When "God" Decides To Start Over

Li Xiu ordered another bowl of porridge, and eating buns with the porridge was not too bad.

By the time Li Xiu finished one bun, Chu Qi had already devoured almost a whole plate, probably eating seven or eight buns.

When Li Xiu finished his second bun, there were only four buns left on the two large plates.

"I can't eat anymore," Li Xiu said, putting down his bowl.

"I'll eat the rest," Chu Qi said simply, stuffing another bun into his mouth.

"Chu Qi, doesn't the City Lord's Mansion provide meals?" Li Xiu looked at Chu Qi, feeling like he must have never had enough to eat before.

"They do, but not as delicious as these buns," Chu Qi replied.

Li Xiu finally understood that these Niujia buns must be something Chu Qi loved, not some famous dish of White Night City.

"Are you a Magic Armor Master?" Li Xiu glanced at the large backpack on Chu Qi's back, which was a huge mountaineering bag fully packed, and this guy never put it down.

"No," Chu Qi shook his head.

Li Xiu was a bit surprised; he thought Chu Qi was carrying some demon armor, but it turned out he wasn't a Magic Armor Master, so it wasn't demon armor.

If it wasn't demon armor, what was he carrying that never left his side?

"What's in your backpack?" Li Xiu couldn't help but ask.

"Demon Armor," Chu Qi's answer surprised Li Xiu again.

"You're not a Magic Armor Master, so why are you carrying a demon armor?" Li Xiu was even more curious.

"The old man is afraid this demon armor would be stolen, so he told me to carry it," Chu Qi answered.

The more Li Xiu heard, the stranger it seemed. In a place like White Night City, where demon armor is produced in vast quantities, how is there nowhere to store demon armor, leaving Chu Qi to carry it around all day?

If they're afraid of the armor being stolen, wouldn't having a person carry it make it easier to be stolen?

People do sleep after all, and it's impossible to stay alert twenty-four hours a day. Walking around with it so conspicuously, is it really safer than storing it in a warehouse?

"What kind of demon armor is it? Can I take a look?" Li Xiu asked with a smile.

"No," Chu Qi refused bluntly.

Not giving up, Li Xiu said, "Your old man is afraid the demon armor might be stolen, so he had you carry it. What if someone snatches it from you?"

"It can't be snatched as long as I'm here," Chu Qi said as he stuffed the last bun into his belly. He seemed slightly unsatisfied, but he paid and took Li Xiu out of the Niujia Bun Shop.

"So, you're a Trial Taker?" Li Xiu asked as they walked.

"Yes," Chu Qi nodded.

"What level?" Li Xiu was somewhat curious. There must be Trial Takers in White Night City, but likely not many, just like in Space City.

"S," Chu Qi said expressionlessly, his words very concise.

"Is there a Trial Gate in White Night City?" Li Xiu hadn't heard of there being a Trial Gate in White Night City.

"There's one over a hundred kilometers south of the city, you can get there quickly by express train," Chu Qi said.

"I'm a Trial Taker too. Can you take me to see it?" Li Xiu was genuinely curious about what a Trial Gate is like in a gemstone-scarce place like White Night City.

"Sure, but you'll have to use your own gemstone to open the gate," Chu Qi said.

"No problem, what kind of gemstone is needed to open the gate?" Li Xiu asked with a smile.

"Black Sapphire," Chu Qi answered.

"Shandong Sapphire?" Li Xiu thought for a moment and immediately understood what Chu Qi was talking about.

In the White Night City area, gemstone resources are indeed scarce. In places that produce gemstones, most are like aquamarine, and rarely have veins of the Five Great Gemstones.

Shandong Sapphire is a special case. Though it's a sapphire, it's a bit darker than sapphires from other regions, and as early as the old era, when its value was discovered by foreigners, most high-quality rough stones were looted.

Later on, high-quality rough stones became scarcer. Many were dim in color, lacked transparency, and even had pure black colors, hence why some call it Black Sapphire.

However, high-quality Shandong Sapphire is very distinctive. Its blue color is very unique, with some shades showing a green tint, unlike sapphires from other regions, and those in the know can easily recognize it.

It is said there are even dual-colored red and blue mandarin duck sapphires, though Li Xiu had only heard about them and never seen one.

"Is there a shop selling gemstones near the Trial Gate? I don't have any Black Sapphires on me and need to buy some," Li Xiu pondered aloud.

"Yes, we'll buy them when we arrive," Chu Qi took Li Xiu to the station. After they boarded the transport vehicle, they headed directly to the Trial Gate Chu Qi mentioned.

On the way, Li Xiu and Chu Qi talked about the topics surrounding the Trial Gate.

Chu Qi told Li Xiu the Trial Gate was called the "Demon Tower," and the Trial Ground was indeed a Demon Tower.

The trial project was very singular — climbing the Demon Tower. The higher the trial difficulty, the higher you need to climb, but how many floors this Demon Tower had was still unknown since no one had reached the top; it seemed as if the Demon Tower had no top.

Of course, it could also be because there are very few Trial Takers in White Night City, so it's normal for no one to have reached the top.

After getting off the station, Chu Qi called for another vehicle, riding with Li Xiu over the bumpy old asphalt road for half an hour before finally reaching the Trial Gate known as the Demon Tower.

The Demon Gate was unexpectedly located in an abandoned factory courtyard. This factory had long gone bankrupt, with many sections of the walls and plant buildings collapsed.

Not a single human shadow could be seen nearby, nor was there any guard for this Trial Gate. Clearly, the people from White Night City didn't value it, and it was unknown if any Trial Takers ever came here.

Next to the Trial Gate, in a small shack, a young man was lazily sitting in a chair. On the table in front of him laid a piece of torn cloth with various gemstones casually thrown on it.

Most of those gemstones were dark in color, some black and some an inky blue, and they didn't seem very transparent. There were also some blue-green gemstones that were slightly more transparent but had a lot of impurities.

The gemstones varied in size, the smallest being one or two carats, the largest possibly several tens of carats.

Many were polished into pebble shapes without any faceting, generally the way lower-quality gemstones were handled.

As Li Xiu examined those sapphires, he felt a sense of hunger in his stomach again, surprisingly.