The putrid stench that engulfed the atmosphere roused a feeling he never thought he'd experience.
Nausea.
He placed his hand on his lips and nose, trying to kill the feeling as he stood up. All he saw was a gigantic fleshy cave. The walls were thick blocks of flesh, that bloated and then deflated. Slimy liquid coated the fleshy walls. Some of it trickled down onto the deep and long cavities, creating long rivers of the gross slimy substance.
It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the minimal light that illuminated the space. Blue light caressed the curvature of the walls and helped guide his sight to the only exit within the space. Long Wei followed the source of the light. His feet squelched against the soft flesh under his feet.
"Was this still a forest?" Long Wei asked himself.
Since he started moving, not once did going from point A to point B not work. After every few steps, he ended up in a completely different environment, almost as if it was a maze. A maze? Maybe it was. But it gave him no indication of how to break it. For one he knew it wasn't some Illusionary Formation set up by the Ancients.
He confirmed that with his Heaven Shrouding Eyes. What kind of person was so bored he created an entire ever-changing maze? If it were a maze he needed to find a way out of it fast. The longer he stayed here the less likely he was to earn points through combat. He never paid much attention to other fields within the cultivation world, except art. So he wasn't well equipped to win the trials with a side profession such as Alchemy and/or Formations.
He passed through the exit. Thick fleshy stalactites hung from a cavern with thick bulbous flesh walls. Blue luminous liquid dripped from the tip of the stalactites into a pond right at the centre of the cavern. The liquid washed the entire cavern in a soft tinge of blue. The colour alone cooled Long Wei's nerves. It reminded him of one of the few spirit springs he came across when travelling with his father four years ago. They were often blue, filled to the brim with spirit qi up to a thousand times denser than the qi floating in the atmosphere.
Was this liquid the exact same? He couldn't feel a single trace of spirit qi coming off the liquid. He should have, at a minimum feel some spirit qi if it was a spirit spring.
Meaning it most likely wasn't. But the cooling sensation that swept through his body made him doubt. Quickly he scanned the cavern for any obvious exits. One exit was hidden behind thick jutting flesh stalagmites that dripped the same blue liquid at their tops. Another was right above him on the roof of the cavern. Those were the only two he found.
"Hey look, another pond!" a soft voice echoed through the exit hidden by stalagmites.
Long Wei snapped his head in the direction of the sound. His eyes harden and he dropped his hands gently behind his back. He stood tall, feet slightly parted, ready to spring into action the moment the people coming into this cavern became hostile.
Two people crawled out the exit, one a girl and the other a young man in his late twenties. They gazed at the fleshy cavern with their eyes rounder than saucers.
The girl had light brown skin, with silky shoulder-length hair. She wore a plain white robe with the insignia of a random faction Long Wei couldn't recognize. He scanned her features, hoping to identify which godbeast species she came from to no luck. That only meant she was human. The man was thick and muscular. He gave the impression that he could squash an entire mountain with a simple flex of his biceps. He wore light green robes, with blue-purple fish insignia. Another which he didn't recognize.
He relaxed a bit after sensing their pitiful cultivation levels of the Heavenly Door Realm. They were slightly bigger ants within the mortal realm. At least he finally had test subjects to see the effects of the water. He shrouded his cultivation base to the Heavenly Dorr Realm. He didn't want to scare his visitors. There was a lot he hoped to learn.
The girl ran around the cavern like she owned it, touching and hugging the stalagmites. Long Wei shook his head at the reckless action.
"Who are you?" the girl shouted once she noticed Long Wei's figure standing calmly gazing at the pond of liquid.
The man blurred, arriving right next to the girl the moment he heard her shock. His fists were already raised, qi pulsating through them. Long Wei pitied the poor man, rushing to use his qi in such an environment. That only meant he probably didn't test the qi in the area. He found that a little dumb.
He waved them down with a smile, "I ask no trouble. Simply lost in this environment. "
The girl regained her composure after Long Wei's smile. She still chose to hide behind the man though. They'd only met for a little while, but the man was pretty kind to her in the last couple of hours. Trust slowly brewed between them.
"Who are you? " the man asked, not daring to put his guard down.
"A simple youth named Wei, and you? " said Long Wei.
"Oliver Ruthman, graduating student at Fullreach Academy, this is a friend, Alresia from the Pink Pavilion, " the man spoke fast, "It's good meeting you. "
He hoped that by quickly stating his background and hers, which had built quite a name for themselves over the past few decades, he'd instil some fear into the man. At the very least make him cautious.
"Since this is a trial, it should be best it we teamed up together no? For instance have you found a way out yet? "he asked, hoping they could prove useful in some way.
Oliver hesitated. To speak the truth or lie? He couldn't fathom which was the best option. He wouldn't be able to explain the reason why he came here if he told the man that he found an exit. He couldn't tell him about the secrets of the pond either. That would most likely evolve into a dangerous battle. But maybe he could lure the man into aiding him? But how?
"You haven't? That's unfortunate This pond does seem quite interesting. Do you know what it is? "
"I don't. But a friend of mine does. He is an alchemist. One of the first things he did was analyze the water thoroughly," Oliver settled for that answer.
Alresia tugged him nervously. Her innate senses warned her of the danger the man posed to them. Even though the aura coming off of him placed him in the Heavenly Door Realm, she was certain he was far stronger than that.
Long Wei watched her with an inquisitive side glance. Her level of nerves was odd for a supposed talent within the cultivation world. A weak Dao Heart he surmised.
"Oh. Do you have an Alchemist? That's some good news. Let's meet him now. The same way you came right? " Long Wei didn't waste time and fell into a quick walk as he spoke.
Long Wei giving Oliver his back was a massive temptation that clung to his mind. If he surprised Long Wei from behind, the battle would be over instantly. But he kept himself in check. As long as he lured Long Wei to Elrand, a fight was going to happen regardless of what the Heavens thought. Elrand was far too arrogant to reason with. That aspect of him wouod take years to grind out.
He, Elrand and a few others were part of the lucky few same-faction participants that teleported to the same general area. After wandering around for a few hours they met each other near a forest speckled with dim lights. It swallowed them before they could greet each other, spurting them into this...hell of a place. The shit that happened in mere hours made his skin turn itself inside out.
And the ponds. If only they hadn't discovered the amazing, yet skin-scraping properties of the ponds.
"Yes it is. But I'll lead the way. Come Alresia," Oliver jogged, overtaking Long Wei.
Long Wei followed along, keeping a maximum of five meters away from them. They meandered through the concentration of stalagmites and exited the cavern. Countless cavern entrances spread across the left and right side of a narrow greeted them once they left the cavern.
Most of the entrances were pitch black, with a few spotting dim lights within the red spectrum. Elation leapt in his heart. The putrid stench lessened somewhat. And he was thankful. His heightened senses became the prison walls that locked him in uncomfortable situations when the thing he sensed was disgusting.
He preferred slightly smelly over extremely smelly. Oliver led him through the narrow path, taking a left turn at one of the red-coloured entrances. They slithered and turned, sometimes going round full circle before finding the entrance they wanted. They did this for two hours before coming across another blue-lit entrance.
Long Wei never stopped taking stock of Oliver and Alresia's demeanour as they walked. Whether or not he was being schemed against, he didn't care. But the Alchemist. He wanted him. And he wanted him for one reason only: Recovery-Class Pills.