The bone armor covering its body was not clean, and black spots spread across its chainsaw-like spikes.
Following Jagrel's will, the death soldier sprinted forward with its two-and-a-half-meter body.
The air split violently and the death soldier arrived before the troll bull in a blink of an eye. Its empty socket shone in a red light, sparkling with death energy.
Bang!
The death soldier's Claymore was easily blocked by the axe held by the troll bull.
Guuaar!
The troll bull flung the death soldier to the side in the contest of strength.
Mangrel looked through his eyes which grew duller due to fatigue.
'The troll bull's strength actually exceeds the death soldier's!' Mangrel was surprised internally.
Death soldiers were famous because of their exceptional strength. But the troll bull outperformed that aspect quite easily.
'Using such vicious means to groom new talents! This demonic sect might be a den of monstrous talent!'
'Since the troll bull is at an advantage in strength...'
Mangrel spoke coarsely to Jagrel standing beside him with cold sweat on his face: "Don't make it a frontal battle, try to just buy time using the death soldier. All of its injuries would be healed by the array. And Bait the troll bull to a safer distance."
Mangrel was in no condition to move, he already felt waves of dizziness hit his head continuously. If the troll bull approaches him, it would all be over.
"Understood." Jagrel began controlling the death soldier using the connection they formed spiritually.
The death soldier rose back almost immediately and dashed towards the troll bull. Its movement was in a straight line but it avoided a frontal clash and aimed for its body instead.
At first glance, the death soldier's movements were amateurish. Jagrel had no experience in controlling a puppet before, hence there was not much of a pattern to his attacks at all.
'Hmm...' Mangrel kneeled feeling himself fully exhausted, even in a dazed state, he continued observing the battle in the distance.
Two trails of blood fell from Mangrel's nose, he had exhausted his spiritual force constructing the array. And the overuse of origin essence had weakened his body largely too.
'Human physique really is brittle...' Mangrel silently began recovering his origin essence for any unforeseen situation.
The death soldier was a puppet art that contained dead energy within it. Which was the specialty of the dark path cultivator.
The puppet path was one of the most difficult paths to pursue containing elements from myriad other cultivation paths. For this reason, a certain level of understanding of other paths was compulsory for a puppet cultivator.
'That too is the reason I have no intent to walk on this path. My dream is to attain freedom, not pursue the zenith of the cultivation world's mysterious paths or dao.'
Being interested and willingness were two different things.
Mangrel was curious and greedy to understand those mysterious paths. However, he understood his limits and situation better than anyone.
'Humans have a limited lifespan, cultivation is what breaks this natural rule — extending our life. In both of my lives, I had low cultivation aptitudes. If I were to place my attention on something else instead of cultivating, I would have not been standing here.'
Opportunity is only born when you make your choice in your life, following this proverb — Mangrel had chosen to cultivate instead of delving into daos. An opportunity might present itself only when you're alive.
Decisiveness matters immensely when making decisions that play an important role in life.
Time ticked by as if the whole atmosphere was frozen in place. In the intensifying atmosphere, Jagrel couldn't help but grow tense.
'That puppet is absolutely amazing! It can actually hold on before the troll bull beast for such a long time....' Jagrel felt his heart race realizing he was the owner of such a puppet.
Jagrel couldn't help but take side glances at Mangrel who watched the battle calmly. He didn't appear to regret losing such a useful puppet at all.
"I believe in individual strength more than anything."
"Ah." Jagrel grew flabbergasted seeing Mangrel reading his mind again.
Mangrel shifted his gaze to Jagrel too. Initially, he had no intention of getting close to Jagrel but it changed now. He had to make sure that Jagrel didn't have any rebellious ideas.
Truthfully, the chances of such a thing happening were low.
'He will become a good pawn to use if any other trial was presented before us again. Though I am skeptical about whether it would be a group trial or not.' Mangrel sat while crossing his leg.
'The trial should be over now...' Mangrel looked around sensing that 15 minutes had already passed.
After a few seconds, suddenly the troll bull vanished into the shadows.
"Ugh..." Jagrel fell on his butt too, feeling all energy leave his body.
"I survived...I made it through..." Jagrel mumbled to himself after having taken a huge mental shock. The feeling of death standing right close to him vanished slowly.
Bukeren appeared in the middle of the silent cave room and leisurely opened his mouth.
"Gather around."
His voice reached Mangrel almost as if it was spoken from behind him. Dusting his torn clothes, he moved to Bukeren with wobbling steps.
Slowly, both Mangrel and Jagrel arrived before Bukeren.
"Congratulations. Five people have passed the first trial this time!"
A dull light flashed by Mangrel's eyes.
From the other side of the artificial wall, two cultivators could be seen leading three young cultivators like Mangrel.
Three of them were luckily able to survive as Mangrel and Jagrel had attracted the troll bull.
The first two young cultivators were alright, leaving aside their deadly pale faces. But the third one was being pulled along by a black-robed cultivator, his arm was fully crushed by a boulder.
Clap!
Bukeren clapped with a smile, bringing everyone's attention to him.
"Listen closely now. You will be living on this mountain for another three years. You will face another three trials, one a year. However, from now on all of your treatment would be based on your performance. Am I clear?" Bukeren's eyes swept the surroundings.
"Understood sir!" Mangrel responded immediately.
Such a response brought a smile to Bukeren's face.
"Hmph, smart brat..." He smirked and walked before Jagrel who had a bad premonition in his heart.
Bam!
A simple punch was delivered to his stomach, however, that caused him to cough out blood immediately.
"This is the demonic inauguration ground, not your family's damn playground. You have to respond when you are asked a question, do you understand?"
"Y-yes, sir."
Mangrel's eyes were sharp and rigid throughout the process. The moment Bukeren exposed that this would go on for three years, it was apparent that one of their objectives would be.
'To create loyal dogs...they won't do it outright, but they will take it one step at a time.'
Bukeren moved back to his position and looked back.
"And as for the reward, they are placed in your individual rooms. You can find your rooms once you exit the third door."
Bukeren passed everyone a small wooden stake with room numbers.