Pathway

Two months later, Zhang Xiu Ying was ready for the rite of judgement, and was faced with two choices. Either to be stronger or to remain weak. Choosing to be stronger, Zhang Xiu Ying communicated with titan lord Primus and arranged the preceding's with him. Her family members also followed her to meet lord Primus, before bidding farewell, and returned home.

"Xiu Ying, as I said before, since you are a fire element affiliate, your rite of judgement would be at the valley of the gods. Remember, there are three phases to the rite. Who you are in this universe [Manifestation], where you are in the universe [Discovery], and why you are here in this universe [Existence]. They will test your strength, mentality and spirituality. But don't worry about all these, you are much more stronger than you look. Look inside yourself, and you will see that you have more than enough strength in there."

"Thank you, uncle Primus."

Lord Primus activated the portal to the valley of the gods, and into the portal they went. Himself and Zhang Xiu Ying, leaving Ju Feng and his grandparent in the cave, waiting patiently and anxiously. This was the first time Zhang Xiu Ying had left her home world, and journeyed to a different place entirely. She had never even used a portal before. The sensation of using a portal was a bit intimidating at first, but she instantly grew into it. It was just like taking a step with a blast of warm air to the face.

They exited to a place of true magical and landscape masterpiece. There were magical colours everywhere, ranging from white to gold, to rainbow colours. Statuesque formations that were sculpted from Lucid Whitestone of the Primordial era, lined the valley in a beautiful way. The Whitestone was carved into the unique statues of gods holding different weapons, giant monoliths, and mighty pinnacles. And at the centre was the massive Whitestone hallway.

The valley of the gods.

"We are here, Xiu Ying. Behold! The valley of the gods."

Zhang Xiu Ying was lost for words. The scenery was truly a beauty to behold, and for a moment, she forgot about her up-coming rite. She continued to take the whole place in, without any disturbance from lord Primus who only continued smiling.

After some time had passed, lord Primus pointed to the long colossal building of Whitestone at the middle of the valley.

"That's the judgement hallway. You will enter at the front and exit at the back. I will be somewhere at the back waiting for you since I can't get too close"

After regaining herself, Zhang Xiu Ying deftly proceeded towards the hallway with assured strides. Halfway forward, she glanced back at the titan lord who nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, Xiu Ying. Everything is fine. It's all good."

Zhang Xiu Ying gave an acknowledgement nod, and continued forward. When she reached the entrance, she felt a tinge of apprehension. Looking at the massive white entrance, Zhang Xiu Ying took a deep breath, and entered the hallway.

The moment she entered the hallway, the whole place turned eerily strange.

"We know who you are, Zhang Xiu Ying."

A loud, deafening voice boomed in the hallway, halting Zhang Xiu Ying on her track. There was a long pause before the voice continued.

"But do you?"

The gods' statues in the hallway began to come alive. The statues had their strength reduced to that of an early stage demigod, but with the fighting skills of a late stage demigod. The statues holding different weapons, stared at Zhang Xiu Ying with bright golden eyes.

"Zhang Xiu Ying, please, step forward. All you have to do, is to pass through this passage to the exit at the other end. And of course, if you decide that you can't carry on, just say 'demigod', and everything will stop, returning back to normal. No harm done. Now, please proceed."

Zhang Xiu Ying surrounded herself with pillars of fire as she brandished her sword, Navaris, made from the tail feather of a primordial phoenix. With the third level of the phoenix inferno prepared, the Phoenix Whirlfire, Zhang Xiu Ying stepped over the starting line and launched the attack.

Huge spiralling maelstrom of flaming phoenixes, expanded in high speed towards the watching gods. The moment the attack was launched, all the gods launched their own defensive moves of the same technique. Pillars Of Fire. The collision knocked them back a few steps, but no relative harm was done.

Fire element godly statues.

They came at her in numbers, forming mirage phantoms which caused her to block rapidly as she became a blur herself too. After numerous exchanges, she had received many cuts from their attack, but had managed to ward them off temporarily. Then, the statues pointed their glowing weapons at her, and a massive flaming beast with three blue-fire emitting heads, set off in the direction of Zhang Xiu Ying who quickly responded with another Phoenix Whirlfire.

Zhang Xiu Ying was sent flying from the thunderous collision. Before she could find her footing, they came at her again in repeat of their previous moves.

Too many godly statues.

Every time she advanced forward, they would push her back to the starting line. She tried to use the light steps to reach the exit, but she was quickly cut off. The same thing with her evasive steps. With that, she knew she had to go all out to have a chance of making it through.

The demigod swiftly switched to her nascent soul. The avatar of her nascent soul white phoenix feathered armour, and two large flaming wings on her back. Swinging her flaming sword in a circle, she propelled the Phoenix Ash-fire move. This was the fourth level of the Phoenix Inferno technique, a variant of the Beast Inferno technique. Although she hadn't mastered since she was still at the midstage, it was her most powerful move.

The godly statues were statues after all, how could they manifest soul avatars? Despite initiating their own defensive moves, the statues were sent flying several yards in different directions from the powerful collision.

"I am a true demigod."