Sacred Trial of the Garden

Qing Shan suddenly felt his stomach drop. It was a feeling that was somewhat familiar to him, as it felt like he was in free fall. Luckily, he was not falling, as the instant after he felt this he appeared in a small pond.

"Oof!"

"Ak, A warning would have been nice!"

The rest of the group was with Qing Shan, and they began to look around the room.

Just like the first room of the last trial he as in, gemstones lit the room. However, unlike before, the gemstones were a jade green color. The substance that the room was made out of also seemed to be different. The ceiling and walls were made out of tree bark, and the floor was mostly dirt and what looked to be tree roots. On the end of the room opposite the small pond were characters written in the same gemstone that lit up the room.

"Woah, what is this place? It seems like it is decorated to be reminiscent of the makings of a tree. Does anyone know anything about what this place could be?"

The group exchanged glances, and it seemed like no one had any ideas, at least until Qing Shan spoke.

"I have read about things like these before, trials made by experts for amusement, or even burial sites of cultivators."

Everyone seemed thankful that someone had a faint idea of the situation, but it was not really any highly useful information.

"Qing Shan… Have you read about anything related to these characters? They may be important."

Qing Shan shook his head.

"No… I have never read about or hear of anything like these. Though, they do look a bit like runes, though not enough for me to understand them."

Ming Bai perked up.

"You know how to read runes!?"

"How could I not, as a trainee Runic Forgemaster!"

"Cool! So does that mean you made your own…spear? Eh, where is it?"

"I had to sacrifice my spear to get away from the Fire Fox. Let us stop talking for now and try to figure something out."

Qing Shan walked up to the characters and slid his hand across them. The last time he had come to a trial, he had had the meanings of the characters conveyed to him. So, he was confused about why that did not happen this time.

However, as Qing Shan slid his hands across the characters, they began to dim.

"Something's happening!"

"No shit."

Once all of the characters became dim, a voice echoed throughout the room.

"Hello travelers, welcome to my burial ground…

Qing Shan sucked in a breath as he listened to the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. It was soft like silk, and enchanting to all who heard it. Qing Shan and the others could not help but give their full and complete attention to the words. In doing so, all of their senses except for their hearing were temporarily shut down. This was how amazing the voice was.

"…Like all others, you have most likely come in search of treasure. Unfortunately, I, who was known in life for only my background and not for my own intricacies do not like when people spend their lives for just a few riches. I will only give the treasures of my life to those who prove themselves worthy, but that is for later.

"In my life, I lived in a world where the people were closest to fire. You only had value if you had someone in your family who could wield the power of flame. Especially in the deeper layers, where you must control flame in order to live, due to the heat. In this scorched world, I was the only one who cared for nature… I traveled up from the layers inhabitable by nature and made my own garden, spread across two mountain peaks. While my wish in life was to travel to the surface, I was hindered from doing so by my family! Because of this, I had to live under this artificial sun, that tried to stunt the growth of my garden.

"I vowed that I would not leave my garden, and be chased down by suitors and atrocious family members. Even after death, I stay in my garden, hiding from those who seek to use me for wealth and selfish reasons. I stay here, waiting for someone to receive my legacy, but none have been worthy. As my spirit diminishes day by day I ask thy travelers to please prove your worth to me, and let my go off to the afterlife with no worries in thy mind…

"Good Luck…"

Qing Shan slowly began to feel his senses return to him, when he noticed that the area he was in had changed. Gone were the bark walls around him. The pond which the group had fallen into had expanded into a moat around Qing Shan and the others, and a small, golden sapling had grown in the middle of the moat.

"W-what happened?"

"Is this the same place we were in before?"

Nobody remembered the room changing, but everyone did remember the utterings of that beautiful voice. As though it was a script imprinted into everyone's brain, they could each recall the words of the woman perfectly.

"That's all fine and dandy, but what's with this plant?"

Qing Shan glanced at the delicate-looking golden sapling, and the fruits that looked like jewels glimmering on the branches.

'Looks expensive…'

Qing Shan slowly started walking towards the plant, before calling out to Qian Yong.

"Do you have enough room for this plant in your IDS? We'd all be rich if we could sell this!"

"What are you doing? Are you an idiot! The voice distinctly said 'I…do not like when people spend their lives for just a few riches.' This could be a trial of some sort!"

"It doesn't matter! You and her only think like that because you have enough money and riches already! Money is life, and money is power!"

Ming Bai silently walked over to Qing Shan and slapped him on the cheek, hard, before returning to her position.

Qian Yong resumed talking.

"Just hear me out. If we take what the woman talked about, and then turn it into some sort of trial, it would be one where we had to repress greed, suppress flame, and protect a garden. We are already in an area that could be considered a garden, and this garden entices the greedy. So, my guess is that after a certain amount of time that the plant stays untouched, we will be attacked by beasts of the flame attribute. In order to know more, we probably would have to withstand this sort of trial."

Ming Bai looked at Qian Yong.

"I didn't know that you had an analytic side…"

Qing Shan cut the girl off.

"If we will be attacked if the plant stays untouched, then don't we just have to touch it?"

Qian Yong glared back at Qing Shan, while Qian Zhen looked confusedly at the rest of the group.

"Idiot! If we give into greed, whether that be for money or safety, we will fail this 'trial'."

"So what, we just wait?"

"Exactly."

Suddenly, Qian Zhen, who had been silent, spoke up.

"I don't really understand what you guys are talking about, but you gotta try this stuff! It is delicious!"

"Shit."

As everyone looked over at Qian Zhen, they saw him chewing on the ruby-colored fruit, with red juice trailing down his chin.

Ming Bai face-palmed, and Qian Yong and Qing Shan looked at each other.

"Huh?"

The group's worried gazed turned back to Qian Zhen, just in time to see him fall into the ground below, before the ground reformed where it had opened up.

"Welp. That happened…"

"Pfft! That's great!"

"What the hell, Qian Yong! That's your brother!"

"Eh, its fine. He isn't dead."

"Wha- Oh, yeah, it was kind of funny…"

The group, which was now reduced to a trio, sat around the golden sapling, and waited. They were ninety percent sure that beasts would show up soon, and they did not want to be caught off guard when that happened. They even decided to get some rest, with a guard shifting every two hours. Even though they were in dangerous territory, and one of them was already facing an unknown fate, Qing Shan found this to be much more enjoyable than the other Sacred Trial he was a part of.

*Rumble*

'What was that? It is getting closer…'

Qing Shan, who had been on watch, quickly alerted the two girls that something strange was happening. Qian Yong, who was immediately filled with energy, and not tired in the least, started stretching, as if to prepare for a fight.

"It is probably just the beasts that the voice told us about. You guys should prepare too. I doubt whatever we are facing will go down easily.

Soon, Qing Shan could see the distinct color of flame at the end of the tunnels that branched off of the main room. The largest tunnel was where the light was coming from. All of the smaller tunnels were still dark.

"They are fire attribute beasts, so I doubt we will have to worry about places that ae still in the dark."

The girls nodded in agreement, and held there weapons at the ready. Luckily, it looked as though there would not be many beasts attacking. This was made apparent as the light drew closer and closer. Qing Shan could soon tell that there were only two enemies. Unfortunately, they were as large as the caves walls of the underground garden would allow.

"With the size of those two beasts and their auras, they are almost definitely at the Origin Soul level."

*Gulp*

"Well, this is a trial, so I doubt that it would be impossible…"

"Not very reassuring…"

"Agreed."

"Whatever. Let's just try not to die."

The trio stood in a triangular formation, with the two spear wielders in front and Ming Bai in back. Although there not much of a difference, she did have a longer range with her whip than Qing Shan and Qian Yong did with their spears. The watched as the small flames transformed into large hulking figures as they grew closer.

Fortunately, the beasts were slow, so the trio had enough time to observe them and find out what they were. They were all around two and a half meters tall, and had bodies almost as wide as that. Their limbs seemed to be like parts melded with the main torso. That is to say, the beast looked somewhat like a child's clay creation of a human. Around this figure were swirling flames, whipping out in different directions from its body. Both of its eyes were red. Facing one of these would be tough enough, and the group had to face two!

"I-I know what those are! They are Flame Golems, created by Alchemical Qi Arts!"

"Good to know. This is a trial, so I guess it makes sense that even the enemies are manufactured. Do they have any distinct weaknesses?"

"Because their presumed maker is dead, and is not in close proximity to the golems, they cannot regenerate. As you can see, the bases of their limbs are flimsy. While they may be Origin Beasts, they are artificially made, so their lifeforce is roughly equivalent to a Half-Step Origin Beast."

"Thanks Ming Bai. If it is as you say, we may actually have a chance against these things."

The two Flame Golems slowly drew closer, and soon stepped out of the large tunnel and into the main cavern. They moved towards the trio with their slow, heavy gaits, and soon crossed the narrow moat that separated the 'garden' from the rest of the cave.

However, as soon as the Flame Golems crossed the moat, the golden sapling began to glow, and caused a golden, transparent dome to surround the garden.