“He smashed through the underground city with one punch! Who is that young man?”
“Did he cause the changes in the underground city?”
The group of adventurers, who had just been teleported to the ground level, exclaimed as they looked at the scene in the sky.
“Watson has already entered the 100th floor. Let’s go there.”
Christina ignored the other people around them; she ordered the Holy Sword adventurer team members. Even though she did not become Watson’s partner, it was no longer important. Her long-cherished wish was about to come true. It was up to her and Watson to clear the 100th floor first.
“Yes, Lady Swordmistress,” the 200 Holy Sword team members answered her respectfully. Then, some of them spread their combat aura wings, and the rest waved their magic wands to release some flying spells. One by one, they soared into the sky, with Christina in the middle.
“Let’s go as well.”
Nightingale was worried; she stepped forward and flashed to a height of hundreds of meters. The three others looked at each other; their eyes were firm as they followed Nightingale.
In just a few minutes, many people had floated toward the sky above the City of Steel. It was not only members from the Holy Sword adventurer team but also other adventurers in the city. After all, they only had one chance to enter the underground city’s 100th floor. It would be nice to see it even if they knew they could not clear it.
At that moment, Watson, who had broken through the bottom of the 100th floor, had entered the passage.
There was a long tunnel made of some mysterious silver metal in front of him. He could even see his reflection on the wall and some colorful crystals around the tunnel. Those crystals seemed to have a high concentration of energy.
“The 100th floor is strange, indeed. The energy density here is dozens of times less than the outside world. If I can train here, a day is equivalent to more than a month outside.”
Watson looked around him before he began to move deeper into the tunnel.
After about a few hundred meters, the tunnel disappeared; Watson arrived at a vast underground palace. There were similar tunnels in all directions. It was apparent that no matter which direction one went, they would eventually reach the same place. The structure of the palace was similar to the tunnel; it was also made of silver metal. The ground was so smooth that it could reflect a person’s shadow.
An altar stood in the center of the palace, and a ten-meter-tall mirror was on top of the altar. The mirror’s surface was surrounded by swirling mist; it looked like a door to another world.
[Diamond-tier Special Item: World Transformation Mirror.]
[The mirror can reflect everything that exists in the world and perfectly duplicate its clone, reducing the effect of the abilities above the diamond tier.]
[Additional effect: Teleportation Without Distance (after entering the mirror, one can travel to any location in the world).]
“It is no wonder that the sword saint was the only person to have passed the 100th level in hundreds of years. It turns out that the final test is to defeat oneself.”
Watson sighed as he looked at the information that appeared before his eyes. How could an existence like him, who had the same skills and thoughts, defeat him? That had nothing to do with strength. At that moment, he understood the reason why his master had asked him to go there.
That was a really good trial.
“Are you ready for the final trial? If you are ready, go to the altar and touch that mirror. It will let you face your true self. Regardless of whether you are despicable, timid, or weak, only those who could defeat themselves would receive the final reward.”
While Watson was thinking, his image suddenly appeared in the mirror, magnified countless times. He said in a dignified voice, “Do you even need to ask? Of course, I’m ready.”
He took a step forward and spread the angel wings on his back. He flew in front of the mirror in less than a second and reached out to touch the mirror.
Swoosh!
The spinning vortex on the mirror accelerated with a faint sound; it turned Watson into a stream of light and absorbed him.
Watson felt his environment changed; it was as if the world was spinning. First, it was the temperature. A scorching heat came from under his feet, and the air was filled with the smell of sulfur.
Watson turned around and found himself at the mouth of a volcano—there was boiling lava below him. Another identical Watson stood 100 meters away from him on the ring-shaped mountain. Whether it was his expression or his clothes, there was no difference at all.
“Where is this?”
“This is the boundary of the world, a chaotic and disorderly land. The climate here can change at any time. Not only do you have to defeat yourself, but you also have to be careful of the magical storm that will appear at any time! Brave Challenger, it’s not too late to regret now because once the trial starts, it won’t end. You might even die.”
The majestic voice that he had heard came from the other Watson’s mouth.
“Cut the crap. Let’s begin.”
“The trial begins.”
Accompanied by the loud heavenly voice, the other Watson suddenly spread his six angel wings and rushed toward him. He raised his hand and cast a peak platinum-tier spell. “Vermillion Nova.”
The Vermillion Nova spell was Sylvan’s signature spell. Its power was comparable to a small sun, especially since the environment there was a volcanic crater. The fire element was dense, and after Watson’s clone cast the Vermillion Nova spell, a fiery red sun suddenly appeared in the sky, illuminating the gloomy sky. The churning magma under the volcano sent waves hundreds of meters high toward Watson.
The clone had made perfect use of the weather, increasing the spell’s power by at least 50 percent.
“Fast attack, clear thinking. As expected of me.”
Watson felt intense pressure from the attack, but he did not panic. Instead, he praised the gods because the clone in front of him was exactly like him. To praise the other party was to glorify himself.
He did not stay idle as he spoke. He waved his hand gently at the flame that appeared in front of him. “Absolute Gravity.”
The Vermillion Nova above his head had lost the restraint of gravity and flew out into outer space. The enormous waves of flames flying up from the crater were subjected to hundreds of times more gravity. They fell back down abruptly and were compressed into a concave plane.
Boom!
Just as he dissolved the clone’s attack, a crack suddenly appeared on the ground beneath Watson’s feet. A distorted gravity had attached to his body, causing him to bend his waist and sink with the rock beneath his feet.
“That is… Absolute Gravity?”
Watson raised his head with difficulty and looked at the clone that had already arrived in front of him. It was apparent that the clone had grasped the same rules.
“We have the same magic and even use the same rule abilities. The effect of this World Transformation Mirror is really strong!”
Watson stomped his feet as he mocked his clone. “Absolute Dodge.”
That was a rule that he had fused with wind-elemental magic. That rule allowed him to be like the wind. He could see and feel but not touch; it would cause a powerful gravitational force to slide down his body. It blasted a hole hundreds of meters deep into the ground beneath his feet.
“Absolute Seal.”
The clone responded to the rule that he had fused when he was fighting Elvira. The powerful rule would suck all the air and magic elements around him. The flowing wind could avoid all the damages. The prerequisite was that it had to flow.
“It looks like this battle will be more intense than I imagined.”
Watson teleported into the distant sky via the same Absolute Seal spell to dissolve the power around him. His eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
He had experienced countless powerful enemies and defeated each of them ever since he had transmigrated to that world. However, he had no confidence in that particular battle. That was the first time he had a strong desire to defeat his opponent.
