A green bird, about one meter in length, appeared flying beside Rylan, leaving the crowd stunned.
"Is this kid a beast tamer? When did a beast tamer show up here?"
These were some of the most heard questions, but no one delved deeper. Everyone continuing the test had some secret.
"Rylan!" Lucy ran up to him, inspecting him from head to toe. "So your talent is beast taming? What a lucky bastard! Unlike my photographic memory, this seems much more useful."
"What are you looking at?" Rylan asked with a smile, then added, "Shall we go?" He headed toward the spatial rift.
"Yes, but I don't think we'll fall together. The transport here is random," Lucy replied, following him.
"Oh, then try not to die and pass the test," Rylan said, patting Lucy on the shoulders, who was taller than him.
"What do you think I am? I have my own tricks, kid. This test will be easy," Lucy boasted.
Rylan ignored the comment and continued forward when the White Devil stopped him and said:
"Don't die, kid. Since you're valued by Old Wu, your future won't be ordinary. Don't overexert yourself."
"Thanks."
He waved and entered the spatial rift, followed by Yell and Lucy, who was desperately chasing him.
"Hey, brat, don't leave me talking to myself!" Lucy shouted, watching Rylan disappear from sight.
---
Crossing through the rift, Rylan immediately felt a wave of nausea. It was his first time being transported this way, and the motion sickness hit him hard. Struggling not to vomit, he felt something even more unsettling: an unbearable heat rising from his feet.
"Hot... Hot!" He let out an involuntary scream, feeling as if the soles of his feet were on fire. His skin began to redden, and the discomfort grew worse by the second. Desperate, his only thought was to use cultivation to resist the pain.
Meanwhile, Yell, who was beside him, remained calm. He seemed to float in the sky.
"What the hell, carry me, bird!" Rylan said, jumping onto Yell's back. He grumbled but didn't protest — after all, he was the firstborn.
Once mounted on Yell, Rylan no longer felt the burning in his feet. He sighed in relief and began to observe the environment: a lifeless desert with nothing but a fiery yellow ground.
"So, this is the Burning Desert. Hey, Yell, do you know where to find the crystal for this test? After all, you live here at the academy."
Yell nodded and searched his memories, finding some information related to the Infernal Realm. He transmitted the details to Rylan.
"The four crystals... They form in special environments of the Infernal Realm. The desert crystal can be found in a mine, the fire crystal at the top of a volcano, the ice crystal in the glaciers, and the blood crystal in the core of the underwater beasts in the Red Lake."
Receiving the information, Rylan began planning the next steps. He decided to explore the three less dangerous regions first, leaving the Red Lake for last.
"Yell, go ahead, try to find the mine," he ordered the bird and sat in a lotus position. He took out a bottle from his white tunic, seeing the golden pill that Old Wu had given him, and decided to begin cultivating.
Placing the bottle in his mouth, he tilted his head back, letting the pill fall straight into his throat, swallowing it. He felt the substance enter his body, dissolving quickly.
At first, the sensation was comfortable, but soon he felt a sharp pain in his bones. It was as if he were breaking and rebuilding himself.
"This hurts so much," he murmured, gritting his teeth with all his might to avoid shouting. 'This is just the beginning of my journey, how can I scream from this little pain?'
He thought and began to perform the natural breathing method, focusing on refining the energy.
After some time, he felt his bones regenerating and a growing sense of power. He had reached the intermediate stage of the Human Spiritual Realm.
To test his strength, Rylan decided to leap off Yell's back. With an agile push, he dove straight toward the ground. The height seemed to be at least three meters, but he didn't hesitate.
Upon hitting the ground, his feet found the earth with precision. His muscles contracted, and with a quick, balanced motion, he absorbed the impact, distributing the weight throughout his body.
The soles of his feet touched the firm ground, no longer feeling that hellish burn. He smiled, satisfied — his current strength was enough to resist the Burning Desert.
After testing his resilience, he continued to test his speed.
Not wasting any time, he quickly straightened, bent his knees, and pushed off the ground with force. In an instant, he was moving, running with impressive speed.
The yellow ground crumbled beneath his feet, and soon he was moving as fast as a car reaching 120 km/h.
"This is so good. Cultivation is amazing. At the intermediate stage, I'm already this fast. Imagine at the higher stages?"
He laughed, feeling the soft breeze on his face as he maintained the speed. He even raced with Yell, who was above him, keeping up for a while.
Eventually, he got tired. Humans have less stamina than monsters.
He fell to the ground, but his face still showed great joy. He even looked up at the sky, which at that moment was orange, like fire.
'These little empty worlds are so mysterious and interesting... But one day I'll unravel their secrets, and those of the Celestial Star planet as well, and explore the starry sky. My path is exploration and the search for power. What could be more incredible than that?' he thought, smiling.
Yell, who was above, descended as well and began thinking about increasing his own strength. 'I'll show those big guys in the forest that even small animals can become great figures. With the help of the firstborn, I'll embark on an imaginary path.'
After both reflected, they set off toward the mine to complete the first test.
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Author's Note: I think this new version fits in the novel, and my MC is no longer acting bipolar. His personality is evolving slowly, and my writing is improving. If you enjoy these new rewritten chapters, vote with power stones to motivate this author and increase the number of chapters per day.