CHAPTER 2089  THE SECOND TRIAL AND RESTRICTIONS

After listening to Lady Kang's words, Lin Mu understood that one basically got what they paid for.

A country that was functioning would have a massive value that would often be impossible to estimate with normal methods. Getting the value of the property and fixed assets was the easy part, but when it came to things like manpower, raw resources that were unexplored, as well as the future potential, it became hard to put a price tag on it. Not to mention, even if one did by a country, they also needed to have the strength to manage it.

If not, the other people that were present in the country would simply takeover and it would become a worthless purchase. This was also why selling countries was quite difficult. If a ruler were to sell it, they would need to come to an agreement with the other people of the country. Otherwise, it would just be the same as selling nothing as the people would simply not accept a new ruler. It also wasn't unusual to see rebellions and coups taking place all the time in countries that were sold.

Thus, it was very important to have a firm hold on it with great power.

Another way to prevent rebellions was to actually have a cooperative agreement with the inhabitants of the country. Rather than ruling it directly, it was better to let the people living there pick their own ruler and then work together with them as a business partner.

This is basically what a lot of sects did, as it was less work on their end and still yielded them plenty of benefits. The fewer conflicts there were, the smoother it was for them to work.

"After hearing all this, I feel even more disinclined to be a King." Lin Mu stated while shaking his head.

"I suppose it's not something for everyone." Lady Kang replied. "Though there's always many that dream to be kings and queens." She added.

"Those that dream about it, only see one aspect of it. When they see the rest, it won't be a dream… It'll be a nightmare." Lin Mu said with a chuckle.

Lady Kang was a bit stunned hearing that, as it made her think about it for a few seconds. is the owner.

"If only others understood that." Lady Kang muttered before a strange sensation was felt by her.

"Huh?" Lin Mu immediately became alert as he could feel the space shift. "Be ready, something's happening!" he said out loud.

They then saw runes appearing in front of them and turn into a sentence.

~SHUA~

'Reward Period has ended.' "Reward Period?" Lin Mu narrowed his eyes before feeling the spatial fluctuations surrounding them. "Are we being moved?" Lady Kang also sensed them now, as they had grown quite strong.

"We'll be teleported." Lin Mu could already see the spatial fabric twisting. "Hold on!" he said before quickly grasping Lady Kang's hand so that they won't be separated.

~HONG~

In the next second, the space around them bulged inwards as the two were seemingly pulled into it. As if they had passed through a viscous membrane, the space around them turned blurry with a glassy tone around it.

But they only saw this for a couple of seconds, before they felt returning to normal reality. This was such a short time that Lin Mu didn't get to glance much at his Spatial Perception either. All he got to see was the Teleportation Channel before they were already on the other side of it.

~THUD~ THUD~

Lin Mu and Lady Kang landed on solid ground under them, and immediately spread their Immortal sense around.

~HISS~

Sizzling sounds could be heard all around them, while hot air filled their surroundings.

It didn't take them much to figure out that they were in a rather dangerous area. "A volcanic area?" Lady Kang observed.

The two were standing on a two meter sized rock that was floating in a large lake of lava. There were tall cliffs from where lava was pouring down behind them, while in front of them there was a vast expanse that could only be described as a hellish landscape.

The lava lake they were standing in was just one of the hundreds present in the area, with even more floating rock islands in them. Tall rock pillars rose to the sky, that looked like someone had bitten out chunks from them. This was apparently due to the deep marks that were rather symmetrical and could be considered as teeth marks. And since they were present on many such pillars, it seemed obvious that some creature or creatures had done it.

"Looks like this is the next trial… The place we were in previously wasn't a trial ground." Lin Mu stated, having put two and two together.

And as if to confirm his words, runes appeared in front of them once more.

'Find The Keys'

"Those Keys should be our way out." Lady Kang said, seeing the message.

"Hmm… Considering we were teleported here, this should be another section of the Spatial Plane." Lin Mu said before using Spatial Perception and looking around.

The Spatial Fabric here was rather thick and prevented Lin Mu from looking out. It was definitely intentional as doing something like this needed extra effort on the creator's part.

Still, Lin Mu forced through the limits of the Spatial Fabric and managed to barely glance at the formations that were hiding behind them. He didn't get to see them for long though, as the strain was getting too much.

"Haah… This is an isolated space." Lin Mu stated. "We won't be able to leave this place easily." He added.

With how thick the spatial fabric was, Lin Mu didn't even know if he could tear open a rift into it. 'Ripping through the Spatial Fabric itself should be possible, but the formations behind it will quickly retaliate.' Lin Mu recalled the formation array he had glanced at behind the Spatial Fabric.

Lin Mu had only gotten to take a look at it for a few moments, but he was able to recognize it.

It was a offensive Formation Array that was meant to attack anyone that tried to interfere with the trial externally or internally.

Lin Mu could use his ring's power to open a rift, but this would definitely cause the array to react and attack him. Normally, he would be able to manage it, but considering this was a celestial's treasure, it would be foolish to take it lightly.

After all, the creator of this place would keep other people of their level in mind while making it. They wouldn't think anyone weaker than that would be able to interfere in its workings. Thus the force that they would counter with would also be similarly great.

There was a great chance that if Lin Mu got caught in it, he would be greatly injured.

"They didn't tell us the number of keys we need to search. They are definitely making it vague on purpose." Lady Kang spoke.

"Yeah. I think we have to continue collecting them until we have the right amount. The teleportation will probably trigger automatically once we have the correct amount." Lin Mu analyzed.

"Let's check the places out and see if we can find the keys nearby." Lady Kang suggested.

"Mmhnn." Lin Mu nodded and leaped into the air.

But a second later, his expression changed as he felt his body descend uncontrollably.

~THUD~

~CRACK~

Lin Mu landed back on the floating rock with all his body weight, cracking it in the process. "Are you okay?" Lady Kang asked, seeing the unusual act.

"The difficulty rose another level." Lin Mu said with a frown and stood up. "We can't fly here."

"We can't fly?" Lady Kang hadn't expected that because she didn't feel any restrictions. She tried to fly, but realized that her body simply didn't ascend. Flying, which was basically a second nature to her at this point and as natural as walking, didn't work!

"To restrain flight and have no signs of it… What kind of formation is this?" Lady Kang muttered to herself. "A Celestial formation, for sure." Lin Mu replied. "Only something like that would be able to restrain immortals like us with ease and prevent us from sensing it." He explained.

"A Celestial… We'll have to be extra careful in this trial, then." Lady Kang furrowed her brows before feeling the rock under her shake.

~tremble~

~CRACK~CRACK~CRACK~

The rock started to split apart from Lin Mu's previous landing, and lava was now bubbling up from the middle.

"We need to move." Lady Kang said with urgency. "Or we'll get swallowed by it." But unlike her, Lin Mu was not worried at all.

~HUALA~

Instead, a searing energy flowed out of Lin Mu's body and covered it entirely before seemingly condensing into a solid rock armor.

"No, we'll be fine." Lin Mu replied. "This place may as well be a grassland for me." He said, stepping onto the lava as if it were solid ground.