Boundless Cultivation-Chapter 81 - The Crystal-Winged Sovereign

A darkness threatened to engulf the last remains of his active awareness, desperately trying to merge with the consuming darkness inside the sealed chamber.

Another wave of chill went down Alaric’s spine. What is that creature? The meek pounding of his heart had become a quiet reminder of the looming dread. His whole body was sleeked in a cold sweat - a nasty feeling.

I am…scared? Me…? That was the moment he realized something was very wrong. The entity inside felt as strong as Anu-Khepra-Ra; it couldn’t have disabled him so easily. A defiance ignited in his heart - a rippling wave that burned the darkness slowly chipping away at his awareness and strength.

“NO…I’m never afraid,” he let out a roar, cycling a drop of his sacral chakra. The chilling pressure receded back to its source - the sealed chamber. With a snap, he sensed strength flooding his form, along with a primal desire to tear the being that had deceived him.

Before that feeling could spiral out of control, he gripped it in a tight leash. Alaric stood battle-ready, facing the two burning orbs that still loomed like miniature suns inside the dark chamber.

Once more, he felt his body succumbing to weakness. He snapped his eyes shut, activating his [Mana Resonance] skill to take stock of his body and surroundings.

There wasn’t a sign of injury on his body - no broken bones, no wounds, no blood. In fact, he hadn’t even moved from his spot. Only a sheen of sweat covered his entire body.

Suddenly, it all made sense. It had all been an illusion. Inhaling deeply, he steadied his breathing. An extremely powerful mental illusion attack.

If his mind hadn’t been tempered already - courtesy of partially awakening his sacral chakra - he would’ve been trapped inside the illusion - perhaps forever or until death.

“Oh…you managed to shatter the illusion? Impressive,” the melodious female voice purred. “Although, that was simply a greeting.”

He responded by launching a mana blast, hoping that it would be enough to hurt the creature inside. However, his sixth sense told him that it might not be possible to injure the beast unless it came out of the shadows and revealed its full form.

The swirling ball of mana penetrated the darkness and vanished. He thought he heard a flutter of wings inside the darkness. But nothing else - no screech, no cursing of an intelligent beast that had been wounded.

His [Mana Resonance] skill completely failed to penetrate the darkness of the sealed chamber. So, he only had his eyes to rely on, but he was sure that the attack hadn’t wounded it.

“That was adorable,” the creature chuckled. “But let me enlighten you, human - if you aren’t even worthy of unsealing the doors that bind my form, you are far from a threat.”

Alaric relaxed his stance, let out a breath, and pondered over the declaration. By now, he had realized that the creature couldn’t hurt him any more than he could hurt it. The sealed chamber wasn’t completely unlocked which prevented a direct face-off.

The only advantage the creature had over him was its powerful illusion attack. And, even that could be avoided if he didn’t observe the two burning orbs - probably its eyes. For now, Alaric was safe but it also meant he was stuck without a way to defeat the entity inside.

There must be a way to unlock the doors fully. His gaze drifted toward the massive hourglass filled with white sand - still paused. Then shifted to the smaller one with black sand - the top section completely depleted.

After some deliberation, he caught a whiff of a solution. I’ll have to experiment with killing more monsters. But there were still pieces in place that didn’t fit the whole puzzle.

Most important of all - the identity of the mysterious creature inside the locked chamber. He observed something slither like a snake in the darkness, took the blow of a massive feline paw in an illusion, and heard the flutter of wings.

Yet, what communicated from inside was a female human. It was enough to confuse a lot of young cultivators, especially those who had no idea of the culture, history, and legends of this region.

But Alaric wasn’t deceived. What lay inside wasn’t four distinct creatures. If his theory was correct, it was a legendary chimera of an ancient era - A Sphinx.

As if on cue, a notification popped up in his awareness.

Warning - You stand before an ancient enigma, # - - # —

— [Entity not glimpsed fully; Identity remains sealed.]

However, as he tried to read the description, something unexpected happened. The description was incomplete and it seems it would remain so until he fully witnessed the creature by completely unlocking the doors.

He smirked. No matter, I already know what you are. Suddenly, the massive metal doors groaned as they started to close.

“Do your best to become worthy, human,” the entity pleaded. “I will entertain you once you are ready.” A serene laughter faded into the distance as the metal doors snapped shut.

Alaric smiled. He had intended to do just that. But it was enough for today. Seven days. He promised to himself, clenching his fist. I’ll open the doors fully within seven days.

***

A few days later

Alaric wove in between four Anubian Death Guardians, unleashing a blast of mana scrambling wave. Taking advantage of their momentary disability to teleport, he grabbed the heads of two of them and slammed them into one another, temporarily incapacitating them.

The remaining two enemies reached for his neck, but he immediately followed up his attack by launching two mana blasts at their faces. Before their headless bodies fell to the floor, he unleashed two more mana blasts at the previous two enemies, finally killing them.

Eight more presences manifested around him as Alaric prepared another mana-scrambling wave, quickly glancing at the second hourglass. The black sands had trickled only halfway to the bottom section - plenty of time to kill more monsters and unlock the sealed chamber.

Just as the eight death guardians materialized fully, he plunged into their midst and discharged a potent mana-scrambling wave to take them by surprise.

Following that, he hurled a barrage of mana blasts with pinpoint precision, quickly dispatching the creatures by targeting their heads before they had a chance to lift a single limb.

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For the last few days, he had been busy fighting the monsters inside the grand hall. He had experimented with many different strategies to unlock the sealed chamber. From relishing the fights to killing monsters as efficiently as possible.

Based on the events that followed, he had concluded a few things. The first hourglass with the white sands never reset its progress. The sand in it trickled to the bottom section only when he slew enemies.

So far, the sand had descended one-quarter of the way, and he still had no idea about what would happen when the timer ran out. But a sense of foreboding gripped his senses when thought of that.

After he eliminated a certain number of enemies, the timer on the first hourglass stopped while the timer on the second hourglass resumed. The second challenge was a survival trial where he had to face off against Anubian Death Guardians.

Once the timer on the second hourglass ran out, the sealed chamber groaned open - although it had yet to unlock fully. But Alaric had discovered how to unlock it. The sealed doors parted based on the number of death guardians he had killed within the time limit.

So, he focused on quickly dispatching the jackal-headed warriors using a combination of [Mana Scrambling] and [Mana Blast] skills.

During his previous attempt, he had nearly succeeded in fully unlocking the door after killing over sixteen death guardians at once. This time, he aimed to fully unlock the seal.

The main problem was he still had no idea about how to defeat the Sphinx. The mysterious creature had been fighting from the inside, but revealed more of its powers as the door parted wider with each successive attempt.

The emergence of a horde of death guardians pulled him out of his reverie. Sixteen more enemies surrounded him, but he was already prepared for them. Opening with a potent mana scrambling wave, he disrupted their teleportation skill and immediately dispatched two death guardians.

Before the jackal-headed warriors regained their footing, he wove between them and sliced through three of them with his mana sword in a wide arc. It was an attempt to stall and sow confusion - which worked beautifully.

Enraged, the death guardians leaped at him from all sides, wielding their khopesh from every angle. However, he could read their movements even with his eyes closed due to his [Mana Resonance] skill.

Thus, he remained one step ahead of them - adjusting his position to never be in the line of attack of more than two death guardians. Instead of dodging when he could, Alaric utilized his shield to offer them a false sense of hope of killing him.

Little did they know that it was a tactic to separate them. And Alaric made full use of that to divide and conquer the jackal-headed warriors one by one.

Periodically discharging mana scrambling waves proved to be extremely effective at nullifying two of their most powerful skills - teleportation and corrosive green aura.

Bisecting the body of the last death guardian, he halted. He could feel it - defeating the next wave would be enough to unlock the door completely.

However, unlike his expectation, only a single presence materialized inside the hall - a much larger Anubian Death Guardian decked in regal, ornate gold and black armor, exuding a potent aura of strength.

Silver chains coiled around its limbs and floated in the air, humming with energy. Its eyes were completely white - pupilless.

Is that their leader? Before he could unleash a mana-scrambling wave, the elite disappeared with an enraged howl. The next moment, a massive shadow loomed in his vision as it planted a fist in his gut.

He buckled but followed up with an uppercut of his own - only it didn’t connect. The elite death guardian was much faster at activating its teleportation skill.

Alaric grinned. No matter. This is exactly how a final challenge should be. Truthfully, he had grown bored at the lack of challenge once he had figured out an effective strategy for quickly eliminating the monsters.

Now, a surge of adrenaline burst in his chest - if he failed to defeat this monster, he would have to start all over again. And, he had no intention of wasting more time.

The elite death guardian teleported from one spot to another, trying to scare and confuse him. Or perhaps it was simply that fast. Alaric didn’t mind, he was pleased with the challenge.

His [Mana Empowerment] skill continuously fed tremendous power to his body. Activating his [Zen Flow] skill, he honed in on his senses, filtering the information relayed to him by his [Mana Resonance Skill].

Moments later, he pivoted and cleaved through a shadow that appeared behind him. The elite barely managed to escape the strike and retaliated with a slash of his own. Both of them engaged in raw, close-ranged combat.

The elite blinked in and out of sight, always a step faster, refusing him a moment of reprieve. Alaric glanced at the second hourglass - the upper section was almost empty of the black sand.

This isn't working. Harder…I have to try harder! Any time he attempted to unleash a mana-scrambling wave, the elite darted inside his guard and struck him.

Without his most powerful skill, Alaric and the elite stood on equal footing. He considered channeling a drop of his root chakra to further boost his physical prowess, but a tingling sensation inside his heart had been nagging at him for some time.

I wonder…He kept slicing his sword, clashing against the elite death guardian’s khopesh in a flurry of sparks.

Suddenly, the surge of adrenaline congealed in his heart and transformed into a wave of tingles that flowed all over his body. Hmm…what is this?

He had experienced something similar after completing his first muscle reforging session - a subtle tingling sensation within his muscles. Only this time, it was far more intense.

The next instant, the movement of the elite didn’t seem as fast. He could track the creature with his eyes and realized it wasn’t teleporting all the time. Alaric felt his body burning mana at a tremendous pace.

I have to end this now…Mustering all his strength, he swung his fist just as the elite death guardian materialized before him. His fist connected to the elite jackal-headed warrior’s abdomen, detonating in a blast of yellow lightning.

Electricity crackled all around them. Alaric noticed the death guardian’s body convulsed for just a moment — but it was enough. He discharged a potent mana scrambling wave to disable the creature and unleashed a mana blast at its face at point-blank range.

Surprisingly, the creature was still able to move with half of its face blown to shreds. He put the creature out of its misery with another mana blast.

That was too close. The timer ran out on the second hourglass moments later. He squeezed his grip, sensing the unexpected boost in his strength leaving his body.

No, that wasn’t quite correct - the tingling wave was retreating back to his heart. Alaric smiled. It looks like I’ve managed to awaken the bloodline power of the Vermond family line.

Usually, young cultivators manifested their bloodline powers at Tier 2. However, he had managed to tap into the bloodline power much earlier due to his knowledge of bloodline purification. Not to mention, he had partially awakened his heart chakra and started reforging his heart not too long ago.

The access to his bloodline power was still at a nascent stage. In fact, he didn’t believe he could access the power voluntarily as of yet. But it was still good progress.

Alaric stopped his train of thought as the massive metal doors started to part, rumbling the entire hall. For the first time, the doors opened fully but he didn’t entertain the foolish idea of glancing inside.

Instead, he closed his eyes as soon as the darkness revealed itself and used his [Mana Resonance] skill to inspect his surroundings.

“You have learned your lesson, human,” said the entity with a mirthful voice. An exact replica of the massive feline paw he witnessed in the illusion cut through the darkness and stepped inside the hall, followed by another.

“Open your eyes and admire my form,” said the creature as it fully emerged from the darkness. “For just this once, I will allow you to glimpse my greatness.”

Alaric had half a mind to ignore the creature, just to spite it. However, his reasonable side prevailed. Although he could still fight the creature with his eyes closed, witnessing it with his own eyes could reveal details - weaknesses - that he might not catch with his [Mana Resonance] skill.

Besides, he could sense that the creature hadn’t activated any of its skills yet - not even the weave of illusion. Trusting his gut, he slowly opened his eyes and inspected the magnificent form that stood before him.

Standing over thirty feet tall, the creature of legends was a haunting beauty. Dazzling crystal wings sprouted from its back, refracting light into a mesmerizing cascade of colors. A serpentine tail whipped through the air as if it had a mind of its own.

Its enormous body - resembling that of a great lion - was draped in thick, golden fur, each muscle rippling beneath as it moved with an elegant grace. He had no doubt that its massive paws, armed with wickedly sharp claws, could tear through his flesh or stone alike with ease.

And then, there was the face - the head of a beautiful woman framed with flowing black hair, whipping in an invisible breeze. The creature's eyes matched her lips - twin orbs of burning ruby - although the fire within them remained subdued for now.

Warning - You stand before an ancient enigma, the Crystal-Winged Sovereign—Veyphara, the Mirage Queen. In her presence, perception is a fragile thing—beware, lest you lose yourself within her ever-shifting realm.