The First Trial

The man's voice echoed throughout the room.

[This is the legacy of Immortal Emperor $%^@ & !(*. Here, there are all kinds of fortune accompanied by all kinds of disasters. How much you can grow depends on you, and you alone. I wish you good luck, challengers. The first challenge will now begin.]

Wu Zhen and Chu Feng stood there, wondering what had just happened. They had jumped through a hole in a cave and ended up in some sort of ethereal place. Could this really be an opportunity for them to become like the legends in the myths they read? Also, what was the first trial?

A few seconds afterward, a letter popped up on the white walls that read

[The first trial: Survive for a day against 9 of your clones, or kill them.]

As they read the contents of the first trial, the bodies of their clones were already starting to form. They were created from the bottom upwards. It began with their feet, then their legs, torso, and then their face. The creepiest thing was, they perfectly replicated every bit of the original, from appearance, to even qi signature.

Each being had its own unique qi signature that slightly differed from all others. This qi signature determined their talent and strength, among other things. It was unheard of for two beings to have the same qi signature.

Once they were fully formed, they immediately started attacking. Chu Feng and Wu Zhen immediately ran in the opposite direction as fast as they could. After all, how could they beat 9 of themselves? Soon, Chu Feng ran out of stamina and panted heavily.

"Brother Wu, save me!"

His clones quickly caught up with him and started beating him to a pulp. He wouldn't survive for long if someone didn't help him. Wu Zhen obviously didn't want this young boy to die in front of his eyes, but what could he do to help? Then, an obvious idea popped up in his mind.

"Wait, if they are really clones, wouldn't their strength be the same as well?" While his nine clones were perfectly matched with him, Chu Feng's clones would be significantly easier to defeat as he wasn't a martial cultivator.

"Ahahaha! Let me show you the strength of a martial cultivator!" Wu Zhen madly dashed towards Chu Feng and became circulating the Qi inside of him. It had been a long time since he had battled someone, but he would practice his martial arts every day, preparing just in case.

"Storm Cloud Palm!" The Qi in his body converted itself into electricity, condensing in his two palms. He began attacking the nine clones of Chu Fang, who, despite vastly outnumbering him were quite weak. He quickly knocked one out and proceeded to kill it, finding out that they weren't perfect replicas. They were merely puppets who looked like and had the same strength as them.

Meanwhile, Wu Zhen's own puppets were nearly catching up to him. Noticing that his puppets were not far behind him, he hurriedly absorbed the dense spiritual qi in the room and converted all the Qi he had into electricity. He put his palms on the ground, and spread the electricity in a circle around him, frying the remaining 8 puppets.

The domineering might of a martial cultivator simply could not be compared to the strength of a mortal. While he had quickly dispatched Chu Feng's clones, he had also lost all of his qi in the process. Without qi, he was nothing but a mortal.

Suddenly, more words popped up out of nowhere.

[Chu Feng has passed the first trial. Distributing rewards: 20 Qi Nourishing beads, cultivation of Qi Condensation 1.]

Suddenly, all the qi around Chu Feng hurriedly rushed into his body, instantly promoting him to Qi Condensation 1, albeit painful.

Wu Zhen turned around to look at the message as well as Chu Feng. This guy had passed the trial off of his help and gotten resources as well as cultivation. What a freeloader. However, he needed to cooperate with him to pass the trial as having an ally would tremendously help him.

Wu Zhen immediately yelled, "Those beads, pass one to me, now!"

Although Chu Feng was a bit unhappy since those were his rewards, he quickly threw one over to Wu Zhen, who quickly swallowed it.

"Wait a second, was I supposed to swallow this? Oh, shit. Am I doomed?" Wu Zhen never had many resources to cultivate, and the best his family could do for him was to brew some herbs into medicinal soup he could drink, so he did not know how he was supposed to use pills.

"KABOOM!"

If Wu Zhen used a sound to describe what just happened, it would be that. The qi from the pill exploded right in his throat, leading him to cough up blood. The qi circulated around his meridians, tearing them apart, but refining them in the process. The immense blockage from eating impure medicinal dregs was incinerated by the pure qi. It was as if a glass that was filling up drop by drop just had an entire bucket of water dropped onto it. The remaining qi leaked out of his body, leading to an aura visible to even Chu Feng. After swallowing the bead, he had broken through to Qi condensation 2. Although the pain of having his meridians refined was intense, he still had to get up to fight his clones. Now, he had a power advantage. He was Qi Condensation 2, but his clones were still Qi Condensation 1.

"Chu Feng, get your ass over here!"

After seeing his big bro having a breakthrough, he sat there staring at him but quickly hurried over.

"Look, I helped you out in your time of need. It's time for you to help me now. I don't have much time till they arrive, but you just have to help me fight."

Chu Feng seemed to be a bit concerned. After all, he was fighting against 9 people who had the same cultivation as him, but he was reassured by the fact that his big bro had already broken through.

The 9 clones caught up to Wu Zhen and all activated Storm Cloud palms simultaneously.

Wu Zhen activated Storm Cloud palms too, but the electricity seemed to be more potent when he did it. Chu Feng activated a technique of his own, Sun fists. They immediately began to fight, throwing all kinds of attacks around. Wu Zhen alone managed to hold out against 6 of his clones, and Chu Feng had to fight three. With the Qi that Wu Zhen now possessed, it was enough to perform 3 killing moves before being left with no qi.

In this fight though, being left without qi was equivalent to death. Fortunately, they had exactly the item to solve that problem.

"Kid, pass me 2 more of those beads!"

While reluctant, Chu Feng passed over 2 more beads. Immediately, Wu Zhen began spending his qi like a madman, performing his killing moves one after another. Immediately after he depleted his qi, he swallowed another bead and continued his killing spree. After swallowing the 2 beads he had left, he had managed to finish off all of his clones. He had cleared the first trial.

More words popped up, announcing that Wu Zhen had passed. Interestingly, it gave him options for his rewards.

[1. 100 Qi Nourishing beads and cultivation of Qi Condensation 3.]

[2. Upgrading of talent to 1, body refining technique.]

Wu Zhen thought about it, although 100 qi nourishing beads and Qi Condensation 3 would be helpful in the short term, the chance to upgrade his talent would help him throughout his life, and body refining would be incredibly useful since an upgrade in his body's strength would be applicable even without qi. He ended up picking option 2.

Immediately afterward, he felt a qualitative change in his dantian, the center of his body. Along with that, memories flooded into his head. Memories of a body refining technique called Nine Lightning body. Then, the voice from back then reappeared.

"Good work on your first trial. You will now be moved to your respective rooms."

After a few seconds, he fell onto the hard surface of a stone bed. In the room around him, there was nothing other than the bed. There seemed to be a plate of food on the ground, which he devoured in an instant. After fighting for so long, he was quite hungry. He put the plate back on the ground, just as the voice reappeared once more.

"This is your room. You will be allowed to stay here for one month and cultivate before the second trial begins."

After hearing that he would be allowed to take a break for one month, he relaxed laid on his stone bed, drifting into sleep. It had been one of the longest days of his life, and perhaps one of the most regretful ones.