Fighting across three stages?

Have you ever been burned by a hot liquid? Well, Samuel, for sure, has. It has been two weeks since he entered the damned cauldron, where he was being boiled alive. The worst part was the fact that every time he got slightly used to the heat, the heat would increase. The effect was self-explanatory. Pain, both physical and mental.

"I have been here for like five years already. How long can this test possibly be? The only good part about it is that I am getting accustomed to my new and improved body."

The improvement to Samuel's body was truly shocking. A mere one spin of the Wheel of Pain and Happiness had already improved his body to the peak level of the Superior Mortal stage. He was not really sure of how his body would improve across stages, but it was bound to be good. The problem with the drastic increase in his body was the fact that he was unable to use it. Imagine if you were to curl a dumbbell. When you do the curl, it will strain your muscles. Now, imagine if your arm was that heavy, but your mind was being strained instead of the muscles. This applied to his entire body. He could move and such, but it was difficult and strange, and it needed a period of adaptation. That was half the reason why he did not rush out of the cauldron out of boredom.

Unfortunately, time continued to pass as Samuel continued to suffer and progress. Samuel had his time perception ability, but it only allowed him to sense distortion, not the passage of time, meaning he truly didn't know how much time went by. The other problem was the fact that the time distortion inside the tower was either non-existent or of such a ridiculous level that he could not perceive it. This, not knowing if time was passing rapidly in the Shattered Realm, was making Samuel even more anxious. Samuel was awfully aware of the fact that Merling, without the rune engraving technique, together with Quinn and Lukas, would die a few weeks after his transmigration, something he was unwilling to allow. That would mean he only had two weeks left to save them if time passed 1:1.

"There might be more tests after this one. I can't afford to waste more time here. What would be the point of a more difficult cultivation journey if I didn't have any friends or companions to accompany me? There has to be something more to this test. I have been in here long enough to get fully accustomed to my new body and strength, yet the test is not over. This doesn't make a lot of sense, especially since my body is clearly powerful enough to pass. It has to be the aspect of will being tested. Goddamnit! I have been tricked, haven't I? I could probably leave at any time, and after at most a week, I would have passed. Cursed test!"

Samuel, the second he thought about the situation properly, managed to see through it. Not prone to wasting more time being cooked, he jumped out with elegance. As he landed on the cold stone floor outside of the runic circle, the familiar intent reappeared.

'Your body and will are both sufficiently strong. You pass.'

Instead of being teleported instantly, like last time, he felt something strange happen. The traces of something, which he assumed were the Malataincacha fragments, started to gather. The gathering traces enhanced the intent Samuel could feel. It became clearer. It also seemed to become more intelligent the more it gathered.

'You have passed three out of four preliminary tests, leaving only one remaining to acquire our preliminary recognition. This recognition lasts until the Transcendence stage, where you will have to take new tests to receive our final recognition.'

'The final test is battling the most powerful being you have encountered in your reality. The difference in power is large, and as such, you will be evaluated based on your performance, not victory.'

Upon having the intent finish explaining the fourth test, the cauldron melted down and fused with the formation surrounding it. This new formation expanded to cover the entire room, making it glow with a red-gold color, making it look grand, magnificent, and menacing all at the same time. In the center, where the cauldron once stood, a warp in space emerged. The feeling it emitted was unlike anything Samuel had ever experienced. It was no simple tear in space; it was a manipulation of reality itself. Samuel continued to stare in awe and amazement at the space warp. The silver rune on his soul seemed to react with the vibration caused by the warp. Not only that, but almost as if he were staring at the truth of space itself, his actual eyes started to glow with the same silver glow as his soul eyes. This glow was not at all comparable to the one emitted by his previous space physique; it was far superior. Before he could realize the change in his eyes, however, a figure draped in a baggy white robe with an opaque veil emerged from the warp.

Lady White was very confused by the sequence of events that just transpired. She was sitting on a chair, filing her nails, as her soul-healing carpet was, well, healing someone's soul, when she was sucked into a spatial pathway of some sort, before arriving in a room covered with a really powerful formation. 'Where am I?'

"Lady White?"

'Fuck. I forgot that I hadn't interacted with more than four people since the reset. Of course, she is going to be the most powerful person I have encountered. This is going to be hard to explain.'

"You! You are that kid I supervise! What the hell is going on, and where are we?"

"Well, uhm, we are here to fight. Don't ask, because I can't explain. As for where this is, I don't think there are more than maybe two people in the entire universe that know."

'The battle will start in ten seconds. The terrain will be randomly selected for the sake of fairness. The challengers are Samuel, at the Superior Mortal stage, and Sylvia White, at the second level of the Enlightenment stage. Death is impossible because of the formation covering the area, so fight to the best of your abilities.'

"What was that?"

"It's the intent of Malataincacha. Again, don't ask. Well, Sylvia, we will be fighting soon, and I hope you can go easy on me, considering the difference in cultivation stage."

This situation truly made no sense to Sylvia, but before she could ask further questions or even reflect on the situation, the entire room changed in the blink of an eye. The stone floor was now dark stalagmites; the walls disappeared, replaced with an endless expanse of mountains, clouds, weird trees, and a blood-red lake situated not far from her location. There was also a palpable stench being emitted by the lake—the stench of blood. It turns out that this lake was not filled with red water but rather with blood.

"What kind of generated terrain would have a blood lake in it? And also, why is it so big? I can't even begin to comprehend the depths it has reached."

These were the thoughts you would expect a normal person to have in this type of situation. But some people can never be predicted. Samuel was deep into hatching a plan on how to beat Sylvia. Something that was clearly impossible. Not improbable, impossible. There was physically 0% chance of him beating her. But statistics have never been something to stop Samuel, except for the times they have.

"Can I use this blood lake to win against Sylvia? Surely, if I create a tear in space that leads deep into the lake, I can use that pressure to weaken her greatly. My Dimensional Tear ability is naturally way weaker than it used to be, but it should be possible to achieve."

Samuel, the second he was finished hatching his ingenious plan, opened a tear in space, leading right behind Sylvia. The reactions of someone at the Enlightenment stage were naturally nothing to scoff at. Although she did not know what was going on or what was at stake, Sylvia knew that this was a battle situation. She was not going to let her guard down. She turned around, firing a rapid kick towards the emerging Samuel, having it land square on his chest, making it cave in slightly, before sending him flying to the right.

"I should probably not hold back against him."

Sylvia slowly removed her veil and infused qi into her robe. The result was the revelation of a young lady, appearing to be in her early twenties, with white hair, brows, and pupils. Her irises were a piercing green in color, seemingly brimming with life. The previously baggy robes were now tighter fighter robes, making movement easier.

"I hate hiding who I am and restricting myself."