“Speaking of which, Lynn, this… this Temple doesn’t feel all that scary inside.”
After passing through that magical path of teleportation and truly arriving at the Temple, the silver-haired beauty’s racing heart actually calmed down a little.
She glanced around at her surroundings, then curled her lips and playfully bumped into Lynn beside her with a mischievous grin.
“Eh? Little Kitten, why so sudden — “
Pausing for a moment, Lynn turned his head with a look of helplessness. He then saw Keti’s face full of disappointment as she shook her head and sighed.
“As I thought, it’s not scary at all. Well, this place is just too normal. If you look closely, it’s basically just a forest-styled palace.”
“Plus, there are so many light sources illuminating it, the path is a straight line, and there aren’t even any elements of puzzles or mechanisms to solve. It’s really… Hmph, it’s not even fun to prank you anymore.”
“Then I should really thank the Temple’s design for being so simple… Hey, Little Kitten, now isn’t the time to obsess over those things. We need to move forward. Otherwise, I’ll take that Demon for myself.”
“Eh?! No, no, that won’t do! I came here exactly for that! You, you, you — you’re not allowed to compete with me, do you understand? Absolutely not allowed, absolutely not allowed, okay!”
The silver-haired beauty gnashed her teeth and stomped her feet. Fine, the pressure of competition had actually set in.
Following her rival’s words, she decided to hurry forward. She absolutely couldn’t let this guy get there first.
However…
Speaking of which, when she had just entered, she seemed to have heard someone calling her. They said something like… ‘Absolutely do not go in.’
*Click…*
‘What exactly is going on in here? Ahhh, I can’t tell at all with the naked eye!’
The silver-haired beauty pondered for a moment, then took a deep breath and turned to look at Lynn.
“By the way, that Lady Celthina mentioned there were three trials, right? Ugh… aside from the final Demon, she didn’t explain the other two trials clearly.”
“I feel like there must be some mechanisms inside. We absolutely cannot let our guard down! That… Lynn, you go ahead and clear the mines… I mean, lead the way!”
“Yeah… and what if I fall into a mountain of blades or a sea of fire? Traps are no joke. Do you have the heart to let me be stuck with 10,000 needles?”
Lynn chuckled softly as he spoke. Beside him, Keti crossed her arms and shook her head on the spot.
“It doesn’t matter! As long as you don’t lie, it’ll be fine! Only people who lie have to be stuck with 10,000 needles!”
‘Yeah… so shaking her head didn’t mean a denial. Ugh, how painful, I’m so sad…’
Lynn shook his head helplessly. Just as the two were bickering back and forth, a green fluorescent light suddenly drifted toward Keti.
“Eh, eh, eh, eh?!”
Keti, who had decent dynamic vision, immediately caught this anomaly and instantly determined that this was an extremely dangerous situation! Requesting immediate backup! Help!
“Waaaah, Lynn! Something’s wrong, something’s wrong! This thing is flying at me! What is it? A ghost fire? A ghost fire?! As expected, there really are traps in this place!!!”
The silver-haired beauty decisively hid behind Lynn. Her rival gazed at the wisp thoughtfully. After a while, the wisp actually floated down and landed on Lynn’s hand.
*Click…*
Watching Lynn reach out his hand, the silver-haired beauty’s mouth fell open. No — wait, what was going on?
‘Could it be… that Lynn… refined this ghost fire?’
“Visitors, please do not be nervous. I am the Guardian Spirit of this Temple. The Temple is currently facing a small problem. Lady Celthina sent you here, correct?”
“Ugh… the ghost fire, the ghost fire spoke!”
Keti trembled all over. Her hand, which was gripping the corner of Lynn’s clothes, tightened its hold. She buried her head even deeper, only daring to peek at the talking wisp through the gaps in her fingers.
“Lynn, Lynn… is it… is it really a ghost fire? Could it be a monster disguised as a Guardian Spirit? Should we run first?”
Lynn patted the back of her hand gently to signal her to calm down. He then looked up at the wisp in his palm and asked in a calm tone:
“Guardian Spirit? Hello. We were indeed entrusted by Lady Celthina to resolve the crisis of the Temple and pass the three trials here. You mentioned just now that the Temple is facing a small problem. What exactly is the situation?”
“Thank you both for coming.” The green wisp swayed slightly in Lynn’s palm, its glow becoming a bit brighter.
“My name is Aila. I am a Guardian Spirit formed from the condensed essence of the Temple’s flora. I have guarded this place for thousands of years.”
“The Temple’s core energy source has recently experienced fluctuations, causing the magical barriers in some areas to fail. This allowed that Demon to take advantage of the situation and sneak into the depths of the Temple, which is the location of the third trial.”
Aila’s voice paused as if sensing something, then continued:
“Lady Celthina must have told you that to reach the place where the Demon is, you need to pass the first two trials.”
“However, I suspect you might have misunderstood and thought these trials were dangerous traps, just like what this silver-haired young lady was worried about.”
Hearing this, Keti poked her small head out from behind Lynn.
Her face still carried lingering terror, but she couldn’t help but ask curiously: “Isn’t that the case? Just now, I thought you were an attack triggered by a mechanism!”
“And usually, Temple trials are full of traps that require careful navigation to pass, right? Like an abyss you fall into if you step on the wrong tile, or walls that suddenly shoot arrows?”
Aila let out a crisp sound like a light chuckle. “It seems you have some misunderstandings about the Temple’s trials.”
“The three trials here are not physical traps, nor are there dangers like mountains of blades, seas of fire, or 10,000 needles piercing through you. Instead, they are pure trials of mental strength.”
“Mental strength trials?” Lynn and Keti asked in unison, expressions of confusion appearing on both their faces.
“That is correct,” Aila explained. “The original intention of building this Temple was to filter out those with strong mental strength and pure hearts, rather than brutes who only worship martial force.”
“The first trial is named the ‘Mirror of the Heart,’ the second is the ‘Path of Love,’ and the third is the ‘Resolve of Will.'”
“Each trial is designed to test the visitor’s mental fortitude, internal purity, and willpower. They will not cause any harm to the physical body.”
Keti blinked, saying in disbelief, “They won’t cause any harm to the physical body? It sounds magical, but still, hey, Lynn, why do I feel like something isn’t quite right?”
Aila’s light dimmed slightly, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness. “They might be even more difficult than direct traps.”
Lynn nodded thoughtfully. “I see. No wonder we didn’t encounter any other dangers after coming in, aside from this wisp. So, how exactly are these so-called mental strength trials conducted?”