“Huu huu huu~”
The desert weather changed in an instant. It had been fine when they set out, but a fierce wind suddenly kicked up.
The group of five trudged across the vast desert.
The violent gale carried sand and gravel that whipped against their bodies.
Su Xiaocheng pulled her cloak tighter and lowered the brim of her hood, trying her best to block the sand blowing toward her face.
“Sister, should I put up a magic barrier for you?” Su Xiaowei asked.
“Don’t be so fragile. Toughen up. It’s just a bit of wind and sand.”
Li Yanyan wasn’t even wearing a cloak. Dressed in her tight combat outfit, she led at the very front, letting the wind and sand slam directly into her.
Lu Shiyuan hid her small body behind Li Yanyan and lifted her head proudly.
“Th-that’s right! It’s just a little wind and sand. This young lady isn’t scared at all!”
“In weather like this, is this also part of the trial?”
Su Xiaocheng asked while covering her mouth to keep sand from getting in.
“That’s right! Cough cough cough.”
Having swallowed a mouthful of sand, Li Yanyan bent over and coughed awkwardly.
Su Xiaocheng pulled her foot out of the sand, took off her shoe, and poured the sand out of it.
Her originally pure white stockings were now completely covered in grit.
At this moment, she had to praise Su Xiaowei’s foresight.
If not for her, Su Xiaocheng would probably have been walking barefoot soon.
“How much longer until we arrive?” Su Xiaocheng couldn’t help asking.
“Let me see. It should be right up ahead,” Li Yanyan declared confidently after checking the map.
No one knew how she could be so certain of their location in this featureless desert.
“You’ve said that how many times already?” Su Xiaowei mercilessly called her out.
They distinctly remembered her saying the same thing an hour earlier.
After following her directions for a long time, they had found nothing.
After a careful check, they discovered that Li Yanyan had somehow been holding the map upside down.
In other words, they had already been lost for quite a while.
Su Xiaocheng suddenly missed Xiaobai dearly. Her wonderful tools were truly convenient.
To prove herself, Li Yanyan climbed onto a small sand dune and gazed into the distance.
Suddenly, she spotted something. “Look! It should be over there!”
Li Yanyan pointed at a broken pillar protruding from a sand dune far ahead.
Ten minutes later, after crossing the dune, the group finally saw the so-called treasure location.
“You actually managed to find it? I thought we were completely lost,” Su Xiaowei said, looking at the structure before them in amazement.
“With this young lady here, how could we possibly get lost!” Lu Shiyuan put her hands on her hips, full of pride.
In front of them stood an old, dilapidated hall that was half-buried by wind and sand.
Built from stone, the walls were carved with blurred patterns that had been worn away by years of erosion.
“Will there really be treasure here?” Su Xiaocheng asked weakly.
“Hahaha! How could there suddenly be a building in the middle of the desert? This young lady declares that this must be the location marked on the map!”
Lu Shiyuan remained optimistic.
Li Yanyan was actually feeling a bit hesitant. She knew full well they had gotten lost.
Their current position could be miles away from the destination shown on the map.
But since they were already here, they might as well go inside and take a look.
The group entered the hall.
The interior was completely empty, containing only a few old stone pillars that barely supported the leaky roof.
No matter how you looked at it, this place didn’t seem like it held any treasures.
Lu Yinxi released musical notes from her fingertips that transformed into a clear stream, washing the dirt and sand off everyone.
“Look on the bright side—at least we don’t have to keep fighting the wind,” Li Yanyan said, looking around awkwardly.
Even though she was the one who decided the trial content, she still felt embarrassed about leading everyone on what might turn out to be a wild goose chase.
Lu Shiyuan straightened her wind-tousled skirt and carefully used magic to clean every last grain of sand from it.
Seeing the somewhat dejected Li Yanyan, she walked to the center of the hall and declared, “It’s fine! This young lady thinks this trial is actually very meaningful!”
“You don’t have to comfort me like that.”
Although she said so, Li Yanyan’s mood clearly improved.
Lu Shiyuan stomped her foot hard in protest.
“I’m not comforting you! Why would this young lady specially comfort you? I am…”
Crack.
A faint cracking sound rang out. The floor beneath Lu Shiyuan’s feet suddenly gave way.
“Eek~!” Lu Shiyuan screamed as she fell through.
A large section of bricks collapsed along with her, crashing downward.
A cyan magic barrier appeared just in time, blocking the falling debris.
Lu Shiyuan steadied herself and patted her flat chest, still shaken.
“Seems like… there really is something here?” Su Xiaocheng murmured.
Lu Shiyuan looked around and realized she was standing in a narrow underground passage.
She had fallen because the ancient floor above was decayed and collapsed under her light step.
“Could it be that I’m actually a pathfinding genius?” The words slipped out unintentionally. Li Yanyan jumped down into the passage in delight.
Lu Yinxi flicked out several fireballs, lighting the torches lining both sides of the tunnel.
The unsteady torchlight illuminated the pitch-black passageway.
“Let’s go. We’ll see what’s ahead,” Li Yanyan said, taking the lead.
After walking for ten minutes, they finally reached the end of the tunnel.
Stepping out, a massive underground square came into view.
A gem the size of a human head was embedded in the ceiling, emitting bright light that illuminated the entire subterranean space.
“There’s actually such a large square underground in the desert.” Su Xiaocheng looked around in wonder.
Huge bronze pillars rose around the square, supporting the vast underground chamber.
A bronze statue over five meters tall stood at the center of the square. From its figure, it was clearly modeled after a woman.
She was fully encased in armor engraved with intricate patterns.
Her left hand held a shield protectively in front of her body, while her right hand rested lightly on the hilt of the longsword at her waist, ready to draw it at any moment.
Behind her stood a tightly sealed bronze door.
The ancient bronze door was carved with two figures kneeling in reverence. Their faces were blurred, but their postures were incredibly devout.
Between them was an empty six-pointed star-shaped groove, apparently the mechanism to open the bronze door.
As soon as the group stepped into the square, magic power flowed through the patterns on the armor from an unknown source, activating the entire statue.
Under everyone’s astonished gazes, a powerful magic fluctuation erupted from the statue.
She slowly drew the sword from her waist and pointed it forward.
“Is this… some kind of mechanism?” Su Xiaocheng asked uncertainly.
“This magic fluctuation… it’s comparable to an A-rank?”
Lu Yinxi’s eyes were also filled with confusion. If such technology existed, the burden on Magical Girls wouldn’t be so heavy.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Li Yanyan said, cracking her knuckles with great interest as she stepped forward.
Then she suddenly thought of something and stopped.
“She’ll be your trial target.”
Li Yanyan took a step back, leaving the field open for the others.