After refusing to take the expensive eighth-grade pill, Ken moved to check out the third prize.
"Hahaha, this is a great prize!"
"I'm glad you like it."
Ken laughed loudly and praised the final reward he could buy. It was the one thing he collected; it was a mask!
It was an elegant white mask with two red lines that stretched from the temples toward the mouth until the chin.
"So, what's special about this mask?"
"Quite a few. First, it's an eighth-grade mask that one of the elders used to hide his identity while traveling undercover. It changes the wearer's Qi signature, so others won't be able to recognize them, and even uses a subtle illusion to make the body's proportions look slightly different."
Ken was already impressed by those two features and was ready to buy the mask for 200,000 BP.
"Furthermore, it can act as a strong amplifier of Bloodlust Qi, which is why it's rewarded here. Just like you can use a sword to make your sword techniques stronger, using this mask while manipulating your Bloodlust Qi can make it stronger."
"What else?"
"That's it."
"Ah, you made it sound like there were more."
Ken still thought it was a great deal. Whether it's the disguising feature or the weapon-like feature, they were both worth his money. Besides, he liked collecting masks of high grades.
He purchased the mask and placed it in one of his storage rings along with the rest of his masks. He already picked up the rings from the corner as soon as the illusion was over.
"So, what's next?"
"Next is the Challenge of Wisdom. The elders didn't want a crazed brute for an inheritor, so you'll have to prove you're also smart enough to solve some puzzles. It's also the final challenge of Mystic Chasms, and you'll be allowed to leave after clearing it."
Ken was quite confident in his intelligence and comprehension abilities, so he didn't feel stressed. He simply walked out of the second challenge room and marched down the corridor until he faced another large door, identical to the last two.
The young boy pushed the door opened and walked into the room, looking around him. He found himself in a large room with a pedestal in the middle, however, it was surrounded by a cage of steel.
Approaching the cage, Ken tried to slash it down with his sword.
*Cling!*
A loud sound of a metal meeting metal echoed in the room, but looking at the cage, there was not a single mark on the bars. Ken sheathed his sword back.
'This metal should be at least seventh grade; I don't stand a chance if I try to go at it like a brute. Since this trial is called the Challenge of Wisdom, it must have a more sophisticated way to solve it.'
Ken thought to himself as his gaze scrutinized the room. There were all kinds of objects on the floor that he had ignored before, but now he had to check them out as they'd probably hold the key to solving the situation. Before he could take another step, he heard a riddle.
"In shadows deep and whispers dire,
A puzzle weaved with wicked fire.
Seek ye now the elements three,
And combine them into a key.
First, the denier of life and light,
A tool of death, deadly might.
Second, the gaze of a reflective spell,
Reflecting truths, illusions quell.
Third, the elixir of the end of birth,
the weapon of the crawling on earth.
Align these artifacts, heed their plea,
Reveal the prize that waits for thee.
In proper sequence, secrets unfold,
Unleashing powers yet untold."
Ken listened intently to the riddle, and once the voice stopped echoing in the stone room, he went to search through the objects thrown on the floor. There was a lamp, dagger, sword, candle, leaf, and more.
'So basically, the riddle means there are three objects here needed for the solution of the problem. I have to align them in a certain way, and it would give me access to the pedestal in the center of the room.'
Ken browsed the items on the floor and searched for an item of death which was the first object of the riddle. He opted to attribute this characteristic to weapons, so he searched for those.
He found three - a spear, a sword, and a pair of daggers. The spear had a long shaft made of sturdy wood and a silver spearhead that seemed to shine under the light.
The sword had a silver hilt with the same shiny quality as the spearhead, but the blade was black and dark, seemingly swallowing all light that tried to reflect on it.
Last, the two matching daggers had a hilt made of metal and wrapped in red cloth while the blades were made of a translucent gem, seemingly sharper than anything else Ken ever saw.
'I doubt there are three true answers, so I should pick one of them. Let's put those three aside for now and get the other items. I wonder why I can't use my own weapon.'
When Ken thought of using his sword, he sent his hand subconsciously to his belt to hold the hilt but found nothing. Looking down, he saw that he couldn't find his sword anymore.
'It seems the formation took the sword from me after that voice said the riddle.'
His storage rings were still on his fingers, but when he tried to access their contents, he failed. The space inside didn't react to his Qi, meaning it was also blocked by the formations.
'Next, I need something that reflects the truth or something like that. Since truth can also be called light, maybe it's one of those shiny metals?'
Ken pondered to himself as he browsed the items on the floor. He found a vial with clear water and a mirror. He placed them next to the weapons he found earlier, and now he had to choose between five items.
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