The Hidden Myth of Ji Dara

This new Scape was different; it was calm and there was nothing pushing him down or up; he could walk around if he wanted to…

But there was a strange thing happening here; everything was dark and he couldn't see anything at all, but just as he took a step, it was as if he activated the entire scape as everything lit up, from his position straight into the distance;

"Oh, here they are…"

Min Hong's eye lit up when he saw the numerous Links glowing into the distance; they were rooted to the ground like shrubs or grasses, and there were not as much as the Mortal Scape or Spirit Scape;

"That's a Gold Link!"

Dara saw a Gold Link almost immediately, as he bolted towards it, praising his luck along the way, there were thousands of this Links around his immediate vicinity, but only one of them was Gold colored…

'Wait, things shouldn't be this easy' Dara thought to himself, and the moment that happened, he saw the Gold Link change its color and turned yellow, whilst another Link in the distance which was previously brown became Gold;

'Just as I thought…'

Dara changed direction and headed towards the new position of the Gold Link, but just as he took a step, the Link changed back to yellow, whilst the previously yellow Link changed into brown and then another utterly different Link in the distance became Gold, making the entire trial look like a massive whack-a-mole;

'Oh, so that's how it is…'

Dara thought to himself in surprise; it wasn't like he didn't expect the trials in here to be different, he had simply never thought it would be this unique;

'This Links swap colors in the space of about a breath…'

'It is also extremely random which means I would have only a breath to choose the right Link and pick it before it jumps elsewhere…'

'This is going to be difficult…' Dara frowned, but moments later, a mischievous grin tore his lips;

'But that is only to someone who doesn't know any better…'

He added as he shut his eyes and tried to check if the same technique he used in the Spirit Scape would work here as well, and he realized that the deeper he searched with his eyes shut, the dimmer all the links got leaving only one which refused to dim out but instead flash like a beacon, dimming and brightening at constant intervals…

'There you are…' Dara chuckled as the rest of the Empty Links completely dimmed out;

'To think it would be as easy as simply shutting one's eyes…'

'But when one thinks about it though, how many people would dare to shut their eyes within such a Trial which the odds of even getting a Link when one's eyes are wide open are extremely slim…'

Dara thought to himself as he walked over, changing directions every now and then as the Gold Link kept moving around unbeknownst that Dara could tell its next destination, because once the Link leaves a spot, the glow there actually dims whilst the glow of its next destination brightens…

In less than ten minutes, Dara was standing right in front of the next position of the glow, and the moment it was about to appear, he intentionally opened his eyes to test if his theory was right, and immediately, the yellow link in front of him changed into Gold as he grabbed it;

Swish!

Instantly everything around him transformed as he appeared in a place underground which looked a lot like a mine or cave of some sort, and in here, there were many natural gems embedded all over the place, from Ruby to Emerald, Bronze, Silver, Gold and what not…

But he was yet to find any diamond as he walked deeper into the cave searching through everything and ensuring that he did not touch anything lest he picks the wrong thing and gets teleported back to his Dao Tree, and whilst that would eventually happen, he wanted it to be because he had run out of time rather than failed by picking the wrong thing…

After searching for a few hours, Dara arrived at a crossroad, there were two tunnels in front of him, and without needing to be told, he picked the one that appeared brighter, and walked into it;

'Damn, this tunnel is endless, should I have picked the other one?'

"But this place was brighter which means more shimmery contents…"

Dara thought to himself as he was now getting somewhat exhausted; He had tried using the closing of eyes and sensing the Scape tactics, but that didn't work, as everything appeared the exact same way they did when his eyes was no open with no change in their glow whatsoever…

He was getting weaker and weaker, more and more exhausted, not from lack of drive, but simply because the Qi within the Qi Stones seemed to be depleting at an insane speed;

"What do you think is going on up there?" Sam asked;

"At least it is nothing bad; after all he hasn't appeared yet which signifies that he is still taking the trial…" Long replied;

"The only thing I am concerned about is the rate of his Qi absorption…" Long added as he pointed to the root which had Qi whooshing through it at an insane speed;

"It seems the Divine Scape Trial is too hard that he is burning Qi much faster…" He added as Sam also sighed at the sight…

But back within the God Scape, Dara was utterly exhausted as he sat on the ground, panting heavily as it seemed like the air in here was getting thinner;

"Sit, where in the heavens is this diamond link?"

Dara asked himself as he placed his hands on the ground behind him to prop himself up, before he then looked up with a sigh…

But that sigh only stopped halfway as Dara's eyes widened;

"Fuck me sideways!"

He blurted as his eyes shined with brilliant light which was being reflected by a single thumb sized gem etched to the roof of the cave; yeah, it was the Diamond Link he had been searching endlessly for, and here it was just overhead…

Dara summoned every ounce of strength he could muster within himself to stand up, before jumping with a brilliant and joyful smile as he grabbed the Diamond Gem;

Bam!

Dara's vision blurred the moment he touched the Diamond Link, but he was expecting it since he had willed the Link to take him to the final and strongest Qi Sensing Trial Phase…