Chapter 110: The Door that Remembered

Chapter 110: The Door That Remembered

Lothe’s brush moved steadily across the stone door.

The ink did not spread like ordinary liquid. It sank into the grooves between the ancient Runes, forming a thin network of purple lines over the palm-shaped indentation.

He wasn’t attempting to open the door.

Not yet.

The structure was connected to the silver displacement array that had separated Seana. If he forced it open blindly, the palace could activate another spatial mechanism—or worse, send him somewhere he had no way to return from.

Instead, he was building a temporary observation formation.

A way to make the door reveal what it wanted.

Lothe placed the final stroke.

"Activate."

HUMMMMM.

The Runes across the stone door lit up.

At first, nothing happened.

Then the palm-shaped indentation began glowing with faint silver light.

Lothe watched carefully.

The light did not absorb his Qi.

It absorbed the residual energy left behind by the Wood Qi trial.

The door was not searching for a particular person.

It was searching for a specific kind of energy.

Lothe’s eyes narrowed.

"Life energy..."

The door pulsed again.

The faint energy left behind by the vines and roots began gathering toward the indentation. The remnants of Wood Qi were slowly being drawn from the surrounding stone.

But the moment the energy reached the door, it changed.

It became thinner.

Cleaner.

More refined.

Lothe immediately understood.

The door didn’t simply require life energy.

It required refined life energy.

The same type of energy that had been stored in the plants and transferred through the formation.

So the trial wasn’t only testing combat ability, Lothe thought. It was refining the energy produced by the person who cleared it.

He had already seen something similar with the altar.

The palace was collecting whatever energy the trial produced.

But the altar had required two sacrifices.

This door required the energy of the Wood Qi trial.

The distinction mattered.

Lothe continued observing.

The Runes around the door slowly rearranged themselves, forming a small image.

A flower.

Its petals were made of seven curved lines, but one petal remained incomplete.

Lothe frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Ping!

========================================

[ANCIENT RUNE INTERPRETATION]

• Symbol detected: Incomplete Life-Flower

• Function: Indicates insufficient life-energy refinement.

• Requirement: Additional compatible energy required.

• Warning: Forced activation may cause spatial displacement.

========================================

Lothe stared at the message.

"Insufficient?"

The Wood Qi trial had produced energy, but not enough to open the door.

That meant the door was not meant to be opened by a single person.

It required the energy of multiple compatible trials.

Perhaps the energy produced by the entire sector had to be gathered before the palace would unlock the next route.

Or perhaps—

A single person could open it if they possessed enough refined life energy.

Lothe looked toward the passage behind him.

Nyren had completed the Ice Qi trial.

If her trial had produced enough energy, perhaps the door could now use it.

He activated [Spatial Perception].

His awareness spread through the stone walls.

A faint line of cold energy was moving through the palace.

Nyren’s energy.

It flowed through the formation beneath the grotto, passing through several hidden pathways before heading toward the chamber.

Lothe watched it approach.

The incomplete flower on the door pulsed.

The silver light beneath the palm-shaped indentation grew brighter.

"So that’s it."

The palace was gathering the energy produced by each trial.

The moment Nyren’s Ice Qi reached the door, it would be combined with the Wood Qi left behind by Lothe’s trial.

The two energies would form something new.

A complete cycle.

Life and frost.

Growth and stillness.

The door was not simply a passage.

It was an alchemical mechanism.

It was combining different energies to create a key.

Lothe didn’t like the idea.

He didn’t know what would happen once the energies were combined, and he disliked allowing the palace to control the process.

He removed the observation Talisman from the door.

The moment he did, the purple lines faded.

The ancient Runes returned to their original positions.

But the door had already recorded his interference.

Lothe felt a faint pressure spread across the chamber.

Something had noticed him.

Not the guardian.

Not a person.

The palace itself.

He looked at the sealed door.

The palm-shaped indentation slowly turned toward him.

Its shape changed slightly.

The fingers became longer.

The center of the palm opened like a small eye.

A faint silver light stared directly at him.

Lothe’s expression remained cold.

"So you’ve noticed me."

The eye pulsed once.

Then a thin voice echoed through the chamber.

"Unfinished..."

The voice was weak and distorted, as if it had traveled through countless layers of stone.

Lothe’s eyes narrowed.

"Are you speaking to me?"

The eye pulsed again.

"Unfinished... incomplete... unclassified..."

Lothe didn’t answer.

The voice faded.

The door returned to silence.

But the message remained in his mind.

Unclassified.

The palace still couldn’t determine what to make of him.

That was useful.

It meant he had not been properly categorized.

It also meant the palace might continue testing him until it found a suitable classification.

A cold glint appeared in Lothe’s eyes.

"Then remain confused."

He turned away from the door.

A new tremor passed through the grotto.

The energy of the cave suddenly changed.

The plants in the passage behind him began withering.

The frost left behind by Nyren started melting.

The palace was removing the energy gathered from their trials.

It was preparing to use the combined essence.

Lothe had no intention of allowing that to happen without understanding it.

He turned and walked back toward the main cavern.

The moment he stepped into the passage, the roots covering the walls began moving.

Not attacking.

Rearranging.

The path behind him gradually closed.

The cave was changing again.

Lothe flicked his fingers.

Three small Talismans flew toward the ground.

"Route Marker."

The papers attached themselves to the stone.

But the moment the formation activated, the Talismans trembled.

Their purple light flickered.

The palace was interfering with their connection.

Lothe’s eyes sharpened.

His Talismans had worked in the earlier passage.

Here, the spiritual pressure was much stronger.

The grotto’s energy was becoming denser.

The deeper he went, the more the palace suppressed outside formations.

Lothe pulled out a fresh piece of Spirit Paper.

Instead of drawing a normal Route Marker, he inscribed a more complex Array.

A small circle with three uneven lines.

"Spatial Memory."

The Talisman sank into the stone floor.

This time, the palace did not reject it.

The formation activated quietly.

Lothe felt a thread connect to the structure of the cave.

It was faint.

Fragile.

But stable.

Ping.

========================================

[NEW ARRAY CREATED]

• Name: Spatial Memory Talisman

• Function: Records the structure of a local area and detects major changes in spatial arrangement.

• Limitation: Cannot preserve the original route if the area is completely severed from the surrounding space.

========================================

Lothe nodded faintly.

"Useful."

He continued through the grotto.

The deeper he went, the stranger the cave became.

The walls were no longer covered in ordinary roots.

Some were transparent, revealing streams of green energy inside them.

Others were covered in small white flowers that opened whenever he passed.

A faint mist gathered near the ceiling.

Lothe stopped.

The mist was moving against the natural airflow.

It was descending.

He pulled out a Purification Talisman.

Before he could activate it, the mist touched the stone floor.

The golden mist thickened.

Lothe’s fingers tightened around the final talisman.

Something was moving inside the fog.

BOOM!

A massive foot slammed onto the stone floor. The entire chamber shook.

Two crimson eyes appeared within the golden haze.

Then the creature emerged.

It was larger than the Wardens Lothe had fought before—nearly five meters tall. Its body was formed from twisted ancient wood, layered with thick root-like armor.

Glowing flowers bloomed across its shoulders, chest, and back, releasing steady streams of golden pollen. Every step it took caused fresh roots to crawl and weave across the floor.

Lothe’s eyes narrowed as the system interface blinked into view.

[INSPECT]

[Target: Bloomroot Warden]

[Rank: Level 6, Tier 2]

[ Abilities]

• Rapid Regeneration

• Root Binding

• Pollen Veil

• Energy Absorption

• Wood Qi Conversion

• Bloomroot Domain

• Bloomroot Frenzy​