Third Trial: Passed or Failed?

The fire arrows continued pouring at Meng's head from all directions but he kept on dodging the ones he could and the ones he couldn't dodge, he destroyed with the help of his first 2 moves of |7 Moves of Ferocious Sun|. When about 30 minutes passed by, Meng's eyes lost all focus as he just relied on his instincts and Spiritual Sense to see, making him look dead exhausted in his face. He already spent more than 50 percent of his Yang energy reserves, during this time, his Yin energy would normally recover at least slightly but in such a hot environment, there was a complete minimum of Yin energy.

*huff* *huff* Although Meng began sweating a lot, a smile never left his face as he still had his Physique as a trump card.

[Spiritual Sense (Lv. 2)] His Spiritual Sense suddenly leveled up and he felt as if he could see everything within 10 meters radius from him which made his smile only wider. However immediately after his senses got sharper, the shower of arrows finally ended which left him with a slightly disappointed expression on his face.

"Hm? What's with that disappointed expression, human? You did splendidly, your senses are very sharp considering your feeble profound strength." Two gigantic golden eyes appeared in front of Meng and a voice asked him in his mind, sounding a bit confused.

"Well, it's just that I wished it would remain a bit longer, my senses were getting just sharper and sharper each second. Thank you for your help." Meng said, forcing out a smile before he bowed in gratitude.

"Eh?!" What Meng just heard wasn't the previous dignified female voice but something that sounded like a surprised squeal belonging to a schoolgirl.

"Eh?" Hearing the voice lose its composure, Meng looked straight into the gigantic golden eyes with a confused expression.

How could the spirit not be surprised by Meng's actions, he was thanking it for putting his life in danger and he was even regretting that it couldn't have been a bit longer!

"Human, I have one question for you before I send you to the last stage of this trial." The spirit said which puzzled Meng as he couldn't understand why the dignified Phoenix Spirit didn't just ask straight away.

"I will answer honestly if I can."

"What is your reason for attempting to pass this trial?" The spirit asked, waiting in anticipation for Meng's answer. It didn't feel such anticipation for a thousand years.

"Hmm...Well, to take a look at what one of the three supreme fire attribute beasts left behind. Plus this trial is set up by the Phoenix itself, no? How many people can say that they have attempted a trial set up by the Phoenix itself? I couldn't care less about passing or failing, I am here to see awe-inspiring events like the instant change of the environment. I have already gained a lot from this trial without even passing it yet." Meng replied with a faint smile while fixing his clothes.

"...I will transport you to the third and last stage...Corruption of the Heart's Flame. This trial is the hardest to pass. I hop- wish you a success."

As Meng's world began spinning again, he closed his eyes and let his body be carried by the sensation.

"The third trial is a trial of the heart. It does not involve fighting but instead involves the choices within your heart. If you are firm enough towards the pursuit of power, you can easily pass. Only 7 people were able to pass the third trial." The spirit said before Meng felt as if he was transported to a completely different place so he slowly opened his eyes just to see that he was sitting in front of the campfire at night with a few other adults and a few kids running around.

When Meng saw their faces, his eyes widened in shock.

"What's going on with you today, Alex?" A man sitting next to him asked while drinking a beer.

"Huh?! N-Nothing, I am completely fine..." Meng quickly calmed his mind down.

'Is this an illusion? To think that I can see them thanks to the phoenix spirit...Hm?' Meng thought with a smile before he noticed a combat knife attached to his friend's waist which caused Meng to frown. He could remember the times like this one but none of his friends ever brought their "job" with them.

Meng decided to just enjoy his time here while he could, he started walking to everyone and everyone was a bit surprised how social he suddenly became which only made it look like it was a reality and everything he has experienced in that other world was a dream and alcohol.

While Meng was taking a selfie with his best friend as a memento for this day as both had very dangerous jobs, Meng suddenly felt a shiver down his spine so he quickly spun around and caught his friend's hand holding the knife that would have been stuck in Meng's back now if he wouldn't have moved.

"Blackie, are you testing me again, or do you truly intend to kill me? You know that it would be too shameful if I let myself get killed by you, I hope you won't mind if I will defend myself" Meng said with a smile before distancing himself from his friend and taking the defensive position with a smile on his face.

The other people were completely ignoring them as if they couldn't see them and Meng's friend move to attack him with the intention to kill him. His expression was never changing. Meng kept blocking the blows despite not having any weapon, whenever his friend left an opening for Meng to take an advantage of, Meng just poked him with a provoking smile which finally caused some reaction from his friend.

"Blackie, you can't be serious with those moves...I know that you don't specialize in close combat but what did they teach you in snake division? Haha." The Meng kept nagging his friend.

Their exchanges went on for numerous hours and the sun started slowly rising in the east, illuminating Meng's figure full of sweat.

*crack*

Meng suddenly heard something similar to a glass break and before he realized it, he was once again standing in front of the gigantic golden eyes that were staring at him with complicated feelings inside.

"*Huff* *huff* So...? How did I fare?" Meng asked with a tired smile when he noticed the complicated feelings inside the gigantic golden eyes.

"...You knew that if you were to kill your best friend, you would have failed and that if you were to let yourself be killed by him, you would pass...right?" The spirit asked with a conflicted tone.

"Hehe, I guess I couldn't hide it from almighty phoenix spirit. Phoenix Spirit told me too many clues so it was impossible not to discover it...Just 7 people passed this trial. I am pretty sure a lot of people realized that this was just an illusion so they thought that they wouldn't feel guilt from killing their dearest person. Who would rather let themselves be killed when it could clearly mean that they would fail the entire trial. Humans are ugly selfish creatures that only think about themselves while wearing nice bags of skin, hiding their true nature. Plus, it would be slightly hypocritical for Phoenix Spirit to curse the Phoenix Clan for that past incident but still encourage the people to kill their loved ones. If one is capable of killing the person they care the most for, they won't hesitate to kill innocents." Meng explained his thought process while holding his knees, regaining his breath.

"Then why haven't you let yourself be killed? I can sense that you don't really fear death and you already knew that it was an illusion." Phoenix Spirit agreed that it gave a lot of clues for Meng to be able to find it out.

"Hah! As if *huff* I would let myself get killed by that snake. He was worst at close combat and I was the one who had to teach him...Can you imagine how shameful it would feel to be killed by one's own pupil? Haha. Plus his attacks were full of openings so I didn't feel like I could pass my position to him yet. If he were stronger than me and he would eventually overwhelm me, I wouldn't have minded it but otherwise...tough luck!" Meng said with a laugh.

"...I had to stop the illusion since it was going nowhere and you stayed there for too long for your soul to bear but as for results...You neither passed nor failed...What to do with you?" The spirit said, thinking what it can do in such a situation.

'What actually made it possible for this human to pass through the reincarnation cycle? There are no signs of any heavenly profound treasure but it feels like inside that human dwells something even more terrifying than heavenly profound treasures. Just his profound energy that is separated into 2 parts is extremely strange.' Phoenix Spirit thought inwardly while observing Meng more closely.

"Well, as I said previously, I don't mind failing, I am just grateful for such a long illusion where I could spend time sparring with my old pupil once again." Meng said while shrugging his shoulders with a peaceful smile before he started looking around but it was just pitch-black space.

"..." The spirit kept quiet, thinking about what to do but Meng interrupted its thoughts.

"Umm, Phoenix Spirit, how do I exactly leave this place?" Meng asked while scratching the back of his head which caused the gigantic golden eyes to widen a bit.

"What?! You truly don't care about my inheritance?!" The spirit was completely dumbfounded.

"It's not like I don't care but I can tell that Phoenix Spirit is having trouble deciding what to do with me so I am just saying that I won't mind failing." Meng said with an apologetic smile.

Hearing his words, the gigantic golden eyes narrowed while staring at him.

'...Why does it feel like being glared at by a frustrated girl?' Others might feel pressured by this sudden chance but Meng just thought of this while staring back into the eyes with a confused expression.

[+1 Phoenix Spirit's affection point]

'You fucking idiot, rather keep quiet, we have no idea what everything this phoenix spirit is capable of doing and what everything it can sense! This is no time for joking.' Meng started sweating under Phoenix Spirit's gaze, all he could do was close his eyes and sent the brightest smile he could form at the moment.