บท 83: Battle Podiums
Night came and went. Yaan had been sitting still all night, reading. After finishing his read-through of the incomplete Fiend Transformation Technique, he came to an understanding.
Rui had certainly withheld information from him. This was not complex information that his mind couldn't handle, nor was it knowledge that was irrelevant to him…no, she had deliberately withheld fundamental knowledge. As for her reasoning, Yaan did not know. Before drawing any conclusions, he first needed to learn more.
And so, he moved onto the complete Fiend Transformation Technique. This was an exceedingly thick book which would take days to read properly, even for Yaan.
As he read through the technique, Yaan continued to absorb the powerful vitality which he absorbed from the spatial vortex. He forced as much vitality to remain within his flesh as possible, whilst the remainder was refined into Vital Energy, developing his cultivation by a small amount.
As time passed by, the pressure within his body finally eased up. With the decrease in the bloody vitality remaining in his body, Yaan no longer needed to make a conscious effort in order to absorb the lingering traces.
He was also unable to properly estimate the improvements to his body right now, he would need to wait until all of the vitality was absorbed before he could properly assess his gains.
Whoosh!
With a blink, Yaan looked up. He was still sitting down with a book in his hand, but before he could even process that it was happening, he had already been transported to a totally different region.
As he slowly stood up and looked around, Yaan put the book away and took out a sword.
He was currently standing atop a pillar of dirt. The dirt beneath his feet felt strangely hard and durable to the touch, as if breaking it apart was an impossibility.
After looking up and scouring his gaze across the region, Yaan noticed that there were some people sitting on seats around this elevated, circular dirt pillar.
There were in fact 99 pillars in total, arranged into a grid formation. Each pillar was around a quarter mile in diameter, and they were spaced a mile apart from one another. On some of these pillars, people could be vaguely seen either standing still or battling, but most of the pillars were empty.
"So this is the battlefield…when the time comes, you're transported here without warning." After looking around, Yaan smiled and shook his head.
This reminded him of his days in the Bloody Arena in North Ghu City. Back then, he was forced to hide his identity, and each of those battles was a life and death ordeal.
But as for this battle, here and now…
"Newbie Yaan, I know all about you! You arrived one day ago, yet you already issued five separate challenges. You're either incredibly courageous, or a suicidal moron!"
When he heard this, Yaan immediately understood that the native residents of the 1st level massively underestimated the power of those who could enter this place from the outside world.
He was facing a skinny, but oddly tall man. This person wore a dark hood, partially covering his pale face. His eyes were bright green, almost shining light on his white eyebrows. This sort of face should have been extremely recognisable, however…
'I lost track of time whilst reading…which opponent is this?'
Since Yaan hadn't kept track of the time, and since each of his challenged opponents were able to accept one of two possible times for their match, he had no idea who he was facing right now.
He said nothing though, seeing no need to disrespect this man right before killing him.
"As always, the battle will begin with the bell. The battle will only end once one party has been slain. The victor shall receive the loser's residence, their ranking, and all of their possessions."
A voice boomed down from above. Yaan glanced up, but couldn't locate the source of the voice. It sounded like it was echoing out from the sky itself, but honestly, it was difficult to see up, as there was a thick grey mist lingering within the sky at all times.
Dong!
A loud bell rang out, prompting Yaan's lanky opponent to rush forwards. He grinned crazily, but then showed an eery smile and suddenly stopped his charge abruptly.
Yaan was a bit startled, he really thought this person was planning to take him head on. Whilst this was an opportune moment for Yaan to strike, he was actually quite curious to see what his opponent would do next. This was his first opponent in the 4th Trial Realm, he was not sure if their methods would be similar or completely different compared to the outside world.
BAM!
The tall man's palm slammed into the ground, creating two enormous black runes which spread out tens of feet in width. As the man slowly stood back up, now with a severely hunched back, Yaan watched in surprise as 18 skeletons emerged from the black runes!
Nine skeletons appeared from each rune. Each of the boney creatures donned black still plate armour and matching swords and shields. They looked powerful, and they were surprisingly fast.
However, Yaan was faster.
Chi!
The small audience mostly consisted of lower realm cultivators, so they completely missed Yaan's movement. In one moment, it looked like he was being overwhelmed by the undead soldiers, but in the next instant, his blade was pierced through his opponent's brain.
Yaan did not do anything particularly special, he simply used the Synchronised Pierce Art to cross the distance between himself and his opponent quickly, before stabbing him between the eyes and winning the match in a single move.
Yaan twisted the blade, then retracted his sword and stabbed his stunned opponent through the heart for good measure. He paused, then after some thought, swung with his blade once again. As he walked away, the lanky man's head rolled down to the floor.
As Yaan walked away, he looked around and frowned. He only now realised that he had no idea where the exit was, or how to get down from here.
Whoosh!
Fortunately, he didn't need to find any sort of exit for himself. A bright light covered both Yaan and the corpse, taking the corpse to an unknown location, whilst returning Yaan to the position he had just been in, sitting down within the Battle Temple.
When Yaan reappeared so quickly after vanishing, the receptionist blinked, before smiling towards him amicably.
"How was your first fight?"
"Too easy." Yaan replied honestly. "But at least I saw an interesting spell."
"Oh, you must mean necromancy! Indeed, since Qi refining is too difficult in this realm, many resort to absorbing death aura from corpses, leading them into necromancy. Unfortunately, they often end up becoming an undead creature themselves."
Yaan nodded, then sat back down in the Battle Temple and continued to read. After an hour passed by, he remembered something important.
"Wasn't I supposed to win my opponent's belongings?" He glanced up at the receptionist and asked.
To be honest, he wasn't expecting such a weak cultviator to possess anything of value, but he supposed that it was at least worth checking out.
The receptionist laughed as she nodded.
"Indeed. Your last opponent's abode is now yours, whilst the possessions of the defeated party can be found within the residence."
"Alright, I suppose I'll check it out…on that point, what should I do if I end up accumulating a bunch of homes?"
"Sell them." She replied with a smile. "The Pagoda of Estates is on the 3rd level, but you're only allowed to visit the 3rd level once you own an abode on the 3rd level."
"Mm, I know." Yaan nodded.
After speaking with the receptionist, Yaan got up from his spot and headed into the Battle Temple's side room. In this room, there was a single spirit attending to the teleportation device.
"Where to?" The spirit, a boy who had the appearance of a five years old child, hung upside down as he addressed Yaan in a lackadaisical manner. Ignoring his strange demeanour, Yaan replied:
"I don't know. I just won an abode in a battle."
"Sigh…ask the receptionist for the address."
After doing as he was instructed, Yaan returned to the teleportation rune with a place in mind.
"I need to go to the East Lake District on the 1st level."
"Ok. The East Lake District is nine miles from here. The cost is two 1-Star Astral Crystals."
Whilst sighing at the exorbitant price just to travel such a short distance, Yaan stepped onto the portal regardless and paid the fee. He dropped the two pitch black crystals onto the run beneath his feet, then everything flashed black.
When he blinked a few times and regained his vision, Yaan looked around and found himself in an unfamiliar place.
Compared to the barren, dirty lands which he had seen until now across the 1st level, this place was much better! There was actually grass here, and although it was dry and slightly unkempt, it was still a huge improvement compared to before.
His new temple was located within a village to the East of the 1st level's largest lake. After looking around for a while and finding nothing of interest, he located a small store at a local market which sold a map of the local area.
These local markets were ran by the residents of the level, it had nothing to do with the inheritance itself. Since this was still the 1st level, there was nothing in particular that caught Yaan's eye in the market, he only wanted a map so that he could find his new abode.
Before long, he arrived at his new home.
Yaan smiled as he stepped inside. It was clean, free from dust and had a wooden floor which was decorated with a simple prayer mat.
The inside was a bit small, but it was large enough for him to practise his sword arts.
Anyway, he wouldn't be staying here for long, as he planned to ascend to the 2nd level soon enough.
After looking around, it wasn't long before Yaan found what he was looking for..
"Another spatial ring." With a sigh, Yaan dropped the ring into his pocket and shook his head. He didn't plan to find someone to open it right now, because he had more pressing matters to attend to.
Reading!
Whilst he had many resources in his possession, accumulating knowledge was no less important than cultivating itself. It was better to build up a firm understanding of cultivation, before diving headfirst into the endeavour itself. Yaan especially felt this way after remembering how the devilish trial spirit had recommended that he properly study the Fiend Transformation Technique first before doing anything else.
He had earned many books during the previous trials, but he also bought some excellent books from the old shopkeeper in the 1st level's pagoda.
For now, Yaan continued reading through the completed Fiend Transformation Technique.
The book was too long to read in one go, and as expected, he was interrupted by the call to battle.
It was another fellow from the 1st level. He had bright red hair and grinned at Yaan whilst licking his dry lips.
Dong!
The match began.
The red-haired man opened his mouth to taunt his opponent, only to find a blade sticking through his open jaw. His eyes widened, and as he stared at Yaan in shock, he choked out a lungful of blood.
Yaan didn't waste anytime, quickly pulling up rapidly and slicing directly through his opponent's brain. He then stepped back, avoiding being covered by the red-haired man's blood.
The red-haired man died before even realising that he had lost.
After this battle, Yaan again collected his loot at his new residence. It was worse than the last temple, so he left after grabbing the spatial ring.
Yaan continued to read, before fighting his third battle before long.
In this match, he was fighting against three individuals at the same time! Since one of those individuals lived on the 2nd level, Yaan would be able to move to the 2nd level immediately after winning this match!
Battle and slaughter had long since become second nature to Yaan. He did not like killing, but neither did he restrain himself from engaging in slaughter when he needed to do so. However, he felt as if in this inheritance, where battle and bloodshed were actively encouraged, he was being pushed towards this dark path by an invisible hand…
Yaan's audience had grown large with each match. Word spread fast, and news of the bloodthirsty newbie had long since started to spread across the 1st level.
Those in the audience shivered when they saw the crimson robed child standing above the corpses of three renowned individuals. Yaan seemed oblivious to the stifling atmosphere that he had created, flicking the blood from his sword as he walked away without any sort of change in his expression.
Honestly, why would he feel any sort of accomplishment after killing three Innate Qi Realm cultivators? He killed them so quickly and so easily that none of them were even able to display their abilities.
Yaan still had one unfinished challenge, a lone cultivator on the lower 2nd level. Unlike Yaan, others would do lots of background research on each of their opponents, and they would definitely monitor their upcoming opponent's recent actions.
After learning of his recent exploits, Yaan's final opponent declined the challenge.
His punishment?
He lost his home and all of his possessions, all of them being given to Yaan. He dropped to the 1st level, becoming an ordinary person, with no treasures and no home. His reputation was ruined, and his pride was in tatters.
As Yaan wandering through the 2nd level, he marvelled at its superiority compared to the level just below. Although it was only 333 feet higher than the 1st level, situated on an enormous ledge which was part of the inner canyon…the grass was greener, animals and birds could be seen, there were some flowers and ponds, and the atmosphere was generally more pleasant. Yaan's temples here even had their own back gardens. The difference between this place and the level below was already like that of night and day.
The Spiritual Pressure on the 2nd level was much more powerful compared to the 1st, but it was nothing much to Yaan. Body temperers were more adept at dealing with Spiritual Pressure and gravity, but if it continued like this on each consecutive level, very few people would be able to endure the environment of the 9th level.
For a moment, Yaan stood alone, near to the edge of the 2nd level. He stood there for some time in silence, simply looking out at the world. As he reflected upon the events that had occurred in the 3rd trial, Yaan struck a lonely image…even if there were others in this area, they would find themselves unable to approach him right now.
As Yaan's thoughts returned to the present, the melancholy in his heart was compressed into a cold determination.
He stared down at the barren 1st level below, then slowly raised his gaze towards the levels above. It was as if there was an illusion preventing him from properly seeing the above levels, making anything from the 3rd level and above look blurred and unfocussed. When he thought about it, Yaan was sure that it was some sort of formation, perhaps the same formation that prevented them from simply flying up to the 9th level directly.
As he stared up at the unclear sky, Yaan murmured to himself in a dreamy tone.
"The 9th level…I wonder what I will find when I reach it?"
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