Chapter 146: Xuanying Treasure Pagoda [3]

Atlas rushed through the first section just like that and reached the door to the next space. Moving through it, he was surprised to find another room of equal size to the first.'All four doors lead to spaces of this size?'

In the first instant, he was mesmerized by the sheer size. In the next, he was forced to bring his attention back to reality.

BOOM!

He jumped back, raising his arms to block the shockwave of air that pushed into him.

Just barely had he dodged the massive boulder that fell on his position.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, the entire space was filled with falling boulders. The door behind Atlas sealed itself and another opened at the other end of the chamber.

'Is there a pattern?'

Atlas stood in the small area shaded by the door and scanned the entire room. The boulders were packed tightly making it impossible to find an absolute correct path.

Instead, the only thing creating a path was the slight timing difference in the way they fell.

'I need to move to each position at a moment's notice. Otherwise, I will be crushed.'

Each row of boulders was timed specifically from the beginning to the end of the chamber. It was the same for every column. This created a sort of cascading pattern in which the boulders fell and made it impossible for Atlas to simply make a dash straight through the middle.

The boulders also weren't stationary once they fell. The moment the next round of boulders fell in their place, they would shatter into pieces and send debris flying in every direction.

It was another factor Atlas had to keep in mind as he moved.

Closing his eyes, he envisioned the path he had to take.

'Straight for the length of five boulders, then left for three and down for two…'

He had to go backwards and forwards at different lengths in order to properly reach the end.

Opening his eyes now would only leave him susceptible to the environment's multitude of changes.

'There is an absolute timing and order to everything in this space, so if I follow the path exactly, I will always be guaranteed to reach the end.'

No hesitation, no fear.

With no hesitation or fear, Atlas put qi into his legs and ran.

Straight for the length of five boulders, then left for three and down for two. Right for three and then straight again for ten lengths.

His movements were precise and methodical to the point where it looked like he was dancing amidst the chaos.

His stark white garb and hair painted him as the single piece of light in this chaos, twirling and gracefully existing within like a hope in the darkest of days.

The chamber was several hundreds of boulder lengths long. Atlas' movements didn't end after a mere few minutes.

His mind entered a flow state. In that moment as he trusted himself completely and let his body act according to its will, he felt like his mind finally reached peace. seaʀᴄh thё Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

All of the events of the past few hours were put behind him. The concerning actions that he himself took were matters that no longer mattered.

He would always remember that moment just like he always remembered every other strange instance he had experienced since his rebirth.

But, it was too early to make assumptions. He had to allow these things to unravel naturally before he could worry about it.

[Perfect Adaptability has activated.]

It was a Trait given by the Tower that stabilized his emotions, but it only returned to affirm that he had reached peace on his own.

As if the Trait itself was testing him and acknowledging him, it brought his mind to absolute balance.

His movements became even more beautiful. He was a single shining star in the night sky that still stood as bright as ever even as the world itself collapsed.

Eventually, when the world crumbled into nothing and became no more than a forgotten existence in the history of everything, that star remained shining.

That was the kind of scene presented when Atlas reached the other end of the chamber.

He opened his eyes slowly as the breeze blowing against his face disappeared. The sounds of those boulders falling could still be heard from behind, but they were not coming from the front anymore.

There, only a void stood, but Atlas still walked into it.

He found himself standing on an invisible floor in the blackness, watching in silence as a blue sun appeared in the sky.

"Is it you?" He asked almost instinctively.

"Are you the spirit of this place?"

The light did not change. It had no humanoid features in the slightest, so it wasn't as if it could communicate emotions to Atlas.

And that was only under the pretext that it had any.

"I am not so much a spirit of this pagoda as the pagoda itself. This body is me, and I am this body. It has been this way since the beginning of time."

"I have reached this place and seen you. Does that mean I have passed your trial?" Atlas asked with a tone of indiscernible confusion.

"You have," the voice responded matter-of-factly.

"Are you confused?"

Atlas nodded.

"It was too easy, wasn't it? You're a Supreme Heavenly Treasure according to Aeon. I feel that it should not be this easy to pass your trials."

Sure, there were some difficulties, but he expected there to be more. He expected his life to be endangered as he struggled desperately to reach the end.

The blue sun had no eyes, but Atlas felt like its gaze was searing into him.

"I have existed for longer than you can rationalize, young one," it said.

"I am what you living beings have termed a 'Supreme Heavenly Treasure.' The workings of my pagoda cannot be fathomed by you. You may believe that these tests do not properly qualify you for something as grand as my power, but that is not true."

"Your performance in those trials only confirms that you have the will to truly climb my floors. It was not your power being observed, but your grit. It was easy for you because you never once stopped thinking about anything but completing my trials."

In other words, if Atlas even once diverted his attention to another subject, his trial would have increased in difficulty by several times. This would happen with every stray thought until the trial became impossible.

But, even when Atlas' mind went to other things, it was either as a result of the trial or for the sake of the trial. There was nothing more important to him in the moment than the trial, so the trial responded in kind.

"Were you aware that I tested your qualifications the moment you entered?" The spirit continued.

"I know more about you, Atlas Vaun, than even you know about yourself. It is precisely for reasons that you are not yet aware of that I chose you as my next challenger."

It was a sentence that made Atlas frown deeply.

Were those words praising his future or were they foreboding? They seemed to indicate the former, but there was a tone in the toneless voice that made him think otherwise.

Nevertheless…

"Are you saying that you have chosen me? I have become the owner of this pagoda?"

The blue sun trembled slightly.

"No."

It was an unexpected yet expected answer.

Find your next read on M V L

"At this moment, you are only a Challenger. It will take more than just this for you to truly claim ownership of my power."