章 82: Unbroken

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

Qing Fang opened his eyes.

'Again... So I am within my own mind right now? What a wondrous power, able to do something like this and send me into the world of my own mind. I suppose the fabric of this "dream world" is built on my memories and understanding of the Laws of the world as well?

They say that the intricacy of the human mind is greater than any can fathom, so the reality of this world might be unlimited. But still, what a strange being that controls a strange power. Power like this is not something that I have ever seen before. Surely cultivation can't bring forth a special power like this? Well, alas, my knowledge of the outer realms beyond Qingpu is far too small. Who am I to say something is impossible?' Qing Fang thought as he felt his consciousness fall into a new world.

'So this is where I am to face true aimlessness that tests my will? Strange; I don't see anything peculiar. This seems to be just a normal world.' The red eyes of Qing Fang brightened as he found himself to be standing on a wide green pasture.

The grass beneath his feet was a pale green that glimmered like a field of starlight as the light reflected off of the subtle dew that slithered along its blades. He felt his clawed feet press onto the grass and touch the colder dirt beneath it, the brittle and crumbling soil a dark brown. The pastures around him extended into a line of sparse trees that stood lonesome yet tall as their deciduous dark green leaves swayed beautifully.

Beyond them, grass extended indefinitely until a darkened army of snowy mountains stood so far into the horizon, that it seemed as if Qing Fang would never reach them. The distant mountains were featureless and greyed from the distance, yet cast a huge shadow over faraway plains as a great sun rose.

The sun, from Qing Fang's memories, was interchangeable with the sun of his homeworld and its light cast the same hue that he remembered. It was rising majestically and only a portion of it showed itself to him above the mountains, the rest in a darkness of unknown that had yet to rise in the distance.

It seems that since this entire world was built from his memories, the sun that hung in the sky was Qing Fang's idea of the sun. It was the only sun that he had ever seen; the sun of Qingpu planet.

The sky was dim, yet cloudless, and was exactly like a morning sky on Qingpu planet. The air was warm and filled Qing Fang's nostrils with the scent of wet grass and the discerning smell of the morning.

'I suppose I mustn't just stand here. The test of pain is bound to be different to one of aimlessness. After all, one is a real feeling and the other is something more abstract that falls between the lines of my psyche itself.' Qing Fang then took a step forwards and the world was unmoving and just as real as any other as he walked across the wet dewed grass that wet his feet and muddied his thin white fur.

Qing Fang walked leisurely as time seemed to slip away before he arrived at the closest tree along his path. It was quite tall for a tree and he could not reach its leaves even with his stature, only the thick trunk could be touched by him.

'Maybe I remember trees to be this tall compared to my body as I spent nearly all of my life as a human. A tree this tall wouldn't be so common otherwise.' Qing Fang ascertained.

Lacing a thick claw over the bumpy and hardened bark that sleeved the softer and lighter wood beneath, small dry lacings of the bark fell like dust into the air. He pressed its palm onto the tree and felt a distinctive hardness that all trees had. After all, in the minds of mortals, trees were solid things that they would still perceive to be so even after gaining the strength to cush them into sawdust.

'A normal, ordinary tree.' Qing Fang thought relaxedly before leaving it behind him and continuing to walk aimlessly into the distance. The entire world had no outstanding characteristics that Qing Fang could muse off of, being as ordinary as could be.

Qing Fang just walked and walked until he came upon a modest little creek that housed a small, thin flowing stream. The water was calm and softly flowing undisturbed and without adversary along the little banks that had small pebbles on either side of it.

A soft chorus of gently splashing water entered his ears and Qing Fang just let it fall into the background of this world. Small clumps of sediment were being edgingly pushed along with the weak current and gave off a feeling of mediocrity and were not outstanding at all.

It was just an ordinary little creek.

And so, Qing Fang stepped over the water and carried on travelling unhurriedly. The ground beneath him was tread upon and fell into his memory as he walked across it. Everything was unremarkable and was merely an accompaniment to existence itself. The grass was just grass that was meant to be walked upon. The sky was just a sky that was unreachable and could only be stared at. The mountains were just mountains that towered in the distance.

'Ordinary and unremarkable; that is everything this world seems to be. However, it doesn't understand where aimlessness is supposed to appear. There is no artificial feeling that I must overcome or dispel, everything is just...here.' Qing Fang thought with eyes that contained no glint or shimmer, they were just an ordinary red.

So, Qing Fang just moved on. Past trees and rivers, the mountains on the horizon were ever-present as he walked with a lowered head that looked at his feet taking every step forwards. The crook in his joints, the placement of his clawed feet, the feeling of wet grass and soil being stepped upon.

Eventually, the simple grass sloped up into a coarse rock that was the most ordinary shade of grey. The terrain became steep and unfavourable and the winds became sharper and bashing upon his body. But, they were just ordinary winds, and it was just ordinary rock.

The mountain was just before Qing Fang and he raised his head to look up, the sloping grey rocks having unpredictable formations of earth that stuck out in every direction. Smaller boulders and rocks were strewn everywhere, covered in layers of soft snow that would contain a chill if touched.

Qing Fang climbed the rocks without hurry or rush, stepping over rocks and taking winding trails of scalable earth that would send him higher and higher into the air. The ground behind him sank into the distance and became a dull and figureless mass of ground that was just there.

Qing Fang waded through the snow as the air got thinner and colder. He placed one foot after the other as his breath seemed to unceremoniously slip away from him as he took heavy breaths. His limbs felt tired and aching and he felt the urge to lie down and rest his strained back.

'Climbing this mountain is relatively hard...' Qing Fang thought. After all, since becoming a cultivator, when had he ever felt tiredness and fatigue simply from climbing a mountain? But, he thought nothing of it. After all, a mountain was a mountain.

Qing Fang took massive steps and waded through pits of snow that evenly lay across uneven ground. He would suddenly fall, plunged into a chasm that was hidden by the snow overtop, however, he just climbed out with strain and continued to take a winding journey to the top of the mountain. The mountain was a huge obstacle to any as it stood proudly from the earth, seemingly daring those who gaze upon it to take the challenge.

"Ah..." Qing Fang heaved as his chest rose up and down and huge swathes of thin air were sucked in and barely sated his lungs.

He was standing on one of the many tops of the mountain, snow up to his waist and sending a biting chill through his body that made his teeth tremble with cold. The fur on his face was assaulted by harsh winds and Qing Fang had to squint his red eyes to keep them unabashed by the blazing snow.

Before him, an ordinary world unfolded.

The green pastures where he came from seemed endless and led to the edge of the world. In another direction, huge mountains blocked his view across the world. Huge rivers and chasms entered his eyes. Yet, it was as if he could not see. Distance blocked his vision and he saw only what was before him in detail.

Qing Fang smiled weakly as quite a grimace came over his face.

"I see now...

This entire world is completely ordinary, lacking of spirituality. Huge mountains lack an idea of domineeringness and are merely mounds of rock. Huge oceans lack a feeling of mystery and endlessness and are merely collections of water.

I...lack any spirituality and am merely a mortal who struggled to climb a mountain. A mortal who cannot see the ground from this distance. A mortal who feels the need to collapse after such a journey..." Qing Fang spoke aloud, seemingly speaking to the sky and expecting an answer.

But no answer came. For this was just an ordinary world where the sky was just sky. Demons did not hide between the cracks in the earth and cultivators did not ride the clouds unfettered. There was nothing but ordinariness.

Qing Fang was ordinary.

His body lacked strength. His mind lacked a tempering. His spirit simply did not exist.

"So this is what I am to overcome?! A world without meaning as it is not blessed with the spirit of cultivation?! Myself, who is not blessed with the means to cultivate the dao?! Myself, who is aimless without the dao?!

What does this world hold? Life streaming into death? Beings living and dying without meaning, as they cannot validate themselves with power nor spirit?! A world without my meaning of existence..?" Qing Fang shouted across the empty mountains that swirled with a lonesome blowing of the snowy wind.

"Where is the dao? Where has it gone? Why does it not bless me with its presence; begging me to cultivate its understandings?! Who can achieve anything in life without the help of the dao..?

Am I truly helpless in life without it? Without power? Without highering the level of my existence? Is this what you want to teach me, world?!" Qing Fang screamed at the demon of the third trial. He knew he was here, looking at him. But he also just...wasn't. How could someone like that be here; a world without spiritual power?

Qing Fang sat down amongst the snow and threw his hands to clear it from around him.

'Is the meaning of aimlessness to be unable to overcome a world without their aim? But then, wouldn't I have to abandon my meaning of existence; to accept that it doesn't exist here?

No...

The meaning of aimlessness is to abandon one's aim. The meaning of aimlessness would be to forget all that I am in the face of adversity. But that is not the way to pass the third trial, and prove my willpower!

In this world that aims to crush my willpower, I will die with it.' Qing Fang's eyes flashed as he sat there amongst wind and snow, slowly freezing to death. He ventured to the mountain to discover the aim of this world, and that was to crush Qing Fang's aim of immortalisation and study of the dao. The world wanted him to abandon his aim and try to live in mediocrity and confusion of the sky above.

However, Qing Fang's will was strong. In this world where his aim could not come to fruition, he would not abandon it at all. He would die with it...

And so, hours passed and Qing Fang closed off his mind from thoughts of cold pain and death. He was believing in his meaning of his existence until the end, unbroken by this world.

And eventually, Qing Fang's body which was lying on the snowy peak of the mountains and breathing lightly as he hugged himself into a ball on the cold floor breathed its last breath. His fur was covered in lovely little snowflakes and his eyes were shut from the cold. His breath that steamed the air eventually did not and became cold itself. His lungs froze into death in a motionless body...

...

Qing Fang lay on the cold and wet stone floor of the cave with his eyes shut in, seemingly, death. His breaths were shallow and dull as if he had frozen over. His wings were unfolded behind him, creating a piece of disturbing art as a fallen demon seemed to be sprawled on the floor in death, yet still contained its dark majesty.

However, the white giant which seemed to be curled up in a cold death was spoken to from up above.

"You pass." The words were spoken with his own voice, yet contained a darkness that flooded forth. The voice seemed unwilling, yet spiteful and pitying in a way that differed from it.

Qing Fang's eyes opened slowly and he saw that he was back in the dark cave of that will-breaking demon. The coldness that had put him to death was no longer present, and there was a spiritual strength of cultivation and bloodline power that filled his being, pulsing with what he saw to be warmth at this moment.

Qing Fang silently got up from the position that he had died in whilst in that world. He looked around and saw he was in the same spot that he was before he entered the world, unsurprised as now it was the second time that this had happened. He stood before the demon that had assumed his figure, like a clone.

"You did indeed pass the second test of aimlessness that consists of the third trial. However, I feel it necessary to tell you that the way you passed was not the only way to pass. Indeed, everyone battles aimlessness differently, however, yours is only a single one. I want you to understand this thoroughly, as the mind is my playground and I understand it best.

You died along with your will. However, you could've also fought against that world itself and replaced its aim with your own, bringing the dao to descend upon it.

For that, I will not grant you distinction on this trail and give you a mere bare pass." The demon spoke sniding words which proved its spite. However, the unwillingness that lay within it seemed to be because Qing Fang passed, although barely. This begot curiosity in Qing Fang.

"You seem to want me to fail? That is a bias unfitting for the guardian of a trial." Qing Fang did say these words, though he did say them with curiosity and respect. After all, the will-breaking demon of the third trial was ascertained to be an intelligent being and not just a creation of runes.

"Of course I want you to fail, scum. I want to feed on your broken will." The demon clone said with words that reinforced its hunger for Qing Fang's death. Between its teeth that seemed exactly the same as Qing Fang's, a darkness flooded forth. Within that darkness, the screaming throats of pitiful souls seemed to gush forth into Qing Fang's ears!

'Are those the broken wills of past inheritors..?' Qing Fang thought with wary eyes. Though, he was not afraid of the demon suddenly killing him before he failed the trial; if he failed the trial. The demon was caught by the glorious Da Shi Fu Wen and undoubtedly had huge restrictions placed upon it. After all, the inheritance was using it as a mere tool!

But now, Qing Fang understood why the remnant consciousness was desperate for someone to pass the inheritance. After all, even if it fed the inheritance the flesh and blood of failed inheritors, a huge power must be consumed to keep the demon shackled.

It had already shackled the demon for a thousand years, which was when it was created by Da Shi Fu Wen. And the power of the inheritance was equal to the life of the remnant consciousness, while also equal to the shackles of the demon. If sufficient time passed, Qing Fang did not doubt that with the collapse of the inheritance and the death of the remnant consciousness, the demon would be freed. That was probably why it wanted the inheritance to be unfulfilled before it eroded with the depletion of time.

Qing Fang guessed that something bad would probably happen to the demon if someone gained the inheritance, separate from the inheritance disappearing with time. The demon would undoubtedly not let that happen and try to kill every cultivator that attempted this trial. Maybe that was why the third trial was without a successor up until this point.

After all, instead of a simple third trial, a battle of life and death was being fought against an incredibly powerful demon. And up until now, all had died in the face of it...

"Turn away from me, weakling.

Now, face true comfort that will break your will. This is the final test of the third trial.

I wonder, will you succeed? Or will you die and give me your will?"

Qing Fang heard those words before he fell away once again. He fell into the insurmountable power of the demon that had thrust him into his own mind.

*3,017/3,000 words*