Victory in the arena brought celebration, but the appearance of a familiar firefly hinted at a deeper force working behind the scenes. Moving on alone, the journey took an unsettling turn with the discovery of a clearing filled with lifelike stone figures frozen in time.
After the final strike landed, the crowd around the arena erupted into cheers. I stood over Fang Xu, as the spectators celebrated the victory. It was a proud moment for my character, having proven his skill against the World of Heavens.
The atmosphere shifted instantly when a glowing firefly emerged from Fang Xu's body. I watched as it hovered for a moment before darting off toward someone watching from a distance.
It was exactly like the firefly that appeared after the very first boss fight. Someone is clearly pulling the strings behind these warriors.
Ruby and I went to find the man who had promised a grand prize to the arena champion. Ruby was beaming with excitement. It was a rare moment of pure joy for her after all the tension of the duel.
The mood soured when a this named Old Jin tried to go back on his word. He claimed the prize wasn't free and demanded a ridiculous amount of money for it.
My character wasn't in the mood for games so he stepped forward and made it clear that since he won the fight, he was taking the prize, one way or another. Faced with a warrior's wrath, Old Jin folded and handed it over out of pure fear.
With the prize package secured, Ruby wasted no time digging through it. She found a book and immediately sat down to start reading, looking completely content and peaceful.
Ruby's attention was soon caught by a dancing horse nearby. She was so enchanted that she wanted to stay and shop for more things, but my character knew they had to start heading back.
Fortunately, they ran into Beard Guang, an old acquaintance of Ruby's father. He assured that he would keep an eye on her at the merchant caravan, allowing my character to move on alone.
As I left the caravan area, I discovered a new ability, I realized I could actually climb the trees. I scaled a massive one to get a better look at the horizon.
I dropped down and sprinted forward until I reached a clearing that stopped me in my tracks. The area was filled with life-sized statues of people, but they didn't look like sculptures.
Their poses and expressions were so realistic it looked as if real people had been frozen into stone mid-action.
That's all for now.
