BXBX NOVEL Chapter 106: Cleared, Special Trial?
William expanded his Life Sense, covering the entire desert in an instant. He identified a few groups of Magical Beasts that could be guarding trials, so he decided to take a trip to each of them.
With the speed gained from his Acrobatics Talent and a few occasional uses of the Space Element to avoid obstacles, William reached the first potential trial area in just a few minutes.
He stopped just in time to avoid sliding into a massive pit filled with sand and few manticore-like beasts, sporting a lion\'s head, a sandy-colored coat, and a scorpion\'s tail.
Oh I know those, they\'re Sandicores just like the ones I killed in the Foam Desert!
William was ecstatic to see a group of Magical Beasts he had already fought, meaning he wouldn\'t have to relearn how to fight them. The only difference was that these Sandicores were all at the Golden Core Realm, which would serve as a death sentence to any other Cultivator in the Gravitas Ruins.
William wasn\'t worried. He stealthily approached a dense group of over a dozen Sandicores, then unleashed his Fire Domain the moment they noticed his presence.
The raging inferno spread out quickly, engulfing each Sandicore in flames that burned their fur and charred even the muscles underneath black. It was a bit of a waste of Magical Beast materials, but William wanted to save room in his Space Rings for the more valuable goods.
-Defeated Sandicore (x15): +75 PP
He stored a few tails that were still in good shape in a Space Ring, then moved on to the next group, this time using his Earth Domain to impale them with spikes.
Within ten minutes, William had completely cleared the pit of Sandicores, earning an additional 350 Potential Points and 70 Sandicore Tails.
The last Sandicore fell, revealing a small pedestal in the center of the pit.
Oh, the trial was this. Even better! William didn\'t mind any trial that involved killing beasts. He could do this all day!
He approached the pedestal and took a small black box that contained another piece of Star Ore.
-Completed a B-Rank Trial in the Gravitas Ruins: +250 PP
-Acquired Star Ore: +50 PP
On to the next! William dashed off in the direction of another potential trial.
He arrived at a similar pit to last time, but there were no enemies, and a pedestal was seated in the center with nothing on it. His Life Sense told him that there were enemies here just a few hours ago, but they all seemed to be dead now. Someone must have completed this trial while I was messing around with Space Magic, damn!
He moved on. The next three areas were all the same, a pit full of Sandicores that were just waiting to be slaughtered. Two had around eighty Sandicores each, while the third only had sixty. William assumed the number of Sandicores was whittled down over the years of Cultivators entering the trials.
Each trial was rated B-Rank, and each one gave a piece of Star Ore, which according to the System was a rare material for forging powerful weapons. Just as William gathered his fifth total piece of Star Ore as a trial reward, a familiar deep voice echoed throughout the Gravitas Ruins.
The Desert Trials have been cleared. In two days, the final Desert Trial will open to all.
William was both excited and concerned at the same time. The voice clearly intended for everyone to hear its announcement, meaning there would be an intense battle this time around. William was worried that the Ice Immortals Sect would show up and he would have to kill them.
It might seem that William didn\'t mind killing other humans given his ruthless attitude in the past, but he absolutely hated the idea of killing innocent people he hadn\'t even met. There was a difference between a ruthless person and a cold-blooded murderer, and William didn\'t want to be the latter.
Unless it was the Potion Master from Thin Creek Village of course. That guy can suffer.
As the unknown man had announced, all of the Desert Trials were cleared, meaning William didn\'t have to stay here anymore. That being said, two days was a short time limit, and he was reluctant to leave lest his miss the big event.
William decided to leave anyway. It didn\'t hurt to earn more Potential Points.
He exited the desert from the opposite side of the lake he had previously visited, coming across a massive wall of stone bricks that stretched for dozens of kilometers. Even though he hadn\'t crossed the threshold yet, the System notification suggested he was already inside the Labyrinth.
-Entered the Labyrinth of Tears: +50 PP
Perfect, just what I was looking for!
William heard about this location from the Sect Master. If the information was correct, an impossible to clear trial had appeared here nearly fifty years ago, but no one had completed it. Even after sending their best disciples, not a single Sect had even managed to clear the first level of the trial!
With the final trial opening up in the desert, William\'s plans had been shifted a bit. Instead of taking on the impossible trial, he planned to clear a few weaker ones before returning to the desert.
Before entering the main gate to the Labyrinth of Tears, William decided to use 1250 Potential Points to upgrade his Navigation Talent to S Rank just in case.
———
TALENT UPGRADED
Navigation: (B --> A)
Navigation: (A --> S)
Next rank up: 2500PP
———
The internal radar expanded further, covering a range of a hundred kilometers just like his Life Sense. If he combined Life Sense with the Navigation Talent, he could create a perfect map that showed both structures and living creatures at the same time.
The Labyrinth was even larger than the desert it seemed, since even the two S-Rank Talents could not cover the entire region, but it was enough.
William entered the Labyrinth with newfound confidence, already locating the first unclaimed trial. There seemed to be two humans nearby, but that was the norm in the Labyrinth, since it was the most popular trial ground.
He ran for a few hours through the maze, making left and right turns at breakneck speed. From anyone else\'s perspective, William might seem like a veteran who had explored the maze for dozens of years.
He arrived at the trial, where two male Cultivators at the peak of the Core Formation Realm were waiting for him. They seemed to sense his presence a few minutes ago.
"Who are you, are you planning to clear this trial?" one of the Cultivators asked in an aggressive stance.
William looked at the two silently for a moment, "Isn\'t it proper to introduce yourself first before asking my name? Of course I\'m here for the trial."