Needle trial

At this moment, Zeal had the majestic voice of Sou Long: "Now that you're awake, you should prepare. Your medicine is on the center table in the sitting room. I also prepared hot tofu and a not-so-delicious soup. Finish up and meet me." Sou Long said gracefully. Zeal nodded, but he knew he needed more time to digest the entire episode of near-death tribulations he encountered. So he stayed another twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, Zeal returned to his room; everything was the same—nothing had changed. Zeal pulled out another robe from his backpack. After ten minutes, he appeared in the sitting room.

Zeal immediately walked to the dining table; he had lived like an animal in the Ashura forest. Now it was finally time to eat like a human. And this moment, Zeal had begun to care about his life more than anything. On the table was hot steaming tofu and soup. He also saw two small bottles: one red and the other black. But around the bottle, Zeal saw a written instruction. He concluded that Sou Long had left it there. The word said that Zeal needed to drink the content of the red bottle, and after the meal, he should take the content of the black bottle. Zeal picked up the tiny small bottle and opened it; the smell of medicine circulated the room. Also, there seemed to be visible vapor coming out of the bottle. Zeal didn't hesitate; he poured the entire content inside his mouth. He wanted to swallow it quickly, but the medicine was bitter. His expression changed after taking it, but after a while, it became better. At this moment, the treatment activated healing on Zeal. It borrowed the medicine on Zeal's skin, combining it with the power of the heavens and the medicinal content to treat and strengthen Zeal. However, while this thing was happening, Zeal couldn't feel it. He was too concerned with the food.

As Zeal was eating, he heard Sou Long's voice. "When you finish everything, meet me outside."

"Yes, master Sou!" Zeal replied with his mouth full of tofu.

Zeal ate the food with gusto: it was spicy and tasty. After eating the food, Zeal opened the black bottle and saw two multi-colored pills. The pill appeared beautiful. He picked one and swallowed instantly. He sat upright on the sofa with his legs crossed. At this moment, the capsule dissolved into energy. It also rapidly began gathering a heaven and earth aura to strengthen Karl Zeal's body. His body which sharp objects could effortlessly maim initiated tremendous changes. After a few minutes, Zeal came outside; Sou Long sat crossed legs, totally aloof from the world. Zeal sat opposite him and remained quiet for instruction. At this moment, the invisible wind swayed the robe and hair of Sou Long and Zeal. Zeal looked fully recovered, even healthier, and stronger than before.

"Brat, you will face another challenge," Sou Long opened his eyes slowly, "but I'm sure the experience will be worth it if you don't die." He masked his smile.

'What the hell is the old thing up to this time again?' Zeal thought in anger and confusion. However, Sou Long's eyes pierce through Zeal's veneer pretext. The pressure seemed to pull Zeal into the middle of a burning volcano. The helplessness he perceived was palpating that he felt his soul burnt.

However, it was only a gaze, but Sou Long seemed to tear away all Zeal's thoughts. What the hell is this feeling? Is heaven still fair? Where is the justice?' Zeal complained in his mind; he wasn't happy with Sou Long.

Seeing that there was nothing he could do about Sou Long, Zeal could only nod and hum in agreement.

At this moment, Sou Long stood and leaped to the middle of the open space. The trees dance, and the air remained fresh. Sou Long elevated himself in a midair as he formed many gestures and bellow a loud humph. The air became still, and an enormous orb covered many radii of the surrounding. At this moment, the time that appeared paused actuated again; the air current began to move. Sou Long came out of the black ball that seemed to be covering heaven and earth. It appeared to be another different world, yet it seemed to be the same place as Sou Long's residence.

"Now listen carefully," Sou Long passed a stern gaze at Zeal; he continued, "this instruction will be your salvation or doom. You decide. I will begin. In this trial, the orb would shoot continual sharp needles for twelve hours; you only have four hours to recover your strength before the trial begins again. The second half trial, which would be the last, will last for eight hours." Sou Long explained with his majestic voice.

"I understand, master!" Zeal answered, almost absent-minded. He busied his mind with the thought of life and death—he was afraid.

In fact, Zeal could run if anyone had given him the chance to do so. Who would faithfully die like they had no future? He wanted to be strong, but who said it was like this? But before he could finish his beautiful thought, a hand as large as the gigantic tree in the estate and as bright as the sun grabbed the tiny Zeal and threw him inside the black orb. Zeal couldn't believe the speed and heartlessness of the lunge. Tears of fear escape his eyes. Well, it could be the speed of the throw. Regardless, Zeal successfully entered the black orb.

"Brat, you better sit and stabilize your energy!" Soul Long warned Zeal. As Zeal heard Sou Long's warning—he could only obey. The old thing had pushed him inside a dead end again.

At this moment, Sou Long sat crossed legs on the veranda and poured himself steaming tea; he drank calmly. He didn't intend to listen to that brat's complaints. Sou Long thought his old self should train the brat even if the fool didn't want to. Did the idiot not know his benevolence? Which choice did he have to refute? Sou Long didn't want to bother himself with anything. After one minute, Zeal heard the whistle sound. He didn't know which lazy soul had the time to blow whistles, but he didn't have time to catch the person because his death was only a thought a way. As the whistle's sharp echo diffused—a quick shooting needle sound ensued.

"Soul-eyes!" Zeal had no choice but to echo his technique. At the same time, he concentrated on his hearing to the maximum limit. He wanted to see what could be so troublesome about this trial. But of course, he had already recognized Sou Long as a tyrant. That's because he knew his examinations were in strata: the current one must be more difficult than the prior.

Momentarily, two thousand needles lunged at Karl Zeal from above. By now, the invisible orb orbiting Zeal had reached a few 700 meters, and the Soul-eyes had become almost uncountable with their various distinct features. They all carried vicissitudes of life and palpating ancient aura. Soul-eyes were eyes born from heaven; they are unique, and each had its function. But they acted together. Most eyes had telescopic purposes; others had microscopic roles, analysis, X-ray, night vision, noise-vision, etcetera. So Soul-eyes analyzed these needles to have the pattern of columns and rows. They weren't scattered. Also, they made the fast shooting needles appear slower.

Seeing this arrangement, Karl Zeal leaped up and quickly rotated towards the left flank fearfully. He also fearfully switched positions to the opposite side. He was no superhero and still a child; it was perfectly alright to shake in fear at this sight. However, Zeal constantly distracted his fearful mind with a happy memory of his mother. He implored the slithering shadow movement. Zeal became fast the more he maneuvered from one row to another. However, something strange happened.

Six hours later, a quick change occurred. Regardless, Zeal was still busy dealing with the shooting needle; he didn't notice when these changes happened. A crack appeared, and the flow of air current changed. Another attack suddenly appeared from the east and west. As the shooting needles appeared from the three angles, Zeal found himself in a dilemma. He had many options, but they all led to a dead end. If he must overcome this challenge, he must perform three times more than his current performance. Zeal's physical strength was not enough to do it. But would he die because of his weakness? He had to fight. At this moment, Zeal began to perform many movement techniques in succession. His life depended on it; there was no time to dawdle.