The Three Trials

"I heard your Yu Family decided to have someone from a branch family enter. Are you that confident that you would use some countryside nobodies?" one of them said. He was a tall and thin man, with small eyes and a thin beard. Dressed in yellow robes and covered in jewelry, anyone could recognize him as the Patriarch of the Shao Family, Shao Jin.

"Background doesn't matter, so long as they prove their strength, Shao Jin", a woman spoke coldly. Her cold stares contributed to her beauty.

"Just because my husband is not here, does not mean you can so easily trample on us."

She looked at Shao Jin with cold eyes, evoking some fear within him. This was the wife of the Yu Family Patriarch, Yu Ci Hua. Her husband, Yu Feng Long could not join her for he was the commander of the city guards. He still had a responsibility to fulfill. She herself was a warrior who used the spear, nicknamed the "Flaming Spearhead" her techniques in the dao of flame was without equal.

"Calm down you too, let's just enjoy ourselves. There is no need to bicker", the voice of a man broke the tension. From the first look, one could see that he went through numerous battles. His face was scarred in many places. He had a warrior's disposition with sharp eyes and a muscular body, dressed in white robes. However the most eye-catching feature to him was his hair. Long and glossy, most women would envy him.

"Hmph, just for you Bing Shan, I will let this go", Shao Jin snorted before looking away.

Similarly, Yu Ci Hua also stopped pursuing this matter, choosing to focus on the stage.

This scar-faced man named Bing Shan, was the patriarch of the Bing Family, who specialized in the healing arts. His intimidating appearance came from working as a doctor in the front-lines of many battles. Both and healing at the same time, he was known as the "Bone Doctor" for both breaking the bones of his enemies and fixing the broken bodies of his allies.

"The tournament will begin in five minutes, all participants enter the stage!"

Everyone stopped their idle chatter, instead staring at the stage as streams of young cultivators entered. Among them, Ming Yue walked with a random group. She had left Xiao Yin and Hei Yue back at the inn as animals/pets were not allowed to join.

It did not take long for the stage to fill up, almost fifteen hundred youths gathered on this stage.

"The Emperor will deliver a message!"

Everyone stood quietly bowing to the emperor, who sat and watched from his own personal seat.

He stood up, clearing his throat, "Welcome to the 72nd Youth Dragon Tournament! I hope to see an excellent performance from you all."

A short message but one that everyone appreciated, after all, none of them could wait for the tournament to begin, not even the Emperor. This was a chance to assess the younger generation and maybe take note of any outstanding talents.

The tournament announcer, a young woman floated in the sky, "Let the tournament officially begin!"

Despite being in the air, everyone could hear her clearly, She was definitely not an ordinary figure.

"The first part of this tournament are the three trials. These trials will test your willpower, strength and perseverance" she spoke eloquently, explaining the tournament for everyone.

"The formation that you are standing one serves two purposes, it strengthens the arena but is also an illusion formation. This is the first of the three trials, testing your heart and mind. If the formation deems you unable to survive, it will immediately kick you off of the arena. The illusion will continue to work until there are only one thousand of you left", she explained, "Now I want you all to find a spot and sit."

Everyone did as they were told, crossing their legs, waiting for the trial to begin.

The formation shined spewing mist from the ground. As their sight became cloudy each and every one of them had entered the first trial. Of course, although they could not see, the many spectators could see them clearly. It may seem quite boring just watching people cross-legged and barely even moving, they looked on with anticipation as if something amazing was going to happen.

Soon enough what they were waiting for happened.

~whoosh~*

One of the seated cultivators, a young man flew out of the arena, tumbling onto the ground and landing on his head. It was a very amusing sight to see and everyone laughed and smiled. This was what they were waiting for! A comedic show of bodies flying through the air ending up a laughable mess. Of course, this was all in good fun but one could not help at the thought of seeing young warriors

Despite the comedic outlook, those in the arena had serious expressions, some were desperate, others showed nothing. This trial meant to test their heart and minds showed a variety of scenes, some catered to their fear and others, their greed, lust and hatred. Those who succumbed to any of it or are unable to break the illusion would be expelled by the formation and thus expelled from the competition.

As for Ming Yue, she was brought back to the beginning of her story, where her village was still brimming with life. It all felt so real, even the smallest of details were there.

She looked around, gazing at the many people she once knew.

"Teacher Fan..."

"Chen Xiao..."

"..Father.."

There she saw her father, working away at a grinder, making medicine. He worked hard and sweat dropped from his forehead.

"Do you want to come back?"

Ming Yue turned around, finding herself in front of her.

"Don't you miss this life?" she said, "Where life was simple. Every morning was herb gathering with father and every afternoon was class with Teacher Fan. Come back to us, throw your sword away."

Her other self spoke calmly, staring into her eyes.

Indeed she missed all of them, she missed her old life. She missed her father. All she had to do was take those steps, forget about exploring, having to kill, to hurt others. Then she could go back to her happy life.

"They're dead. Nothing I do now can bring them back", she said.

Her other self smiled, "Of course they're dead, They all died in front of your eyes."

She slowly walked forward, "They died and you did nothing for them."

Materializing a sword in her hands, she drew it out, revealing Parting Sun.

"Now you can join them!" she attacked Ming Yue, charging at her.

Ming Yue reacted quickly to her body double, unsheathing her sword and clashing it with the copy.

"What have you done exactly?" her copy said, "You burn their bodies and scatter their ashes. Then what, you run off on some idiotic journey. That is nothing more than your excuse to escape everything! You know in your heart you wanted to die with them! At that moment, you wished that bandit had killed you, so that you didn't have to live with the guilt of being the only survivor. Hating yourself for not doing more for them!"

She attacked even more fiercely with Ming Yue only fighting passively. She did not attack for her mind was wavering. These were her own thoughts in a physical form, everything that was said, she pushed to the back of her mind. These thoughts and feelings were always suppressed but every now and then, her mind would wander back.

Would it had been better if she died back then? Could she have done anything to change the fate of her village? What use was her cultivation if she could not even save her own family? What exatly was the purpose of her staying alive?

These thoughts continued to collect itself and now they had burst out.

She was in disarray, barely able to think properly. Her sword fell from her hands and she stood still.

"Perhaps it would be better if I had died", she thought.

Her copy approached her, "Just give in and die, I'm sure father would want your company."