted in a dazzling golden light, a golden torrent pouring down like a waterfall, enveloping the entire peak.
A gentle female voice, carrying divine majesty, resounded directly in his mind.
"Li Yu, I will let the five Bronze Saintss openly challenge the Twelve Palaces to save Saori. After this, I hope we can work together to fight Hades!"
Li Yu turned slightly, looking at the compassionate face of the statue.
"Without the Pope as a medium, can the Goddess only transmit her thoughts through the statue now?"
He pondered for a moment.
"Very well! If they can pass through the Twelve Palaces, everything that happened before will be forgiven!"
Among the twelve main gods of Olympus, Athena was indeed the most protective of humanity.
Moreover, Saori Kido's divine blood was still useful to him; he had no intention of letting this reincarnation perish.
"But there's one condition."
Athena's voice carried a hint of hesitation.
"I hope you do not intervene. Otherwise, they might not be able to pass the Aquarius Palace."
Li Yu couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Don't worry, my disciple Hyoga is among them. I'm not so heartless as to kill my own disciple."
"That is good."
The Goddess's voice gradually faded, but from the corners of the statue's eyes, two lines of golden tears slowly seeped out.
The tears slid down the cold stone surface, trailing long streaks of light in the sunset, like a solidified galaxy.
Li Yu looked at the tear stains, his eyes deep. "Does even the Goddess cry…?" At the foot of Saint Mountain, Seiya, leaning on his Pegasus Cloth box, gasped as he looked up.
The Twelve Gold Palaces stood like twelve majestic fortresses on the mountain path, each palace exuding a suffocating pressure.
Hyoga, Shiryu, Shun, and Ikki stood beside him, their bronze cloths still stained with battle blood, their faces filled with determination.
"Is this the Twelve Gold Palaces?"
As a Saint who grew up being taught by Dohko on Five Old Peaks, Shiryu was visiting the Sanctuary for the first time. He was astonished by the Sanctuary's grandeur and magnificence.
He recalled Dohko's words to him in his mind.
"Gold Saints are a group of people standing at the pinnacle of this world!"
"Your master, I, am also one of the Gold Saints!"
Shiryu tightened his grip on his almost shattered Dragon Shield, his heart filled with uncertainty. He had once made it his life's goal to defeat a Gold Saint.
But at this moment, truly facing this mountain-like pressure, his heart pounded in his chest. "Can I really defeat them?"
Shun's eyes were filled with worry as he looked at the stretcher beside them.
Saori Kido lay on it, the golden arrow in her chest mostly impaled, its tail feathers trembling slightly with her breathing.
In fact, if Athena hadn't protected Saori with her divine power, Saori would have already gone to the Underworld by now.
The God-Slaying Arrow was designed to kill gods, let alone Saori Kido, who was not a god.
The group looked at her pale face, sensing Saori's dwindling flame of life, and all clenched their fists.
After spending these days together, they had long come to regard this young lady as a treasure more precious than their own lives.
On Death Queen Island, Seiya, in extreme rage, killed Delyme with a Pegasus Meteor Fist!
When they saw Saori Kido's injuries, everyone was instantly at a loss.
The golden arrow was shot so deeply that it had completely pierced Saori Kido's heart. They didn't even dare to pull it out, as the barbs of the golden arrow would instantly claim Saori's life.
A female voice simultaneously echoed in the minds of the five.
"Go to the Sanctuary, pass through the Twelve Gold Palaces, and retrieve the Golden Shield from the Athena statue on the mountaintop, and you will be able to save Saori Kido!"
It wasn't until they arrived at the Sanctuary that they realized how difficult it would be to pass through the Twelve Gold Palaces.
The Cosmo on the Saint Mountain created a tangible aura of majesty, and space itself subtly warped and twisted under these Cosmos.
Shiryu looked at Hyoga.
"Hyoga, can your master Li Yu help us? If he intervened, it might be much simpler."
Hyoga gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"If Master wanted to intervene, these Silver Saints wouldn't have appeared at all…"
"The biggest challenge ahead might just be him!"
"No matter who it is, we'll just beat them all!"
Ikki was nonchalant. His master, Guildi, also practiced a philosophy of hatred.
To awaken Ikki's Cosmo and allow him to inherit the Phoenix Cloth, he even killed his own daughter.
"No, it's not the same! Master Li Yu, he…"
Hyoga's expression was solemn, and he clenched his fists. He truly didn't know how to describe his master to his companions; that man always remained inscrutable, and he never knew what he would do next.
Seiya took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
"No matter who it is, no one can stop us from saving Miss Saori! Hyoga, Shiryu, Shun, let's go!"
As the Bronze Five were about to set off, a cold man with long hair, dressed in coarse linen, appeared before them.
With the Bronze Five's eyesight, they hadn't even noticed when this man had appeared.
"Who are you? Get out of the way, we're in a hurry!"
Seiya roared, preparing to unleash a Pegasus Meteor Fist.
"Stop!"
Hyoga rushed forward a few steps, blocking Seiya. He knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and respectfully called out,
"Master!"
The remaining few were all startled. "Hyoga's master?"
"Isn't that Li Yu, the strongest Gold Saint of this era?"
The mountain wind suddenly ceased, and the pressure of the Twelve Palaces seemed to converge at the foot of the mountain at this moment.
Li Yu's gaze swept over the five, finally resting on the golden arrow on the stretcher, a deep, incomprehensible meaning flashing in his eyes.
He slowly spoke.
"It will be inconvenient for you to carry Saori Kido through the trials. Leave her at the foot of the mountain; I will guard her!"
Seiya was still somewhat unwilling.
"No, we must bring…"
But Hyoga glared at him, interrupting.
"Master's words clearly mean that he won't intervene in the upcoming trials."
"And you, you don't want his help?"
"Then when you get to the Aquarius Palace, you can go fill it with your own life!"
"Alright, Master, then we entrust Miss Saori to you!"
Li Yu nodded slightly.
"I will not intervene in your trials this time, nor will I help you. Everything depends on yourselves!"
"Do you see the Zodiac Temple torches on the mountaintop? Every two hours, one will extinguish, and the golden arrow will penetrate deeper. Once all the torches are extinguished, the golden arrow will completely pierce Saori's body, and Saori will also die completely!"
"Therefore, you still have twelve hours!"
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