Luna took a moment to drink in the heavenly scenery before her.

  The river was mesmerizing, almost unreal in its beauty. Its surface shimmered beneath the moonlight, casting delicate ripples of silver that danced across the water. The sound of the flowing current was soothing, wrapping around her like a soft lullaby, momentarily easing the tension in her body.

  For the first time since she arrived, she felt calm. But she couldn’t let herself be lulled into complacency.

  With a deep breath, Luna shifted her focus. Now that she had found the river, Luna started to follow its flow.

  She kept her distance, wary of what might lurk beneath the surface. The last thing she needed was something lunging from the depths to drag her under.

  Instead, she moved within the forest, weaving between trees while keeping the river in sight. Her footsteps were light, her senses sharp, scanning for any sign of movement.

  Luna was very aware of how dangerous this world was. Everything was out to kill her. And if she wasn’t careful enough, she could be dead.

  After keeping her eyes on the current for a while, Luna finally caught sight of a colossal that stood in the center of where the two rivers met.

  Its ancient mahogany roots plunged deep into the water, intertwining with the current as if they had been part of it since the birth of time. Its crimson leaves glowed softly under the moon’s radiance, swaying in a breeze that did not exist.

  It was old—older than anything Luna had ever seen. And yet, it was alive, pulsing with an energy so vast and overwhelming that it sent a shiver down her spine.

  The air around it was thick with divinity. Luna was shocked that she could feel it despite being at a distance.

  At first glance, she could tell that this was no ordinary tree. She had seen its copy in the coral building and before observed one of its powers.

  But she hadn’t expected it to be so…big.

  “How do I destroy something like that?” Luna’s voice was barely a whisper as she stared at the Mildrith. Seeing it in person filled her with uncertainty.

  After all, she was just a mortal. A mortal was limited in a world like this one.

  ‘Calm down, Lunaris. I will figure out something.’ Luna swallowed hard, forcing down the doubt clawing at her mind.

  Shaking her head, she turned away and refocused on her goal. She continued following the river, scanning her surroundings for any sign of a stream breaking off from the main current—the one that would lead her to the Silent Pond.

  But then, a thought struck her and she frowned.

  “But if that’s the case….wouldn’t that make the pond not silent?”

  She let out a quiet chuckle, trying to distract herself with small musings. It was the only way to keep her mind from spiraling in this place. The fear of death was something but the fear of failure is what bothered her the most.

  She would be failing Storm Rider, her clan, and probably what’s left of humanity if she failed.

  In other words, failure wasn’t an option.

  Minutes passed and her legs began to burn. Her lungs started to scream. She stopped eventually when all her muscles threatened to tear apart if she continued.

  ‘Oh…gods!’

  Luna hunched over, hands on her knees, gulping down the air in desperate, shaky breaths. Her boots felt like weights, her muscles aching from exhaustion.

  Without the nanoskin enhancing her physique, her body stats were pushed back to normal. Though her normal wasn’t normal like most mundane.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  She had pushed herself too hard and was now close to her limits in terms of stamina.

  Also…all this running had made her incredibly thirsty.

  Of course, despite the thirst, Luna wasn’t desperate enough to drink the river water no matter how divine and pure this world seemed. She didn’t trust the gods, so she wasn’t going to their creations.

  Leaning against one of the trees, Luna removed her boots and let her feet breathe for the first time since she left the coral building on the previous floor.

  “Ah…” she sighed, relaxing and letting her feet press against the soft ground.

  She only needed a four-minute break to recover her stamina.

  Her sad gaze traveled across the trees to the glowing water ahead, “I am so hungry and thirsty.” She gulped while staring at the water.

  It was tempting. ‘Control yourself…Lunaris.’

  She then shifted her gaze to the moon. It was shining down on her with all its glory.

  By now, her life essence was more than replenished. Her body was brimming with energy.

  ‘I guess I have to thank the moon goddess.’

  While she waited for the pain in her feet to reduce, she took some time to check her progress by searching deep into her soul.

  Now that she was close to awakening, her essence was now flowing perfectly. And with the new essence entering her system, Luna could feel its strength and purity increasing by leaps.

  Storm had explained that the First Gate of the true path was much more different than the first gate of the false one. This gate blessed her with Insight. With Insight, things like enchantments would then be possible and with it, Luna’s recovery speed would improve by a lot.

  Also, with insight, her manipulation was going to grow too. However, unlike the ascenders of the mortal realm, Luna would be incapable of manipulating her essence.

  ‘First Gate users of the true path can only manipulate the essence around them to manifest weapons.’ Luna thought.

  This was the downside of the true path aside from being prone to corruption.

  ‘Since I can’t manifest weapons easily, I’ll have to stick to forged weapons. I wonder if there are levels of mastery regarding manipulating essence.’ Luna thought deeply.

  She was still trying to understand the rules behind the true path. They were still too vague at the moment.

  ‘Zenshi doesn’t give me influence on the world but Qi does and takes away my ability to fully manipulate my essence.’

  She frowned, feeling confused. "How frustrating."

  ***

  After mentally counting 120 seconds, Luna forced herself back on her feet and pressed on, following the river once again.

  While running, Luna started to notice a change in the water’s flow—it was weakening.

  Her heart pounded, but she didn’t slow down. If anything, she pushed herself even further, her gaze locked ahead with unwavering determination.

  The landscape began to shift. The trees thinned out, their towering forms becoming sparse. And with them, the comforting glow of the moon started to dim.

  Very soon, the darkness crept in, and a chill slithered down her spine.

  Without hesitation, Luna summoned the Sun Ember. The moment she felt any uneasiness, Luna knew it was best to stay on high alert since this was unchartered territory—anything could attack her. Including the Pantheon that guarded this place! She was a cautious person now that the rest of the group was far away.

  There was no one to watch her back this time so she had to watch her own for the first time time since she stepped into the Blood Tower.

  A few more moments passed and the sound of running water vanished and her ears were met with absolute silence.

  Luna skidded to a stop, her eyes snapping toward where the river was supposed to be...

  But It was gone.

  The river had disappeared and all that remained was the forest, stretching endlessly before her.

  Luna's brows furrowed as she stood in the eerie quiet. ‘Is this where the river ends?’

  She swept her gaze from left to right, scanning for any sign of movement. That’s when she noticed the oddities.

  The moonlight here was much fainter than before. The trees had changed—no longer crimson-leafed giants but instead tall, silver poles with ghostly white foliage.

  Her first instinct was to assume it was an illusion, but she knew better. The Concept of Imagination protected her mind. This was all real.

  ‘I’ve reached the river's end and entered a different space inside the garden. These trees are proof of that. This is more of the Moon Goddess’s territory.’ Luna guessed, her dark eyes scanning the new territory.

  Silver was always the color of the moon goddess. That’s why it was weird that House Artemis picked Crimson and yet they called themselves her followers!

  Luna didn’t just rush into this different part of the forest like a fool. Instead, she chose vigilance and stood still for a while and waited for anything to attack.

  Her grip on the Sun Ember tightened but she didn’t let her battle aura spill. She wasn’t about to announce her presence to the Pantheon. Instead, she stood still, waiting—listening.

  Minutes crawled by and nothing. No attack, no movement. The only thing that greeted her was the unnatural silence.

  Finally, she took a step forward. Then another.

  The change in scenery unnerved her more than she cared to admit. The silver trees stretched high, basking in what little moonlight remained. But beneath them, the smaller vegetation lay shriveled and lifeless, denied the essence they desperately needed.

  Luna’s chest tightened. This bothered Luna in ways she couldn’t understand. The silver trees were weird but the silence was much weirder.

  The Rivers were gone, along with their soothing flow. They had left her in an empty silence.

  Even the dry vegetation she stepped on wouldn’t crunch!

  She could still hear her breath. But beyond that, this place felt like a vacuum.

  It was silent.

  Minutes of walking passed by and the moonlight faded even more. This was a sign that she was getting closer to the silent pond. And sooner, the moonlight disappeared and the woods dimly lit woods were swallowed by a strange darkness….a darkness where she could still see.

  ‘The power of the gods still doesn’t make—urgh!’

  Her thoughts were interrupted when she was hit by an intense pressure that forced her to stop. Luna’s knees nearly buckled under the overwhelming force pressing down on her. The sheer weight of it was suffocating like an invisible hand squeezing the air from her lungs.

  Cold sweat gathered on her face as she clenched her teeth, trying to push back against it, but then something else caught her off guard…

  All the essence in the air disappeared.

  She gasped, her fingers instinctively tightening around the Sun Ember. The comforting warmth of her weapon remained, but everything else had vanished into an abyss of nothingness.

  This wasn’t just the absence of power. It was rejection.

  A force beyond mortality itself was telling her:

  "You do not belong here."

  If she made the next step, Luna would be crossing the line that separated mortals and divine. She wasn’t like Storm Rider so this…this was defying the gods. This was defying her nature as a mortal. This was going against her fate and everything she was.

  Luna thought about what would happen after she left this tower with the truth, after defying her nature as a mortal. She was the anomaly Corruption wanted to stop…but why?

  What was her role in all of this?

  ‘I guess I’m about to find out.’ She steeled her spirit and made the next step, ignoring the pressure.

  The absence of life essence didn’t frighten her that much because her essence was still there and she could feel it flowing from her soul. She was like a single flame burning in pure darkness.

  Luckily, after about twenty steps from the boundary, Luna caught sight of a calm water body ahead.

  Its black surface reflected nothing. Even as the gentle breeze blew, the black water didn’t even ripple. It was still, producing a terrifying aura to scare anyone that came close to it.

  She had finally found the silent pond