I stood at the base of the second staircase. Senior Brother Sun was standing beside me, looking at the stairs with a serious expression. Then, he said in a low tone, "Remember not to underestimate this one, Orion. In terms of difficulty, this won't just be to test and improve your physical strength, but it will also target the mind and soul."
"Thanks for the reminder," I nodded. "Here goes nothing."
I took the first step and immediately felt my mind on the verge of collapsing, it was like ropes were tightening on my brain. I was forced to sit and endure the pain since I would fail the test if I stepped back apparently. Emperor Sun seems to have forgotten this part last time.
The first step took me three days while the second one took seven days. With each step, I got several attacks on my body, mind, and soul. In the blink of an eye, two years have passed since I started.
Surprisingly, my soul took on the form of a sword. Whenever a cultivator's soul grows powerful, it starts to materialize into a certain shape. The more powerful the soul gets, the shape becomes less transparent and even solidifies at the end, providing the soul the ability to flee without the body. Although frowned upon by most cultivators, people who have abandoned their bodies and escaped with their souls may be able to possess bodies that don't belong to them.
On this day, I finally took the last step after spending a month on the one before it. Then, like the last time, I felt my vision blur and I was back at the base with the blade piece in my hand. After that, it was a simple matter of fusing the piece with my sword.
"Ughh..." Pangu grunted, but this time, his voice came out loud and not in my mind. "Finally... I can finally speak!"
"Congratulations," I said, "Now let's be serious for a second. Preferably, only talk out loud when we are alone or with someone trusted. I don't appreciate others knowing that my sword can talk."
"You fear people will get greedy and would covet me? Well... That's fair enough. You have a deal, kid."
"That's good."
"Oh, and what's your name?"
"I'm pretty sure you know my name since you were conscious for a long time now."
"My memory is not exactly in its best state right now. It might take time to remember the small details."
"I am Orion Fistore, Lord of Wind, Water, and Ice, and the Ice clone of Richard."
"I can't say I have met a lot of Orions... In any case, a pleasure to meet you, kid. I hope you don't die soon because I'm not in the mood to be dispersed again by Richy."
I could feel Richard's annoyance at being called Richy again even though we were so far apart. Apparently, Pangu didn't want to keep talking so I left for the sect.
Suddenly, I felt myself being teleported forcefully. Feeling a bit nauseous, I stabilized myself and looked around. The first thing I noticed was that I was in a small room. And, by coincidence or not, it was Tai Yang's.
The poor boy was so startled that he jumped from the freight. I smiled awkwardly and said, "Apologies, I don't know what happened."
"Not a problem, martial uncle," he said while bowing.
I winced at being called uncle. "Please," I said, "I'm your age so no need to call me uncle. You make me feel old."
"Which you are," Pangu said, but at least he talked telepathetically.
I turned to Tai Yang helplessly and said, "Care for a walk?"
"It would be my pleasure," he replied. We walked through the sect while he told me many historical facts and stories about China. Then we strolled through a forest near the main estate, I wanted to show him the stairs but then thought against it. I am ninety percent sure that Senior Brother Sun didn't tell anyone about them.
However, the student went in their direction anyway. At most, if he asked me about them, I would fake it and say I don't know. But when we arrived, they were nowhere to be found and were replaced by some trees.
"Eh?" I said, "Pangu, what happened here?"
"I would guess that they served their purpose and are hidden. Or, it is an artifact that belongs to the Sect Leader that can shrink."
The walk didn't last long and as we went back, I said, "For someone whose name translates to the Great Sun, you are pretty modest."
"I don't like arrogance. I am shy by nature. To be fair, I was a spoiled brat before my parents' death," he replied, and his expression soured a bit.
I felt bad for bringing back what seemed bad memories so I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in sympathy. We didn't talk at all after that and he stormed to meet his master.
-------------------
Updated on 2/12/2024