Chapter 279 : Chapter 279
Chapter 279. News of the Trial
After Fulan stepped into that white light, everything before her turned black. Then all of her senses vanished, as though she did not possess those organs at all.
She remained in that kind of “void” for about ten seconds before she finally felt her feet touch solid ground and sensed the temperature of the outside world again.
When light fell upon her eyes, a voice rang out as well.
“Lord Emissary?!”
That voice was filled with immense shock, and it was followed by the sound of a body stumbling to the ground, as though the speaker had fallen over from sheer astonishment.
Only then did Fulan open her eyes and see a familiar building.
It was the temple of Monsa City from the time of the Spirit Realm Trial.
She looked around and discovered that she was standing at the harbor of a river, upon a wooden platform, with more than a dozen people in the clothing of Monsa’s residents standing around her.
Some of them still bore draconic traits on their bodies, while others no longer did.
At that cry of “Lord Emissary,” nearly everyone turned to look at Fulan, then let out simultaneous gasps.
“It really is the Emissary.”
All Fulan could do in response was reveal an awkward smile. She placed her hand behind her back, unsure how to deal with the situation before her.
Fortunately, something else suddenly happened and drew everyone’s attention away from her.
Right beside her, a curtain of light suddenly appeared.
Then, from within that light screen, countless Spirit Crystals burst forth.
That was right—they were erupting outward, as though some connected opening had been torn open beneath a pile of Spirit Crystals, sending them flying out of the light screen with momentum.
“Stop standing around. This is the task my Lord ordered. Hurry up and get to work!”
At the crucial moment, someone reacted and shouted loudly, finally drawing everyone’s attention away so they stopped staring at Fulan so intently.
Even so, while they handled the Spirit Crystals pouring out, they could not help sneaking glances at her.
Fulan stood to the side awkwardly. At that point, she did not even know what she ought to do.
Should she go count the Spirit Crystals? But it was obvious that the Lord of Radiance had already arranged people to deal with them.
Should she head to the temple and look for the Lord of Radiance’s statue? But she was already rather famous here. Would it really be appropriate to walk over there openly like this?
Just as Fulan was hesitating, a delighted voice rang out nearby.
“It really is you, Lord Emissary!”
Fulan turned and looked, only to discover that it was her old acquaintance, Lyle.
At that moment, he was wearing a white robe with a winged emblem on the chest, and an astonishing aura radiated from his body.
Fulan carefully examined that aura, and what she discovered shocked her greatly.
She could tell that he was now a second-tier professional.
If someone could eliminate the draconic traits on these people, Fulan would not have found that too surprising, because the previous god here had been able to do it, so there was no reason the Lord of Radiance could not do the same.
But in such a short time, to turn an ordinary person who had drunk a Dragonization Potion into a second-tier professional—this was truly astonishing.
It made Fulan deeply realize the power of a god. Even with her system panel, she had not advanced to the second tier that quickly.
Lyle walked up to Fulan, bent one knee, and said respectfully,
“Lord Emissary, you’ve finally returned...”
Lyle’s face was full of excitement, as though Fulan’s return were an event of tremendous significance.
Then, as though recalling something, Lyle said to her,
“Lord Emissary, my Lord is waiting for you in the temple.”
Fulan understood what he meant. The Lord of Radiance was already waiting for her in the temple to discuss what came next.
Without hesitating, Fulan followed Lyle toward the temple at the center of Monsa.
Along the way, every person they encountered revealed a shocked expression, then watched Fulan walk past. It made her skin crawl a little.
As they climbed the mountain on which the temple stood, Fulan turned back by chance and saw an astonishing sight.
In the past, when Fulan stood upon the mountain where the temple was located, what she saw was a horizon no different from that of the Material Realm.
But now, what she saw was no longer a horizon.
She saw the green grasslands around Monsa extend out to a clear boundary line, only to abruptly turn grayish-brown, as though they had entered some entirely different region.
On that distant grayish-brown land grew things that looked like trees, yet were not truly trees.
Those “trees” had many branches, but not a single leaf could be seen. The branches were so soft that they drooped across the ground, deeply embedded in the soil.
And this grayish-brown land was not the only such area.
To Fulan’s right was a forest growing atop a swamp. To her left was a region covered in white stone.
“These are several fragments we occupied under my Lord’s guidance.”
As Lyle explained it to Fulan, he sounded deeply proud, with a sense of achievement that came from the bottom of his heart.
Fragments?
Are these those fragments from other Domains?
That was Fulan’s guess.
But that was not important. What mattered now was getting into the temple quickly and discussing this robbery of the Emerald Market with the Lord of Radiance.
“Let’s keep going,” Fulan said, turning her head back.
Lyle did not waste words. He directly led Fulan toward the temple.
At that moment, all traces of the battles that had once taken place inside the temple had already been cleaned away. What Fulan saw was an immaculate interior.
After bringing Fulan to the temple, Lyle stopped directly outside the doors and made a gesture indicating that she should enter by herself.
Fulan did not dwell on it. She strode straight in.
As soon as she entered, the doors behind her shut automatically.
At the same time, according to Fulan’s perception, it felt as though she had entered a special place, and she stopped walking.
“I’m here.”
Fulan’s voice echoed through the empty hall, while the giant statue before her remained completely unresponsive.
After a while, the statue’s eyes finally lit up, and the familiar gentle voice of the Lord of Radiance came from it.
“You’ve worked hard, my Emissary.”
“For this operation, you may take 5% of those Spirit Crystals as your personal reward.”
“That little? I risked myself going in there, and I almost lost my own weapon in the process.”
“And I was the one who disabled the Spirit Realm reinforcement of the Emerald Market.”
“...”
After a round of bargaining, Fulan obtained roughly 8% of the Spirit Crystals as her reward.
And now that this matter was settled, it was time to discuss something else.
“Do you know about the Trial of the Sun?”
That was one of the conditions for Fulan to become a Sunflame Knight.
She had searched for a very long time within the Northern Society, including asking Elise and using Magical Communication to ask Habos, yet she had found no clues at all.
Now, the only one who might know anything about the Trial of the Sun was the god before her. If even this being did not know, then Fulan truly had no better option.
“The Trial of the Sun?!”
Hearing that the Lord of Radiance seemed to recognize the name of the trial, Fulan hurriedly pressed on.
“Ha... you know about the Trial of the Sun?”
“I don’t know...” came the broken response from the statue.
Just as Fulan began to feel disappointed, the Lord of Radiance suddenly spoke again.
“I do not know what this Trial of the Sun is, but I think I know where you might find it if you want to search for it.”
Fulan’s eyes lit up at once.
“Tell me!”
The voice of the Lord of Radiance paused for a moment, and then the statue slowly spoke again in that same gentle tone.
“First, I think you know that every god in the Material Realm corresponds to a star, correct?”
“Yes.”
Fulan nodded. She had read that long ago in a book.
“Since gods all correspond to stars, have you ever thought about what the sun and the moon—those two celestial bodies that are greater and more unique than the stars—represent?”
Those words gave Fulan quite a shock.
She felt that the Lord of Radiance’s reasoning made great sense. After all, if stars could correspond to gods, then what about the even more singular sun and moon?
Fulan immediately asked,
“What do they represent?”
“I am not sure either...”
The moment she heard that, Fulan rolled her eyes, seemingly unable to endure the Lord of Radiance continuing to keep her in suspense.
Laughter from the Lord of Radiance came from within the statue.
“All right. In truth, that is not important, because even I do not know what the sun and moon represent—or whether they represent nothing at all.”
“The celestial bodies seen in the Material Realm all exist within the Astral Realm. The sun and the moon are the same in this regard. In other words, it is difficult to find anything like the Trial of the Sun while still in the Material Realm.”
“The trial you seek is more likely to exist within the Spirit Realm, because the Spirit Realm is the layer between the Material Realm and the Astral Realm.”
“And within the Spirit Realm, there is indeed such a Domain. At its center is a great sphere of light, and anything or anyone who approaches it is scorched by intense heat. Because it resembles the sun, that Domain is called the Sun Domain.”
“I think the Trial of the Sun you are looking for might be there.”
In truth, the Lord of Radiance had not originally known of the existence of this Domain.
It was only during the deity’s process of “expanding territory” that this Domain had been discovered by accident.
It was just that the fragments inside did not interest the Lord of Radiance very much, so the deity had never bothered to act against that Domain.
After hearing all that, Fulan fell into thought. She felt that this Sun Domain might truly contain the Trial of the Sun she had been searching for.
She nodded to the Lord of Radiance and said,
“Then I’m leaving. I’ll leave the Spirit Crystals here for now.”
“Safe travels. And remember to develop believers quickly in the Material Realm...”
Fulan pushed open the doors of the temple directly. Lyle had been waiting outside the whole time.
The moment he saw Fulan emerge, he asked with a hopeful expression,
“Lord Emissary, will you stay this time?”
Fulan smiled and said,
“No. My Lord has assigned me to carry out another task elsewhere.”
“So that’s how it is...”
Lyle’s face was filled with disappointment and regret.
Although he also wanted Fulan to stay and help him command the overall situation, under the orders of a god, there was truly nothing he could say.
After all, his power came from the deity, so naturally he had to obey the deity’s will.