Test of One Thousand Spirits

One hundred & twenty miles. From the entrance of the Devil Swamp Forest to the mouth of a cave that is home to a Darkness Type Treasure, the distance was one hundred & twenty miles.

In two hours, Blade and Athena traveled such a distance. As Martial Lords, they could do such a thing and even go faster if they were to use all their strength.

Traveling such a distance, the duo left hundreds of corpses in their wake. Slowly, Blade had accumulated Exp, but due to his strength, the rewards for these monsters on the weaker side were much less than before.

Eventually, the duo found themselves in front of the mouth of an incredibly dark cave. Even though it was night, and it was expected that it'd be dark, this darkness seemed unnatural to a degree.

Approaching the entrance, while Blade felt at home, Athena felt slightly uncomfortable. Though she could resist the fear in her heart for a while, as she continued to approach the entrance, her skin began to pale and beads of sweat trickled down her cheek.

"B-Blade, I don't think I can go any further." Athena suddenly stopped. Listening to her words, Blade frowned and gave her a look. Seeing his expression, Athena defended herself.

"Treasures that aren't of the same attribute normally repel cultivators of differing attributes to it away. I say normally since, according to the information I had gained, it always happens yet it seems like you aren't affected..."

Nodding his head, Blade thought. 'Well, I am a Darkness user too. So nothing changed in the rules of the world, it's just that I've got three different elements, and all are considered rare.'

"Just wait here then. Don't force yourself. Plus, it's good that you're staying outside since you can prevent any stupid beast from entering." He said.

Beasts can also manipulate elements, so even though they aren't able to use techniques or artifacts, if a Beast Lord were to sneak attack him, it'd be troublesome. It's good that Athena could stay outside and protect the entrance.

Nodding her head in understanding, Athena made a distance between the cave and herself and found a place without any mud to sit in a meditative posture.

'It'd be best to use this chance to consolidate my foundation from the sudden rise.' Athena pondered on this while closing her eyes. Though her eyes were closed, she still had a sliver of focus on the outside world, ready to fight any Beast Lord who dared to approach.

...

Inside the cave, Blade trotted down a path filled with darkness.

It was hard to make out a few feet in front of him, and the once visible light at the entrance of the cave which originated from the moon had long disappeared. Time passed. Exactly one hour of constant walking brought about some annoyance.

Tch!

'If a treasure's to be born, does it have to be soo annoying to acquire? And why the hell is this cave soo damn deep, it's been an hour and there doesn't seem to be...' Blade's thoughts froze for a second as a sudden change in the atmosphere didn't go undetected by his senses.

For the first time in an hour, Blade was able to see once more. In his palm was the compass treasure and the needle inside of it shook more and more violently with each step he took.

But, Blade's attention was not on the needle. His eyes were focused on the wall that blocked his path forward, or more importantly, on the massive silver painting that was stuck onto it.

The painting showcased a scene of countless figures in all different shapes, sizes, and forms fighting each other. Their faces were vague but Blade could feel an incredible evil radiating from them.

"Is this the treasure...?" For this was the first time Blade laid eyes on a treasure other than a weapon treasure or his Fortune Detection Treasure. So when seeing the painting, he was confused.

But, at this moment, he didn't get a response. Normally, he'd have gotten a response from his system, but the utter silence made it painfully clear that he was alone.

Unexpectedly, a normal uttering had reminded him that his little friend was in a deep sleep. At the moment, his system was no different than dead, and he was alone.

Sigh!

"Anyway, this is most likely the treasure, so how do I go about doing this...?" Blade slowly approached the painting, still on his toes in the case of a sudden attack.

Seeing no visible change in his surroundings, he stretched his hand as his fingers made contact with the painting. His expression was serious, not knowing what'll take place...

Silence... Nothing happened.

Oh!

"How am I to acquire this treasure now?" Blade confusedly muttered under his breath. Shaking his head, he was preparing to use brute force and see what would happen!

"Eh?" Blade yelped as he suddenly felt his head spinning. For a moment his mind went black and his body froze up before, slumping down to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

...

...

In a misty space, standing next to a crumbling silvery cube and several hundreds of drops of what was now purple blood was an almost transparent humanoid figure with a golden infinity symbol on its forehead.

"Huh? What am I doing inside this place? Ah!" Blade muttered incoherently before realizing the sorry state his system was in. Seeing such a horrible sight, and understanding this was done for him, Blade almost felt a hint of pity... almost.

Oh?!

Right after the sentimental reunion, Blade's attention was taken away by the drops of blood. It was now purple, surprising him a little, but confusing him more.

Grrrrrr!

"Another change?" Blade mumbled upon hearing the growl of what seemed to be some beasts. He didn't take it to heart at first since the inside of this space had changed greatly since the last time but...

"What!"

Some distance away stood one thousand silver humanoids. They lacked any facial features besides a mouth and continued to growl with hatred toward a now alarming Blade.

"Aren't those the creatures inside the painting?" Seeing them rushing toward him, Blade's thoughts churned before realizing that, it would be better to think less and act fast.

The things released a dangerous aura as they drew closer and closer to him. Sighing slightly that he didn't have a weapon, he then took a normal fighting stance.

As the first humanoid monster approached, Blade sent a jab!

Fwoosh!

One jab, and in that instance, the humanoid monster dispersed into a puff of smoke... "Huh?" Blade suddenly realized something.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

A few more punches later, Blade uttered, "These things... They're weak!" A smirk etched onto his face as he continued sending punch after punch.

...

...

In the cave, Blade's body lay unmoving for some time. Suddenly, the wall trembled violently before cracking into pieces as the painting released waves of silvery light before turning into a beam of light and shooting into Blade's chest!

Ah!

A moment later, Blade's upper body shot up from the ground. Opening his eyes, he nodded his head as if finally understanding a math equation before mumbling.

"So that was a test for Martial Lords. This treasure can produce Evil Spirits from the level of Martial Lords to the level of Martial Sovereigns. The Martial Lord test sends one thousand Evil Spirits to attack the soul form."

"If the soul form isn't up to a certain standard, then the soul form would be devoured and used to strengthen this treasure. But, if the soul form is strong enough to kill all the Evil Spirits, this person would be acknowledged as the treasure's master!"

Kekekekeke...

"For someone like me, such a test is useless. My soul has continued to grow stronger as the system continued to level up. Though I'm a Martial Lord, my soul isn't that of a regular Martial Lord."

Standing now, Blade waved his hand, and immediately after, a two-meter painting appeared. With a smile, he said.

"The treasure is able to collect to souls of those killed by the master. Once killed, it'll be absorbed before turning into Evil Spirits. The limit is one thousand, and the strength of each spirit will be one major realm below what it was when this person was alive."

He could feel his heart thump. A one-thousand army of evil spirit soldiers!

"It's a pity the limit is up to Martial Sovereigns. As for the reason, I guess I'll know when I become a Martial Sage." Blade mumbled before turning his gaze toward the light.

Beyond the walls was an opening. The opening wasn't big and the light came from the ceiling where water dripped from. The compass needle in his palm pointed forward, in that direction...

"I guess I know my next destination!" He said but turned around. With his back now facing the opening, he uttered. "But first, I need to go retrieve my property guarding the cave entrance."

The painting once more entered his chest, disappearing from the outside world...