After Zenith left the throne room, he arrived in what seemed like a massive cathedral with many beautiful decorations made from gold. Two rows of seats were placed on each side of the cathedral, and in the middle, there was a red carpet leading to the altar itself.

Behind the altar were the awe-inspiring statues of four gods sculpted from various beautiful and expensive minerals rarely seen in the tower.

The one placed at the top was an intimidating warrior with a black tortoise shell on his back. He was a god known as North Heaven Black Tortoise.

The one placed at the bottom was an extremely beautiful woman with brilliant flaming red wings on her back. She was a god known as South Heaven Vermillion Bird.

The god at the left was a woman with black and white striped tiger tails and ears. She was a fierce woman with the name of West Heaven White Tiger.

Lastly, the one at the right was a handsome man wearing elegant armor made from cerulean blue dragon scales. He was a powerful god named East Heaven Azure Dragon.

The four of them were the heavenly gods of the four cardinal directions. They were gods who stood far above the deceased god in the throne hall.

The statues of the four heavenly gods were definitely imposing and eye-catching; however, what caught Zenith's attention the most, was an ethereal seed glowing with blue light floating on top of the altar table.

After laying his eyes on it, Zenith realized that the seed floating on the altar wasn't a simple spirit seed. It was something more.

Just like cultivators, spirit seeds had their own ranks ranging from F-Rank to A-Rank, with the latter being known as the highest. However, there still exists another rank beyond that rank. When a spirit seed surpassed its limit and broke through the A-Rank, it would turn into a unique seed like no other.

It would become a legendary immortal seed.

A spirit seed and an immortal seed— there exist a huge realm of difference between the two. They couldn't be compared at all.

Immortal seeds were incredibly rare and valuable, not to mention extremely powerful. They were very sought after by immortals and gods. They couldn't be bought due to how rare and unique they were. They could only be exchanged with other immortal seeds.

With the proper knowledge, spirit seeds could be created endlessly through refinement, just like the System Seed. On the other hand, only one type of immortal seed exists at any given time. This was one of the things that made immortal seeds unique.

After all the challenges Zenith encountered in this temple, he had already thought that the seed he might find in this place wouldn't be simple. And just as he had expected, the seed was none other than an immortal seed.

Zenith's System Seed used its power and showed his Quest Log.

Quest Log

Preliminary Test:

Obtain the seed in the temple at the peak of the mountain

Rewards:

System Seed (E-Rank)

Tower Ascension Qualification

If news of an immortal seed in this temple were to spread to others, cultivators far more powerful than the lycan would surely come into this place. Even gods themselves would be tempted to make a move. That was just how alluring immortal seeds were. It could tempt gods and devils themselves.

And if he somehow managed to obtain the immortal seed from the altar, he would endlessly be hunted down by the gods.

As Zenith stepped foot onto the red carpet, the statues of the four heavenly gods seemed to come into life. Their eyes followed his movements as they released a heavy pressure of Nu towards him.

Zenith instinctively did the same to counter them. Their Nu met, but he wasn't able to resist for a single second. His Nu was like a flimsy piece of paper suddenly torn apart by the raging torrents of the sea. He didn't stand a chance.

He was blown back and crashed into the wall behind him. He spat out a mouthful of blood before he slowly dropped to the ground, revealing a small crater on the wall behind.

This was the most serious injury he had suffered so far since coming into the temple.

Zenith stood up with shaky legs. When the shaking stopped, and he regained his balance, he tried again and stepped foot onto the red carpet.

The moment he did, the four statues released their Nu and pressured him. This time, he didn't try to counter their Nu head-on. Instead, his Nu wrapped around his body tightly, enduring the heavy pressure that was trying to crush him.

The floor under the red carpet cracked. When Zenith took another step, his foot sank into the floor. Zenith carefully walked towards the altar with slow and steady steps, leaving several holes in his wake.

As he got closer and closer to the altar, the pressure on him increased.

Zenith's veins bulged while his whole body turned red. He felt like there was a huge mountain pressing down on him and that if he relaxed by just a little bit, he would be crushed instantly by that mountain. He endured the heavy pressure around him, ignoring the pain in his body as he continued walking.

Blood trailed down from his eyes and nose, and some from the corner of his lips as his body nearly reached its limit. Each step he made took all of his strength. Even so, he didn't stop.

Zenith forced his already weary body to continue walking; all the while, his Nu was being consumed rapidly.

26%...

19%...

12%...

9%...

7%...

When Zenith got in front of the altar, the pressure that the four statues exerted on him finally disappeared. By then, he was already buried in the ground to his waist down. Zenith slowly got himself out of the ground and stood in front of the altar with wobbly legs.

He lost his balance and nearly fell down, but he managed to grab ahold of the altar at the last second and stopped himself from falling. He was way too weak to stand up on his own at the moment. He had no choice but to hold onto the altar to support himself.

He had truly exhausted himself. The available Nu left in his spirit core was only 3%. A few seconds more, and he would've used it all up. If that happened, he would be crushed right away by the four heavenly statues' pressure.

However, none of it mattered anymore as he finally got to the altar. The immortal core was now within his reach.

With a shaky hand, Zenith reached out to the immortal seed. The moment his hand made contact with it, the immortal seed entered his body in a split second.

This left Zenith stunned. He hadn't even tried to assimilate with the seed, but it actually went straight into his spirit core.

In the next second, Zenith found himself naked and uninjured in an unknown place. He was no longer inside the cathedral. He was floating in a boundless space with numerous stars, planets, galaxies, and other heavenly bodies in the distance. This scenery reminded him of the appearance of his strange spirit core.

Zenith looked around and saw a System Seed germinating onto an extremely tiny star, confirming the suspicions in his heart.

He was most likely inside his spirit core which contained a miniature universe.

"Finally...!"

Zenith heard an alluring voice coming from behind. He quickly turned around and saw a naked woman suddenly embracing him out of nowhere.

He was surprised to see someone else inside his spirit core, but he didn't think too much about it at the moment. He pushed the woman away from him before ruthlessly throwing a fist toward her face. When his fist was about to connect, chains formed and wrapped around his limbs, effectively restricting his movements.

"I can't have you doing that. Behave for me, will you?" said the woman with a barely concealed mirth.

Zenith tried to break away from the chains using his Nu but found out he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. He took a careful look at the woman in front of him and was astonished.

She was an extremely beautiful woman with black hair and long spiral horns growing on top of her head. This was the first time he had seen such a perfect woman in his life before. She had a flawless body and appearance, and her beauty could put even South Heaven Vermillion Bird to shame. Due to her ethereal beauty, she didn't seem like a real person instead but someone who came out of fantasy.

"What a woman... there's actually someone with such beauty in this world?"

For a brief second, he was actually moved. However, he managed to regain his composure soon after. He wasn't someone to let his emotions affect him much. No, it was more appropriate to say that he was someone who had no unnecessary emotion. All emotions he had were to ensure that he would always make a rational decision in every situation, no matter what, to survive.

And so, Zenith immediately started analyzing the woman in front of him as multiple thoughts ran through his mind.

Since he was inside his spirit core, this woman was most likely the strange silhouette he saw in his core after his awakening. Her figure and the silhouette he saw definitely matched. However, what was she doing here? And why was she inside his core?

As he kept thinking of various possibilities, one thing stood out in his mind the most.

"Sword Saint."

Before coming into the temple, Sword Saint told him that he had implanted something in his core that affected his System Seed into giving him his current preliminary test. But it seemed like he implanted something else as well, or should he say someone.

After seeing this woman, Zenith finally obtained the last piece of a clue to the puzzle in this temple.

This woman was none other than the great evil mentioned by the lycan that was imprisoned in this place.

Back then, Sword Saint intruded into this prison, killed the god in the throne room, and took her out before replacing her with an immortal seed.

When he challenged Sword Saint into a game 8 years ago, he placed her inside his core after they made a deal with each other.

Then 8 years later, Sword Saint asked him to obtain the seed in this temple. After completing arduous challenges in this place, he finally obtained the seed. But the immortal seed left here wasn't meant for him. It was meant to awaken the woman who had been laying dormant inside his spirit core for all these years.

And now, that woman had awakened.

Sword Saint had truly made an elaborate scheme. He used him and the heaven as mere chess pieces in the chessboard he created himself. He made a wonderful move as befitting of a prominent god like him.

The woman approached him with a smile and embraced him tightly. Her lips came near his ears as she whispered sweetly, "Close your eyes and leave everything to me. Your body... I want it so much."

Soon after, an intense pain assaulted Zenith's mind and soul from the inside out.