Free Web NovelChapter 90: Chapter 90: Tri-Gate Guardian
The white-gold gate opened.
Beyond it was a circular arena suspended in darkness.
At the center stood the First Gate Guardian.
It was three meters tall, armored in layered gold-white plates. A red gem glowed on its right shoulder, a blue gem on its forehead, and a black gem at the center of its chest. Each gem represented one gate: Strength, Spirit, Battle.
The standard guardian would have carried one trial attribute.
This one carried all three.
The panel appeared.
[Tri-Gate Guardian]
[Level: 26]
[Type: Strength-Spirit-Battle composite guardian]
[Abilities:
- Strength Pressure
- Spirit Reflection
- Battle Adaptation
- Gate Resonance Strike]
[Weakness:
- Gate gems can be destabilized through corresponding trial methods.
- Red gem: synchronized force.
- Blue gem: mental clarity disruption.
- Black gem: unpredictable team tactics.]
[Danger: Very High]
Qin Mo stared at the weakness list.
"It is giving us homework during the boss fight."
Qin Yuheng’s expression was calm.
"It is telling us how to win."
The guardian moved.
Strength Pressure descended first.
The arena floor cracked beneath their feet.
Qin Yuheng stepped forward, but did not take all the pressure. Qin Yuchen moved beside him. Qin Lian stabilized from the left. Qin Mo placed a grounding formation.
They synchronized, just as in Strength Gate.
The red gem flickered.
Qin Yuheng saw it.
"Red gem responds to team pressure."
The guardian attacked with a heavy fist.
Qin Yuheng met it with sword and thunder.
The impact forced him back, but Qin Yuchen struck the wrist joint, Qin Lian cut behind the elbow, and Qin Mo’s formation reduced the shockwave.
The red gem dimmed slightly.
Then the blue gem lit up.
Spirit Reflection.
The arena filled with images.
Qin Zhengyuan wounded.
Qin Wanshan disappointed.
Qin Lian forgotten.
Qin Mo abandoned in endless responsibility.
Qin Yuchen failing to protect his siblings.
The guardian attacked through the reflections.
Qin Yuheng shouted, "Confirm!"
"Clear!" Qin Yuchen answered.
"Clear," Qin Lian said.
"Annoyed but clear!" Qin Mo shouted.
They used the Spirit Gate rhythm.
Qin Mo activated a Clear Mind formation. Qin Yuheng ignored the reflections and struck toward the blue gem with a thunder arc. It flickered.
The guardian changed.
Black gem.
Battle Adaptation. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Its combat style began copying their last successful formation.
It moved like Qin Yuheng’s front pressure, Qin Yuchen’s prediction, Qin Lian’s side strike, and Qin Mo’s disruption combined.
For a moment, the team was suppressed.
Qin Yuheng’s eyes sharpened.
The black gem adapted to repetition.
So they needed unpredictability.
"Break formation!"
They scattered.
Qin Yuheng retreated instead of advancing.
Qin Yuchen attacked aggressively instead of supporting.
Qin Lian revealed herself openly and drew the guardian’s attention.
Qin Mo stepped forward and threw a formation needle directly at the guardian’s face, something he would almost never do.
The guardian paused.
The black gem flickered.
Qin Yuheng smiled faintly.
It did not understand Qin Mo choosing danger voluntarily.
Qin Mo shouted, "Do not make me do that again!"
Qin Yuheng moved.
Thunder Shadow Flash.
He struck the black gem.
Crack.
The guardian staggered.
But it was not defeated.
All three gems lit up together.
[Warning: Gate Resonance Strike.]
Red pressure.
Blue spirit illusion.
Black battle adaptation.
All at once. free𝑤ebnovel.com
The guardian raised both arms, gathering a three-colored sphere of power.
If the strike landed, the team might be defeated instantly.
Qin Yuheng considered using a hidden trump card.
A stronger release of Primordial Thunder Emperor Body.
A high-grade talisman.
Even the A Grade Spatial Retreat Talisman, if needed.
But he remembered the gates.
Strength together.
Spirit clarity.
Battle unpredictability.
This boss was not asking for his secret.
It was asking whether the team had learned.
"Final pattern," Qin Yuheng said.
Qin Yuchen looked at him.
"The untested one?"
"Yes."
Qin Mo’s face changed.
"We never stabilized that."
"Now we do."
The final pattern was a formation they had designed but never fully used: rotating command.
For one sequence, Qin Yuheng would not lead.
Qin Yuchen called the first move.
"Left pressure. Lian feint. Qin Mo anchor."
They moved.
The guardian adjusted.
Qin Lian called the second.
"Shadow mark. Yuheng low. Yuchen high."
They shifted again.
Qin Mo called the third, voice strained.
"Stop moving where it expects! Three-step delay, then center!"
They obeyed.
The guardian’s black gem flickered violently.
It could adapt to patterns.
Not to leadership changing every breath.
Qin Yuheng waited until the resonance sphere reached its peak.
Then he called the final strike.
"Together."
Qin Mo anchored the ground with every remaining formation needle.
Qin Lian struck the black gem crack.
Qin Yuchen pierced the red gem’s lower edge.
Qin Yuheng leaped toward the blue gem, sword wrapped in controlled violet-gold thunder.
Their attacks landed almost simultaneously.
The three gems cracked.
The resonance sphere destabilized.
The guardian froze.
Then Qin Yuheng drove his sword into the center line connecting all three gems.
Thunder flowed through the cracks.
The Tri-Gate Guardian shattered into white-gold light.
A Tower message appeared.
[Tri-Gate Guardian defeated.]
[Floor 10 First Gate Boss Trial completed.]
[All three Trial Gates cleared.]
[Tri-Gate Resonance cleared.]
[Evaluation greatly increased.]
[Calculating final settlement...]
Qin Mo slowly sat down.
"I never want to rotate command again."
Qin Yuchen lowered his sword, breathing heavily but smiling faintly.
Qin Lian’s cloak settled around her like shadow.
Qin Yuheng looked at the fading guardian.
The fight had been difficult.
But it had proven something important.
His father had been right.
The explanation of Floor 10 would not be Qin Yuheng alone.
It would be the team.
The settlement panel appeared.
[Floor 10: First Gate Boss Trial]
[Spirit Gate: Cleared.]
[Strength Gate: Cleared.]
[Battle Gate: Cleared.]
[Tri-Gate Resonance: Cleared.]
[Tri-Gate Guardian: Defeated.]
[Team Survival: All members alive.]
[Emergency Withdrawal: None.]
[Final Evaluation: SSS]
The reward list followed.
[SSS Evaluation Rewards]
EXP +2,500
Tower Coins x30,000
S Grade First Gate Treasure Chest x1
A Grade Class Token Fragment x1
A Grade Inventory Expansion Stone x1
A Grade Tri-Gate Spirit Crystal x1
A Grade Gate Guardian Core x1
Special Mark: First Gate Perfect Clear
Additional hidden reward appeared.
[Tri-Gate Resonance Reward]
S Grade Tri-Gate Class Token Fragment x1
S Grade Team Battle Formation Crystal x1
Qin Yuheng’s eyes deepened.
Class Token Fragments.
Two of them.
One A grade.
One S grade.
The gate had given them access to the next stage of growth.
White-gold return light descended.
When they reappeared in Heavenly Gate Tower’s entrance hall, the platform released three colors of light.
Red.
Blue.
Black.
Then white-gold.
The entire hall went silent before the staff even read the result.
Yu Qingmei stood from her seat.
Han Shuren’s eyes widened slightly.
The evaluation crystal displayed the words.
[Floor 10: First Gate Boss Trial]
[Final Evaluation: SSS]
[Special Record: Tri-Gate Resonance Cleared.]
[Title: First Gate Perfect Clear.]
For several breaths, no one spoke.
Then the hall exploded.
"Tri-Gate Resonance?"
"First Gate Perfect Clear!"
"They cleared all three gates?"
"Qin Yuheng’s team did it!"
"This is no longer just a strong new team..."
Qin Yuheng stood at the center of the return platform with Qin Yuchen, Qin Lian, and Qin Mo beside him.
He could feel the attention.
Stronger than ever.
He had expected it.
But this time, the record belonged to all four of them.
Yu Qingmei approached slowly.
Her expression was serious, but there was unmistakable approval in her eyes.
"Congratulations," she said. "You have crossed the First Gate perfectly."
Qin Mo whispered, "Can perfect clears include vacation?"
Han Shuren heard him.
"No."
Qin Mo closed his eyes.
"Cruel world."
Qin Yuheng looked toward the Tower entrance behind them.
The first ten floors were complete.
Ahead lay Floor 11 and beyond.
Longer cooldowns.
Harder missions.
Greater factions.
Class paths.
Higher-level enemies.
Blood Sun Hall.
Qin family secrets.
The dormant bloodline after Level 1000.
The road had only begun.
But the first gate had opened.
And Qin Yuheng had not opened it alone.
