Chapter 164 - 16-19

Chapter 16: The Sect Leader

After Jin recovered from his happiness-induced bout of dizziness, Elder Flower informed him that now was the time to show the Illusion Room to the Elders of the Mad Monks Sect.

It went to show just how much importance the monks put on better vetting their disciple candidates, that it was only 3 hours later that the meeting began. Jin and Flower were sitting in the large conference room with the two sect elders who had met them upon their arrival all those months ago, and for some reason, inner disciple Shen.

Back in Jin's world, even setting up a meeting like this would have taken a week as everyone would have searched through their calendars, bouts of self-importance would have slashed most days a week, and someone's daughter's violin practice would have nuked everything in the end anyway.

The cultivation world was a lot smoother somehow. One would think that people living much longer would move more slowly, and while this was the case usually, this was an interesting exception. Jin guessed that this was due to sects having clear hierarchies, and if a particular Elder was busy cultivating in solitude, then the person below them would be sent to make the decision in their place in case it was time-sensitive. It kind of made sense that sects were composed of a very fluid structure when one considered the amount of time that cultivators liked to seclude themselves.

The inclusion of inner disciple Shen in the talk bothered Jin for a bit however, then he got even more confused when the Mad Monks contingent sat down, with inner disciple Shen in the middle and the two Elders sitting slightly behind him.

"Sect leader Shen, Elder Kwang, Elder Zhang," Elder Flower started, addressing the three men. They each nodded in a sequence of their names being called, which confused Jin even further. Why was inner disciple Shen being referred to as sect leader?

Jin refrained from saying anything, but his mind was racing.

"Greetings, Elder Flower," sect leader Shen said. "I've been informed that significant progress has been made in the task at hand. Is it perhaps time for us to offer our input?" he asked calmly.

Jin could almost hear the smirk in the man's voice. The man who'd been beating the shit out of him for seven months now. He'd gained some insight into Shen's character throughout all of this.

If he actually was the sect leader, then that meant that the level of instruction Jin had gotten was significantly higher than he'd suspected. However, it was very confusing why exactly it was the sect leader who had been teaching him.

"Inner disciple Jin has made significant progress in the creation of the Illusion Room, to the point where it is time to show the product and to integrate the feedback of the client, rather than just the creator." Elder Flower said politely.

Jin's mind startled to a halt, forgetting all matters of sect leaders and whatnot, as he realised that if the Mad Monks had an issue with his Illusion Room, then he would again have to go back and revisit the work process.

He felt like he aged a hundred years in a second at that realisation. Considering how hellish the creation process of that thing had been up till now, if he had to do it again he might just age a hundred years in terms of stress.

"Inner disciple Jin is a very hard worker, and a very creative thinker," sect leader Shen praised. "I hardly think that what he has created is lacking enough for us to criticise," he said.

Elder Flower pulled the Illusion Room up on the table and floated it towards the man through a flexing of her qi.

Jin meanwhile was mentally putting his hands together in prayer, while Shen looked at the Illusion Room curiously. 'Please like it, please like it, please like it, please like it, please like it,' was running through his mind like the forgiveness mantra of a Latin-fluent priest in a Catholic church on Easter Sunday.

If it hadn't been considered rude, Jin would have immediately abandoned this conversation and bowed down towards Mecca to ask for help from all sorts of deities for help in this matter.

Sect leader Shen calmly raised his right hand, his forefinger extending to rest on the shining surface of the metal cube that was the Illusion Room. "I should survey," he said calmly before his gaze went slightly blank and he disappeared mentally from the conversation.

Perhaps feeling Jin's confusion, Elder Flower spoke up while they waited. "The Mad Monks Sect is indeed fortuitous to have a sect leader who has mastered the partitioning of the body so that he may be present in a variety of ways and affect change throughout the entire sect," she said calmly, causing Jin to realise what exactly had happened.

The powers of cultivators were as endless as they were varied. Once they obtained a high enough level, naturally splitting oneself up into aspects would be possible. It would make perfect sense for a leader of a large organisation to want to create copies of himself to walk the mountain and help with a variety of tasks. Keep an eye on things. After all, as was always the case if you wanted something done well, you had to do it yourself.

The pressure on Jin increased with the realisation that it had been the sect leader who had shown him the Place of Rest in an attempt to motivate him. It meant that it wasn't just the people in charge of the Outer and Inner rings who wanted to create a more efficient solution, but that the question of the testing went up to the highest authority.

"We are indeed blessed to have a leader as wise as the one we have," the middle-aged Elder Kwang said from behind Shen. Although, he did say it in a manner that indicated he wasn't interested in pursuing the conversation further. The tone implied something like, 'What are you talking about right now? There's other stuff going on.'

Jin sighed, internally complaining at the ridiculous amount of subtext that was present in any conversation between cultivators and wondered if he would become like this once he reached a few hundred years of age. It sounded exhausting, to be honest. Hiding behind a mask, visually and verbally for the rest of one's life.

A slightly harsh intake of breath suddenly resounded through the room as sect leader Shen opened his eyes and removed his hand from the Illusion Room thoughtfully.

"I see that inspiration has been found where it was given and that the dissuasion of the damned becomes the salvation of the unworthy," he said cryptically with a nod. "An intelligent man with no skill may survey the work of others and pass judgment, but a wise one knows that the best evaluators should be those for whom it was meant."

If Jin understood correctly, that was the sect leader giving his agreement.

The trend of people not being particularly scared of Jin's scenario continued. However, someone from a combat sect would definitely be less affected by the horrors Jin had brought into this world.

"Perhaps I should test it next, sect leader?" Elder Kwang asked, causing Jin to internally raise an eyebrow. After the sect leader agreed, was it in fact an Elder's role to second-guess that decision? Was there an internal power struggle going on?

Sect leader Shen seemed unperturbed. "It would be folly to not curiously gaze into the beast that others must enter unwillingly," he said and lightly pushed the Illusion Room to the right on the table to where Elder Kwong was sitting in a seiza position. The middle-aged man frowned and put his hand on the Illusion Room, before blanking out.

"The Illusion Room has centred the core subject of its fear wisely, if the biggest fear that is to be resolved is the loss of one's sanity, then that is what one should be confronted by," the sect leader muttered.

"I'm sorry for referring to you as an inner disciple," Jin blurted out, causing Elder Flower, surprisingly enough, to chuckle and Elder Zhang to crack a small smile.

The sect leader simply grinned mischievously. "I never introduced myself and it is not wrong of an inner disciple to assume that it should be another inner disciple who should lead him. There is no offence taken where there was none intended and being a disciple is an honourable role indeed when one considers the lessons that life has to teach us… for which it uses a variety of mouthpieces," he said cryptically.

Jin, unfortunately, now knowing that the man was not an inner disciple, did not have the status to be annoyed by the speech pattern anymore. He simply nodded pretending as if what had been said was actually relevant instead of just hot air.

"Sect leader Shen is wise indeed," he said.

"It is a dilemma for any Elder indeed," Elder Zhang piped up. "When one considers the powers that we wield at our level of cultivation, is there a point to let our disciples do anything? However, by doing nothing they have no opportunity to grow. It is a precarious balance indeed deciding on when one must act and when it is better to not do so. The preservation of our sect however is something that cannot be miscommunicated by someone who does not have a perfect overview of the situation," he said.

Jin nodded thoughtfully, realising that perhaps it had been necessary for someone high up the chain to show him the Place of Rest, and to tell him the troubles that had befallen the sect. It would have been foolish for this person to reveal their position of authority because this would have caused Jin to have been socially obligated to kiss their ass more than to offer actual solutions.

It seems that the Mad Monks were very well aware just like he was of the pitfalls of cultivator courtesy, and had their own strategies for avoiding the mistakes that this sort of behaviour often caused.

"If only all cultivators were as clear-sighted as the mad monks," Elder Flower said kindly. "Then the world would find peace and the demons would have been banished long ago."

The implication was obviously that most cultivators weren't particularly rational. Jin sincerely hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with a lot of those particular types of cultivators anytime soon.

"The fates determine the pattern of the heavens, and the heavens dictate the lives of their subjects. Everything that is must be, and everything that is not was never meant to. Karma resolves all in the end," Sect leader Shen said, which could be understood as a condemnation, as well as an offer of forgiveness. One couldn't really tell and that was perhaps the point. People would hear what they wanted to hear, which in itself was a powerful rhetorical strategy.

The conversation was interrupted.

Elder Kwang came to himself with a light gasp instead of just an intake of air, his previously flinty steeled eyes flitted about for a few seconds before he caught himself. He frowned. "It is seldom that I have witnessed a work of art so grotesque. I am afraid of what lurks in your head young inner disciple, but I am glad that is being used for a good purpose," he said with a resolute nod, before crossing his arms and returning to silence.

Sect leader Shen turned to Elder Zhang. "Would you like to try it as well?" he asked.

Elder Zhang just shook his head. "It is good that the disciple selection process can finally begin. They have been waiting for a while haven't they?" he mused. 'They' in this case refers to the people who were waiting at the bottom of the mountain.

Jin wondered if these were the same mortals that he'd seen seven months ago when arriving at the Mad Monk Sect. If so then they'd been waiting a while, no?

However, from a cultivator's perspective, anyone who wasn't even willing to wait such an amount of time was unlikely to have the necessary willpower to achieve anything. Jin did wonder how the disciple selection timing was decided. Was there one disciple selection process a year, did they wait for enough people to get here to justify the test?

Jin didn't know, since he'd been personally scouted, just like all other members of the Illusion Room Sect. Their mental techniques required the predisposition towards Yin energy, which meant that there wasn't much point in taking people whose heavenly roots had different components.

Additionally, unlike combat-oriented sects who always profited from having more bodies to throw at a given problem, a production-focused sect lived and died by the reputation it accrued for the quality of its craftsmanship. In that sense, it was easier to simply invite those who were fitting and to not hold general admittance exams like this.

"Tomorrow then?" the sect leader asked whimsically. He closed his eyes and seemed to think for a second. "The weather will be very clear and the sun will be brutal," he said. "A good day."

"I seem to remember there was a pilgrimage coming, they should be arriving within the week," Elder Kwang spoke up.

It was a polite way of saying that they should perhaps wait. However, the sect leader shook his head. "Do you know what the most important attribute for a cultivator is?" he asked, his eyes locking on Jin.

"Hard work?" Jin wondered. "It must be either that or talent." You couldn't really accomplish much without one or the other.

The sect leader shook his head. "I would say it is luck. Those unfavored by the heavens forever fight an upward battle. That is why it does not make sense to tailor one's decisions to such lengths. Those who are fated will and those who are not will not."

It seemed like a spiritual version of determinism to Jin, but what did he know about the will of the heavens. He was just some random dude.

"Would you be interested in witnessing the selection process? As visiting cultivators from an allied sect?" the second leader asked Elder Flower.

Elder Flower tilted her head for a second. "I don't particularly feel the need." She turned to Jin. "Do you want to?"

Jin idly scratched at his chin. It wasn't like he was going to get many opportunities like this. He might as well, right? He shrugged. "It would be interesting to see the effect of the Illusion Room, wouldn't it?" he wondered aloud. This was him implicitly agreeing.

"Good, Elder Zhang will bring you down when it is time tomorrow. I will attend as well for once." The sect leader decided.

"Is there any particular reason?" Elder Kwang spoke up.

The sect leader shook his head. "I feel as if something is fated to happen, the strings of the heavens are being woven into a new tapestry."

Elder Kwang nodded respectfully as if that made any sense. "Then I shall also make the time to attend." He decided.

"If the selection goes reasonably well then our visit will be running towards its end," Elder Flower said out loud. It sounded like she was looking forward to leaving, but that would have been impolite and so she phrased it differently.

"Perhaps after the selection process inner disciple Jin can crystallise the advancements he has made in the way of the lance into the scenario of Dragonslayer Ornstein, and then we will gladly bid you farewell," the sect leader reminded them. The Mad Monks had after all handed over a very lucrative trainer in return for the eventual finished product.

Jin nodded, never having intended to back out on that one. Considering the template and everything being mostly done… "It shouldn't take more than a month," he said.

At this point everyone at the meeting nodded, satisfied with what had been decided. They would meet again tomorrow.

-/-

Xiao's formerly blue robes were covered in mud and dried blood from the challenges that he had to undergo to arrive here. He didn't care, he had more important things to do. The young man wearily hefted his body over a stone ledge to arrive at the top of a hill.

It was in this area that the map given to him by an old-looking gentleman with a very impressive beard showed the Mad Monk Sect to be. As he finally stood on the hill overlooking a grandiose valley ending in mountains and streams he was immediately able to make out the mountain which would hopefully become his home.

The day was yet young, and the sun had yet to fully rise. This cast the mountain covered in temple-like architecture and a variety of blossoming trees into a pink light. It was a beautiful sight, one for sore eyes, especially because it signaled the end of a journey,

Xiao had been fighting his way through the countryside for a month now.

The roads had stopped three weeks ago and everything else had been wilderness. He'd had to hide from spirit beasts, fight against wild animals and scavenge for food as his supplies ran out.

He took a moment to put his fist into his palm and to bow down in the direction he had come from thanking all the people who had helped him along the journey.

The old man with his map, the young lady with the talisman which had protected him from pestilence, and the talking thunder beast that had spared him his life when he had mistakenly encroached on its territory.

Some had tried to hinder him. The Foul Water Gang of the Shao River, the scammer who had tried to extort him of his last coins with fraudulent claims and the swarm of demon birds that had attacked the caravan he had joined for a day only to be barely fought off by the joint efforts of Xiao and the mercenary captain.

"It has been a long road, but I swear upon the heavens that today it shall find an end and begin anew," Xiao swore before starting his hike to the large encampment of people that he saw waiting at the base of the mountain, likely there for the same reason as him.

He was sure that some of them would become disciples of the Mad Monks Sect, however it would be him standing at the top.

If he had thought that time would quell his desire for revenge for the humiliation he had experienced, then he had been very wrong as every day the desire to destroy the Bao family simply grew.

"I swore vengeance and I plan to upkeep that promise," Xiao said as he approached the camp.

Chapter 17: bread bread bread bread bread

Jin woke up bright and early the next day, as had become his habit. Fear suddenly overtook him as his eyes fluttered open and he lay on his futon before he remembered that his training was done.

The Illusion Room was finished and had been accepted by those who'd commissioned it.

He took a few moments to appreciate this fact and that his nightmare was coming to a close. The moments turned into minutes turned into hours as he simply lay there watching dust motes dance in the sunlight streaming through the windows.

One thing that people didn't mention enough, which was one of the amazing things about being a cultivator, was that one's senses improved to the point where one could find beauty in anything.

This in addition to the physical health he felt in his body was almost worth the unequal hierarchies, the high demands, and the long working hours.

He breathed out a sigh of relief and stood up, using the wooden bucket full of water to wash himself. A small exertion of qi turning into heat dried him. He got dressed.

Exiting his room, he made his way to the landing platform where he and Elder Flower had arrived all those months ago. The sect leader had been right, it was an incredibly sunny day. Almost too sunny. A small filter of qi went over his eyes to block the harsh light and he wondered if the mortals of this world made sunglasses to protect themselves against the rays of the sun on the occasions on which they were particularly punishing, he knew eyesight corrective glasses existed for the rich.

He turned his head downwards, looking to the base of the mountain where the make-shift camp of mortals waiting for the outer disciple selection process had grown by another few people.

Did they know the risks and dangers of becoming cultivators? Or was it simply such a prestigious position that they felt like they had to try regardless of anything else.

Upon acceptance, one would be taken away from one's family and one's friends. Trained brutally and discarded ruthlessly if one's talent wasn't sufficient. Only one in a thousand ascended to a meaningful position within a sect. Everything below the rank of an inner disciple was just functionally being a slave.

"I see that you are awake," a female voice suddenly said from behind Jin, and he turned around to look at Elder Flower, who had somehow snuck up on him.

"I am curious about how my Illusion Room will function," Jin said lightly.

At the mention of the scenario, Elder Flower pulled a disgusted face. "It's a much more brutal selection process than the journey of a thousand steps, or even the boulder challenge," she said. "You will likely hear a lot of screaming."

Jin sighed. "That's better than them losing their sanity afterwards isn't it?"

"I agree, regardless I'm not too interested in spending more time with mortals than I have to." She twitched her nose. "They smell."

"I can't imagine that the amenities at the base of this mountain are particularly awe-inspiring, yes. Where are they even getting the freshwater from?" Jin wondered. Staying at the base of this mountain for several months, wouldn't people at some point start running out of food? Also, he hadn't seen a water source anywhere when he'd been flying over the landscape on the flying sword.

Elder Flower stepped forward to look down at the encampment. "They've dug wells and they've brought enough food to be here for a year. It is common knowledge that one might have to wait a long time before undergoing the test," she observed calmly. "Regardless, I will be going now. Do try to not get invested in any of the participants. Most of them aren't worth much," she said coldly before jumping into the air and disappearing from his side.

"Why would I get invested in anyone?" Jin muttered to himself. "It's not even my sect."

After a few more minutes of waiting, Elder Zhang came to find Jin and touched him on the shoulder to carry him down to the mortals.

The disciple selection process was about to begin.

-/-

As Jin joined Sect Leader Shen, Elder Kwang and Elder Zhang at the base of the mountain still a few hundred metres away from the impromptu camp of potential disciples, he wondered how exactly they were going to officiate the selection process.

At the end of the day from the outside, they just looked like three monks and one incredibly handsome young man. Wouldn't it be too awkward to simply shout at the mortals until they came over and then tell them that the selection process was about to begin?

His question of how exactly this would be done was answered very quickly when Sect Leader Shen who was standing in the middle of the group put his hands together in a praying posture and closed his eyes.

"Earthly Rights of Heavenly Eternal Wood Rising," the man recited in a low tone of voice and suddenly Jin heard the earth beneath him cracking and rumbling.

He remained as still as a mouse knowing that the original position he was in right now was the one that the sect leader had calculated for him to be safe in. If he followed his instincts and jumped out of the way then god knows what would happen to him. So he clenched his buttcheeks, closed his eyes and pretended that he was contemplating the eternal dao instead of just trying not to shit his pants.

Didn't the sect leader know how scary it was to have spells suddenly cast in one's presence by someone eternally more powerful than one's self? Especially when one didn't know what that spell would do?

Wood suddenly erupted from the ground underneath the quartet. Brown barked, strong and twisting. It reminded Jin of a certain anime where ninjas had abandoned stealth to throw magical mechs at each other.

The wood continued emerging.

A structure that was in a way similar to an unpainted torii gate erupted from the ground carrying the quartet dozens of metres into the air until they could once again behold the entire valley like they had been able to previously when still on the mountain.

Surprised shouts and exclamations erupted from the shabby camp they were now looking down upon and countless round and shocked faces turned in their direction. With his heightened senses Jin was able to tell that dozens of eyes were fixed on him despite the distance.

It wasn't a very comfortable experience.

That's certainly one way to make an entrance, he thought to himself.

-/-

Xiao had not done much after arriving at the forward camp of the Mad Monks Sect disciple selection grounds. After all, he was tired from his journey and mostly wanted to gain knowledge about the situation.

The group of people were nothing like what he had expected to be waiting for him here. Of course, he'd known that there would be others similarly trying to become cultivators, but he hadn't expected there to be so many and he hadn't expected them to be this entrenched.

He was very surprised to find that the people here had even dug a well and that some of them had arrived in luxurious carriages full of preserved food and had been waiting here for almost a year.

Exchanging some animal pelts that he had learned to skin during his travels for information, Xiao found out that the general consensus of the hopefuls was that this particular sect had no specific schedule for when they selected their disciples. However, the general consensus was also that it occurred every year when enough people had arrived to justify doing so.

At least no one had been able to find another rhyme or reason to the timings.

At the end of the day, Xiao didn't see why cultivators would want to work under a schedule. Having met two cultivators in his life and having been heavily impacted by their attitudes and decisions, he was very clear in the fact that cultivators did not care very much for their so-called mortal counterparts. This made his blood boil at the injustice that resulted from this attitude but he was very well aware that when one was an ant one could not protest being stepped on without first gaining sufficient strength.

He had asked around if anyone knew what the selection process would maybe entail, and had received a variety of different answers. Some mentioned that they could be asked to meditate for a long amount of time to test their mental fortitude, while others swore that it was going to be an endless series of steps that ate up willpower.

After exchanging some more of his inventory for a bit of food, Xiao was just about to sit down and consider what kind of training he could reasonably complete here while waiting when people suddenly started shouting and running around in a confused mixture of elation and fear.

Xiao jumped up but refused to drop the piece of bread that he had purchased at a very steep price. He turned his gaze towards the mountain that the Mad Monks Sect inhabited, with its temples and its bamboo forests, only to find his view obscured by a gigantic wooden gate which towered over their camp with its ridiculous proportions. One could barely make out four human figures standing on top of it and looking down at them imperiously, doubly so because the sun was rising over the mountain, blinding anyone who tried.

A deadly calm struck him as he realised that before he had even gotten the opportunity to sit down and adjust his nerves, fate had decided to roll the dice for him once again.

-/-

Jin wondered if this was what it felt like to be Moses speaking down to one's followers from the mountaintop holding the stone tablet with the Ten Commandments.

It hadn't taken long for the mortals from the camp to start approaching the gate clearly having identified the fact that its appearance was the announcement of the disciple selection process.

They stumbled over slowly and reverently with either respect in their eyes or bowed heads.

Jin examined them curiously, wondering if there was any sort of way of identifying who had it in them and who didn't. There were not any older people present, most looking like they were at least less than thirty. There were more men than women and some were obviously from richer backgrounds than others. This was mostly delineated by clothing and average hygiene. Some were dressed in rags and some were dressed in clean if crinkled robes. Some were dirty and some were freshly washed. Some of them looked like farmers and some of them looked like merchants.

However, from this perspective all the way up they all blended together into one indistinguishable mass of hopefuls. In front of the heavens, every mortal was as irrelevant as the next. This was the perspective that Jin gained from the height that he was standing at.

His eyes briefly passed over a boy dressed in a shabby blue robe that might have at some point been luxurious, who despite the atmosphere was managing to find the time to munch on a large piece of bread.

Jin cracked a small smile. If nothing he had to respect those wise enough to know that one couldn't write an exam on an empty stomach.

"Welcome to the Mad Monks Sect," sect leader Shen's voice suddenly boomed out from next to Jin loudly enough that he could almost imagine the sonic shockwaves. Jin flinched at the leader's loudness but managed to quickly gather himself to continue standing there imperiously.

"Today we will be initiating a test to determine if any of you are qualified to become valued disciples of our sect. You will be tested on your intelligence, your perseverance, and your willpower," sect leader Shen suddenly snapped his fingers, releasing not one, not two, not three, but five Illusion Rooms from the pouch at his side.

With five Illusion Rooms, Jin naturally meant that these were five separate artefacts created to store scenarios. The scenario inside of them was all the same. Every single one of them contained Outlast. Once Jin had created the data comprising the game in his mind he could very easily inject it into as many Rooms as he wanted. The issue was mostly that Illusion Rooms were not cheap to make. However, if they'd only have one then this whole process would really have lasted way too long.

With his increased mental abilities, Jin completed a quick headcount of the gathered mortals coming up with the number 84. Most of them would doubtlessly fail the process of testing very quickly, while some would manage to make it further along. All in all, he assumed that an Illusion Room would require on average half an hour to fail. That meant ten mortals per hour, which meant that he was now stuck here for approximately eight hours.

He sighed. The five Illusion Rooms gleamed in the sun and projected a mysterious purple light which illuminated the front of the gate even more brightly than the sun did. Another snap of sect leader Shen's fingers and suddenly a purple film was covering the inside of the torii gate, barring entry.

The only way for a mortal to enter was to complete the scenario, get the passcode and then think about the passcode while walking through.

The catch that made it difficult was that if one ever voluntarily paused the scenario one would be disqualified. One could restart from the beginning if one died, but one couldn't take a break. Those with too little ability to solve the scenario in a reasonable time frame were just as unwanted as those too cowardly to endure it.

"The five artefacts you see in front of you are all the same so there's no advantage or disadvantage depending on which one you pick," sect leader Shen said.

"These are so-called Illusion Rooms which contain a mission which you must complete using the template of your body that will be projected inside of it once you touch it. You can always quit, but beware that this means failure. Death simply means you have to start from the beginning. Completing the scenario will grant you the key for passing through this door. Once you have passed this door you have successfully been selected. Congratulations." The sect leader looked down at the mortals who were exchanging cautious glances with each other. "Do not fight for the opportunity as there is no advantage to going first or last, simply handle it amongst yourselves and begin!" Shen announced loudly.

-/-

The "begin!" loudly shouted by the monk standing in the middle of the quartet on top of the gate echoed through the valley as if unwilling to leave its airspace until everyone had surely heard it.

Xiao took a bite from the piece of bread in his hands and looked around curiously to see the response of the other participants. None of them had walked forward yet and seemed to be cautiously observing each other rather than the so-called Illusion Rooms as I was trying to find who would go first.

Many of them were clearly confused, not understanding the explanation of what the artefacts floating in front of the torii gates actually were.

Of course, Xiao wasn't sure what they were himself, but he knew that all he had to do was go over and touch one and then he would obviously find out. After he shoved the last piece of bread in his mouth and started chewing he didn't hesitate in stepping forward from the crowd to go towards the floating cube on the right.

That was when the patience of everyone around him broke and a large burly man stepped forward, grasped him by the shoulder and pushed him back.

An ugly and scarred face obviously belonging to some sort of mercenary glanced back at Xiao with a hideous grin. "Let me handle this one kid, didn't your mom tell you to be cautious before she sent you here?" he asked, swaggering over to the cube that Xiao had been intending to touch along with several other men who were bumping into each other in the attempts to get there first.

They still somewhat respected the words of the cultivator and didn't aggressively fight for the right, but it was still a bit disrespectful.

Xiao stepped back and looked on. He wanted to go first because he was a bit nervous about the selection process and wanted to get it out of the way. Either he was qualified or he was not, but it was better to find out early so that he would have time to process disappointment or to enjoy his success.

He watched as the burly man who pushed him aside reached the floating artefact and with a slowness mirroring the anxiety he must have been feeling touched it with a large calloused hand.

At the same time as this happened the other four artefacts also became occupied by four other people who touched them.

A few minutes later, the screaming started.

-/-

"The ones rushing forward, it can already be said that they failed," Elder Zhang commented idly as he looked downwards at the scrambling scene of people trying to be the first to reach the Illusion Rooms without fighting so overtly as to draw negative attention from the examiners.

"Well, if they manage to pass the test and escape that unpleasant experience then they can still take some courtesy classes once they are disciples, no?" Elder Kwang wondered aloud.

Zhang simply shook his head. "Those who do not even have the basics of politeness, cannot possibly have the mental fortitude necessary to undergo the harrowing experience," he claimed.

Shen and Jin remain silent on the matter, simply looking curiously at the five men who were now blanked out, standing in front of the Illusion Rooms. Their consciousness taken away by the magic inherent in the artefact.

Jin's neck felt very uncomfortable and he wondered why the sect leader hadn't put the artefacts more to the front so they wouldn't have to glance down at such a steep angle. Didn't the man know that this is how one developed cramps? It was in fact very unhealthy to not take care of one's body like this. The neck was one of the most important parts considering its connection to the spine and head.

Jin's hand went up to massage his right shoulder as he curiously continued looking at the disciple hopefuls.

He wanted to know how the mortals would face the challenge that he had created for them. In essence, he agreed with Elder Zhang's assessment of those currently being tested. However, he thought that rather than the lack of grace it was the lack of intelligence that this act displayed that would make them surefire candidates for disqualification.

Obviously, it was always difficult to put oneself in the shoes of others, but what Jin would have done in the situation of those mortals would have been very different. He would have leaned back and waited to see how the first few people challenged the Rooms. After all, the sect leader had confirmed that there was no advantage to being the first or the last and that none of the rooms were any different from each other.

However, the sentence was in a way misleading because while there wasn't any change in the scenario that occurred between the experience of the person who first underwent it was different from the last person. The difference was in the knowledge of the experiencer.

After all, one of the things that one could do when someone passed or failed the scenario was to simply ask this individual what they had undergone. If the other person was willing to answer then the person who'd asked would be going in with an absolute information advantage. In this case, this information advantage would actually alleviate some of the fear that the scenario tried to produce. After all, knowing at least a bit about the tasks one has to undergo meant that they became less daunting than if they remained complete unknowns.

In this regard, the selection process was actually a mind game to pick out those who had the most patience. Because that was the attribute that would be most strongly rewarded in this case. If all of the mortals had actually been educated and intelligent enough it would have led to the horrible result of them simply refusing to go first. In the end, this would have dragged on for months and the people who would have to go first would be the ones who didn't have enough food supplies with them to sustain a longer waiting period.

Because of this Jin felt really grateful for the five idiots who had stepped forward to become the first sacrifices and he agreed in a way that the lack of grace indicated a lower likelihood of success. However, the lack of intelligence and patience was a much more damning factor.

His ears picked up on a conversation that was happening below before another quickly emerged to fill up the space with a bunch of inane chatter. Immediately after the introduction of the artefacts everyone had been too intimidated to talk with each other. However, now that five people had stepped forward and were simply standing there silently touching the Illusion Rooms people were starting to lose some of their anxiety.

Nothing bad had happened yet so what exactly was the issue? That was probably their thinking.

Jin thought that this turn towards a more relaxed atmosphere was actually being too naive. But, that was perhaps simply because he knew that out of the five, at least one of them would not have the mental qualities necessary to survive long.

While the elders might have brushed off Outlast as something that was at best disquieting and at worst a bad experience, mortals shouldn't have such high standards right?

Right on cue seven minutes after the first five participants had touched the artefacts, one of the large men who had pushed their way forward released their hand from the artefact and fell back on their ass shaking all over and paler than a wedding dress.

The man didn't scream as much, as he simply opened his mouth and fought for air as what was doubtlessly an intense bout of anxiety overcame him and threw him straight into a panic attack.

Jin was very well aware that people had already been unable to complete Outlast due to issues of fear and psychological distress when it was only a 2D experience. Now that it was completely immersive with completely realistic graphics, he knew fully well that some people would be unable to handle it.

He watched as the atmosphere of the mortals dialed down to a scared zero as the man struggled to breathe and clutched at his throat as he choked for air. Eventually, he managed to calm down enough to lay there sweating profusely. Then he promptly stood up and started running, pushing for the crowd to come out on the other side and sprint out of the camp as fast as he could. Everyone was too dumbstruck to truly question what he had experienced. However, the chance would soon come.

A scream resounded through the clearing and the second person who first touched the artefact ungraciously removed themselves from the scenario and fell to the ground. Shaking all over and pale as a ghost the symptoms were incredibly similar. However, this man didn't run away and simply slumped to the ground like a boneless sack of meat.

Now the test of intelligence would truly start. Would anyone be capable of coaxing information out of the man who had failed but remained conscious enough to answer questions?

People went up to and worriedly asked the man what he had experienced.

The true test started now.

Chapter 18: First Dive

When the first man had fallen to the floor and then ran away, nobody had reacted. When the second one had let go of the artefact and started screaming, people started asking questions about what he had experienced.

Whatever lightness of mood had built up during the first few minutes of the test had all but disappeared leaving behind a frenzy of people worried about their chances of becoming disciples and asking themselves if it was even worth it.

While everyone was focused on the man who'd failed the exam, another one joined him shortly after with the same scream and a pallid face. Xiao meanwhile had finished eating his bread and felt rejuvenated. Rather than immediately stepping up, however, he looked at the top of the wooden structure from where the cultivators were looking down on them

He didn't know if he did so because he thought he could glean something from their reactions or because the queasiness and his stomach made him want to look away from the people who were behaving as if they just lived through their worst nightmare.

Now that the sun had changed its position slightly, he was actually able to make out more about the cultivators. The first thing he noted was that they were all men and the second was that one of them obviously did not belong. The one in the middle, the one who had announced the beginning of the exam was bald, androgynous and was wearing orange robes. Two others, one middle-aged and one elderly shared his style of dress and baldness.

It was the fourth with a full head of dark brown or black hair that stood out. He was looking down the most intently of the four with a weird smirk on his pale face, on which the dark malicious bags under his eyes stood out all the more. Instead of orange robes, he was wearing a slightly different cut of beige. The other three were standing a bit separate from him as if not wanting to associate themselves.

A familiar anger started bubbling up inside Xiao. The cultivator looked like he was enjoying himself. Getting off on their suffering. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes. There was nothing he could do at the moment. But in the future, when he was a powerful cultivator himself it would be these people who treated mortals simply as toys to be played with and discarded when they broke, that he would banish from the cultivation world.

Xiao's eyes opened and glazed over with a burning determination as they refocused their attention on the exam that was going on. All but one of the examinees had dropped out, two of them lying on the floor and occasionally screaming in a catatonic state while the third was mumbling something about big fat demons and crazy people.

Most noticeably, no one was going up to take the space of the four who had failed. Xiao looked carefully at the floating purple artefacts and moved a bit closer to the babbling man with whom the others were trying to interrogate.

It was after a few more minutes of rough dirty hands pushing their victim around and demanding answers that finally revealed some basic facts about what had happened.

A dark mansion, something they'd never seen before, housing what was presumably some sort of great evil that they had to investigate. Only that, when they entered the house, everything had started turning for the worst.

Nobody had gotten much further than that, simply saying how they'd been killed by a big screaming man with no forehead and sores all over his body. They couldn't handle their death, which felt real, and gave up.

Xiao leaned back and watched the situation with narrowed eyes, wondering if there was something he was missing. The longer that the four Rooms remained untouched, the more he started to suspect that there was a bigger game at play here.

After all, who said that the instructors had to tell them everything about the exam?

No one had said that, and feeding into his belief that cultivators didn't even see mortals as human only fed his suspicion.

It was after another few minutes and some brainstorming, that he came to a possible conclusion as to the hidden parts of the exam.

The revelation came to him as those who had failed regained their bearing and having given all of the information that they could be forced to give, left the clearing to wallow in their shame. There was only one man still standing and holding a hand to the floating artefact. However, going from the shaking of his arms and the absolute whiteness of his face he might not last long either. Although, considering that no one truly knew how long the exam was supposed to take this didn't necessarily mean much. But, Xiao couldn't help but think of what would happen if the last man standing also failed and if no one was brave enough to step forward. Wouldn't that mean that the cultivators would simply be standing there above them looking at nothing? Wouldn't that mean that the exam would simply end, no one left being brave enough to become a disciple?

His eyes widened with realisation. "Everyone listen up!" he shouted, gathering the attention of the other examinees. Everyone from those dressed and rags to those dressed in riches cast suspicious glances his way.

"There's another hidden aspect to this exam," Xiao began. "The behaviour of those that failed is supposed to scare us off from attempting it. But, do you truly think that if no one is currently getting tested, the cultivators won't simply end the exam claiming that there's no one with enough courage to be worth testing anyway?" he propositioned.

"You go and touch the fucking thing then!" one woman dressed in an elaborate golden toga yelled at him with fear in her eyes. "You're just trying to trick us into touching those Rooms so that you can then do better with the information gleaned from our mistakes!" she accused.

Xiao reeled back as if struck and realised something else. The fact that there was an information advantage to those who came later and the requirement that someone had to be trying at any given point of time meant that… he glanced to the side as he heard a groan. The last man who'd been standing and clutching the artefact… his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he was falling over backwards, the arm holding on to the cube was in the process of slipping, with just one finger remaining.

Before Xiao could think, he'd already jumped forward and touched the cursed cube. The world around him disappeared.

-/-

"That kid has some courage," Jin commented. "And some serious balls on him. Jumping in like that without that much of an information advantage after seeing what happened to everyone else." He glanced to the side toward the monks.

"I think he realised something that we didn't yet. Perhaps we were foolish and underestimated how terrible the Illusion Room would be for those without our life experience," Sect Leader Shen began. "Consider this, would we truly stand here watching if no one was attempting to defeat the scenario because they are too scared to even try?"

"Preposterous. Mortals wasting our time? We could simply end the exam right here and leave. Obviously no one valuable left in this batch," Elder Kwang grumbled.

"Yet that was exactly what was about to happen," Elder Zhang interjected. "If the boy hadn't thrown himself forward to prevent that from happening."

"So not only smart, but also brave," Jin commented. He scratched at his chin, he was getting some serious protagonist energy vibes here. Perhaps he should put in a bit of effort to be nice to whoever ended up being selected. Considering the difficulty of what he'd created for simple mortals who'd never heard of an Illusion Room, well, whoever won would have to be quite talented, no?

Unbeknownst to him the simple creation of this Room and by default this exam had already made him an enemy of said protagonist.

That just went to show how good deeds never went unpunished.

-/-

A bout of disorientation hit Xiao as he opened his eyes only to find himself sprawled on all fours on a gravel road. Trying to not puke he noted that the feeling of discomfort was leaving him as fast as it had come over him in the first place.

Rattling himself up to his feet he looked around to find that he was on a hill, well, he was on a road leading up to the top of a mountain on which he could already make out a weird tiled roof made in a style that he hadn't seen before.

One of his hands suddenly went out of control and went up to his face, holding up a roll of parchment in front of him which he could read despite the bad light conditions.

It was weird because the sun had already set and usually he wouldn't have been able to make out the small lines. He read through what was being shown to him, not as disturbed by the casual control of his body that this Illusion Room displayed as he probably should be.

The scroll only confirmed the information that he already knew from the interrogation of the other examinees. He was to finish walking this path and to find the cause of the disappearances around the region. People, mostly the insane and the homeless, had been vanishing from their homes and from the streets and finally, someone had taken enough notice to send out an investigation.

He was just about to set one foot in front of the other to begin his hike up the hill when a sound distracted him. A rustling from the grass to his right which was tall enough to reach his chest. He jumped back and put his hands up in a fighting pose only to lower them again when he beheld the scrawny ragged man who stumbled out of the bushes.

"They're doing horrible things, I can't stay, leave me alone!" the man shouted at Xiao with wild eyes as he ran past him. Too surprised to hold out an arm and stop the man by grabbing onto his clothing, Xiao simply stood there as the calls of, "Don't talk to me, don't talk to me, don't talk to me," faded into the distance.

While all of this had been slightly disconcerting, he didn't think that this was necessarily the part that had made people give up yet. He narrowed his eyes. Which meant that the true horror was still to come.

He steeled himself and started walking up the road, trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever challenges would come his way. Already his journey to the Mad Monks Sect had been incredibly arduous, he was sure that he could handle this challenge as well.

His opinion didn't change much as he finished traversing the path towards the building on the hill. Neither did it change much when he chose to commit to a more stealthy approach and went through the dark forest surrounding his target to get closer. However, when he was hiding out at the line which demarcated the forest from the lawn before the building, he was starting to see signs of how exactly this was not going to be a pleasant experience.

He grit his teeth as he saw through one of the brightly lit windows how a bunch of human shadows ganged up on one another to tear them to pieces.

He knew everything that was to come up until this point, but it was very much different when one saw it by oneself. He hadn't travelled a lot by night since that was when the unpleasant things came out, so already that made him a bit discomforted. The casually shown murder did not make him feel any better.

Nevertheless, Xiao slowly but surely walked around the property, avoiding the main gate as best he could. There was supposed to be a way to enter the building more stealthily somewhere around here. He eventually found a hole in a wall on the second floor. It seemed that it was being renovated and that if one knew the basics of climbing one could grapple up.

Patting his hands together he grabbed at the exposed red brick of the mansion and started pulling himself up, finding easy footholds as he did so, as if they had been placed there specifically for him. The implication was naturally that this path had been provided by whoever had made this illusion, specifically to enter the house.

Xiao couldn't quite shake the feeling that he was just a puppet dancing to the tune of another.

The room that he entered had been broken apart as if by a raging beast. It seemed like the chairs and tables had been thrown violently at the walls. Rolls of parchment were scattered on the floor and there were bloody fingernail markings, or rather claw markings on the half-wooden half-brick walls. Reluctantly, Xiao, knowing that he had to investigate this facility, walked slowly and carefully out of the room.

The corridors that he exited into with their odd architecture were mercifully empty, although the rather horrendous amounts of blood pooling on the floor and splattered on the walls meant one couldn't truly appreciate the difference.

He began exploring slowly but surely until he reached the first intersection from where he took a left. Seeing past the open door of a room on his way he saw more scrolls. Deciding that it was better to know more than less he entered the room, only for the magical torch that had been illuminating it to flicker out. The light and the building were provided by a series of what looked to be small blue flames trapped in some sort of glass shell hovering in the air in the middle of the room. This one didn't work and knowing that he couldn't read in the dark he was just about to turn around when control of his hand was once again granted to some other entity. He held up a red lens to his face, over his eye to be more specific and suddenly he could see. Although his sight was weird as if everything was cast through a murky glass of water. Nevertheless, he picked up the nearest scroll.

Apparently, the lens that he was currently using also allowed him to see enough to read. He started browsing through what must have been diagnostic reports talking about bronchial infections and migraines.

There was also something more.

Subject exhibits extraordinary amounts of distress when faced with liquids as if afraid that everything they are to consume is poisoned. Weirdly, while this might indicate that the subject had been poisoned before upon further analysis it was discovered that the subject had drowned his sister at birth to preserve food for his family knowing that his parents didn't have the strength to do so. The liquid in this case seems to evoke a profound sense of guilt and disquiet and is thus avoided. The likelihood of summoning compatibility is low due to a frail body, is likely to die.

There were dozens of such scrolls.

Subject exhibits a near-religious following of military doctrine, and if commands are phrased as if coming from a superior officer of the same military structure they are followed quite regularly. The subject also believes to be clairvoyant in some sense, although all of the testing done due to this has indicated no such ability or even potential to develop it. The subject did remove the skin of their forehead to, as they said, allow their third eye to see better. Compatibility is likely high as insanity is not self-inflicted through traumatic actions but seems to come from somewhere deeper.

If nothing else the short break had provided him with more context, he now knew why it had been the insane being targeted for the disappearances in the region. Apparently, it hadn't been only because they would be less missed. It had been because their insanity in some way made them compatible for some sort of summoning, which was worrying. This was starting to look more and more like the work of a demonic sect, or at least what he'd heard of them… Evil cultivators trying to attain immortality and power in ways that broke the laws of the heavens. Blood sacrifices, demon summoning and killing other lawful cultivators for their possessions and bodies.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice and had to continue, he exited the room with the scrolls and continued onwards thankfully meeting no one. He found a canteen, with food spilt on the floor and more blood, a corpse in the corner. It had been wearing a black robe which was now completely soaked through. Someone had gone to the effort of removing the head. He didn't see it anywhere so he didn't know what they'd done with it.

"Shit," he muttered and continued exploring, eventually finding that he appeared to be alone in this particular wing of the building and that it was blocked off from the rest by a collapsed ceiling. Looking up he managed to spot a hole into which a human could probably crawl if they contorted themselves properly. It must have been some sort of air circulation system, he guessed. Taking a running start and jumping up he barely managed to clasp his fingers around the edge and pull himself up only to find that he had severely overestimated the size of the shaft.

Putting his arms by his side, he slowly moved forward in the darkness by wiggling his body like a worm, the space enclosing. He started hearing more noises the further he went. It was the sound of dying animals, or in this case, dying humans, which rung against the metal construct he was currently working his way through.

He took the first exit he could find, having started to feel sublimely claustrophobic. Using the lens he found that he was in what appeared to be a library with more scrolls and books this time, however, there was also more blood and it was there that he heard a gurgle and a gasp. Making his way past several corpses wearing black robes, lying on the floor in different states of mutilation he found to his surprise someone that was still alive.

Xiao locked eyes with the man who was hung from the ceiling by what seemed to be a rope at first glance but which upon a second revealed itself to be an intestinal tract removed from the man's very own stomach. He did his best to not puke as the man's weirdly coloured eyes informed him more than any words could how much he wished to be released from his suffering.

The survivor brought up a shaky arm to his neck and shoved a finger between the rope-like intestine and their neck. "The variants, they've escaped. Summoning was a success, report back, run," the man said before his eyes closed and he sacked together to hang limply from the rafters. Dead.

Xiao left the library trying to parse the word variant and what it might mean. A variant of what they'd summoned? He put down the lens which he noted seemed to have a little bar in the bottom right corner indicating how much energy it had left. He didn't know how he knew that but he assumed that this was connected to what he'd heard about cultivation artefacts sometimes needing to be powered by spirit stones.

He exited the library into a large square-like corridor with large windows surrounding a gigantic room, however before he could try to look he suddenly had to duck down as he saw from his peripheral vision a man dressed in beige blood-splattered robes walking through the corridor and entering a room on the other side, closing the door behind him.

Putting a hand up to his wildly beating heart, Xiao started crawling on all fours around the corridor, passing the room the man had disappeared into and continuing onwards to see where he had come from. Variants, summoning, insane people, it all had to fit together somehow. He just had to continue investigating and escape.

After a bit more crawling he suddenly found himself blocked by a large wall erected in the middle of the corridor composed entirely of different pieces of furniture. Just as he was about to see if he could squeeze through, he heard what must have been an elephant rushing up behind him.

"Little pig!"

Xiao's blood froze in his veins and he instinctively tried to jump onto the furniture to see if he could climb over it when a hand suddenly grasped him from behind by the neck and he was shaken like a rag doll. Two rough large lacerated hands turned him around as he struggled and found himself staring into the mutilated face of a large and fat man missing the skin on his forehead and around his mouth and grinning happily. The man heaved and threw Xiao to the side with another shout of, "Little pig!" The glass that Xiao was thrown against broke and as he fell he glimpsed a view of the room below. Then he landed, his bones rattling as if trying to escape his body and more pain than ever before erupting through his being.

He realised that from the descriptions of those who had failed, this was where they'd given up. This meant that from now on he didn't know anything anymore, not that the small amount of knowledge that he'd had had helped him any.

The option of leaving the Illusion Room hung heavily at the back of his mind as the pain wracked his body, reaching if anything higher levels as his adrenaline subsided slightly.

He refused to bow, however. Vengeance drove him and wasn't so easily extinguished. This wouldn't be enough to stop him.

He passed out.

Chapter 19: Perspective Switching

"This is a bit awkward," Elder Zhang said while coughing into his fist.

Sect leader Shen and Elder Kwang shared a look before giving the eyebrow equivalent of a full-body shrug. Jin meanwhile just sighed. He hadn't really expected it to happen like this. Still, considering that this was to his knowledge the first time an Illusion Room was being used to select outer disciples it made sense that he couldn't predict exactly how it would go.

It started well enough, just as he'd expected. A bunch of brutes had forced their way to the front only to find that muscles were not what was going to bring them through this particular challenge. They failed, screamed, ran away and told the other participants approximately what to expect. The issue started after the teenager in the blue robes had jumped forward for some reason to get access to the Room...

Almost nobody was using the other four Illusion Rooms

The boy was currently still managing to hang on and was in fact the participant that had done so the longest. However, people watching this were actually making a decision that Jin hadn't expected. They were simply watching the boy stand there with shaking limbs and a pale face, sweat running down his brow. Presumably they were waiting for this boy, who had been until now the most successful examinee to fail so they could get more information out of him before trying themselves.

Sure every now and again someone else walked up to an Illusion Room only to fall down screaming after barely a few minutes. But, at the rate this was going, they were going to be standing here for days, if not weeks.

"It's quite clear that if we continue using this as an exam, we will have to change the structure," Sect Leader Shen mused.

"Perhaps not explain to them what they will be doing, making them think that it's real... Touch the room through a hole in the wall," Jin muttered thoughtfully. "And isolate them so they can't start thinking too much about the information advantage they gain by waiting."

"It's definitely something to consider once we know more about the situation, but I imagine we must first see how today ends before making any conclusive decisions," the sect leader decided wisely.

"That boy though. He's doing quite well isn't he?" Elder Kwang piped up for once having something positive to say.

"He's sweating and shaking much less than those that had failed in the end and he's been under for much longer," Elder Zhang commented. "I'm curious which part of the scenario he is in currently," he mused.

-/-

Xiao was currently blindly touching his way through the sewers desperately trying to avoid the madmen he was trapped in there with.

That blasted Father Martin might have provided some useful information, but the fact that he'd destroyed the sealing mechanisms of the front door of the building and of the lights made any good impression a bad one.

Having to find those spirit stones just to be able to see… He could feel how with every single sound around him his heart almost jumped out of his throat and his brain threatened to explode from sheer stress and anxiety.

Thoughts about the demonic entity, the Walrider that the demonic cultivators of this so-called Murkoff sect had been trying to summon as either a weapon or a tool to achieve immortality swirled in his mind, further driving him mad from the implication that he could at some point actually be faced with a dark god of some sort.

A metallic clang suddenly came from behind him.

Not bothering to turn around, knowing that he wouldn't see anything he could only hope at this point that whoever had made the sound would not be able to see him either. Rather than run away which had been one of his first mistakes, his feet having caused sound which had gotten him chased by the demented screams of the inmates, he dropped to the floor in a fetal position to make himself a smaller target.

Tears started streaming down his face as he forcefully shoved a fist into his mouth to prevent any sound from escaping him involuntarily as shambling feet walked past him, so close to his position that he could almost taste the decaying wretched blood undoubtedly sticking to whoever was moving. There were only murderers left at this point.

The feet stopped and his heart skipped a beat as another metallic sound ran through the darkness. As if the person was holding an iron rod they were using to touch around themselves.

What felt like hours passed, but it must have been only a few seconds before the steps continued and the beleaguered breathing and shuffling went out of Xiao's hearing range. Despite this, he laid there for a bit more trying to gather whatever wits he still had, unfortunately having to admit that he was just one more bad interaction away from a full-blown heart attack.

-/-

"I imagine he's at the point where he figured out some of the underlying history behind the demonic sect," Jin mused. "I wonder if he's enjoying the lore. Frankly, it has quite a lot of effort put into it and if you really bother reading it sounds quite interesting doesn't it?" he asked in the air

-/-

Strapped down onto a chair with wheels, Xiao struggled against his bindings as the mad abomination of a variant calling himself Trager cut off two of his fingers and started talking about how his tongue and his genitals were going to be next. His muffled screams failed to burst past the gag in his mouth as his eyes rolled to the back of his head threatening complete unconsciousness once again.

But, he had to stay awake. He had to perservere. He had to keep fighting because if he didn't fight for himself now then no one would fight for the rights of mortals in the future and no one would be there to take revenge on the Baos and on the...

-/-

"I have to admit inner disciple Jin that the psychology and the human decision-making required for the scenario were quite well researched and used," Elder Zhang complimented. "Despite all of the nastiness of the business, of which I have seen a lot in all of my millennia as a warrior, I cannot help but feel that the people taking this exam today will be able to take some valuable lessons from it even if they do not pass. I've always thought that Illusion Rooms held an educational potential that wasn't being fully tapped and while I don't necessarily think that this is realising that to its maximum, I cannot imagine that the young boy taking the exam and succeeding unlike all of the other failures managing barely 20 minutes is not appreciating at least some of the horrible beauty of your product."

-/-

Mutilated and mentally scarred Xiao stood in the cell in which that crazy bastard Martin, who'd turned off the lights and the sealing array had crucified himself to the wall to prove some sort of point. That he was the chosen prophet of this Walrider monster the demonic cultivators had been trying to summon and which was now roaming these very halls haunting him just like the variants created through contact with the creature.

The stumps of his two fingers itched and the many lacerations and broken bones that he was currently suffering from clawed at every atom of his being. But nothing was worse than his mind which was screaming for release which he couldn't grant without sacrificing the mission that he had come here for.

Father Martin erupted in flames after he gave Xiao one last key. Hopefully, this help wouldn't come with the negative side-effects of the man's other efforts.

-/-

"Is he coming out?" Jin exclaimed as he noticed the boy in the blue robes moving and shaking his head sporadically. "He's already been in there for hours, he should be done no?" he asked excitedly.

"Unless he gave up just at the end. After all, they don't know how long this whole thing takes so they may not push through," Elder Zhang muttered. "Perhaps that was a bit of a sadistic choice in hindsight," he added.

"One of them passed," Elder Kwang commented as the boy, ignoring the shouted questions and the grasping hands of the other examinees passed through the purple light of the wooden gate only to collapse once on the other side.

"One in 31 of those who have attempted have passed now?" Elder Zhang muttered.

"I feel it is unlikely that any of the rest will succeed," sect leader Shen said decisively as he looked down at the remaining examinees, only one of whom was actually attempting the Illusion Room. One could see from their faces that they were all without a single exception terrified out of their minds.

"They hadn't even experienced the scenario so how exactly did that qualify to feel fear?" Jin complained to himself. "The longer they wait to try the more scared they get," he concluded. "And the longer they wait, the more likely it is that they are the type of people who easily get scared which is not necessarily what's going to help them pass this kind of test."

"Is the boy alright?" Elder Zhang asked abruptly and they turned their collective attention to their only new outer disciple who had fallen to his knees as his limbs apparently failed him. He slowly but surely curled up in a position in which he was hugging his knees to his chest and with their advanced senses they could hear that he was taking incredibly short and rapid breaths.

"He's having a panic attack," Jin realized. "It's when the body encounters too much stress and shuts down. To think that he fought it off just to get through this, perhaps I should congratulate him in person after we're done here.

"It would be good for him to meet his benefactor," Elder Zhang replied.

"After all, who knows if he would have passed the other possible tests. He should be rather grateful that it turned out to be something that he was suited for."

-/-

Shudders ran through Xiao's body as he hugged his knees to his chest as hard as he could. From the edge of his vision, he could see all of the other examinees screaming at him to tell them what he had experienced, however, none of them rushed to the other side of the gate by going around it, too afraid of the retribution from the cultivators.

Short breaths racked his body as the full stress of the experience fell on him like a whole quarry of stones. Keeping it all in as he'd gone through the nightmare was now coming to bite him. He felt like he was going to die here and now. His heart was beating at a rate that he had never thought possible before, faster than the wings of a fly.

He couldn't believe that he had apparently passed, mind still stuck on the horrors he'd witnessed

He felt short of breath despite the amount of breathing he was doing and any second now he knew he would pass out. He tried to calm himself trying to preserve a good image for his new sect but inevitably failed.

It had simply been too much. Darkness took him.

-/-

"I think we can end it here," Sect Leader Shen mused after the most recent person who had been attempting the Illusion Room failed and no one was willing to take their place.

Elder Kwang scoffed down at the examinees. "Only 33 of them were even brave enough to attempt. How would they have cultivated with such a lacking mindset?"

Jin meanwhile was looking down at the still passed-out disciple of the Mad Monks Sect. They hadn't bothered going down to help him and transport him somewhere else, so he was still lying there. They could hear his breath and when did laying on some soft grass really hurt someone?

His gaze then turned towards the mass of people who were all looking at the floating Illusion Rooms but who were apparently unable to bring up the courage to actually touch them. He wondered how he would have fared with this exam in their place.

The answer was probably that he wouldn't have come here in the first place. And then when here, he never would have been willing to work through something so nauseating just to pass.

Secondly, even if he had made up his mind and tried his best there was still a very distinct possibility of failure, he realized now that he was looking at the examinees. His current view of this situation was slightly distorted.

These were mortals unused to magic and most certainly unused to Illusion Rooms. What did they know about the death not being permanent, that the injuries would fade and that the scars would leave them after they finished the scenario. To mortals, this was probably all just a bunch of voodoo that would steal their souls. After all, the educational level of this world was quite low for those who couldn't afford the best tutors.

"With such a ratio, with one new disciple a year, assuming that none of them ever fall prey to the madness then we will just about hit replacement levels," Elder Zhang said, almost sounding as if to him the experiment was a success.

"We will simply have to see with time if indeed none of them succumb. Or at least if fewer of them will," Elder Kwang agreed. "How long should we administer the test before checking back to see the numbers?" he asked aloud.

"Not too long. It seems it was quite stressful even for those who failed after all," sect leader Shen answered. "I think a hundred years should do it. By then all of the new outer disciples will have gotten the time to either shine or not."

Jin closed his eyes and mentally apologised for all of the future mortals who would be brutalised by his creation. 'I'm sorry,' he said in his mind. 'You would thank me if you knew what fate you avoided had you gotten in without the prerequisite mental resistance.'

The exam ended with 32 traumatised mortals, almost twice as many cowards and with one new outer disciple.

-/-

Xiao awoke from a land of nightmares, however rather than opening his eyes with a gasp he kept them closed. He could remember the code that he had received at the end of the scenario and passing through the barrier, but if it had all been a lie created by his own mind to soothe him then he didn't want to open his eyes and see that he had been wrong.

"You're awake?" A voice suddenly said from beside him and it was filled with such peace and calm that Xiao immediately realised his nightmare was over. his eyelids fluttered open and immediately closed again at the bright light that irritated them.

"Take your time. You are safe," the voice said again.

Listening to the advice, Xiao slowly but surely started moving his body from his toes to his fingertips and noticed no irregularities. His eyes opened gradually, slowly adjusting to the level of light and once they had fully done so he beheld a calming wooden ceiling rather than the brutal weird architecture that he had been inhabiting for the past hours, or days, he did not know.

"Did I pass?" Was the first question out of his mouth.

"Yes, but unfortunately you also passed out after doing so. You are now currently on the mountain in the outer disciple ring. The infirmary, more specifically. It is empty so you may speak as you wish, we don't have many injuries in the sect," the voice said.

Xiao looked to the side wishing to put a face to the words and saw an androgynous-looking man wearing the burnt orange robes that he knew by now. By his side sat the young man with evil bags under his eyes and a sadistic countenance. Xiao immediately recognized him as one of the cultivators who had judged him during the exam. The man simply gave him a brief nod, seemingly distracted by something.

He seemed kinder somehow, as if now that Xiao was someone who was going to be a cultivator instead of a mortal he had gained something of value in his eyes.

Xiao scoffed internally but didn't let displeasure show on his face.

"I am Shen," the monk introduced himself. "May I ask how you feel?" he asked.

"I feel fine," Xiao replied after a few seconds with a surprised tone of voice.

The man who had not yet given his name once again nodded absentmindedly. "The trauma is most likely mental not physical. Although from what you experienced it could be that the former will show up as the latter, if you are a person so inclined to phantom stress," he said in a raspy unused voice.

Xiao suddenly remembered something and slightly bowed his head. "Xiao Yung greets seniors," he said.

The two cultivators by his bedside shared a glance before shrugging, both bowing their heads as well. "Shen greets Junior," the monk said.

"Jin greets Junior," the other one said. "Although I should inform you now that you are not my junior and I am not your senior because I'm in fact not from the Mad Monks Sect, but simply a visitor."

"More than a visitor," Shen interjected with a small smile. He turned to Xiao. "He is an inner disciple of the Illusion Room Sect and is the one who developed the scenario that you underwent."

The blood in Xiao's veins ran cold and he felt a spasm starting to emerge in his stomach. He clenched all of his muscles to fight back and managed to calm himself down but closed his eyes so the pair wouldn't notice the irregularity.

The twisted and sick mind that had come up with the nightmare that was likely to haunt him for the rest of his life was in the same room as him and yet it was at a time when he was still too weak to do anything about it. Under the covers, Xiao clenched his fists and grit teeth.

"I know that you are likely not feeling very generous in terms of opinion for the person who created the scenario that you underwent yesterday, but I can assure you that it was not his plan to create something like that, but simply something the sect commissioned," Shen suddenly said, perhaps noticing his discomfort. "I will not get into the particular reasons why something like this is necessary as it will be a part of what you will learn later, but suffice it to say that mortals should suffer and fail now than to meet the potentially disastrous consequences of becoming disciples of our sect but not having the mental fortitude necessary to complete the cultivation process."

Xiao belatedly listened to the explanation but realised that he was shutting down from all the information flying at him. He felt like an ant in a tempest. Inconsequential, small and weak.

"Just as a question," Jin spoke up, ignoring the atmosphere. "While I certainly made what I did out of the desire of others. I am still a professional at heart so out of the one person who succeeded in the test of mental toughness… How ready do you feel to challenge the endless path of cultivation? Death, hard work, eternity working towards a goal you may never reach. How do these things make you feel? What is your attitude towards the life of suffering and discipline you are about to undergo?"

Xiao had never really thought about what he would do after he joined the sect because he didn't have enough knowledge to even set up a reasonable expectation. However, if he was being asked this question now after what he just experienced. He smirked knowing that it was an ugly smile unfitting on his face. "The scenario definitely brought me to the limits of my capacity, but I feel like I could have kept going for longer. I'm only resting now because I have the privilege to do so, so I can face future challenges in a better state. I'm going to cultivate, I'm going to ascend and I'm going to change the world into what it should have been changed into long ago," he answered, staring Jin directly in the eyes and not seeing any shift in opinion from his statement.

He'd been trying in a way to tell the man and perhaps the Mad Monks Sect as well, that in the future it was going to be him dictating how things were going to go around here.

The two senior disciples didn't have much of a reaction to his exclamation, simply exchanging an amused look.

Jin stood up and clapped his hands together as if to remove dust from his palm. "You got a good egg here, lots of willpower. I think he will go far as long as he doesn't… slip," he said and turned around to walk away. "And anyway, I still have one more scenario to finish then I'll be out of your hair," he said before chuckling, nobody at the Mad Monks Sect had any hair.

Xiao's eyes followed the beige-clad figure until he exited the room. 'Inner disciple Jin of the Illusion Room Sect,' Xiao thought to himself. 'I will remember you.'