Chapter 34: Tempering within torment

The moment the first incense stick burned out, a sect disciple put another one. As a matter of fact, there were twenty sect disciples putting incense sticks all around the array at the exact same time. It served to measure the time, but the fragrance was also part of the array. Yes it had helped some candidates to take their mind off the pain, but it was also necessary to ensure the illusions. If they had used another way to escape from their suffering, their result would have probably been better, but not by much.

More than fifty candidates still endured the scorching heat. Unbeknownst to them, the heat and pain were gradually increasing.

After the second incense stick burned away, a sudden reversal occurred. The hellish heat turned into a freezing cold. Feeling as if their limbs were entirely frozen, many candidates were too surprised by the change and quit, not able to adapt to the new kind of pain. Some candidates literally bit their lips to feel a warm sensation of blood and stay focused.

Ren Chao began to feel the pain. As much as heat was not a problem for him, cold really was. In order to stay strong, he tried to imagine being near the hearth of his father's forge. Cao Yun, Sun Liao, and even more so, Mei Hua, had no real difficulties steeling their wills against these illusions.

Soon after, two more incense sticks burned away and a new phase began again. This time, the sensations of extreme heat and extreme cold randomly alternated between them. Their duration and timing were unpredictable so that no one could really adapt to either. Many candidates lost their concentration. Against a continual torment, they could force through, but the constant change eroded their wills.

Almost an hour after the beginning of the trial, the sensations changed a little as extreme cold and extreme heat could now target different parts of their body at the same time. It created a horrifying sensation. You could for example feel as if your hand was burning but your fingers were frozen. This time, new pains were added as if swords were piercing through them. During at least another hour, they were subjected to all kinds of pain and torment of the flesh. Around half of the candidates could not steel their will against such sufferings and quit.

Finally, at the start of the third hour, the pain stopped. A melodious music played in everyone's ears, trying to take them away toward a place of peace and sweetness. The sudden change made many candidates fail. With their wills eroded by the pain, this promise of respite got them. After their hearing, their smell was subjected to such a heavenly promise. Each candidate could smell their favorite food as if a huge banquet had been prepared for them. At the same time, a great sensation of hunger took them. Many candidates could not resist.

Ren Chao was one of them. Physical pain was not too difficult for him, but his mind was unguarded against this kind of temptation. After all, he really loved meat and wine. When he woke up he was more disappointed by the absence of meat than by his failure. He had been able to resist more than three hours, that was pretty good.

Cao Yun finally felt his will coming to its limit and was almost taken out of his meditation when mental images flooded his mind. Everyone saw images of beauty and horror, trying to make them give in. That's when Cao Yun decided to circulate Zhi. It turned out to be very efficient as it renewed his will to fight.

He was able to draw the character twenty-three times. But as he was approaching his limit, he focused his intent and pushed through. He then tried to focus on the Zhi character itself with every illusion he felt. All the images he was seeing turned into the Zhi character.

Then, the candidates' bodies began to feel really uncomfortable, forcing all of them to try to move around. The last sense that was put to the test was their taste. In their mouth, disgusting mixtures could be felt. Some even imagined they were eating their own flesh and blood.

It kept on and on.

After the fifth hour, there were fourteen candidates left. A new stage of the array began. They saw scenes of carnage as if they were in, either as torturer or as victim. Gradually, these scenes turned into pictures of paradise. Cao Yun was faced with the beautiful figure of Feng Yingyue completely naked, awaiting him. To her sides, many other beautiful women playing together. Even Xiao Xuefeng was among them, so was Mei Hua. The Zhi character kept circulating and the women turned into water. Just as they had transformed, the water formed the Zhi character in the air.

Cao Yun was breaking through his mind cultivation like crazy by using the array to fulfill his ends. It continued for another hour.

After six hours of pain, torment and distractions of all kind, only Sun Liao, Mei Hua and Cao Yun remained.

Yet another phase of the array began. Now they were reliving parts of their lives.

Sun Liao was faced against Cao Yun. The boy was smiling as he kept beating Sun Liao, stabbing him with his spear again and again. He put his foot on his head, crushing it to the ground. Suffering this humiliation, Sun Liao's anger erupted. He could not take it any longer. Jumping to beat up his opponent, Sun Liao realized that he was standing up in reality. The trial was over for him, all because of Cao Yun again. As he harbored this irrational grudge, he looked all around him and was pleased to see that there were only two other people, until he saw who the second person was. Cao Yun was the person who made him fail in the illusion and he was the one who would beat him in reality. It was already too late, no matter if Cao Yun was first or not during this trial, he would stay first in the ranking.

The visions of Cao Yun were different. At first he was with his family. They were all happy and congratulating him on his achievements after the tournament.

"Second Brother, come play with me." Cao Huiying watched him with her usual cute face and grabbed on his arm to take him away.

With tears on his cheeks, Cao Yun could barely answer her as he fought to stay where he was. "Sorry, little sister, big brother is busy right now."

Cao Yun had stopped circulating the Zhi character. Even knowing that this was an illusion, he wanted to see everyone again and the illusion was so perfect...

"Come on, your sister wants her big brother." Cao Sheng kept urging his brother from afar.

"Big brother, you don't want to play with me?" As she was about to cry, Cao Huiying looked up to Cao Yun. "The bad men played with me, them!"

"Yes, brother, they played with her for days. She kept calling for her brother but he was busy..."

His parents got near him. "We died to protect you, but you let them torture your little sister to death."

They turned into disfigured corpses and red shadows appeared everywhere. The only person who still looked human was Cao Huiying. The shadows took them and tortured her before Cao Yun.

"Brother, please! Help me, brother! It hurts! Please!" She kept on screaming, crying and begging.

If Cao Yun had circulated the Zhi character from the start, he could have controlled himself. But he had given in to temptation. He watched the agony of his little sister. But worse than that, he could only wonder whether or not she had endured such pain before her death. The man who slashed him open had taken her alive but according to the reports her body had been found. Cao Yun could only imagine what had happened between these two moments. And imagination was often worse than reality.

In real life, Cao Yun was clenching his fists and his teeth so hard that blood was gushing from his hand and from the corner of his lips.

The chief elders were still looking and Xiao Xuefeng had a sad look on her face.

"What happened to this little fellow? What kind of memory can trigger such rage?" The blood was flowing on the ground but tears were also flowing down his cheeks.

Everyone was watching and they could only imagine what he had lived through to get an illusion that would push him to this state.

Cao Yun was on the verge of losing it when something happened deep within his heart. The Drop of Wrath acted up. Fueled by his rage, the Drop of Wrath tried to overwhelm him. Ironically, the sudden attack on his mind shifted his focus and the illusion almost disappeared before his eyes. If the Drop of Wrath had waited a little bit, he would have lost it and the opportunity to strike would have been even better. Luckily, the Drop of Wrath had no mind of its own. It seemed to only act on instinct.

However, it stayed a crisis for Cao Yun, but from the outside it seemed as though he had overcome the ordeal.

The truth was vastly different. He had just exchanged this ordeal for another one. And the new one would not mean fewer points, it would mean losing his sanity.

However, the change allowed him to circulate Zhi once more. He also circulated Yi to the extreme to put all his mind on this singular task. In his sea of consciousness, the water had turned red and the sky dark. Only the small star of 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' was visible, staving off the darkness. The two Zhi and Yi characters were resonating with each other as Zhi became more and more tangible.

From the Drop of Wrath, six arms began to form from blood. On the surface of the water below, the image of the same red demon with six arms and three faces was reflected.

Cao Yun focused on the Yi character that was reflected on the Drop of Wrath and tried to suppress it once more. While he was focusing on this singular task, the Zhi character kept on becoming stronger and soon enough, it also got reflected in the Drop of Wrath. Steadily, the fury of the Drop of Wrath subsided.

-

Up in the sky, the chief elders were seeing everything.

"He almost gave in to the illusion... What strong willpower. He came back from the brink just now!"

"Miss Xiao, could it be that he is an alchemist as well?"

"No, he's not." Xiao Xuefeng was sure of this for she had seen Gu Lin's memories. "But I believe he has the talent for it." Xiao Xuefeng also turned her eyes toward Mei Hua. "So does this little girl."

"Oh? Miss Xiao, do you happen to also know this little girl?"

"Indeed, she was a servant in my institute."

"Oh?! Interesting..." Chief Elder Luoming stroked his nonexistent beard. "Maybe she came here to follow you, Miss Xiao."

-

In the array, only Mei Hua and Cao Yun were enduring the trial. More than eight hours had now passed. They were both close to exceed the record.

In Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, the Drop of Wrath had finally calmed down. He could also feel that his Zhi, the Water Will had advanced to the True Success stage. But, he was completely exhausted.

Sweat was dripping from both cultivators. It was clear for everyone that they would soon collapse. The onlookers stopped breathing as they focused their eyes on every subtle movements of the two last candidates.

The first to collapse was... Mei Hua, just as the one hundred and third incense stick was burned away. Cao Yun sensed that he could not persevere much longer. In a final attempt, he decided to circulate Zhi one last time. As he finished, the one hundred and fourth incense stick was being replaced.

-

When Mei Hua left her meditative state, she could barely stand up. She was forced to use her hands to get up. Seeing all the candidates watching her from above, she felt a huge sense of pride and achievement. Yes, she was not the best fighter, but her mind was way superior to everyone else. She looked for the top ten candidates. That's when a foreboding sensation crept up in her.

"Where is Chen Guo?"

She looked for Cao Yun everywhere, thinking that maybe her fatigue was tricking her. When she finally decided to look around her in the array, she almost coughed up blood.

What pride! What achievement! What superior mind! This boy was better in cultivation, in fighting, in comprehension, and now even in her forte, in mind.

Mei Hua almost felt as though she was still in the illusion. Her will had been completely exhausted by the trial and she had no more to keep her calm. While people saw her disturbed, they naturally thought she had pushed herself a little too hard. Some sect disciples went to carry her out.

"Great job, Junior! You can rest now!" The consoling words of one of them were just noise to her. The world she knew was gone.

-

Cao Yun also could not stand by himself. His body collapsed on the floor as his breathing was chaotic. Elder Tang immediately commanded other sect disciples to get him out.

When Cao Yun got back to his senses, he was resting beside Ren Chao.

"Brother Chen!" No sooner had Ren Chao yelled, Elder Tang hit him behind the head.

"He needs some rest, not your screaming!" Elder Tang was quite fond of Ren Chao, but he was still exhausting.

Ren Chao looked down and for the first time in the exam, he whispered. "Sorry, Brother Chen."

After confirming that Cao Yun was fine, Elder Tang went back to the platform. He knew that Cao Yun was very important for the chief elders and the sect given his performance and the message he had received from Chief Elder Baishen.

"Congratulations! All of you have passed the trial!"

Cheers of joy erupted everywhere as no one was failed in this round. A sense of camaraderie was forming between nobles and commoners. They had gone through all these trials and realizing how hard it was, they started to really respect each other and rejoice together.

Elder Tang let them enjoy their victory. It was necessary after such an ordeal.

The only ones who did not rejoice were Mei Hua and Sun Liao. The girl was still shocked and did not know how to process the earlier events. Her confidence had been destroyed. She thought she was lacking in terms of fighting but that was because she focused on her mind...

The boy was different. He had almost let go of his resentment earlier but the illusions he saw had reignited his desire to humiliate Cao Yun. He was staring at him as he was still recovering.