Prime Originator

"There should be some limit to how many creatures those glowing sacs can produce, right? Whatever is fueling it, it shouldn't be limitless. But, strangely, the sacs show no sign of slowing down its production despite the demons' efforts."

While observing the intense battle between demons and tree-like creatures inside the second trial, Darlene brought the matter to Aria's attention after noticing the detail.

However, she was not the only one to have noticed the problem. Aria and the others also found it strange at a glance.

"Mm, it is strange." Aria nodded before saying, "However, a Demon King's means is not something people at our level can understand."

"Though, if I had to make a wild guess, I would say that there's a chance that the power source fueling the sacs is capable of replenishing energy at the same rate as its expenditure. In that case, it might as well be limitless."

After Aria spoke, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman and Chief Baskara quickly frowned in thought.

If the second trial could spawn such strange creatures en masse ceaselessly, there would be no point in killing them, no matter how many of them there are.

In other words, killing the tree-like creatures served no purpose other than surviving a little longer.

"If these weird creatures spawn ceaselessly, killing them won't help us clear the second trial. So how are we supposed to pass this trial?"

Chief Baskara pondered deeply before feeling a sharp pain in his mind.

"Ugh…"

"Take it easy, Baskara boya." The One-Eyed Venerable Shaman stroked his beard while saying, "Leave the thinking to others. You are still in a period of recovery."

"I supposed I will do just that."

Chief Baskara did not argue and took a seat on the ground with his eyes closed, paying no further thoughts to the second trial.

Meanwhile, Darlene's brows furrowed deeply over time before her eyes flickered.

"What if…"

"Hm?"

Aria shifted her gaze to Darlene, seeing she seemed to have something else to say.

"Ah, sorry." Darlene briefly arranged her thoughts before she continued to speak, "What if we just head straight for the gate on the other end of the second trial ground? Won't that clear the second trial?"

"Huh?"

Aria and the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman were taken aback by Darlene's words.

"What are you saying… There's no way clearing the second trial could be so sim—" Aria prepared to dismiss Darlene's guess when she suddenly fell into deeper thoughts. "Actually, you may be right, Sister Darlene."

"You think so?" Darlene felt slightly happy to be acknowledged by Aria.

"Mm." Aria nodded and said, "Unlike the first trial, the second trial is an open space, allowing us to see the other end. If we can force our way through the enemy lines, we can enter the next trial ground."

"We don't need to enter the next trial right away. If we look at our current location, it would seem that the area near the trial gates is a sort of safe zone. However, we shouldn't bet on it. More importantly, the problem is…"

"Getting through the enemy lines…" Darlene muttered softly.

If they cannot get through the enemy lines, any thoughts of entering the next trial are just wishful thinking.

And by looking at the demons' situation, such a thing as plowing through the army of tree-like creatures was clearly no simple task.

In fact, it was exceedingly difficult to accomplish.

Otherwise, the demons wouldn't be trapped in the center of the second trail ground, surrounded on all fronts, and unable to advance or retreat.

The tree-like creatures spawned at a ridiculous rate, forming thick walls off hardened wood that blocks off any and all room for movement if allowed to grow unchecked.

"Say… if I can use my spatial ability to blink to the other end of the trial ground and open the next trial gate, the second trial might come to an end. If that happens, there will be no need to fight our way through all those creatures…" Darlene mentioned unconfidently.

"Absolutely not! It is too dangerous!" Aria immediately rejected Darlene's idea, "I won't agree to it, and neither would Leon. In our group, your strength is the lowest. We can't have you acting on a what-if when we don't even know what will actually happen."

There was no certainty the area around the third trial gate was a safe zone, and it makes even less sense for the spawned creatures to stop attacking simply because the second trial got cleared.

At most, it would just stop spawning more creatures.

"More importantly, there is no guarantee that opening the third trial gate would be the condition for clearing the second trial. Everything is just mere speculation," Aria added sternly and said, "If we are wrong, you can easily lose your life."

"Also, what do you even know about the spatial ability – blink? You might be able to get from one spot to another instantly with a single step, but the prerequisite in achieving that is that the path has to be clear, do you understand?"

Despite getting an earful from Aria, Darlene could sense the concern in Aria's words, which made her feel warm in her heart.

Besides that, she was also surprised that Aria seemed quite knowledgeable about Spatial Law.

'If I remember correctly, Big Sister Aria should be an ice-lightning user. Why does she seem to know so much about spatial abilities?'

While Darlene silently pondered about this point, Aria did not seem to have realized it herself either.

Nor did Aria notice the spatial seed and temporal seed within her sea of consciousness had finished forming and began drawing in power subtly at some point, especially the temporal seed.

An hour quickly passed during Aria and Darlene's discussion, but the battle inside the second trial ground continued to rage on, albeit with declining intensity.

At this point, the demons were on the brink of exhaustion, about to be overwhelmed and wiped out at any moment.

"Seems like the demons won't be able to hold out for much longer…"

The One-Eyed Venerable Shaman softly stated before shifting his gaze back onto the group of Battle Masters in seated meditation and sensing their growing auras.

"And by the looks of it, a few of us are about to breakthrough in their cultivation."