by M. Q. Kajack
She unleashed her sword and moved toward me, executing a movement technique called Cloud Steps. She was floating as she hovered toward me. I didn’t dare to underestimate her movement technique—it was fast, but it was clear that she was not used to fighting at all. She lacked the experience. Besides, my body, boosted with Qi cultivation, could match a normal Core Foundation 1st Rank. With that, Lu Xin became slow to the point that I could crush her instantly. Her technique was great, I could see that, but it was clearly a flashy movement without substance or great improvement in speed. I guessed it was a Core art which she didn’t use properly. In fact, Li Qi was faster than she was.
I didn’t want to embarrass her anymore, so I slapped her face and sent her flying.
“You are not a worthy opponent. Your technique is inferior to these four, yet you are so arrogant and mighty. Go home and train some more.” I could not stand this kind of attitude. I did not want to kill her. She could be a potential problem, so I needed to get smart and play low. This kind of place could bring me too many enemies. I didn’t want to attract trouble.
“So strong...” You Ye exclaimed, her mouth hanging open in awe.
“Not again. This silly girl, always drooling over strong men,” Chu Xian said with a grimace.
“You Ye, control yourself,” Xiao Wu whispered to her. It worked as You Ye recovered her composure.
“Let’s go,” I said.
We ran in the direction of the city, leaving Lu Xin behind. This time, moving closer to it worked.
When nighttime arrived, everyone was tired. As we needed to increase the distance between us and the other sects, we had been traveling the entire day, giving us no time to discuss.
The four youths bombarded me with questions, but I also had lots of my own. The conversation turned confusing.
Thankfully, a sentence was enough to silence them.
“I can kill all of you anytime,” I said.
Shu Yi and Shu Er laughed. These two really knew me. If I did want to kill them, they would be dead by now. Thanks to their laughter, the four youths took my words as a joke.
“Where are we?” I asked. This was my primary question.
“We are inside the Ancient Ruins, a trial among sects. Currently, we are competing to see who among us can complete more stages and get the buried treasure. But... who are you?”
“You can call me Ye Bai. These two are Shu Yi and Shu Er, my maids,” I said.
“So... how did you get in here? We didn’t see you pass the other trails and in the Ancient Ruins, First Level people over eighteen years old cannot take part,” Chu Xian asked.
I thought for a bit. “This is really the Sect Trials? But why are the people from the other countries here? Your cultivations are way above what I heard.”
This was a little confusing. Did Ye Qing give me the wrong information? They looked at me, confusion etched on their faces.
I frowned. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
“This is the Inner Sect Trials. We are the top outer disciples from our sects. These trials are used for top outer disciples to access the Inner Sect. It’s only for Qi Refining stage, those under Core Foundation. As Chu Xian said, only people below eighteen years old can take part. So, for your maids, it’s impossible to be here. That was why we thought you were puppets,” Li Qi explained.
“Wait, you guys are saying you got teleported here because of the Inner Sect Trials? I want to apply as an outer disciple...” This confused me.
You Ye stood, stunned. “You are not from any sect?”
“You Ye, calm down. He must be from some big house,” Li Qi explained. You Ye was far too excited, as if she wanted to marry me right away.
“I got no family. I’m an orphan.”
“Eh?”
Their minds went blank. This fourteen-year-old boy sent Lu Xin flying like nothing, yet he didn’t come from any sect and he had no family background at all... Wasn’t this guy lying?
“Xiao Wu, you can tell if someone is lying. Is this guy saying the truth?” asked Li Qi in disbelief.
“He’s telling the truth.”
That is an interesting power, being able to know when someone is telling the truth.
“I was in a forest, then I entered a cave and a transfer array brought me here. We almost died during the transfer—that was how my maids got seriously injured. So, can you please explain properly what is going on?”
“You are already at Qi Refining Peak, so you can be automatically considered as an outer member. There was no need for you to do the test the moment you broke through the Qi Refining stage,” Chu Xian pointed out.
I unleashed my aura and my cultivation got revealed: Qi Refining, 5th Rank.
The four of them coughed.
“What kind of monster are you? Fuck, how can you be so strong when you are only at the 5th Rank?”
“I was born like this...”
The four youths looked shocked at my admission. After they recovered, I went back to the previous topic before I startled them with my impressive strength. The only thing that bothered me was Shu Yi’s and Shu Er’s angry faces. Maybe, they were jealous of You Ye, who sat very close to me.
“Anyway, we aren’t sure. Let me explain everything from the start. The Seeking Continent is split into five countries: North, South, East, West, and Central. There is a rumor that there exists a sixth country called Sky Country, but no one has ever found it. No one is clear, but many people claimed that this Ancient Ruins is related to the history of the entire Seeking Continent. Every five years, in each country, an entrance to the Ancient Ruins will appear. The Ancient Ruins is split into several levels with various tests in them. Every test was different, and during the years, there were too many combinations. It was impossible to guess what would happen in them. There were three levels: for those under Core Foundation, under Nascent Soul, and under Spirit King. It was said that an ancestor uncovered some mysteries and made the Ancient Ruins into the Sect Trials with these tokens.” Xiao Wu, who explained everything, showed me a token.
“So the sects from each country decide to use the ancestor’s method and test their disciples every five years using the Ancient Ruins. Outer disciples from the sects will go to the first Ancient Ruin level. If they succeed and become part of the top ten, only then can they become inner disciples. Otherwise, for us, the only way to be an inner disciple is to breakthrough to Core Foundation directly before being thirty. It is the same for inner disciples who want to be Core Disciples. They will go to the Ancient Ruin’s second level to prove themselves using the same process. Of course, the difficulty from the first level is easier than the second level and the third. As for the third level, no one has ever tested it because it’s too dangerous and because of the rule that you can only exit if you kill someone else. There is also an age limit which most people surpass. With this restriction, the people who can get in is less and less as time passes. The age limit is eighteen years old for the first level, twenty-eight years old for the second, forty-three years old for the third.”
“Now, do you understand why we thought it was obvious that you are part of the trial? We couldn’t see your cultivation and both girls are above eighteen years old,” You Ye said.
“Are you telling us we are old?” Shu Er said, her voice rising a notch.
Both girls glared into each other’s eyes, brows furrowed, lips in a frown, sparks almost coming out with how intense they stared each other down.
I didn’t know this side of Shu Er. She easily got jealous.
The rest of us ignored both girls and resumed our discussion.
“You said the Ancient Ruins appear in each country, so does that mean all the countries fought against each other?” This point was still confusing me. If this was normal, why were these guys acting so crazy before?
Li Qi denied it with a shake of his head. “This is the first time it ever happened. Normally, we only struggle against our country’s sects. This time, for some reasons, when we all enter
ed, the other countries’ sects were also here. Aside from that, the only thing strange, so far, is you. A guy insanely strong, accompanied by two women, who knows nothing about where he is,” Li Qi said, speaking what was on his mind without stopping. He was clearly angry at himself for being so weak and allowing a kid younger than him to protect him.
“Then, where is the Ancient Ruins located?” I looked at Chu Xian who was cleaning his axe.
“It in a sealed space inside the void. That’s what a space-talented Spirit King said.”
That would explain why the System said we were outside the Seeking Continent.
I processed all the information they gave me. The Seeking Continent didn’t look like a normal continent at all. With the process of the Ancient Ruins, the impression it gave me was that it was some kind of a puzzle. Why would it appear in all the countries at the same time? If it was just one inheritance, then the stronger you were, the better. Why would it care for trivial Qi Refining stages…?
Xiao Wu shook her head. “Ye Bai, it’s not just that.”
“What do you mean?”
“In each level and test, there is some kind of secret for cultivation. Hundreds of years ago, a genius guy was at the Qi Refining Peak. He was about to break through to the first level of Core Foundation—or that was what everyone thought. His cultivation got stuck on a bottleneck. Here in the Ancient Ruins, he only reached the fifth test. Many people went past him. With him staying there, he couldn’t become an inner disciple, yet the guy only stood there silently with a smile on his face. The weird situation was that no one could understand his cultivation. The sect didn’t pay more attention as he wasn’t that special—there were a great number of geniuses that emerged each time but only a few managed to cultivate properly. The guy was long forgotten until three months later, someone who he had offended came to look for him after that enemy broke through to Core Foundation. That genius guy only needed one punch. With that one punch, even though he remained in the Qi Refining stage, his Core Foundation enemy was utterly defeated. After this incident, he only left a few words behind and disappeared. He said that the Ancient Ruins is not just a stupid and dumb test for the sects. Each test has its depth and meaning,” Xiao Wu said.
“Interesting. So that guy broke through the 10th Rank,” I said, smiling.
When they heard that, everyone, including Shu Yi and Shu Er, stopped and looked at me. You Ye jumped and threw herself at me. I could feel her bosom against my chest. She may not be as beautiful as Shu Yi and Shu Er, but she evidently had a bigger chest.
“Ye Bai! Ye Bai!” I heard their voices calling out to me.
“Oops, sorry. A beauty confused me for a second,” I teased You Ye a little.
Xiao Wu grabbed You Ye, whose face was red as a tomato and didn’t know what to do.
“Ehem! So, you said something about the 10th Rank. Care to explain?” said Li Qi. His eyes were shining; it seemed he was hungry to know what I was about to tell him.
“It’s simple. They didn’t understand his cultivation because they had never seen a 10th Rank before. He possessed a Qi base bigger than a 9th Rank, yet his body was not emanating the Core Foundation Qi. It’s actually quite a miracle for someone to reach the 10th Rank. That would explain why he could defeat a 1st Ranked Core Foundation. But based on what I know, unless that kid possessed a special constitution or bloodline, it won’t be enough to defeat a Core Foundation with only one punch.”
They were geniuses so they understood my meaning. “There is something above the 10th Rank!”
They sat cross-legged and pondered about what I told them.
Seriously, these geniuses...
“Master, what shall we do?”
It was already morning. I turned to Shu Yi, who had just woken up. “Continue onward the city. We need to reach it before the others can catch up to us.” Then, I continued to our companions. “Are you guys ready to set out? Or are you still pondering about last night’s talk?”
Their faces flushed red with shame. Last night, with the words I spoke to them, they got some little compression in their Qi, then they totally ignored me afterward.
“It’s okay, I’m a good guy. Otherwise, you’ll all be dead by now,” I reassured them, laughing a little.
Shu Yi and Shu Er were used to seeing me laugh even though my laughter was quite cruel and dark. After what I said, I could see the four youths getting a bit more serious, their bodies trembling slightly. Xiao Wu paled a little. As for You Ye, I think she felt hot. This perverted girl...
We ran as fast as we could toward the city. It was almost night time when we reached its huge dark gate. The city was enormous, but we couldn’t appreciate its finer details because it was completely covered with shadows. It was a strange sight.
An old man sat on a chair by the gate, his eyes shut closed. When we approached him, he began to talk.
“Choose life or death. This is the third test. A life or death game. Left or Right.”
What is this old man saying?
Something suddenly grabbed me, bringing me to full alert.
The old man opened his eyes: one eye was black while the other one… I didn’t get to see for I was teleported before I could even look.
“You chose death. Kill those who choose life or death will choose you.”
What is this voice talking about?
I found myself inside the city. Darkness was everywhere—thick, cold, and oppressive—making it hard to see, but fortunately, I had a Darkness Talent so my sight wasn’t hindered. Besides, with my soul’s strength, I could see everything beyond what my eyes are capable of.
Shu Yi and Shu Er are not here? Then, what grabbed me?
“Oh, You Ye, you also chose death.” I found a familiar girl beside me. “What’s with your face? Don’t tell me you are actually scared?”
“Yes, can’t you sense how oppressive the aura of this city is? I can hardly breathe. There is too much death in the air.”
“You are right. They want us to kill those who chose life. If we don’t do it fast, this aura will kill us. What a wicked test, not to mention it’s hard to see in this city. I’m surprised that you grabbed me before being teleported. Why did you do that?” I said, looking at this girl who was grabbing my arm and pressing her bosom against the length of it.
“Woman’s intuition. With you, I will be safer,” she said shyly.
While You Ye and I moved around the city, I talked to the twins through their seals; they were in a room with that old man, watching the city from a projection. The old man was a puppet, and there was something quite weird in the instructions his creator gave him. For him, Shu Er and Shu Yi were anomalies, but the creator meant no harm to people who should not be in this trial. Thus, the old man explained everything to them and posed no harm.
Shu Er explained to me the rules. The participants on the life side were white dots while the those on the death side were black dots.
The rules were easy; the moment you killed three persons on the life side, you would pass the test. You would only have twenty-four hours. Otherwise, the death aura around you would take away your life. For the life side, the rules were easier—to survive for twenty-four hours.
Those like me who chose death, we could only blame our twisted minds, only thinking about killing.
Wait.
“You Ye, you didn’t look at the old man’s eye, right?”
“I was looking at you... I saw you about to disappear and subconsciously grabbed you.” Her face turned red as she lowered her head.
Has this girl fallen for me? Well, to begin with, I’m handsome and powerful. This life is better than my old one!
We had been traveling for four hours, yet we found not a single person. I was starting to get worried. We only had twenty-four hours to find six people and kill them, or else the pressure would increase. For every hour, the pressure got stronger; it wasn’t affecting me, but it was affecting You Ye.
Stupid me.
“Shu Er, Shu Yi
, can you guys detect if two black dots together stopped?”
“Yes, there are two black dots that almost fused...” Shu Er’s voice sounded annoyed.
“That must be us. Guide me toward a white dot.”
“Head north,” Shu Yi said.
“I feel some people around,” I told the girl behind me. “You Ye, get ready. You will get the killing first.”
She nodded. I was surprised this girl suddenly became so quiet. Don’t tell me she has dual personality.
Found them! There were two young men walking. They noticed us as well and walked toward us.
“They are from the Dark Wood Sect...” You Ye pointed out in a low voice.
“Oh, who cares? They will die,” I said in a normal tone.
“Look, it’s You Ye. We got lucky.”
Both young men laughed while getting closer. They seemed to have nasty intentions; it was clear based on how they were looking at You Ye.
“Look at the scaredy cat. You got yourself a boyfriend now?”
“Little boy, you better run now, or else you will—”
I didn’t want to waste more time. I just punched their heads to the floor. They underestimated their enemy, so they didn’t see my attack coming. What a bunch of retards.
“Now, you can easily kill them,” I said, smiling
“But... this doesn’t feel alright. They’re unconscious.”
“So, you want to get raped by them and then kill them? I can wake them up if you want...”
“No! No! That is not what I mean... Y-you were teasing me. Brother Ye is such a teaser...”
You Ye pouted timidly at me, looking wronged, before she approached the two young men knocked out cold on the floor. Two red daggers appeared in her hands. With a smooth movement, both young men got their hearts pierced.
Since when did I become Brother Ye? This girl... What a smooth movement. Dual dagger, that’s an interesting weapon.
Ding!
Death Points +240
As expected, Dark Wood Sect disciples got a lot of death points on their heads... I should find a way to join their sect.
