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Eun-Chae was surprised by how easy they found the way to travel to the upper floating towns.
The three walked straight from the diner as the owner said, and saw that there was a huge banner that said.
"THE HEAVEN'S TRAVEL"
The banner had dragons and qilins engraved on it. There were a lot of people waiting for their turn.
Then, a large cloud descended from above. Two people were standing on the cloud; One was controlling its movements, and the other was maintaining order among the people. It was like a heavenly version of public transport, like a bus driver and his conductor.
Hao-Yun was excited to ride on it, "You two, let's hurry, it must be the cloud ride Master mentioned, we must ride on it."
Eun-Chae and Evelyn were clearly able to see he just wanted to ride on it. The three walked towards the cloud. However, before they could ride it, the person who maintained order stopped them.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked.
Hao-Yun honestly replied, "To the Temple of Divine Might."
"There are three of you, so the fare should also be equivalent."
Hao-Yun asked the girls, "Are you okay with me giving my energy?"
Evelyn replied, "No, we can't do that! Even if energy is replenished, it would take time, and we don't have it. So, I believe we all should give our share of energy."
Eun-Chae also agreed to her.
"Okay, so that's decided then."
Hao-Yun approached the cloud conductor, "We each would give our share of energy."
The three raised their hands and gave out a wisp of their energy.
"Hmm... that's enough. Get onto the ride. We will give you a good experience."
As soon as they stepped onto the floating cloud, it dipped slightly beneath their weight, only to stabilize and bubble like water.
With a wisp of energy from the driver, the cloud lifted.
It soared in the heavens' sky, smooth as silk, gliding past the pagodas and towering pines that pierced the skies like jade needles.
The world below began to vanish beneath a soft ocean of drifting fog, punctuated only by the golden tips of floating islands and the arching bridges between them, bridges that connected nothing and everything, built for Ancient Gods who had long vanished.
They passed over an orchard of silver-leaved trees that were illuminated with dew and wind chimes that played without touch.
Entire mountains hovered in the distance, cradled by clouds, their waterfalls pouring down into the sky itself, not the ground.
Above, cranes with feathers like scrolls circled gracefully. A qilin was flying across a cloud path far off, its claws sparking faint starbursts with every step.
Eun-Chae leaned forward as if mesmerized by the dreamscape.
"It's beautiful...".
Beside her, Evelyn's eyes glanced at the horizon, already spotting a silhouette, The Temple of Divine Might.
Atop a distant floating peak stood a structure that glowed faintly with a warm, divine luminescence.
Its radiance reached the stars themselves, and its gates were guarded by two massive statues: one of a weeping god, the other of a laughing deity, as if both joy and sorrow guarded the final truth.
The cloud stopped, "We've arrived at your destination," said the cloud conductor.
"You travellers... Let me give you a warning. Never go close to the eastern part of this floating island."
"Thanks for the warning," said Hao-Yun and walked towards the Temple along with Evelyn and Eun-Chae.
The Temple was open for people to look, pray, and revere the Ancient God. However, entering inside was forbidden; it was heavily guarded by strong Divine Beings.
Eun-Chae was worried, "What should we do now? We can't enter the Temple."
"She's right, if we tried to force our way inside, our identity as humans would be exposed," said Evelyn.
Hao-Yun glared at the guards, "We must follow a proper plan to have a chance of success."
"Let's think of a plan. You two, walk all around the Temple without catching the guards' attention and look if there's something we could use."
The three split and looked for a clue, a hint, or anything that could possibly help them sneak into the temple.
After a while, when they reunited, Hao-Yun asked, "Did you find something?"
Eun-Chae replied, "No. Nothing in particular."
"What about you, Evelyn?"
"I found something that could be used, but it contains a huge risk." Evelyn was worried about the plan backfiring on them.
However, Hao-Yun was determined, "It's okay, we have already taken the biggest risk after coming here."
"Well then, here's the thing..." Evelyn began explaining how she found the eastern area, about which the cloud conductor warned them, was a forbidden area where a Great Ancient Demon Serpent was sealed.
Her plan was to loosen that Demon Serpent's seal and divert the guards' attention. So, while they would deal with the Serpent, the three could easily sneak into the Temple and bring back some of the Ash.
"So, what do you think?" Evelyn asked the two.
Hao-Yun was excited, "It's a brilliant plan. You are so smart, Evelyn."
Eun-Chae, however, was a bit worried, "Don't you think the Demon would devour us first?"
"I know you are worried, but we don't have any other way to enter the Temple." Hao-Yun convinced Eun-Chae that they would run away before the seal is loosened.
The three began working on their plan. They sneaked to the eastern side of the floating island, where surprisingly not a single guard was present.
Hao-Yun was doubting their security system, "How could they prioritise guarding a Temple that contains a fallen God's Ash over a forbidden place where a great ancient demon serpent is sealed?"
"Why are you getting angry? It's their problem." Evelyn calmed him down.
Eun-Chae pointed out, "How could we loosen this seal? Do you have any way?"
Hao-Yun Smirked, "It's very easy, look, that star-looking object. That's probably the seal; if we just attack it, it would loosen."
Evelyn agreed with him, "Exactly! From the novels I read in childhood, seals are hard to break from inside, but easy from outside."
"What? Evelyn, did you read fantasy novels as a Kid? That's new to me." Hao-Yun was surprised by Evelyn's new side.
"Hngh... I wish I hadn't said that!" Evelyn was feeling embarrassed.
Eun-Chae couldn't see it anymore and brought their attention to the main point, "You two, this isn't the time for flirting!"
"We are not flirting!" both refuted her in unison.
Then, the three used their temporary celestial bodies' power to attack the seal. But it didn't flinch.
"As expected of a seal capable of imprisoning a Great Ancient Demon, but it won't remain in the same state." Hao-Yun was getting excited. His focus was moving from loosening the seal to breaking it.
The other two didn't realize it. Gradually, the seal had taken quite a bit of damage. It was time to run.
However, Hao-Yun was completely focused on attacking it. And before the two could stop him, He landed another attack on the seal.
CRACK!
The star-shaped object was cracking. The ground rumbled. It was like a high-magnitude earthquake. Hao-Yun couldn't calm himself down and was looking forward to seeing what the Great Ancient Demon looked like.
Fortunately, Evelyn and Eun-Chae dragged him into a corner, behind some bushes.
Then, the three witnessed the Star-shaped object explode, and a Massive Black Serpent came out. The Serpent had three heads and a body so large that Hao-Yun, Evelyn, and Eun-Chae looked like ants compared to it.
Immediately, Dozens of Divine beings surrounded the Demon, but they couldn't do anything to it. One of them then manifested a trumpet with his powers.
However, the moment he blew it, it echoed throughout Heaven. The sound was so loud that Eun-Chae was about to faint from it.
As soon as the trumpet stopped, 2 Figures emerged out of thin air, their bodies radiating an aura that couldn't be compared to any other Divine being.
From Hao-Yun's point of view, he couldn't see their appearance except for the golden and white radiant aura.
"Let's go, it's time to sneak into the Temple," Hao-Yun told Evelyn and Eun-Chae.
The three slowly walked towards the Temple of Divine Might without catching anyone's attention.
(Door-Creak)
They opened the massive door of the temple, creating enough space to sneak in, and then closed the Door.
BHADAM!
"Haah! Finally!"
"We are inside the Temple!"
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