Thud.
After a brief moment during which Mikael sensed his surroundings twist and distort into nothing more than a blur of unrecognizable colors, he once more felt solid ground beneath his feet.
Blink.
His eyes, which had instinctively closed when space shifted, opened once more, revealing the location to which he had been ‘teleported’.
Mikael was now standing at the edge of an immense rectangular room, one that, at first glance, looked to be hundreds of meters long and dozens of meters wide.
Illuminating him in a soft and gentle green light were numerous ethereal-looking crystals embedded in the ceiling, each pulsing intermittently as they filled the room with a glow that felt both peaceful and otherworldly.
The ceiling in which these green crystals were set was entirely composed of gray stone—but it wasn’t the rough kind of stone, rather the kind that looked as though a master craftsman had spent time carving it with devouring passion.
The walls of this titanic rectangular room were made of the same architectural gray stone; it was as if the one who created this place had access to only a single material…
This theory would be proven wrong the moment one eye landed on the floor, as it was the exception to the previous pattern.
The floor was separated into two parts, the edge and the rest, the ‘edge’ was the part on which Mikael was teleported onto and he was currently on, and it constituted of the first 10 or so meters before the hundreds of meters that followed.
The ‘edge’ floor material was a beautiful, almost sacred white stone which, like all before it, was carved in a display of masterful craftsmanship.
Beyond this small part of the floor was the rest of the room, which was hundreds of meters long and whose floor was constituted of obsidian-colored stones that seemed to absorb all the nearby light in a way that it became a lightless void!
And that wasn’t all, as the instant Mikael’s gaze landed on this unique floor, he instinctively knew that it was unbelievably durable!
‘Oh?’ he mentally exclaimed as he raised an inquisitive eyebrow, his sharp gaze zooming in on… something that had attracted his attention.
This ‘something’ was some distance away from him, and at first glance, he estimated it to be approximately 300 feet away—and that wasn’t all, as this presence standing upon the lightless obsidian floor possessed a humanoid shape!
‘Varnari!’
This humanoid figure was far too tall to be human, so he instantly realized that it was a Varnari, and after an instant, he quickly felt that this figure was… familiar?
‘Tharvonis! This is Tharvonis and… he seems tired?’ The figure’s back was facing Mikael, so he couldn’t be 100% sure of himself, but he had a feeling that it was Tharvonis—and that the latter was tired, he didn’t see any signs of it, but he simply felt it…
Step.
Tharvonis suddenly moved, but his movements weren’t smooth or natural; in fact, it was the opposite, he moved as if the world itself was weighing on him, as though an unbearable pressure pressed down upon his shoulders.
His movements were slow and seemingly made with great difficulty as the proud Varnari warrior took another step forward, and as he did so, his gaze was focused directly on the other end of the rectangular-shaped room.
A part of this location that was extremely different from the rest of it by a simple fact—the fact that it wasn’t empty!
There, there were two stone pedestals whose craftsmanship was as exquisite as the rest of the room!
Bzzzt!
Just as Mikael had finished taking in the entire place, he suddenly felt information being transmitted directly into his mind, information in a foreign language that normally should have been total rubbish considering he had never heard it before, but—
Mikael was a Spiritual Foundation Realm cultivator after all, and any cultivator of this realm and above had the capability to understand all languages, and consequently, he was able to perfectly understand everything that was ‘said’.
“…”
After organizing the information he had obtained, he was able to understand some things.
It turned out that the rectangular-shaped room Mikael was currently in was, as he expected, special—special in the fact that it was the place a powerful Soul Phase cultivator had chosen to use as his resting place.
Of course, if it had only been that, Mikael’s Foresight of Heaven’s Mandate wouldn’t have ‘guided’ him here. The true reason why he was here was because this place wasn’t only the Soul Phase cultivator’s resting place but also where he had left his inheritance behind!
This powerhouse had been fatally injured in the brutal war that happened millions of years ago, which was why he needed a resting place for obvious reasons, and an inheritance site to pass down his possessions to the lucky and talented cultivators that would one day come across this place.
The only request he made to those cultivators in exchange for his inheritance was first to pass his Trials, and second, to make it clear where and from whom they had obtained it.
In the end, it was simply a dying old man’s last wish—to not be forgotten…
Mikael was happy with that point, as it meant that there probably weren’t any hidden strings coming with this inheritance; he simply needed to pass these Trials!
Unfortunately, while the above news was good, not everything was as joyful as that, as even though this inheritance site was well hidden, it had still been opened numerous times in the millions of years since its creation, in a way that the most precious things weren’t there anymore…
‘Still…’ Mikael’s eyes glinted with a hint of joy as his gaze zoomed onto the two pedestals at the other end of the room, ‘...it doesn’t matter, as what I came here for is there!!!’
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Step.
Instinctively, he took a step forward, and then he felt an invisible pressure immobilize him as a message appeared directly in his mind:
{Trial taker, do you want to participate in the trial for a part of Lord Qe’thuun’s inheritance??[Yes / No]
Note: Be warned that by participating in the trial left by Lord Qe’thuun, you are at risk of suffering mind fragmentation, soul disintegration, or even death!
If you don’t believe yourself able to survive Lord Qe’thuun’s trial, you may simply refuse and will be teleported outside.}
Mikael wasn’t surprised by the ‘message’ that appeared before him, as it had already been stated in the information he previously received that before his death, Qe’thuun had created a kind of Spirit responsible for ensuring that this inheritance would keep functioning even after his passing.
And it was this very Spirit that gave the same message to each trial taker to warn them of the danger lurking ahead!
Mikael kept silent for half a second, during which he focused his attention on his Foresight of Heaven’s Mandate calamity-sensing ‘sense,’ which was still as silent as ever. His gaze then moved to Tharvonis, who was currently taking the trial and still alive—showing that doing this trial wasn’t necessarily a death sentence…
“Heh.”
A slightly mocking, disdainful, and confident sound escaped Mikael before his lips curved upward and he spoke, “I accept to participate in this Trial!”
After all, with the above-mentioned factors, he was able to infer that the trial wasn’t a death sentence, and knowing that, what kind of cultivator would he be if he deflated himself just because of some ‘scary words’ like mind fragmentation, soul disintegration, and death!?
{Good luck, Trial Taker!}
The moment Mikael verbally said these words, the inheritance spirit ‘spoke’ its reply before the invisible pressure that was immobilizing him suddenly disappeared, allowing him to take further steps forward toward the magnificent stone pedestals.
Step.
The moment Mikael’s foot crossed the line separating the white floor from the obsidian one, he felt a certain ‘weight’ begin to press down on him—but this weight wasn’t something physical; it was a pressure weighing directly on his mind, and what he guessed to be his soul!
At that moment, the information he had on this Trial passed through his mind:
{Trial Name: Lord Qe’thuun Partial Inheritance
Trial Phase: 1
Description: The Trial Taker must cross the Star Core floor and take the 999 steps required to reach one of the two Inheritance Pedestals while enduring the Mental and Soul pressure, which will increase with every step.
Note: This pressure is calibrated in accordance with one’s cultivation realm, and the trial will not become easier for those with a higher cultivation realm.
Important Rules:
1st: Attacking or interfering with other Trial Takers during Phase 1 is entirely forbidden! (Not following this rule can lead to expulsion from the Trial or instant execution!)
2nd: There can only be one true winner!
Reward: Once—or if—the Trial Taker reaches an Inheritance Pedestal and successfully touches it, Phase 1 of the trial will end, and the Trial Taker will receive a Soul Cultivation Method.
Soon afterward, Phase 2 of the trial will begin in function of the situation at that moment.}
Knowing what the Trial was about, he understood that the weight he was feeling on his mind and soul was this so-called Mental and Soul pressure!
‘Pain Resistance… isn’t that what this trial is about? It uses fancy words like Mental and Soul Pressure but in the end isn’t it just being able to endure suffering and—’
Thoughts of the numerous times where he suffered passed through his mind.
Moments where he suffered for his path of cultivation, moments where it would have been excessively easy to stop enduring unimaginable torment but he chose pain above weakness, all for a chance of growing stronger and more powerful!
Times like when he did Body Tempering—actually, any Body Tempering that he did counted, as it was always painful—but it wasn’t all, as when he removed the impurities from his body, impurities that had accumulated from excessive pill consummations.
Or even when he created and reforged his body to form the Ninefold Impurity-Free Physique Method was another example; the only thing all of them had in common was that they were always accompanied by unimaginable torment, and that wasn’t even mentioning the worst of them all—
That day when he used his Ferocity Mark for the first time and suffered from the absolutely dreadful after-effects and pain that followed in the days after, which to this day remained the absolute worst suffering he had ever endured.
‘Suffering and enduring to grow stronger… I can be considered an expert!’ he thought as a fierce glint appeared in his eyes while his lips curled upward in a wild grin, ‘Let’s see—’
‘Let’s see if today is the day I break my “record”!’ he thought to himself as his wild grin grew even wider; at that moment, the unimaginably handsome man was emanating a wild, arrogant, and overbearing aura.
It was as if he were screaming, “COME ON!” with an unshakable belief in himself, and this overwhelming aura pushed back the mental and soul pressure as he took a step forward, and then—
BOOM!
His aura exploded outward as his legs erupted with power, propelling him forward, and in a single instant, he was already at the 10th step.
Instantly, the pressure from the 1st to the 10th steps struck him with unimaginable force—the power of all ten steps merging together, crashing down on him with overbearing intensity and weight.
After all, this trial was designed in such a way that Trial Takers would progress step by step, enduring the pressure brought forth by each new step, and only once they were acclimated to it would they move forward, each step increasing the weight pressing upon them.
But Mikael didn’t follow this acclimation process; instead, he leapt straight to the 10th—and this wasn’t some ‘loophole’ that allowed him to skip the 1st through the 9th and only endure the 10th. No, no, no!
It was the opposite, as by doing that, he was instantly struck by the combined pressure of steps 1 through 10, an accumulated force far beyond what the 10th step alone should have been capable of producing.
At that moment, any other Trial Taker would have realized how stupid and mad this idea was and would have obediently chosen to walk the rest of the journey step by step, but—
Mikael wasn’t just anyone, and he had ground to make up!
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A/N:
A little inheritance and trial(s, maybe the s, who knows?) to go with the Secret Realm opening as this is in the theme!
Mikael is passing some time in a gravity chamber(actually not really but it looks similar if you ignore the difference between affecting body / soul and mind but anyways…
Mikael is fired up and determined to obtain the Soul Cultivation Method and it’s understandable after all or else it would be time consuming and complicated, it would be sooo much of a shame if he failed and didn’t obtain it… right?
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— End of Chapter —
