29 Phoenix trials(1)

"I take it this time we will be attempting the actual trial, yes?" Azazel asked en route

" sure, I suppose. We took care of the threat in this forest anyway, so we do not have to worry about any human enemies for the time being. Anyhow, I do remember that there existed a phoenix clan located somewhere around here, they were apparently cursed by that phoenix soul for accidentally killing a bunch of innocents. Tragic fate if I say so myself. " Chief's eyes scanned the area, seemingly searching for something.

"Their home is a village. It will be wise If I get to a higher vantage point." Azazel bent his knee, activating the ever familiar circulation of his profound energy. Due to his advanced ability to manipulate energy at the highest form, he could use it to fly for a short period of time, albeit not as effectively as cultivators who were in the sky profound realm. The trick is rather simple. humans are generally hindered from levitating due to the force of gravity, thus if you activate your energy and send a force downwards, you counter the force of gravity pushing you into the ground. Do make sure that the force of your energy is greater than the force of gravity.

The familiar scarlet hue of energy materialized beneath his feet, sending a pulsating force beneath him as the ground shattered from the impact. In one swift motion, Azazel flew upwards to a height of about 15 feet, allowing him to oversee almost the entirety of the forest and grassy mountains.

There, not far from his current location was a rather small village with about 50 to a hundred people.

"chief, I found it, it's to the north."

"Oh, I know. I was just looking for something else, oh well I suppose. Let's go. " chief similarly floated upwards into the skies. The Duo flew at a moderately fast pace to the north, resembling but mere scarlet blurs.

It took about 30 minutes to arrive at the village, much in part to Azazel's slow flying speed, chief did say that he could have gotten there almost instantly if he wanted to.

The villagers, all bearing the same darkened phoenix mark walked and attended to their daily activity with an air of solemnity. Almost everyone had a cultivation level at the tenth level of the elementary profound realm, even the oldest of them all, who was the current leader of the village was at the elementary realm.

It took but a single sharp eyes for the villagers to notice the approaching scarlet blurs in the sky, their destination was indeed, as they feared, their little village.

"Village elder, do you think they are the bad guys who keep stealing from us?" asked a little girl with the big doe and curious eyes.

The village elder, named Feng Caiyun, squinted his old eyes, only to notice with unabated surprise that the scarlet blurs were 2 people flying at high speed. Surely they had to be at the sky profound realm. Yet he could not quite understand why such high-level cultivators will take interest in this poor and remote village. unless.....

By the time Azazel and chief descended from the skies, they were greeted with the gathering of the villagers in one location, all of them staring at the duo with anger and subtle fear as well. What shocked the villagers most, however, aside from the obvious beauty of these invaders, was the fact that this flying figure in the sky looked young, clearly not older than 13. A sky profound realm cultivator at that age? surely this was an illusion.

"Fear not everyone." Azazel smiled before continuing " the bandits are long gone now. I Speak with certainty that they will never bother you again."

" is this true?" Feng Caiyun questioned with narrowed eyes.

" Village elder, Surely you do not doubt our strength right?" Azazel was still smiling calmly, but the village could feel a pressure that was nearly insurmountable. He was not alone on this matter, practically everyone in the village experienced the same pressure that represented nothing more than the simplest showcase of power.

"This old man does not doubt you benefactor. I thank you with all of my heart for saving us from future problems. It truly means a lot for all of us." The villagers similarly relaxed after hearing the words of the two cultivators, clearly much more pleased now that the truth has been brought to light.

"can I ask what we can do for you? " Clan leader Feng asked with a wrinkly smile.

"this may seem as presumptuous from us, but I seek to take the Phoenix trial located in this village. I do understand that it is your clan treasure and in no grounds am I forcing you to accept my request. However, I think that helping you defeat your nemesis is worthy of equivalent exchange." Azazel calmly revealed his intentions.

Feng caiyun sighed, it seems like he was right after all. "you guys do not seem like bad people. Not allowing you to take it will be a fault of ours. Our future is already bleak, especially considering this curse placed upon us by the Phoenix allows no one to have cultivation higher than the tenth level of the elementary profound realm."

"really?!" Azazel Faked his surprise, clearly, he was aware of the circumstances surrounding this village and their curse.

"yes." Feng caiyun continued " one of our ancestors was fighting an enemy just within proximity of a village. His flames got out of control and they, unfortunately, burned the entire village, killing innocents. The Phoenix decided to curse our ancestors into never breaking through the nascent profound realm. To make matters worse, the curse manifests in their descendants as well." upon mentioning this, all the expressions of the villagers were shrouded by an aura of sadness and hopelessness.

Azazel tapped his chin, contemplating about something before he addressed the elder. "I'm willing to give you guys a favor that I will collect at a later date. If I take this trial I can speak to the Phoenix on your behalf, asking it to lift your curse."

"Thank you, Thank you so much ." the elder was extremely happy with this turn of events. This boy must have the power to complete the trial, he was at the sky profound realm after all.

"come, follow me." the elder began walking towards the back of the village where the trial was probably located.

"when did you start giving favors?" Chief asked suspiciously

"my name is Azazel after all. I will leave that to your interpretations. However, if there is something I will need of this clan in the future, I will probably come back to collect my debt." Azazel shrugged.

"We are here." the elder closed his eyes and bit his thumb, allowing the blood to interact with the red seal matrix on the pathway. "only those who have the Phoenix legacy coursing through their veins are able to activate this seal. Go on, and good luck.

Azazel nodded, showing no fear or hesitation upon the activation of the seal and the arrival of a glowing portal.

"Hopefully this time you will not give me some Bs statements like you could not "kill" the combatants in the trial" chief scoffed in disdain.

"come on now, happenings of the past should stay in the past." Azazel smiled before confidently entering into the portal, prompting its closure as the glow from the seal diminished.