Arad's unruly savior

Chapter 3888 The Truth Behind the Seven Trials

The Mist God watched the computer screen with great interest, her slender fingers sliding the mouse as lines of information about Venus scrolled up and down, and photos of the goddess of beauty flashed by.

Venus, the goddess of beauty, possesses the most beautiful concept and corresponding passive abilities. It is said that when this ability is activated, no technological device can capture her facial image. Therefore, the website that Rudis commissioned features a fixed "ordinary" appearance of Venus.

The family group includes Lorian, a narcissistic and vain girl whom Rudis knows well, as well as several top-notch celestial doctors. With such a wide network of connections, finding someone to create a website would be incredibly easy.

However, even the most basic photos of Venus have been questioned by many celestial beings who believe that the photos were carefully crafted using technology and possess an unreal beauty. They also believe that the true appearance of Venus remains unknown.

The person who created this website must be trying to gain attention by using a bunch of tech photos.

As exchanges between the continent of Arad and the Celestial Realm became increasingly frequent, their respective cultures and traditions gradually became known to each other, and the legend of the goddess Venus was naturally brought to the four continents of the Celestial Realm.

In the past, the celestial beings would most likely have scoffed at the concept of "gods".

The Mist Goddess had been sitting for too long and was getting tired, so she squatted down on the chair, her bare, beautiful white feet exposed.

Because Ye Lin often kept it in her mouth, even the spaces between her toes were kept clean.

She bought the chair online; it arrived the next day. It was a top-of-the-line gaming chair, and it was fairly comfortable. She used the money Ye Lin had given her to pay for it.

The divine realm only provides ultra-fast delivery services in a few bustling areas, such as Wulan and Qingyan, and you can't use celestial cards there.

When buying things in the Celestial Realm, it's impossible for a courier to cross a world to deliver to the God Realm. So, the Mist God actually has a house in the Celestial Realm where all the packages are sent. They can just be left at the door and she can pick them up as soon as she opens the door.

"Serena is probably to the goddess of beauty what Shumo is to me."

The Mist Goddess entered a state of recollection. In the ancient era of the divine realm, before the three golden civilizations had even begun, she fell from chaos and nothingness into the divine realm. The immense energy that fell upon the earth once caught the attention of the Goddess of Beauty, and the two exchanged a glance from afar.

Before the First Hermit Mar created an external realm of memories for her, she was unable to retain her own memories. Her brain would automatically clear itself every now and then, and she would forget things, but not all of them. Certain important things would leave faint marks on her.

That glance she made when she met Venus's eyes left a mark on her.

"Remembering is truly a blissful act." The Mist Goddess now appears as a young girl, her delicate features like a tender flower bud.

She squatted on the chair, elbows resting on her knees, her hands supporting her face, recalling everything she remembered in her mind, and the corners of her mouth gradually turned up.

What has happened will not happen again, but memories can preserve those precious moments.

"Hmm, it seems my tribulation to become a god is coming soon, and Queen Flora of the elves is also making preparations."

…………

The Moon Spring, where Venus, the goddess of beauty, once walked through the Temple of Bellagio and finally returned, is a place where the waters of the Moon Spring always reflect the moon, regardless of whether the weather is cloudy or rainy, without any obstruction.

Meanwhile, believers of the goddess of beauty believe that the water of the Moon Spring is incredibly pure and contains magic, enabling drinkers to become healthy and beautiful.

Venus said:
"In fact, when I fell into depravity, those who received my blessings and were transformed into Yakshas would return here after death."

During that period, the clear waters of Moon Spring became incredibly murky, radiating malice and accumulating layers of resentment.

Upon her rebirth and awakening, she immediately lifted the curse, releasing the imprisoned soul and allowing it to return to the normal order of life and death.

"Lord Venus, the goddess of beauty, you have returned." The Moon Spring Fairy appeared from the light. She was about the size of a three or four-year-old child and had thin, beautiful wings.

Venus nodded, and a thornless vine intertwined to form two places to sit beside the Moon Spring.

Ye Lin said, "I remember that the first task of the elven knight Rommel was to obtain a portion of Moon Spring water."

He brought up the matter of the Dark Elves directly. Venus had already met with the current Dark Elf Queen Maya, and both sides had come to terms with this past wound, so there was nothing that couldn't be brought up.

“That’s right. I gave him seven tests. After the tests are completed, I will remove the curse on the dark elves. Moon Spring is the first test.”

The Moon Spring, which can reflect the moon at any time and return to the soul, is not just one in the divine realm. As a symbol and a gift of the goddess of beauty, there are many Moon Springs, but finding one still requires fate.

Venus continued:
"Rommel completed the seven tests I gave him, and he is the only one who has completed them at a low level."

"When he obtained the tears of the Skybound Beast, I intended to keep my promise, let go of my hatred, lift my curse on the Dark Elves, and let them embrace the sunlight again."

The story of the Dark Elves goes like this: the first hero, the Elf Knight Rommel, completed seven incredible tasks, one of which was to retrieve the water of the Moon Spring, which is the water right before our eyes.

The second task was to retrieve the venom of the Golden Scorpion. That magical creature had the ability to turn all matter into gold. Ye Lin had seen it when Venus was reborn in the Mirror Dimension, and Feng Ying even treasured it and wanted to keep it as a precious object. However, the Golden Scorpion still unfortunately died.

The third task is to capture the Blue Spirit Wolf, a spirit wolf that has no physical form and exists in an illusory state.

The fourth task is to retrieve sulfur cloud ore from the gold mine. This is an extremely rare and precious ore with restorative properties. It is as light as dried ordinary wood, yet harder than steel.

The fifth and sixth tasks are to hunt down the green colossus that can cause landslides and earthquakes, and to retrieve a type of sesame oil that has been lost to history and is theoretically only found in ancient times and cannot be ignited.

The seventh task is to retrieve the tears of the Celestial Beast.

After completing the seven tasks, Venus broke her promise and ultimately Rommel died from his injuries, filled with resentment.

Venus was amazed and impressed by Rommel's bravery, so she restored his elven appearance and built the Hero's Tomb to commemorate him. Later, six more heroes who made great contributions to the Dark Elves were buried in the Hero's Tomb, which gradually developed into a sacred site of great significance to the Dark Elves.

This is roughly how the Dark Elves recorded the events surrounding Rommel. It was precisely because of Venus's heartless breaking of her promise and breach of contract that some of the Dark Elves, who initially revered her and felt that their race was sinners, gradually transformed their reverence into hatred.

The Hero's Tomb was also interpreted by some Dark Elves as Venus's mockery of Rommel... No matter how loyal and brave you are, in the hands of the gods you are so insignificant and ridiculous. The gods are powerful and indifferent.

"I've heard another version of the story about the seven missions." Ye Lin had consulted some ancient dark elf texts with Queen Maya. They could be called unofficial histories, but they were indeed notes written by the dark elves of that era.

After retrieving the tears of the Skybound Beast, Rommel was eager to find Venus, the goddess of beauty, to complete his mission. However, due to his long journey and serious injuries, he had to rest for a while along the way. While Rommel was asleep, someone secretly switched the tears of the Skybound Beast, turning the real ones into fake ones.

As one can imagine, when Rommel presented the mission materials...

Venus was silent for a moment, then said:

“Indeed, the tears of the Skybound Beast that Rommel carried were secretly replaced in his sleep, and I witnessed the whole thing.”

“I admire his courage, but the mission agreement was to fetch the tears of the Water Curtain Beast for me. He fell at the last step. This was his negligence, and also his mistake of trusting his companions too much.”

In the end, ordinary spring water was delivered to Venus, which did not conform to the agreement, and the attempt to lift the curse failed.

As a participant at the time, Venus knew more details not recorded in ancient texts. For example, the person who replaced the tears was none other than Rommel's trusted dark elf companion.

Rommel did not complete the seven trials alone, but with trusted dark elf companions. Venus did not limit the number of participants in the seven trials, because some tasks were not related to the number of participants and required extremely strong personal strength and luck.

For example, when faced with a giant green elephant capable of causing landslides and earthquakes, his companions fell one after another due to serious injuries. Only Rommel, riding the unicorn Uniochis, fought to the bitter end and managed to kill the giant elephant and cut off its head.

With each completed task, Rommel's prestige among the Dark Elves increased, and they regarded him as a hero, placing him alongside Aragorn, the Holy Lord, as one of the twin stars of their race.

Rommel's companions also received cheers and praise, but they could only ever play a supporting role to Rommel. Every time a mission was successfully celebrated, everyone's hopeful eyes seemed to be focused solely on Rommel.

Rommel's brilliance was so dazzling that he remained completely oblivious, still deeply trusting his comrades.

The seeds of jealousy thus secretly sprouted.

"How could this be?" The Moon Spring Elf, who was listening in, couldn't help but frown. This was too much.

Venus continued calmly:
"It was because of Rommel's companions that I witnessed the evil in people's hearts, as filthy as the corpses in the underworld. From then on, I never trusted anyone again."

Humans, dark elves, elves... in the eyes of the gods, they can all be called "humans".

Rommel failed in his mission and died with resentment. He never knew that a companion had replaced the tears of the Celestial Beast. He only thought that Venus had broken her promise and that the gods were so cold and heartless.

Later, due to some accidents and the power of some apostles, Rommel's still-intact body and soul briefly returned from the underworld, still harboring endless resentment towards Venus.

Very few people know the truth about the seven trials.

Some of Rommel's comrades appeared outwardly glamorous but were burdened by invisible shackles of sin; some spent the rest of their lives in terror, living in a daze with little clarity; and some committed suicide, yet still dared not leave behind the truth.

The sin of replacing the spring water is too heavy, too heavy for one's shoulders to bear. It will forever etch oneself and one's family on the pillar of shame, to be insulted and scorned by the dark elves for all eternity. One is an unforgivable sinner.

The truth recorded "accidentally" in unofficial histories is a possibility deduced by some astute dark elves based on the various behaviors of Rommel's companions after Rommel's death and some seemingly random ramblings.

Some people even found the crystal bottle that Rommel used to hold his tears, restored it with magic, and discovered that it had indeed contained a highly magical liquid.

However, this is just speculation by a minority of people, it is not accepted, and it is difficult to form solid evidence.

Moreover, in that era when the Dark Elf race was almost in despair, the truth about the Seven Trials could not be revealed. If it were exposed that jealousy had replaced the spring, it would certainly have a terrible psychological impact on the Dark Elves, and it was not impossible that they would never recover and eventually perish.

By shifting the seeds of hatred onto Venus, making the entire race believe that Venus had broken the covenant, the flames of revenge would burn fiercely, and this hatred would become a driving force. For the dark elves at that time, this was definitely more beneficial than harmful.

Therefore, due to a series of reasons, the story of Rommel and the Seven Trials has become the current Venus breaking her promise and hypocritically building a tomb for heroes to play the good guy.

“I told Maya about this, and she hesitated about whether to reveal the truth to the Dark Elves. My answer was... forget it. The buried and established history is hard to believe based solely on my account as the person involved, and it would also affect her royal authority.” Venus gazed at the Moon Spring with a distant look in her beautiful eyes. She had cast a terrible curse on the Dark Elf race, so what did a little misunderstanding matter?

When she spoke of the seven trials, her eyes would often change. Sometimes they were cold and indifferent, as if mocking the dark elves' inferiority, and sometimes they contained a complex sense of apology, after all, it all started because of her.

…………

Late at night, the moon hung precisely at the highest point of the Bella Odien tower, like a luminous object placed there, bathing the entire complex in a layer of bright silver light, creating a tranquil atmosphere.

The room was dimly lit. Ye Lin lay stiffly on the bed, staring at the blurry ceiling, unable to sleep. Venus was lying next to him, and he could feel her warm body temperature and pleasant fragrance. How could he calm down when they were alone together?

"Venus, I might... be unable to hold back any longer." Ye Lin felt his throat was dry and hoarse, his eyes were burning with fire, and his hand slowly slid to his side.

Venus made it clear that her condition was not stable enough, her personality was constantly changing, and she could not yet imitate the true essence of adult mayflies with him, but she also hoped to have someone by her side and have someone to rely on.

In other words, Venus ignited the flames of desire, but completely disregarded what followed... Ye Lin vaguely felt that Venus was retaliating for the aftermath of that arrow to the starry sky.

"Go to sleep early, or rather, go out and find other women after I'm asleep, but you have to be there when I wake up," Venus replied calmly, still not giving him a chance.

Only after Venus fell asleep did Ye Lin leave with a pained expression, and then went to find Rui Qi, the beautiful scholar from Bai Hai.

(End of this chapter)