Chapter 192: Breezing Through Trials

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“Hmm! Hmm! You guys did pretty amazingly, I would say! Even that little brat ended up being okay. He has plenty of Ki inside of him, but he hasn’t even used it for cultivation yet! Why?” The voice reverberated as we rested. My friends finally finished consuming their rewards.

“Cultivation? What the hell are you talking about? I am not a farmer or something. I don’t even have talent for raising plants. Is this guy making any sense to you girls?” Kevin wondered, feeling utterly annoyed.

“I dunno… But I think he meant using the shiny power!” Annabelle said.

“I think Anna told me about it. Cultivation is the process of using Primordial Energies to make your body stronger. It is different than absorbing Monster Cores, and it can help you become stronger outside of that practice. There’s something called Physiques, that you can develop in your body. Slowly transforming your physical body into something stronger than just a human, evolving it, I would say... Baihe explained. “Even before Anna told me about it, I kind of knew about it. There are many Chinese Tales about Cultivation and ascending the heavens.”

“W-Woah, alright…” Kevin nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much what she said. Damn Baihe, you’re so good at explaining stuff; you really saved me some brain cells from explaining something so obvious to this meathead.” I laughed.

“Hey!” Kevin pouted.

“Anyways, are you the real Venerable’s voice or something else?” I asked, looking at the golden gates. “I wouldn’t believe a Constellation is directly talking to us through a dungeon without many restrictions. I am fairly sure you’re something else, right?”

“Oho, you’re quite the smart girl. Who are you, exactly?” He asked.

“I could answer that question if you answered yours first.” I said it with a smile, crossing my arms.

“Well! You guessed it right, young disciple. I am not the real Venerable, but a “Will” of him, extracted from his Mind and Soul. I was placed here, and I’ve been slumbering for eons, waiting for someone to step into my Inheritance.” He answered. “And finally, this Fragment of the World was assimilated by another, becoming a Dungeon!”

“So that’s how it is… Is your true self watching right now?” I asked.

“He is.” The voice answered with a slightly menacing tone of voice.

“Good, alright.” I nodded. “What’s his end game?”

“Should I answer every one of your questions, young disciple? First of all, complete the second challenge, and I’ll tell you more.” The Venerable’s Will laughed. “Now, step into the golden gate; no more dilly-dallying.”

“Yes sir~!” I said ironically, imbuing Ki into my legs and kicking the golden door open. It shattered into pieces, and the fragments flew inside the second hall.

BAAAM!

The fragments flew so fast that they pierced one of the three statues sitting in the middle of the root. The statue, made of a golden stone, gained cracks and then collapsed into pieces. I looked at the scene while trying not to laugh, but Baihe, Annabelle, and Kevin weren’t as good as me at keeping their emotions at bay.

“Oops?”

“Pfff… hahaha! There goes your challenge, dude!” Kevin laughed.

“Oh my gosh, Anna, what the hell did you do?” Baihe was laughing too.

“Hahahah! Anna, you destroyed that lion statue!” Annabelle pointed at the statue while giggling.

The voice remained silent and then started talking… very angrily.

“W-Wha… The Challenge! You destroyed the third statue?! That’s… not good! What in the world?! Just why?! How?! I… How strong are you?!” He asked furiously. “You damned—ah, calm down, calm down... This is okay. We can still do this without one of the statues. Fine, just step forward and do the damned challenge!”

“Okay, don’t get so angry, dude.” I shrugged it off and entered with my friends.

Although I acted casual about it and looked slightly surprised, this was part of my plan. There was no way I was going to go along with their stupid little challenges. The Isis Trial was a different thing because I knew it was going to be easy, and it was a much more powerful place than this dungeon. But with this one? I’ll keep testing how far I can push it.

We stood in front of three... two statues. The one that was destroyed had the shape of a roaring golden lion, and the two standing statues resembled a giant blazing bird, maybe a Phoenix, and a horned, unicorn-like dragon, most likely a Kirin.

And then, the same message that appeared before emerged in golden letters in front of everyone. Before, not many had time to read it because we were immediately attacked, but this time there was no immediate danger.

[The Second Challenge: {Challenge of Endurance}, will now begin.]

[In front of you stand three Millenary Statues represent three Martial Beasts. To pass this Challenge you must feed them with enough Ki for their statues to transform into pure gold. However, if you stop filling them with Ki midway through their full recovery, they will turn back to normal, and the Ki will be lost.]

[Not only a large quantity of Ki is necessary, but you also must showcase your endurance in imbuing Ki into a target for a long period of time without falling to exhaustion.]

[Dungeon Restrictions: Mana and Magic are sealed.]

[Dungeon Effects: Ki Regeneration Speed and Quantity Increases by +100%]

"Alright, it doesn’t seem so hard!” Said Annabelle. “Wait, what about the third statue? Do we ignore it, mister?”

“Ugh… Sure, ignore it. But the required Ki will go to the other two Status, so things are only going to get harder! Now, stop asking me questions. I will only watch for now.” The Will of the Golden Sun Venerable sounded very irritated, but we ignored him, and we moved on to our task.

“So how do we do this? Do we touch it and imbue it with Ki?” Asked Kevin.

“Yeah, I think so.” Baihe nodded. “Anna?”

“Hm? Oh, yes?” I was collecting the pieces of the statue and storing them in my inventory. “Ah, right this... Sure, let’s do it.”

Baihe and Annabelle touched one statue, and Kevin and I touched the other. I had to teach Kevin how to control Ki, but it became rather easier now that his Mana was sealed. He simply had to control the “other energy” he felt. He was surprisingly good at it, even without a Physique.

FLASH!

As the statues started glowing with a metallic gold sheen, I felt something within them beginning to awaken. A soul is life force. The more Ki we feed the statues, the stronger this sensation of life becomes. Their eyes suddenly glowed brightly as I stopped imbuing Ki with it when it was about to hit 100%.

“Stop, now!” I commanded everyone.

Kevin, Baihe, and Annabelle instantly stepped back. The statues began to move, suddenly opening their eyes and attempting to attack us, but the Ki flowing inside of them was disrupted and unable to fill their entire bodies; they were unable to fully revive and fell down to the floor. Parts of their bodies were falling into tiny pieces; others were alive, showing pulsating red flesh.

“ROOOAR!”

“GRAAAR!”

As the Phoenix and the Kirin roared monstrously as they attempted to move, my friends looked at me in shock and a slight relief that I was there with them to stop them in the last minute. Yep, I knew this had a little trick.

“We were reviving these monsters?!” Asked Baihe.

“No way! Were we going to be tricked into reviving them and then attacked at point blank?” Kevin asked. “That shit’s nasty, you asshole!” He roared at the ceiling, but we got no response.

“We almost got eaten!” Annabelle said. “If we had exhausted all our Ki while reviving these monsters at full power…”

“Yeah, it was obviously a trap, isn’t it, Golden boy?” I asked.

“Impressive! Well done! You guessed it right. The actual trial is reviving the beasts and then beating them when your Ki is almost depleted…” He spoke. “But you… You did it differently, I guess.”

“So it still counts? Thank you!” I giggled innocently; my bare fists gained the illusion of golden scales, made from my Ki Aura, as I smashed the head of the Kirin into pieces.

CRASH!

The beast’s brains exploded everywhere, splattering the floor with crimson red. I looked at Baihe, and she nodded, her spear piercing the head of the struggling Phoenix and dying on the spot.

[You and your party have defeated [Damaged Golden Pheonix Martial Beast (B- Rank)] x1]

[You and your party have defeated [Damaged Golden Kirin Martial Beast (B- Rank)] x1]

[You earned 200.000 EXP]

[EXP has been saved until your next Rank Up.]

[You have collected [Golden Phoenix’s Martial Beast Corpse (B Rank)] x1]

[You have collected [Golden Kirin’s Martial Beast Corpse (B Rank)] x1]

[You have collected [Living Golden Lion Statue Fragments (B- Rank)] x1]

[Lucky! All gathered Items Ranks have increased to A Rank!]

Nice! These materials are ideal for my Physique Evolution! I just need a few more. One of the required materials were Martial Beasts of the “Gold” Attribute, a unique Attribute of the Murim World that encompasses the Yang Spectrum of elements.

“Done!” I clapped. “What an easy trial, seriously.”

“It’s not supposed to be easy! I… ugh, just go on if you’re not tired. There are three more challenges!” The voice was growing continuously more irritated.

Yeah, he probably has no other option than to suck it up.

[You and your Party have completed the Second Challenge of the {Golden Sun Venerable’s Trial}!]

[You and your Party received the following Rewards]: [Ki Enhancing Pill (B Rank)] x5 [Random Martial Arts Scroll (B Rank)] x1]

The same rewards—well, I can’t complain. Let’s use them and get moving! We got more easy loot to plunder from this damned place.

[You have consumed [Ki Enhancing Pill (B Rank)] x5!]

[Your Maximum Ki has increased by +125!]

[You have absorbed the [Random Martial Arts Scroll (B Rank)] x1!]

[The Information and Movements of the {Sea Serpent’s Bite: Tier 1} Martial Art have been imprinted into your Body and Soul.]

Sea Serpent’s Bite? This one’s not compatible with me at all! It uses mostly Water Elemental Ki, and I can’t easily produce that naturally. A wasted scroll, I guess… Maybe. Perhaps if I use the principles of this Technique and the others. Maybe I can create something new.

I waited for everyone to consume their rewards and restore their Ki fully before we continued moving. This time the gates opened automatically; it seemed he didn’t want me to mess around anymore.

“Go on to the third challenge. Hurry.” The Golden Sun Will was now very serious.

“Sure, sure- Oh, oops!”

I suddenly pretended to trip down into the ground as I imbued Ki into my hands and unleashed a wave of it into the third challenge’s room. We heard an explosion inside and the cries of several monsters. It looks like the place was crowded with creatures waiting to ambush us in the dark. How naughty of you, Venerable!

“W-What have you done?! You’re messing with me?! You dare do this in front of me?!” His voice was growing furious. “YOU!”

“Calm down; it was an accident!” Baihe said angrily.

“Let’s just go inside.” Annabelle said.

“Yeah! Why are you so mad? Don’t you want us to complete the trial or what?!” Kevin asked very rudely.

“T-That’s… yes, that’s exactly what I want… yes…” The voice was acting very suspiciously.

We walked inside the third challenge’s room, and I immediately illuminated it with my light. We were greeted with a group of over twenty monsters, with about five of them dead. They resembled giant white- and gold-colored bats, each one of three meters in height. After the explosion that killed five of them, the rest leaped into the ceiling and walls, being wary of us instead of greeting us with a deadly ambush in the darkness.

[The Third Challenge: {Challenge of Senses}, will now begin.]

[Danger! You’ve stepped into a pitch-black area with nothing but darkness from left and right. But be careful! There are over twenty Martial Beasts lurking in the darkness, waiting to pierce your flesh with their sharp teeth.]

[Utilize your Senses and Ki to detect danger in time and evade it! Defeat all monsters to complete this challenge and, above all, remain alive!]

[Dungeon Restrictions: Mana and Magic are sealed. Sense-type Skills cannot be used.]

[Dungeon Effects: Ki Regeneration Speed and Quantity Increases by +100%]

Of course! This is a challenge made to hone your senses by restricting your Sense-related Skills and throwing you in the middle of a den of ravenous monsters.

But we ruined it again. I’m so sorry!

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