17 Unfamiliar Land

After the people from the Xu family entered the mysterious realm, Tang Lin looked around to observe all of the other people who patiently waited to head in.

He could see a boy who looked slightly older than him talk with a man who seemed to be his master. The boy was slightly shorter than Tang Lin, but was more muscular with lush, golden hair. Sensing Tang Lin's gaze, he looked over and smiled before waving goodbye to the man and heading into the mysterious realm.

On his right, there were many other wandering cultivators who didn't seem to belong to any particular faction or family. Yet, what caught Tang Lin's eyes was a pair of strangers, who had fiery maroon hair that he had never seen before. One was a large fat boy full of vigor, while the other was a slim and quiet girl.

Nonchalantly, the rest of the people entered the mysterious realm as Fang Yue also ushered him to enter.

"Good luck Fang Yue, I pray for your good fortune and safety", Aunt Fang whispered, while hugging her tightly.

"Thank you, I'll be on my way now", Fang Yue replied as she pulled Tang Lin's sleeve.

"Let's go now, but just so you know, I won't ask about that strange power of yours anymore. So, I hope we can be allies not enemies", she said.

"O-Okay", Tang Lin responded, glancing awkwardly at Aunt Fang whose expression was full of discontent.

'What's so special about this apparently crippled boy that has piqued Fang Yue's interest?' thought Fang Rong as she watched the last of the participants enter the mysterious realm.

***

Darkness. Tang Lin couldn't see anything and even Fang Yue who was next to him seemed illusionary. All of a sudden, a blinding light filled his vision as he appeared in a desolate jungle.

"Where are we?" he asked, turning to Fang Yue.

"Eh? Fang Yue, where are you?" Tang Lin shouted as he searched his surroundings to no avail.

It was nighttime and he couldn't see much.

Suddenly, an authoritative voice resounded far and wide.

"Welcome! I am the guardian spirit in charge of this ancient inheritance's realm. There will be five trials that you will undertake. Each of them will test a specific category that will determine whether you're qualified to obtain the inheritance here. The first trial is the 'Trial of Mortality', which will test your wits and survival instincts. It will last for a week and to pass this trial, you will need to amass 1000 points at the very minimum or you will be automatically kicked out of this realm by the end of the trial. There are beasts inside here that will grant you points and nourish your cultivation, which are separated into different grades: human-tier, earth-tier, heaven-tier and God-tier. Correspondingly, one point is acquired for a human-tier beast, while the more uncommon earth- tier beasts will give you 100 points. As for the rare heaven-tier beasts, they will each yield 1000 points. Lastly, there will be only one God-tier beast in this trial, which will not only provide 10,000 points, but also a tremendous boost to your cultivation", announced the guardian spirit in an aloof manner.

"Not that anyone will be able to kill it anyway", the guardian spirit whispered shamelessly, yet its voice was still heard by everyone in the mysterious realm.

"Of course, there are rewards, but they will be allocated separately by the number of points you have. The rewards are separated by 1000 points into ten tiers, where 10,000 points is the maximum as the tenth-tier reward. You will naturally be informed of your rewards privately if you manage to achieve 2000 points or more. Not to mention, you can only get the tenth-tier reward by killing the God-tier beast. There's also another way to gain points, which is to kill another cultivator and absorb half of their current points. Although, as soon as you take fatal damage that I deem incapable of continuing; you will be kicked out immediately. So, if you're fated you will be able to gain some kind of fortune here; if not, good luck…" continued the guardian spirit ominously.

Everywhere across the jungle in the first trial.

"Interesting…", muttered Xu Yang.

"God-tier beast?" asked the fat maroon haired boy to the girl next to him.

'Oh god', Tang Lin thought.

"I also forgot to mention, you can't use qi in this trial", the guardian spirit cheekily mentioned.

"What? This should be easy then", Yan Xue arrogantly said.

The muscular blonde boy who heard this announcement simply smiled, while sitting atop a rock.

"WTF! I need to find my brother first", shouted Xu Ming worriedly as he scampered into the jungle.

'Isn't this perfect for me? The condensed blood crystal not only enhanced my qi by fusing the crimson energy into my principle qi, but also my physical strength. Since it originally merged into my body as blood essence, I should be able to use some sort of crimson essence, which should be why I can use that devouring power to absorb blood essence', pondered Tang Lin.

'Nevertheless, what should I do now?' he mused as he analysed his surroundings.