206. A Trial With No Mercy

The moment the swirling vortex appeared before them, it was as if all the cultivators had turned into zombies themselves.

They rushed toward it, charging as though a departing train would leave them stranded if they hesitated for even a second. Any sense of order vanished instantly.

The Frostpeak Sect moved first.

He recognised the man who stepped up, Han Qingshi. He declared in a loud voice. “The Frostpeak Sect is entering. Anyone who interferes will be treated as an enemy.”

Before anyone could respond, Frostpeak disciples surged ahead, shoving past stunned rogue cultivators and smaller sect members alike. In the blink of an eye, the vortex swallowed them whole, and they vanished, leaving behind uneasy murmurs.

Next came the Thunder Blade Sect.

Lightning crackled around their bodies as they forced their way through the crowd. Thunder rumbled with every step until they too vanished into the swirling purple light, scorch marks and tension lingering where they had stood.

After that, the pace slowed.

The remaining Guardian sects didn’t rush. Instead, those closest to the vortex began entering in smaller groups, one after another, disappearing into the portal.

Chen Ren and his group remained under the tree, watching it all unfold. Even if he wanted to move, he knew it was better to not clash with the crowd.

Princess Yanyue shook her head lightly. “Frostpeak Sect and Thunder Blade Sect are always hasty. They probably think the pagoda has limited spots.”

Anji glanced at her. “That’s not true, right?”

Princess Yanyue shook her head. “No. The pagoda is massive. It can house thousands, and the entrance will stay open for a couple of days. Many more will still arrive.”

Anji nodded, reassured.

Within ten minutes, more than half the crowd had already disappeared into the vortex.

Chen Ren watched as the more prominent sects secured their entry first, while rogue cultivators slipped in wherever they could. Prince Yuelan entered with a group of nobles and his own royal guards, not bothering to look back. About ten minutes later, the Soaring Sword Sect moved in. Li Xuan noticed Chen Ren and gave him a brief smile before disappearing into the vortex with his sect.

The last guardian sect to enter was Emerald Sun Sect.

Chen Ren quietly hoped that not many of them would make it past the first floor. Alchemists who survived long enough were going to be very dangerous to what he had in mind.

Once most of the cultivators were gone, the space around the vortex finally opened up.

Princess Yanyue stepped forward. “Let’s move.”

The crowd instinctively parted for royalty as she approached the entrance, Chen Ren and the others following behind. When they reached the vortex, one of the royal guards bowed slightly.

“We’ll go in first, Princess. Follow after us. We’ll find you on the second floor.”

She nodded calmly.

One by one, the royal guards entered the vortex and vanished. After they were gone, Princess Yanyue turned to Chen Ren and the others.

“Let’s meet inside.”

Then she stepped forward and disappeared as well.

Chen Ren turned to the twins. “You two go first. Find Anji after the first floor.”

Li Qingfeng and Li Qingxue nodded, exchanged a quick look, and entered the vortex together.

When only his own people remained, Chen Ren looked at Anji. “Give me Wang Jun. And be careful.”

Anji nodded and carefully passed the invisible head over. Wang Jun grumbled under his breath, barely audible. “It’s hard not talking for hours, you know.”

Chen Ren almost laughed.

He hooked Wang Jun onto his belt, which was harder than expected since he could barely see where the head was, despite knowing it was there.

With Wang Jun secured at his side, Chen Ren nodded at Anji and Zi Wen. They didn’t hesitate and jumped into the vortex one after the other. Little Yuze followed immediately, with Whiskey perched comfortably on the big wolf’s back, tail flicking as if this were nothing unusual.

When only Yalan and Chen Ren remained, he looked down at her. “Ready?”

Yalan nodded once. “Don’t lose your life.”

“I don’t plan to,” Chen Ren replied.

The two of them stepped forward together.

The moment Chen Ren’s body touched the vortex, pain exploded through him. It felt like his flesh was burning, as if he had been thrown into fire. Worse than that, the sensation reached deeper—his soul itself seemed to be scorched. His instincts screamed, but before he could even react, the pain vanished completely.

He blinked. There was nothing.

Only darkness was around him.

“Wang Jun?” Chen Ren asked quietly. “Are you there?”

“Yes, I am,” Wang Jun replied at once.

Chen Ren let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Good. I was worried the pagoda might label you as some kind of anomaly and leave you behind. That would’ve been disastrous.”

Wang Jun snorted. “Why do you always assume the worst about me?”

Chen Ren didn’t answer.

The darkness shattered in the next instant, light flooding his vision so suddenly that he squinted. When his eyes adjusted, he found himself standing on solid ground, directly in front of a large two-storey building.

He rubbed his eyes, still feeling disoriented.

Everything around him was pitch black. There was no sky, no land—nothing. Only the area around the building existed, illuminated as if by some unseen source. The structure itself looked old but sturdy, its wooden walls darkened with age.

Right in front of the entrance stood a plaque.

Chen Ren stepped closer and read it.

“Explore the house and kill its master to pass the tutorial and advance to the second floor.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“So this is the tutorial,” he muttered. “Straight to killing.”

From the looks of it, the pagoda had no interest in easing anyone in.

That was probably the best outcome he could have hoped for. From what Princess Yanyue had told him, the tutorials inside the pagoda varied wildly. Some focused on survival, others forced cultivators to sit still and cultivate for hours while the temperature around them swung between extreme cold and heat. Compared to that, being told to explore a building and kill its master sounded straightforward.

That didn’t mean it would be easy.

Chen Ren glanced around the dark space once more, then instinctively reached for his spatial ring on his left hand. He pushed qi through it. As expected, nothing came out.

“So spatial rings really don’t work here,” he muttered. “The princess was right.”

Wang Jun hummed in agreement. “There are arrays that block spatial artifacts unless they recognize a specific qi signature. I remember designs like that from back then.”

Chen Ren nodded. “Good thing I kept pills in my pouch.”

With that, he took his first step toward the building.

Up close, it looked like an old sect residence—plain wooden doors, worn beams, and tiled floors visible through the entrance. But he knew it might be filled with traps. Hence, Chen Ren didn’t relax.

He pushed the door open.

Nothing happened.

Inside was an ordinary room. A table, a few chairs, shelves, and old paintings hung on the walls. No hidden blades. No sudden attacks. Chen Ren stepped in carefully, ready to react, but the room remained silent.

He moved on and opened the next door.

A hallway stretched ahead, with stairs leading upward. He explored slowly, checking each room one by one. Two of them were small bedrooms with simple cots. Another was a kitchen with cold stoves and empty shelves. The last room was a small library.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he entered the room.

He pulled a few books out and flipped through them. Every page was blank.

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Wang Jun clicked his tongue. “This is probably all an illusion. Just a very well-made one.”

Chen Ren agreed and decided not to waste time. He moved up the stairs.

The first floor above was empty. It was a wide hall with long tables and cups placed neatly on them, like a meeting or resting area. Nothing moved. Nothing reacted to his presence. Chen Ren didn’t stop there. He already knew the opponent wouldn’t show himself so early.

Carefully, he climbed to the next level.

The second floor was another large hall, but this one was different. The floor was reinforced, the walls bare, and faint marks on the ground suggested long use as a training space. At the center of the hall sat a man.

He wore black robes, and a smooth mask covered his face. A sword rested on the ground beside him.

As soon as Chen Ren stepped inside, the man spoke.

“I am the master of this building,” he said calmly. “If you wish to advance, you must kill me.”

With that, the man stood up, picked up his sword, and slid into a combat ready stance. His movements were clean and practiced.

Chen Ren didn’t reply. He let lightning flow through his wrists and legs, then sprinted forward to test the man’s strength. He struck first with a palm attack, sending lightning forward.

The masked man dodged instantly, reappearing to Chen Ren’s left and slashing toward his neck.

Chen Ren barely jumped back, his heart rate spiking as the blade passed close. The man pressed the attack without pause, slashing again.

Chen Ren reacted at once. He activated [Starlight Defense], spreading the technique over both his arms. He brought his hands up and crossed them in front of his body.

Clang.

The sword struck his reinforced arms and was stopped. The shock ran through him, but his stance held. Chen Ren narrowed his eyes.

The man poured more strength into his sword. Chen Ren responded by pushing more qi into the starlight armor around his arms, his feet sliding back against the floor. Then the swordsman suddenly jumped away and began to move.

He circled the chamber in wide arcs, wisps of qi trailing around his legs. That faint distortion was the only reason Chen Ren could even track him with his eyes. Even so, he knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge cleanly if the man struck at full speed.

The swordsman was just too quick and had the strength of at least a first star foundation—

“Behind you!” Wang Jun shouted.

Chen Ren reacted without thinking. He spun and caught the incoming sword strike between his palms. The impact rattled his bones, but he held it.

The masked swordsman glared at him, his face inches away from his.

That was his chance.

Lightning exploded from Chen Ren’s body in violent waves. The swordsman tried to retreat, but Chen Ren held tight, refusing to let him go. When the man finally broke away, the lightning had already chased him, smashing into his chest.

The swordsman crashed to the floor, rolling as his robes burned and blackened.

Chen Ren didn’t hesitate. He closed the distance in a breath, his fist already moving to finish him, but punched nothing.

His fist slammed into the ground instead, cracking the floor and blasting stone outward.

“The pagoda isn’t holding back,” Wang Jun laughed from the side, distracting the sudden chock that ran through Chen’s body. “At all.”

Chen Ren scowled. “You should focus on helping.”

“I already did,” Wang Jun replied calmly. “This is your trial.”

Chen Ren didn’t argue. He forced himself to breathe and swept his gaze through the room.

The swordsman reappeared at the far side of the hall and began moving again, circling the chamber just like before. This time, he charged towards him offensively.

He struck again and again—targeting Chen Ren’s throat, heart, and joints—never staying long enough for Chen Ren to grab him.

Was the pagoda testing if he could adapt?

That was bad news.

It meant the swordsman was learning his patterns.

But Chen Ren had been in real fights before. He didn’t panic. He observed.

The sword strikes were fast, accurate, but with his current cultivation, they only left faint cuts when they landed at all. Most of the time, he avoided them at the last second. Still, it became clear he wouldn’t be able to catch the swordsman cleanly like this.

So Chen Ren changed tactics.

As he ducked another slash aimed at his face, he began circulating qi through his entire body. Not just his arms or legs, but everywhere until he was buzzing with thunder.

Wang Jun shivered at his side. “Don’t hurt me,” the head muttered.

Chen Ren ignored him.

Qi surged, wrapping around his body from head to toe, thick and unstable. Then, as the swordsman lunged again—

Chen Ren released it all.

“[Lightning Frenzy!]”

In an instant, lightning flooded the room.

The floor cracked and burned. Flames crawled across the scorched stone. Bolts smashed into the walls, punching holes through them as thunder roared in the enclosed space.

At the center of it all, the swordsman dropped to his knees. Electricity wrapped around his body, locking his muscles in place.

Chen Ren didn’t waste the chance.

He rushed forward, grabbed the man by the torso, and charged straight through the wall. Stone exploded outward as they smashed outside the building, crashing hard into the ground.

Chen Ren pulled back his fist.

“[Thundering Fist!]”

He struck the man's face, thunder coating each blow. Again and again, he punched without pause, driving the swordsman deeper into the ground. The man couldn’t fight back. He couldn’t even move. No blood came out, but he felt flesh under his attacks and knew the swordsman was in pain.

After nearly a minute of plowing the swordsman, his fist suddenly passed straight through the man’s face.

It hit the ground instead.

The swordsman shattered into motes of light and vanished in a matter of seconds.

Chen Ren kept looking at the cracked ground before he straightened slowly, breathing heavily, eyes scanning the ruined area.

“…Is that it?” He wondered and looked around.

When Chen Ren’s eyes fell on the plaque again, the words had changed.

“You have passed the tutorial. Enter the portal to reach the second floor.”

As he finished reading, a familiar sight appeared. A swirling purple portal formed right in front of him, the same kind as the entrance to the pagoda.

Wang Jun let out a low chuckle. “That was quick. You’ve become ruthless, kid.”

Chen Ren shook his head as he walked toward the portal. “It wasn’t a real human in the end.”

But just as he was about to step through, he suddenly stopped.

Wang Jun frowned. “Why did you stop?”

Chen Ren looked back at the building, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I don’t think we’re done here.”

Wang Jun sounded confused. “What do you mean? I don’t think there’s anything else to fight.”

Chen Ren shook his head. “There isn’t. But the mission wasn’t only to kill the master of the house.” He glanced at the cracked ground and hole in the wall on the second floor, then at the entrance to the building. “It also said to explore. We haven’t properly done that.”

***

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