VIOLET

CHAPTER 12: VIOLET

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In the tranquil moments of Ethan's life before he was transported to another world, he found solace in the rhythm of his routine.

Every morning, he woke up early to do some physical exercise.

Then, after settling for a meager breakfast, he left for university.

Once back home, he rested for two hours, usually revising the material from the previous day's lecture, and finally headed to his part-time job, where he worked until the evening, sometimes even pulling night shifts.

This was a routine Ethan had followed for almost two years, a routine he had built to achieve his goals.

A routine that had helped him avoid recalling the hard moments in his life,

a routine that had helped him not to succumb after losing the last dear person in his life.

***

The girl who had just entered was someone Ethan knew very well.

After all, how could he not?

She was Violet Roberts, the daughter of the owner of this convenience store.

Ethan had started working here almost two years ago, and since then, he had had several occasions to meet her.

The owner's house was just a stone's throw from the store, so she occasionally visited her father.

Over time, he had befriended this girl. She was friendly and radiant, always with a smile that could enchant people.

Even Ethan, who believed that girls were only a source of trouble and distraction, couldn't help but be interested in her.

For him, who firmly believed that money is power and anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about, having a girlfriend or going out with friends was a waste of time.

He knew that only by working hard now could he enjoy a life of luxury later, so he dedicated himself to learning more and more new things to build a lucrative career.

The only person who had obstructed him in this path was this girl, who, for some reason, was interested in him and never left him alone.

Ethan thought she was enchanted by his natural beauty (which was average), which had made some girls faint in the past.

Over time, he got used to her presence, and little by little, he interacted with her more.

Time passed, and one day, when he was in his third year of university, an accident occurred.

At an intersection not far from the store, an oil tanker had crashed into some cars.

This accident had caused a lot of commotion then because the explosion of the truck caused a lot of damage, and several lives were lost.

He remembered that day at the store and only knew about the accident from a phone call from his boss, who asked him to close the store for the day.

The usual tone of the boss, with which he used to talk, had disappeared, replaced by a somewhat choked voice, as if he was holding back tears.

At that time, he still didn't know what had happened, but later he found out that one of the victims of the explosion was Violet. The same girl who was now standing in front of him.

Ethan had wondered how the trial would evaluate his Dao heart.

Since this was his first experience of the kind, he could only imagine what he would face in the illusion, and although he had prepared for everything, this had caught him off guard.

According to an old saying, the past haunts a person until their death. Ethan felt he was about to learn the meaning of this saying the hard way.

"Haa, Screw my bad luck."

***

Time passed, and one by one, the number of people undergoing the trial began to decrease.

Some passed, and others didn't, but the pace at which people were coming out of the illusion was constant enough that every minute or two, disciples appeared to assist these people.

At one end of the hall of the third trial, five people stood watching the dwindling group of people sitting in front of the phoenix statue.

It was the group of disciples assigned to assist the participants in case something went wrong.

One of these disciples was none other than the boy Ethan had met upon arriving here.

His name was Sun Hao, a member of the Sun family, a family that had grown wealthy through commerce. It was one of the important families in the city of the sun.

At this moment, Sun Hao stood with his companions, all of whom were inner disciples of the sect, waiting for the trial to end.

The Dao Heart trial was a test that severely challenged a person's determination.

The importance of the Dao Heart for cultivation was very high, so in almost all sects in this world, this was one of the trials that a person would have to face sooner or later.

Many had failed because of this trial, and as dangerous as it could become, the sects ensured that people wouldn't be too shaken.

There were indeed several ways to recover from the trauma that could result from this test.

As dangerous as it was, the sects continued this method because those who successfully faced this trial had a greater chance of achieving great things in the future.

The success rate of this trial was very low, so low that only one in ten people passed the trial successfully, and only one in a hundred passed with good results.

This year, the number of people who passed was much lower than the previous year, but Sun Hao didn't seem unhappy about this.

In fact, he seemed quite satisfied with this batch of people because four people had already passed the trial with excellent results. Last year, there were only two.

Although he was a bit jealous of the results of those four, he knew that if the sect prospered, he would prosper along with it.

He couldn't wait for this test to end so he could interact more with them and build some kind of connection with them, after all, three of them were from important families, more important than his.

At that moment, only two participants remained in the hall. One was a boy with long black hair tied in a ponytail, who had a tired expression on his face.

It was clear that he was close to giving up, and indeed, one of the five inner disciples was already ready to intervene.

The other, however, was the boy Sun Hao had met a few minutes ago.

Seeing him still sitting, eyes closed, and without any expression on his face, Sun Hao thought he might pass the trial.

It had been almost seven minutes since he had started, and usually, most people taking the trial began to give up after the first five minutes, so he thought maybe he would pass the trial.

According to what he had heard, the boy had a terrible result in the first trial and a barely acceptable result in the second, so this was his last chance to pass.

Personally, Sun Hao didn't expect much from him and was sure he would give up after the first ten minutes.

'Well, at least it seems he will pass. One more disciple is always better than nothing,' he thought, noting that the ten minutes were almost up and preparing to assist him at any moment.

Unfortunately for him, that moment wouldn't come too soon.