Chapter 246: Trial Of Desire
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Fang Shuan walked across the Golden Mountain Range until he finally found his destination, an abandoned set of ruins composed of black and purple stone. The entrance was open; the gate had been shattered by what seemed to have been a single, incredibly strong punch.
“Hah, that monster probably opened this place forcefully after it didn’t allow him entrance, huh?” Fang Shuan wondered.
The Temple of One Hundred Demon Souls, according to what he had been told by the Heavenly Demon, is considered one of Bestia’s “Immemorial Treasures,” certain places, areas, or buildings within the world of Bestia that contain an immense quantity of Dao Particles and possess special abilities or effects.
This Temple in particular, is said to have been made at the beginning of the world of Bestia by an ancient, now extinct race of beings that are considered the ancestors of all the beast tribes of Bestia, the Dokkaebi.
The Dokkaebi were demon-like entities with many animal features, although chimeric. They possessed unparalleled comprehension of the Heavenly Dao compared to the new Beast Tribes, as they were born in an Era where the Nine Heavens existed and where countless rivers of Primordial Yin and Yang Ki flowed everywhere.
Their legacy could be found all across Bestia, inheritances, ancient temples, Immemorial Treasures, and even in the many techniques and the bloodlines that every beast tribe possesses, which all descend from degenerated and weakened powers the Dokkaebi once wielded.
“It sure has an intimidating Aura to it…” Fang Shuan muttered. “I’ve never visited another world similar to my own before to think they had such an Immemorial Treasure…”
The Golden Emperor walked inside the temple, and as he stepped into the long corridor that led inside, torches with purple flames lit up one after another, eerily illuminating his path.
“This…?”
And the moment he reached the end, he found himself inside a large room; there were three sealed gates and the giant statue of a purple-colored lion in the middle.
The lion was strange though, with the legs of a bird, two more heads, one of a wolf and a sheep, and the long tail that ended with a snake head.
And of course, wings—bat-like wings.
“A chimera of some sort? Was this… Is this how the Dokkaebi looked like?”
Fang Shuan felt surprised, but to be fair, if they were rumored to be demon-like and chimeric, combining the many animal features that the beast tribes of Bestia had, then it made sense.
“There’s something in their jaws.”
Fang Shuan treaded carefully, noticing that each jaw had a purple jewel in it; they glowed brighter the more he walked forward.
Once he touched one out of curiosity, as there were no manuals or anything telling him what to do.
The statue’s eyes moved, looking down on him.
“Ugh?!”
He couldn’t get his hand out of the jewel anymore; no matter how hard he tried or pulled back, he couldn’t!
“W-What is this- AARGH!”
As the statue’s eyes glowed with purple flames, Fang Shuan screamed in agony as his soul was sucked inside the beast’s statue.
The more it was sucked, the more painful it felt, and the three jewels slowly began glowing brighter.
The statue finally stopped sucking and eating his soul once all three jewels were completely full, flaring with purple fire.
“Ugh…!”
He was finally freed, as he desperately pulled his hand away.
“M-My soul…! What kind of excruciating pain is this?! It hurts so much!”
Fang Shuan groaned in agony; he couldn’t cry as he was now a golem-like being, but he would if he could; the pain was sharp, like a thousand needles piercing a person’s hand.
“Hahhh… W-Why did it do that? Is this how I’ll temper my soul?! Has that damned crow tricked me?!”
However, before he could say anything else, a voice reverberated, coming from the three heads of the statue.
“YOUR OFFERING HAS BEEN PAID. YOU MAY NOW ENTER THE FIRST DOOR OF SOUL TEMPERING… DO NOT LOSE YOURSELF IN THE PLEASURE OF CULTIVATING ONE’S SOUL, OR YOU MIGHT BRING YOUR OWN DEMISE…”
The statue finished speaking; the gate in front of Fang Shuan opened, rumbling through the entire temple.
“Hah… S-So that’s… how it is, I needed to give an offering using my soul? If it was a normal soul, it wouldn’t have been even able to resist the sacrifice; it would have been fully consumed before even filling all three jewels!” Fang Shuan muttered. “This is certainly not something young master Anna could do…”
Fang Shuan was a unique existence; his soul was a very powerful “Soul Legion” composed of over a hundred Martial Souls from his own Golden Soldiers, which protected him as the Golden Emperor, the Boss of the Murim’s Abandoned Temple Dungeon.
Because his soul was composed of over a hundred more souls, although he lost a big chunk of it, he had yet to have his entire soul devoured. The Heavenly Demon knew he was the only one that could withstand this arduous training.
“This is the only way for me to become stronger, to help young master Anna…” Fang Shuan gripped his golden fists. “And to avenge my family, my friends, and my world against father…”
His Father was now a Constellation of incredible power; to go against such a powerful being, he would need to become stronger than ever before, which he had tried to cultivate, to go even further than just leveling.
However, because he lacked a living body, he could not temper his body, and he could not grow stronger. The only thing he could do, according to the Heavenly Demon, was temper his soul and cultivate it instead.
“Your soul is composed of over a hundred brave warriors; you met the qualifications to go there…” the crow had told him. “Cultivate your Soul and comprehend the Dao of Soul… And you might be able to reach new heights or die trying, haha…”
He still felt slightly angry over the Heavenly Demon’s laughter at the end; he was clearly mocking him. Fang Shuan, as someone that belonged to the Orthodox Faction, greatly hated figures that inspired fear and anguish, such as the villainous Heavenly Demon, yet he had no option but to ask for his help now. His pride was greatly damaged, but it wasn’t as if he could do anything now.
For his young master, Anna, he had to become stronger. Stronger than ever before, so he could ease the burden that she carried over her shoulders, the immense weight of protecting an entire world, which his father had failed to carry until the end…
“Let’s do this…”
He walked forward, entering the first gate.
And what he found inside was a boiling cauldron with purple-colored liquid inside.
There were three monstrous heads in each wall, and once he entered, the gate sealed shut.
“OFFER YOUR SOUL TO THE CAULDRON OF ONE HUNDRED DEMONS.”
“TEMPER YOUR SOUL, TORTURE YOUR PSYSCHE.”
“ONLY THROUGH ENDLESS AGONY, YOUR SOUL SHALL ASCEND.”
The heads spoke with loud, intimidating voices. Fang Shuan would swallow saliva in nervousness in this moment, but he had no such thing in his current form.
“This is going to hurt even more isn’t it?”
He jumped into the cauldron without hesitation; his tempering began.
.
.
.
“You might have reached Tier 2 of my Martial Arts, but you’re only at the very beginning! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to help you get Tier 10, but I’ll make you grow those Seals as much as possible!”
The Heavenly Demon kept bossing me around as I found myself in front of my next Trial. And perhaps the last of all the Seal-based Trials.
It was a double one, like the one from before, where I would be using Frustration and Desire together. I have no idea how that’ll work though, but here we are.
There was an ocean of pink color as far as the eye could see; it resembled a sea of wine more than normal water. It had a strange, sweet smell as well.
“You are right now in front of the Sea of Broken Dreams,” he said. “Swim as far as your body can carry you, and you’ll eventually find several islands full of valuable materials; don’t take them, and keep moving. Even if you starve, even if you want to rest, and even if you want to give up. Keep swimming, until the very end! If you ever dare stop, or if you ever give up and come back, you’ll stop being my disciple!”
“What?! Another ridiculous trial, I see!” I sighed. “I assume I can only use Desire and Frustration for this, right?”
“Indeed, use the Seal of Desire to recover your depleting Lifeforce and Ki as you fight back the sea martial beasts that will come to eat you,” the Heavenly Demon nodded. “And use Frustration to give you the explosive boost in power you’ll require to swim through thousands of kilometers without stopping. If you can manage to reach the very end with both, you’ll pass the trial.”
“Hah… Okay, let’s do this. No point in crying here…” I sighed. “What about Ying Shen?”
“He’s already training in another place; I’ve done as you asked, and I’ve given him ways to train his abilities efficiently, but it’ll be up to him if they’re effective or not,” the Heavenly Demon smiled. “Now, what are you waiting for?! Jump in!”
“Okay, okay, let me prepare myself a bit, Jesus!” I sighed. “I can’t just swim with these clothes…”
I quickly changed my clothes into a one-piece swimsuit, which I’ve saved from my younger years, and that fit me really well.
The Heavenly Demon yawned without even caring about my appearance at all. I was relieved we were so different biologically he didn’t care. But maybe if I were a cute bird girl, would it be different?
He sure fell for that crane woman, though… Even when he’s denying the fact.
Well, whatever, let’s go.
“{Fourth Seal: Desire}! {Fifth Seal: Frustration}!”
I activated both Seals at the same time, as I felt my Ki erupting and raging, flowing through my body constantly. The Seals glowed brightly, and my body was illuminated by the colorful tattoos.
Purple and red colored energies flowed across my body as my emotions became a chaotic swirl of negative thoughts.
Desire to improve, desire to get more, desire to never stop, desire to save my home, desire to have all the strength I can.
This endless desire inspired me to step into this perilous trial without hesitation—a step into the purple waters, and I was already swimming my way to my destination.
I need power.
I need treasures.
I need strength!
I need skills!
I need, I need, I need!
The endless Desire constantly flowed through my mind, numbing my senses as I started smiling maniacally the moment I saw an island on the horizon.
It wasn’t in front of me, so it wasn’t the end; however, its surface was glittering with gold piles; there were all kinds of amazing Martial Treasures, potions, and Ki pearls.
And I could get all of that and become so strong!
“I should go there; maybe he won’t realize? If I go quickly and…”
NO!
Stop, I can’t!
I bit my own tongue as the pain woke me up from my daze. I was already about to reach that island’s beach, but I quickly redirected my trajectory.
“I can’t… I can’t… I must endure; I must persevere… I can’t even use Temperance here, but… Ugh!”
I kept swimming forward, the power of Frustration making me stronger the more frustrated I felt about not being able to get the treasures I wanted.
“Dammit that old bastard!”
It didn’t take too long for a dozen monsters to begin chasing me down—giant shark-like creatures, octopus-like monstrosities, and the occasional crab creature.
I had to beat them with my bare fists and feet, crushing them with punches and kicks, further boosted with the power of Frustration, which erupted like a raging volcano.
As I fought, the power of Desire helped me get through; my Ki and Stamina were already depleting many times, but by absorbing the energies of these creatures, it was restored time and time again.
Yet the exhaustion was slowly weighing me down, my speed decreased, and I reached the point where I was gasping for air. I was thirsty and had hunger. The power of my new Physique Ability didn’t take away the sense of hunger and thirst, even though I didn’t need to eat or drink for a while.
I was unable to eat the monsters that I fought; the power of Desire consumed them completely into energy…
Drinking this sea made me go even more insane; I was hallucinating.
“Come on, Anna… Why even try? Why should you do what that awful man told you to do?”
The tender voice of Dan Baihe echoed behind me.
She appeared, walking over the seas.
“Come on, let’s go back home… Just use the skills and powers you already have! No need to work so hard, right?”
“No, no… I can’t… You’re not real!”
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