When Qing Shan awoke, he found a purple pellet about the size of a fingernail lying in the bottom cauldron. However, Qing Shan did not take special note of this until later. The reason for this was that he was in a situation that was more than just a little annoying.
For some reason, most likely because of the purple thing in the bottom of the cauldron, all of the beasts within one square kilometer had come to Qing Shan's location. Every beast on this level of the cave had surrounded Qing Shan. While it would not be that difficult for Qing Shan to face at least five beasts at a time with his newfound strength, he would probably run out of gas if he were facing more than ten at once.
To make things worse, there were barely under one hundred beasts here, and unlike his copies, these could all attack him at once.
Qing Shan immediately hurled forward like a meteor. He barreled through the enemies in front of him, sending multiple lightning fast attacks that made them at least unable to fight, if not dead. Qing Shan then began moving around like a whirlwind, throwing enemies away from him one by one.
Because Qing Shan knew that he would not be able to take the attacks of many beasts at once, he moved around quickly, trying to attack one at a time. Now, this sounds far easier than it was. While Qing Shan was only focusing on fighting one enemy at a time, he still had a bit over eighty beasts attacking him.
But somehow, that number was quickly decreasing. It quickly dropped to fifty, and from there Qing Shan did not make any mistakes. He would thrust with his Staff while striking with the other end of it, and even added in elbows and kicks. Like this he was able to flawlessly attack at least four enemies with one motion of his body.
Twenty minutes after Qing Shan woke up, all that remained was the untouched cauldron, and beast corpses on the ground. It was only then when Qing Shan truly realized just how strong he had become. While he had been relatively clear on his single combat abilities, he had completely underestimated his strength against a group of weaker enemies.
"That was easy."
After wiping off his bloodied hands on the grass, Qing Shan walked back to the cauldron and picked up the purple pellet.
Qing Shan observed the pellet. He had no clue what function it had, and at the same time he did not want to ingest a pellet that he knew absolutely nothing about.
Qing Shan walked around the cave, looking for enemies to fight while he was deep in thought. It was only belatedly that Qing Shan realized that he had already killed all of the beasts in the make-shift forest. However, Qing Shan was already on the opposite side of the cave from his starting location.
Soon, whilst numbly walking, Qing Shan saw something. It was a gate. It had the same sort of structure as the Gate of Death, but this was obviously not that. Qing Shan knew this because there were words written above the structure.
"Congratulations on passing the second section of the trial. This section was focused primarily on preparing for the third and final section of the trial. Since you have gotten to this point, you should have in your possession either two different color pills, or one larger pill. You must consume one, and only one, pellet before you enter the final part of the trial. Proceed."
Qing Shan immediately realized that this gate and message must have appeared after he finished killing the beasts. Still shaking his head at the easiness of this trial now that he had raised his cultivation, Qing Shan downed the purple pellet and walked through the glowing violet gate.
Qing Shan found himself in a red room. At least, he was relatively sure it was a room. The walls were mostly red, with brown and black splotches randomly along them. However, whatever structure that Qing Shan was in was unstable. The walls were slithering along, winding and bending randomly. Even the air in this place was especially suffocating, and Qing Shan felt as though he was deep underwater, yet he was somehow still breathing. There was a strange pressure to this place, and it was so powerful that it even reminded Qing Shan of that demon that he had seen earlier.
This place made no sense at all if Qing Shan was thinking about the Laws of Nature. The room would shift, and Qing Shan would find himself floating momentarily, before he was standing on what he had thought was the ceiling. He even felt his own body begin to fluctuate like the walls around him, and the sensation was so nauseating that Qing Shan could not help but vomit. There were trees growing from ceilings, and water flowing through the air.
Qing Shan soon found out the general rules of this place, if they could even be called rules. He knew that if he jumped, gravity would shift, and he would land on one of the walls on his left and right, or the ceiling. He figured out a few other things, but those thoughts were so disgusting that he deigned not to think about them. Once he figured out how to walk in the direction he wanted, which was actually quite difficult, Qing Shan continued the only way he could, forward.
Whilst walking, Qing Shan became more and more confused. This was supposed to be the third section of the trial, and yet he could not see any sort of objective. However, based on how things were panning out so far, he would eventually reach some sort of destination. Unfortunately, with the pathway shifting every second, Qing Shan was unsure that he was even moving…
If this kept up, Qing Shan would not be able to handle it! This pathway was just so wrong that it made him feel like his heart was being ripped from his chest every time he felt the Laws of Physics shift.
Qing Shan walked and walked, and soon he gave up on trying to track his direction. All he knew was that he was putting one foot in front of the other. He had no clue whether or not he was even moving.
Walking amidst the abomination that was this trial's physics, Qing Shan suddenly felt a change. The room began spinning faster than usual, which Qing Shan initially disregarded. However, this became something that he could no longer ignore once the walls began to actually grow larger and thicker, and the floor started to disappear. In an instant, all that was below Qing Shan was a deep pit.
Qing Shan fell, an activity that was quickly becoming integrated into his nightmares. Qing Shan tried to calm himself by rationalizing that there would be some sort of physical shift that would somehow save him. Unfortunately, nothing about this section of the trial was logical, and Qing Shan felt his body splat against the ground, instantly feeling all the bones and muscles in his body pulverize before he lost feeling in his body.
Suddenly, Qing Shan found himself floating in the air looking down at his body. As he started to rise uncontrollably, Qing Shan struggled back towards his body like it was the most natural thing in the world. Then, Qing Shan felt a lurch as the gravity shifted again, and Qing Shan's body now hurled toward him.
Qing Shan woke completely unharmed, back inside of the pathway.
He had died… But he survived?
Had the trial forced his soul back into his body, or had he somehow been so lucky as to have reconnected with his body when the gravity shifted.
Qing Shan soon found out that the answer was the former. As he kept moving around the pathway, he began to feel as though this trial had a personal vendetta with him, as he was killed dozens of times within minutes. Every single time, he would have that same out of body experience, before being yanked back into his own flesh and blood form.
At this point, all Qing Shan could feel was pain. This pain was not real, as Qing Shan's were healed after every time he died, yet it was a phantom pain that stayed with him after he died. He began to feel his head throbbing more and more, and he could swear that he was actually dying, and was no longer convinced, like he had been the first couple of times he died, that his death was just an accurate illusion.
An illusion would not hurt like this…
Qing Shan soon lost track of how many times he had died. He could still feel every single one of those deaths, and he felt as though his brain was literally being burnt to ash, whist getting stabbed by dozens of hooks. It had been a long time since he had practically lost control of his body, and he was barely conscious.
Qing Shan wanted so badly to just let himself go unconscious, but he felt for some reason like that would be just as bad as what he was currently witnessing.
Unfortunately, he was correct.
While Qing Shan tried and tried to stay awake, that was something that no mere willpower would help him to do.
Qing Shan now saw a new image in front of him. It was a perfect picture, too perfect. Qing Shan saw his village in the Silent Plains, and he saw his Father, and a woman that resembled himself standing in front of him.
Thus, Qing Shan did the most logical thing that anyone could do. He committed suicide. As he had no weapons in this world, he dug his fingers into his chest and ripped out his heart. Unfortunately, the same thing happened that had happened in the pathway. Qing Shan would not die.
This was maybe one of the situations that Qing Shan feared the most in some sort of trial. He had long since come to terms with the fact that neither of his parents were alive, nor could they be brought back. He was seeking closure by setting out to get revenge, and no false fantasy, no matter how beckoning and pleasant, would stop him from finding that closure.
Unfortunately, the scene in front of Qing Shan refused to change. He killed himself countless more times, desperately hoping to escape from this world.
Alas, he soon realized that the only was he was getting out of this dream, this illusion, this hell, or whatever it may be, was by going with the images of his parents. So, he reached out and took one of each of their hands. His figure shrunk, until he was a perfect image of his twelve-year old self.
They pulled Qing Shan forward, and walked with him behind them. His face was a stony image, as he tried to keep him self from taking comfort in this situation.
Unfortunately, For Qing Shan, who was willing to fight the most powerful group of people he knew of to get revenge for his parent's deaths, there was no way for him to remain stoic to his family.
If Qing Shan's Father did not have all of the same verbal and physical habits as the real Qing Yan, then Qing Shan may have been able to hold on. However, he soon found himself lost in the beautiful fantasy of what his life could have been.
He was in the village, and was no longer made fun of because this Qing Shan was actually able to talk. He was looked up to by the other kids in the village because of his talent in cultivation, and he even had a Mother. This situation was his dream come true.
Qing Shan felt as though years had passed, and he began to think of his real life as a fleeting dream. He began to disregard what had once been reality.
However, it was not long before this dream shifted into a nightmare.
Qing Shan was with his family, and he felt the scent of ash in the air. He looked up, and saw a figure rapped in flame looking down at him. There was a devilish smile on his face, and Qing Shan felt a bizarre anger come over him. He had no clue who this man was, but something about him made him fell as though he would not be able to live without killing this man.
Qing Shan's vision went red, and he pounced up at the man. Qing Shan kept attacking him, hoping beyond hope to at least get in a hit. Unfortunately, the truth was harsh. In this world, Qing Shan was looked up to as the boy who had managed to break into the first realm of cultivation. A mere 1st level Formation Soul brat was nothing to this man. Qing Shan watched with a sense of déjà vu and mind-numbing sadness as the man raised his hand, and everything around Qing Shan began to burn.
The village, the people, his parents… everything began to burn. After there was nothing remaining but Qing Shan's curled up form, the man left.
Qing Shan clenched his fist. A feeling of hatred so intense that it could make mountains topple started to radiate from Qing Shan. He then roared into the sky.
"AHHHH! I may not be strong now, but I WILL KILL YOU! I will take from you everything you have taken from me, before PULVERIZING every bone in your body!"
Qing Shan stood up, standing firm like his namesake, and watched as the world around him shattered.