The world around Xu Tian shifted again. The darkness, which had once seemed impenetrable, now felt strangely familiar, as though it had become a part of him. His pulse thrummed in time with the pulse of the void, as though the very fabric of reality were attuned to his presence.
After the trial of perception, the world seemed both vast and suffocating, full of possibilities yet filled with unseen dangers. For the first time in his life, Xu Tian felt like he was standing at the precipice of something enormous. He had passed two trials, but deep inside, he knew that the hardest challenges were yet to come.
The voice echoed again, this time carrying a note of quiet anticipation.
> "The third trial awaits. It is the trial of the storm. Do you have the strength to endure the chaos?"
A whirlwind of energy suddenly enveloped Xu Tian, the force of it pulling at his very being. The air thickened and cracked, and lightning streaked through the void, illuminating jagged formations of rock and swirling tendrils of wind. A storm had appeared, fierce and unforgiving, tearing at the landscape with unrelenting fury.
Xu Tian steadied himself, his feet planted firmly on the ground. He could feel the chaos, the swirling energy that threatened to tear him apart. This wasn't just a physical storm—it was a storm of the mind, a trial designed to test not his body, but his very soul.
In the distance, through the raging tempest, he saw figures emerging from the storm—shadows of men and women, each one a reflection of something he had once feared. They moved toward him with purpose, their forms hazy and indistinct. The wind howled in his ears, but Xu Tian focused, forcing his mind to center.
As the figures drew nearer, Xu Tian could make out the features of their faces—his own face, twisted with rage and anguish. The storm seemed to be manifesting his darkest thoughts, his deepest fears, the parts of him that he had buried. It was as though the trial was pulling these emotions from him and giving them shape.
One figure reached out to him, its face a distorted mask of bitterness.
> "You are nothing," it hissed, its voice carrying the weight of every insult he had ever received. "You are weak. You will always be weak."
Xu Tian gritted his teeth, the words stinging like venom. He had heard them before—Liu Wei, the villagers, the voice of his parents—echoes of mockery, disdain, and abandonment. The trial was trying to drag him down, to break his resolve with these words. But he refused to let them control him.
Another figure emerged from the storm, this one even more familiar. His mother's face, twisted in sorrow, wept before him.
> "You failed me," she whispered, her voice shaking with disappointment. "You were supposed to be better. You were supposed to be strong."
The words were like daggers, slicing through his chest. Xu Tian's heart ached, and for a moment, he faltered. The pain of abandonment, of losing his parents, surged within him. His hands trembled, and his mind reeled, but in the midst of the storm, a single thought broke through.
He was not the child who had been abandoned. He was not the boy who had been forgotten. He was Xu Tian, the one who had defied fate itself.
With a growl, he reached deep into his core, pulling the flickering qi that had once ignited in his chest. The storm crackled and roared, but Xu Tian stood tall, refusing to bow to the illusions before him. The figures continued to advance, their words becoming more vicious, but with each step they took toward him, Xu Tian's resolve solidified. He was not the person they were trying to make him be.
"I am not weak," Xu Tian said, his voice steady and powerful, despite the chaos surrounding him. "I am not broken. And I will never give in to fear again."
The words seemed to pierce the storm, creating a ripple in the air. The figures hesitated, their movements slowing. The harsh winds seemed to falter, and the lightning no longer cracked so loudly. Xu Tian's heart beat like a drum, the rhythm steady, unshaken.
With a roar, he extended his hands, drawing the storm's energy toward him, bending the chaotic winds to his will. The dark clouds rumbled in fury, but Xu Tian stood firm, the energy of the storm swirling around him, his qi rising to meet it.
> "I am the one who will shape my destiny!" he shouted, and in that moment, the storm exploded outward in a violent burst of energy.
The figures of doubt and fear were obliterated, dissolving into nothingness. The storm began to dissipate, the winds dying down, the thunder fading into silence. Xu Tian stood amidst the calm, his body shaking with the aftershocks of the trial, but his heart was steady. His mind was clear.
The voice, once distant and cold, now spoke again, its tone different—almost impressed.
> "You have passed the third trial. You are stronger than you know."
Xu Tian took a deep breath, the weight of the storm still pressing against him, but he no longer felt afraid. He had faced his fears, not just the external ones, but the ones within himself. The storm had been a reflection of his own inner turmoil, and he had emerged from it victorious.
But even as the trial ended, he knew that the path ahead was still long. He had gained strength, yes, but there were still more challenges to face, more trials to overcome. The Dao had promised him that the journey would not be easy, and Xu Tian was beginning to understand just how true that promise was.
As the storm faded into nothingness, he stepped forward, his resolve firm. The trials had not broken him; they had forged him into something more. Something greater.
And he was only just beginning.