"Fifty years are not that much even if you consider us mortals right?"
"I don't know about that. Well, at the age of fifty, you could have three of your generations living at the same time, right?"
"That's right, That's right. But if we judge by the standards of immortality, Fifty is considered very young."
"Say, Are the immortals really undying?"
"Of course…Is what I'd say but I really doubt it."
"..."
"...what?"
"It's surprising how you're not scolding me for questioning the things about immortals."
"Oh, I get that a lot. If it was anyone else, I'd probably do that. After all, Immortals are to be revered, even though I don't deny that. It's just that the more you know, the wiser you are?"
Silver looked at the fatty as he placed a stuffed dumpling into his already stuffed mouth.
It had been three days since he entered the Azure estate.
He had no money nor any valuables on him but he wasn't really worried about sleeping hungry under the open sky.
On the first day, he roamed the streets. He entered the alleys, the bazaars, the livestock pens, and various other places.
He observed the life of the common people here, he spotted children running on the streets playing and saw their mothers gossiping while keeping an eye on their children.
He looked at the ever-moving crowd and the ever-flowing bazaars.
He learned about the livestock he had never seen before and tried to get on the cart drawing beasts that looked like no close relatives of horses and cows.
He spent all his day doing just that, taking in the peaceful life of this world. Even though this place was just a small corner of the potentially grander world, It was undeniably a part of it.
At the end of the day, he went to the Inn he had promised to meet the fatty.
Yesterday after the procession had left, the fatty continued to engage with him throughout the journey.
After some time, Silver came to find out that this fatty was a young master of a mortal city from the south.
He had been trying to become a disciple of the sect for eight years straight now but would always fail in the trial of the spirit.
This time, his father only agreed to let him go if he promised this to be his last one. If he failed one more time, he'd have to become a city lord.
Silver didn't know whether he should laugh or cry, he never even thought that he'd ever have to use such a phrase either.
Anyways, he had hit off with the fatty quite well to the point that the fatty felt that Silver should have been his servant from a young age.
'That must be a compliment. It is, right?'
Silver didn't mind much as he had to put in some effort to mellow it out with the fatty.
Not only that, Silver even proposed a deal–
"Shouldn't your city be quite far away from here? It must have been hard for you to come here all alone."
"Y-you understand? Heavens! It was really difficult. I always brought some servants with me whenever I came for the trials. My father too was quite enthusiastic about it but alas, my repeated failure rubbed off of my father's bad side and eventually he gave up all hope of me making it in. That's why this time he didn't even allow any servants as he wanted me to get over with it as soon as possible and "
"Then why don't you hire me?"
"You?"
Thinking back to how he had managed to secure food and shelter just by keeping the fatty some company, Silver inwardly thanked the business blood flowing through him.
'Wait, I am not Silver Dellsworth now? No- wait, I am Silver Dellsworth but the flesh and blood is of Yifan's. Oh, His father was a merchant so it's still business blood.'
After mending the short identity crisis, Silver once again got on with the knowledge train of fatty.
"Surely the trials are not so tough for you to fail eight times, right?"
The fatty looked at Silver and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Hmm, I understand that you're nervous as this is your first time and you're trying to familiarize yourself with the contents of the trail. But even if I share my experience with you, It would not be of help to you."
For a moment there, Silver thought that his slyness was caught by its tail but he sighed inwardly when the fatty continued.
"You misunderstood me. I obviously know that the trial of the spirit changes every year. But still, with all the experience you've amassed along with the ability with which you managed to avoid dying eight times straight, there must be something even you're not sure of right."
Fatty shoulders kept rising while hearing the praise coming out of Silver's mouth till he uttered the last phrase and the rising shoulders slumped at once.
"Haaaa"
Fatty let out an exaggerated sigh as he put down the bowl of noodles he was holding on the table.
Silver knew that the conversation was finally at a turning point and that he would be able to gather some very useful information.
"The trial of will is the same as well and it's just about pain. If you're able to endure the mystical force without turning into a meat paste then, you'll pass it easily."
The first sentence was barely out of fatty's mouth, but a few words hit Silver like a dagger into his brain.
'Mystic force, meat paste??? What the fuck is he talking about?'
He knew that the path to immortality was arduous and that you'd even lose your life if things slightly veer off course but to actually see people becoming meat paste in front of you? Silver didn't know if he was able to handle such a level of gore yet.
Fatty hadn't stopped his relay and continued as Silver was busying himself with the parental rating.
"I have seen people becoming meat paste in front of me. The first time it happened, I directly passed out. Thankfully, I had already cleared the test, or otherwise, I'd be the one turning into meat paste if I lost consciousness while in the trial."
Fatty picked up the glass to chug some water down,
"Since then, I have already gotten used to that sight. It's not a pleasant one but it is what it is. The people come here fully aware that they might lose their life so feeling bad for them is not going to take you anywhere."
Silver nodded. This concept made sense to him, they may be young but the young here had the power to do things sometimes even the adult couldn't.
One had to be responsible for their own actions and face the consequences if any. It didn't matter if you were a child or an adult.
"It's impressive for you to be able to make it through the trial of wills without endangering yourself."
Fatty shook his head in embarrassment,
"It's nothing much actually. Most people are able to do it, and death is a rare case most of the time but you never know, right? So it's best to be careful and try your best to endure under the mystical force."
"The trial is overseen by the immortals and they are called outer elders. I don't know anything else about them other than that."
"They sound like immortals who oversee the outer disciples."
Fatty stared at Silver for a while and then clapped his hand once.
"I knew we were a good match. You really think like me. Yes, an outer disciple must be a thing because inner disciple immortals exist out there, you have seen them too."
Silver nodded as he recalled the four immortals he briefly met five days ago.
It was quite a moment for him, and he hadn't forgotten the woman's calming eyes and the gesture of the man following her, which confused him quite a bit.
"Anyways, the trial of spirit is all about survival, at least according to me."
Silver broke out of his stupor as he listened to the fatty's speculation, interested in hearing why he thought so
"Well, till now, All the ones I've found myself in require only that of you– To survive."
Fatty had been participating in the trials for eight years straight now, and for all of them to be survival-based, Silver now understood why he sounded so sure. It was not very likely for them to change the theme suddenly this year.
"Survive in a forest, Survive in water, Survive in the desert of the south, In the wetlands of the east and whatnot. Although the locations and missions changed every time, the objective remained the same."
After a slight pause, fatty continued.
"I don't think I need to stress much about how important it is to survive. You can give up but if you don't give up in a timely manner, you're on your own and most of the time when people who overestimate their abilities find themselves in such a situation, they all reach the same outcome– Death."