บท 119: A Sudden Change
When Yaan entered the inheritance, a huge black tear ripped through the space above the entrance gate, destroying the land below and killing hundreds of cultivators. Naturally, the devil spirit, who oversaw the entire inheritance, knew about this – after all, the entrance gate sustained damage.
And now, the same thing happened again; when Yaan formed his Vital Core, a black crack appeared above the pagoda, inflicting devastation upon the world below.
Yaan did not know about any of this…he also did not know that these phenomena had followed him at various points in his life…
When these phenomena first appeared, they went unnoticed, and didn't affect Yaan in anyway. The phenomenon which appeared when he entered the appearance was seen by thousands of cultivators, but it still didn't really affect Yaan at all.
But now, it was different - this most recent phenomenon would have a large impact on the trajectory of Yaan's life.
"Old Devil, the phenomenon that appeared here…" Old 4th, the overseer spirit of the 4th Trial Realm, stared down at the 4th level pagoda as he spoke slowly to the devil spirit by his side.
"It is my first time seeing such a thing too, but I believe that it was a world plane tear…this is likely the same thing that I sensed before at the inheritance entrance when the last batch of challengers entered."
"So it really was that…and right now, the new inheritor candidate is the only one on this level…" Old 4th muttered somewhat dazedly.
"Could the boy really be him?" The devil spirit's eyes shone with a ferocious, excited light.
"It's been so long, it's hard to say…" The old man sighed. His tiredness and age was prevalent in his tone, it was clear that he had been waiting for a long, long time.
"Indeed." The devil spirit nodded understandingly. "It's clear that something went wrong; the fated inheritor should have arrived 1,800 years ago in outside time, shortly after master left us. But if that child really is the one, then we absolutely cannot let this chance slip by!"
"Agreed." Old 4th nodded seriously, but then sighed in frustration. "But what can we do? Master didn't anticipate that it would take so long, and we're still bound by the rules of the inheritance! Even if the rules exist to confirm the identity of the fated inheritor beyond any doubt, at this point, there are too many residents, it's too big a danger…"
"We already made the adjustments that we could." The devil spirit reminded him.
"Right…at the very least, we prevented those from the 7th through 9th levels from dropping down in rank, by introducing the 'no surrender' rule in all death matches on those levels. So long as he's in good condition, this boy won't lose to anyone on the 6th level, especially now that he has formed his Vital Core."
As the old trial spirit and the devil spirit were speaking to one another, another figure appeared in the air nearby. This figure appeared silently and without drawing anyone's attention. Nobody noticed her – not the trial spirits, and not Yaan, from whom she had just emerged.
She was the very same green-eyed entity who appeared on the 9th level and entered Yaan's body whilst he was in the illusion trial, immediately after he departed from the Spirit Plane Lord.
The girl stood in the air without moving or making a sound, watching the old spirit and devil spirit converse with her intelligent but unemotional emerald gaze. She appeared soon after they arrived, which was immediately after Yaan formed his Vital Core. As they spoke, it seemed as if she was waiting for something.
"If only we could make deeper adjustments to the rules! Sigh, it's simply too difficult." The old spirit sighed.
"I would also like this, but it is simply impossible. Master's arrangements cannot be changed…hmm?!"
The moment the devil spirit said this, the girl lifted her hand slowly, then tapped at a point in the air. The moment she tapped down on what appeared to be empty air, ripples spread out, travelling through the entire inheritance. These rippled went unnoticed by anyone in the 4th Trial Realm, aside from two individuals.
As soon as she did this, the girl no longer paid the two spirits any further attention. She transformed into a strand of invisible light, which shot back into Yaan's body. The strand of light ignored all obstacles along its path, as if they simply didn't exist.
Only the old spirit and the devil spirit felt the change!
They felt the ripples spreading across the 4th Trial Realm, causing them to immediately sink their consciousnesses into the inheritance network. The moment they did so, both spirits gasped aloud in shock.
"The rules changed!"
"The rules actually changed specifically regarding inheritor candidates!"
"This…this is far too coincidental! Could it be that master left behind this measure after anticipating that we might encounter this situation?!" Old 4th excitedly exclaimed.
What they had discovered was simply too perfect to be called a coincidence. Right as they were discussing their troubles, about how they were unable to change the rules to their liking and how they were struggling to confirm if Yaan was indeed the person fated with the inheritance, the rules underwent a change to suit their needs!
If this wasn't a sign, then what was?!
After calming themselves down, the pair discussed this matter with lingering excitement. They used a telepathic method between themselves to ensure that others could not spy on their conversation.
"We are now able to change the rules regarding inheritor candidates according to our own discretion!"
"Right, this is simply perfect. We can forbid others from challenging inheritor candidates, all but assuring the boy's safety! It will affect Tu Shan also, but that is no matter." The devil spirit exclaimed.
"Couldn't we simply promote him directly to the 5th Trial Realm?" Old 4th couldn't help but ask eagerly, but the devil spirit firmly shook his head.
"No. The trials on the 7th, 8th and 9th levels exist to confirm that the challenger is the one we are looking for. Whilst it is extremely likely that this boy is indeed that person, we still need to proceed with caution."
"Right…" Old 4th nodded slowly, but he still felt excited. The fact that the rules had changed right at this moment…didn't this suggest that Yaan was indeed the one they were waiting for? Wasn't this a measure left behind by their master in order to communicate this point to them?
"Ah, but we are still unable to tell him anything…" Old 4th added as an afterthought. The rules still forbade them from discussing certain things with the challengers of the 4th Trial Realm, including the inheritor candidates.
"That is fine. It would not be smart to do so prior to the 5th Trial Realm anyway."
Old 4th nodded slowly. He was about to say something else, but stopped himself as a shocked looking figure exited the temporal acceleration pagoda.
The two spirits turned to face Yaan with serious expressions. They stared for a moment, before glancing at one another and nodding. With that, they quickly flew down. They landed before Yaan and clasped their hands together whilst looking at him with an unhidden excited gleam in their gazes.
Seeing the two spirits suddenly seeking him out left Yaan feeling even more bewildered. Given the destruction that could be seen outside of the tower, and the fact that he had just been training within, it suggested that he might have something to do with this! However, in the next moment, his confusion deepened multiple fold.
"Lord inheritor candidate, please follow us to the 7th level."
"Huh?"
One hour later, Yaan dazedly stood within an exotic garden which spanned out for hundreds of feet in every direction. The Spiritual Pressure and gravity here were both extraordinarily powerful, but Yaan's body was strong enough to resist these things without too much discomfort.
"What…" He muttered to himself, still not exactly sure what had happened.
Why was he suddenly promoted to the 7th level? He clearly didn't meet the criteria, which was to possess Rank 5 cultivation…
In an attempt to reorganise his thoughts, Yaan spoke aloud to himself whilst looking out at the luscious scenery outside of his new home. He walked slowly, pausing briefly here and there to examine the gorgeous fruits hanging from unique ancient trees which were placed sparsely throughout the garden.
Apparently, these fruits were called 'elixirs', and they were supposedly acknowledged by all body temperers as the superior resources for body tempering.
"I was cultivating within the 4th level pagoda, using the combined Temporal Acceleration Chamber. I formed my Vital Core…"
"After stabilising my foundation and confirming my current state, I subdued a single 4-Star astral spirit…"
"I left the tower, where I found everything destroyed…"
"Then, Old 4th and the devil spirit appeared. For some reason, they were acting overly politely, which was very different from their usual demeanour…"
"They took me to the 7th level and gave me the best empty residence on the entire level. This place has the most elixirs of all the unoccupied residences, and I am permitted to use any of these elixirs as I see fit. They told me that I will no longer be challenged by others and that if I challenge others, they might block my challenges…then they apologised for not explaining anything else and left."
After a moment of contemplation, Yaan rubbed his head with a frown.
"Seriously…is this because I'm the 'fated inheritor' that they mentioned before? They must have recently confirmed this somehow. This is the only explanation for the sudden preferential treatment, nothing else makes sense. No, even this doesn't make sense to me, but at least it's an explanation. I still don't know what happened outside the Temporal Acceleration Pagoda though."
With a sigh, Yaan shook his head and showed a smile. Looking around, he couldn't help but admire his new home.
It somewhat reminded him of the core region in the Heavenly Path Sect, though everything was larger, more imposing, and filled with ancient aura. There was no useless scenery here; every plant, herb, flower and tree, was a resource for body tempering. As for those elixir trees, there were only six of them, with each tree holding a single fruit. The fruits all glowed with a faint light, releasing an aura that made Yaan swallow just looking at them.
"The 7th level really is different. If these elixirs are as incredible as Zue Yin claimed, then I should be able to improve quickly…" After muttering this, Yaan paused, remembering the parting words of the devil spirit before it left abruptly.
The devil spirit claimed that there was no need for Yaan to grow stronger right now. He advised Yaan to go directly to the 7th level pagoda after preparing himself. The 7th level pagoda was a trial to reach the 8th level, just as the 8th level pagoda was a trial to reach the 9th, and the 9th level pagoda was a trial to reach the '5th Trial Realm'.
Supposedly, his strength in itself would not matter in these trials.
The battles were typically less frequent on the 7th through 9th levels, since it was impossible to move up a level or to take someone's residence just by defeating them. It was still possible to take the remainder of their possessions by defeating them in an official challenge, but that was it. The incentive was lower, so the frequency of battle was likewise not so intense as on the lower levels.
That said, Yaan had no intention of following the devil spirit's advice. Why would he? He saw no reason to rush ahead into the 7th level pagoda. Whilst he obviously wanted to reach the next trial realm, why would he rush to get there when he already had his own cultivation haven laid out before him?
He had plenty of resources. He had access to six 'elixirs'. He was now immune from being challenged. The environment was very pleasant and well suited to body tempering. Why would he even want to leave?
And so, Yaan settled down into his new home, ignoring all else and devoting himself to cultivation once again. He hoped that he would be able to stay in this place for a long period of time…unfortunately, Yaan's life rarely went so smoothly.
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