While walking, Akira didn't mind leaving the two children alone downhill. Now that the barrier was activated, no one could harm them.
They couldn't escape, and he could always locate their whereabouts through the help of the system.
Nothing seemed amiss. He thought as Akira assessed the situation on the first floor. Even if an unforeseen event happened while he was outside, the system wouldn't fail to notify him.
Akira glanced back and saw the unrecognizable emotions expressed on their faces.
Gu Ryu and Xu Xena were wildly petrified and bewildered.
The place was so dreamy. It was as if a God descended creating a dreamy, autonomous environment.
"T-the Spiritual Qi is dense and seemed purer than outside…was this real? How is this logically possible?" Gu Ryu mumbled in delusion.
He slapped his face twice and felt the world unchanged.
"This is real! How?!" Xu Xena shrieked.
"Don't idle. Follow me." Akira's voice snaps their whimsical state.
The two forced their trembling knees.
Their chests tightened as they clenched their fists.
Along the way, Akira noticed the two cultivators constantly stopped walking. He knew the cause and its effect on their minds.
In this space with dense and pure Spiritual Qi, cultivators won't just stand. They would immediately cultivate.
Occasionally, it was always Xu Xena who would wake up from their dreamy state and then smack Gu Ryu on the head to wake him up.
"Stop daydreaming! Follow the Master!"
Gu Ryu's lips twitched followed by apologies to her master.
He couldn't bear to imagine the feeling of being betrayed. Her master had raised and nurtured her, only to betray her and call someone else "Master."
"Stop hitting me," he said, although he didn't mind because it was her doing it. His pride as a man was being stepped on, but deep inside, there was a strange sensation trying to set his heart on fire.
Ever since she punched him earlier, a strange sensation crept into his heart.
Who could blame him? It was the first intimate physical exchange between him and the love of his life.
"Hmph! If you keep spacing out, you'll only drag me down. Let's be quick. Master is waiting ahead!"
Gu Ryu sighed. "What would your Master think if she learned that you're now calling someone else Master other than her?"
Xu Xena smiled brightly, surprising him. "My Master always said to seize opportunities when they arise. Now that a hidden cultivator has revealed himself to us, wouldn't you be tempted to seize the chance?"
Gu Ryu paused for a moment and realized that Xu Xena was correct.
He had forgotten about his contract with the Jie Family and his plans to leave.
However, he couldn't believe that Xu Xena had quite a thick face.
Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine as Xu Xena glared at him. "What?!" she demanded.
Gu Ryu coughed and replied, "It's nothing. Let's go." He coughed not out of fear, but to conceal the strange sensation he was feeling.
Strange. Very strange. He thought.
The three arrived in some kind of Pavilion.
Yes! This place is weird! Gu Ryu thought to himself. What kind of place is this?
I continued to discover things that I was not aware of.
The strange sensation, the mystical power that separates this environment from the outside. And now an architecture that he had only seen in ancient texts when he accidentally stumbled upon it in the tower.
What was this pillar called? I think it's called Doric. No, it's not. Corinthian? Argh! I cannot remember, but I know they were called Greek Orders.
Akira turned around and said, "Behave yourselves, no matter what you see inside."
Akira stepped inside the darkness of the temple.
Xu Xena and Gu Ryu held their breath and followed through.
Despite Akira's warning, they couldn't control themselves and occasionally let out gasps.
Why wouldn't they? The Temple itself is a gigantic formation of spirit stones carved to look like a temple.
If it weren't for their harsh experience in the path of cultivation, the two of them might have passed out multiple times. Just walking among these treasures required all of their strength. In contrast, Akira remained unfazed.
He was aware that the temple was constructed from Spirit Stone, and he even suspected that the Pavilions were the origin of the dense and pure Spiritual Qi on each floor.
Akira came to a stop in front of the massive door of the great hall. The echoing sound of his footsteps ceased as he stood in the empty hallway, except for the presence of two other cultivators.
He frowned as the two continued walking past him and proceeded to hit the massive door, creating a loud sound.
Their clouded eyes returned to normal as the pain from hitting the massive door subsided.
Xu Xena blushed, while Gu Ryu scratched the back of his head.
They walked side by side to Akira's back.
Akira ignored them and transmitted his thoughts to the system.
A creaking sound echoed as dust fell from the sides and the floor lightly quaked when the massive door began to open.
"Blue fire?"
"Yeah, just like a stove in the Tower…" Xu Xena mumbled in response to Gu Ryu.
The light in the great hall pushed back the darkness, revealing a spacious area with smooth columns supporting the ceiling.
Plain curtains hung on the sides, providing simple decoration. Despite the hall's majesty, it was a mess, with banana peels littered everywhere.
Akira looked at the red curtains with gold stripes on the edges. They were a token of consolation for what he owed Wukong.
He felt uneasy about owing someone, and these curtains, which he had purchased from the system, were a way to ease his troubled mind.
"Ook! Ook!" The two jolted at the deep sound coming from a monkey.
They turned their heads to the source and almost dropped their jaws at the sight of the gigantic monkey sitting on the throne.
"That's... that's alive? I thought it was just a statue!" exclaimed Gu Ryu.
They had encountered many powerful and large beasts, but this was their first time seeing a monkey of this size.
The monkey picked up the staff resting beside the throne and lightly tapped the ground with it, causing the ground to shake.
The two were startled by the sudden movement.
They could feel the surge of Spiritual Qi emanating from the staff, even though it was just a small amount.
"These two cultivators will be your helpers. Their task is to clean your temple every day."
The monkey didn't respond.
Akira sighed and then turned around to face the two cultivators.
He pointed his finger toward the banana peels in the corner.
"You will start now. Take the banana peels into the field outside and use them as fertilizer. I will provide seeds afterward. Once you have cleaned the great hall, proceed to clean the hallway as well. Use your Spiritual Qi to illuminate the dark hallway."
Akira noticed their hesitation. He assured them that they would be compensated for their efforts, including training and unlimited supplies of elixirs obtained by slaying beasts.
The two immediately straightened their backs upon hearing what kind of compensation they could receive.
At the same time, they were bewildered. Which captor would reward a prisoner?
They turned their heads toward Wukong and bowed nervously.
Their knees began shaking from Wukong's gaze prompting them to begin their tasks.
They were about to use their Spiritual Qi to ease up their labor when Wukong released his murderous intent toward them.
The two had no choice but to manually carry the banana peels outside the temple, as Akira had forbidden them from using their Spiritual Qi.
Their fear clouded their judgment as they failed to notice the banana peels exuding a sweet fragrance and the remnants of leftover fruits clinging to them, emitting a faint glow.
It wasn't until they picked up the banana peels that they realized their true value. Their eyes widened in disbelief and they almost lost their composure.
This?! This?!
This was considered as trash and fertilizer here?!
The greed in their hearts was beginning to stir, but before it could consume them, they heard another snort that prompted them to quickly retrieve the leftover elixirs they had dismissed as 'trash'.
It took them an hour to complete the task, their hearts heavy with regret. Viewing the elixir as nothing more than fertilizer seemed like such a waste!
Strange enough, they didn't find the sibling in the field due to their mixed emotions.
They were nearing the end of their tasks for the day and this time they were allowed to use their Spiritual Qi to light up the cold, dark hallways and rooms in Wukong's Temple.
The two nervously began to use their Spiritual Qi to create a fire that would illuminate the hallway.
They heaved a sigh of relief when the large monkey, called Wukong, didn't rush to kill them, knowing that he was a dominant freak.
Xu Xena frowned as she watched the fire she had created gradually dissipate.
She flicked her hand and moved it in a circular motion, causing the Spiritual Qi to leave her body and add fuel to the fire.
"What are you doing?" Gu Ryu innocently asked, holding a gigantic fire in his hand.
Xu Xena didn't bother to respond.
Her brows furrowed deeply, and beads of sweat appeared on her smooth, silky face.
Finally, she lowered her hands, and the fire instantly died out.
She noticed Gu Ryu on the side sneering.
Instead of satisfying her curiosity, she asked him, "What is that?"
"It's fire," he replied.
"I know what it's called. I asked why it's so big," she clarified.
"Oh?" Gu Ryu smiled and raised his right hand. The hallway illuminated as he did so. "The bigger the fire, the better it illuminates the area. The high ceiling allows us to work without hindrance. Genius, right?"
Xu Xena sighed in resignation.
"What?" Gu Ryu asked, frowning.
"You'll know soon. Go and release the fire," said Xu Xena.
Gu Ryu followed through with furrowed brows.
As the fire floated, its size gradually shrank until it dried out in the air.
Gu Ryu instinctively turned to Xu Xena.
"What happened?"
Xu Xena rolled her eyes and replied, "Duh, it died, obviously."
Gu Ryu clarified, "I know it died. I'm asking why it happened."
"I don't know the reason, but it doesn't matter. We have a whole temple to light up. It's best not to exhaust our Spiritual Qi by creating the same size as you did."
"How do you want this task done?"
Xu Xena smiled and said, "It's easy. We just need to place two palm-sized fires parallel to each other. But first, follow me. The entrance is weird, we should start from another location in the temple."
The two found a spot and began.
She flicked her hand and a small fire appeared, which she then placed on the wall.
Gu Ryu followed suit and placed another fire on the opposite side of the wall.
Satisfied, Xu Xena nodded. However, after five seconds, the fire she conjured dissipated, much like Gu Ryu's fire.
They exchanged a frown and conjured another five fires each, guiding them to the walls, only to have them dissipate into the air, just like before.
Something was clearly interfering with their abilities, causing them irritation. They conjured as much fire as they could in an instant and placed them parallel to each other, but the results were the same – the fire dissipated into the air.
"Damn it! What is happening?!" Gu Ryu cursed hoarsely, the effort of conjuring so much fire taking a toll on their bodies.
"Silence! What if Lord Wukong heard you?" Xu Xena responded, collecting her breath.
"Let's try guiding them into the middle of the ceiling and see what happens."
The two of them used their Spiritual Qi to create fires and performed various miracles to prevent the fires from burning out. One time, they successfully prevented a fire from burning out by fueling it with their Spiritual Qi, but the fire was only the size of a thumb, and their Spiritual Qi was depleting rapidly.
In the Great Hall, Wukong took a bite of the freshly peeled banana and sneered as he watched the two struggle to retain the small fire.
"The Dungeon doesn't need you," he said. "But the Dungeon Master's words are final. Don't take it to heart. Consider this part of your training and compensation. I hope you can at least learn something before you die."
With that, Wukong went back to enjoying his favorite elixir while the two struggled to maintain a small fire to illuminate the hallway.