Time flew by so quickly when Xia De concentrated all his attention on the notebook in front of him, trying his best to recall and organize his thoughts to complete a coherent logical structure.
Even “she” didn't disturb the focused Xia De in the forest on this quiet afternoon. And Xia De, who had concentrated on mental work outdoors after a long time, actually felt that writing in the undisturbed forest with the wind blowing was quite pleasant.
He planned to use contemporary sixth epoch mathematical Knowledge to prove and extend the so-called “Euler's formula” from his hometown. However, halfway through outlining, he felt that the topic involved too many issues, and the existing mathematical tools were quite lacking, so he could only supplement things like mathematical induction, which he considered common sense.
Although these were all Knowledge Xia De had learned in his hometown, he wasn't simply transcribing from memory, nor could he memorize the original text of the paper and the original proof process. Errors were inevitable, and Xia De could only say that he was trying his best to construct this bridge connecting complex exponential functions and trigonometric functions.
“Once I start writing, I realize how much there is to write.”
Thinking this, he circled the newly listed chapter title with his fountain pen and wrote “To be determined” next to it. Then he wanted to simply write down the content of mathematical induction, but just as he finished the second letter, his head throbbed, hit by something that fell from the sky:
“Oh!”
He covered his head and reached out, catching the object that had hit him and then fallen to the side. Upon closer inspection, it was a green, unripe apple:
“Hmm?”
Looking up again, the sun had already set slightly in the west, and the bare black tree branches had no dead leaves. Xia De was certain there were no apples on this tree before he sat down:
“Where did this apple come from?”
He looked down at the apple in his hand; the green fruit seemed unripe. Holding it tightly, he felt no trace of the four elements, so Xia De hesitated, rubbed the apple on his clothes, and then took a bite.
The apple was a bit sour but also faintly sweet and very crisp. After chewing it thoroughly and swallowing, he felt his head, which had been a bit swollen from an afternoon of work, clear up significantly.
He was about to take a second bite but suddenly stopped:
“Does that lake always have to appear in such an interesting way?”
He remained seated, leaning against the tree trunk, and raised his left hand to beckon the reddish-brown horse. When it lowered its head, he offered it the apple.
The horse bit off a good portion of the apple, chewed a few times, then extended its long red tongue to lick away the remaining larger portion, snorting as it chewed.
“Do you know what will happen?”
“Her” voice came on the wind. Xia De picked up his notebook and stood up, tucking it and his fountain pen into his embrace:
“Isn't that how all fairy tales are told?”
He stretched, then untied the reins, put his foot in the stirrup, and swung onto the horse's back. Xia De didn't guide the horse in any direction, but after finishing the apple, the horse automatically walked slowly to the left.
Xia De said nothing, just held the reins as the horse carried him deeper into the forest. The light of the setting sun was already partially visible on the horizon. With the chilly winter wind blowing, they passed bare apple trees, the man and horse moving forward in silence, as if they both knew their destination.
Suddenly, in front of the not-so-dense forest, a tall thicket of bushes appeared that shouldn't be there this season. As the reddish-brown horse carried Xia De out of the bushes, he saw a calm lake rippling under the setting sun, and a Lake Heart Island with lush green grass growing in the reddened center of the lake.
“Outsider, you feel the Miracle and the whisper.”
“Yes, exactly. The whisper means this is a relic that hasn't been recorded. The Miracle means I've found the right place.”
At “her” prompt, Xia De smiled, dismounted the horse, patted the horse that was once again lowering its head to eat grass, and then walked to the water's edge.
Unlike what Grafford from Lower Luther Village said about the lake being frozen, and unlike what Mr. Roland the Poet said about a small boat waiting for him, Xia De only saw the lake water reddened by the setting sun in front of him.
“Walk on Water!”
He carefully stepped onto the lake water, and once he was steady, he slowly walked forward.
Xia De was now completely certain that the “Lake Cherub” of the sixth epoch was definitely not the Lost Lake located in the Broken Islands in 5177 of the fifth epoch. The scenery of this mysterious lake was currently very beautiful, and there were only small fish swimming in the water beneath his feet, no strange things.
Lake Cherub was not large, at least not as large as Lost Lake. Xia De walked on the water and quickly reached the Lake Heart Island in the center of the lake.
The first to greet him was the “resurrected” wolf from yesterday. It still had the whisper element on it, and it seemed to recognize Xia De, as it ran away in fright as soon as it saw him.
Xia De walked across the grass towards the interior of the island, passing through scattered rocks and sparse trees. In the center of the Lake Heart Island, he discovered a shallow small lake with clear water, where red and black tadpole-sized fish swam freely.
In the center of the small lake stood a huge gray stone. Although the stone was irregularly shaped, every side was incredibly smooth and covered with dense golden runes, as if several long rectangular megaliths had been pieced together.
On the lake surface beneath the stone, a young lady with a walking stick stood, smiling as she watched Xia De approach from afar. She was not the old woman Mr. Grafford the one-eyed fisherman spoke of, nor the middle-aged woman Mr. Roland the Poet mentioned. She was a young lady of twenty-five or twenty-six, dressed in a white robe, like a hermit. The long staff in her hand was made of white oak, and together with the white robe, it emitted a pure white light.
“Lake Heart Island Heart Lake?”
Xia De muttered softly to himself, wanting to step onto the water again to enter the final island heart lake, but when he extended his foot, he stepped directly into the water:
“Hmm? No walking on water allowed?”
He was a bit surprised. He took out the weathervane bluegrass extract again, dripped it onto his tongue, and then took a step, wanting to cross the water directly, but the power of space could not be used here either.
The young lady in the center of the lake smiled at him. Xia De looked closely at the very shallow lake water; even if he went into the water, it wouldn't reach his knees. But he felt he couldn't wade across, as it would be very undignified, so he first took out a frog leg, used the spell 【Frog's Leap】, and then activated the spell 【Red Dragon Power】.
He stepped back a few paces and then ran forward, launching himself from the lakeside, gliding across the water like a bird, and landing steadily beneath the megalith in the island heart lake. The water surface where the White-robed Lady stood allowed the “Walk on Water” spell to take effect, so Xia De was able to reach her.
The concentration of Miracle elements here was like being under the holy emblem of a cathedral in a Grand Diocese, but Xia De was certain that the young lady in the pure white hooded robe with silver hair in front of him was definitely not a god.
She was quite ancient; her youthful appearance could not conceal the sense of antiquity that transcended time.
“Hello.”
Looking at the setting sun on the horizon, Xia De, standing on the lake, bowed to the White-robed Lady. She did not evade, but responded softly in delarion:
“Hello, congratulations, you have finally arrived here.”
Her tone was very gentle, somewhat like Grandma Cassandra.
Xia De looked up, somewhat expectantly, and asked with a hint of embarrassment:
“Excuse me, do you know why I have come here?”
“Oh, of course I do.”
The White-robed Lady smiled and nodded. Under the setting sun, she, like her white robe and white oak staff, emitted a pure white radiance, just like Xia De, who could glow in the dark:
“You have come for the power of a god.”
“Yes, then...”
Xia De chuckled awkwardly. The Ancient One seemed to understand his current feelings:
“You don't need to say the word, but what you want, I do possess.”
Xia De's eyes widened. He wasn't surprised that the other party knew he was looking for divinity. Although this “Lake Goddess” was not a god, she was very close to one.
He was surprised by how approachable she was:
“Then I... What organ do you want from me? I have seen three mortals who made wishes here, and they all lost parts of their bodies, not a physical loss, but an erasure from past to present.”
The White-robed Lady smiled and shook her head:
“Yes, to gain, you must pay. But you are different from them; your body is meaningless to me. What you want is a treasure beyond mortal imagination, so you must pay more.”
“Not my body? Okay, what do I need to do?”
Xia De asked. The “Lake Goddess” extended four fingers. Xia De noticed she wore no rings:
“You need to complete four trials to prove you are worthy of that power.”
“Four?”
Xia De was stunned. The god's trial in 3177 of the fifth epoch was three, the Keeper of the poem fragments had five, and now the Lake Goddess proposed four:
“No problem, what are the tasks?”
Let alone four tasks, Xia De would have to agree to forty.
“Not tasks, but trials.”
The White-robed Lady corrected him, then smiled and said:
“Don't rush, 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 rekindle 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 quickly. The other party pointed to the angular megalith in the center of the Lake Heart Island Heart Lake beside her. On it, golden runes originally inscribed virtues such as wisdom, kindness, and sacrifice, but now an additional line of text appeared.
Xia De read it aloud:
“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 on Xia De:
“When you successfully prove it, you will know this, so don't worry about not being able to measure your actions.”
Xia De still wanted to ask, but the lady, facing the setting sun, spoke first:
“Yes, it is that simple; you don't need to defeat terrible enemies, nor do you need to search for special materials. Outsider, go and prove yourself, at that grand wedding banquet, go and prove yourself. You only have one chance; if you fail, I will not give you a second chance.”
The setting sun cast long shadows of the two on the grass beside the Lake Heart Island Heart Lake. On the surface of the lake, Xia De firmly remembered these requirements, then closed his eyes and bowed slightly:
“I am willing to accept your trials, only for that greatest power.”
