Chapter 257: A Strange Pool and its Vicious Test, The Elf Royal Family
Both mountains were huge and wide.
The left one was more magical, with magical steam covering many parts of its area.
Those steam-covered parts were places of Spiritual Nature Pools.
Naturally, not all pools had the same quality of benefits.
The further up the pools on the mountain, the better the quality of benefits they provided.
Lilith obviously led everyone to the highest and best quality pools so that everyone could progress faster and better.
However, there were more customers, yet the pools were limited.
"how long until one of them becomes unoccupied?" Lilith asked the receptionist behind an exquisite wooden desk.
The whole place was immensely filled with spiritual freshness and vitality, while the aesthetic structures, colorful flowers, plants, and furniture boosted the beauty of the place one more notch.
The receptionist weakly smiled and said, "I can see you want to have your turn as soon as possible, but unfortunately, all ten pools are booked for the next month."
"What?!" Rin almost wanted to flip the table.
Lily also felt speechless. First, they couldn't buy one of the most important resources, and now they couldn't get into the pool.
"I apologize, dear customers. We have been getting more traffic for the past several months. I'm afraid you can only get one of the lower-level pools for now."
"So, even the other decent ones are booked for a long time?" Lily asked.
"Yes," the receptionist nodded, but then, as if she remembered something, she smiled and said, "But there's one pool that's even better than ours, and it's unoccupied."
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"Anyone can go there as long as they pass a certain dangerous test. The pool there is vicious yet possessing the highest of quality and benefits."
"Oh?" Lilith raised her eyebrows, "Elaborate."
…
Rin, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina exited from the wooden gates before Rin got Erix's call and told him their location.
Erix soon arrived and said as he looked at the exquisite gate and ambient lights with a pond behind them.
"Is this the place?"
"Nope," Rin shook her head. "This place is occupied for a month. Same with other decent spots in the mountain."
"What?!" Erix was dumbfounded. He knew they needed to use the pools to gain insights and create their Arcane Spirit Pond faster because the more they progressed in it, the harder it was getting.
"It's fine," Lilith smiled. "We have a better alternative. There's an exclusive pool in the Royal Palace there, and we are going there."
Lilith's gaze was on the huge palace at the center of the city.
"The only catch is that we have to pass a very dangerous test," Rin grinned. "Do you know how dangerous it is?"
"How?" Erix's curiosity was piqued at the mention of 'dangerous.'
"If we fail to pass the test, we'll literally die."
"By the way, I am not going to participate in that test," Maleina said with a helpless smile. "I am not confident, so please don't force me on that."
"We won't," Erix said before he asked, "So, what's the deal with it? Tell me."
"That Spiritual Nature Pool is alive," Lilith said. "Not literally, but it has a pure spiritual will and doesn't just let anybody reap its benefits."
"Elves of the Royal family's bloodline are exceptions as they can use the pool, but they also allow anyone to have a try."
"The only catch is that…the pool has its own will, and if you fail its test, it will eat your consciousness and spirituality, refining it and then boosting the pool itself."
Erix was taken aback. So vicious?!
"What is the test?" Erix asked.
Lilith narrowed her eyes. "We can enter the pool and start reaping its benefits by meditating, but we can't leave afterward as the pool will immediately start its test."
"The test is related to our consciousness. The general information is that we will enter some kind of illusion to take on its test. If we fail, we will simply die."
Erix raised his eyebrows and said, "And if we pass, we can just continue to have leisure time in the pool?"
"Yep," Rin nodded.
"So, who is up for it?" Erix grinned.
"Everyone except me," Maleina said with a weak smile.
"Then let's go," Erix said as he cracked his knuckles while a thrilled grin spread across his face.
…
The Royal Palace was truly humongous as it was 800 meters tall and 500 meters wide in size.
On a certain upper floor was an open balcony garden, and a beautiful elf young lady in her early twenties sat at a table eating something akin to a chocolate cake when a maid arrived and informed her of bad news.
"Princess Runia, we can't find young lady Aria."
Her mood immediately soured hearing 'Aria.'
"That bitch…Why do I have to take care of Dad's bastard child?!"
*Thadak!*
The angered beauty flipped the table and turned to the maid elf, who had her head down.
'If you stop harassing and beating her, she won't run away…' the maid thought, but she didn't dare to voice out her opinion.
"Please check her location with your bloodline resonance," the maid requested in a soft voice.
"Damn it..." Princess Runia cursed under her breath and closed her eyes.
However, her expression slightly paled after a few seconds as she muttered, "Why can't I sense her location? It's the same as a month ago when she disappeared. Fuck…"
The maid was also startled, but her eyes flashed. She knew of a secret place where the bloodline resource couldn't reach, but it was a secret between her and Aria.
Princess Runia opened her eyes and coldly said, "I can't find her. Tell my mother about it, and she'll handle it."
"Understood," the maid nodded and turned around.
"Wait. From now on, she is your responsibility, and this is my order. You don't need to attend to my younger sister anymore, so just attend to Aria."
"I am not her freaking babysitter," Princess Runia muttered.
'With pleasure,' the maid thought before she outwardly replied with a polite nod, "Understood. As you wish, Princess Runia."
"Also, order some more sweets for me."
"Understood."
The maid left the garden to the secret place where Lady Aria had hidden.
'Sigh,' the maid sighed as she was feeling bad for Aria, but she was powerless to change Aria's situation. 'This palace is like a prison for her, yet the King ignores her plight and just wants to focus on his ascension. Sigh...'
Suddenly, she got a call from a maid under her informing her that there was a group who wanted to challenge the Royal Spiritual Nature Pool to reap its benefits.