The scene kept playing as the boy and the girl cheerfully ran across the flower fields.
The scene then shattered suddenly, and Bruce could no longer see what happened next.
He tried his hardest to recall what happened next to no avail. He just knew that the girl's name is Lydia. Her name appeared in his mind, but he could not remember who Lydia was and how she connected to him.
As he watched the scene played out, all he felt were sadness and he didn't know why.
"Is this the real trial?"
"Planting false memories into my head and manipulating my emotions to laugh at the tiny mortal?"
"ANSWER ME!"
Bruce screamed to the sky without a care about the inheritance or offending a Worldly Supreme being.
He had been through many terrible things in his short lived life and yet he had never felt this level of despair. He refused to respect any being that plays with his emotions for fun.
No one answered Bruce's question as he stared into the sky with deep hatred. He wanted to stop his tears from falling but he couldn't.
Finally, a gentle voice appeared throughout purgatory.
"This trial was never meant to be completed, but you have done so splendidly"
The sky split up to make way for the supreme being. A fiery phoenix gracefully fell from the sky and stood in front of Bruce. In thousands of years since the trial had started, no one had the honor to meet its creator, The Phoenix Queen.
"Are you the who planted these memories in my head" Bruce was unfazed when facing a being that could wipe his existence with just a single though.
"No, I did not." The Phoenix Queen softly replied.
"The trial's intention was to never play with the candidate's emotion."
"The true purpose of the trial is to find descendants of the phoenix clan"
Bruce was shocked to find out that the entire trial was a sham. He had stopped his tears from falling and stabilized himself. The entire mission was a waste of time which didn't help his mood at all.
"I guess I can't complain since the second trial provided countless benefits to the candidates." Bruce sighed.
"To tell you the truth, I am no longer in this world. I have left my spiritual clone here to conduct the trial in hope of finding my remaining descendants in this world"
"So that's why this place is called The City of Rebirth"
"Was this place originally your home when you still live in this world?" Bruce asked.
The Phoenix Queen nodded.
"Correct, my clan used to live in this city before we left this world."
"Due to unfortunate circumstances, some of my descendants were abandoned in this world."
"I created this trial in hope that one of my descendants would enter and I can inform them of their true heritage" The Phoenix Queen replied in deep sadness. She truly loved all her descendants and want to take care of her people.
"Couldn't you just come back here and pick up your remaining descendants?" Bruce asked curiously. A Worldly Supreme being should have no problem finding anyone in this world.
"Unfortunately, if I were to make a move, my enemies would follow me."
"My only wish is to give my descendants the cultivation technique of the phoenix clan so that they can grow and protect themselves until I can safely retrieve them." The Phoenix Queen sighed with deep regrets.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Bruce didn't believe that The Phoenix Queen trusted him just by seeing his performance in the trials.
"Because I know that you have a kind heart"
"You will return the favors to those who help you" The Phoenix Queen bent down her body to look at Bruce closely.
Seeing the beautiful red crystalline eyes staring at him, Bruce managed to find peace once again.
"Thank you for trusting me your majesty, but I am just a mortal."
"If you couldn't find your descendants after thousands of years, what makes you think I can help you?" Bruce didn't want to earn the favors of the Phoenix Queen just to give her false hope.
"You are by far the most talented candidate in the trial over this period. I have no doubt that you will stand at the peak of this world in the future." The Phoenix Queen raised her body back up and flapped her wings to remove all the fire from the surrounding.
"If you promise me that you will look for my descendants, I shall grant you the ancient phoenix blood essence and its cultivation manual"
Bruce was shocked to hear that the Phoenix Queen was willing to give him the ancient phoenix blood along with the cultivation manual. He had read from many history books that ancient beasts blood essence is extraordinarily rare. A cultivator's strengths and potential will rise boundlessly if he or she successfully absorbs the blood essence of an ancient beast.
In the ranking among the ancient beasts, phoenix is among the same place as dragons. What's special about the phoenix is its ability to rebirth and rise from the ashes with even more power.
"Your majesty, thank you for believing in me"
"However, I am unable to breakthrough to Divine King realm so I don't know if I can complete your request" Bruce was frustrated at himself. He had hit a wall for the first time in his life. He could have promoted himself to Divine King realm before the mission, but he couldn't.
Even after absorbing the nether lake's energy, he still couldn't do it. His self confidence is not yet shattered, but that day he becomes a Divine King may be very far in the future.
The Phoenix Queen still looked at Bruce warmly even though he just revealed to her his weakness.
"The reason why you couldn't break through to Divine King is not because you lack talent or sufficient energy."
"It is because the Divine King realm requires both your soul and body to fuse together. Making both parts stronger than ever through complete harmonious fusion."
"Most cultivators have very weak souls, so they are able to fuse their souls with their bodies relatively easy."
"Those with extremely powerful souls tend to have a problem completely fusing their bodies and souls in harmony"
Bruce was shocked when he heard the Phoenix Queen's explanation. All the books that he read never said anything about Divine King fusing both the soul and body. He initially thought that it was another standard cultivation stage.
"Your soul is extremely powerful. I wonder who you even are when you passed the first the trial"
The Phoenix Queen levitated Bruce up to her face for a closer look. Bruce didn't struggle because the Phoenix Queen fully gained his trust.
"I sense an extremely ancient and powerful seal placed on your soul. It's no wonder that you couldn't break through to Divine King."
Bruce became frantic when he heard the Phoenix Queen's assessment of his soul. He had never interacted with anyone powerful enough to place a seal inside his soul. Even his master couldn't have done something like that.
"Fortunately for you, as long as your body make a connection with your soul during the process, you still should be able to breakthrough."
"With your talents and the ancient phoenix blood essences, you should be able to destroy the seal to some extent and begin your journey in the Divine King realm." The Phoenix Queen concluded.
"Thank you, your majesty." Bruce bowed to the Phoenix Queen.
"Even if I don't breakthrough to Divine King here, I will still try my best to locate your descendants."
The Phoenix Queen nodded and summoned the ancient phoenix blood essences hidden in the purgatory. 10 medium sized orange liquid pellets flew in front of the Phoenix Queen. She then moved them directly into Bruce's body for absorption.
Bruce felt sharp pain across his entire body as his body heated up crazily. He felt that he was in the depth of a volcano as the ancient phoenix blood essences rampaged through his body to claim dominance. His eyes shined as his body instinctively fought off the ancient phoenix bloodline and attempted to tame it.
The battle went on for minutes until Bruce passed out because he could no longer handle the pain. In his sea of consciousness, the phoenix bloodline started to chip away the seal in his soul. Though it didn't make much difference, the phoenix bloodline managed to strip a tiny fraction of the seal. Luckily, that's all Bruce needed.
Bruce suddenly found himself in a dark room where a man sat on a throne at the end.
The man on the throne opened his eyes and his aura immediately suffocated Bruce.
"So, you've finally arrived" The man on the throne said.