Inheritance Grounds

After travelling for most of the night, Xue Yang finally arrived at his destination.

He had to travel around 400 li (200 km) to reach his goal, and he managed to cover it in an impressive 5 hours.

To do this, his speed had to be a consistent 80 li/h(40 km/h), but thanks to his supernatural strength and no requirement for rest, it was an easy feat to achieve.

He was deep within a forest, and his target was right ahead of him, barely visible through a thicket.

He was greeted by a small moss-covered stone monolith when he made his way through it.

The monolith was cuboid in shape, about a meter tall and 25cm wide.

On top of it, the Crimson Monk's symbol was engraved, and the characters for sacrifice were around it.

The engravings were all connected and flowed down the sides of the monolith all the way to the bottom and disappeared into the ground.

Being well aware of what he had to do, Xue Yang scoffed.

"I don't think I'll ever get bored of seeing evil path inheritance grounds."

Xue Yang couldn't deny that these inheritance grounds were always his favourite to watch cultivators within the simulation attempt.

While it was rare for one to be completed and taken, watching the creative traps and tests meant to push those greedy for power to their absolute limits was always fun.

Almost all that attempted these inheritances were fated to perish in gruesome fashion.

However, a monstrous talent would be born in the rare instance that someone succeeded.

One fated to become much more powerful than the one that created such a demonic test.

If they don't die somewhere like a fool thanks to their pride and ego of accomplishing something near impossible.

Orthodox inheritance tests wouldn't start until one got into the inheritance grounds, but the evil path differed.

Getting into the inheritance grounds was a test itself.

This particular one required one to sacrifice a large quantity of blood.

It was meant to test the will of the challenger to do anything in pursuit of power, even if it meant sacrificing something important to them.

Of course, it wasn't entirely that simple. This particular test also tested the survival skills of the one who attempts it and their patience.

You had to give enough blood for the hidden array to activate and stop your bleeding.

After that, you had to wait for the mechanism to activate. 

If one wasn't patient enough, they might attempt to sacrifice more of their blood, resulting in them losing consciousness and bleeding out to death.

Xue Yang brought his remaining hand up to his mouth and tore open his wrist above the monolith, letting his blood fall like a waterfall on top of it.

His blood entered the carvings and began to spread before flowing down the carvings on the side.

After losing a significant amount of blood, he saw a familiar notification.

[☆Bloodlust lvl 7☆]

Fortunately for him, this wouldn't be a problem for much longer.

This might have been a different case if he hadn't fed on Li Qing's blood earlier.

After waiting for about an hour, thanks to his superior hearing, he could hear the mechanisms hidden deep within the ground roar to life.

As the mechanism and array were completely activated, the partially dried blood on the monolith lit up, illuminating the surroundings in a crimson light.

The ground around Xue Yang started to shake.

The ground within a five-meter radius of the monolith started to sink.

As the ground lowered, it became a spiral staircase leading deep into the ground.

Xue Yang made his way down the steps. They began as steps formed from grass and dirt, eventually becoming stone steps.

Once he reached the bottom, he was greeted by large metallic doors.

The familiar symbol belonging to the Crimson Monk was prominently displayed.

Blood slowly flowed across it, and the large doors swung open moments later, revealing a long corridor with no end in sight.

As he stepped past the threshold of the doors, orbs evenly spaced through the corridor on both sides lit up.

They were perfectly smooth and glowed with a cold blue light.

Xue Yang immediately recognised them for what they were: spirit stones.

These were large, naturally formed spirit stones crafted and smoothed into orbs.

The value of just a single one of those was astronomical.

If a mortal took one of these, they could live comfortably for generations.

Yet somehow, the entire corridor that continued for an unknown length was littered with these on either side.

This was an impressive amount of wealth even for a cultivator, yet they were used merely as lights here.

Of course, there was a reason why the Crimson Monk could allow himself to do this.

His cultivation technique and path didn't require him to spend his wealth to increase his strength.

All he required was blood, something he could easily acquire himself.

Because of this, he could ammas an impressive amount of wealth and use it as another test.

If one were greedy and tried to take one of these orbs, they would die gruesomely.

Those who had no interest in material wealth and instead were fully focused on their pursuit of strength and immortality would be able to spot the remnants of corpses.

Bits of bones could be seen stuck within the walls. 

It was what remained of those who chose to steal from the Crimson Monk and sully his inheritance grounds with their greed.

Xue Yang ignored them and rushed down the long path, eventually reaching an opening.

The opening led into a room about 20 metres squared in size, where the first official trial took place.

Inside the room, once again, remnants of corpses were visible. 

Unlike last time, however, these corpses were primarily intact, having died from starvation, dehydration or suicide.

On the other side of the room was another opening that led to the subsequent trial.

One could enter the subsequent trial if they chose to, but it was yet another trap.

In the centre of the room was a stone tablet that contained the Crimson Monk's cultivation technique.

In front of it was a smooth indentation within the stone ground.

It was where all that came before Xue Yang sat while trying to learn the technique.

Xue Yang couldn't tell how many had attempted to gain this inheritance. Still, judging by the mark on the ground, it could have been hundreds, if not thousands, of cultivators.

This room was meant to teach the challenger his technique while testing their comprehension abilities and their compatibility with the technique.

Unfortunately, techniques aren't compatible with all cultivators, especially more powerful and profound ones like this one.

Cultivators could survive a long time without rest, food or water, but it didn't mean they would survive forever without them.

As soon as Xue Yang would walk into the room, a door made out of steel would drop behind him, locking him inside.

This, however, wasn't regular steel but qi-dissipating steel. A rare form of steel birthed from meteors that rained upon the continent aeons ago.

This steel was practically indestructible within the lower heavens.

Even the most powerful cultivators out there would, at most, make a mark a couple of centimetres deep when using their most profound and destructive technique.

The only way out would be to continue forward. Still, without fully comprehending the technique, the next trial would guarantee another gruesome death.

This, however, didn't discourage Xue Yang. 

Instead, it made him excited.

He couldn't think of a more perfect cultivation technique for himself now than the one ahead of him.

With that, he stepped into the room and with a thunderous thud, the steel door dropped behind him.