Chapter 1093: Completing the First Hurdle

A few months later.

Zerg.

Zerg.

A small platform appeared on the left wall. It had a crescent shape, making it somewhat a weird shape to draw an array. Yet, symbols after symbols appeared on the surface. Not only did it cover the entire front, but it also painted the sides with symbols to fit the entire array into that tiny platform.

"95!"

Alex panted and looked around to see which one would appear again. His expression was darkened as he endured the severe exhaustion.

For several months, Alex had been training his drawing speed and tweaking his Array Mastery. He never thought that the Array Mastery would take too long for him to master. But this also boosted his strength to a high degree.

Alex's drawing speed had reached two seconds due to him training inside this place according to the note that the Dungeon God gave. It turned out that the note was similar to the one that Alicia taught him, but they were not entirely the same.

The Dungeon God had tweaked the study and learned his own way to improve his speed and accuracy.

Despite him being capable of making one array at a time, the Dungeon God would surely not lose in terms of arrays.

However, it wasn't like there was any record about the battle between the Dungeon God and the Array God, so no one could decide whose teaching was correct or wrong.

Nevertheless, if Alex were to choose one, he would undoubtedly pick the Dungeon God. His current style, which relied on Eulja's symbol that had been incorporated with arrays focused on speed instead of multiple arrays, was indeed like a godsend for Dungeon God's way.

Combined with the Dungeon God's way and practice, he might even be able to reach the one-second barrier. This would elevate the status of Dungeon God's teaching even further, but Alex knew that this wasn't something that people should know. At the very least, until he had enough power to control its distribution, which required him to be a God King.

Due to the serious usage of Divine Energy in using the array, Alex decided to speed up his training with the help of his Simulation Room where he could practice continuously, making it very effective.

Finally, this was the day Alex gained enough confidence to complete the entire mission. He raised his hand to the right side and drew another array with his Divine Energy.

"96."

The 97th platform was a circle with a hole in the center like a donut. At the same time, the side was too small, forcing Alex to use the inner circle to draw the rest of his array.

"Kh." Alex clenched his teeth as sweat dripped from his forehead. "97."

"Three more." Alex's breath started getting rough, but his concentration remained the same. Although he had been enduring so much pain in his journey, this was the first time he became too tired just for creating an array. It was a weird way from his perspective since he usually got tired because of his inhumane training.

Arrays shouldn't be something he would need to break a sweat, but it seemed he was wrong this whole time. He started to respect the world of arrays and improved by leaps and bounds.

"98!" shouted Alex after finishing the next one before lowering his vision. He saw a small triangle platform, but with many holes on its body, making it a bit tricky.

"I have gotten used to this shape already!" Alex clicked his tongue, forced his way for this round and successfully created another array.

"Huft! Huft! 99! Last one!" Alex's hand was shaking and his feet went limp. No wonder that this place required him to reach Rank 5 God first before challenging this trial. He wouldn't have enough Divine Energy to last him this long. Even when he reached this stage, it was just barely.

The moment his focus disappeared even for a split second, he would need to do everything once again.

"I am not going to fail!" Alex looked left and right before the entire pyramid itself turned upside down. He was flipped over as the podium told him to create another array in the entire pyramid itself. "Seriously?"

Alex clapped his hand once as one hundred thousand symbols appeared in a split second, spreading like crazy, covering the entire pyramid with symbols.

Suddenly, the array glowed, revealing a secret for this pyramid. It was the array that protected the gate.

"The gate can now be opened. Please break it open!"

The moment he read those words, he instinctively summoned Eulja Holy Emblem behind his back. He waved his hand once and the same spear the Array God summoned emerged from his palm, blasting the door.

Still, what made one wonder would be his activation speed. Due to the Holy Emblem covering the majority of symbols needed to create an array, Alex only needed to summon the remaining five hundred thousand symbols.

Compared to the original requirement, which was three million symbols, five hundred thousand was something that he could do in less than a second. In other words, he only needed a single wave of his hand close to his real moving speed to complete the array.

Bam!

The spear struck the door and shattered it into pieces.

Alex instinctively jumped to the door and came out of the pyramid. Surprisingly, the pyramid never turned upside down. In other words, everything had been an illusion this whole time.

"Seriously…" Alex realized that he was too exhausted to even realize it and dropped to the ground. Leaning on the pyramid, he looked forward, finding AI walking toward him.

"Congratulations for finishing the first test, Array Mastery."

Alex's consciousness was fuzzy, but it didn't mean he would pass out. His eyelids felt heavy and there was a bag under his eyes. With his hoarse voice, Alex answered. "Yeah. I have finished."

Before getting an answer from AI, Alex took out a water bottle from his Inventory and drank it in one go. Feeling the unquenching thirst, he drank ten more bottles. This might be the first time that normal water tasted so amazing.

"I believe an energy drink is tastier in this state." Alex took a deep breath as he regained his focus. He raised his vision and asked. "So, where is the key? I am planning to inform someone about this training. To think I would have almost used half a year just to challenge one tower. This will take a few years…"

"The key is inside the pyramid." AI pointed straight inside the pyramid.

There was no need to see. After the torture he endured inside the pyramid, Alex already knew everything about the pyramid, including its platform location.

What AI pointed at right now was none other than the podium.

Alex calmed his heart down for a minute before rising from the ground to check what was inside. The podium turned out projecting something other than the number or word. It was a golden key with a white gem on the key's handle.

"By the way, can I teach someone about the technique I learn here?" Alex asked.

"You are free to do so. Master said that this technique could only be mastered by people who took everything to the extreme. Unless you had Unique Space Element, Pure Space Element, or enhanced your normal Space Element to an extreme degree, it was impossible to learn the Quick Draw Style Array Painting."

"I see. The stronger one's Space Element is, the more powerful the connection between the element and the array. This will boost the activation speed and force. No wonder why this Array Technique requires me to use my Unique Space Element." Alex nodded in understanding. If it were Alicia, I have no doubt that she could reach the two-second barrier in the future with the Holy Emblem, but I am not sure if she can surpass that. Even so, it's already enough to scare people."

Alex let out a long sigh. "I guess I won't tell anyone for the time being."

Taking out the key, Alex hurriedly escaped from the pyramid. It was like when he killed so much that he started refraining himself from thinking about tomatoes for a while. He simply had fed up with the pyramid.

"Anyway, where is the hidden vault? I will take a quick breather before returning here. I can recover my Spiritual Energy first before starting the second test, right?"

"For the first question, you need to push the podium as the entrance to the vault lies underneath. You will see a part of the vault which allows you to return outside. As for the second question, you have the right to choose when to start the test."

"That's good." Alex nodded and sighed because he ended up entering the pyramid again. He hurriedly pushed the podium, revealing stairs that led to the underground.

"Now that I think about it, wasn't the tower buried underneath before? Because of their appearance, I couldn't see what lies beneath them, but this direction…Isn't it leading me to the bottom of the north tower?" Alex shrugged. "Whatever."

Alex walked without hesitation while barely using his Spirit Eyes to ensure his safety.

The passage was narrow but well lit by the glowing stones powered by Spiritual Energy. Alex had no trouble in seeing the path and arrived at his destination after five minutes.

He found a metal door that seemed to be made of a Divine Metal reinforced by so many arrays. Since this was a test that was useful to him, he decided to follow the test without thinking about cheating. After all, with the Pure Fire or Pure Sword Qi, he should have no problem in forcing his way inside.

Alex didn't want to do it that way and raised the hand holding the key. He saw a small keyhole at the center of the metal gate and inserted the key without hesitation.

Without even the need to turn the key, something clicked behind the door. It then continued as if there was a mechanism that supported the entire vault.

Before he could explore it, a Teleportation Array appeared right under his feet.

"Ah, yes. I should go back first." Alex blinked and he returned inside the black hole. He could clearly see the tunnel and the secret place, so Alex had no hesitation in turning his head around, fighting the black hole's flow.

It was harder than when he returned from Eulja, but Alex managed to escape from the black hole after an hour or so, returning to the original universe.

He made a distance with the black hole first, so he could contact Lin Xingzhi quietly.

As soon as he felt no more pulling force, Alex opened his mouth. "I'm back. Xingzhi?"

[Yep. I am here. Congratulations on receiving the inheritance though I don't know what you get.]

"Ah, no. I just passed one out of five stages. I am going back right away after informing you about my current situation."