Bai Jingshen and Sam stood in the middle of the room. Both men were out of breath, panting heavily. The quickly took the last few sips of water, healing their bruised bodies and mitigating their exhaustion.
Under Bai Jingshen's leadership, they managed to defeat the thirty golems with little injuries. The former emperor was especially glad as he noticed their teamwork getting better towards the end. Standing in the center of the room, he observed the destroyed vegetation and crumbled rocks in their surroundings. This place had something really apocalyptical to it.
Suddenly the two men's furrowed their brows as a slight pressure pressed onto their bodies. They watched on in shock, while the room's walls slowly retreated, leading to the room growing triple in size. With a low rumbling sound, the pebbles and crumbled rocks on the ground began to vibrate before converging to the far end of the room. Bai Jingshen and Sam could only brace their weapons, as their defeated enemies slowly joined together into a bigger version of the same kind of golem. From its aura Bai Jingshen already realized that this new creature seemed to possess Qi.
Fortunately it only felt slightly stronger than himself, so it should only be at the early-stage Qi Gathering Realm. However, measuring its strength by human standards would prove to be a massive mistake, as its body alone gave it big advantages.
Two new crystals lit up on the golem's head, as the pressure enveloping Bai Jingshen and Sam vanished, signaling the trial's begin.
Bai Jingshen quickly told Sam to observe closely as he would try to bait the first attack again. The former emperor ran at their new enemy with a serious face and his spear raised high. The new golem also advance, proving faster than the others, despite being twice their size. Sam observed closely, as the two opponents got nearer and nearer. Suddenly, Bai Jingshen threw his spear at the golem's head. His enemy however was able to match Bai Jingshen's speed this time, bringing down one of his arms at the spear.
Sam wasn't surprised as the spear crumbled, already used to Bai Jingshen's usage of illusions by now. However, he was startled as this punch wasn't as simple as it seemed. A wave of air pressure, held together by a little bit of Qi continued on from the golem's fist, barreling down on Bai Jingshen. The experienced fighter reacted instinctively, throwing his body to the side. Although he escaped the punch, the sheer pressure still had him rolling on the ground for a few meters.
Bai Jingshen managed to avoid heavy injuries through a skilled roll, but was still solemn after this first exchange. He quickly jumped up, this time throwing his spear for real to test the golem's defense. His enemy punched down to swat away the weapon aiming for his legs, only losing a few rubbles on his fist in the protest.
Sam quickly ran up to the golem as long as it still had one arm pointed down, and delt a blow where he expected the golem's wrist. Under Sam's strength the golem's fist snapped upwards, but the young man didn't have any time to celebrate, as another arm punched in his direction, forcing him to escape backwards.
Meanwhile, Bai Jingshen ran over to the weapons provided for them, which were scattered a lot after their last fight. As Sam did his best to distract the golem, mostly by jumping away, the former emperor hoped to find inspiration among those weapons. Fortunately, he came up with an idea as he looked at a chain blade not far away. He didn't have much time to be surprised about how intricately this chain was made from pure rock, as he grabbed the weapon and quickly joined the fight again.
Sam was dodging around wildly, escaping punch after punch. Just as the golem brought its arm down again, the young man heard a swinging sound, before a blade passed over his head, aiming for the golem's crystals. Their enemy however easily used two of his hands to protect his head and deflect the blade, only leading to a few rubbles chipping away. Sam used the opportunity to once again bring his mace down on the golems fist, before preemptively jumping backwards.
With Sam and Bai Jingshen working together, the golem slowly was forced into defense, as one attacked from afar and the other attacked from up close. Although the two young men managed to push the golem back, they weren't able to gain any real results. After a while of this stalemate however, the golem grew impatient. To Bai Jingshen's shock he watched as the golem suddenly took a serious hit to the head by his chain blade, only to raise all its arms up in the air. The sheen in it's eyes grew a little bit stronger, as it suddenly brought all its arms down, sending two air waves each at Bai Jingshen and Sam.
The duo had fortunately fought against golems for a while now, so they instinctively reacted to their enemy's raised arms. Both men hurriedly made big leaps in any direction, just wanting to get away rom the attack. However, those airwaves proved to be stronger than the last ones, throwing both men against the walls. Bai Jingshen felt a heavy pain assault his back even after quickly using some Qi to protect his body. The experienced veteran however knew, that he had to get up quickly before his enemy made its next move. Suppressing his pain and the signals his body sent him, Bai Jingshen struggled to his feet as fast as possible.
After standing up and fixing his eyes on his opponent though, did he realize that the golem wasn't moving, with its eyes dimmed heavily. Only now did he understand that this golem also needed Qi to function. Watching on as its eyes grew brighter at a slow pace, Bai Jingshen knew he couldn't miss this chance. Ignoring the signals his injured body sent him, he quickly grabbed his chain blades again, which crashed into a wall not far from him.
As he chose this weapon he already thought of a plan which he was certain to be feasible after exchanging a few blows with this golem. He had noticed, that while this golem seemingly only gained advantages from its height, it still had a weak point. Its balance was terrible.
Therefore, Bai Jingshen ran into attack range of his enemy, and accurately threw his chain blades again. His training in multiple weapons paid off now, as he managed to bind his still standing enemy's legs with the chain in his hand. He used all his might to pull it taut, while loudly shouting at Sam to wake up. The commotion led to both the golem and Sam to awake again.
The golem realized its position and began to struggle heavily, but it only led to its balance growing weaker, before it finally fell forward. It used its arms to prevent itself from falling face first, but was obviously to exhausted to stand up again.
Sam saw his friend bringing the golem to fall and knew he had to act now. For the first time in his life a certain seriousness appeared on his face. He didn't realize how his mindset improved as he only had the single thought of destroying this enemy. With mace in hand, he appeared behind the golem. He fearlessly used the golem's body as leverage, stepping on its back before towering above its head. With a loud shout he used a strength he didn't even realize he had until now and crushed his enemies head.
While still holding onto his chain blade, Bai Jingshen watched with pride as his friend delivered a mighty blow and finally felled their enemy. He hurriedly let go of his weapon however, running over to Sam as he watched the golem crumble and his friend powerlessly falling to the ground. Bai Jingshen flinched from the impact, as Sam did have any strength left to dampen his fall.
The former emperor expertly inspected Sam's body with his hands, realizing how many broken bones Sam actually had. He sighed as he carefully picked him up, hoping the being would allow him to carry Sam to the healing water.
He almost couldn't believe his eyes however, as the floor in the room's center gradually opened. A lake of healing water appeared, all of a sudden bringing life to this place. Bai Jingshen observed in amazement as all around him plants broke through the cave floor, slowly showing of their beauty, while Bai Jingshen carried his friend to the lake.
Since the voice didn't speak up, and the slowly reanimated forest didn't seem to pose any danger, Bai Jingshen once again healed himself in the water. He stopped suppressing his pain and began to groan, while watching over his unconscious friend.
The former emperor even decided to meditate on his illusionary core here, adding the emotions felt during his recent journey to his illusionary core. Observing it with his mind after he was done, he smiled wryly as he thought about how long his next breakthrough in the White Illusion Arts might take.