The original name of the Challenge Crystal was actually “Mirror Training Code Sharing Card.”
It was essentially a workshop with some limitations where Players could set rules, freely mix and match equipment, or test skills.
They could also generate a mirror image identical to themselves to attempt to challenge it.
The mirror image would simulate the combat style of a real Player or follow preset AI logic.
This led to many strange ways to play and various challenge activities.
Take Truth, for example.
Since she appeared on the King Rank Leaderboard year after year, many Players simply copied her public equipment and stats to create an AI Truth on the Mirror Training Code Sharing Card list.
Players only needed to copy the crystal card to attempt to challenge the server’s First Place Assassin at any time.
[This is Truth, the server’s strongest Assassin player. Do you dare to lock eyes with her?]
Although the AI Truth could not exert 100% of Truth’s combat power, it still attracted thousands of newbies to try the challenge.
After all, without the Mirror Training Code Sharing Card, those who could not make it onto the King Rank Leaderboard would likely never have a chance to cross blades with Truth in their lives.
Originally, Truth did not feel much about her AI mirror image.
It was just a way for opponents to study her fighting style. It did not matter.
An Assassin’s combat was all about backstabs and adaptation—let them study all they wanted!
However, within a few days, Truth suddenly discovered that her AI mirror images were becoming ridiculous.
She remembered that nearly half of the codes on the weekly popular sharing list at the time were about her:
[These are two of the server’s strongest Assassin player, Truth. Can you survive for ten minutes in the Void Shattered Land under their pursuit?]
[These are three of the server’s strongest Assassin player, Truth. Can you defeat them while teamed up with two other Truths?]
[This is the server’s strongest Assassin player, Truth, without any equipment. You wouldn’t lose to a naked Assassin of the same rank, would you? You wouldn’t, right?]
[Interactive SLG/Pure Love/Official Chinese: This is a romance simulator for Truth, the server’s strongest Assassin player. Can you win her heart within ten sentences?]
[MMD Share: Face-sculpting data for Truth, the server’s strongest Assassin player! / Rabbit Hole❤️]…
Truth could only say she felt exhausted by it all.
And she was not the only one receiving such treatment.
Because the PVP experts on the Leaderboard all sculpted their faces into lolis to reduce their character’s hitboxes, this cursed game was suddenly flooded with lolicon, and loli face-sculpting data was shared all over the streets.
Don’t ask—it’s the streamer look, the pro look; it’s definitely not because they like lolis that they specifically sculpted them that way…
Even after Truth traveled 500 years into the future, Mirror Training Code Sharing Cards could still be excavated all over the world, though they were now known as Challenge Crystals.
Most academies would specifically seek out combat mirror images to train their students, but the territory ruled by the Goddess of Life was the only place that did not allow these things to exist.
This was because some Adventurers had discovered that the image of the Goddess of Life actually appeared in some Challenge Crystals!
In the mirror space, one could freely choose a combat location.
Some Challenge Crystals set the location on the streets of the starter city, Tiandu.
The buildings there were very vertical and the alleys were complex, making it perfect for kiting and maneuvering.
Right on one of the main streets, a green-haired Taskmaster Receptionist named Cuifulin gradually drew the attention of the Adventurers.
Cuifulin was the Taskmaster Receptionist of the Tiandu Adventurers Association, specifically responsible for assigning various tutorial tasks to newbies.
In the mirror space, whenever a battle occurred nearby, Cuifulin would immediately hold her head and squat under the counter until the fight ended.
The reason she caught the Adventurers’ attention was that Cuifulin’s appearance was… just too similar to the Goddess of Life!
Later, historians also gradually noticed this and began to study various portraits of the Goddess and clues about Cuifulin in ancient documents. Gradually, a bold idea appeared in the minds of some scholars.
‘Perhaps, the Goddess of Life was once just a lowly Taskmaster Receptionist? The gods aren’t born deities, but ordinary Adventurers who ascended step-by-step?’
After all, this Taskmaster Receptionist named Cuifulin was simply too similar to the image of the Goddess of Life.
Various characteristics were almost a perfect match. Furthermore, they made a major discovery: in the official biographies of the Church, the name of the Goddess of Life for a period of time 300 years ago was “Cuifulin”…
Soon, all sorts of bold speculations about the Goddess of Life sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain.
Coupled with various reliable pieces of evidence, historians gradually confirmed that Cuifulin was indeed the Goddess of Life.
But just as the relevant academic research was about to be released to the world, many scholars somehow committed suicide by stabbing themselves several times in the back.
It was very sudden, and the Church took the matter very seriously.
After several weeks of detailed investigation, the Church directly announced that the assassinations of the scholars were the work of demons.
The demons, in turn, claimed it was the work of Church Assassins, though the Church flatly denied the existence of Church Assassins.
Following this, many people found that the Church began retracting portraits of the Goddess of Life, leaving only abstract paintings and statues without many distinguishing details.
The official biography of the Goddess of Life was also edited.
The following year, a biography was released detailing how the Goddess of Life transformed into the human “Triss” to travel the world.
The biography generally told the story of the Goddess experiencing the joys and pains of Humans and became essential bedtime reading for children today.
Under the washing of time in the years that followed, most people forgot that such a piece of history had ever existed.
“Senior, do you mean that some Challenge Crystals contain… dark history about the Goddess of Life, so she doesn’t want Challenge Crystals appearing in her territory?” Suna asked, slightly shocked.
She had actually heard that explosive theory again here in Snowveil City—the idea that gods were not born as gods, but were ordinary Adventurers who ascended one rank at a time.
‘It seems Snowveil City is quite open…’
“That’s right.” Gadelia nodded.
However, to ensure Suna was not too discouraged, she added, “But these are all just speculations. Currently, this theory is mostly promoted by Desecrators, so the believers of the gods don’t believe it at all. Suna, don’t take it too much to heart.”
To directly deny something a person had believed in since childhood was a sign of very low emotional intelligence, let alone when it concerned faith.
But Suna did not actually care about that.
“Senior Gadelia, actually… in the Academy, besides studying Magic, I am also a history student. I have some partial understanding of the gods and ancient history. I don’t reject what you just said; on the contrary, I’m very interested in it!”
‘Interested? What kind of interest do you mean? Is it about the dark history of the gods, or the mysterious Ancient Humanity?’
“Both! I want to completely decipher the ancient script, and I also want to know if an Adventurer can truly become a god later in life. If it’s possible, I also want to know if a Demon can become a god.”
“Huh? A Demon becoming a god?!” Gadelia was startled by Suna’s words.
She had thought Suna was a conservative believer, but it turned out she was a history scholar who was radical beyond belief.
Questions like whether a Demon could become a god—a topic that could barely be discussed even in Snowveil City—came out of her mouth so easily.
She even dared to say things others wouldn’t even dream of…
Lest she forget, Snowveil City was also a city that worshipped the gods.
“Yes, this is a theory my Teacher secretly discussed with me before. My Teacher once asked me why the gods need Disciples to worship them. Is it to maintain authority? But isn’t the Goddess of Life known for kindness and harmony? Maintaining authority doesn’t make sense at all. Maybe it’s to get something from us. After that, I made a small discovery…”
Suna had realized that even a Great Demon like the Hidden One needed a believer like Truth to worship him.
This indicated that the act of “worshipping” was not something exclusive to gods.
Based on Suna’s understanding, the things demons did were essentially evil acts.
If that were the case, could it be that worshipping a certain existence was not a good thing to begin to with?
Suna felt like she had discovered something incredible, yet she did not know how to say it, and was also a bit afraid to speak.
Gadelia hurriedly stopped Suna from whatever terrifying statement she might make next.
“Stop, stop, stop! Let’s end this topic here. If we keep talking, there’s going to be trouble! When I said Snowveil City was open, I meant it was open compared to Deya City. I didn’t mean you could say just anything!”
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