441 Smelting Trial 1.4 (1/2)
Upon hearing Raven's inquiry, the Heavenly Elk's eyes shone. It then said:
”First and foremost, you need to become a disciple of the Ancient Elysium Sect.” It stated, ”In fact, if you become an Inner Disciple, that would be better but that would ultimately depend on you.”
The Heavenly Elk then opened its mouth, revealing several rows of sharp teeth. A beam of light escaped from its mouth and stopped in front of Raven. As the light faded, the item was then revealed at Raven. It turns out that it was a tiny talisman filled with profound inscriptions.
”Take it.” The Heavenly Elk said, ”Once you enter the sect, that talisman could be used to exchange for a specific item in the sect. Get that item and study it. If you can take full control of it, then it would be extremely simple for you to break the seal placed on me.”
Raven received the talisman and kept it. However, even though the Heavenly Elk gave him instructions, he couldn't help but feel like it is hiding something from him.
”Do take note that what happened here must remain as a secret. If news of this leaked out, then I'm afraid that it will be bad for the both of us. Aside from the Sect Master, you must never let anyone know about what happened here. Are we clear?”
Raven nodded in agreement. Honestly, even if the elk didn't warn him, he never had any thoughts about revealing this to anyone anyway. And since Raven decided to accept the talisman, it signifies that he agreed to help.
”I'll wait for you here - the 89th floor of the Devil Emperor's Pagoda. I hope that when we meet next time, you've already grown strong enough to free me.” The elk spoke in an anticipating manner. ”And just as I promised, since you agreed to help me, then I will grant you serendipity.”
The Heavenly Elk's eyes glowed with a terrifying green light. The whole forest shook fiercely and immediately turned into a scene of calamity. Raven stood there without panicking and waited.
The green light became even stronger until it filled the entire space. After that, Raven's body started squirming. He could feel that his body was unconsciously releasing a kind of resonance to this green light. Raven originally wanted to study it further but he found himself unconscious.
As the green was being emitted by the Heavenly Elk, it was staring at the unconscious Raven. Its thoughts were mostly unknown but there is a trace of expectation on its eyes. As it saw that Raven's body was resonating and absorbing the green light like a whale, it stopped and started burrowing back with a clear exhausted look on its face.
Before it burrowed underground, a bird manifested from its forehead. The elk then gave its decree to the bird.
After receiving the Heavenly Elk's decree, the little bird flew. It flapped its wings a couple of times before disappearing to the skies above.
The elk gave Raven one final look and sighed inwardly while thinking: 'Grow up quickly kid. We don't have much time.'
After that, it completely sank back to the ground. Just like that, the unusual appearance of the floor was gone. It reverted back to when it was just an endless expanse of forest. Meanwhile, Raven remained unconscious as his body absorbed the vivid green light released by the Heavenly Elk.
***
Amongst the dark skies filled with ominous feeling, a streak of white light pierced through like a blazing meteor - only, due to its size, it was hardly noticeable.
Despite the numerous thunderbolts slithering through the clouds, this white streak of light was seemingly unaffected and unhindered. It continued charging through as if nothing could bar its path until it pierced through an invisible barrier.
On the other side of the said barrier, was completely different world.
It was as if this world was surrounded by an unending gray fog. The atmosphere was chilly but nothing uncomfortable. Visibility is extremely limited due to the fog. In fact, even energy sense and domains would be suppressed by this fog, making this world unbelievably hard to navigate.
Nevertheless, the white streak of light seems to have nary a whit of care about this fog at all. It was as if it had been at this place before and knew the way. It pierced through several invisible barrier before stopping at an enormous landmass.