Killer Of Past Champions

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Qing Fang nodded his head as he heard the remnant consciousness grant him a distinction in the second trial.

It was only to be expected, after all. Qing Fang was the possessor of an unlocked soul, the greatest mental achievement that cultivators could unlock normally at the grand realm of Stage 7! Not only was comprehension and memory heightened to great levels, one was granted amazing control over their own body.

Not to mention that the trial of intelligence was just that: a trial of intelligence. It did not take natural talent to be intelligent and Qing Fang wouldn't struggle too badly in this regard even without an unlocked soul.

Now that he has passed two of the five trials with an effortless distinction, Qing Fang became more and more confident that he could become Da Shi Fu Wen's inheritor. That was to be the inheritor of a Stage 6 cultivator!

Thinking of the treasures Da Shi Fu Wen had probably amassed, Qing Fang's body shook with anticipation. For someone like him, who felt the need to become stronger quickly, it almost seemed fated that this inheritance was something he could partake in.

"I must say, inheritor, that you continuously surprise me!" The remnant consciousness exclaimed as the two still sat around the table in the modest wooden building. Its gleaming golden eyes stared upon Qing Fang as if he was a treasure.

"Of all the thousands of past inheritors, only you have achieved two distinctions. Not even mentioning that you have only undergone two trials thus far! Simply amazing; surpassing all past inheritors while not having the most outstanding strength by far." The remnant consciousness spoke with a simple smile upon its golden face.

It did look upon Qing Fang extremely kindly now that he had proven himself to be an outstanding cultivator, though that remarkability may not directly lie in strength. The one who would pass all five trials would be the one who saved its life. The remnant consciousness was bound to find a successor for its dead creator so long as it lived, and before that time, helplessness had gripped it for hundreds of years at a time.

Qing Fang looked at this and only kept his silence. The plight of the remnant consciousness did not concern him at all, and he was here for no other reason than to continue surviving and reap benefits. However, he would happily be the one to free the remnant consciousness if it meant he could take all the treasures in this place.

Though, he spoke up and took the initiative to ask after a moment. "If you could tell me, what is the trial that past inheritors have failed the most on? You said that not a single one of them had ever passed all five trials, and yet merely passing the former two trials of strength and intelligence with the lowest evaluation shouldn't be too difficult. There must be a part of this place that has acted as a wall, stopping every inheritor in their approach and taking their lives simultaneously..."

Qing Fang spoke with a questioning look in his eyes. Despite the ease he had completed the first two trials with, Qing Fang felt that the true difficulty in the inheritance didn't lie here. And if it was something he wasn't confident in, Qing Fang may even struggle to simply pass.

The remnant consciousness had said it before: Qing Fang took no confidence from the strength he had cultivated. And while he could be perceived as arrogant to be able to reap precious life so firmly, Qing Fang didn't see it that way. He simply killed; there was no arrogance in it at all.

In fact, Qing Fang considered himself to be an extremely humble, almost contemptibly so, person. This was because he worshipped the Dao and humbly took his place as a simple cog in the Universe. He had seen others that possessed ambition unbefitting of their strength.

Whereas Qing Fang felt that ambition came after strength, not before it. Kt was something granted by an order of life. For the same reason that a God's arrogance simply wasn't arrogance; it was nature. Slowly ascending the order of life while disregarding the labels of fellow mortals was something Qing Fang viewed as humility; for he did not seek to upheave the Heavens, but to join them.

The remnant consciousness was indeed snapped out of his joyous mood as he heard Qing Fang's question. A solemn bearing took him as he conveyed warnings in his eyes that looked at Qing Fang. Warnings that Qing Fang didn't feel rightful enough to ignore.

"You are right in saying that. It is true that many past inheritors have made it past the first two trials, as you have, and many of them were also paramount geniuses in their own right. After all, the position of this inheritance is in the depths of the Catsith lair so only heroic humans can appear here. Only great figures have partaken in this trial and you should not take solace in your victories up until this point, that would be too much of a shame." The remnant consciousness started.

"I will tell you this: not a single past inheritor has made it to the fourth trial." The words were spoken heavily as the calming and relaxing scene suddenly took a greyish tint. The two sat with an empty table between them, in the unnervingly harmless interlude before Qing Fang would put his life on trial once again.

"No one has made it past the third trial?" Qing Fang was taken aback. After all, the third trial was only the third trial. Qing Fang thought that maybe a few dozen had made it to the fifth trial, but everyone had died before the fourth? That seemed a little scary, right?

Maybe he had underestimated the ruthlessness of this trial. Figures stronger than he had made it to where he stood right now, but all died at the next step. Qing Fang started to think: how many cultivators had enjoyed this interlude as he did, before they joined the ranks that made the simple words: "past inheritors"? Such a thought was horrifying; that many prominent figures had just had their existence reduced to just this.

"Is the third trial extremely lethal upon failure? I know you said all trials except the trials of intelligence are lethal upon failure, but from the way you said it, the third trial seems especially dangerous." Qing Fang asked.

"No one has made it out alive after failing, as some may in the other trials. The third trial is definitely the most lethal. I could also name it to be the hardest trial for any inheritor to overcome, most surely." Scenes of innumerable cultivators dying seemed to flash across the remnant consciousness' eyes as it spoke with immeasurable pity. After all, inheritors failing was equivalent to it losing lifespan.

From the words said, it seemed like the third trial was simply a killer of past champions...

"Don't let this scare you, inheritor. It is true that stronger people have indeed failed up ahead, but the trial of strength has long passed." The remnant consciousness said with reassurance. "Strength is not what you need in your trials up ahead, but whatever is required of you. So, perform with your utmost ability with all this in consideration." Despite the calming words, there was a dull flash in those golden eyes.

'So he doesn't even believe his own words.' Qing Fang thought but did not dwell on these thoughts that could weaken him.

The golden eyes of the remnant consciousness then became steely as they looked at Qing Fang's figure.

"It is time to go." It said with a deep voice and Qing Fang's vigilance immediately returned tenfold. The peaceful and serene environment of the interlude before the next trial seemed to be overcast with a foreshadowing fear from the remnant consciousness.

Then, under the watchful gaze of Qing Fang's red eyes, the remnant consciousness exploded into nothingness with a small burst of golden runes that flew out in expanding circles before fading into nothingness. Qing Fang was left alone in the modest hut that seemed lifeless and meaningless now that his time here was done. Staying here just didn't feel right, as if he knew he had to leave.

'It is indeed time to go.'

Qing Fang promptly alighted from the floor mat that was cold without his warmth, his eagerness to leave turning the place wretched in his own mind. As he turned away from the table in the centre of the room and to one of the open walls, a spectacle was reflected in Qing Fang's eyes as he moved towards it while staring.

A huge mass of swirling golden runes suddenly became visible on the wide grassy plain, interweaving into a large golden dome a dozen meters tall. They resembled the runes that formed the stage of the second trial, and Qing Fang could tell that the place where the third trial will be held was materialising over there. He could see a small golden figure, the remnant consciousness, hovering above the earth next to those runes, looking at him with an anxious gaze.

He took slow steps as he walked across the green grass for a hundred meters before he came to stand by the floating remnant consciousness and before the huge mass of runes. They were both silent as they stood alongside each other and just stared at the foreboding stage that was being created.

"Rest." The remnant consciousness ordered, and Qing Fang sat and rested his eyes as he tried to bring calm unto his mind. The threat of death was more fearsome the longer one was given to comprehend it. However, Qing Fang himself was not swayed.

After all, he was but a cog. Who cares who he could be? As for who he was right here, his death held little impact and brought no grief. If a stronger figure was here, it would be different. For everything was determined by strength, even fairness and favour.

Minutes passed and Qing Fang reached a state of peace before he was awoken by a golden hand that fell upon his shoulder. Lifting his eyes, Qing Fang saw the remnant consciousness staring at him, afraid to lose him.

Qing Fang looked away and to where the golden runes once surged, however, they had all vanished.

All that was left in their place was a deep and endless pit in the earth.

Qing Fang stood up and walked to the periphery, staring for as long as he could before the endlessly unfathomable darkness eventually swallowed his vision. The luscious green grass suddenly dropped off into walls of brown soil that consisted of the pit, much similar to the edge of the artificial world that Qing Fang had seen before.

The voice of the remnant consciousness came as he stared, like a drop in the sea across the vast artificial world and before the seemingly small pit.

"This is it: the trial of will. The trial that past inheritors have all been felled by. Once you step into that pit, you are out of my hands and you can either succeed and return, or die."

Qing Fang was silent.

"A strong will is needed to achieve one's goals but is also fundamental in the process of creating runes. If you pass the trial, you might live to understand why, but for now, do not think about it.

In the trial, the strength of your will is subject to testing. No two trials of will are the same from what I have seen, so I cannot offer any advice and comforting words are clearly not needed between us.

So, you can only take the leap." The words of the remnant consciousness had the sound of fading, and when Qing Fang looked over, it was already gone.

"I can only take the leap." Qing Fang muttered the words before he strode forwards and out onto the abyss before letting his body aimlessly fall into the deep pit...

...

Qing Fang suddenly awoke.

His eyes rolled around under his eyelids haphazardly, a red light shining underneath before they burst open with a gleam. His eyes moved as they looked around, however, a heavy frown was soon worn on the face of Qing Fang.

Achingly dragging his body from a cold and wet stone underneath him, Qing Fang gradually stood in the strange place he had suddenly found himself. He distinctly remembered falling into the pit of the third trial but a moment ago, yet he felt as though hours had passed since then.

A biting cold engulfed Qing Fang and was the cause of his heavy frown. He felt his body become several times heavier as a natural fatigue clouded his mind and seemingly originated from the cold. Qing Fang became hateful as he felt as though he was weakened by the cold, despite the third trial looming overhead.

He seemed to be in an enclosed cave that had no tunnels nor exits anywhere. And all that filled it was a dripping wet that turned the stone several shades darker as well as a cold that clung to Qing Fang's warm body.

However, Qing Fang's entire body became stiff and solemn as he heard a familiar voice speak from the gaps between space, all around him.

"Pain is a killer..." The words were spoken in a grating demonic voice that made the eardrums shake and face twist into ugliness. As they were slowly spoken, dark golden mist seemed to seep from cracks in the stone floor and flowed to the centre of the cave slowly but surely.

"Aimlessness is a killer..." The voice came once again and the mist gradually convened into a large clump of darkened gold that hung in the centre of the cave scarily.

Qing Fang watched without carelessness.

"Comfort is a killer..." More grating words in the deep and demonic voice were spoken and the huge clump of dark gold mist started to take on a humanoid silhouette.

Qing Fang's face became hard as he recognised the voice that the words were spoken with as none other but his very own...

"A killer of will." The words seemed several times firmer and heavier as a pair of flaming red eyes suddenly pierced from within the darkened gold mist. Qing Fang watched on with steely eyes as the humanoid of gold mist suddenly took a step forwards with one of its misty legs.

However, as if phasing into reality, flesh was borne from the mist as it moved forwards and thick white flesh that amalgamated into dark, crystalline metatarsus claws came forth. Supported by the newly-born legs, a hulking white figure with a fleshly mantle appeared from the golden mist.

And with flaming red eyes that were filled with animosity, Qing Fang's face was dark as he was faced with himself.

"Tell me...what do you desire? What is the meaning of your existence? What do you strive to achieve?" The clone spoke to Qing Fang with resentful words upon its poisonous tongue.

Qing Fang didn't hesitate to reply.

"I live to become stronger." His tone was flat and his words were short, yet they contained the definition of Qing Fang himself.

"Strength..." The clone seemed unsurprised before it continued to speak.

"Everybody seeks strength in some form. I ask you why you seek strength; for what do you live for?" The words contained a darkness that flooded from the maw of the clone and spread the cold stone floor with a deathly black.

"Wanting strength just to be strong? Seeking power for nothing but to be powerful? The statement is empty without a will!" The aura of the clone suddenly intensified as darkness burst from all around it and loomed over Qing Fang like clouds of death.

Qing Fang took a step back in the face of the darkness, but only to dig his claws into the stone and cement himself where he stood! He faced the clone that had immense resentment and hatred for him and spoke loudly.

"Weakness is a sin when strength is right before you. Ignorance is a sin when the Dao is right before you, waiting to be comprehended. Life is not granted purpose by ourselves, but the meaning of our existence has already been long determined.

That is to become eternal. To become one with the Dao and be rewarded with strength. Live to become one with the Dao and take all your meaning and strength from it. The Dao acts as a guiding hand in this cold existence, granting meaning and bestowing strength and authority.

I do not live for strength, but I live for the Dao. I seek to learn from it, and understand it.

I seek to become one with it!" Qing Fang said with resolve that represented all he was.

The clone seemed to retreat as it heard Qing Fang's reason for living, seemingly satisfied with it. The darkness receded back into the being of the clone, however, that resentful hatred did not disappear.

"You state that weakness is a sin, but look at yourself. Do you claim to be strong, or do you admit to committing a sin against your own resolve?" The question was piercing, however, Qing Fang didn't flinch.

"The road is long and I do everything within my power to move forward. I would never betray these words.

I am willing to pay any price to achieve them." Qing Fang said stalely.

"Willing...hehehe..." The clone that seemed to be a mentally unstable collection of darkness laughed creepily as he heard mention of the word "will".

"We will see what price you are willing to pay. This is the trial of will and failure will result in death. For failure will entrap you in the things that kill willfulness and feed your flesh to me. Hehehe!" The jaw of the clone seemed to unnaturally enlarge as it cackled creepily.

"Pain?

Aimlessness?

Comfort?

We will see which one shall crush your will into nothingness~" The words of the clone seemed to be overtaken by darkness and fade away into nothingness as Qing Fang suddenly felt himself falling away to another place.

Falling away to the true third trial.

*3,084/3,000 words*