Deep within the heart of the oppressive forest, a clearing emerged, bathed in an ethereal, almost blinding, light. The air grew eerily still, the sounds of the forest fading to a whisper. In the clearing stood a colossal red crystalline obelisk, it looked like a tall piece of finely carved stone that gave a pulsing vibe with the same iridescent light as the portal that had brought them here.
The obelisk seemed to resonate with a deep, resonating hum, its light subtly shifting patterns. A faint inscription, etched into the crystal, caught Mitchell's eye. It was a complex series of symbols, echoing the very energy swirling around them.
"This might be the key to navigating through the trial's mechanisms," Ange whispered, her voice filled with a sense of foreboding and excitement. "It might also be the source of whatever lies behind the portal."
"Let's not touch it. If it would be here then it means that. . . . something's not right". He turned to look around, everything still felt normal and looked normal but Mitchell could feel something was off.
"What do you mean? Everything is normal" Ange said in a soft voice, her voice sounded relaxed like being near the obelisk could assure their safety.
With those words, he became even more tense and after waiting for some time, he felt nothing was off. Maybe it was just his imagination.
"Sorry, I thought there was something off. Any ways never mind, with the distance we have traveled, we should be getting near the base of the mountain and should soon start our ascension". Mitchell spoke and when he looked towards the mountain, he found that he correct and they were close to mountain.
Ange gave a smile and they continued moving. The plan was to find a safe place to hide in the mountain as they continued to move up. The mountain was not completely vertical and people could find paths to get up.
'If only we don't meet any cultivators on the way, that would be for the best'. He thought inwardly and ran at his full speed.
In truth he was already tired of his constant running, even though his speed was faster than that of a normal cultivator his endurance too. But he had long grown tired of this ceaseless running.
He was looking forward to the day his level would grow and he would have the ability to fly. But at the same time he was not looking forward to it.
He remembered his first breakthrough to foundation building realm which was by pure luck when he was not prepared. He remembered the lightning tribulation that he had to face to be able to break the barrier separating him from foundation building realm. He also remembered the other two gods barrier he had to break at the same time. They were even harder to break than the normal barrier and required him to get stroke by lightning over and over again.
By the time he came out in foundation building realm, His clothes were in rags and his entire body was in pain. He wouldn't want to go through that suddenly again especially in this place where your enemy could be lurking around the corner.
As they kept running, Mitchell was still looking out for any random cultivator that could pose a threat. He was not a nice person before, and whenever he was pissed off he would what was on his mind. He also didn't like to see spilt human blood so he hoped for them and also for himself that they didn't cross upon any people.
Mitchell and Ange ran and had finally reached the base of the mountain. When they looked up it was still as tall as ever but the distance to reach here gave them confidence.
When Mitchell saw how they had run into no trouble on the way coming and at how he could not see anyone in any direction from his level of elevation.
The feeling in him that something was wrong became even clearly.
"Something is still wrong . . .we arrived here quickly and at the same time we have met no body". And the added silence around compelled him to be sure that something was off.
The silence was something he secretly hoped for in his heart, he wanted everywhere to be silent and he got it, he wanted them to be close the mountain and they were close, he wanted to see no cultivators around and there were none. He wanted Ange to remind him that there was no danger so that he could put his mind at rest. And he got.
In silence, Mitchell pointed his finger at Ange and immediately said inwardly 'Qi burst cannon'. The technique he obtain from the purple moon after he broke through the first seal. He had already seen how to execute the technique in his head when he obtained. It was the first time he was actually casting this technique, and on Ange at that.
A purple light shone from the finger he pointed and qi began to gather there at rapid speed. The qi gathering at his fingertips was very large, but after some time it gathered and turned into a small ball of purple light.
Immediately the qi exploded and the impact was sent towards Ange. It sounded like it took a lot of time but in truth, when he turned and pointed his finger at Ange, the qi burst cannon was already prepared.
********
"Sir, look what just happened. He had already seen through the illusion of the fifth obelisk".
The man who was tasked to say the words of before spoke to the middle aged man who had appeared suddenly.
********
They watched as he suddenly stopped and turned his finger towards Ange. There was no hesitation on his face as he immediately aimed at Ange. On was face was calm and as Mitchell fired she disappeared into the void using her Immortal Ghost Monarch technique.
Watching as her body turned illusionary and stepping into the void further made Mitchell sure that everything was fake.
If it were the real Ange, she would be shocked and Mitchell would not have fired. But she was calm the whole time and just entered into the void, exactly what he wanted her to do.
The explosion was in truth nothing powerful, he just dispersed qi to make it look like an explosion. The real ball of purple light was still in his fingertips, waiting for him to unleash it.
He calmly aimed at an empty spot to his left and fired the purple light at that spot. Space distorted and Ange came out, she was also distorted as well and after a few seconds her form changed to that of a stone person. His expression was ugly and half of his chest was destroyed by the blast.
His remaining body parts crumbled to the floor and Mitchell watched without a word. The coldness in his eyes was freezing. His nonchalance towards the stone mans death was frightening and anyone who watched him at that moment would feel fear crawl in their skin.
Mitchell stared at the sky above him and a frown appeared on his face. Then the sky shattered as if it could not maintain its form when Mitchell looked at it.
In the end this was just an illusion caused by the obelisk and the stone person he just killed was a real person that was living in the area around the stone obelisk. It would create illusions that the victim wanted in his mind and make them come to pass while several of the stone men would be waiting for the perfect time when the person was unalarmed.
'In the end it was all about believing . . . .huh'
He looked down and saw the dozens of stone people surrounding him. As the shattered sky pieces fell to the earth, Mitchell's purple sword appeared in his hand and he began a slaughter.