Chapter 294
Chapter 294. Trial of the Sun
Fulan turned her head and forced herself to endure the light as she tried to distinguish what that black shadow was, but the intense radiance prevented her from seeing anything at all.
The black shadow seemed to notice that Fulan was looking this way. Thus, even though Fulan did not speak, it continued:
“Let us move back first. Charging straight over like this has no meaning. You will only lose your life beneath the Sunflame.”
As it spoke, the black shadow walked quickly toward the rear. Fulan thought in place for a while, then directly turned around and walked back.
Fulan followed this black shadow, wanting to see what insight the other party had.
When the two returned to the place Fulan had first seen upon arriving here, Fulan was finally able to see the black shadow’s full appearance.
The other party was wearing a suit of armor covered entirely in rust. From some details, it could be seen that this armor had originally been yellow.
The surface of this armor was not smooth. Instead, it had many strange protrusions and depressions, and these protrusions and depressions were arranged neatly across the armor.
Its head wore a fully enclosed helmet. Fulan did not see anything resembling an observation slit. It seemed as though this helmet was the other party’s face.
At that moment, the armored figure before Fulan suddenly turned its head and slowly moved to the right across the red soil.
Fulan knew that this was to prevent the temperature of the place where it stood from rising rapidly.
Fulan also began moving along with it. At that moment, the armored figure in front of her spoke.
“What did you come here to do?”
Fulan said without thinking:
“I came here to find the Trial of the Sun.”
After Fulan said this, the armored figure fell silent for a while. Just as Fulan thought the other party had not heard her, the armored figure suddenly spoke.
“You came at the right time, but also at the wrong time.”
Fulan did not know what this armored figure’s cryptic words were supposed to mean. Just as she was about to ask, the armored figure continued:
“You can call me Zari. I am the Domain Lord of this place, and I just so happen to have the Trial of the Sun you need.”
Fulan was extremely delighted after hearing this. As long as the Trial of the Sun was here, that was enough. What she feared most was being unable to find it.
Fulan also gained a guess about what the armored figure had said earlier. It probably meant that the current Trial of the Sun was very difficult.
But that did not matter. As long as she had found this place, it was enough. She was not afraid of how difficult the trial was. She was only afraid that she could not find it.
Zari continued:
“I imagine you must be very happy now that you have found the Trial of the Sun, but what I want to tell you is that finding it does not mean you can become a Sunflame Knight.”
“I do not care whether you obtained information about the Trial of the Sun from the Adventurers’ Guild or from your family inheritance, and then wanted to come here to become a Sunflame Knight.”
“What you must first know is that the Trial of the Sun itself is very difficult. You need to have a skilled grasp of Sunflame techniques before you have any chance of passing.”
“However, the true difficulty you will encounter is not the Trial of the Sun itself, but something from elsewhere.”
Fulan raised her head in confusion and looked at Zari’s motionless helmet.
“What do you mean? The difficulty comes from elsewhere?”
“Yes. Perhaps the Trial of the Sun itself is already very difficult, but for several hundred years, the main reason no Sunflame Knight has been born has been the influence of other factors.”
“Then what exactly are these other factors?”
“I cannot tell you that right now, because it is best for you not to know about such things.”
“For now, I can only ask this. Do you truly want to take part in the Trial of the Sun?”
“Remember what I am saying. You only have one chance to pass the Trial of the Sun. If you fail, then you will be little different from dead.”
Hearing this extremely cryptic conversation, Fulan frowned. At the same time, she keenly sensed that there was something implied in the other party’s words, as if...
“It is best for me not to know... Then can I know first and then refuse this trial afterward?”
“You can.”
After hearing this answer, Fulan looked at the other party speechlessly.
Then she said directly:
“Then say it directly. I still want to know before making a decision.”
At first, Fulan had thought it was some extraordinary matter, but judging from Zari’s attitude, it did not seem to be something so serious.
It was not something where Fulan would be unable to turn back as long as she knew it.
“Then I will say it. I think you should know about the gods, whose presence is very strong in the Spirit Realm.”
“I know.”
Zari paused, then said:
“The problem lies there. The gods do not wish for a new Sunflame Knight to appear here.”
“Why?” Fulan asked curiously. She very much wanted to know the answer to this question.
Zari’s words contained a great deal of information, making her urgently want to know what the reason was.
“I do not know either. Perhaps it is because the gods, as stars, envy the radiance of the sun.”
Fulan’s hand was about to rise, but after thinking about it, she lowered it again. After all, she still had to draw information from the other party’s mouth right now. She could not simply go up and beat him to death.
“Tell me specifically how the gods will stop me from completing the Trial of the Sun.”
At this moment, Zari looked at Fulan, then continued:
“Because this is the Spirit Realm, and the Sunflame Knight is a Second-Tier Profession, the gods used the rules of the Spirit Realm to include the Trial of the Sun within the Spirit Realm’s advancement trials as well.”
“If you choose to begin the trial, then you will undergo the trial together with those undergoing advancement trials, as well as some additional Spirit Realm Excursionists who are pulled in. During this process, you will have to compete with these people in order to complete the trial.”
“But the gods’ interference is not limited to this. You will not only have to undergo the trial with these people. You will also have to face an even more terrifying group—the emissaries of the gods.”
“Because of the characteristics of a Second-Tier Profession, those emissaries of the gods will also all be First-Tier Professionals.”
“However, you must absolutely not underestimate these emissaries of the gods. At the lower tiers, the power they receive from their gods is extremely powerful, far surpassing that of ordinary First-Tier Professionals.”
“They are even stronger than those First-Tier Lords in the Material Realm who have obtained Territorial Blessing. Sometimes, they can rely solely on their First-Tier status to contend against Second-Tier opponents.”
“They will accept the commands of their gods. Once the trial begins, they will hunt down the Professionals who are not emissaries, causing them to fail this trial.”
“After the trial ends, they will collect everyone’s appearances, then use their gods’ special methods to lock onto your location in the Material Realm.”
“After failing the Trial of the Sun, you can challenge it again after three years. But before that, you will be killed by those emissaries in the Material Realm.”
“So, do you still want to undergo the trial now? If you still want to take the trial, I will help you.”
When Zari said the final sentence, his voice carried a hint of desolation, because he was being targeted by those emissaries of the gods.
Over the past several hundred years, he had seen countless people who wanted to advance die under the weapons of those emissaries.
Even when he did everything he could to help those people, not a single one had succeeded.
Even so, Zari had still not given up. He respected every person who came here wanting to attempt the Trial of the Sun. If the other party wanted to try, he would do his utmost to help.
After Fulan heard these words, her mind turned for a moment, then she asked:
“Every time, do those emissaries of the gods first kill those who are not emissaries, and then kill each other?”
Zari kept his gaze fixed on Fulan, then said:
“Yes. Every time those emissaries have just entered the trial, they will count the number of people, then directly launch attacks against those who are not emissaries.”
“After killing those who are not emissaries, some of them will indeed fight among themselves, but overall, they will not kill one another until only one person remains.”
“Sometimes, they directly find a place and ask their gods to let them leave. Some will fight here, and there are even some who complete the Trial of the Sun once, though that is useless. They will not gain anything from it.”
“What those emissaries do after killing the non-emissaries has nothing to do with the difficulty you will face. You should focus more on passing the Trial of the Sun before those emissaries kill you.”
Of course this had something to do with Fulan, because Fulan was now the Emissary of the Lord of Radiance.
She was wondering whether she could blend into the team of emissaries and reduce the difficulty of passing the trial.
Perhaps she should discuss this matter with the Lord of Radiance. Although judging from the information the Lord of Radiance had told her before, the Lord of Radiance did not know about this matter.
Otherwise, if the Lord of Radiance was also one of the gods who wanted to obstruct the birth of Sunflame Knights, then the Lord of Radiance should know that there was a Trial of the Sun inside the Sun Domain.
Either the Lord of Radiance wanted her to become a Sunflame Knight and would directly tell her that the Trial of the Sun was here, or the Lord of Radiance did not want her to become a Sunflame Knight, in which case the Lord of Radiance should tell Fulan nothing at all.
Yet the Lord of Radiance had told her about this place, but had not said that there truly was a Trial of the Sun inside.
This meant that the Lord of Radiance indeed did not know that there was a Trial of the Sun here.
Perhaps she could use the Lord of Radiance’s side and blend into this trial with her identity as an Emissary, then quietly complete it.
Of course, the specific details would still have to be determined after she understood the situation. But under such favorable conditions, Fulan ultimately decided to participate in this trial.
After all, a Second-Tier melee profession advancement method was also very difficult to find. Moreover, the Sunflame Knight profession looked as though it would be extremely powerful, and as a mage, Fulan had also developed curiosity toward Sunflame Knights and the sun.
This gave her no reason not to try taking part in this trial. Thus, she directly said:
“I want to participate in the Trial of the Sun. What exactly should I do?”
Zari looked at Fulan with complicated eyes. In his heart, he was both happy and sad.
He was happy because, for the first time in ten years, someone was finally willing to accept the Trial of the Sun. The people before had all lost courage after he explained the stakes clearly.
He was sad because he did not believe Fulan could pass such a trial. She would only die because of it.
“The trial must be reported to the Spirit Realm one week in advance. This is the mechanism of Spirit Realm trials...”