Quest Complete

William frowned as he watched Terrence get up, with serial injuries.

"System, can't you help me with this quest?"

"No."

"Sigh..."

William thought about how he could help. Turning towards the formation, the five people were still channeling their spiritual energy into formation. Maybe if he distracted them? Then again, they would run out of spiritual energy soon enough, so maybe it was better to stall for time. Then, the formation would deactivate. But by that time, Terrence would be seriously injured if not dead already.

"Wait, don't I already have something for this?"

William still had the manual for spirit regeneration, which could heal injuries.

However, he knew this wouldn't work.

"No, that won't be enough."

If he started to heal Terrence, his opponent would immediately notice and try to attack him, and Terrence would be helpless to stop them.

"Crash!"

Terrence crashed into yet another tree, inciting a groan of pain from him.

"I better hurry."

William frantically looked through his spacial ring in hopes of finding something he could use.

"Nothing..."

William suddenly remembered something.

"Right, system, show me some pills that can increase your combat power."

"Affirmative."

______________________________

...

[Double Berserk Pill] [1,235 SP]

[Spiritual Overload Pill] [1,310 SP]

[Blood Essence Consumption Pill] [1,565 SP]

[Triple Berserk Pill] [1,955 SP]

[Power Absorption Pill] [2,330 SP]

...

______________________________

"Show me the Spiritual Overload Pill and the Double Berserk Pill."

______________________________

[Spiritual Overload Pill]

[Price: 1,310 SP]

[Tier 3 Pill]

[Filled with concentrated spiritual energy that spreads throughout your body once consumed, strengthening it and pushing you beyond your limits. You will face a backlash within 30 minutes of consumption, leading to a temporary decline in physical strength and spiritual energy recovery for 3-5 hours.]

______________________________

______________________________

[Double Berserk Pill]

[Price: 1,235 SP]

[Tier 3 Pill]

[Forcefully stimulates your body, doubling your physical strength and increasing spiritual energy regeneration for 20 minutes. After that, you will permanently lose 5 minor stages of cultivation. (Effect, duration, and consequences vary depending on your cultivation level.)]

______________________________

"Hmm... the Spiritual Overload Pill seems to be the less harmful option. System, purchase that."

"Purchase [Spiritual Overload Pill] for 1,310 SP?"

"Yes."

A small pill bottle appeared in his hand. Opening it, William took a sniff.

"Fragrant."

Closing it back up, he checked on Terrence. He was still being beaten back by his opponent, and looked disheveled.

"Now how do I get this to him?"

William thought for a while, before glancing at the sword he had placed by his side.

"Maybe this will work?"

...

Terrence took in deep breaths, propelling himself back into the air. He knew he was not a match for the obsidian skull member, but if he retreated now, they would likely attack the cultivators participating in the test.

"Just give up. You're no match for me." His opponent floated in the sky above him, looking down at him.

"Never."

"Then you can die now."

Terrence sneered.

"I'll die either way. The least I can do is rip out one of your arms before I go."

"Big words for someone so weak."

"You're one to talk. You need the power of an entire formation to beat me and you think you're better than me?"

Infuriated, the obsidian skull member stopped the conversation.

"Alright, that's enough talking! Prepare to die!"

Suddenly, Terrence heard a loud whoosh and a sword appeared next to him.

'Does this cultivator have the ability to control swords as well?'

However, he noticed something tied to the handle of the sword.

"What's this?"

He pulled a small, intricate bottle off the sword and it flew back into the distance.

Barely dodging another attack from his opponent, Terrence opened the bottle. Pouring its contents into his hand, he found a folded piece of paper and a fragrant pill. Unfolding the paper, he read what was on it.

"'Spiritual Overload Pill. This is not a trick'?"

Terrence contemplated the consequences of eating the pill.

"Whatever. At least this might give me a chance of survival."

Terrence swallowed the pill in one gulp and turned to face his opponent. Now, he could feel a dense spiritual energy filling his body, giving him strength.

Terrence smiled.

"So this pill is the real deal. I better finish this fast before it runs out."

"Death's Embrace!" His opponent suddenly appeared behind him, swinging his saber at his head.

"Air Cutter!" Terrence blocked the attack with a combat technique of his own, and the two separated.

The obsidian skull member seemed to realize that he was growing stronger, and wanted to end the fight quickly.

"Oblivion Saber!" His saber was covered in a malicious black aura, shooting into the sky.

"Heaven's Crescent!" Terrence was fully intent on colliding head on with his opponent, using his most powerful move. The tip of his spear was coated in a blinding light, and he swung it at his opponent.

"BOOOOMM!!!"

...

On the sidelines, William suddenly found himself knocked away by the sheer force of the attack, sending him backwards.

"Ow..."

William lay on the ground, feeling pain all over his body. Suddenly, he scrambled into his feet.

"What happened!?"

William went to where the collision was. There was Terrence, who was flying in the air. As for his opponent...

"That must've hurt."

There was a huge crater in the ground, with the body of the obsidian skull member lying there, completely still.

William noticed the other four people were coughing out blood, and the formation was gone, the formation rods lying in disarray on the ground.

"Time to finish the rest of you off."

Terrence flew down, looking at the obsidian skull members that were on the ground.

"No, wait! Please spare us!"

"I can give you everything I have!"

"Please, I'll never do this again!"

Terrence scoffed.

"Like I can trust a single word coming out of your mouths. Prepare to die. Burning Sky!"

Terrence cut the air with his spear, causing a streak of fire to fly at them.

"No!"

"I don't want to die!"

The obsidian skull members desperately tried to escape, running away from the flames. However, in a moment, they had all become ashes.

William saw Terrence fly back up into the sky. For a moment, Terrence turned around, and it looked like he was looking in his direction, but he quickly flew away, disappearing in seconds.

"Phew."

William took a deep sigh of relief after everything was over.

"System, the quest is complete, right?"

"[Quest: Stop Obsidian Skull] has been completed! Rewarding one lottery ticket!"

A small golden ticket appeared in William's hand, and he looked at it closely.

"What's this for?"

"You can use this spin the system's prize wheel once."

"Prize wheel?"

A blue panel appeared in front of William, with a large spinner on it. The spinner had five sections, each with a picture of an object.

"Random bloodline, earth tier or above body tempering technique, spiritual sword embryo, one earth tier weapon of your choice, one random spiritual beast egg. What is all this stuff?"

"The first item is a random bloodline. These can increase your cultivation speed, strengthen your constitution, and increase the stat limit."

"The second item is an earth tier or above body tempering technique. It also strengthens your constitution, but only to a certain limit, after which you'll have to learn another technique."

"The third item is a spiritual sword embryo. This is a sword that is bound to its owner and can cultivate on its own."

"The fourth item is am earth tier weapon. This is probably the worst item on the list, being worth roughly 5,000-10,000 SP."

"The last item is a random spiritual beast egg. These beasts are much smarter than their wild counterparts, having intelligence near the level of people when they are just born. These beasts have incredible bloodlines, and extraordinary talent for cultivation. They also make good companions."

"Would you like to spin the wheel?"

"Yes!" William rubbed his hands together in excitement, wondering what he would get

"Spinning..."

The wheel on the screen started to spin, the sections on it becoming a blur.

"C'mon... give me something good!"

...

"Sigh..."

Terrence let out a deep sigh. Currently, he was in a secluded room, recuperating from his injuries.

"How did that kid get a tier three pill?"

He remembered the kid who was hiding behind a rock while the battle was happening. He was going to talk to him after the battle, but after seeing that he didn't want to show himself, he decided to respect their privacy and leave. Still, he couldn't hide his curiosity.

"What kind of background does he have to get such a pill? Something like this would normally cost tens of gold coins. However, I remember that the participants of this exam were all from rural backgrounds and only some resided in tier one cities. There was no way they would get so much money and squander it on a pill.

"I better report to the city lord."

Terrence took out a jade ship with many complicated inscriptions on it. This was an advanced version of a communication jade, which allowed communication over longer distances.

"Have things been settled on your side?" A voice came out of the token, and Terrence recognized it as the voice of the city lord.

"Yes, they have. The obsidian skull members have been killed." Terrence decided not to reveal that he had received some help, in case the city lord wanted to investigate who had done it. He knew that they wanted to keep their identity hidden, and while he wasn't sure why, he respected that.

"Good. I'll need you back in the city in 2 hours to discuss something with the others. You can end the exam early if need be. I've detected traces of the demonic beasts collaborating with Obsidian Skull, and we need to discuss it in a more private place."

"Demonic beasts?!"

"Yes, keep your voice down. Just come back as soon as you can."

"Yes, lord."

"Good. See you in 2 hours."

The room became quiet, and Terrence sighed for what felt like the millionth time today.

"Demonic beasts? That's not a good sign."

The ordinary citizens might not know, but their peace had been build on many years of war. It was only upon becoming a core condensation realm cultivator that he learned this, but hundreds of years before, the entire continent had been at war.

Demonic beasts had appeared from portals, massacring civilians residing in rural villages. Demonic beasts were strange existences, which had an aura around them that would drive normal people insane. Just by walking by an area, they could cause mass panic and destruction.

Years back, their ancestors had fought these beasts, driving them away from populated areas. Suddenly, things changed. The leaders of the demonic beasts appeared, far more powerful than even the strongest of their cultivators

Faced with the extinction of their species, the humans desperately fought back, and countless died during a long and brutal war. In the end, the strongest of their ancestors, dubbed the divine ten, sacrificed their own lives and burned their vitality and lifespan in exchange for more power. With this, they forced the demonic beasts away, onto a faraway continent across the endless sea.

They severely injured all the titan beasts, and killed many of the demonic beasts, sealing them onto the continent, which was now called Stygian- an ancient word for darkness.

Nowadays, everyone had long forgotten this tale, and those that were told about it only thought of it as a legend, denying its authenticity.

Shaking his head, Terrence stood up. Now that he had mostly recovered, it was about time to announce the early ending of the exam. That way, he could leave and not have to worry about anything happening without him there.