Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 266: Trial of Mind: Ancient Stone

--

No one was in the reception area when Cedric came out. The place still looked the same as when he saw it for the first time.

Apart from the hall that led to the personal rooms of challengers, the only other doors led to the trials themselves. There's even a plate on top of the doors that dictates which one leads to what.

The system AI tipped him that out of the three, he should go to the Trial of Mind first. The AI didn't provide any additional details after that; it just casually mentioned this.

Cedric thought that he didn't have anything to lose, so he decided to follow its suggestions. He walked to the middle door, which led to the Trial of Mind.

Swoosh!

As soon as he touched the doorknob, Cedric found himself standing in a completely different world. It happened so quickly that he didn't even sense it happening.

Cedric released a defeated sigh. He turned around and inspected the place he's at.

He found himself standing inside a wooden dojo. In the middle of this room, he saw a boulder that looked incredibly ancient, and his entire being screamed at him to get up close and personal.

Cedric tapered down his instincts forcefully. This took a lot of effort because the pull of this thing was stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

As he grappled for control over his instincts, a system window appeared before him, stating:

**

[Trial of Mind; 1st Stage]

[Stipulation #1: Sit and meditate in front of the Ancient Stone. You may only look at it. Making any form of physical contact with it will result in failure.]

[Stipulation #2: The Ancient Stone contains millions of skills, techniques, arts, etc. At the first stage, you will only be exposed to 10 of them. The more you focus on comprehending and resisting the allure of the stone, the more insights you will receive.]

[Stipulation #3: Under the Dynamic Difficulty, you are given 3 chances. Giving in to temptation means losing one chance. Use all three, and the Trial of Mind will permanently be closed to you. Please be aware of this.

[Requirements for Clearance: Comprehend 10 skills from the Ancient Stone and raise 5 of these skills to Intermediate Mastery.]

[Time Limit: 10 years.]

[Tip: If you feel like you need time to digest your gains or if the temptation is becoming too strong for your liking, simply think about leaving this place, and you'll be sent out. You don't need to stay inside and comprehend and raise the mastery of everything in one go.]

**

Cedric pursed his lips as he analyzed the rules of this trial.

It certainly feels challenging. Cedric has never felt anything like this before. On Prime Earth, his willpower was almost unparalleled, and his mind was fortified due to his experience. He initially thought that nothing could shake him, but he was so wrong. This place continuously humbled him, and the stone in front of him was no different.

Cedric took a deep breath. He felt a bit confused about the time limit because of the time difference, but he wasn't on the right track to pay any attention to that right now, so he could only recklessly bite the bullet and start the test.

He sat in front of the ancient stone in a meditative pose with his eyes closed at first. He could feel his instincts screeching at him, and it's starting to get unbearable. Despite that, he persevered and restored some semblance of control. He didn't want his first attempt to end in a miserable failure.

Once he felt that he was ready, Cedric opened his eyes and stared at the ancient stone. His expression turned wretched instantly because the pull just increased by several levels as soon as he did that.

Cedric clenched his jaws and his fist. He regulated his breath and kept his eyes focused on the stone.

In the middle of his fight against his instincts, he caught sight of something. It was faint at first, but it contained so much charm that his mind instantly and subconsciously became drawn to it.

The longer he stared, the clearer it became. It didn't take long before he was completely enamored by it, and all of his thought chambers concentrated on watching the sight unfold.

With glazed eyes, Cedric saw an image of the rising sun over the horizon. He felt inexplicably connected to it. He felt his heart thump in excitement as he watched the sun rise from the horizon. He felt its first rays illuminating his body and its warmth coursing through his blood.

The resonance was so strong that Cedric became devoted to it. Suddenly, this rising sun was all he could see and feel. The strange allure of the Ancient Stone had been completely forgotten at this point.

Unexpectedly, the rising sun flew above and beyond the skies. The scene switched to outer space, where he saw that sun shining in its entire glory. His gaze spotted something strange, though...

Somebody was inside the sun. It's a little difficult to see, but Cedric couldn't be mistaken. There's a person sitting the same way as he currently does.

As he focused on this person, an explosive change suddenly occurred. His vision warped, and all of a sudden, all he could see was the entity he saw sitting at the center of that sun.

It's as if this entity were sitting directly in front of him. His body was formed by celestial bodies, and their facial features were a little difficult to make out.

The only thing that's clear to Cedric is the state of the entity's body. And upon looking at it closely, he felt that it was strangely familiar.

He saw a majestic, swirling cosmos with a golden nebula at the core of this entity. Cedric also saw a trail of milky white passages that formed a unique and intricate network of pathways that led to every corner of the entity's body.

Cedric saw a golden core that looked a lot like the sun on the entity's feet, hands, at the base of the entity's neck, their clavicle, forehead, and at the base of their spine, and the last one was at the entity's core.

"Nine Suns..." Cedric subconsciously muttered in his daze.

The resonance was dialed up to 11 all of a sudden. Suddenly, Cedric's entire body shook, and a strange phenomenon appeared around him.

Nine illusory suns appeared around him, accompanied by the charm of Concept Laws, blistering heat, and unparalleled brilliance. The Nine Suns revolved around him for quite some time; each completed revolution brought them closer and closer to manifestation.

At the peak of their manifestation in the physical realm, the Nine Suns paused and suddenly flew straight into several areas, drilling into Cedric's body and embedding themselves into his being.

Cedric's body shook physically as he immediately fell into a trance.

Suddenly, his blood felt like rolling magma. His body was steaming, seemingly being cooked alive. His skin blistered and charred, peeling layers after layers.

A huge funnel of Cosmic Energy swirled around him, and Cedric greedily devoured it like a whale inhaling air. Cedric quite literally molted nine times before it stopped. All of this happened without his being conscious of it.

In his daze, Cedric saw himself becoming that entity all of a sudden. He felt an overwhelming sensation of omnipotence and omnipresence. He felt like he was a god. He had never felt this kind of high before, and it felt scary.

He didn't bask in this feeling for long. He eventually came down from his trance and discovered the changes that had happened within him. Delving into his consciousness, he discovered that the ?Aspect of the Sun" had disappeared. It was instead replaced with a bubble, which contained an archaic book titled:

?Nine Suns Empyrean Codex?

This thing was similar to the White Lotus Technique, but instead of focusing on the accumulation of energy and prolonging one's lifespan, the ?Nine Suns Empyrean Codex? focuses on forming a physique that can handle the power of the Nine Extreme Suns.

"It's a cultivation technique..." Cedric muttered to himself.

Sinking his perception into his body, he saw the faint apertures where the Nine Suns were located; the first one was at his core; there's one on each palm and foot, one at the base of his spine and nape, one at his clavicle, and one on his forehead.

These apertures are hollowed for now; in fact, aside from the one on his core, the rest were locked. He needs to accumulate energy or consume Heavenly Resources to fill and/or unlock the rest of the apertures, turning them all into Extreme Sun apertures.

Once all of the apertures are unlocked and filled, it will signify the perfection of the ?Nine Suns Empyrean Codex?.

Cedric sharply inhaled as he basked in the sheer density of untapped power coursing through him. Even with a single aperture opened (not even filled), he was already leagues above his previous self.

"...and this is just one of the 10 things I can receive from this ancient stone," Cedric mused to himself. "Such is the foundation of a grand civilization, I suppose."

He opened his eyes and reluctantly stared at the Ancient Stone before releasing a breath and leaving the trial space, deciding to consolidate his recent transformation in the comfort of his room.