183 Months of Trials (1/2)

After the explosion, Xue Wei stood back up. He dusted off his clothes and looked at the door.

Although the explosion had been rather violent, it was not enough to destroy the door. Instead, it did just enough to trigger its unlocking mechanism.

Xue Wei thought about making a few more Spiritual Energy Bombs to blast his way through theother doors, but he quickly discarded the idea when he saw how resilient the door was and continued into the next room.

”Welcome to the fifth room of the trials.” The very moment Xue Wei entered the room, the Moon Prince's voice emerged before he could even look at his reward from clearing the fourth trial. He focused his attention towards this voice.

”If you pass the trial in the fifth room, then you will have made it halfway towards my grave. This in itself is no easy accomplishment, and thus the reward for passing the fifth trial will be my notes on formations.”

”The reason I am telling you this already now is that I want you to understand one thing.

”I have given out bits and pieces of my legacy up until now because I do not wish for the art of formations to disappear. Even in my time, the interest in formations has been slowly diminishing. Although they are useful, no one is willing to spend the time needed to learn the way of formations, and not many can see the usefulness in cultivating their spiritual energy.”

”I need someone who is willing to accept my legacy, but a big part of my legacy revolves around the creation of formations, and I wish that my successor shares my passion for them.”

Xue Wei had already understood this much, but he still listened intently.

”The trials from this point onwards, apart from the tenth, will all be about formations. Only those who manage to understand my formation techniques can hope to understand my legacy!”

Xue Wei acknowledged that this Moon Prince was obsessed with formations. It was clear that formations were much more important to him than even his martial art techniques and that the legacy he truly wished to pass down was his accumulated knowledge of formations.

The fifth trial required him to set up a Qi Gathering Formation, which was a step above the previous trial's difficulty.

The concept of a Qi Gathering Formation was to attract a wide radius of heaven-and-earth essence from the surroundings to create a zone of high-density energy for accelerated cultivation.

This formation required a full seven runes. Unlike in the previous trial, they were not given stones to engrave their formation on. Instead, they were given papers, lots of them, alongside a pen and ink.

From the amount of papers that were stacked up on the table, it was clear that the Moon Prince had taken a lot of precautions in case the candidates taking his test repeatedly fail to compose the runes. The Moon Prince was aware of how difficult the beginning of formation creation was. A lot of materials had been placed in the test room as a result.

Xue Wei began his first attempt at writing the inscription for the first rune, but he found, much to his dismay, that his control over the pen had rusted over the years. He had been taught calligraphy early on, but he had not dabbled in it for years. Although he was capable of writing it, the runes did not come out as well as he wanted them to.

Xue Wei sighed. He had to refresh old muscles, so he repeatedly drew the different runes that the Moon Prince had taught him through the jade slips until he got the hang of it. This took him a full day, but he could not tell, as day-night cycles did not exist inside the grave. All light came from small light-orbs, and it was impossible to see what time of the day it was or how much time had passed.

Xue Wei had already lost track of time as he immersed himself in the art of inscribing formations.

In another place inside the grave, Wang Xiaoyun stared at a closed door with mixed emotions on her face. She had failed the very first trial. Not because she lacked willpower, but because what she had gone through was simply far too cruel for her to overcome without provoking the heart demon inside her.

Since she had failed the first trial, she had returned to the front room of the grave – the place where they had split up.

A day had gone by in a flash, and Hei Gou was the next person to appear. He had failed the trial of spiritual energy.

Although he had more spiritual energy than the average of his kin, he was still from a family of beasts that specialized in brute strength, so he was ill-equipped for the task.

When he entered the front room, he spotted Wang Xiaoyun. She had been diligently meditating since failing the first trial.

She had no time to waste. She was chasing after the Ice Harpy, but knew that she was currently too weak, so she squeezed every moment dry for cultivation.

However, Hei Gou's movements woke her up from her meditative trance. Her eye shone dangerously, and she slowly stood up. She was swathed in an oppressive air, and her one eye gleamed with madness.

”It is all because of beasts like you!” she growled. Then she opened her hand, producing the green fan as if performing a magic trick.

”Hey, cut it out!” Hei Gou yelled with surprise and irritation. ”If you kill me, then Wei won't look at you again!” he exclaimed angrily.

These words seemed to reach Wang Xiaoyun.

The murderous air around her decreased a bit, and her face turned sour. ”I just have to make sure he doesn't find out who did it!” She sneered at him, but Hei Gou snickered. ”Do you think Wei is dumb?” he asked mockingly.

”The last trial I faced was focused on spiritual energy; it's obvious these trials are not designed to test our survivability. The trials are meant for those who dabble in formations, so we won't die no matter how problematic they are! So what excuse would you use? That I just vanished into thin air? Do you really think he will believe you?”

The more Hei Gou spoke, the more the killing intent deflated. The madness in Wang Xiaoyun's eye also faded.