Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Shen Ye paused in surprise.

If it was a lack of sunlight, it should have said "insufficient sunlight" or "insufficient light exposure."

Why would it say "not enough sunlight"?

Could it be...

"You are my savior, the strongest tree in our hearts, surely you can lead us safely through all crises, to grow bigger and stronger, and to achieve new glories!"

Shen Ye gave the wood a thumbs-up.

Xiao Mengyu gave him an annoyed look—

Are you a bit crazy, saying such things to a piece of wood?

Just as Shen Ye finished speaking, the word "sunlight" on the wood was also crossed out.

"Water" and "sunlight" had both been offered.

Only "fertilizer" was left!

At that moment, a tumultuous roar came from outside.

Xiao Mengyu hurriedly turned her head to look outside.

It should be time now.

It might be because the Floating Island was very vast, and the two of them were hiding near the center of the island, so they couldn't yet see clearly what was happening.

"Xiao Mengyu—what exactly is the wood's fertilizer?"

Shen Ye asked.

Xiao Mengyu was observing the situation outside, then pondered and said:

"I only know about mineral fertilizer, organic fertilizer, and compound fertilizers, but if your piece of wood is a statue of a Divine Spirit, I suppose its demands won't be so simple."

"That's what I thought too, just don't know what it wants," Shen Ye said.

As they were thinking, the wood had already given a hint:

"Only specified fertilizer: poetry related to the moon (spiritual sustenance)."

Spiritual sustenance...

Shen Ye's mouth twitched slightly.

You shine with sunlight, and now you want spiritual sustenance!

So this is the style of the Under the Moon Series?

Drinking cola, wanting praise, and now reciting poetry?

"The moonlight before my bed, I suspect it is frost on the ground, I look up to the moon, I bow my head and think of home."

Shen Ye recited expressionlessly.

The word "fertilizer" on the wood was also crossed out.

The offering was complete!

The wood shook, pulled back all its roots, stretched out, then lay on the ground motionless.

A line of small text emerged on the wood:

"I have started to protect you."

It was a success!

Shen Ye wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling somewhat mentally exhausted.

"Now that we have two offering statues, we should be able to get through this,"

he muttered softly.

"It's still unclear what exactly this red mist is," Xiao Mengyu said.

At that moment, the noises around them started to grow louder.

Even the ground began shaking incessantly.

Suddenly—

A massive head extended from the mist, its eyes looking towards the crack in the mountain where they were hidden.

It was like a giant creature crawling on the ground, with its hands sprawled out, looking down at Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu's hiding place.

The fissure in the mountain in front of it was not even as large as its nose bridge.

Xiao Mengyu, looking at the eyeballs densely covering the hands of the giant, exclaimed:

"It has been following us all along!"

"So huge, how are we supposed to fight it?" Shen Ye also said.

The great sword had already rushed out.

It spun around in the wind, its size instantly expanding tens of times, and slashed down towards the giant's head.

Clang!

The giant's fiery red head emitted a thunderous roar that could pierce the heavens and shatter stones.

Sand and stones flew chaotically.

The giant's head struck the ground, creating a shallow pit.

Even so, it showed no fear; instead, the fierceness in its eyes grew more intense.

Blood mist filled the air.

It disappeared into the thick fog.

"It will come again!"

The same thought emerged in both Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu's minds.

"Damn it, even though this is an exam, why do they have to include something so terrifying?" Shen Ye couldn't help but say.

"Because our world is actually fighting against these terrifying things." Xiao Mengyu said.

Shen Ye turned to look at her.

"Are there many monsters like this?" Shen Ye cautiously asked.

"More terrifying than this, in fact, too many, sometimes even capable of destroying a city—"

"However, ordinary people only learn about it from the news as natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis." Xiao Mengyu said.

"Hey, aren't they afraid that the exam candidates will die here with such an intense exam?" Shen Ye asked.

"Huh? Didn't you sign a waiver of liability for your life and death?" Xiao Mengyu asked in surprise.

"No, I didn't." Shen Ye said.

"Then Manager Qian must have done it for you."

"This Old Qian, he didn't even tell me. If I had known it was like this, I would have been at least mentally prepared."

——I might die.

Shen Ye shook his head slightly and overcame the fear in his heart in an instant.

After all, he was raising a skeleton in his fish tank, and was no longer so frightened of these monsters.

Besides, the scions of the noble families also wanted to kill him.

"Zhao Yibing" was the same.

Now there were just a bunch more monsters.

Tired.

I'm too lazy to be afraid of you, let's all be destroyed together.

The great sword returned with a "whoosh" and hurriedly carved a message into the wall:

"The giant's weakness is its head, hitting other places is useless."

Both Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu's spirits were lifted.

Having this Sword Spirit with them really did make a difference!

The blood mist surged violently.

The blood-colored giant re-emerged, crawling towards the crack in the mountain.

The great sword charged at it again, relentlessly slashing at its head.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Amid the deafening clanging sounds, the blood-colored giant fixed its gaze on the two in the crack of the mountain, showing an expression of agony, unwilling to retreat.

The fog stirred.

A huge, dark red centipede emerged and quickly charged towards the two.

The great sword could only suppress the blood-colored giant and couldn't split its attention; it was overwhelmed by the centipede.

The dark red centipede was extremely fast and was about to reach the mountain crack.

Shen Ye drew out his Dusk Shortsword.

Xiao Mengyu also held the Luo Shui Sword tightly in her hand.

A rumble suddenly came from beneath their feet.

They saw that the piece of wood had rolled over, leaped forward, and sprouted several sharp roots that pierced into the mountain, suspending itself on the rock face.

Small letters appeared on the wood:

"Don't be afraid, just go all out."

As the centipede reached them, ready for confrontation, it suddenly swerved and pounced towards the wood.

——A great opportunity!

Xiao Mengyu and Shen Ye struck together, unleashing a full-powered slash.

Their Sword Qi sliced through the centipede's body, causing it to convulse wildly.

It faced the two again and lunged forward—

But in the next instant, it opened its mouth and bit down on the wooden stick again.

"I get it now, your wood can force the enemy to attack it!"

Xiao Mengyu suddenly realized.

Yet two lines of text appeared on the wood:

"It's not forcing the enemy to attack, but rather, I can serve as your substitute."

"Besides that, give me a drop of blood, and I can transform into you, temporarily replacing you for exams."

Substitute...

The two exchanged looks, both somewhat astonished.

This piece of wood is impressive!

"We struck gold! We need to hurry up and kill this centipede!" Shen Ye said.

They struck out consecutively, sword after sword, chopping at the centipede until it shrieked sharply again and again.

But no matter what, the centipede couldn't attack the two of them.

The more frenzied it became, the more it kept attacking the wood, unable to turn its body to deal with them.

Finally—

Xiao Mengyu swung her sword with all her might, and the Razor-sharp Sword Qi sliced the body of the centipede in two like a white line.

The two halves of the centipede's body rolled wildly on the ground, screaming "hiss hiss" in agony.

Its scream was incredibly piercing, and a vivid green pus flowed from its body, corroding everything it touched.

A voice rose quietly:

"Shen Ye, cut a piece of its meat for me to eat."

The Giant Skeleton!

"That's a centipede, highly poisonous. You're going to eat it too?" Shen Ye replied.

"Eat! Hurry, hurry, hurry, I need to prepare early." The Giant Skeleton said.

Prepare?

"What are you preparing for?" Shen Ye asked.

"This place is too dangerous, I need to find a way to restore my body, otherwise if you die, I'm done for too." The Giant Skeleton said.

"Quite ambitious, eh? Alright, I support you." Shen Ye said.

Using his Dusk Shortsword, Shen Ye cut a piece of centipede meat and stashed it in his Ring.

With the death of the centipede, all the noises in the mist became even wilder.

The Giant let out a low and profound roar, making the ground shake continuously.

The mist suddenly cleared to both sides.

The head of the Giant appeared once more before their eyes.

Its eyeballs rolled around, suddenly fixing on Xiao Mengyu.

Not good!

Shen Ye realized in an instant.

The wooden piece of 'Under the Moon Series' followed by his side, and the great sword by Xiao Mengyu's.

The wood could attract attacks.

So the Giant wouldn't come for him.

Its target was Xiao Mengyu!

"Catch!"

Shen Ye yelled, tossing the wood over.

In that instant,

The Giant's head abruptly turned, its pupils fixing dead on Shen Ye.

This kid is without the wood, meaning no defense!

Eat him!

The Giant was about to move—

What kind of person was Xiao Mengyu? As soon as Shen Ye threw the wood, she caught on.

"I'm not afraid of it, you hold on to the wood!"

She flicked her sword through the air, tapping it lightly on the wood, instantly knocking it back into Shen Ye's hands.

The Giant's head turned toward Xiao Mengyu again.

This girl looks even more delicious!

The Giant was about to move—

"You hold on to it!"

Shen Ye swung out a palm.

The wood immediately flew towards Xiao Mengyu with greater speed.

The Giant's head turned again, immediately looking towards Shen Ye.

"My combat experience is richer than yours, you hold on to it!"

Xiao Mengyu knocked the wood back again.

The Giant's head turned, looking towards Xiao Mengyu again.

"You hold on to it."

"You hold on to it."

"Still, you hold on to it."

"Listen to me; you're the one who should hold on to it."

"I have rich combat experience, you hold on to it."

"I'm a guy, how can I let you take the lead, you hold on!"

"You hold on!"

"You hold on!"

"Hold on!"

"Hold on!"

The wood shifted back and forth, the Giant's head continuously shaking.

The faster the wood moved, the faster the Giant shook its head!

If there were a dance beat at this moment, its motion would have looked just like someone head-banging at a disco.

"No, you hold on to it. My movement technique is still decent, I can dodge its attacks!"

Shen Ye exclaimed.

He then tossed the wood with both hands—

The Giant subconsciously twisted its head to look at him.

Huh?

It had grown accustomed to the head-shaking—

But it wasn't right!

The wood hadn't been passed on and was still in his hands!

Shen Ye, in front of the Giant's face, made another fake passing motion while holding the wood.

—That was the motion that had deceived the Giant just now.

"Quick layup two-on-one fake pass."

Shen Ye grinned and placed the wood on the ground, saying.

The Giant, coming to its senses, twisted its head to look at where Xiao Mengyu had been.

—But Xiao Mengyu was already gone!

"Pal, she's about to slam dunk, and you're still looking over there?"

Shen Ye said with his arms crossed.

In the void above the Giant's head, Xiao Mengyu held the Luo Shui Sword in her hand, and with all her might, she slashed downward—

The extremely sharp Sword Qi turned into a white streak, instantly piercing through the Giant's forehead, passing between its eyes, trailing down the bridge of its nose, slicing open its large mouth, all the way to its chin.

That wasn't all—

The great sword flew out from behind Xiao Mengyu, emitting a piercing sword cry, like a stream of light, tracing that white streak once again.

Clang!

Xiao Mengyu sheathed her sword, agile as a swift bird, she dived and darted back through the air, returning beside Shen Ye.

"Not too shabby?" she asked.

"Just not too shabby? That's a downright supreme Sword Immortal for you." Shen Ye flattered.

Xiao Mengyu lifted her chin, disdainfully giving him a glance.

Across from them—

The Giant's head split silently on both sides.

Blood spilled everywhere.

It was dead.

The cheers from the Giant Skeleton rose again: "Hey, this time it's a bountiful harvest, hurry up and get me a piece of the Giant's meat to eat!"