Chapter 689 - Choosing the Blocks

Alex was pondering over this matter for a few minutes, but the answer still didn't come.

"Who should I choose? I only can choose one, which is Evelyn, because her story is neutral." Alex scratched his head, hesitating for something stupid. "This is the hardest choice in my life. Even though this won't affect my future or past, the riddle wants me to choose from the bottom of my heart. This is ridi—"

Before finishing his sentence, he suddenly realized something absurd. "From the bottom of my heart?"

"I can't choose any of them if it's coming from my heart. However, I still need to put the Ice Blocks inside the two drawers. Wait… Can these tall Ice Blocks be the only blocks in this place?" Alex gasped and widened his eyes before looking at the drawers. "Why would there be four images in each block? And why is the shape itself weird? It has some curves separating each image as if it's intentional. I almost forgot my statement earlier. This illusion is trying to test my Martial Prowess and Wisdom. Then…"

Alex grinned as he took out his sword from the Inventory and came to Putri's tall Ice Block.

"Ha!" He slashed the Ice Blocks in front of him into four, with each containing a single image. He took out the image where Putri raised her strength because he loved to see Putri get stronger. "I can simply get this small Ice… that can still be said to be an Ice Block. I want to get the second image where Putri reveals Mega's scheme, but I love to see her get stronger more. That's why I will choose the first image."

He separated the image from the rest and let the three small ice blocks there before going toward the second picture. "This will be Evelyn… Now that I think about it, Evelyn is the most neutral story, but it's also the hardest one to choose. I don't know if I want her to be my disciple… But I am sure it's nice to train her, and she is very talented.

"On the other hand, I don't like to see Evelyn and me helping each other. It's simply because this is my trouble, and I feel like I have owed her too much, especially that loyal side of her. That girl has a brighter future ahead without me… I guess. Lastly, I don't know what to say about my and Evelyn's relationship in the end, but I can say that it is a relatively bad ending. So, I think I will choose the second one, the training image like Putri's."

Having decided what to do, he cut the Ice Block again and took the second image, albeit he couldn't say he was satisfied with this answer. He shook his head, placed a block beside Putri's Ice Block and went to the third person, Song Yu. "Senior Sister… I think I will only prevent you from going to the ship. You have helped me enough, so I don't want you to suffer anymore. No, it's one of my biggest regrets for not stopping you from boarding the ship to the Heavenly Continent."

Alex took a deep breath and took the second image and placed it beside the other two. This time, it was Rose. "Rose… I love to see everything about this part. However, I really want to see me living together with Rose in Eulja. Of course, as a master and disciple. I will choose this one, I guess."

"The next person is Charya. I have a Teacher and Master, so I won't choose the first image where I become her disciple. That's why I will choose the second one too because I'm a bit curious about Charya." Alex nodded and placed both blocks on the ground. He wanted to finish separating eight small Ice Blocks first before rearranging them.

Looking at Letizia's image, he couldn't help but touch the pictures first with a sad expression. "You have been mistreated this whole time because of me… One thing that I want to change is to release you. This is only an illusion, so you won't betray me. This is why I can choose the last image easily. It's not like I don't believe you, I am just scared to have another person betray me again."

Alex took a deep breath and headed to Song Jia's ice. He didn't know what to do with this Song Jia because he didn't know many things about her. But there was one thing that he wanted to do.

"I don't know many things about you, but I am sure I still want to destroy the Joyful Union Sect even if I don't know you. And destroying your engagement with Raku is simply a bonus. This sounds a bit rude, but it's really the only thing I want to do." Alex shook his head and headed to the last ice block.

"…" Alex looked at Shelka's images and fell into silence. "Do I still need to choose a single image from here? I feel like not doing it. First of all, the four images are taming her, enslaving her, helping me, and becoming the second Anya. I don't want all of them, especially the last part. She is powerful and smart, but she is like a double-edged sword. I don't want to get betrayed again."

He didn't like all the images in this block before realizing something absurd. "Wait? Do I really need to cut one from her? Can't I just get the second one from the others? This is a test from the bottom of my heart, right? I don't really want to take a single one from her. It's to the point I am repulsed to it, unlike the others.

"If I can take the second one from the other blocks, then…" Alex smirked as he slashed his sword toward the ice. "Begone!"

He used the back of his sword to shatter the ice into pieces before turning around as if nothing happened. "Now, which one should I choose for the second one?"

Alex thought for a moment and came to Evelyn. "Maybe… I actually want to take you as my disciple like Rose. After spending a long time with you, it's like I somehow regret when Old Manness brought you away from me. Even if you had a Master and Teacher at the same time, I don't think it will feel bad to be your Master while Old Manness is your Teacher."

He stared at the image for a minute before taking it out. He then started rearranging the Ice Blocks and created two tall Ice Blocks matching the one in the drawer.

After finishing the preparation, he took another glance at the Ice Blocks to see whether he would regret his decision. However, he still felt that his choice was the best, so he proceeded to put the two blocks inside the drawers.

The words are written on the sign suddenly changed. "Acknowledging your wish as the one coming from your heart. Opening the portal to the fourth floor."

Alex looked at the sign and couldn't say he was happy with this choice. Although he had chosen his answers, he felt he would do it differently if he had a choice.

"I should stay focused on." Alex shook his head and looked toward the blue colored Array not far from the sign. He entered the array and disappeared.

…

On the fourth floor,

A mountain filled with giant rocks was created by the Array. Alex appeared on the ground and looked around, only to find stones without any trees in his surroundings as if he was in a barren land.

"Where is this?" Alex thought for a moment and activated his Spirit Eyes before finding something weird. The ground suddenly contained a Spiritual Energy far higher than the usual one.

Suddenly, ten spikes came out of the ground and flew toward Alex.

"!!!"

"Boom!"

The sound of an explosion echoed across the region. If there were a spectator, they would think Alex was too late. However, the rocks suddenly got sliced a few times before it fell down to the ground.

When the dust settled down, Alex's figure became apparent. He was holding his sword and spear at the same time.

A few golden words appeared again.

"After draining all the water on the second floor, the world has become barren. After all, water is the source of life other than Spiritual Energy. Even if cultivators can go without eating or drinking, how about the babies? They have no ability to do it, so there won't be any reproduction. What will you do?"

Alex narrowed his eyes before the ground started attacking him again. Ten spikes flew toward him while a huge wave of rock appeared as if it was water.

"Tch." Alex clicked his tongue and slashed all of them with his sword. "Scram!"

"Boom!"

The rocks fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. Alex was still wondering what he should do.

"First of all, this is no doubt an Earth Element test. Still, no water, huh? Do I need to search for water around here? Or do I need… Wait, I have many water bottles, water gallons, and water tanks. However, it is still not enough to fill the entire place with water. And I'm not a Water Element User." Alex crossed his arms. "I see. I know the goal, but I don't know where to start this time…"

Alex sighed before he sensed a movement underground. A needle suddenly shot him right on his face. Alex used his Phoenix Aura to block that attack before looking at his surroundings with his Spirit Eyes.

"What should I do? I need water, but where can I get it?" He took a deep breath and asked himself.

Another threat appeared as the ground started rising before turning into a golem-like creature in the size of a human.

"This golem has so much energy. It's like watching a 5-Star Martial Lord in front of me." Alex muttered to himself before he sensed a flow of energy as the golem started moving.

Surprisingly, the golem leaped toward him as if it was a real human. Alex used his sword and struck the golem. Although his sword wasn't a Spiritual Weapon in this illusion, it was still a rank 8 weapon. The moment it clashed with the golem, it split the golem into half as if he was cutting butter.

"I kill it just now with my Absolute Blade Intent because the golem has an autonomous movement. Even fighting a monster is harder than this since they can at least move according to their instinct." However, as he assessed the golem carefully, the ground started shaking as fifty golems like earlier appeared.

"Seriously?" Alex twitched his eyebrows. "Do you seriously want me to solve the riddle under the assault of these golems?"

Without hesitation, he started moving around while cutting the golems one by one. Suddenly, their hands turned into a drill or a sword as they were ready to fight Alex.

Unfortunately, Alex's sword and spear were too sharp, and these golems were no match against him. He had no trouble in killing the fifty golems and thought for another minute before the golem army appeared once again.

"Seriously? Is there going to be more if I kill all of them? There are already more than two hundred golems in this third wave…" Alex was sweating before he flew to the sky. "I can't kill them for the time being and think about the matter in the sky. They seem to rely on the physical aspect, so they won't be able to catch up with me unless the golems can fly."

Alex nodded before the golems showed him another trick. They were raising their hands as Earth Spikes appeared from the ground, aiming toward him.

"This test is so annoying!" Alex roared as he was rained by Earth Spikes from the ground. At first, he thought he could create a simple barrier to block the underground, but he realized that the Spikes had powerful energy inside them.

It was at this moment Alex realized that the spikes were actually the same golems with different shapes. In that case, he would waste too much Spiritual Energy if he decided to block them with his barrier.

"I can't do much, so I will just fly around the area to see if I can find a clue." Alex thought as he kept avoiding the spikes.