CHAPTER 113: TRIAL OF THE HEART... A COFFIN?

After discussing the blueprints with the blacksmith, the old elf began coming up with multiple advanced methods on how they could improve the craft. Kathryn, who was by the side, was slightly stunned. However, she felt that it was understandable since he was an expert.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, more than twenty years had passed since Kevin crafted the arrows. Currently, he was fighting with his sister. However, no matter how much she tried to come close to him, he always kept his distance. At the same time...

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

He fired multiple arrows at her whenever she tried to approach, causing her to be unable to get close. Kathryn continued waving her sword and casting spells, but it was all to no avail—she couldn’t close the distance to her brother.

She sighed and then spoke, "Brother, your movements have become more elusive. You won’t even give your sister a chance anymore!"

"Haha, Sister, you are too strong. If I give you the slightest chance to close the distance, you’ll immediately take advantage of that and knock me out. I can’t let that happen," Kevin scratched his head with a smile and said.

Kathryn nodded at her brother, and after a moment of thought, she said, "Brother, seeing that you’ve practiced with the arrows for over twenty years, it’s normal that you’ve become proficient at it."

...

Sensing his elemental affinity revealed in his mind, Luka was shocked. He glanced at his cultivation and sighed. They weren’t on the same level—it seemed the heavens were fair after all.

S-grade aptitude.

This was his cultivation aptitude. Luka felt that it was far inferior compared to his elemental affinity. He slowly stood up from the ground. Since the process of awakening was over, he could now remove his hand from the glowing orb.

He glanced at it and was slightly startled—the runes that were inscribed on the orb had slightly faded.

Luka thought for a moment, then quickly withdrew his thoughts. Since it didn’t harm him, he wasn’t too concerned about it. Instead, his excitement for awakening an SSS-grade affinity caused him to smile gleefully. He decided to study the ancient ruin he had fallen into.

Around him were cracked buildings. It looked like a fight had occurred in the place. He saw scattered books, but he didn’t think too much about them.

If he had looked closely, he would have seen that most of the books contained divine arrays on how to make an awakening orb awaken an element of one’s choosing—and of a particular grade!

The hall wasn’t too large, and in a few hours, Luka had almost walked through it completely. Just as he was about to finish exploring the hall, his eyes caught onto something. He was slightly stunned—it was a... coffin?

The coffin looked extremely old and worn out. However, that was just Luka’s impression, as the coffin was actually made of glistening purple jade. It was filled with dust and had the scent of death and decay. He hesitated for a moment before approaching the coffin.

His hand touched the lid, and the next moment, the coffin opened abruptly. Soon after, an old man appeared in his line of sight. Inside the coffin was the body of the old man.

Luka was stunned, and for a moment, he thought the old man was... taking a nap inside the coffin.

But upon closer inspection, he realized that the old man wasn’t breathing. The old man looked like he had just died, and his body was fresh—but Luka knew that the man must have died long ago, judging by how old the whole secret realm and coffin looked.

An expert! Luka was stunned and slightly excited. He recalled what his parents had told him to do if he ever encountered the grave of an expert—rob it clean! Luka grinned, then his hand moved skillfully as though he had been perfectly trained in the art.

From the man’s inner robes, his hand quickly moved and plunged into all parts of the garments. In the blink of an eye, he had searched the man completely.

He grinned wildly as he slowly drew back his hand. If one looked closely, they would see something in it—it was a... spatial ring!

...

Kathryn didn’t discuss with the elders the identity of the calamity. She just told them it was a demon snooping around and that they should return to their duties.

The elders were puzzled, as they had never seen any demon that looked like that—without a physical form! If Kathryn hadn’t known soul attacks, they knew that the demon would have been impossible to kill, but they didn’t question her.

They remained silent as they watched her leave, then began muttering to each other.

Kathryn appeared a few meters away. After scanning the whole place with her divine sense, she decided to wander the myriad realms. She felt that through this, she could probably gain more knowledge on what was happening with the seventh calamity.

By luck, if she encountered an enlightenment, she could also break through into the next realm and transcend this world, leaving all the troubles behind.

If only that was possible! She sighed wryly, then continued to move through countless worlds. Her body floated gently like drifting clouds, moving through the myriad realms.

Her visage flickered as she appeared in different places. She had also encountered some calamities during this time, causing her expression to become solemn.

While she was wandering the different realms, she didn’t just stay idle—she was also coming up with many ways to leave the encirclement of the calamities and go somewhere she knew they couldn’t reach.

However, she hadn’t been able to discover where those places were, even though she knew some of them by name...

Her heart grew increasingly calm as many thoughts flashed through her mind. Even though it seemed like she had left the cultivators she brought behind, Kathryn never suffered losses.

She had to think of a way to make the seventh calamity pay for sabotaging her plans! She was thinking of ways to get in contact with the calamities without them finding out—and doing something about them.

Along the way, she could also discover how strong they were.