The first trial

The elder started writing down the initial technique which needed to be cultivated to achieve the initial threshold of the technique on the board behind him, however he was simply using his finger to write, creating intricate symbols, one after the other. Altogether there was a total of ten thousand symbols. Each one carried with it an aura that could overpower even the highest of quality divine techniques Gaofeng had observed in the previous soul space. When the elder had completely written down every single symbol, he turned to Gaofeng and smiled. "The first trial is relatively straightforward, as you simply have to memorize all of these symbols and imprint them in your soul. This is not only a test of the capacity and tenacity of your soul, but also of your heart-realm, as the lower the heart-realm of the participant the longer it takes for each symbol to be engraved in their soul, in addition to the inability to maintain the forms of these symbols for the amount of time needed to completely engrave all ten thousand symbols. I wish you the best of luck." When the elder had stopped speaking, Gaofeng first took a complete overview of the symbols, only considering each one for a couple of seconds before moving his eyes to the next one. After taking a quick overview, Gaofeng started intensely staring at the first symbol for a good amount of time before closing his eyes and mediating while picturing this symbol being chiseled directly into his soul. At first there was no reaction from his soul, but utilizing his high heart-realm he was able to slightly alter the shape of his soul such that a part of it turned into the symbol he was attempting to carve into it. This process took him almost twenty hours however, which was far too long. After finishing the carving, a majestic golden symbol appeared on Gaofeng's soul. Afterwards he changed his attention to focus on the second symbol. He repeated the process of the first carving, and this time was able to carve it in half the time due to his new discoveries and experience from manipulating his soul. Every line had to be absolutely perfect, and he still had to maintain the form of each symbol while continuing to carve the next. He repeated the process again and again until he was able to completely carve a symbol in his soul in about one hour. However, when he had reached the 1209th symbol, the first symbol he had carved started disappearing even while he was continuing to maintain it. There seemed to be some natural law which made it so that even fully carved symbols had a certain lifespan which would eventually run out, and thus there was a hard limit to the time Gaofeng had to completely carve all of the symbols. After the first symbol disappeared, the second one followed, and then the third. Gaofeng attempted to start one again by carving the first symbol, but there was no way he could finish carving them all in this limited timeframe if he had to use one hour on each symbol. Perhaps he would be able to decrease the amount of time it took for him to carve each symbol, but would it be enough to close the gap between 1209 and 10000? Far from it.

Gaofeng pondered long and hard on a new strategy he could employ while ignoring how all of the symbols he had carved slowly disappeared. After again attempting to shorten the amount of time it took him to carve one symbol, and barely being able to lower it to forty minutes, Gaofeng realized that it would be practically impossible for him to lower the time under thirty minutes no matter how he tried. Even then he would not be able to create more than 3000 symbols in the allotted time period. Thus, he had to change something up completely. Continuing to ponder on this issue, he suddenly got an idea. What if he carved multiple symbols at once? After finishing this thought he immediately looked up at the board again, and instead of merely focusing on the first symbol, he expanded his focus to include the two first symbols. Sweat started pouring down his forehead as he strained himself to simultaneously carve two divine symbols, but his efforts had borne fruits. He was actually able to create two symbols at the same time, but it took him a total of fifty minutes to complete these carvings. This speed, however, was that of a symbol per 25 minutes, soundly breaking his limit of one per 30 minutes. After finishing carving these first two symbols he didn't dare to relax, as he still had 9998 symbols left. He now shifted his attention not to the two next symbols, but the four next ones. If he could carve four symbols at once, even if it took him an hour, that would almost bring him up to par with the speed required to finish carving all 10000 symbols before the time was up. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, still maintaining the image of the four next symbols vividly in his mind, visualizing every line and detail and shaping his soul accordingly. This was far more strenuous than his previous attempt, and he started shaking as he neared the symbols' completion. Finally. He had done it. He was able to completely carve four symbols in the span of an hour. A wide smile spread across Gaofeng's face as he realized that the goal was within reach. Gaofeng knew that if he was able to carve five symbols at the same time, he would pass this stage, so the next five symbols became the objects of all his attention. The strain of carving five symbols was too much for Gaofeng in the end, and he nearly passed out from the exhaustion. On the brink of passing out, the red tint on his soul and body rippled and "Bloodbath" activated by itself, giving Gaofeng a surge of energy and power which made him feel incredibly formidable. While in this state, he once again began carving five symbols at once, and this time he was able to with what felt like the same amount of effort he had used when originally carving merely two symbols simultaneously. Thus, he would hammer while the iron was hot and continue carving another five symbols, and another, until there were no more symbols left to carve. Gaofeng didn't feel the passing of time while in this state, and as he was mortal one would think that he would need some nourishment, to relieve himself, or to sleep, but the laws in this place functioned differently and thus a special magic was utilized for Gaofeng to be able to never have to worry about his regular mortal needs while in this state of intense concentration.

Finally, Gaofeng finished carving the last five symbols. After this was complete, a divine humming noise seemed to ring out from Gaofeng's soul, emanating throughout the entire world that existed inside the black hole. All of the symbols within Gaofeng's soul rearranged themselves and interlocked like a chain, and this complete chain could now maintain itself without Gaofeng needing to continuously maintain it. Thus, he had finished the first step and had passed over the threshold of the Divine Myriad Changes technique. At this point, the technique to complete the full initial realm of the Divine Myriad Changes technique became clear to him from the golden chain of symbols. The information he now gained relating to this cultivation technique explained that the Divine Myriad Changes technique was not only a divine cultivation technique which simultaneously strengthened the cultivators soul, body and cultivation, combining the three which normally had individual cultivation techniques, but as the name stated, this cultivation technique would enable Gaofeng to understand the Myriad changes of the world. It was also explained to him that if he achieved the complete essence of the technique in the second trial the Divine Myriad Changes would be able to change and improve based upon Gaofeng's experiences, talents and fortuitous encounters, making it always adapt and continue to be perfectly suited to the cultivator. The cultivation technique which now appeared in Gaofeng's mind had come about from how the golden symbols had rearranged themselves to accommodate and best utilize Gaofeng's potential and strengths, thus his Divine Myriad Changes was completely unique and suited to him. Even the seven other people who had passed this stage would have completely different cultivation techniques compared to Gaofeng.