Inside of The Tomb of the Yan family.
"Welcome, brat!"
"Shit!" I got scared by the sudden voice and uttered a scream of fright; the tone was low, but I can feel a powerful aura hidden around it.
My survival senses quickly kicked in, and I immediately tried to calm down and assist the situation, intensely looking around for clues.
"Hmm, that's pretty good, brat; you quickly collected yourself," the spirit said.
I looked around and found a ghost in the form of a middle-aged man; I couldn't distinguish his facial expressions because of his foggy condition, but the most notable thing about him is his extraordinary long beard; it almost reached the ground, from the place his floating.
He got silent for a moment before sharply looking down at me, "Hehehe! Punk, I thought you were that old twat after he came here to pass the trial;" his playful mood, yet dignified and powerful aura, complemented his nonchalant personality, just like an unconcerned sword sharpened through time, till there's nothing it couldn't cut, and nothing it can fear.
I snapped out of my thoughts and frankly asked him, "Are you the one who will conclude my trial?"
I saw a faint frown on his foggy face; his tone slightly changed, and he said, "Hmph! Brat, where are your manners? you didn't even pay respect to the founder of the Yan family."
'Oh! So he's the first patriarch! Hmm, I see so he can be considerate my great-great-grandpa!'
I immediately bowed my head and used my most reliable skill against the strong fanatic masters.
"Ass kissing,"
I activated pitful mode to the max and changed my expressions to match my fake worship voice, "Forgive this lowly hamble grandkid of yours for not seeing the glorified pillar of the yan family, the heavenly sword of the kingdom, cheerful and robust, like the pond of the pandora box, deathly poisonous, but mesmerizingly outstanding at the same time."
I stopped and looked at his expression; before having round two, "In the presence of such a master, the heaven and earth dance in joy, and the evil and wicked hide from fright, Ah! The rays of enlightenment hitting my face, How could a mere beard suit a creature this much! From one glance, I can confidently say that all the masters in the world, should cut their beards from shame and worship of the true alpha beard,"
He stopped my passionate session with a loud laugh, "Hehehe! Young brat, don't try to butter me, the old punk already warned me about your schemes."
'Old punk? Is that bastard old fox trying to ruin me here too? Ugh! What should I do now! This bastard is even harder to deal with than foxy,'
"Cough Cough, I might be double-faced, but not to your esteemed self! However, someone told me that nothing is free in the yan family, so I ask your Majesty, what's the catch?"
He raised a brow, and said "hehe! That old punk did teach you something after all;"
He stroked his beard and continued, "Well, Let's start with what you should do."
'Shit! System, I'm still not ready for that xianxia stuff; I can't go back from the death-like every mc does!'
<.....>
«Maybe? You brought me here, you bastard!»
«Ugh! Of course, it is going to be upgradable; mc never settle for the powerful art which going to help him instantly raise his strength, but elect the one with the ability to rise; it's the damn start of every xianxia novel»
'The problem is how I could survive till every enlightenment.'
'Ah! Shit!'
During my regretfully hateful mental conversation with the system, Spirit grandpa processed to explain the trial.
"The trial content is simple; it will test your mental strength and potential, looking at your virtues and determination to see if you have the power to take the Yan sword arts to face glory.
"The trial is called the worship of the ancestors; it will test your devotion toward your goals," he said.
He flickered his fingers, creating a buzzing sound through my ears;
Shortly after, the ground shook like a closing earthquake, making a deep hole on the floor.
I heard him complete his talk, "You see the mountain of gold coins besides you, it serves as an offering to us the ancestors, with that being said, you will fill this grave with gold paying tribute to the father of your grandpa, the twentieth patriarch of the Yan lineage,"
I looked down at the massive hole in front of me, 'What the hell? System this hole seems almost bottomless, it would take months, No! It will take years to fill'
'The devotion bullshit? Don't tell me I should keep stupidity lifting and dragging these gold coins till extreme exhaustion, breaking my little bones in the process, just to pass out at the end, showing how I didn't abandon my goal until the last breath.'
'Bullshit! I'm not doing this foolish shit! Let's leave this main character stuff for the actual mc'
I looked at long beard grandpa and frankly confronted him about his ridiculous trial, "Esteemed Family founder, I already know that it's impossible to fill the grave,"
He instantly raised a brow and speechlessly said,"What?"
I responded quickly after, "Look, old man, this damned pit can't be recharged; why would I waste my time filling it,"
He frowned and nodded his head in disappointment, "In another words you giving up before you even started?"
I calmly sat down on the numerous gold coins, putting my arms behind my head, whispering my favorite melody.
He frowned even more before saying,"What are you doing? Didn't you give up"
I leisurely responded, "Hmm? How said I gave up? Didn't the trial said you just need to try and fill the hole?" I grabbed a coin and pistoled it with my thumb, throwing it straight into the grave, and said "See! We can do it like this"
I felt a complex aura emitting from Spirit grandpa; he seems to be perplexed about my actions, and despite my ludicrous attitude, he still tried to behave rationally "Junior, I don't think you will ever accomplish the task with that amount,"
"Old man, who are you bullshiting? I clearly cracked the trial core problem and even told you the truth you were hiding. Am I wrong about the hole being bottomless?" I amusedly said;
I wasn't really scared of his reaction.
Not paying him any heed, I kept lazily throwing the coins in the grave while humming beats.
His aura chaotically drifted in the tomb with every minute passing; he looked like an evil spirit ready to possess me, but I knew that he wouldn't do me any harm.
Hours passed, my finger got tired, but at least I wasn't breaking any bones. Therefore, my mood was still fresh and joyful as ever. However, I couldn't tell the same thing was happening inside spirit grandpa's head.
He's atmosphere was already dark; I felt like the wrath filled his nonexistent heart.
And he finally was ready to talk again after getting sick of my easygoing attitude and schemes.
He annoyedly grumbled, "Brat, you are right the trial wasn't supposed to be a strength trial, but a will one as well as help shaping the goals in your head; nevertheless, your bastard cunning brain managed to understand this aspect, which made me decide that your goals are already shaped, and you're ready to receive the art,"
'Hehe! Jackpot! This is supposed to be a painstaking trial, passed with tremendous effort and pain, flaming the audience with motivational emotion of success,'
"Oh! Thank you, spirit grandpa; it only happened because I inherited your sacred genes," I got up from the gold bed and stretched my arms.
He disapprovaly glanced in my direction and muttered," Last question before I let you go, do you know what is the most important thing in the Yan family?"
'Probably I will need to answer with some kind of emotional dogshit speech' shrugging my shoulders.
'Well, who cares? I'm not the mc'
I briefly thought about his question before uttering, "wealth,"
He disgustingly looked at me before I added,
"And Longbeards,"
His complexion brightened for a split second before going back to furious mode;
"You take too much from that punk grandfather of yours; the family is in ruin!"
I cleaned my right ear with my little finger, not giving a damn about what he's saying.
"Despicable brat! Here's the scroll, never show your face to me ever again!" he agirly handed me the Yan sword arts, before sneering and sending me upstairs.
'Easy money! Sleepy beauty about to have some hard time in the next trial, after I got him this worked up'
I finally reached upstairs; as the entrance slowly closed, the first thing I found is my grandpa with an anticipation stare.
"Stinky Brat, I thought you already died," I could tell from his warm smile that he doesn't mean what he is uttering.
"How could I die and leave my money! You still owe me some gold from the last batch of people,"
He feigned ignorance and laughed, "hehehe! That was the expenses of personally escorting you downstairs,"
"The hell! Am I escorted by a transcended fairy, to charge all that money," I yelled.
"Punk! Even the city lord needs an invitation to meet me!" he smirked and proudly declared; his amused mood surprised me. If it's old foxy, he would've probably kicked me in the butt and sent me to work like a horse on peds.
"Hmph! Since it's like that, I will take today off," before he can even react, I already sprinted to my room like my life depends on it.