The Final Trial

When Yaan entered the bloody vortex in the 3rd trial realm back then, in order to escape from the Ghu Clan, he was informed by a voice that he had entered the 'bridge' between the 3rd and 4th trial realms. There was no voice helpfully explaining the situation this time, though this was clearly also a sort of bridge.

Unlike last time, Yaan could immediately see an 'end' to this bridge. He could also tell that he had no hope of ever exiting this place if he simply sat down and waited, unlike the previous bloody vortex he was familiar with.

In fact, as soon as he entered through the vortex, he entered a whole new world. Like in the 3rd trial vortex, bloody fluid filled with vitality and killing intent was still present here, but that was where the similarities ended.

All around Yaan, deep red fluid swirled around him, forming a tunnel with a red haze in the centre. Although the bloody fluid was not actually touching him, merely the red haze alone was enough to make him feel as if his body was being crushed under the strain. Within seconds, Yaan was breathing heavily. He had tired himself just to enter the vortex in the first place, and now, it was already difficult to endure.

Forcing his eyes open and ignoring the pain of the pressure which drove into his eyeballs, almost crushing his eyes back into his skull, Yaan stared ahead. All he could see was the continuation of this red tunnel where the end was visible, yet seemed so far away…

He walked forwards, he did not even look back. It was obvious to Yaan that no matter what, he needed to travel forwards through the tunnel. What lay behind him was irrelevant, and looking back would only waste energy that he did not have to spare.

Step…

Yaan grimaced heavily as the pressure almost doubled after he took a single step. He paused, briefly allowing his body to acclimate to the strain, before resolutely taking another step.

Step, step, step…

With each step, the pressure exuded by the surrounding bloody energy bore into his body and threatened to rip him apart. However, after taking five steps, Yaan's expression changed. He paused briefly, then slowly took another step. Despite the pain increasing as muffled cracking sounds resonated within his body, he showed a joyous expression. With a determined look, he began walking forwards with long, slow, but purposeful strides.

With each step, his body experienced an immense strain greater than the last. However, during the act of moving forwards, his body also seemed to absorb a small portion of the murderous red haze in the atmosphere, helping to regenerate the damage inflicted to his body! This red haze reminded Yaan of the 3rd trial vortex, where he absorbed the vitality by attempting to walk against the flow.

This time, the strange red power he absorbed was far more violent. It rampaged ferociously through his body, mind and even his soul! Trying to control this power was completely impossible, all of Yaan's cultivation abilities were totally useless, they could not help him!

However, he found that so long as he continued moving forwards, the red power did not cause him any harm. Even if he moved slowly, it was fine, so long as he continued to move. The moment he stopped, the flow of the rampant red haze became chaotic, losing its steady flow throughout his body. Not only would the red haze not heal him in this situation, making it impossible to continue resisting the pressure within the tunnel, but it actively damaged him! If Yaan stopped for longer than half a second, he had no doubt that the red power within his body would tear him apart from inside out!

Eventually, Yaan realised that he had taken dozens of steps.

Before he knew it, he had taken hundreds of steps.

A precarious phenomena allowed Yaan to reach this point. By continuously moving without stopping for a single instant, the red power that he absorbed from the bloody red haze accumulated without ever declining. Not only did this power, that Yaan still had no control over whatsoever, build up, but the rate of flow within his body became increasingly hasty.

Whilst this power felt shockingly dangerous, it also balanced out the external pressure that pummelled down on Yaan's body. The pressure was balanced, whilst any damage was healed over as it formed.

Yaan felt like a treasure being tempered, it was as if his entire body was being broken down and rebuilt perpetually! It was a terrifying feeling, being forced to continue moving into an unknown abyss, with every step thrusting you deeper and deeper into the all-encompassing danger.

After so many steps, the exit didn't seem to be getting any closer…

At first, Yaan could stop for half a second and then continue on, but at this point, there was no possible way he could stop. Ignoring the external pressure of the bloody tunnel, just the red power within his body would go out of control and rip him apart in a storm of chaos if he so much as slowed down his footsteps.

Thousands of steps on…

Yaan's psyche power was depleted and the ongoing strain made it impossible to replenish. Luckily, it seemed that this tunnel and the bloody powers within did not cause any damage to his sea of consciousness itself, only draining away the energy as it formed. Because of this, Yaan was barely able to cling onto consciousness, though his thought process and reflexes felt heavily subdued, now that his psyche power and psyche avatar were not available for use.

His vital energy and astral power were also depleted to the point of being unusable. Usually, in this sort of depleted state, a cultivator would lose consciousness. Perhaps it was thanks to Yaan's sturdy body that he was able to remain awake…

Yet, his body was also in no good state. He was like a man made from blood and tendons, his skin was torn to shreds the moment it formed, his muscles leaked blood continually as they were eroded and recovered, whilst his bones were ground away and rebuilt time and time again.

Existing in this state could be defined by a single word: unbearable.

Cultivators tended to possess a strong will, but in truth, much of this was thanks to their cultivation and the various energies that they could utilise to help them resist adversity and hardship.

Pain could be overcome, numbed and reduced, by cycling energy of any sort. Possessing a strong body gave one an innate resistance to these sorts of things to, but that was under the condition that their vitality was maintained, and not reduced to a pathetic state such as Yaan's in this moment. Even psyche power cultivators merely used their psyche power to strengthen their will, and to act as a boundary between adversity and themselves.

When every aspect of a cultivator's power was removed, what were they left with, really? When all of your physical and mental energy was drained, when your body was exhausted and destroyed, when your soul was subdued and almost crippled, how could you go on?

Yaan's gaze, which was originally determined and resolute, was now dull, almost lifeless. He started with motivated thoughts of overcoming this trial, but now, his mind was blank. He did not even have the energy to think, aside from the occasional stray thought that entered his mind every now and then.

'How long has it been…?'

'It hurts…'

'Why am I still moving…?'

'Right…because I have no other choice…'

'There is no other way…there is only forwards…there is no other choice…'

'If I stop, it's all over…'

'But why do I even care…?'

'What if this pain never ends…?'

'It feels like it will never end…'

'Perhaps if I die, I can finally rest…'

'So why…am I still going on…?'

The frequency of these thoughts became less and less.

Hundreds of steps, thousands, tens of thousands…how many steps had it been? How long had he been moving for? Just why was he doing this…why did he go on?

What drove him exactly?

Anyway, in his current state, these thoughts were not true questions he was asking himself, they were merely passing thoughts that eventually faded away as his exhaustion spread beyond his body, his cultivation, his mind and his soul, reaching somewhere much deeper.

He was so tired…

This feeling reminded Yaan of two recent occasions. The first was in the 7th pagoda trial, after he defeated the copies of himself using that unknown power. The second was in the 9th pagoda's 2nd hall, when he resisted the murderous dominance of that red-haired entity…

An exhaustion that encompassed the heart, driving so deep that it was simply impossible to resist. And yet, because he had experienced this sort of exhaustion twice before, Yaan was able to hold on for a short while after this feeling enveloped him.

But, he could only go so far. As he drove himself to the extent of his limit to endure, Yaan tripped and stumbled. Immediately, he felt the ferocious red power tearing through his body, threatening to obliterate him.

BANG BANG BANG!

His bones, organs and muscles began detonating, filling Yaan with such intense pain and shock that for the briefest of moments, his eyes reopened. In this moment, unwillingness filled his face. He forced himself to look forwards through a bloody gaze, as he lifted his leg up one final time.

BANG!

His leg detonated, turning into a bloody mess of a stump before he could finish taking the step.

Yaan sighed bitterly as he fell down.

In his mind, he had definitely failed. He did not even possess the energy to lament over his own impending death.

The moment Yaan finally lost consciousness, the red tunnel vanished and the red hazy power within his body was rapidly extracted out. A beam of all-coloured light descended on his body, preventing his rapidly approaching death and allowing him to cling to life for a moment. Yaan did not wake back up, but as this light continued to shine down upon him, his body continued to recover until it returned to peak condition. Even all of his energies recovered, but not only that, they all seemed to have been tempered and improved to an astonishing degree!

With that, Yaan unconsciously fell into the 5th trial realm.