Aksai's vision blurred.
The chamber around him dissolved as the spectral notifications finalized his teleportation.
The world spun around him as if he was trapped inside so king of shadow vortex, making him subconsciously close his eyes.
A mont later, he felt solid ground beneath his feet once again. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hall so vast and majestic that he montarily forgot to breathe.
The space was imnse, with towering pillars that seed to stretch endlessly toward the vaulted ceilings.
Golden lights floated through the air, their movents fluid and serene, resembling polar northern lights that danced and shimred with a soft, celestial glow. Despite their calm beauty, they carried a faint yet potent energy, making Aksai's Spirit essence stir in response. It was as if soone or sothing had purified a very high grade of Spirit essence before making it manifest in such a way.
"This… this is the Holy Land's treasury? Looks like a very rich bank to ."
He took a hesitant step forward, his bare feets echoing faintly against the polished, reflective floor. The hall made him feel insignificant, like a re speck in an ocean of grandeur.
Around him were nurous doors, each sealed shut and radiating an aura of mystery. They varied in size and design, so modest and others imposing, yet all seed to hold untold secrets.
Directly ahead of him stood the most breathtaking feature of the hall: two massive golden doors. These doors were at least 20 ters tall, carved with intricate patterns that shimred faintly under the golden light.
An upside-down triangle-shaped large array formation surrounded the doors, its patterns of shifting runes and sigils glowing faintly. The array humd with restrained power, and the doors gave off an aura of impenetrable authority.
"This…. This is amazing. I don't think even the Big Five Sects combined can reach one tenth of the grandeur that this place has."
Aksai was srized. His eyes traced the vast expanse of the hall and the richness of its design. Every detail—the delicate carvings, the floating lights, the sheer scale—exuded power and history.
He could feel it in his bones: Holy Land Torel must have been one of the greatest powerhouses of its ti. The wealth and knowledge it once commanded must have been unparalleled, capable of shaping entire eras of the Dadangar Subcontinent.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't imdiately notice the voice that called out to him.
"Are you impressed, lad?"
The words, light yet tinged with amusent, jolted Aksai from his awe-struck state. His body stiffened instinctively, and his gaze darted around, searching for the source.
He quickly spotted a figure standing at the foot of the huge golden doors.
She was a young woman, dressed in flowing robes that seed to be made of woven sunlight and erald leaves.
Aksai imdiately understood why he hadn't noticed her earlier—his senses had been overwheld by the sheer scale of the place.
The woman stood about 200 ters away, watching him with a serene expression. She had a natural elegance, her posture relaxed yet poised. Despite her unassuming deanor, she radiated a powerful aura.
Without hesitation, he activated a movent-type Spirit spell, his figure flickering as he closed the distance in monts. He stopped a few ters away from the woman, his guard still up. His sharp eyes studied her carefully.
"Hmmm? Yel…??? no… you are not Yelia…"
The woman's face was strikingly familiar. Her features bore an uncanny resemblance to Yelia. However, subtle differences set them apart.
Her hair, a vibrant shade of deep green, fell in silky waves down her back, and her eyes glowed with a soft golden hue, like sunlight filtering through forest canopies.
She appeared older than Yelia—more mature, more refined, and exuding an air of wisdom that felt almost ageless. She was so beautiful that Aksai didn't even try to check her out.
Aksai had behaved very energetically in front of Yelia when she first appeared in front of him. Yelia was also very beautiful, making Aksai and even his clone Aron awestruck by her beauty.
As such, both Aksai and his clone tried to subtly flirt with Yelia. He was in cloud nine when she called him her lord. It was a form of romance that didn't need a final destination. Just being with Yelia was enough for Aksai to feel energetic and a bit geedy. It was a form of crush that forever stayed alive.
In the end, Aksai sent his clone back to Aether World Acarnis and never summoned him back inside Enchanted Everwood Farm to prevent his clone from interacting with Yelia. The Spirit farr wanted to monopolize Yelia all to himself, even getting jealous of his own clone and retaliating imdiately.
However, if it was Velia in Yelia's place, Aksai wouldn't have acted the sa way. One could say that Aksai subconsciously felt that Velia was out of his league. As such, he didn't even bother to see Velia in the sa light as Yelia. Not that he would admit sothing like this to Yelia.
"Lad… your gaze… I don't know if you are praising my beauty or cursing it," Velia said and chuckled. Nature energy swirled around her, potent and serene, making Aksai acutely aware of his own inadequacies. She was a powerful dryad.
"You… you are?"
Aksai asked, his tone wary as his Spirit essence stirred defensively. The sheer presence of the woman made his instincts scream caution, but he held his ground.
The woman smiled gently. "My na is Velia. I am the guardian spirit of the Holy Land Torel."
Her voice was lodic, carrying the cadence of soone who had lived through countless ages.
"Guardian spirit?" Aksai echoed, his voice laced with surprise. He couldn't help but take another step back, his mind racing.
"So my Enchanted Everwood Farm… the painting… all of them are indeed connected to this place?"
This connection had beco obvious to Aksai after seeing the guardian spirit of the Holy Land Torel. If Velia looked just like Yelia—and Yelia was the artifact spirit of the Enchanted Everwood Farm—then piecing the rest of the puzzle together was as natural as breathing.
After all, Aksai had observed Yelia's peculiar behavior ever since he entered the Holy Land Torel. It seed that she didn't want to face Velia for so reason so she had kept quiet about a lot of things.
Velia simply nodded. "That's right. I'm the guardian spirit of the Holy Land Torel. My existence is bound to this place. For countless centuries, I have safeguarded its inheritance and overseen the trials of those who would claim it."
Her golden eyes flickered with an almost playful glint.
"It's a job I can't quit on my own, lad. Unlike my little sister, I'm unlucky enough to remain cooped up inside this place.
It was only a few years ago that I started having fun again, thanks to those outsiders entering this place. Otherwise, I would have been bored to death. Not that I can die even if I wanted to.
Don't you think guardian spirits are cursed? They can't even take a peek outside the places they've been assigned to. Isn't that tragic, considering how long we have to endure such torture?"
Velia finished with a pout, her expression like that of soone wronged by her elders. Then, as if on cue, her mood shifted entirely. Her playful smile returned, and with a blink, she disappeared from Aksai's vision.
Aksai instinctively turned to look for her but froze when she reappeared right in front of him as he blinked. This ti, she was close—too close. Her golden eyes glimred with mischief as she leaned in, her voice dropping to a teasing whisper in his ear.
"Say, lad, why don't we keep my little sister here as the guardian spirit, and you take instead? I promise I'll be a very good artifact spirit. I'm more mature, more beautiful, and far better at pleasing my master than my little sister, who still doesn't know how to serve properly. Don't you think I'd 'serve' you better?"
Aksai gulped, a nervous bead of sweat trailing down his temple. Her words, dripping with playful insinuation, left him stunned and unsure of how to respond.
'She doesn't feel out of my league now… Can… Can I…'
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, another presence made itself known.
A spectral version of Yelia materialized beside him, her green aura pulsing slightly as her expression shifted to one of annoyance. Without hesitation, she grabbed Aksai by the arm and pulled him back, putting distance between him and Velia.
"Big sister," Yelia said sharply, her nose flaring with indignation, "stop saying such stupid things! You know that's not possible. I know you said all that just to make reveal myself, but still, you should behave properly and with dignity in front of my lord."
Yelia's face flushed slightly as she finished, her tone carrying a mix of irritation and embarrassnt. Velia, anwhile, rely chuckled, her golden eyes gleaming with amusent.
"Oh, little sister, you're still as fiery as ever," Velia teased, a smirk tugging at her lips. "But fine, I'll behave—for now."
User Comments
0 comments from readers