Chapter 3198: Chapter 3198: The Orexis Test
The human woman only hesitated for a moment before she finally made her decision.
This temple was the last fortress of the human race. It had stood on Stage Seventeen of the Other Shore for so many years, and was never once explored. Naturally, she would never let go of such a rare opportunity!
She gently nudged forward from inside of the red ball. Her snake tail swayed as she followed closely behind Zen and Elvinia.
Now, Zen was the first one to step on the starry pattern.
The pattern appeared to be made of some kind of thick mercury. When he stepped on it, the pattern suddenly flashed a beam of starlight, which immediately consumed him.
“Zen!” Elvinia shouted.
Without thinking twice, she quickly followed him and jumped into the starry pattern. Like Zen, she also disappeared inside the mysterious starlight.
The last who went in was the woman, the human betrayer.
After the starlight had swallowed Zen, he looked around and found himself in a totally different space.
Countless dots of light continuously fell down on him.
A seemingly infinite number of stars illuminated the sky and formed a silver stream of light.
Back then, he had once marveled at the beautiful starlight in his father's universe. However, the stars in his father's inner world paled in comparison to the current scenery in front of him. The number of stars above him was way beyond anyone could count.
Stars fell from the sky, flew past the corner of his eye, then began to disappear from his view.
It wasn't until he heard the whistle of the wind that he realized what was really going on. The stars weren't actually flying away from him, but rather, he was falling down fast.
Below him was a huge continent that was shrouded in the darkness. It was originally as small as a hand in his eyes, but as he kept falling down, it rapidly expanded and the expanse of its territory became increasingly clear to him. Soon enough, a vast land appeared beneath him.
Suddenly, he remembered that he was getting closer and closer to the ground.
“I need to brace for impact!” he exclaimed.
Almost subconsciously, he attempted to fly up into the air.
“Rise!”
“Thunder Materialization!”
“Wind ...”
He used several methods in a row, but none of them worked to slow down his speed.
It seemed that his theurgies were useless in this space.
Just as he was about to hit the ground, an invisible force cushioned him from behind, then slowly and gently eased him down.
Once he had landed, he got up from the ground and examined the state of his body first.
“My inner world is gone?!”
“No. 9527! Master Regal Jade! Can you hear me?”
“I can't even use my Chaotic Source Spirits! My body...”
When he was done carefully examining his body, he finally discovered that he was now reduced into an ordinary mortal!
He couldn't even look into his inner world or use his chaotic energy, let alone release his spiritual sense or draw his soul out of his body.
'Hmmm… this mortal body was specially built for me to use in this illusion world. It is quite unique, but what is it for?' he wondered.
It was quiet everywhere in the dark wilderness.
He had originally planned to find Elvinia first, but now it seemed impossible.
There were no hints given in the test, so he had no choice but to move forward aimlessly.
Due to his current mortal body, he was no longer as strong as he used to be. After he had strolled for two hours, he gradually felt worn out. He sensed a long lost feeling of fatigue from deep within him. Ṛ𝐀ＮО𐌱Ёś
“I'm so tired...”
He wiped the sweat off his forehead. Although he had walked for such a long time, he bet that he should have been able to travel such a distance with a single step if he still had his real strength.
The moment sleepiness and hunger began to overtake him, he suddenly saw a bonfire in the distance. Several people stood around the bonfire and held kebabs, which they grilled above the fire. The blazing flames illuminated the oil that dropped from the meat, which shone with a tempting glaze and burned with crackling sounds.
The meat released a wonderful aroma that almost touched Zen's soul. It was an unimaginable temptation, especially for him who was currently so tired and hungry.
The people around the bonfire soon saw him, and they all looked at him with awe and respect. They bowed respectfully to him, as if he was a great and authoritative figure.
Somehow, he felt relieved at the way these people reacted to him. He pointed towards the kebabs and his orexis, or appetite, was clearly palpable.
Among the seven emotions and six desires humans possessed, the orexis was the most intense one. Ever since Zen no longer needed to eat food, he rarely had big meals apart from some special treats he had enjoyed in the divine land. Now that he was reduced to an ordinary mortal, his desire overwhelmed him when it had gotten aroused.
“You can't eat this!”
“If you eat this, you will die!”
“If you die, you will be eliminated from the test!”
To his surprise, the people warned and stopped him, their faces filled with horror.
In turn, he looked at them with confusion. Of course, he hadn't forgotten that he was still in an illusion, trying to pass the test the statue had arranged.
Still, he refused to believe that he would die once he ate the meat.
The meat kept giving off a tempting smell. Zen swallowed hard and reached out to the kebab, ready to feast on it.
However, one of them took the meat before he could and gobbled it.
After a few bites, the man's eyes suddenly rolled to the back of his head. He foamed at the mouth and fell heavily to the ground!
“This is poisonous!”
“You can't eat this!”
“Or else, you will die like him!”
The others warned him harshly once again.
Afterwards, he glanced at the people's solemn faces and only rolled his eyes in response.
'What a weird test. Am I only supposed not to eat a piece of meat?' he thought.
As of now, he was still able to pull himself back.
Previously in the Dark Region, the Dark Nether Bugs had posed a great temptation to him, but he had still managed to suppress his desire. Thus, he believed a few pieces of roasted meat were no problem for him.
He remained perfectly calm. On the other hand, those people kept fussing around like idiots and exclaimed that he shouldn't eat the poisonous meat.
"Where is this place?
What do you want?
Is this the test for me?" he asked continuously.
Despite his many questions, the people only turned a deaf ear to his words.
In the end, he just shrugged and moved on.
The world he was in was a boundless wilderness, and there seemed to be no end to it at all.
Not even a single hint was given to him. The only thing he could do was move forward.
After four more hours, he was finally completely exhausted. He felt his throat burn as thirst and hunger began to cloud his mind.
'I need to eat and drink...'
As soon as the thought came to his mind, a gust of wind suddenly carried a delicate bouquet of wine to him.
The wine's fragrance rushed into his nostrils, until it reached all the way into the depths of his soul.
He shivered as he was deeply dazed and exhausted. Still, he managed to look up and saw some brilliant lights in front of him.
There was a big table laden with various kinds of fruits, while fragrant wines of different colors filled the glasses and emitted an intoxicating scent.
There were people who sat around the table, who all stood up and bowed respectfully to Zen.
“Please help yourself to the wines and fruits,” they said.
'They didn't stop me from eating and drinking!' he happily thought to himself. “But, you should know, they are all poisonous!” someone suddenly warned.
“What's wrong with you?” Zen grumbled.
He glared sullenly at the people around him. He felt that he was about to go crazy!
After he was demoted to an ordinary mortal, all of his emotions and desires felt authentic. Therefore, it was difficult for him to resist his instinct for eating.
Finally, he couldn't help but satisfy his desire for food. Even though he had a very strong will, he now gave in to his orexis.
As he stumbled helplessly towards the wines and fruits, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind that said, “If you die here, your previous efforts will be wasted!”
It was true that he had gone on a hard path before entering the temple. Of course, there was no way that he would resign himself to the prospect of losing right then and there.