After a few hours, the Elements returned to their former state, unaffected by the Chaos Mana.
William heaved a sigh of relief when he was finally able to use his Elements again. He would need to be careful when upgrading the Chaos Affinity in the future, otherwise he might go days without any Magic Ability.
He held off on spinning the Talent Shop any further, opting not to test fate when he was about to enter a dangerous Ruin. William still had the Cultivation Techniques he bought from the store and earned from the Great Hall, but he didn't plan to start Cultivating just yet.
The Manamatus Title specifically applied to before William was a Cultivator, meaning he might miss out on a lot of Potential Points if he reached Qi Refinement. Besides, the last few weeks had proven that William was quite strong even without Cultivation. If it wasn't for his lifespan, William wouldn't even Cultivate.
He couldn't think of how else to prepare for the Gravitas Ruins, so he decided to go with a method that one of the Array Masters in Blue Moon City taught him.
William used the Plant Element to form multiple wooden puppets, spending all of his Mana to inscribe Perfect Arrays on each one. It took quite a few Mana Regeneration potions and almost 8 hours, but William managed to create twenty puppets and stored them all in a single Space Ring on his left hand.
Better safe than sorry, I've been meaning to do this for a while now.
William had learned his lesson from the past. He may be strong, but he would always lose against a large number of Cultivators unless he held a clear advantage. With these puppets, William would hopefully stand a fighting chance if the Rhio Family showed up again.
He spent the afternoon eating at Wild Clover with Charlotte, who had become quite close to William over the last few weeks. The two would spend at least three nights a week at Wild Clover and would even go to the Night Market together.
She was sad that William was going to the Gravitas Ruins, but she had faith that he would be perfectly fine. After all, William had proven to the entire Sect that he was just as strong as the Inner Core Disciples of the Sect, if not stronger.
William and Charlotte walked back to her residence, where he said goodnight to her at the door before heading off to his own. She wore a somewhat disappointed look when William turned away, but she didn't show it. What am I thinking about? We're just friends, of course he's only going to say goodnight.
She returned to her room with a tinge of red on her face, William completely unaware of her thoughts.
"Good morning disciples. You have proven yourselves this month to be the top of the Outer and Inner Sect, and now is the time for you to enter the Gravitas Ruins." Sect Master Gu Dianlong spoke to the group of 11 in front of him.
"Each of you minus one has been here before, but I will explain the guidelines regardless. The Ruins only allow Cultivators at the Core Formation Realm and lower to enter, so the amount of progress made by the various Sects is minimal.
The Gravitas Ruins will be open for only two weeks, but time flows four times faster inside. What this means is that you will actually be spending two months inside of the Ruins, while only two weeks pass outside." Gu Dianlong created a large portal next to him while speaking.
"There will be disciples from other Sects present, so do be wary. The Five Elements Sect has three allies: the Spirit Ascension Sect, the Sword Mountain Sect, and the Tiger Bards Sect. All others are either neutral or enemies of the Sect, so do not let your guard down. Killing is usually prohibited, but only if you get caught." a vicious look entered Gu Dianlong's eyes.
The Inner Core Disciples understood what he was trying to say. If they saw any enemies of the Sect, there would definitely be a fight. Killing intent flooded the room as some disciples thought about their enemies from the other Sects.
William had no clue what the other Sects looked like, so he just hoped that they would recognize his uniform and not cause him trouble. Of course, if they did start something he would gladly finish it.
"Are there any questions before we meet up with the other Sects?" Gu Dianlong asked the group.
A male disciple with bright yellow hair raised his hand. "Are the Labyrinth of Tears trials still unclaimed?" Official source ıs Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
Gu Dianlong's eyebrow rose, "You're a bit ambitious this year, Lenguis. Yes, only one trial has been completed, while over a dozen have been discovered in the last two hundred years. We suspect that there are well over two hundred Trials left undiscovered. Anything else?"
Lenguis nodded in understanding. A smile crept up on his lips as his fantasized being the second person to clear a Labyrinth of Tears trial.
No one else spoke, so the Sect Master ushered each disciple into the portal he created.
William exited the portal to see a massive crowd of thousands of disciples from different Sects standing in a large courtyard. In the sky above was a perfectly circular ancient portal that defied gravity, lined with hundreds of complicated Arrays on a dark-colored stone brick. The portal's Arrays were much more profound than the Perfect Arrays William knew.
-Entered the Providence Zone: +25 Potential Points
-Discovered a Ruin: +25 Potential Points
William didn't have time to pay attention to the System message, as a Cultivator enshrouded in a bright yellow light that made William squint floated into the sky. His aura suggested he was at the same level as Gu Dianlong and Supreme Left, but William couldn't make out his face.
All of the disciples quieted down and looked to the sky as the figure raised his voice to speak.
"The Gravitas Ruins will open in less than five minutes! Sect Masters, gather your disciples in a line with their Ruins Tickets to enter the gate!
I will say this one time and one time only. There is a one-hour grace period upon entering the ruins. Do NOT fight during that time, lest you want to die a gruesome death."
He floated in the sky for a few more minutes while the disciples lined up. As the five-minute mark was reached, the portal began to glow a dark-blue light as a slight suction force formed.
"The gate has opened! Enter at your own risk, and good luck to all!" he spoke amiably before floating back down to a nearby seat just next to the Gravitas Ruins portal.
Gu Dianlong nodded at the disciples, sending each of them into the line one by one. He whispered to William as he stepped forward, "Remember to retrieve the item I requested. If you don't, it's your head not mine..."
William nodded in understanding. After all, he was still bound by the Enslavement Array.
As William took his first step into the portal, Sect Master Gu's voice entered his ears one last time.
Oh and one more thing. Kill every single bastard from the Ice Immortal Sect you see. Leave no survivors.