Baichuan reluctantly agreed to bring Yun Che to the Trial Grounds of Phoenix.
Yun Che wanted to wait till Cang Yue woke up but then he decided to visit the trail grounds first. Anyways, not like she was going to run away somewhere.
The very reason that she was dropped on his head told him that she wasn't going anywhere.
As such, following after Baichuan, Yun Che reached the trail grounds.
From outside, it looked like an entrance to a cave with an intricate seal on it. The seal blocked anyone from entering the trial grounds and pulsed with red light.
Baichuan walked to it before he bit his finger. Blood started to drop out of the wound which he started to drip on the seal. Suddenly, it started to pulse in bright red-orange light which soon calmed down. Like a fading image, the seal started fading before soon vanishing.
"Here on, I cannot accompany you, Brother Yun Che. You will have to go by yourself." Baichuan said, looking inside the cave with reverence and fear.
Yun Che nodded his head and thanked Baichuan before entering the cave.
The moment he reached a certain depth, two eyes shot open in the darkness. They brimmed with elegance and authority. They looked down at Yun Che before a noble and dominion voice resounded within the cave.
"O-Oh. It has been a while since someone dared to challenge This One's trials. Though looking at your cultivation does not bring much to be desired."
Yun Che raised a brow at her saying he had trashy cultivation which he couldn't deny, the voice continued.
"Yet, This One shall commend you on your bravery. Young Child, tell This One your name and your purpose for meeting This One."
"..."
Yun Che really wanted to say how weird she sounded with her weird way of talking but he decided not to. Instead, he raised his chin and puffed out his chest and stated.
"This One is called Yun Che! This One has come to pass your trails."
"..."
While the eyes became silent staring at Yun Che with blank gaze, Jasmine wondered where this man's confidence came from to act so bizarrely in front of the spirit of True God.
'But then again, he acts the same in front of this princess. And this princess is many times stronger than this spirit of Phoenix. This princess wishes she had this much confidence to spit on her father's face and take Caizhi away from him. Humph! Still, this princess hates his guts!'
Unaware of Jasmine's thoughts, Yun Che waited for Phoenix's reply.
"... It has been a while since This One has seen a human as bizarre as yours. Since you have come for my trials, you take them. But remember, there is no mercy during them. You either pass them or die!"
"Uh-huh. Can we start then?"
Yun Che thought this phoenix was just wasting his time. Of course he would know that it's either do or die before coming to do the trials. This spirit was just doing nothing but wasting both of their time.
The eyes above blinked before a long sigh resounded within the cave.
"Mortals have no respect for their elders. Very well, let's start the trials."
The moment she finished, Yun Che suddenly found himself in a completely different landscape.
For as far as he could see, he saw nothing but pure madness in the shape of flames.
The ground, mountains, rivers, and even sky; everything was covered in flames.
"First Trial of Phoenix: Purgatory Flame Demon! To pass this trial, not only you will have to bear the flames but also defeat the Flame Demon that is two minor realms above you!"
"Done!"
"..."
The eyes above the sky blinked in confusion. They zoomed down at Yun Che and saw him standing on the dead body of the Flame Demon. Despite the flames touching him, he looked completely fine!
'Such mastery of flame laws! It is as if he is completely immune to mine flames! I only remember one such person, and he shouldn't be alive!'
Confused and astonished, the phoenix could only continue to the second trial.
The surroundings changed once more, this time that of a deserted place.
"Second Trial: Arrows of the Phoenix! You would need to—eh?" A weird confused voice left the phoenix's mouth when she realized that she lost the sight of the human! He literally vanished in thin air and she couldn't pinpoint his location anymore!
She could only watch in utter confusion, bewilderment, surprise, and astonishment as all the flame arrows fell on the ground hitting nothing.
What could they hit when there was no target in sight to begin with? The phoenix could only watch in silence as the arrows kept falling to the ground. Only when they stopped falling and the dust settled did her eyes finally catch the hazy figure of the human standing far from the affected grounds, completely fine.
'Have I gone senile? What is going on?'
The spirit started to question her mentality and wondered if she had become too old to understand what was going on. No matter what she thought, she couldn't understand the man in front of her at all!
"Hmm. That was fairly easy. I thought it would be more challenging, but I guess I was asking for impossible."
The phoenix suddenly had an urge to scream and slap Yun Che's face.
If not for your weird methods, do you think you can pass this one's test so easily!? — she wanted to scream but to maintain what was left of her dignity, she decided not to.
"T-Then to the third trial."
She didn't explain anything about the third trial as Yun Che found himself in an awfully familiar place. A small hut within the bamboo forest made up of bamboo.
He suddenly felt a tug to his heart causing him to frown.
'It seems that his memories affected me more than what I had imagined.'
He was fully aware of the fact that Yun Che's memories affected his behavior and feelings towards certain people. But even he didn't think he would be affected this much seeing the woman sitting in front of him. If not for his skill [Indomitable Will] and [Calm Mind] which he had maxed out, he was sure he would be panicking like the original right now.
He calmly stared at the woman in front of him.
His presence also seemed to alert the woman who looked towards him with a smile.
"You have returned." She spoke.
Her voice was soft and melodious to hear. It was like a soft whisper that demanded one to follow it unconditionally.
She looked towards Yun Che with a soft gaze and smiled gently.
"I was waiting for you."
"..." Yun Che remained silent. He didn't say anything nor did he perform any motion. He silently stood at his place like a statue waiting for this drama to end.
'Come and kill me already. What's with this overly realistic approach? I don't remember such a thing happening in the original.'
While he was musing about the weirdness of the situation, Su Ling'er walked closer to him and gently touched his cheeks. She started to rub them with a smile.
"You haven't changed. Still the same as before."
Yun Che sighed. He raised his hand and placed it above hers. He looked at her with a painful smile and replied.
"I'm not as lifeless as I used to be at least."
Su Ling'er giggled.
"Indeed."
A moment of silence passed between them. Neither of the two said anything, silently enjoying each other's company.
Suddenly, Su Ling'er said.
"It's time."
To which Yun Che only gave a nod. His eyes still closed, waiting for her to finish.
"Be safe out there." With that, he felt a sharp pain around his chest area as if he was stabbed by something sharp. But the pain came and vanished in a blink of an eye.
By the time he opened his eyes, he was already back to the present world, inside the cave.
"Congratulations. You have passed all three trials!"
Yun Che ignored the jubilant voice of the phoenix. Instead, he had a rare grave expression on his face as he silently contemplated his behavior just now. He almost felt foreign to himself!
'Am I… becoming Yun Che? Or is the assimilation happening now? Two people and one body itself sounds weird to begin with. Is it the world again or my mind gaslighting me? It could also be the fact that my soul is merging with Yun Che's soul, resulting in me becoming Yun Che while at the same time retaining my own personality. Ugh… I didn't sign for such complicated shit for my "what you want to be in another world" forum!'