Chapter 6

The first trial was to destroy the Purgatory Flame Demon with the cultivation level of 9th stage of True Profound realm, i.e., more than one realm above Yun Che. The environment of the trial was extremely hot, but this was of no concern to Yun Che who had the Fire seed.

The Flame Demon released several balls of fire towards Yun Che, which could have easily burnt anyone below the Spirit Profound realm to ashes, but it did not scratch Yun Che in the slightest.

Knowing the point of the giant's weakness, Yun Che quickly created a strategy and opened the first gate – Heretic Soul. He rushed towards the giant, to a point around 3 metres in front of it, and then used all his might to jump up into the air.

With his strength, he could jump up around 20 metres high. The giant smashed his blazing fist into the ground, right where Yun Che had been originally standing. As it did so, its body leaned forward and his head came down to a height of 18 metres.

Yun Che immediately used Star God's Broken Shadow and reappeared right in front of the giant's forehead, his destination. Then with his heavy sword, which was a True Profound artifact, he executed the first technique of the Heavenly Wolf Hell God's Tome – Heavenly Wolf Slash, and struck the golden mark upon the giant's forehead.

The Purgatory Flame Demon let out a cry of pain and despair and crumbled, its existence eventually disappearing. The first trial had been passed.

The second trial began almost immediately. Yun Che was immensely exhausted after the first trial and consumed a pellet he had prepared earlier with the Sky Poison Pearl, which rapidly replenished his stamina along with his 54 profound entrances.

The scenery before him distorted and was replaced by a vast wilderness of nothingness.

The second trial was to survive a barrage of fire arrows, hot enough to kill any average Spirit Profound realm practitioner and the arrows also had immense kinetic energy. Yun Che was completely immune to fire, but the sheer kinetic energy of the arrows could still cause him serious injuries.

He had to continuously and rapidly use the Star God's Broken Shadow to evade the arrows. The technique was basically teleportation – it would teleport the user somewhere close, within range of sight, while simultaneously leaving behind an illusion of the user in his original place.

It was very effective and allowed him to evade most of the arrows. Still, he was not completely unscathed. A few dozen arrows did hit him and completely depleted his entire body's protective profound aura.

After the second trial had ended, the eyes of the Phoenix appeared again, "Congratulations. You passed the first two trials due to your special physique, as expected. However your inheritance will not help you in the third trial, for it is completely unrelated to fire. This is also the most difficult trial. It is a trial of the heart and will test your mental strength. Hundreds of people have passed the first two trials in the past, but only seven have passed the third trial. Are you prepared?"

Yun Che didn't have to think, since he already knew what to expect. Also, his mental strength was far higher than that of the original Yun Che. It could be said that his mental strength was a cheat he brought with him when he was transferred to this body.

Thankfully, his original memories were indeed completely hidden and the Phoenix couldn't see them. She wasn't just unable to read them; she was unable to detect their very existence. From her perspective, Yun Che had simply lived two lives previously and had been reincarnated by the Mirror of Samsara.

The third trial brought him face to face with Su Ling'er, the original Yun Che's love interest in his second life. However, the current Yun Che didn't have the slightest attraction to her. He was essentially a stranger to her, although he did have her memories.

Fortunately, he also knew exactly how to pass this test. And he had already decided what to tell the Phoenix spirit upon the completion of this trial.

After embracing Su Ling'er and acting like a lover to her, he felt the expected sharp pain in his back, and the world distorted again.

The eyes of the Phoenix appeared once again and asked Yun Che in a puzzled voice, "Why would you rather stay in the illusion and get yourself killed, when you already knew it was only an illusion from the very start, and that you would easily pass the test if you stabbed the girl?"

Yun Che smiled calmly and replied, "Precisely for that reason. You said that out of hundreds of people who had passed the first two trials in the past, only seven could pass the third trial. That means the third trial would have a trap, which would make them think they would easily pass if they did something obvious, and only the handful that did not fall for the trap would pass it.

The moment I found the dagger, I understood what the trap was – it was a test of priorities, whether the person prioritizes strength or a loved one. Most people would fall for the trap and choose strength over the loved one, but I am not most people."

The Phoenix spirit was silent for a long time, and then let out a sigh, "I don't know what to think about this. I said you wouldn't be able to cheat your way past the third trial, but you easily saw through it and were thus able to pass it. However, this also makes me very impressed. You not only have the inheritance of the Evil God, but also have an abnormally sharp mind. I am really glad to say that you have passed this test."

And thus, the Phoenix gave Yun Che his rewards for passing her trials – three drops of the Phoenix's blood, a Divine Phoenix pill and the last two stages of the World Ode of the Phoenix.

Yun Che absorbed the three drops of blood and they increased his affinity to fire by a great amount. Then he swallowed the Divine Phoenix pill and along with increasing his affinity to fire even further, it rapidly increased his cultivation base.

Finally, he absorbed the information of the World Ode of the Phoenix and began comprehending it. He did not notice it; or rather he didn't need to notice it because he already knew it, the Mirror of Samsara underneath his clothes glowed brightly for a moment and then faded away.

Reading the last two stages of the World Ode of the Phoenix, he attempted to extrapolate what the first four stages would roughly be. Under the manipulation of the Mirror of Samsara and his own incredible comprehension talent, he was indeed able to do so and forcefully comprehend the last two stages of the World Ode of the Phoenix.

He spent the next one month inside the trial grounds, comprehending the art and absorbing the Divine Phoenix pill to increase his cultivation base.

One month later, he had absorbed enough of the Divine Phoenix pill to breakthrough to the 1st level of True Profound realm, and had successfully comprehended the last two stages – 'Empyrean Dance of the Phoenix Wing' and 'Star Scorching Demon Lotus'.

The Phoenix spirit appeared again and gave him a special gift, which turned the phoenix imprint upon his forehead golden. She didn't tell him what it was, but he knew it was actually a onetime resurrection option, not that he ever planned to use it.

Finally, the time had come for him to leave the trial grounds.