There was a small stage in the courtyard, and Long Shou Shi led me and Kai Fang to the center. Without wasting any time, he swung his hand before I could say anything.
"Begin!"
As if he was waiting for that, Kai Fang let out a laugh and sprang forward. Fire engulfed one fist and lightning the other, his qi coalescing to form a gigantic dragon around him.
"You really are uninhibited," I remarked, making a pun on his name (uninhibited could also be read as Kai Fang). Also having no intention of wasting time, I shot him down with a single arrow. The projectile pierced through his chest and exploded, dispersing all of the fire and lightning around him and sending him crashing to the ground with smoke billowing from his twitching body.
Silence filled the courtyard as the other candidates stared at the convulsing Kai Fang.
"…that's it?"
"They were calling him trash and so confident that he'll lose, yet he's the one who lost to a single shot?"
"What did Long Shou Shi say again? That someone like that kid can't defeat a cultivator of Kai Fang's level? After getting one-shot like that, doesn't that mean he just had his face slapped?"
"YOU DEMON!" Long Shou Shi roared, ignoring everyone and lunging at me. "This was only a life and death battle! Was there a need to be so cruel? On behalf of the Long family, I'll eliminate a ruthless demon like you, and seek justice for the Kai family!"
…you have got to be fucking kidding me.
"Long Shou Shi! Stand down!"
The self-proclaimed guardian of the Long family froze, restraining his qi-shrouded arm and slowly turning around. Long Fan Xue was striding furiously into the courtyard, her icy aura freezing her surroundings. Already, the nearby cultivators were beginning to shiver from the cold temperature.
"My lady."
"What do you think you're doing?"
"As you can see, my lady, I am simply eliminating a demonic threat before it can grow to be a danger to us."
"What right do you have to do that? Do you think I'm blind and deaf? I saw the whole thing. The two of them agreed to a life and death battle, didn't they? How can you intervene on behalf of one of them? You are supposed to be impartial!"
"But, my lady!" Long Shou Shi protested shamelessly. "You saw how ruthlessly Song Jun Wen cut down Kai Fang! Such cruelty! Such inhuman callousness! He is a demon! If we let him free, then I fear he will destroy our cultivator society in future!"
"I didn't cut him down. I shot him."
"Same difference."
I tried not to roll my eyes. Orthodox cultivators were all the same, twisting words to suit their "brand of justice" while inwardly cavorting in all sorts of corruption and indulgences. I wasn't the only one. All the other candidates were murmuring amongst themselves and casting dark looks at the stubborn Long Shou Shi. A few of them were already posting this on social media and drawing lots of scornful comments regarding the Long family guardian's behavior.
A few of the servants hurried over to whisper into Long Fan Xue's ear, showing her the social media outcry on their smartphones. Her expression darkened further and she glared at Long Shou Shi, who refused to back down.
"All I do is for the sake of the Long family! You know this person is not worthy of you! He may have the talent and skills, but he does not have the bloodline! He's a liability! He's ruthless enough to kill the sons of the Kai family now, what do you think he'll be capable of in the future?"
"Uh…Kai Fang's not dead?" I pointed out. As if to prove me right, my downed opponent groaned and stirred.
Long Shou Shi refused to acknowledge the fact. "So what? Just because you failed to kill him doesn't change the fact that you're a demon who tried to!"
"Stop this nonsense at once. Do you think anyone will buy your bullshit?" Long Fan Xue snapped. "Are you not satisfied with throwing our Long family's face? Shall I dismiss you from your position then?"
"N…no!" Long Shou Shi immediately sank to his knees and lowered his head. "I apologize for overstepping my boundaries, my lady!"
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."
Long Shou Shi gritted his teeth, but he forced himself to turn toward me. "I apologize for my rude behavior, Mr. Song. This was a life and death battle between you and Kai Fang, yet I intervened and accused you of murder even though your opponent is clearly alive." He waved to the servants. "Take him to the guest room and treat his wounds."
"Yes, sir." The servants stretchered the moaning Kai Fang off and hurried out of sight.
"All right, everyone. I apologize for that joke of a scene." Long Fan Xue bowed her head then fixed her glacial gaze on us. Nobody dared to make a sound, and she continued coolly. "Shall we begin the Long family's trial then?"
According to the contents of the letter she gave me, completing the trials would grant rewards in the form of spirit stones, money and elixirs. Cultivation resources, in other words. There was another condition hidden in there somewhere, but I supposed I would find out later. I was more interested in the rewards that my system had in store for me than anything the Long family had to offer. That was the only reason why I participated in this stupid trial, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted my time.
As such, I followed Long Fan Xue and her entourage to the back of the Long family manor. There was a back gate, and we exited the manor, following a winding pebbled path to a dense forest beyond. An ominous air settled around it, along with a ghostly fog that curled around the withered branches of revenant trees.
"The first trial will be taking place in the Chaotic Heart Forest!" Long Shou Shi announced, pretending that the earlier debacle hadn't happened at all. There was literally a signboard outside the forest with the characters Chaotic Heart Forest scrawled over its wooden surface. He continued explaining to the congregation of outsiders who had turned up to participate in the trial. "Our Long family ancestors had situated our home right here in front of the Chaotic Heart Forest, both to protect civilians from the dangers lurking within, and also establishing it as a training ground for our Long family disciples over the generations! It is used to test and temper the willpower of our Long family disciples!"
I stared into the depths of the forest, noting the phantom shapes that flickered about and hid just beyond view. They looked familiar, and a smile crossed my face when I recalled the Tree Revenant that I had faced during the Divine Path University entrance exam.
Perhaps I might be able to capture a few here. I could detect their presences in here, and even better, these weren't the same neutered Tree Revenant in the university who was heavily sedated and pruned.
They were Mystic ranked Tree Revenants at the peak of their powers. Excellent. I could use a few to spruce up the garden in my dungeon. The only problem was that I didn't have any spirit contracts on hand right now…
-The system has issued a new sub-quest. Overcome the trial of the Chaotic Heart Forest and the user will receive the appropriate rewards, such as spirit contracts. –
Excellent. It was almost as if the system had read my mind. Of course, it wasn't going to give the spirit contracts to me straight. The system demanded that I worked hard to earn my rewards, and I wasn't going to complain about that. I wasn't a spoilt protagonist who whined and blamed the system for being stingy despite receiving all sorts of overpowered cheats such as "novice gifts" or "beginner packs" on a silver platter from the start.
My blood boiled when I recalled a ridiculous manhua. I wasn't like Qin Feng, who was greedy as fuck, and a protagonist who had a system that conveniently gave him everything right from the start without him ever having to work hard to earn anything. Oh, wind elemental attribute? Here, for free! And while at it, the system will also give you a beast core for you to consume to upgrade your wind elemental affinity to 100%. Nice, you have 100% wind elemental affinity? Here, a lightning elemental attribute AND a second beast core to boot. After that? An ice elemental affinity! Three elemental affinities in a world where almost everybody only had one, and him getting them without having to work for them, yet he complained that he only received genius ranked ice elemental affinity instead of sacred rank? No problem, the system will bend over backward to give a third beast core for him to increase his affinity to 100%! For free! No completion of any mission or quest needed!
Yeah, what utter bullshit. Why bother having a story when the system gave the protagonist everything on a silver platter?
Looked like I would have to fight the Tree Revenants. I wondered if I currently had the strength to fight multiple Mystic ranked spirit beasts. I had been training nonstop for the past eighteen months and was still stuck at intermediate Mystic rank, but I supposed cultivation realm wasn't the deciding factor.
"So are we supposed to defeat the spirit beasts in the forest?" I asked. Long Shou Shi scoffed at my question.
"Of course not!"
"There are ten levels in the Chaotic Heart Forest." This time, it was Long Fan Xue who stepped forward to explain. She pointed toward ten steps that wound deep into the heart of the forest. They resembled stone stairs, only that they were built into a flat surface instead of ascending upward. "The difficulty of the trial will be greatly amplified with each level. For those ten levels, the trial takers will be shown realistic illusions. They will see themselves assaulted by a myriad of enemies, from being pierced by a thousand blades to being surrounded by hundreds of ravenous spirit beasts. Although these are merely illusions, they feel very real. Some of you will end up losing your minds. There's also the possibility that your body will suffer physical damage even though everything's just an illusion. They will manifest depending on the kind of illusion you are facing, like cuts from blades and claws. In worst case scenario, you might even die."
Everyone gulped. Long Fan Xue studied them somberly.
"If you are unable to withstand the illusions, please leave immediately. Otherwise, you will lose your minds. As I said earlier, there's even a chance of death if you're not careful."
"All right, let's do this!" Long Shou Shi clapped his hands and turned to survey the participants who had gathered here. "The risks are immense, yes, but don't forget the rewards if you complete the trials! Fame, fortune, and even the Long family will be yours!"
"I will do it!" one of the cultivators shouted, raising his hand. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"Isn't that Xu Hui from the Deep Heart Sect?"
"Yeah, he's supposedly the genius of their sect, and a direct disciple. Their pride and joy."
"How many steps do you think he will be able to make it to?"
"Fifth step at least. Eighth step, maybe!"
It appeared that the majority of the participants already knew what the trial was about. Unsurprising, given their connections and the intelligence networks of their various sects and organizations. A few of them were already making bets, but I avoided them.
Xu Hui confidently moved deeper into the forest, reaching to the fifth step in one go. Everyone watched him with bated breath.
"Wow, I knew he would reach the fifth level at least!"
"How much further can he go?"
"He's getting close to the sixth level."
Xu Hui ignored the peanut gallery and proceeded confidently. However, just when he placed his foot on the sixth step, he suddenly froze. His expression turned into that of pain, and I could almost see an illusion of him being cut apart by swords, blood gushing out from multiple wounds.
"Ugh!"
Gritting his teeth, Xu Hui broke out of the illusion and carried on forward, shaking off the phantom pain that lingered. He paused, both of his feet now on the sixth step, and hesitated to move on to the seventh. It was easy to tell what he was thinking.
"The Chaotic Heart Forest is so horrifying! Is the sixth level my limit? No! I can't give up this easily! I must go further! Plus ultra!"
Clenching his teeth to the point where he began bleeding from the mouth, he shoved his next foot forward, forcing it toward the seventh step. More illusions bombarded him, and I swore I saw a bunch of claws and barbed tails tearing free of the dirt and slashing at him. Blood dripped from his arms and legs as he struggled to move through the nightmarish tide.
Heaving, Xu Hui maintained his standing posture and shut his eyes in an attempt to close out the demonic assault. Fury gripped him and he bellowed to the heavens.
"As if I'll let you trash stop me here! Go to hell, all of you!"
His qi erupted in a golden beacon, incinerating the demonic beasts that were crawling all over his figure. Nearby trees swayed from the sudden violence, and I saw the illusions shattered from the sheer force. His efforts successfully dispersed the nightmarish silhouettes, and the panting Xu Hui proceeded to the next step.
"I did it!" He grinned in triumph and pumped a fist into the air. "I made it to the seventh step!"
"Great going, Xu Hui!"
"As expected of the direct disciple of the Deep Heart Sect! I knew he could do it!"
"Go on! You can do it! Proceed to the eighth step!"
The other participants were cheering on, applauding and offering his encouragement. Even I was drawn into the buoyant mood, clapping my hands and yelling my own support.
"Don't give up! You're almost there!"
However, to everyone's surprise, Xu Hui suddenly lurched backward. There was a suddenly explosion of black qi and he was hurled out of the forest and back to the Long family manor. Blood spurted from his mouth as he crashed onto the ground. All of us trial participants rushed forward to help him up as he coughed out more blood.
"Are you okay?"
"It's fine! Seventh level is already impressive enough!"
"Medic! Where's the medic?!"
"Idiot." Long Shou Shi sighed and shook his head as he watched us from the distance. He folded his arms and smirked. "The Chaotic Heart Forest is a test of one's heart and the belief in one's path. If you attempt to breakthrough with brute force, you'll only end up suffering an immense backlash instead!"
"What?" One of the participants turned to stare at the Long family guardian in dismay. "Then how are we supposed to pass the trial?"
Long Shou Shi shrugged callously. "That's your business, not mine."