Chapter 153: Surviving The Divine Grave!

Many thoughts went though her mind as she silently approached the gate, she placed her hand on it for a while as though she was studying what kind of gate it was. After taht she went to the side and say down, then entered meditation to recover her mana.

While she was still in deep meditation she spoke to kranos and kevin.

“The third tribulation,” she said. “Is going to be quite difficult, just be prepared.”

Kranos opened hsi eyes to glance at her in slightly surprise, then nodded before closing his eyes once more.

This is much difficult than i thought. Kranos said silently in his heart, however he still had some measure of trump cards so he could still protect himself in case anything happened.

After they had rested for a while and recovered to the peak, kathryn once againwalked up the the gate, after muttering a series of words, she infused a strange energy into the gate.

With a rumble, the gate slowly opened…

To a palace built of bone and celestial crystal, at its center was an ancient clock which ticked backward.

Far off in the distance was a throne of rusted gold which sat atop a staircase of kneeling skeletons. Chains bound the empty seat as though they were resttricting the seat from being free.

Hovering above the throne was a figure cloaked in robes stitched from shadows, its face hidden beneath a cracked mask.

Staring at the figure, a few words entered directly into their minds.

“You have endured regret and wrath. Now face the truth of your existence.”

Instantly, each of them was pulled into their own separate realities, this time the illusions were far more intricate than anything they had ever encountered previously in the other two trials

Kranos found himself standing at the foot of a mountain of corpses, he glanced closely and noticed that each one was a version of himself.

At the summit stood an older Kranos, his eyes was blackened and his smile was somewhat twisted.

“I am what you will become.”

The older Kranos lifted his hand and a spear of warped spatial energy manifested. “Let’s see if you’re strong enough to change fate.”

As soon as h spoke he rushed forward with a teh spear in his hand. Instantly it released a thunderous blast towards kranos, although he was stunned kranos still raised his sword to defend against the strike.

Soon, a terrifying battle ensued between the two of them.

Outside the illusion, Kathryn gritted her teeth, fighting a version of herself that had become a tyrant queen.

Kevin struggled in silence within his own trial, facing the choice to sacrifice someone he loved for power.

…

While fighting kranos had realised a that the trial this time was not one of strength but of discovering one’s identity, how terrifying, what would happen if one died to their counter part? Would they lose themselves and become the shadow?

Thankfully, after a hectic battle kranos finally emerged victorious.

Kranos lay on the cold crystal floor, with blood dripping from his mouth,

The throne cracked and the mysterious figure vanished, thankfully all of them had completed their trial!

The gate behind them split open, leading to a realm of stars.

Glancing around they noticed a few who showed struggling expressions on their faces, they were still engrossed in passing their trial.

Kranos glanced at them for a momen then wiped his mouth. Following kathryn they stepped through the gate and entered into the next realm.

The realm they entered was utterly silent, a void-like expanse with no ground, no sky, and no horizon. They floated in a bubble of pale light that shimmered against the abyss, like the final flicker of a dying star.

Kathryn frowned and placed a hand on her chest. “This trial feels different. Be prepared.”

A new voice echoed around them, deeper and far colder than the one before.

“The Trial of Mirrors. Gaze into your soul. Face all that you hide.”

One by one, orbs of light appeared before them. one for each cultivator.

Kranos hesitated for a moment, btu sing the others reach towards their orb he too reached toward his orb.

The moment he touched it, the orb shattered.

And he fell.

…

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a small village bathed in twilight. It felt familiar.

Way too familiar.

His feet moved on their own. He followed the winding path between straw-thatched huts until he reached a wooden fence, beyond which children played and laughed.

Just then a fire lit up amongst their midst, screams began to resound amongst the children and a crimson light devoured everything.

Kranos stared helplessly as the same nightmare replayed, over and over. Every mistake he had ever made. Every moment of cowardice and every death he failed to stop.

This time, however, he saw more. The mirror trial showed not just what happened, but what could have happened had he acted differently.

He watched a version of himself step forward, save a child, hold back the flames.

Then another version, this one cold and ruthless, letting the innocent die to gain power and safety.

All the choices he never made.

All the paths he never walked.

Each path reflected back into the void until thousands of Kranos stood side-by-side then a voice called out from them.

“You cannot bear the weight of your indecision.”

The reflections began walking toward him, most of them had blades and they quickly drew it, but most of their eyes were hollow.

Kranos snarled. “You’re not me. Hmph! How dare you try to be me?” this was something that had happened in his previous life, it seemed the trial was trying to confuse him by showing him this, if it was the kranos from before he would have fallen for it.

However he had already passed the trial of the heart andhad stayed there for a chaos cycle, without hesitating, he unleashed a wave of time fluctuations, everything came to a pause, kranos sword flickered like a shadow and moved.

However the endless possibilities of decisions he could have taken were relentless, they kept reaching out, to kill kranos. Morever, they grew far stronger as stime pased. Kranos felt his heartbeat quicken, will i end up losing my life in this trial?

Since they are basically endless, how can i possibly fight against the endless. Just then a hand reached through the chaos and Kathryn’s voice echoed like a beacon.

“Kranos. Come back.”

Hearing the voice, kranos didn’t hesitate and quickly reached out to grasp her hand.

Immediately light flooded the void.

…

Back in the trial realm, Kranos woke up, drenched in sweat. Kathryn and Kevin sat nearby, their own faces pale, their bodies trembling.

“That… was worse than anything before,” Kevin whispered his face still pale, as he clencthed and unclentched his fist repeatedly.

Kathryn said nothing, only nodding. Her eyes had changed slightly and had become calmer, much more colder.

Kranos stood slowly. “We’ve passed the trial, how many more trial till everything is finished?” he turned to kathryn and asked, with how the trial was progressing it was getting increasingly difficult to pass, he had a feeling that he might just lose his life if he continued.

Kathryn glanced at him then fell into deep thought, bassed on her guess, the trial would last for…

Just as she reached this line of thought another platform emerged beneath their feet, lifting them into a new layer of the Divine Grave.

Above them, a blood moon now hovered.

And in the distance, a thousand bells began to ring.

“The Trial of Time’s Mercy awaits.”

The blood moon glared down like an ancient eye, it looked unblinking and cruel. As the platform lifted them into the fourth layer of the Divine Grave, the world shifted again.

Gone was the reflective void of the last trial. Now, they stood atop a towering plateau surrounded by cascading rivers of sand. The sands shimmered with gold and silver flecks.

A soft wind howled silently, carrying with it echoes which sounded like broken oaths.

Kranos looked around. The air felt heavy here.. Each breath he took felt like inhaling the dust of forgotten centuries.

“This place…” Kevin murmured, “It feels sacred.”

Kathryn nodded slightly. “It’s the Trial of Time’s Mercy.”

At that moment a hollow gong rang out from the heavens.

The sands which were flowing, halted and The wind froze. It was as though time itself stood still.

Then, a path unfolded beneath their feet, made from interlocking runes, each one glowing faintly with golden starlight.

A towering figure emerged at the end of the path. It was cloaked in black robes woven from strands of twilight, its face hidden beneath a mask that shifted between youth and age. In one hand, it held an hourglass the size of a man, filled not with sand, but with flickering memories.

“Walk the Path of Mercy,” the figure said, voice like the creaking of an ancient clock. “Witness what you have been spared. Witness what you have taken.”

Kranos stepped forward.

As his foot touched the path, the world exploded with a bang, instantly he appeared in a different place entirely.

He saw a battlefield drenched in blood.

A young woman knelt beside her dying brother, crying out to a distant god. Her pleas went unanswered and before kranos could react, an enemy blade which was not too far away descended killing them both.

Then the vision shifted and he appeared at a small village, a mother choosing to die in place of her child, her eyes filled with love and regret.

Time seemed to rewind, and she chose differently… watching her child perish instead. The agony etched into her soul tore at Kranos like claws but he remained staring at everything calmly, he had to understand what the trial was about before coming up with ways to pass it.

Thank full, this time it isnt a battle.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep