Having finished gathering the meat from the Horned Rabbit, Lin Xuan saw the sun setting in the west, indicating the true danger of the forest would soon arrive. He hurriedly made his way back to the cave he called home, intending to sleep and continue his exploration the next day.
Walking swiftly, Lin Xuan soon arrived at the entrance of the cave. He had previously marked trees along the way to avoid getting lost within the forest. Considering how ominous the forest could be at night, Lin Xuan shivered inwardly at the thought. That's why he left markings on the trees he passed by.
"Finally made it back. Perhaps I should store this meat properly as a backup food." With those words spoken, Lin Xuan began placing the pieces of Rabbit meat against the cave wall.
Lin Xuan sensed an odd aura enveloping the cave he was in. Glancing deeper into the cave, he saw a strong aura. Lin Xuan couldn't help but shiver with fear.
Despite the terrifying aura emanating from the cave, it didn't dampen Lin Xuan's curiosity. He had read hundreds of novels, and in each novel, there were destined encounters, unparalleled treasures, and so on. Unintentionally, drool dripped from Lin Xuan's mouth onto the ground.
"Calm down, calm down. It might not necessarily be a legendary treasure. It could very well be a hidden danger. Alright, I'll explore it directly to find out what's inside."
Lin Xuan took a step forward, inch by inch. Seeing nothing amiss, he resumed walking normally, as if nothing could stop him.
~Plung
The sound of water droplets echoed as they fell from the stalactites within the cave.
After venturing into the cave for 15 minutes, Lin Xuan noticed that the cave ceiling expanded to form a spacious column. In the center stood a stone that was 2 to 3 meters high. What intrigued him was the hilt of a sword embedded on the surface of the stone.
Before Lin Xuan pulled the sword, he carefully observed his surroundings, in case there were any traps, preparing for the worst. Seeing no traps, Lin Xuan returned to the large stone in the center.
"3, 2, 1!"
Frowning, Lin Xuan tugged on the hilt of the sword, yet it didn't budge at all. Then how do I get the sword out?
Lin Xuan pondered. He made a few more attempts, but the result remained the same – the sword hilt not moved at all.
"Should I increase my Strength attribute to be able to lift it?" Lin Xuan thought, considering that might be the way to retrieve the sword.
Just as he was about to bring up his status screen to enhance his Strength attribute, a mysterious voice echoed through the cave.
"Hahahaha, After so long, there's finally another newcomer."
Hearing the voice, Lin Xuan reflexively looked around the entire cave.
"Don't panic! I'm here just to oversee the trial grounds of the Sacred Sword Saint, one of the Great Heroes."
Upon hearing that, Lin Xuan understood a bit. "This must be a game of heroes and demon king, right?" Yet he feigned ignorance and asked.
"Trial grounds of the Sacred Sword Saint?"
"Exactly! The trial grounds of the Sacred Sword Saint, the Great Hero. If you pass the first trial, the items, wealth, and holy sword will be yours."
"Does that mean I'll become the successor of the hero or something?" Lin Xuan was puzzled. Wasn't this like burdening him with a heavy task?
'Darn it, I just wanted to have carefree adventures and attract many women, not tirelessly slay demons!'
"Doubtful, the title of Hero is bestowed upon those blessed by the gods. You'll only inherit the mightiest weapon ever wielded by the Great Hero, the Sacred Sword Saint – Excalibur."
"What?! Excalibur?!" Lin Xuan was shocked. It felt like a stroke of luck. Amid this fortuitous encounter, Lin Xuan suddenly recalled his Luck stat.
"Hahaha, 101, truly 101. Just look at what I'm gaining this time, hahaha." Lin Xuan laughed joyfully inwardly.
"Oh? Can… can I try pulling this object?"
"Of course!"
With permission from the overseer, Lin Xuan began devising a plan to retrieve the hilt of the sword, or rather, the hilt of 'Excalibur'. After several previous attempts, Lin Xuan felt it was almost impossible, even after allocating his remaining attribute points to Strength.
After thinking for a while, Lin Xuan suddenly checked his title:
[Divine God Blessing]
[Bestowed with blessings from the Divine God.]
Lin Xuan: "..."
'This darn system must be make fun of me, right?'
Seeing the brief description, Lin Xuan felt like he wanted to hit the system. 'I'm not here to joke around with you, okay?'
Without further ado, Lin Xuan equipped his newfound title.
"Well then, let me see if this will work." Feeling no different, Lin Xuan tried to lift the hilt again.
Strangely enough, he could effortlessly lift the entire sword.
"Quite a nice sword." Lin Xuan smiled as he looked at Excalibur in his hand.
"What?!?! You succeeded in lifting it?" The voice that was surprised when Lin Xuan managed to lift Excalibur before, how could this be possible?
"Haha, don't worry, elder, it's as easy as crushing tofu for me." Lin Xuan laughed smugly as the 'old' voice was shocked to see him successfully lifting Excalibur.
"This... Perhaps it's fate that someone has finally managed to lift the holy sword Excalibur." Seeing the sword fully unsheathed, the voice of the test overseer spoke again.
"Alright, because you've managed to lift the holy sword Excalibur, let me grant you the reward that has been arranged by the Great Hero."
'Here it is, here it is. The bigger reward is coming.' Lin Xuan couldn't wait in his heart.
"Very well, Elder."
~Clack ~Clack
The sound was heard as the previously tightly closed wall now opened, revealing a narrow passage. Despite being in a cave, the place wasn't dark because there was light from the cave ceiling.
'Something like the glowstone in Minecraft, eh?'
"Go, the promised treasure is inside." The overseer's voice was heard again.
Lin Xuan hurriedly entered the room and then stumbled in excitement.
'Really? I'm rich, I'm rich, I'm rich.'
(A/N: Aku Kaya, Javier's version)
Golden light enveloped the room, although not spacious, only the size of a small room, but its contents were beyond doubt.
But then he remembered the saying, 'get rich overnight, but the wealth won't last ten years.'
This made his initial thought of building a grand palace turn cautious. Wolves are everywhere, aren't they? When a sheep emits the aroma of meat, how can hungry wolves stay silent?
Therefore, Lin Xuan immediately thought rationally, but the problem was.
"How do I move this much of gold?"
As if realizing Lin Xuan's dilemma, the System Screen appeared in front of him.
『 Ding. Congratulations, User, you have unlocked a new function. Inventory.』
'What? Why now?' Lin Xuan remembered, in other novels, the system's function like this appeared after he was transferred, why is this system doing it now?
Seeing no response provided, Lin Xuan felt furious and wanted to hit the system so bad right now.
'Forget it, now that there's an Inventory, I won't dwell on it too much.'
Lin Xuan then collected all the scattered gold in the room into his Inventory. Unfortunately for him, there were no valuable items or materials, only a large amount of gold.
After seeing no more golden light in the room, Lin Xuan took out the [Lethal Headbutt] Skill Card and placed it in his Inventory.
After see the room is empty, Lin Xuan return.