Inside the cave was an array of stone steps which smoothly extended diagonally downward as if leading you to a secret passage
no one knew about.
As people walked into such dim place, the surroundings would creep and remind them of a bygone era long gone. There seemed to
be an ancient smell which originated from and probably distilled inside of the cave that was obviously out of place in such era.
What brought most surprise to everyone was that even though the cave was located at the bottom of the sea, there was no water
pouring in as if it was in an isolated bubble.
The cave was beyond the reality of the deep blue sea, as if it had been completely cut off from the seawater by an invisible
mysterious force.
Sgravel, unusually golden and beaming in light yet far from being identified, was laid on both sides of the stone steps. They
gave off glimmer and eventually bright glare which illuminated the path in the cave.
Austin together with Violet and the gnwas walking down carefully, tiptoeing slowly along the stone steps lit by the golden
gravel. Totally clueless of what was waiting for them ahead, they were nothing but nervous
of the strange sounds echoing—an unfamiliar howl, a loud roar, sharp sword clashing, and uncontained energy bursting.
Undoubtedly, these sounds belonged to the battlefield that they were yet to figure out where. However, this time, the familiarly
uncomfortable sounds seemed to cfrom deep inside of the cave.
They couldn't confirm with their own senses whether it was an illusion or a reality.
All kinds of sounds kept echoing, bouncing from every wall throughout the cave.
'Is there a fierce battle taking place in the depths of the cave?’ The thought popped into their confused minds.
However, just as Austin, Violet, and the gnwere about to listen carefully and finally make sense of those echoes, the sounds
disappeared, not even faded first.
To keep themselves sane, they could only try to convince themselves that it was nothing but delusion.
The strange occurrence made them feel in the mean of being frightened and alright.
Among the three, Austin was the most frightened one that was so unlikely for his stature. After all, he had a strong spiritual sense,
but now he couldn't still figure out whether it was reality or an illusion meant to mess with their heads.
Austin released his spiritual sense, attempting to explore the area deep in the cave. However, what he had probed was a world of
nothing but a mess, an unexplainable chaos.
"Be careful. There is something unnatural about the cave,"
Austin warned his companions.
About an hour of following the trail, they finally reached the end of the stone steps.
There was a quaint door that was made up of old stone and was interestingly clear, as transparent as the crystal.
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The humongous stone door, sparkling with a ray of light, was covered by a multi-color energy shield radiating uniquely. If they
wanted to enter the stone door, they should pass through the special shield.
Not until he was standing in front of the stone door, did he realize that the noises they heard earlier were really from the
battlefield.
The sound of war cfrom the other side of the door he was looking into. .
"The stone door contained the energy of tand space,"
the gnreminded Austin in his low voice, as if he was disinterested to share to his companion what he already figured out
before.
"The energy of tand space?"
Austin was puzzled, repeating the words in his head out loud.
"In other words, if we go through this stone door, we might reach another dimension.
Furthermore, | can feel that the tand space here are in disarray,"
the gnexplained the best way he could as he used his beast soul energy to check the stone door.
"You said there were streasures we can find under the mountain.
But why do we only see the stone door?"
Austin exclaimed in utter disappointment.
"Yeah, | know you're upset but the treasure that | have detected is just the stone door.
Look closely and observe. Appreciate the material of this door,"
the gnreminded his frustrated friend.
"The door?"
Austin asked, a little surprised because he didn't intend to downplay the promising stature of the door. At first sight, he already
knew it was extraordinary.
And now, hearing the gnome's words, he was more sure how precious and treasured the stone door was.
He closed his left eye, and focused his right eye on the door, only to see large amounts of spiritual energy which was depicted as a
soft glow on the surface of it, floating with overwhelming mysterious power.
Austin stood in front of it, now, to see beyond his eyes. As he focused his attention to assess its physical appearance, he absorbed
a piece of spiritual energy that was once contained in the door.
Instantly, he felt that he could run his vital energy more fluidly than ever before.
Sensing this promising development, Austin decided to practice the Golden Sun Scripture to see how it would be affected.
Immediately, the vital energy in his body started to surge unpredictably fast. The quality of his vital energy gained a sudden
advancement of a level in just several breaths!
Such progress would normally take him half year's cultivation to master.
Indeed, the stone door contained an intense spiritual energy that he never felt before.
It surely would bring great benefit to the cultivation of vital energy.
Austin's eyes were glued to the stone door, burning with excitement, and famished to know more about what it could do.
"Boy, stop daydreaming now." The voice of the gnbroke into his thought bubble about to engulf him in wonder.
"The stone door is the junction of two spaces, and the space here is unstable.
Someone had set a series of Tand Space Array on the stone door to sustain this unpredictable space.
Once you take the stone door off, | am afraid that the space would immediately disintegrate before we could escape and find
refuge. Also, we may all be drawn to another space—somewhere it would be impossible to escape." The gnshared his insights.
With his inherent teleportation ability, he could perceive the space they wished to know about clearly.
As he heard it well, Austin was still refusing to give up that idea.
"If we go through the stone door and get into another space, could we get back here later?" Austin asked. Such idea cto his
mind as he really was persistent to pursue what he first thought of.
From the other side of the stone door cendless sounds and restless echoes of men shouting, roaring, and fighting, including
the clanking of their weapons dulled through time.
A sense of curiosity then raised in his heart. He wanted to have a look of the space that was hidden, the space behind the magical
door that seemed to be keeping away a truth no one was bound to see.
"The stone door of tand space is still stable for the moment, and we should be able to return the sway we get in,"
the gnnervously suggested after he perceived the surroundings again.
"Master, it seems to be quite dangerous at the other side of the door. We can hear it out loud if we listen carefully; a battle is going
on.
Violet shared her worries as she noticed Austin was itching to have a go on his plan.
"Don't worry. Let's just have a peek.
Once the danger arrives, you two hide yourselves into the Illusion Bead," Austin reminded Violet and the gnas he would surely
still push through despite the danger that awaited.
Austin, despite all the consequences, was confident with his current strength so he finally decided to take the risk and face what
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Seeing how Austin insisted his decision, Violet and the gncould only agree even with their individual doubts about the
situation they were about to face.
"The stone door bears a series of Tand Space Arrays. Without the acknowledgement of spatial force, people couldn't go
through it.
You two, stay behind me. | will lead you pass through the door with my spatial force."
Upon finishing his words, the gnstretched out his claws and let out an unidentified but definitely gentle power which carefully
enveloped Austin and Violet in his protection.
Feeling the special power flowing around his body, Austin was stunned with the gnome's capability to protect them by sharing his
power.
He hadn't seen such spatial force before and was glad to have the chance to observe it now, so he focused his attention to feel the
power he was so curious of.
Then Austin and Violet felt faint and dizzy as if the sky and earth began to reel, making it hard to keep their stance. Wrapped in the
spatial force, they were sent to safely pass through the stone door to cross the other side that Austin looked forward to. .
"ER."
The moment Austin, Violet, and the gnentered the space, they were utterly shocked by the scene that unfolded before their
eyes to the point that they ended up mutely watching what was going on.
It was such a desolate land that within their sight was no greenery, not an inch of grass but only of barren fields hardly toiled,
stretched across the landscape.
Looking around the area, they expected to see something different, but they could only see huge cracks that were a few miles
widespread in the area. The cracks, just like a spider web, intertwined and zigzagged all over the land, depicting unsafe and
unstable ground.
Rivers all had dried up and mountains also collapsed. No sight of life was seen or even felt.
Raising their heads to have a look in the sky, they saw numerous space cracks, shaped like the huge mouths of beasts. It instilled
mixed feelings of fear and astonishment into the hearts of anyone who saw it.
The whole land was enveloped by a dreadful aura as if it was meant to give you a feeling you couldn't understand. A gust of wind
blowing, the air was filled with something ruthless and fierce. The scene was eerie that it made people's hair stand on end, scaring
the hell out of each individual.
Obviously, a bloody war must have taken place in that very place.
"Kill them!"
Ghastly cries and screams seemed to be coming from a distance. The remaining souls of warriors kept charging, fighting, and
killing, filling the atmosphere with guilt, anger, and sorrow.
Heaven rent asunder and earth cracked. Austin even saw the stars fall down from the sky to the land, vanishing into nothingness.