Chapter 1325: Parents' Letter

The golden sun struck with a whip of fire, tearing apart the sky.

Zhang Lie was ready for another exchange of blows when the golden sun suddenly turned illusory, then vanished into thin air.

"Is this all you've got?" Having observed his opponent enough, Zhang Lie was right about to strike at full force when his opponent, Radiant Sun, vanished on the spot. It was as though he had punched at full force, intending to strike flesh, only to hit a wad of cotton instead. It felt unbearably uncomfortable.

"Come back! Don't run away—what sort of hero are you?!" Zhang Lie taunted.

Just then, a voice could be heard from the platform. "The sixth trial is complete. All trials have been cleared."

Zhang Lie was startled for a moment. "Hold on, I haven't dealt with the enemy! Is that it?"

No one responded to Zhang Lie's question. A pillar of white light enclosed him. Zhang Lie could sense the surrounding space fluctuate. The next moment, he had vanished. By the time he regained his senses, he was in another independent space with a small table in front of him. On the opposite side was an old man dressed in white. He pointed at the cup of tea before him. "Please, have some tea."

Underneath his feet was an ordinary thatched mat, and to his left, a tree of overwhelming proportions. Before the tree was a huge stone tablet engraved with names. Above them was the starry sky.

Zhang Lie glanced at the old man before him. He looked like an ordinary old man, but Zhang Lie was stupefied by his aura.

Despite the fact that he was standing before Zhang Lie, he seemed almost to be out of this world—as though he existed in the void, beyond space and time. His mere existence alone was difficult for Zhang Lie to comprehend.

The old man had a sip of tea. "To think that someone would be able to smash the bejeweled vase of the sun to pieces—and from the looks of you, you were almost able to kill Radiant Sun himself. As far as I can tell, he might not have been your match back then."

Zhang Lie snorted. "If not for the fact that the trial terminated, he would long since have died."

Zhang Lie was very dissatisfied by the fact that the trial had prematurely ended before victory was decided.

The old man praised, "Until now, only fewer than fifty challengers have made it to the sixth trial, and only five have passed it. Among them, three of them drew out the match and barely managed to survive the bejeweled vase's ultimate attack, and the other two managed to perish together with Radiant Sun in the final explosion that resulted." Zhang Lie frowned. "Was all that just a trial?"

The old man said, "This might only be a trial to you, but it's an unforgettable memory to me. I perished to that bejeweled vase's final attack."

The vase was strong enough to force Zhang Lie to use his draconic transformation, but if they were to keep fighting, he was confident that he would have been able to defeat Radiant Sun.

The old man sighed, clearly still harboring regrets from the match of his memories. "If I had had your strength back then, the Milky Way would hardly have landed in such dire straits..."

Zhang Lie's eyes widened. "Hold on, what did you say?"

The old man suddenly seemed a little flustered. "Ah, I forgot. You shouldn't be aware of this information just yet."

Zhang Lie pressed, "What did you say about the Milky Way?"

The old man changed the topic. "I must say, you seem very much like someone, like someone I met a long, long time ago."

Zhang Lie frowned. "Elder, may I ask who you are?"

"Ah, I almost forgot my self-introduction as well. It's been too long since anyone made it here, and I don't remember what I was called. My name is Bu Wentian. Others used to call me Heavenly Monarch Wentian, but I'm nothing more than a remnant of a soul in the trial-taker's chamber, now."

Bu Wentian, Martial Sage Wentian?

The old man murmured, "It's been too long since anyone last managed to pass all six trials and make their way here."

Zhang Lie hurriedly asked the question that he had long since wanted to know the answer to. "Elder, you mentioned you saw someone similar to me before?" magic

"It was a married couple, who came long, long ago..."

Zhang Lie shook visibly. "Where are they?"

The old man smiled. "It looks like you are closely related, then."

"When did they come?" Zhang Lie asked.

"Let me think. It's been too long, and I'm starting to lose track of time. I'll check the records of the chamber." The old man flipped through a set of documents. "About three hundred years ago."

Three hundred years ago, considering the time dilation between the dimensional world and the Milky Way... was almost precisely when his parents had vanished. His parents really had made it here! It was even possible that their disappearance was related to this trial-taker's chamber. The old man's next words shocked Zhang Lie even further.

"They left a letter behind before they departed."

Zhang Lie immediately extended a hand to request it.

The old man cocked his head curiously. "Why should I hand it over to you?"

Zhang Lie revealed his identity. "I'm their son."

"But this letter might not be for you."

Zhang Lie seemed startled. Well, that was true, the letter might not be for him—but who else could it be for?

"Furthermore, why should I believe you when you claim to be their son?"

Zhang Lie didn't know how to answer. There was no such thing as a DNA test here, after all.

The old man continued, "However, if you want the letter so desperately, I can give it to you."

Zhang Lie sighed in relief. Regardless of whom the letter was intended for, he needed to get the letter and read its contents. Zhang Lie was sure that it would be related to their disappearance. fr(e)ewebnov(e)l.com

"If you can finish the final trial and obtain the golden chest, I'll hand you the letter as an additional gift."

"There's a final trial?"

"Well, of course. However, the final trial is optional. To date, of the five people who have passed the sixth trial, only two have chosen to participate, and neither were able to make it."

Zhang Lie raised his head. "Did my parents participate?"

"If you mean the married couple, the husband participated and failed to pass the final trial."

"In that case, I have to take the trial." Zhang Lie's decision had been all but made for him: he needed the letter, and he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.

"Very well. The final trial it is."