Chapter 1247: Chapter 995: The Secret Within
He did as he was instructed, step by step.
There were many methods of hypnosis, and using magic was one of the simplest ways; however, since this method brutally interfered with the normal operation of the mind, it would inevitably leave traces. Especially when dealing with individuals who were already very vigilant, it might even backfire—like with Elma now.
Therefore, Long Yi had designed this more complex and slower hypnosis method for Elma. These traps ranged from simple to difficult, and any mistake would lead to failure, immediately teleporting the individual back to the entrance. Hence, if one wanted to pass all the traps, not a single step could be wrong.
Through this method, Long Yi allowed Elma to focus all his attention on the matters at hand, making him completely unable to realize that the Holy Temple he eventually breached was not actually a Holy Temple, but deep within his own mind!
Yes, this was the forte of the God Chasers, and Long Yi was even more careful and cautious!
After failing time and again, Elma grew impatient, but seeing Hayden’s face behind him, he forced himself to calm down.
"I won’t fail, as long as I do as my teacher instructed, as long as I follow my teacher’s teachings! Step by step!"
Moving past trap after trap, Elma’s concentration was heightened to such an extent that he didn’t even realize that Hayden, who followed behind, had easily walked past the traps without being teleported away.
Step by step, step by step, finally, when Elma stepped on the last stone slab, the extremely heavy stone door slowly opened.
Behind the door was a hall of dazzling splendor, completely at odds with its derelict exterior.
In the center of the hall was a huge throne, on which sat a skeleton clad in luxurious armor, its head adorned with a crown, and holding a scepter in its hand.
Everything froze in that moment.
"Who is he?" Elma asked Hayden.
"He was a king, a king who once worshipped the Ascenders. He promised to build this great Holy Temple for the Ascenders and to hide most of their power here. Yet, he coveted the power of the Ascenders and refused to surrender the Holy Temple. As a result, a protracted war began between them. Eventually, the king’s kingdom was completely erased from history, and he himself ended his life here in immense regret,"
Hayden explained.
Listening to this, Elma pondered. Although the events were far removed from the present, they served as a reminder to himself not to repeat the same mistakes.
"So, what should I do next?" Hayden asked. He knew everything about the maze, but he did not know what to do after passing through it.
"Take off his crown, pick up his scepter, and replace him to reopen the sealed Holy Temple," Hayden said.
"Is that all?" Elma felt it seemed too simple.
"Of course not," Hayden said with a smile, "The moment you wear the crown and hold the scepter, the phantoms of the soldiers who died because of his greed will appear. These phantoms consist of the wills of the deceased soldiers, powerful in their own right; you must overcome them, allowing them to return to tranquillity, so that the true doors of the Holy Temple will open to you!"
Elma nodded, understanding. Indeed, he knew things were never that simple.
He bowed slightly to the deceased Emperor on the throne, then moved his skeletal remains aside, took the crown and scepter for himself, and sat on the throne.
Almost instantly, the entire Holy Temple emitted a deep tremor! Then, waves of voices started to come from all around.
"Greedy Emperor! Because of your greed, I met my death here!" a loud voice proclaimed.
"Because of your greed, my family was destroyed and I was killed!"
"Because of your greed, I was decapitated!"
"Kill the greedy Emperor! Kill the greedy Emperor!"
Countless soldiers with broken bodies surged from all directions, shouting loudly, vowing to kill the Emperor, and at this moment, that Emperor was, in fact, Elma! He thought he was prepared, but as the deceased approached, his body began to tremble involuntarily.
"No! I’m not the greedy Emperor! I am not greedy!" Elma shouted loudly.
"No! You are! You coveted what wasn’t yours! You killed everyone!" the deceased shouted.
"No! I didn’t! I don’t care about those things at all!" Elma continued to shout.
"Lord Elma, stay calm, these deceased are targeting that Emperor, not you!" Long Yi shouted from behind.
Elma immediately calmed down, yes, this was not him! And he was not a greedy person!
The deceased finally pounced, and Elma immediately cast his spells. At that moment, he was surprised to find that the Emperor’s crown and scepter greatly enhanced the effects of his magic! This discovery immediately filled him with confidence!
"Hayden! Hide behind me!" Elma shouted, casting spells continuously as the undead were smashed to pieces!
Long Yi, standing behind him, silently observed every move Elma made. In fact, they were no longer in the real world, but in the depths of Elma’s heart.
Initially, the environment here seemed real—the dry bones, the crown, and the scepter were all authentic. However, the moment Elma put on the crown and grasped the scepter, everything shifted seamlessly into the world of Elma’s mind. Little Zi, with the Thousandfold Divine Form, could seamlessly blend the two different worlds, and Elma could not tell any difference at all.
The things battling Elma were not actually the undead, but manifestations of Elma’s own cautious emotions, born from the inexplicable change in surroundings. Although consciously imperceptible, the subconscious would still sense something amiss, thus giving rise to those cautious emotions. Little Zi transformed these emotions into the form of the undead for Elma to confront and overcome, naturally resolving any discomfort.
The battle ended even quicker than Long Yi had expected because of Elma’s trust in the Ascender, so the cautious emotions triggered by the change were not significant.
As the undead vanished, the entire hall rumbled. Huge slabs of stone rose from the ground, encircling the throne, which crumbled away in an instant, disappearing without a trace.
Nine stone slabs each emitted high-energy beams of light that collided and formed a Teleportation Gate.
"Entering this Teleportation Gate leads to the lesser realm of the Holy Temple," Long Yi said.
Elma nodded and stepped into the Teleportation Gate without looking back.
Then, Elma and Hayden appeared on an endless staircase that stretched infinitely upward and downward, surrounded by the serene cosmos glittering with stars!
"This place is called the Road to Ascension and also the Road to Atonement. Walking this path, one encounters various illusions. Most of these illusions stem from personal regrets, requiring immense strength to persevere to the end. If you pass the test of illusions, the true Holy Temple will appear before the steps; if not, the staircase will extend endlessly."
Elma was truly nervous by then, but there was no turning back.
"Let’s go!"
Elma said.
As he walked, various illusions began to emerge, and he seemed to see events from hundreds of years ago when he was still a child. He had been bullied by other children due to his frailty, but when he grew up, he tortured one of those children to death with his proudest magic.
In that moment, his heart was truly filled with regret, for they had all just been children. Yet at that time, he had been blinded by rage.
"Don’t let regret entangle you; you don’t belong there!" Hayden’s voice came, snapping Elma back to reality. He looked down and realized he had been frozen in that position for who knows how long.
Just a minor incident like that could plunge him into such great turmoil?
Elma became even more cautious.
Starting from his childhood, any event that brought him regret would drag him into trouble. It was also one of Little Zi’s mental magic forms; she did not act directly on Elma’s psyche but instead amplified the emotions of regret through triggering memories. If Elma truly harbored any regrets, Long Yi wagered, opposing himself would be one of Elma’s most regretted actions. So, he sought to find this node and tap into that hidden part of Elma’s memory to discover what it really was!
Because of this, before then, whenever Elma fell into hardship, Long Yi would always wake him up in time.
"This is the magic taught to me by our ancestors, but this spell consumes a lot of mental energy, and I cannot keep using it. So for now, I can only help you alleviate the troubles of the illusions as much as possible. Eventually, you’ll have to rely on yourself!" Long Yi said to Elma.
Elma was very grateful for everything the Ascender had done, but he was aware that, having accepted the Ascender’s mission, he had to bear the responsibility.
So, Elma merely patted Hayden on the shoulder and continued resolutely forward.
Finally, in his memories, Elma gradually grew older and aged until he reached the present time.
Little Zi had always been monitoring Elma’s various memories, filtering out those with minor significance.
Suddenly, in front of Elma, a branch appeared to the left on the staircase that represented the timeline of memories!
"Little Zi, what’s going on?" Long Yi hurriedly asked.
"This segment of memory is hidden deep within Elma’s memory! It’s not normally within Elma’s conscious awareness. You might not believe this, but it appears that the one who hid this memory is Elma himself!" Little Zi said in surprise to Long Yi.
"Are you saying to leave Long Yi forever in the Ancient Mage Tower?" Elma said, his back to someone.
"Yes, only by keeping him here forever can we utilize all his power!" a person behind him said, but the voice was very unclear and it was hard to see who it was.
"But Long Yi trusts me so much, I don’t think it’s necessary. As long as I ask, I believe he would leave me all the knowledge I need!" Elma said.
"Don’t forget, the knowledge he can leave you is only a small part after all. To gain all his knowledge and power, he must serve you forever." The other person spoke again.
"No, I disagree." Elma looked down at his hand, where he was holding the key to the Teleportation Gate! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
