Under the green sky, in the verdant forest. This forest was endless, spacious, and blooming. Its canopy was dominated by juniper, cedar, and poplar, and sparkling light dancing between the branches allowed for colorful sprouts to dominate the nut and seed-covered grounds below.
Curving climbing plants grasped every tree, and a range of flowers, which grew all over the place, spruced up the otherwise monotonous landscape.
A mixture of animal sounds, most belonging to foraging animals, resonated through the air, and added to the sounds of the rustling of the leaves and branches of the tree tops in the wind.
There was a small stream flowing quietly down from a serene mountain.
Everything seemed like it belonged to a green painting, peaceful and ordinary.
Swoosh!
Yet, this peace didn't last long. The sound of someone flying through the area broke this peace. A burst of light shot over here from far away. Suddenly, the jet of light stopped while leaving trails of smoke and dust in the sky.
Alex looked down at the winding forest underneath him. He wiped away the sweat on his forehead after taking a look behind him. The green mist area was already behind him.
"Sigh! That was dangerous. I didn't think it would be so annoying to deal with…"
Silveria who was in Alex's embrace started nodding. She looked at the misty area they left behind.
"That place is wide and it had perception-fooling properties. If it didn't converge at one point in an attempt to trap us then I am afraid we might have a harder time finding a way out.
"Yeah, you're right.''
Alex heaved another sigh.
"The fog screwed itself over, let's just end this chapter on that point…"
He said while gazing at the green mist from afar.
The green storm suddenly dissipated as it returned to its dormant state. Even from this distance, the two could still see the green fog threatening to cover everything, although at a slow pace.
Even more vexing, the green fog formed an encirclement around the area where Alex and Silveria fell prey to the green fog.
In other words, they would have encountered the fog no matter which direction they took. They couldn't escape the trial of a perfect dream and the annoying illusions.
Alex looked at Silveria for a moment before suddenly raising a question.
"Did you also fall into the dream realm?"
Silveria simply nodded going silent for a moment before explaining.
"I was holding your hand when we went in. Then, my hand felt empty. When I realized it, I was already alone."
"Next thing I knew, a Doppelg?nger appeared in front of me. She shot me with an arrow and I entered a dream realm."
"I see…"
Alex started musing out loud before raising another question, the most important one.
"What kind of dream was it?"
"You married me."
Silveria didn't bother hiding her dream. She also didn't sound coy. She didn't understand how her simple words affected Alex greatly.
"It was a dream where you married only me, you didn't bring along the other girls by your side."
Alex started sweating while laughing awkwardly.
The dream was a manifestation of her deepest desire. If Silveria saw herself getting hitched to Alex as the sole wife then.
Silveria doesn't want to share Alex with the other ladies like Maria, Luna, and the others.
He felt bitter inside, somehow he was hoping that every one of his women would easily accept sharing their man and be like one big family without much discord. This thinking couldn't be more selfish as nobody loves to share what they love, he knew too well yet he was hoping for the impossible.
Alex shelved that thought and to forget about this he raised his next question.
"Then, why did you leave that dream?"
"That dream had a fatal error."
Silveria coldly analyzed.
"A flaw? What do you mean?" Alex asked her to further elaborate and she did.
"It is simply because my father congratulated me."
''!'' Alex's body shuddered and he seemed to have recalled something in flash but he couldn't quite put his finger on it just like before meanwhile Silveria continued with her explanation not giving Alex the time to muse over the weird feelings he kept having since appearing in this place.
"It didn't sound like what he would do. If I did get married, the father I remember will probably find a crime to pin my husband to the stakes or some other method of execution."
Upon hearing this revelation Alex almost freezes to death. His face was also drenched in a cold sweat.
Looks like he underestimated the doting father's immense overprotectiveness toward his daughter.
'I have to be careful from now on.'
Silveria slightly smiled when she saw Alex's sweating look. This laugh only lasted one or two seconds before disappearing. She started looking around.
"We are out of the green mist's encirclement but it seems like we are still confined within somewhere…"
Alex was plotting various plots to prepare for his father-in-law's intervention in the future before he gets done. He stopped his plots while glancing around.
Alex and Silveria noticed that they were in a mountain range with hills so immense that it seemed like the mountain range stretched into the heavens.
They frowned at the sight of the mountain range.
"Don't tell me we have to navigate this mountain range to get out of the no-magic zone?…"
Alex looked up at the nearest mountain. Nope, he could not find the peak or anything resembling the summit.
Truly, the mountain range went beyond the clouds.
"Sigh! Please don't tell me we have to fly up there to find the mountaintop?…"
Alex bitterly laughed.
"This is the Dungeon Guardian's trial? It just looks like the guardian trying to block anyone from entering the last floor…"
It's obvious he would think like this.
With magic power sealed, it already turned cultivators into mere mortals who can't fight back at all. Wu Yan can still fight without douqi and magic so he's an exception.
Now, with this super tall mountain range around them, how is a mortal supposed to overcome this?
Moreover, one has to do this within the time limit which is one week
Silveria also considered this point. She raised an eyebrow while shaking her head.
"I remember others saying that the Guardian will never give someone an impossible trial."
Silveria replied.
"Also, the father already told us that the Guardian sets trial based on the participant. The stronger the participant, the harder the test. The more the participants, the harder the trials…"
"You're saying this test is so hard because we are too powerful?"
Alex gasped.
"We are only weak Demigod and Saint realm experts respectively, if the trial is already this hard then the powerful Demigod…"
"There is also the chance that it's so hard because you have abnormal abilities…"
Silveria gave her opinion.
"The Guardian is impartial. With so many abilities and abnormal skills, you would have passed a normal trial all too easily…"
"I mean…"
Alex felt helpless.
"Fine, let's see if we go up there…"
"Yeah, let's do that…"
Silveria nodded.
"With your ability, it should be easy…"
Alex rolled his eyes at the princess. He inhaled deeply before flying upwards, carried by the magnetized iron sword.
Alex and Silveria looked smaller than specks of dust when compared to the gigantic mountain range. They were like the iron sword carrying them, tiny and minuscule. Yet, the minuscule existences flew as if they accepted the challenge given to them.
They endured the intense waves of gusts and the chilling low temperature. Alex and Silveria regulated their breathing. With the wind's violent whispers in their ears, the duo flew up toward the clouds.
Stopping somewhere above the cloud, they looked around to find the peak.
Terrifyingly enough, the mountain range still stretched higher into the heavens.
If there is a space beyond this sub-space then surely the summit must be near the end of space.
Silveria felt dizzy. Meanwhile, Alex's eyes lit up, and he pointed in one direction.
"Look, over there!"
Silveria looked and...
There was a big hole near one corner of the mountain range. It looked like a giant mouth waiting to devour unsuspecting visitors.
In the clouds, somewhere near the mountain range that looked like it wanted to devour the heavens. Everything's green here, the clouds, the land, the air, it felt surreal being in a place like this.
With Silveria in his arms, Alex flew towards the giant opening near one of the mountain ranges. He hovered fifteen meters away from the opening. His green eyes narrowed slightly.
This cave was huge!
He was just standing at the entrance but it felt like he was an ant staring up at a wall dozens of meters tall.
°°°°°°
Somewhere in the outside world, there were two voices.
''Big sister, what should we do about the current situation?"
''Nothing, I didn't expect such a powerful curse. Let's just watch and see how he will deal with the situation. We must believe in him, he is our master after all.''
''Okay!''
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