Novel Full Chapter 168: Phoenix Wings and Crimson Dance, The Ancient Gate is Activated
Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Phoenix Wings and Crimson Dance, The Ancient Gate is Activated
Fwoosh!
Leon and Celeste stood side by side in the [Vine Plains], both of them holding their respective [Ascendant Skill Scroll] while slowly pouring their mana into them.
The moment enough mana flowed into them, the scrolls suddenly dissolved into thousands of glowing particles that rushed directly into their bodies.
The golden light wrapped around them for a brief moment before disappearing entirely.
Celeste was the first one to receive a notification.
Ding!
[You have learned the skill “Phoenix Wings (Ascendant)”]
“Oh!”
Her eyes instantly lit up with excitement as she opened the panel to inspect the ability she had just acquired, her curiosity practically exploding as she quickly read through the description.
[Phoenix Wings (Ascendant): Can release your phoenix wings to fly into the air for up to one minute. 5-minutes cooldown.]
A huge smile spread across her face as she read the words.
Leon also glanced over the panel from beside her, calmly analyzing the skill for a moment before nodding in approval since the ability was indeed quite impressive.
“I’m mostly surprised you didn’t have wings to begin with,” Leon said with a faint grin while crossing his arms.
Celeste immediately turned toward him with a playful expression.
“Phoenix-race people don’t actually have wings, silly,” she explained while lightly poking his arm. “We only inherit the immortality trait, but I guess now I have wings too.”
Leon nodded slightly since that explanation made sense.
Celeste’s race was already extremely powerful thanks to its natural ability to revive after death.
Being able to fly, even if only for one minute at a time, could change the entire outcome of a battle depending on how it was used.
Still though, Leon’s attention quickly shifted back toward his own system panel.
Because his skill notification had just appeared as well.
Ding!
[You have learned the skill “Crimson Dance (Ascendant)”]
“Oh?”
Leon raised an eyebrow slightly before opening the panel to read the description.
[Crimson Dance (Ascendant): As long as you close the distance with your enemy, you may launch a barrage of crimson slashes at them, each one extremely sharp.]
“Hm…”
Leon stared at the description for a few seconds while trying to understand how the ability actually functioned.
Unlike some other skills that clearly explained their mechanics, this one seemed a little vague.
It mentioned launching a barrage of crimson slashes once the distance between him and his opponent was closed.
But it didn’t specify whether those slashes were physical strikes, energy projections, or something else entirely.
Still, despite the unclear explanation, Leon understood one thing very clearly: this was now the strongest skill he possessed.
And the main reason for that was its rank.
[Crimson Dance] was an ascendant-rank ability.
Leon’s previously highest-ranked skill, [Celestial Hand], was only ancient-rank.
Ancient-rank abilities were already incredibly powerful, but ascendant-rank abilities were on an entirely different level.
“I guess I’ll have to test it out later,” Leon thought calmly, though a small grin appeared on his face as he imagined the potential destructive power hidden behind the skill.
Celeste meanwhile stretched slightly before speaking again.
“I guess this event wasn’t so bad after all,” she said happily while spinning the scroll particles that were still fading around her fingers. “I’ll also be able to fly alongside Pyra now.”
Leon nodded, “But we still need to gather a lot of enhancement stones if we want these skills to become truly powerful.”
Celeste blinked, “Right…”
For ascendant-rank skills, even increasing them to level two required an enormous number of enhancement stones.
Thirty stones just for the first upgrade.
That was an extremely high price compared to other abilities.
Still, powerful skills naturally came with high requirements.
Regardless, Leon soon closed his panels and looked forward again.
“I guess we can proceed now,” he said with a grin.
Even though the [Divine Academy Examination] had ended, Leon was fully aware that his involvement with the academy was far from over.
Still, until he became strong enough to challenge the powerful individuals controlling that place, he had no intention of returning.
Leon opened his [World Map] again.
And as he zoomed into the area ahead of them…
“Oh.” He suddenly noticed something, “I think we can teleport even closer.”
Celeste leaned slightly toward him, “What do you mean?”
Leon looked at the map.
The small dots representing both himself and Celeste were visible on the terrain of the [Vine Plains].
But as he scrolled further ahead across the region, another symbol appeared on the screen.
It was the icon of an ancient gate.
The symbol had a crimson outline surrounding it, and above it were the words: Dangerous.
Leon nodded slowly.
“Makes sense the [World Map] shows it,” he murmured. “It did that before.”
However, this was the first time he had seen the map label something specifically as dangerous.
And judging by the ominous design of the symbol, whatever was waiting behind that gate was definitely not something ordinary.
“Hold on to me one last time,” Leon said with a grin while preparing the teleportation. “We’re heading straight to the gate.”
Celeste immediately grabbed his arm.
“Nice,” she said happily. “I really didn’t feel like walking through the [Vine Plains] again.”
They were both strong enough to easily deal with the monsters roaming the area, but since their objective was the gate itself, teleporting directly there would save a lot of time.
Fwoosh! Ding!
[Do you wish to teleport to “Will of Nature’s Attack Zone”?]
“Yes.”
Leon confirmed without hesitation.
The world around them instantly dissolved into swirling particles of light as the teleportation activated.
Moments later, they reappeared at the exact location.
They were now standing right in front of the same transparent veil they had encountered earlier.
Beyond it stretched the massive zone filled with endless vines, and at the very center of that chaotic landscape stood the ancient gate.
Leon didn’t hesitate even for a moment.
He stepped forward and passed directly through the veil.
Celeste followed immediately behind him.
Ding!
[You have entered the “Will of Nature’s Attack Zone.”]
Fortunately, both of them still had the [Plant King Flower] resting on top of their heads.
That small item was the only reason the vines weren’t attacking them.
Even Leon could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within the countless vines surrounding the area.
Their energy was dense and aggressive.
’If I didn’t have the [Plant King Flower], would I even reach the gate?’ Leon wondered silently.
For a brief moment, he almost felt tempted to test it.
But the memory of the goblin player who had been thrown into this place earlier quickly convinced him otherwise.
That experiment had already proven how dangerous the zone truly was.
After walking carefully for about a minute, they finally reached the center of the attack zone.
The ancient gate stood before them. It looked exactly the same as before.
Leon also noticed that the symbol displayed on the [World Map] was identical to the real structure standing in front of them.
“So what do we do now?” Celeste asked while observing the hundreds of vines slowly twisting around the gate.
They weren’t attacking. But they were definitely more active near the structure.
“Hm…”
Leon stepped forward and placed his hand on the surface of the gate.
And the moment he did—
BOOM!
A violent surge of energy exploded from the ancient structure.
All the vines surrounding the area suddenly began moving.
For a brief moment, Leon thought they were about to attack.
His hand immediately moved toward his sword. But that wasn’t what happened.
Instead, the vines began wrapping around the gate itself.
They tightened around its structure while glowing faintly, transferring their energy directly into the ancient stone until the entire gate started shining with bright green light.
Ding!
[The “Will of Nature’s Gate” has been activated.]
[Step inside if you want to die.]
“…Damn.”
The warning was incredibly direct.
Celeste stared at the panel with a slightly uneasy expression.
“…Do we go inside?” she asked slowly while small phoenix flames flickered around her arms. “This seems…”
“Dangerous,” Leon finished for her, “But there’s definitely something valuable inside.”
He glanced back at the glowing gate, “And I’m not wasting this opportunity.”
Celeste sighed before grinning, “Heh… I figured you’d say that.”
Without hesitating any further, both of them stepped forward.
And they walked straight through the ancient gate.
Fwoosh!
The world around them twisted violently as the teleportation effect activated again.
A moment later—
Ding!
[You have entered the “Temple of Nature”]
[May the will of the heavenly one be with you, for your death is now certain.]