Chapter 597: Do Not Read
Chapter 498
"So..." Wei Jun looked at Morial, who stood before him like a soldier with a stoic expression, while his cheek burned a little, and asked, "You had no choice but to slap me?"
"Yes. You were screaming like a maniac, like someone was killing you, ripping you apart, limb from limb, and it looked like you were about to sh--"
"Enough." Wei Jun interrupted Morial before he explained anymore. Still, Wei Jun couldn’t help but be a little thankful to Morial, given he couldn’t have survived otherwise. He didn’t know what it was, but the vivid scene of two eyes gazing deep into his existence was still fresh in his mind.
Though he couldn’t remember anything else.
"That aside..." The man came forward and asked, "What in the world happened here?"
Wei Jun looked around. He was still in the same field where the second test of the dungeon was conducted. However, there was not a monster in sight, but the destruction, well, that was another story.
The area, the forest, and everything, which included a mountain as well, was destroyed, leveled to the point it felt like a plain field, but the signs of destruction were massive nonetheless.
"..." Wei Jun remained silent for a while before he simply sighed and replied, "Something."
"You know what you did was reckless, right?" The man asked. Wei Jun looked at him without saying anything and simply stood up. He asked, "What did you guys receive?"
A blatant attempt to change the topic. Everyone knew that, and no matter how much they wanted to address the topic, they had a feeling Wei Jun wouldn’t talk, so they had no choice but to change the topic.
The man sighed and said, "I received a method to slash."
The ethereal woman replied, "I received a stab technique."
"I received a magic spell," Morial replied.
"Me too. But I received more than that." Natasha said.
Just like that, coins, wealth, magical crystals, fighting techniques, overpowered moves, and such. Everyone received something, but when asked what Wei Jun received, Wei Jun simply replied, "I learned how to fight a mage."
"..." Everyone remained silent, and in the end, Natasha was the only one who asked, "What?"
"Now, now. Enough chit chat!" They all heard the voice of the trial master before Wei Jun could say anything. And so, they suddenly found themselves in the temple once again. In the dark temple illuminated by the blue candles, they all heard the voice once again, "Now, let us move on to the third trial!"
"The trial is very simple!"
"You don’t have to fight, don’t have to bear something, don’t have to undergo a trial that makes you feel devastated and leaves you with nothing but pain!"
"All you have to do is transfer the burden to one person only!"
"..." Silence prevailed in the crowd as they could somewhat understand what the man was talking about, and as if affirming their hunch was right, the man spoke gleefully...
"That is correct! Offer me a sacrifice! Which one is it, does not matter!"
"Just give me one sacrifice!"
"You have three hours!"
"I’ll leave the decision to you!"
And with that, the voice ceased. All that was left was for the words of the man to settle into the hearts of the crowd.
"Wh-What do we do now?" Someone in the crowd asked. Wei Jun could tell who it was. The weakest one in the crowd. A cultivator at the beginner grandmaster realm. While in the outside world he would be a talent that would be coveted by nations, in here, he was the weakest, and since he was, in such a situation, where one sacrifice was required, he was the optimal candidate.
He wasn’t the only one thinking that as well. Almost everyone there was thinking the same. While any of them could be a sacrifice, the weakest one of them was a prime choice, so it made sense if he was chosen.
However...
"And then what?" The man who tried to pick a fight with Wei Jun asked.
"What do you mean by that?" The ethereal woman asked.
"I’m asking what would happen after that. Didn’t you hear what he said in the last trial? Upon each death, twenty monsters would flood the outside city. Do you know what would happen then, right?" The man asked.
A point that everyone seemed to have forgotten. The man, who was quite intellectual, managed to glean the hidden meaning of this trial.
"Then is there another choice?" Song Huan asked. Now that the man said it, it made sense. Since it did, the question weighed on everyone’s mind.
"Considering the consequence of not doing what he said before the time limit is up is our death, and doing what he said would also have a disastrous result; it would be better to think of a solution together." The man said.
"And what if we can’t?" Xin Huatao, who was rather quiet throughout the entire dungeon, finally said.
But when he spoke, everyone was struck by a heavy atmosphere. After all, he was talking about a sacrifice. Although he was speaking realistically, some in the group weren’t quite happy with it.
"Let’s not talk about that. I’m sure there must be a solution." The ethereal woman said, but one could tell she wasn’t happy with Xin Huatao.
"What do you think?" The man turned to ask Wei Jun, who was as intelligent as Wei Jun, to the point that even the man had acknowledged him. But when he turned to look at Wei Jun, he saw Wei Jun slowly walking away from everyone and coming to a stop a few meters away from them.
"I offer myself as a sacrifice." Wei Jun said,
"What?!" Song Huan immediately yelled. Not just him, everyone was astonished, surprised to the point they thought they were dreaming, but as if to let them know their hearing wasn’t impaired, Wei Jun once again said, "I offer myself as the sacrifice in this trial."
"Stop!" Song Huan moved to stop Wei Jun, but stopped when someone blocked his path.
"What are you doing? Aren’t you with him?" Song Huan asked the red-haired man while his Qi traveled through him, thinking that Morial had abandoned Wei Jun.
"He knows what he’s doing." Morial simply said.
"And," He then turned to them, a red wave of energy emitting from him that put everyone on guard, "Those who interfere will be put down."
Morial was strong, but not enough to stop everyone there. Even Xin Huatao was confident he could go toe-to-toe with Morial, let alone the rest of them, but they didn’t want to.
Behind Morial stood not only Natasha, who was an eighth circle mage, and although she only knew buff and debuff spells of that rank, her being a support was a significant disadvantage for others, but the real reason for not intervening was him.
The one who was behind both of them, standing proudly with his back turned to them. That was a guy none of them wanted as an enemy. They had all heard rumors of him, and throughout the trial, he had proved himself as well.
A dark cultivator who infiltrated an organization with the help of the military and dismantled it from the inside. Not only that, he possessed the power to complete the trial himself while everyone was out of commission.
It was always better to be careful, so they all remained silent.
As for Wei Jun, "Come on. I say I offer myself as a sacrifice. Are you not going to collect?"
"..." For quite a long time, there was no response before the voice of the trial master said, "Now that is troubling. How am I supposed to kill you when you already owe me? Would you not consider choosing someone else?"
"No." Wei Jun said.
"Haa... You are a rowdy one. You will make me an old man at this rate." The voice said before it sighed once again and said, "What do you suggest?"
"A battle. A duel between you and me." Wei Jun said.
"Why? Would it not be better to just offer me a sacrifice and get it over with?" The voice asked.
"..." Wei Jun remained silent for a while before he said, "My brother used to say something I didn’t quite understand at the time."
"What?" The voice asked.
"Sacrifice? What a stupid notion. Such a thing is meaningless in the face of true power." Wei Jun replied before a sword appeared in his hand, a clean black sword that threatened to swallow everything around it, even urging the powerhouses behind Wei Jun to step back a little.
Wei Jun raised his sword and pointed it at the ceiling along with a dark look in his eyes, "Face me, and may only the stronger one survive."
"..." Once again, hefty silence in the hall before the
scenery in everyone’s view changed, and they all found themselves in an arena.
"Well, you asked for it." Wei Jun looked at the man before him on the stage, who smirked and said, "May the strong one survive."