556 Stina, Kyle, and Sherry

"This?"

He observed the situation before noticing that the scepter on his hand also channeled its energy into his body.

"Wait?" Alex was confused about this whole mess as he couldn't afford to have trouble in this trial.

"Kh…" The Dragon Energy that had been absorbed by his Dragon Strengthening Technique and the Phoenix Energy in the Fire God Scepter, fused inside his body before creating a strange mark on his back.

On his back appeared two tattoos: A Dragon and a Phoenix Tattoo.

After getting charged by the energy, the tattoos shone in golden color.

Without waiting for him, the staff vibrated and sent energy to his mind, giving him knowledge about a particular Martial Art.

"Dragon and Phoenix Body Technique?" Alex was utterly speechless.

By looking at a few lines in the book, he already knew that this technique was an upgraded version of the Dragon Strengthening Technique.

He took a few breaths before checking the whole contents of the Dragon and Phoenix Body Technique. He only skimmed it a little bit because of the trial.

It would seem this technique was two partial techniques that had been combined. This technique allowed him to use an aura of a Dragon and a Phoenix respectively. If he used the dragon aura, he would get a powerful strength. On the other hand, he could release a powerful pressure with Phoenix Aura that could be used as a defensive shield even from a normal attack.

Unfortunately, Alex had no experience with this technique. Rather than depending on an unknown technique, he revealed his Pure Fire.

"Fu." Alex cracked the Phoenix Seed to release his Pure Fire. The Pure Fire reaction was more intense than he thought as it suddenly burned the pressure around him. '

The Pure Fire was like no other fire. It was hovering around him as it burned a portion of the pressure. With this, he could advance further.

Before he knew it, Ruben had given up on the 440th, failing to beat the record.

"I'm sorry, Lucia." Ruben fell with sadness. He stretched his hand forward. It was only three planks away but still unreachable.

Following him, the last heir from Supreme Element Sect finally gave up after reaching 934th plank. One plank away from Lucia.

Meanwhile, Alex's group also had no leeway in this situation.

"Are you seriously, alright?" Kyle looked at Stina, who could barely move after advancing for 935 planks.

Even though Alex's Pure Fire had strengthened her talent, it was still not enough because she was already too old. She looked at Kyle and placed her hands on his shoulder. "I am fine. I just need to work out a little bit."

After saying that, Stina spat a mouthful of blood, running through her mask. She clenched her broken arm as she rose from the ground and walked forward.

She remembered that her husband was always above her. She wasn't complaining about it, but she also had her pride. His pride should be protected, and as his wife, there was no way she could give up with just a little bit of pain.

The few thousand years of waiting was far more painful than this.

Pushing away Kyle's hand from her shoulder, she walked forward without waiting for Alex's order, showing Kyle she was fine.

She reached the next plan and fell again. Just like the other people, she also entered the last few planks of her trial. It was impossible to follow Alex or Kyle after this point.

936th…

937th…

938th…

Stina continued forward with a determination, making Kyle's heart wrenched. It was so hurt as he felt someone squeeze his heart.

Kyle followed her step by step as he helped them every time she fell. He wanted to stop her, but in his heart, he also wanted to support her.

The two contradictory feelings made his heart in anguish.

Alex and Sherry also followed them without saying anything. This was the matter between Kyle and Stina.

Step by step she went through, and before long, she finally reached Ruben on 940th plank.

"Just a few more steps to pass three planks…" She muttered, trying to go forward. With her husband worrying her, her heart felt a surge of strength to pass the last few planks. She might be the one with the least potential in the Spirit Nest. At the very least, she wanted to pass the highest record in this trial as to protect the pride of Spirit Nest.

941st…

942nd…

943rd…

She finally reached the same place as the highest record. However, she had no energy left inside her body to even stand up

Stina spat a mouthful of blood and tried to rise again. Unfortunately, she couldn't even stand up. Even so, she kept muttering on her mind, "Just one more… Just one more…"

Despite having a fuzzy consciousness and no energy. She kept marching forward even if she needed to crawl on the ground.

Until she finally broke the record.

'She did it.'

'She was the first one to break the record.'

Kyle leaped toward her and hugged her tightly. It was like half of his life had gone away as he muttered, "It's fine… It's fine now… You did it. I am proud of you, so please rest."

He couldn't help but let out tears from behind his mask. The words filled with emotions were conveyed and resonated with her heart as she said, "I am glad, Husband."

Alex and Sherry closed their eyes.

The people outside also wanted to cause a ruckus, but the scene of this pair was beautiful. They wanted to tell the whole how ridiculous their relationship was considering the gap between their age, they just couldn't utter it.

Secondly, those top influences were shocked by Stina, who finally broke the record. But they were speechless because they saw Kyle, Alex, and Sherry also broke the record… in a more relaxed way.

The energy started enveloping her body, signaling the others she finally gave up the trial. Kyle rose from the ground and looked at Alex. "Master, let's go."

Although he couldn't see his expression, he was determined to finish this trial.

"Sure." Alex nodded and started picking up the pace again after Stina gave up.

…

A few minutes after Stina gave up, the people outside were shocked by a shout.

"Look… He... No, they. They passed the 950th mark. Are they going to beat this trial?" One of the people outside exclaimed in a shocked tone.

The people gasped as they never expected someone could reach this far. Their condition looked much better than other people to boot.

"You all can go on, right?" Alex asked, noticing Sherry and Kyle started having a short breath.

"Yes." Sherry nodded with a serious expression.

On the other hand, Kyle's answer came in the form of action. He raised his hand to the sky before his fire gradually rose to the sky.

Kyle tried to take a deep breath after that, but to no avail. The pressure started coming onto him as he felt awful at the moment. He raised his hand again before observing and clenching it a few times.

Alex looked at his hand with his Spirit Eyes to check his condition, albeit found nothing wrong with him.

"It's only numb. Seeing this, I might probably go down before Elder Sister Sherry." Kyle sighed in disappointment. He wasn't sad because Sherry beat him, but because he couldn't finish this trial for Stina.

"If you are fine, then it's alright." Alex nodded, calculating how many planks Kyle would reach. He shook his head as Kyle would be the one to decide that, not him.

"Let's go." Without waiting, Alex took another step forward.

Sherry patted Kyle's shoulder before following Alex.

951st…

952nd…

953rd…

Alex was still going strong. At first, the people thought Alex might have the ability to break the record, but now, they could only think how far Alex would go.

The same as Song Yu and Song Jia. They stared at him, looking not much better than Kyle's state. They had slowed down their pace just to see how far Alex could go, but in the end, Song Jia gave up on the 935th plank.

Song Yu could only grit her teeth as she walked alone while watching Alex's group.

They went strong at the moment and reached the 960th mark easily, but not long after that, she widened her eyes.

"Gah!" Kyle spat blood while clenching his fists to not go down just for this. They had reached 965th planks, and his vision became blurry. Although he somehow saw Alex's figure, it wouldn't be so long before he needed to give up.

"Kyle?" Alex was concerned about Kyle's state. After having an emotional impact from earlier, he might do something reckless in this trial.

Unfortunately, Kyle could hear him any longer. His instinct took over him and marched forward without waiting for Alex.

It was just one step away. He continued with that in mind, and before long, he fell after reaching 970th plank.

Alex gave a pat on his back since Kyle had yet to take back his wings. The warm hand raised his instinct as the wing slowly disappeared from his back.

"You have worked hard." He smiled.

Sherry also wanted to say something, but her condition was not much better. Her hands were shivering from the pressure, and she hid it so as to not make Alex worry.

"How about you, Sherry?" Looking at her Spiritual Energy, he could see a sign of exhaustion on her.

Sherry only sent a thought transmission to him, thinking it was easier than opening her mouth. "I can still go on. Master, do you remember when I carried you from that forest to Acacia Kingdom? The feeling I needed to endure at that time was more painful than this. Although I could reveal my original form to get a better fight with this pressure, the problem we would get was far heavier and not worth the reward. So… Master, please don't say anything and trust me."

Alex's heart was moved. He recalled when he decided not to kill the fox who protected a certain medicinal ingredient. Meeting her, sparing her life, and letting her accompany him might be the best decision he had made.

Looking at this stubborn little girl, Alex smiled behind his mask before turning around. "Let's go."

Alex didn't say anything the whole time because his worry might also hurt her, so he only stood tall in front of her, leading the way.

Staring on his back, Sherry smiled. One of her arms and legs were broken, but she endured it. She didn't want to make Alex turn around because of her groan.

Despite not hearing anything, Alex knew how much pain Sherry endured right now. He bit his lips until blood fell out of his mouth.

He kept cheering for Sherry inside of his heart and walking forward.

Step by step he went through; each step was painful because he felt Sherry was suffering.

Even so, not a single time, he looked back to check Sherry's condition. Sherry also had her own pride, but after he reached 985th plank, he abruptly turned around because Sherry sent the last thought transmission.

'I'm sorry, Master.'

He saw Sherry stumble upon the 980th plank and gave up. Despite numbness covering his hand, He stretched his hand toward her, wanting to hug her to show how much he was proud of her.

'This trial…' Alex gritted his teeth and walked forward again. 'Don't worry, Sherry. I will beat this trial.'

986th…

987th…

988th...

Alex was panting as he looked at the last ten planks before him. He felt with his current Spiritual Energy, he should be able to finish this in one go. The people outside were utterly shocked by this and couldn't take their eyes away from him.

They were wondering whether Alex could beat this trial or not. And this might be the factor that would decide their future action.

Unexpectedly, before marching forward, A few sentences appeared before him.

'Challenger has appeared.'

'Moving to the real trial.'

'Each step from here would be a dangerous field where you would feel a Martial Saint Pressure.'

'Are you ready, o' Challenger?'

It was at this moment he knew, he f*cked up.

***

(A/N: Hi guys, I have made a glossary for Gacha System and his spirits. You can take a look on the Auxiliary Chapter.)

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