God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 13: Test and treasure

As Xingluo stood before the ancient tree, the small face on its trunk slowly opened its mouth.

A hollow sing-song voice echoed through the courtyard afterward, gentle in rhythm yet uncomfortable enough to make her throat tighten.

"I was granted to your bloodline, then stolen before you could inherit me. I raised your grandfather’s legacy and erased it beneath another’s name. I am the power taken from you before you could even reach for it. What am I?"

Xingluo did not answer immediately and only glanced toward Shen Wuxia, whose gaze remained fixed on the face in silence.

After several breaths, Shen Wuxia finally spoke while looking directly at the tree. "Honour."

Xingluo repeated the answer carefully, and for a moment, the face on the trunk gave no reaction at all.

Then its smile stretched wider, making the bark around its mouth crack softly as it spoke again.

"A door welcomed you every time you came home, until one day it no longer did. The lock remained the same, the key still fit, and yet you could not enter. What is a door that closes without closing?"

This time, Shen Wuxia’s expression did not change much, but his eyes became a little colder. "The people behind it," he said after a brief silence.

Xingluo repeated those words, and the tree’s smile widened again, as if each correct answer made it more amused.

The hollow voice returned soon afterward, slower than before, carrying the final question through the silent courtyard.

"When all roads vanished, one distant light remained. It was never touched, never owned, and never promised return. Yet without it, the journey would have ended long ago. What do you call the star that guided a man who never reached it?"

Hearing this question, Shen Wuxia finally shifted his gaze away from the tree. His eyes moved toward Xingluo, and for a brief moment, the silence between them became strangely different.

"The one I navigated by," he said quietly.

Xingluo froze for a moment after hearing that answer, and an odd feeling rose in her chest without warning.

She did not fully understand why those words made her uncomfortable, but she still turned back toward the tree and repeated them. "The one I navigated by."

The instant her voice fell, the tree’s smile stretched to an almost impossible degree. A dry chuckle echoed from inside the trunk, then the face sank back into the bark as if it had never existed.

Everything became silent again. Xingluo stood there for several breaths before slowly turning toward Shen Wuxia with a confused expression.

"What happened?" she asked, but before her question could fully settle, the ancient trunk suddenly split open from the center.

Hundreds of dark vines erupted from within like living chains, wrapping around Xingluo’s arms, waist, and legs before she could even step back.

The next instant, Xingluo disappeared inside the tree, and the split trunk closed shut with a heavy sound.

Inside the tree, Xingluo screamed until her throat nearly gave out as darkness swallowed her from every direction.

Before she could understand where the vines were dragging her, the space around her suddenly twisted, and her body was thrown out with a dull thud.

She landed on a smooth white floor and rolled once before stopping near the center of an empty room.

For several breaths, Xingluo simply lay there while clutching her shoulder, her face twisted between pain, shock, and pure disbelief. Only after the dizziness faded slightly did she raise her head and look around.

The room was completely white from floor to ceiling, without windows, decorations, or even visible lamps.

Only a massive black vault door stood in front of her, its surface covered in thin silver lines that slowly pulsed like flowing veins.

Shen Wuxia floated beside her and looked at the door with a faintly relieved expression. "Good, we reached the right place," he said calmly. "Open it. The password is Maniac’s Rise."

Hearing his casual tone, Xingluo slowly turned her head toward him with a completely blank expression.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, her voice still trembling slightly. "What was that tree, and why did it eat me like some dungeon monster?"

She rubbed her elbow afterward while glaring at him with clear resentment. "I thought I was going to die inside that thing, and you are already thinking about the vault?"

Shen Wuxia coughed lightly and looked away, clearly aware that his reaction had not been very comforting.

"Do not worry too much, Miss Xingluo," he said after a short pause. "That was just the normal procedure here, although I admit it is a little strange."

Xingluo stared at him for several breaths before letting out a tired sigh. "Your definition of normal is definitely broken," she muttered before walking toward the vault door.

I will remember this, you little ghost, Xingluo thought, huffing once before turning back toward the vault.

She placed one hand on the cold black surface, and a small silver screen appeared almost immediately.

After taking a breath, Xingluo entered the password Shen Wuxia had given her. "Maniac’s Rise."

The moment the final word was confirmed, the silver lines across the vault door lit up at the same time.

A deep mechanical sound echoed through the white room as the heavy door slowly opened inward.

Xingluo had still been preparing to complain again, but the moment she saw what was inside, her mouth fell open.

The vault was not very large, but every item inside gave off a faint glow that made her breathing stop for a moment.

At least a dozen Gold-grade pieces of equipment were arranged neatly on black stands, each one polished and sealed with preservation runes.

Beside them rested several weapon cases, storage boxes, and a Platinum-grade necklace lying quietly inside a transparent crystal container.

For a moment, Xingluo forgot even the pain in her shoulder. Then she slowly turned toward Shen Wuxia with a gaze that made him feel strangely uncomfortable.

"Be honest with me," she said carefully. "Are you really some old monster pretending to be a young ghost?"

Shen Wuxia stared at her silently before letting out a helpless sigh.

This girl really has read far too many webnovels.

"It is not that exaggerated," he replied with a tired expression. "I was a top student from Tianchen University, and I worked hard enough to build some savings."

He paused for a moment before adding, "I was also a small guild leader before entering that dungeon."

Hearing this, Xingluo looked at him differently, and the suspicion in her eyes was slowly replaced by something much brighter.

A smile appeared on her face soon afterward as she clasped her hands together. "It seems I really hugged a thick thigh this time."

Shen Wuxia’s expression became strange the moment those words entered his ears. "Miss Xingluo," he said slowly, "that sentence sounds wrong no matter how you say it."

Xingluo ignored him completely and stepped into the vault with shining eyes.

Her earlier fear and resentment vanished at once as she looked across the equipment like someone who had found an oasis in a desert.

"So," she asked while turning back toward him, "should we clean everything out?"

Shen Wuxia nodded without much hesitation. "Take everything. The things we cannot use can be sold for credits later."

Most of this equipment had been prepared for him after he reached Level 100 and completed his First Transformation.

Since he had died before using them properly, selling even a portion should be enough to solve many immediate problems.

Hearing this, Xingluo did not waste another second and began placing everything into her storage space.

Gold-grade armor, spare blades, defensive accessories, Potion boxes, and several rune containers disappeared one after another.

By the time she reached the crystal container, her gaze had already locked onto the Platinum-grade necklace inside.

It was a delicate silver chain with a small blue gemstone hanging from its center, faintly glowing like frozen starlight.

Xingluo carefully opened the container and lifted it, her movements becoming far gentler without her realizing it.

"This is Level 80," Shen Wuxia said after glancing at it. "I never really had the chance to use it."

He looked at the necklace for a moment before continuing in a calmer voice. "Later, I obtained something better, but this one looked good enough that I never wanted to sell it."

Xingluo glanced at him, then immediately tucked the necklace away with a satisfied expression. "Then I will use it after I level up," she said, her mood clearly improving by the second.

Shen Wuxia watched her reaction and felt his mouth twitch slightly.

At least she recovers quickly when money is involved.

After cleaning almost everything inside the vault, Xingluo finally noticed the last item resting near the back.

It was a thin black card placed alone on a small silver plate. Unlike the equipment, the card gave off no strong aura, but its surface had a quiet metallic shine that made it look far from ordinary.

Xingluo picked it up carefully and turned toward Shen Wuxia with curious eyes. "What is this?"

Shen Wuxia glanced at the black card and answered casually, "That is just some backup fund."

Xingluo blinked once after hearing those words.

For some reason, the calmer he sounded, the more suspicious she became. "How much backup fund?" she asked slowly.

Shen Wuxia looked away for a moment before replying with a chuckle. "Enough that you need not shout after checking it."