Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 588: The Physique Stele’s Trial of Intellect

CH588 The Physique Stele’s Trial of Intellect

The scene sparked significant concern within Alex.

'If only I possessed Spirit Sight,' he mused silently.

Abruptly, his vision shifted.

Streams of vibrant, multicolored glows washed over his sight.

'Spirit Sight?' Alex’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment.

He promptly turned his focus inward, realizing that his Truth-Seeker Eyes had quietly undergone a restoration. Alex surmised that the metamorphosis he endured following the tribulation was the catalyst for this rapid recovery.

With his Spirit Sight back in action, Alex scrutinized Zora once more, perceiving her through an entirely new perspective. Around her frame, he observed mana leaking continuously outward. As this mana brushed against the air, it chilled the atmosphere, generating a resonance that attracted even more Water elemental mana to her vicinity.

Ordinarily, such an event would have pleased Alex, as it indicated a substantial refinement in Zora’s mana control. Yet, the situation held an underlying sense of unease.

Embedded within her released mana, Alex detected subtle traces of Yin Energy, woven tightly into the mana stream dictated by what looked like the Dragon Kumite method.

Zora peered into his eyes, instantly grasping that he had deciphered her technique. She offered him her signature eye-roll before swiftly curbing the mana emission, letting the gathered Water mana dissipate into the environment. Moments later, she offered a regretful nod to the companions standing nearby.

The trial had concluded quite suddenly once Zora mastered the method for accumulating Water mana amidst the volcanic heat. Specifically, she had intentionally laced her mana with Yin Energy. Because Yin Energy naturally diminishes the thermodynamic state of its surroundings, its release successfully cooled the volcanic air. This thermal shift forced the ambient Water elemental mana to condense, which she then channeled in the traditional way to fuel her spells and overwhelm her trial adversary.

In reality, her opponent had barely offered resistance. The figure moved with perfunctory caution, merely observing to confirm that Zora could consistently execute the method she had devised. Once satisfied, the opponent lowered her guard, triggering the end of the trial and shunting Zora back to the base of the Stele Mountain, still subconsciously holding the technique.

She turned to Alex, observing the flurry of questions etched across his expression.

'Don’t fret. It was intentional,' she assured him. 'I shall explain everything later. For now, focus on your own trials.'

Alex took another look at her, vetting her condition. He noted that even though she had channeled Yin Energy directly through her body rather than her Rune Tattoo, she appeared completely unharmed, devoid of any apparent side effects. While the cryptic old man had acted innocuously, discussing such matters in his orbit felt imprudent. Furthermore, since everyone else had finished their intended trials, Alex’s Physique trial stood as the final hurdle among the Seven Trials of Heaven and Earth.

'Next, the divergent trial of Heavenly Secrets awaits,' Alex thought to himself.

He shared a brief nod with his companions and the elderly guardian before approaching the Physique Stele. Alex drew a deep breath to steel his nerves. Before committing his Spiritual Force to the stele to ignite the trial, he paused, peering into the structure with his Truth-Seeker Eyes.

'Mana… an immense quantity of it,' he whispered internally. With his heightened vision, he tracked the dense, incessant streams of elemental mana surging into the steles. 'How many intricate Sigils must be etched into these stones to require such a constant flow merely for maintenance?' he pondered. 'And if idle steles consume this much energy… how gargantuan would the requirement be during active trials?'

A fresh query surfaced: where was this vast fountain of mana rooted? Such concentrations usually manifested strange natural phenomena. 'This Heaven–Earth Concordance Formation is far more sophisticated than I initially assumed,' Alex concluded.

After gleaning what intel he could via his restored Truth-Seeker Eyes, Alex finally pushed his Spiritual Force into the heart of the stele, commencing the trial.

Alex materialized inside a lavish hall, where the sheer density of mana emanating from every object was palpable. A quick appraisal convinced him that the chamber was a library or a private study. 'If this is a study...'

He scanned the room until his gaze locked onto its inhabitant. Standing near a sprawling, eastern-style window that climbed to the vaulted ceiling was an aged but visibly robust man. Despite the deep creases mapping his face—suggesting an age of eighty years—his frame radiated the vigor of a man in his prime, projecting a life force that would dwarf many typical men in their thirties.

'An elder with the vitality of a youth, is it?' Alex muttered.

The man stood undisturbed, engrossed in a scroll beneath the golden spill of the afternoon sun. Alex opted for patience. Oddly, the customary heavenly projection announcing the trial's nature remained silent. The old man finished his scroll, rolled it neatly, and only then turned his attention to Alex.

'You possess a measure of patience… excellent,' the man remarked. He leveled a frigid, evaluative stare at Alex, then nodded without a change in expression. 'Good. I feared that old goat might choose a muscle-bound dunce after his own image. It seems he grew a few functional brain cells after his final breath,' he remarked with a sneer. 'You appear to be a scholar with a modicum of intellect. I suppose you will suffice.'

Alex stood motionless, uncertain how to address such an unexpected critique.

'You may call me the Heavenly Venerable,' the figure declared. 'I firmly believe the path of Heaven and Earth is, at its core, a path of wisdom. A fool who understands nothing—who is blind to the vast repository of knowledge inherent in the cosmos—has no business walking this noble path. Thus, this trial shall test your intellectual capacity.'

The Heavenly Venerable paced away from the window toward the vast rows of shelves—well over a thousand of them—and filed the scroll away. Pivoting to face Alex, with the endless walls of knowledge looming at his back, he continued. 'This trial is bifurcated into two stages. The first tests your aptitude for acquiring and retaining information. Knowledge serves as the foundation for the intellect. If you desire my sanction to become the Legatee of Heaven and Earth, you must prove your ability to absorb everything presented to you.' He gestured toward the infinite shelves surrounding them. 'Therefore, you must read and memorize every single scroll in this library.'