Several kilometers away from the location of that base,
Zao Li was at the top of the trees, while the features of his face were calm.
His black hair was reddish-brown, illuminated by the light of the full moon, giving him a fantastically attractive appearance. "Let's finish this stage to move on to another," his tone was cold, while his eyes glowed with a cold gleam.
He then launched, using teleportation.
As soon as he arrived at the base, his pupils contracted to the size of a pin because he sensed a familiar presence, an overwhelming presence full of sanctity and comfort. It was the presence of Alessandra, sitting on her own throne, emanating an overwhelming aura.
He directed his gaze to the base, which had completely changed from a simple design to a rather elegant design.
"Hahaha, it seems there's a game being played that we don't know about, Alessandra." His laugh was cold, devoid of any emotion.
Alessandra's features remained sharp, showing no emotion as she looked at him while he headed towards his dedicated throne, which was dark reddish-brown, with a complex black-purple aura emanating from it. That throne emanated an overwhelming aura full of power and authority, making Zao Li, seated on it, more majestic, as if he ruled existence, which he essentially did, being the creator of this fantasy world.
As for Alessandra, who was sitting on her dedicated throne, it was almost the opposite: a white throne from which a complex golden aura emanated, giving off an overwhelming aura full of power and authority. It gave her the same appearance as Zao Li, as if she were the light and hope for this world on the verge of annihilation and disappearance.
Their gazes met, sharp as sword blades.
Several minutes of silence passed.
Zao Li decided to speak, his voice calm, unusually so when he spoke to Alessandra, which surprised her. "Life is truly beautiful, but at the same time, it's extremely difficult. It's like a black hole; when you see it, it gives you a stunning appearance, but when you get close to it, it will end your life. Life is beautiful, but it's dangerous, hiding its poisons in its beauty."
Zao Li's gaze was directed towards the ceiling of the base as he spoke, a slight smile on his face. Life was indeed beautiful, and although he had only lived for 800 years, it had taught him a lot.
He decided to turn his gaze towards Alessandra, who was looking directly at him. Her facial features were complex and hard to read as she looked at Zao Li.
She let out a deep sigh. "And death is beautiful in its own way, even though it is terrifying. Not because one becomes alone and is judged alone, but because people
know deep down that they are not ready for it because of their malicious, unworthy deeds, full of filth and sins. That is why they fear punishment and forget bliss." Her tone held a slight sarcasm towards the entire world.
Their words were punctuated by a deep sigh as they looked at each other for a few seconds before a table appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the base, laden with all kinds of food and drink. There were three chairs: one dark reddish-brown, emanating a complex black-purple aura, belonging to Zao Li; the second was white, emanating a complex golden aura, belonging to Alessandra; and the third was neutral, emitting no color or aura whatsoever, belonging to the soul of Ji Yao Li, whose source remained unknown until now. Several seconds passed before a chair began to glow with an aura that mixed the golden aura of Alessandra with the complex black-purple aura of Zao Li.
The gaze of Ji Yao Li's soul was fixed, emanating an aura stronger than that of Alessandra and Zao Li.
combined, even in their strongest states. That is why they were silent, not daring to utter a single word. Ji Yao Li's soul was a mixture of golden energy that pulsed in the air, representing creation, and black-purple energy representing annihilation.
"Please eat your food. It's lunchtime. After that, we will discuss the matter we came for," Ji Yao Li's tone was cold and sharp as a sword blade, full of authority and arrogance that allowed no discussion, and this was understood by both Zao Li.
There were two things: first, Ji Yao Li would only remain for two hours, and second, she was not asking them but ordering them to eat and resolve the issue they had come to solve.
As they ate the food, which was made from the rarest and most delicious ingredients in this fantasy world, it tasted like nothing to them, unlike Ji Yao Li, who seemed to be enjoying the food. This caused the gazes of both Zao Li and Alessandra to turn towards him numerous times.
"Have you stopped staring at me? It's becoming somewhat ridiculous," Ji Yao Li said without looking away from her food. Her tone was calm and cold like frost, with a hint of indifference.
Both Zao Li and Alessandra averted their eyes from Ji Yao Li. About a quarter of an hour passed.
The table, which was once full to the brim, was now completely empty.
Ji Yao Li snapped her fingers, and the dishes of food and bottles of wine disappeared, replaced by three reddish-chestnut colored tea cups, a teapot, and a set of plates with various delicious sweets of the same color and material from which they were made. The cups, plates, and teapot were made from the branches of the crystal world tree. The tea was made from the flowers of the sacred tree of existence, which bloomed once every trillion years.
Therefore, it had a taste that was difficult to explain or describe.
Ji Yao Li let out a deep sigh, looking at both Zao Li and Alessandra with calm eyes that showed no emotion. "So, why are you here? Not to merge again? Why haven't I gotten a body yet? Oh, by the way, the name of that body is Tom Fraglessen..."
Ji Yao Li remained silent for several seconds before starting to laugh, a hysterical laugh devoid of any happiness.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Who are we fooling? We are Tom Fraglessen and Ji Yao Li."
A faint smile appeared on the faces of Zao Li, Alessandra, and Ji Yao Li.
Then, a black-purple energy began to emanate from Zao Li's body like tongues of flame, and a whitish-gold energy from Alessandra's body like a sea surging on the shore of an island, while Ji Yao Li was a mixture of the two.
"You are right. We must end this stage of the test and move on to the third level," Alessandra's tone was calm as she looked at Zao Li and Ji Yao Li.
"Yes, you are right, Alessandra. We must end this farce and move forward." His tone was calm, with a hint of disbelief that he agreed with Alessandra's opinion after all these centuries of ignoring each other. Zao Li and Alessandra had agreed on something: to build a palace of knowledge, send versions of it, and create copies of it in all other normal worlds.
After several seconds, the world around them began to shatter piece by piece.
Until it became an empty void, devoid of any laws or concepts.
Inside this void, there was a boy with hair that mixed dark reddish-brown and light white. That was Tom Fraglessen in the form of a soul, a mixture of whitish-gold and black-purple energy.
He slowly opened his eyes, which were shaped like Yin and Yang, to find himself in complete darkness, yet he was able to see everything easily. His facial features showed some happiness.
"It seems the second test has finally ended." His tone carried a sense of relief and joy for the end of the matter, even though it had been a long time, it was over.
After a few minutes, the voice of that mysterious entity echoed again, "Well done, Tom Fraglessen. You have successfully completed the second exam and made Zao Li and Alessandra understand each other, which has brought peace to the human race. Hahaha." His voice was beautiful and calm, making you feel overwhelming happiness just by hearing it. Although Tom had not seen the face or appearance of this mysterious entity, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had known it for a long time.
"Okay, let's move on to the second round." Tom's tone was full of enthusiasm, confidence, and great determination to progress, which made the mysterious entity chuckle softly as it looked at Tom, unseen by him. "Good luck, my dear, for the upcoming tests. And remember my words well: autumn always comes after summer, and winter comes after autumn. Thus, power comes after worthiness. He who does not know himself does not deserve to covet absolute power."
A strong light began to engulf the world. Although it was confusing, Tom was ready for everything. Deep down, he knew that a fight between Alessandra and Zao Li would happen sooner or later, and that the soul of Ji Yao Li would only watch from afar until the time came for her to incarnate.