After making themselves at home in the empty eye socket of the moose head. Xia started to concentrate more on the ball of fire in his stomach. Now that he does not need to worry about the cold winds as much. Following the instructions of Kathako.
Feeding the ball of fire more and more Qi, slowly making it increase in size. But he fed the Qi the wrong way, as the Qi enter the ball at irregular times. The ball soon became uncontrollable as it exploded inside Xia. Its heat spread across his body.
Destroying any lingering numbing cold in his body. His skin became warm enough to start the process of curing the frostbite. A warm shockwave spread from him as it covers his surroundings. The cold and frozen skin of the flesh cave became warmer, realizing its disgusting mind-numbing odor.
The order of the rotten flesh spread around the cave, making Xia nauseous, the voice of the old ghost echoing in his mind once again.
"You almost got it kiddo. Just feed the ball with the same amount of time every 20 to 30 seconds. "
"Got it…"
Xia said to the ghost voice as he starts the sequence once again. Just this time the thing that is bothering him is the disgusting smell of rotten flesh that surrounds him. Because of his experience from past failures, he can make the ball of Qi into a ball of fire in about 5 minutes.
As the ball of fire rages in his stomach, he started to feed it the same amount of Qi every 26 seconds. The constant increase in the fuel of the ball of fire allows it to continue to grow and strengthen.
"Alright kiddo! You are past the first step, now spread this ball of fire around your whole body. But be sure that the ball of fire never disappears"
Xia nodded to the instructions of the old master craftsman. He tries to break apart pieces of the ball of fire, but he cuts too much off the ball. It explodes and the heat wave comes out of him once again. Xia felt annoyed at his inability to properly control his own Qi.
So, he tries once again, making the ball of Qi, igniting it on fire, and cutting it into pieces. This time he got a bit farther in, as he cut small pieces of the fire and spread them around the nearby organs. But as he cuts a piece too much, the ball of fire breaks apart, and the heat wave spreads through this meat cave.
"Fucking hell! Ugh…I was so close"
"Hehe, not really. As long as you continue to practice everything should be fine."
"I hope so…I am really running out of Qi" Xia said as he yawns "I will take a small nap and rest. Can you keep a look out for the surroundings?"
"You know I can't do that. But I will scream in your head if I sense something is off"
"Good enough for me"
Xia said as he closes his eyes and drift into dreamland. The cold travel he made and the test he has done so far have really taken a toll on his mind and body. Plus, the constant use of his Qi to make this fireball did not help. Xia sleeps with no dreams, but the constant nagging and preaching voice in his mind.
"Extinguish the fire and embrace ice"
"Bathe in ice storms and join the eternal slumber. "
"Worship the frozen eye of GOD!"
Soon enough Xia found himself in a large frozen ocean. Surrounded by countless sleeping monsters and humans. A perpetual storm of ice and snow surrounds the area. Xia started to sweat with fear and anxiety. Wasn't he sleeping inside the skull of a giant moose? How the hell did he get here?!
The voice that once spoke in his head became real; it surrounded him. It carries the frenzy and fanaticism of a crazy cultist. The power of a strong cultivator. With the otherworldly hint of madness.
"WORSHIP! THE! FROZEN! EYE!"
Xia own curiosity took the better of him. He slowly moves his head down to look at the frozen water beneath him. His knees shook with fear, his eyes widen in surprise, and his mind became cloudy. Beneath him lay a giant frozen eye, open and unmoving.
"What in the Celestial Dragon's holy name!?"
Xia said as he falls on his but. The voice became stronger and more fanatic, Xia mind became more and more cloudy.
"SLUMBER WITH GOD!"
"SLUMBER WITH GO-"
"Xia! Wake the fuck up!"
Hearing the panicked voice of the old ghost, Xia woke up from his slumber. His surroundings replace with that of the flesh cave he found and sleep in.
"Jezz….so it was all a drea-"
"Hey! Kiddo this is not the time to be grateful for things! There is something climbing and it's about to rea-"
But before Kathako could finish speaking, the large hairy arm of something grabs onto the edge of the eye socket cave. It pulls itself into the cave, as both Xia and Kathako lay eyes on the monster in front of them. The monster is taller and wider that the average man.
With long arms and a hung back. White fur covers its entire body. Sharp claws came out of its hands and its bulging muscles are full of strength and energy. The monster seems to be connected to ice and cold, as freezing cold winds surround its body.
The monkey-looking monster looks at Xia for a few seconds, stunned at seeing a human. But it soon overcame the surprise as it charged at Xia, its mouth wide open with drool dropping out of it.
"Kiddo! Get ready! We need to run! We can't fight this thing!"
"I know!"
Xia said as he gathers Qi on his legs. The monkey monster arrives in front of Xia and aims a claw attack at Xia's face. Xia prepared for this dodge to the side with quick and strong legs. But this was seen through by the monkey as it sticks it another hand into the flesh of the eye socket.
Using the strength of one arm only, it spins around and lands a solid kick on Xia's chest. Xia's ribs cave in as the broken bones puncture his lungs. Causing air to get out and blood to come in. Xia's body clashes with the flesh wall of the eye socket cave.
Strength left his body as it became hard to breathe and his lungs became full of blood. The monkey monster walks towards Xia with a happy smile of finally being able to eat proper meat.
"Old man…looks like this the end of me"
Kathako did not respond for a few seconds before laughing.
"Did you forget? This is the effect of an array. This is all an-"
"-Illusion"
Light enter Xia eyes as he became blind. As the light left his eyes, his eyesight returns, and the surroundings change to something he is familiar with.
'The test rooms! I completely forgot that this was a test!...that was a bit too realistic to be true'
"Illusions once they reach a certain level can fool even the world"
Kathako said as the four test comes to an end.