67. Leaving the Novice Village
Xiling looked at his home.
A sense of security washed over him.
Just as he had said that night, it had only been a short time, yet it felt like a lifetime ago.
Xiling patted his face. He was still so young. Why was he being so sentimental?
Xiling's hand clenched the holy sword, turned, and walked towards a specific direction deep in the forest.
The Hero Forest was both large and small.
A river.
A forest.
A sky.
An altar.
A road.
And a sealed gate.
Stepping onto the path that seemed to be paved by countless footprints, leading to the final destination, Xiling stared ahead.
At the end of the path was the heavy, sealed gate.
And before the gate stood a skeleton soldier.
Its hollow eyes seemed to stare back at Xiling. Xiling looked at the skeleton soldier, or guardian.
Xiling's breathing quickened slightly. Two years! Two whole years! He had rehearsed countless times in his mind how to dodge, how to attack, how to cleave the opponent's skeleton with the holy sword, avenging his previous defeat!
"Guardian..."
Xiling's right hand suddenly clenched the hilt!
"Clang!"
The holy sword was drawn!
The moment the holy sword was completely unsheathed, as if the act of drawing it had pressed a button, the skeleton soldier in front of him trembled ever so slightly—Xiling wasn't even sure if it was an illusion—and then, its skeleton began to silently and rapidly dissipate!
Like a sand sculpture blown away by the wind, its solid bones crumbled piece by piece, transforming into countless tiny particles that shimmered with a pure, silver-white luster.
In just a breath or two, the place was empty. There was only one key that also shone with a soft silver light, floating quietly where the skeleton soldier had originally stood, as if it had finally condensed from those dissipated light spots.
Time seems to have frozen.
Xiling maintained the posture of drawing the sword; the light of the holy sword was still spitting out, and the expression on Xiling's face froze:
"Huh?"
Xiling's outstretched fingers couldn't help but tremble slightly, pointing at the open space.
"No...no..."
The sound is as dry as sandpaper rubbing
"Why did you suddenly leave?!"
Xiling's tone suddenly rose, with a sense of incredible absurdity,
"And you just leave like that?!"
What will I do if you leave!!
Two years!
Do you know how he has lived in the past two years?
He is always thinking of ways to defeat that skeleton soldier every day!
After Xiling awakened the essence of the brave. What he wanted to do the most was nothing more than to give that damn skeleton soldier a good beating.
But the other party actually did this!
Maintain your undefeated record, huh?
How could you be so selfish!
The floating silver-white key hummed softly, then, as if drawn by an invisible thread, it drifted lightly and slowly toward Xiling, finally landing right before his eyes.
Like a deflated ball, Xiling reached out dejectedly and snatched up the key.
Looking at the key in his hand, Xiling felt a sense of defeat.
It was like climbing to the top of a mountain after countless hardships, sharpening your sword, and preparing to face your nemesis, only to find that person lying dead on the summit.
A long-awaited, exhilarating, self-proving duel, and just like that... It's gone? Not even a shadow of an opponent!
Xiling raised his head, his gaze swept across the heavy, sealed door with a complex expression, then glanced down at the key in his hand, the one that had won without a fight.
"...Alas."
Another long sigh, thick with resignation. With a flick of his wrist, Xiling neatly sheathed the holy sword, his chest heaving violently.
He suppressed his inner discontent.
What else could he do now? Life had to go on, and the world had to be saved.
It was time to move on.
We had been stuck here long enough.
Xiling closed his eyes, channeling the magic power within him, flowing it through his arm into the silver-white key.
The runes on the key suddenly lit up, emitting a warm and steady glow.
At the moment of this infusion of magic power, something strange happened!
The once silent Hero Forest seemed to be infused with an invisible vitality.
A sudden breeze, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees, rose from the ground, gently enveloping Xiling, ruffling his hair and the corners of his clothes. This wind, like a long, well-wishful sigh, bid farewell to the hero who was about to embark on an unknown journey.
Immediately afterwards, the forest above erupted in a resounding rustle! It wasn't just the wind rippling leaves; it was as if the entire forest had come alive, every leaf singing, every branch swaying, creating a magnificent melody for this moment.
The dead silence that had once enveloped the forest was completely shattered, and a vibrant clamor filled the entire space.
At this moment, Xiling's wrist exerted force—
"Click!"
A crisp, ancient mechanical sound echoed, as distinct as the breaking of a still seal.
The door...opened.
The heavy bronze door silently slid inward, a crack, and in an instant, an invisible suction force surged from it.
Inside the door wasn't the expected forest or scenery, but a deep, swirling vortex, flowing with countless star-like points of light.
It was like a tunnel of time and space, with no beginning or end in sight, empty and unknown. Xiling turned back one last time, taking a deep look at the newly revived forest behind him—the starting point of the hero.
The wind still blew, the leaves still sang, as if urging him onward.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiling's eyes fixed, and with a hint of lingering regret and a resolute determination to move forward, he stepped into the swirling vortex of light.
His figure was instantly swallowed by the flowing starlight, vanishing without a trace.
Under the gaze of the forest, the heavy bronze gate slowly and silently closed again, as if nothing had happened.
Until... countless, infinitesimal points of silvery-white light—from the forest air, from the ancient tree trunks, even from the soil beneath his feet—quietly emerged and converged.
As if drawn by an invisible gravitational force, they slowly condensed and swirled in mid-air, growing larger and larger until they formed a fist-sized sphere composed purely of soft silver light. It hovered quietly there, emitting a pure, cold glow, like an all-seeing eye of the forest itself.
The silvery-white ball of light seemed to watch the departing figure.
Another breeze, carrying the unique damp coolness of a rainy forest, gently blew past.
The ball of light shattered into countless even finer fragments of light, instantly dissolving into the air, leaving no trace.
As the ball of light disintegrated, a voice, with an indescribable depth, echoed throughout the Hero Forest:
"Last Brave Hero..."
"...You will embark on your journey."
"...A journey called salvation."
"...Go save the shattered world."
"...Go save the shattered Him."
...
It was a ray of light.
A silvery-white light that ripped through the deep night! With unstoppable force, it pierced through the layers of invisible yet real barriers to the world!
Like a meteor burning with pure silver flame, trailing a long, dazzling trail of light. It pierced the long-silent sky before the gazes of countless people looking up!
Above, countless cities, towns, and wildernesses twinkled with lights.
A farmer returning from work paused, an elderly man telling a story by the fire raised his head, lovers nestled by the window ceased whispering, and soldiers on the training ground forgot to swing their swords... Everyone was drawn to the extraordinary light in the sky, radiating a sacredness and hope.
A throbbing, instinctive, life-giving throbbing gripped their hearts.
Without words, without instruction, countless hands clasped together, heartfelt and eagerly making their own prayers.
This meteor, carrying the hopes of the ordinary, continued its preordained trajectory, ignoring the barriers of time and space.
...
Soaring above the world.
In a space that belonged to one person alone. On the throne
A dark-haired man, as if sensing something, opened his eyes. He cast his gaze downward, where a meteor streaked through the darkness.
Seeing this, a smile slowly crossed his face, as if he were celebrating something:
"Here you are..."
"...the last hero."
--
Warm Tip:
No hero has ever emerged from the Hero Forest without awakening their true nature.
No hero has ever faced a more challenging journey than Xiling.