Third Trial

The skin of this humanoid figure as big as the world was a crimson red. As if he was tainted by the blood of countless forms of life, it released a bloody stench that froze one's mind.

His face contained immense calmness as his eyes seemed to spew endless killing intent and the pair of dark red horns protruding from his forehead radiated intense evilness that made one think this one had killed billions!

"Break..!"

Even in the face of this, she didn't care. 'So unrealistic, if I got scared of something like this, where would my face be?... Due to Blade's evil nature, he'll be facing the whole world, humph! A mere illusion is unable to break my Dao-Heart..!'

Unbreakable...

Her Dao-Heart was impenetrable, invulnerable, invincible. In the face of this seemingly supreme slaughterer, she remained steadfast, as if nothing could break her indomitable will.

The road ahead was similar to this. She walked and walked until she reached an intersection where she'll replay the words of the Elder, easily finding the next direction, only to face an illusion that was useless in front of her indomitable will.

...

...

On the other side of the city, at the final destination point, the exit to the city, Athena passed the city gates as she entered a dirt trail that lead to a forest.

As soon as she stepped one foot outside the city, a mysterious old man appeared with flawless white robes and his short shoulder-length grey hair fluttering in the wind.

His eyes seemed to have experienced all the mysteries of this world as he had a sage-like demeanor to his presence, naturally drawing in one's respect and awe.

"For a youngling like you to have such commendable willpower, whatever you've undergone in the past must have been trying." The sorrow was evident in his eyes yet, Athena understood the aged man in front of her didn't care in the slightest.

'This world is filled with people like him... two-faced humans...' Thinking this, her eyes revealed annoyance but, she didn't take any offense from his words. In this world, one should at least have this level of ability.

There weren't many no, one would have to use the luck of all their ancestors to find a truly righteous person in this world. Even if there was someone righteous, he would have died by now.

"Senior needs not to feel any sympathy for this junior. All those who've harmed this junior aren't in this world any longer."

What she said was true. She had long ago seen the massacre caused by Blade's hands and even if she didn't exactly know who caused it, she had a fair idea.

As for the meaning behind her words, the Elder understood.

'Even if I seem like an innocent fairy, untainted by the mortal world, I'm not easy to offend as those who've offended me, I killed them!'

"Hahaha... even in the face of this Senior, you can still maintain some calmness and think properly, this old bag of bones is truly impressed."

"This junior is undeserving of such compliments by Senior." Athena respectfully replied. Inwardly, she cursed the old man. Since re-awakening from death, quite literally, she understood something weird happened to her body.

Anyway, right now, the arrogance etched in her bones after her re-awakening was gritted its teeth as she bowed her head to this Senior.

Soon, she selected a spot, on the top of a nearby tree branch. She began meditating as ordered by the Elder. They needed to wait a few more hours before the time limit expired.

Athena had simply passed this trial soo quickly, no one of the other contestants could compare. Closing her eyes, a sea of endless red energy appeared in her vision.

This was how the inside of her dantian looked, like an endless sea of red energy that spewed flames and radiated with intense heat. This was the Martial Lord realm, a realm of power where one could be called by the peasants of this world, gods who ruled the skies.

In this realm, one could manipulate a mysterious force. Some called it the Laws, or World Laws, while others called it elements. It didn't matter anyway after it was broken down into its simplest forms.

It was like this... upon entering the Martial Lord realm, a cultivator could manipulate fire, water, air, ice, earth, or even things like, time, space, light, darkness, and lightning! As for her, it was obvious that she could manipulate flames.

Soon, the energy slowly exited her dantian before circulating it in her body.

The cultivation technique she had in her mind wasn't one she had ever memorized before her awakening but, she didn't dwell on the small stuff.

It didn't matter what higher existence was watching over her nor if he had bad intentions, she simply wanted to be with Blade once again.

She too was slightly surprised by her obsession with him, it didn't make sense, yes, she had been attracted to him but right now, it was truly intensified by a large magnitude.

The energy seeped into her bones and muscles, strengthening them continuously.

Before she realized the hours went by as a few tens of contestants had made it past the city exit albeit barely for most of them. A dim red glow escaped her now-open eyes as they stared coldly toward the final participants.

Some also replied to her gaze with looks of surprise. One shouldn't look down on Athena's current beauty, if there was a scale to calculate, she currently would be placed 10/10 due to her perfect and appealing allure.

"Before leading you to your final trial location, I'll ask one more time." With a pair of emotionless eyes, the hunched Elder asked the contestants.

"Do you wish to continue? Bear in mind, if you do, the risk of death is very high... Only those who're confident that they're a true genius should continue."

Tch!

Athena's face changed, her expression dark.

'By saying only those confident that they're a true genius, you're telling them that if you think you're a waste, then you should quit.'

'Now, none would dare as they would damage their face too much by quitting.' Athena had seen through the Elder's words, and couldn't help frowning. Of course, she didn't care who died or not but, unnecessary deaths aren't things she likes seeing.

And just as she expected, no one from this group had chosen to give up. With a disgusting smirk on his face, "Good, good, this old man is impressed by this younger generation's determination. To pass the final trials, it's very simple."

Turning his back to face the group, he gazed at the misty forest up ahead and said. "Past this forest is the Heavenly Celestial Sect, so all you need to do to enter the Heavenly Celestial Sect is to, of course, enter the Heavenly Celestial Sect."

His figure slowly disappeared, "Now, your third trial begins..."

Understanding his words, many geniuses immediately approached the forest. Unlike the time when they entered the city, there was a noticeable amount of geniuses who didn't rush to enter. Among them was Athena.

She didn't have any special reason for not rushing, it was simply due to her not caring enough to try and hurriedly finish this trial.

Even if there was a trap waiting for those who were the first to enter, she didn't care. If it were to attack her, she was confident in destroying it with her current strength.

Though she seemed to be a beauty that was constantly gifted anything she wanted, not facing even one hardship in her life, Athena understood better than anyone her strength...

Much less Martial Lords who were Human, and naturally weaker than the beasts, Athena was sure she could match even Beast Kings in terms of raw power!

Thrum!

One must understand, just like humans, beast realms were like this;

Martial Master/Beast Master, Martial Grandmaster/Beast Grandmaster, Martial Lord/Beast Lord, Martial King/Beast King, yet Athena was sure she could match them, which just shows how powerful she had become.

...

...

Xiu!

Athena's figure flashed through the forest. Her expression was as emotionless and unchanging as it was since she underwent the first trial. One could even mistake her for a robot due to how emotionless she seemed to be since the beginning.

The surrounding mist seemed to not affect her a bit, but even though it seemed like this, she was moving on instinct. 'The mist seems to block one's senses... No wonder so many died.'

Yes, the only sense she had right now was the sense of touch. But, she still found it manageable due to how high just this one sense was.

Due to the reliance on just this sense, she began digging deeper into the limits of this sense, she was able to even sense the slight changes in the air to analyze if anything was approaching.

Sure enough, even though she had already faced a few beasts in the short time of five minutes since entering, ripples ran through the surrounding space as the air was split apart by an incoming claw strike.

Athena's face remained ever unchanging even under this situation. Whap! With one swing of her hand, as if swatting a fly, whatever was approaching exploded into bloody mist..!

She continued trotting deeper into the forest, not even taking the previous threat seriously.