Chapter 876: The Lady of the Lake's Trial

When Xia De focused all his attention on the notebook before him, doing his utmost to recall and organize his language to complete a coherent logical framework, the passage of time became so swift.

Even "She" did not disturb Xia De, who was fully engrossed in the woods on this quiet afternoon. Xia De, who had not concentrated on mental labor outdoors for a long time, actually felt that the sensation of writing things while the wind blew in these undisturbed woods was quite pleasant.

He planned to use the mathematical knowledge of the contemporary Sixth Era to complete the proof and partial extensions of what was known as "Euler's Formula" in his hometown. But halfway through the outline, he felt that the issues involved in this subject were simply too numerous, and the existing mathematical tools were actually quite lacking; thus, he could only supplement it himself with things like mathematical induction, which he considered common sense.

Although these were all things Xia De had learned while in his hometown, he was not simply transcribing them; moreover, he could not memorize the original text of the thesis or the original proof process. It was certain that omissions would appear, and Xia De could only say that he was doing his best to perfect the construction of this bridge connecting complex exponential functions and trigonometric functions.

"Only once I put pen to paper did I realize how much there is to write."

Thinking this in his heart, he used his fountain pen to circle the chapter titles he had just listed and wrote the word "Pending" after them. Afterward, he wanted to simply write down the content of mathematical induction, but just as he finished writing the second letter, his head ached, and he was actually struck by something that fell from the sky:

"Oh!"

He clutched his head and reached out, catching the object that had struck him and fallen to the side. Looking closely, it was actually a green, unripe apple:

"Hmm?"

Looking up again, the sun had already set slightly, and there were not even withered leaves on the empty, black tree branches. Xia De was very certain that before he sat down, there were definitely no apples on this tree:

"Where did the apple come from?"

He lowered his head to look at the apple in his hand; the green fruit seemed unripe. Gripping it tightly, he felt no trace of the Four Elements, so Xia De hesitated for a moment, rubbed the apple against his clothes, and took a bite.

The apple was a bit sour, but it also had a faint sweetness and was very crisp. After chewing it carefully and swallowing it, he felt that his head, which had been somewhat bloated from the afternoon's work, was actually much clearer.

He wanted to take a second bite, but suddenly stopped:

"Does that lake have to use such an interesting method every time it appears?"

He still sat leaning against the tree trunk, raised his left hand to beckon the date-red horse, and when it lowered its head, he handed the apple to it.

The latter bit off a small half of the apple in one go, chewed it a few times, then stuck out its long red tongue to lick away the remaining large half of the apple, chewing it while snorting through its nose.

【Do you know what will happen?】

"She's" voice came from the wind. Xia De stood up with his notebook and stuffed it and the fountain pen into his bosom:

"Isn't that how fairy tales are always told?"

He stretched, then untied the reins, stepped on the stirrup, and flipped onto the horse's back. Xia De did not give the horse any direction; the horse, having finished the apple, walked slowly toward the left on its own.

Xia De did not speak, just holding the reins like this while being carried by the horse deep into the woods. The shadows of the setting sun had already partially appeared on the horizon. Blowing the slightly cold winter wind, crossing one bare apple tree after another, the man and horse moved forward in silence, as if they both knew where the destination ahead was.

Suddenly, ahead in the not-so-dense woods, a tall bush appeared that should not have been there in this season. And when the date-red horse carried Xia De out of the bushes, what he saw was a calm lake rippling under the setting sun, and in the center of the reddened lake water, he saw an island with lush green grass growing on it.

【Outsider, you have felt miracles and whispers.】

"Yes, that's right. Whispers mean this is a relic that has never been recorded. Miracles mean I found the right place."

At "Her" prompt, Xia De smiled and got off the horse's back, patted the horse that was lowering its head to eat grass again, and came to the lakeside.

Unlike what Old Greif of Lower Luther Village said about the lake being frozen, and unlike what the poet Roland said about a small boat waiting for him, there was only the lake water reddened by the setting sun before Xia De.

"Water Walking!"

He stepped carefully, landing on the lake water, and only after standing steady did he slowly walk forward.

Xia De was now completely certain that the "Lake of Cherub" in the Sixth Era at this time was definitely not the Lost Lake located in the 【Shattered Islands】 in the year 5177 of the Fifth Era. The scenery of this mysterious lake at present was very good, and there were only small fish swimming in the lake water under his feet, with none of those strange things.

Zhihu of Cherub was not large, at least not as large as the Lost Lake. Xia De stepped on the water surface and soon boarded the island in the center of the lake.

The first to greet him was the "resurrected" wild wolf from yesterday. It still had whisper elements on its body and seemed to recognize Xia De; upon seeing him, it was so frightened that it immediately ran away.

Xia De walked on the grass toward the interior of the island, crossing the standing stones and sparse trees, and in the center of the island, he discovered a shallow little lake. The lake water was clear, and red and black tadpole-sized little fish were swimming wantonly inside.

In the center of the little lake stood a huge gray stone. Although this stone was irregularly shaped, every side was incomparably smooth, carved with dense golden runes, as if several long, square giant stones had been spliced together.

On the lake surface under the stone stood a young lady leaning on a cane, smiling as she watched Xia De walking from afar. It was not the old woman that the one-eyed fisherman Mr. Greif spoke of, nor the middle-aged woman that the poet Mr. Roland spoke of; it was a young lady of twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing a white robe, looking like a hermit. The long staff in her hand was white oak, and together with that white robe, it radiated pure white light.

"Island center lake?"

Xia De muttered in his heart, wanting to step on the water surface again to enter the final island center lake, but when he stretched out his foot, he stepped into the water in one go:

"Hmm? Forbidden to walk on water?"

He was a bit surprised, took out the extract of weather vane bluegrass, dripped it onto the tip of his tongue, and took a step forward wanting to cross the water surface directly, but the power of space could not be used here either.

The young girl in the center of the lake smiled as she watched him. Xia De looked carefully at the shallow lake water; in fact, even if he went into the water, the water surface would not reach his knees. But he felt he could not wade through the water, otherwise, he would lose face, so he first took out a frog leg, used the spell 【Frog's Leap】, and then activated the spell 【Power of the Red Dragon】.

He took a few steps back, ran forward fiercely, and leaped at the lakeside, crossing the lake surface like gliding, landing steadily under the giant stone in the island center lake. The water surface where the white-robed lady stood allowed the "Water Walking" spell to take effect, so Xia De came before her.

The concentration of miracle elements here was simply as if he were under the holy emblem of a church in a grand diocese, but Xia De was very certain that the young lady with silver-white hair wearing a pure white hooded robe before him was definitely not a god.

She was quite ancient; her young appearance could not hide the ancient feeling that had come across time.

"Hello."

Glancing at the setting sun on the horizon, Xia De bowed to the white-robed lady on the lake water, and the latter did not dodge, responding softly in Delarion:

"Hello, congratulations, you have finally arrived here."

Her tone was very gentle, somewhat like Grandma Cassandra.

Xia De raised his head, looking at her with some anticipation, and asked embarrassedly:

"May I ask, do you know why I came here?"

"Oh, of course I know."

The white-robed lady smiled and nodded. Under the setting sun, she, along with that white robe and that white oak long staff, radiated pure white brilliance, just like Xia De who would glow in the dark:

"You came for the power of a god."

"Yes, then..."

Xia De smiled embarrassedly. The ancient one seemed to understand his mood at this moment very well:

"No need to say that word, but what you want, I indeed possess."

Xia De's eyes widened. He was not surprised that the other party saw that he wanted to find divinity. Although this "Lady of the Lake" was not a god, she was also very close to a god.

What surprised him was that the other party was so easy to talk to:

"Then I... what organ do you want from me? I have seen three mortals who once made wishes here; they all lost parts of their bodies, not a physical loss, but erased from the past to the present."

The white-robed lady smiled and shook her head:

"Yes, to receive, one must pay, but you are different from them; your body has no meaning to me. What you want to obtain is a treasure that mortals cannot imagine, so you must pay more."

"You don't want my body? Okay, what do I need to do?"

Xia De asked. The "Lady of the Lake" stretched out four fingers. Xia De noticed that she was not wearing any rings:

"You need to complete four trials to prove that you are worthy of possessing that power."

"Four?"

Xia De was stunned. The god's trial in the year 3177 of the Fifth Era was three items, the Keeper's trial of the Poetic Fragments was five items, and now the Lady of the Lake had proposed four items:

"No problem, may I ask what the tasks are?"

Don't say four tasks; even if it were forty, Xia De would have to agree.

"Not tasks, they are trials."

The white-robed lady corrected, then smiled and said:

"Don't be in a hurry; we can take them one by one. These trials are also a process for you to verify yourself; they can prove your abilities. At the end of the four tasks, you will reignite the power of the Great One. And every time you complete one of the first three tasks, I can give you an extra gift; after completing the fourth, you can get what you want."

"Yes, no problem!"

Xia De nodded rapidly. He saw the other party point to the angular giant stone in the center of the island center lake beside her. Originally, wisdom, kindness, sacrifice, and other virtues were written on it in golden runes, but now a line of text had been added.

Xia De read it out:

"First trial: In the upcoming wedding banquet, prove your wisdom, strength, and charm. Hmm? Wedding banquet?"

"Yes, you know what it is,"

The white-robed lady smiled, then sprinkled some white light toward Xia De:

"When you successfully prove it, you will know this point, so don't worry about being unable to measure your own behavior."

Xia De still wanted to ask questions, but the lady faced the setting sun and spoke first:

"Yes, it is just that simple; no need to defeat terrible enemies, nor need to find special materials. Outsider, go prove yourself; at that grand wedding banquet, go prove yourself. You only have one chance; if you fail, I will not give you a second chance."

The setting sun dragged their shadows long on the grass beside the island center lake. On the lake surface, Xia De kept these requirements in mind, then closed his eyes and bowed slightly to show respect:

"I am willing to accept your trial, just for that greatest power."

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