Rigged Trials!

RUMMMMMMMBLE!

The sound reverberated through the chamber, and the altar slowly began to descend into the pillar it had stood on for so long.

Su Xiaobai watched, wide-eyed, as a hidden passageway was revealed beneath it, stairs spiraling downward into darkness.

"Seriously? They hid another trial under* the pond?" Su Xiaobai smacked his forehead with a groan. "These old fogies must have had way too much free time on their hands! Couldn't they just leave a treasure chest lying around like normal people?!"

He crouched down to peer into the depths of the staircase, a frown tugging at his lips. "I swear, if this leads to another pond with a formation, I'm going to lose it."

But despite his complaints, excitement bubbled in his chest.

This was a classic trial—layer upon layer of traps and puzzles, each one more devious than the last.

The harder the trials, the greater the rewards!

Only the truly clever or insanely lucky could pass through them. And Su Xiaobai?

He liked to think he was a little bit of both.

"Well then!" He clapped his hands together, a smirk spreading across his face as he glanced at the spatial ring on his finger. "At least I've got a whole pond's worth of qi to burn through if things get ugly down there!"

With a swish of his robes and a not-so-dramatic SPLAT of his boots against the muddy ground, Su Xiaobai strode confidently down the staircase, his thoughts swirling with anticipation—and mild irritation—at whatever trap awaited him next.

_____

Su Xiaobai descended the spiral staircase, his boots echoing against the stone steps, the sound oddly amplified in the eerie stillness around him.

Every step seemed to take him further away from the vibrant, qi-saturated environment of the upper chamber, into something much more... unsettling.

CLACK! CLACK!

As he moved deeper, the oppressive feeling of the absence of qi started to creep in. His spiritual senses, once sharp and responsive, became dulled. It was like he was walking into a vacuum, a void where the natural energy of the world had simply vanished.

"Huh?" Su Xiaobai frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Where's all the qi? This place feels... wrong."

His voice seemed to disappear the moment it left his lips, swallowed by the profound silence. Not even an echo replied. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he continued, his pace quickening. Finally, he stepped off the staircase into what could only be described as a world within a world.

The space was massive—an enormous underground cavern stretching farther than his eyes could see. Strange rock formations twisted out of the ground like the jagged teeth of a slumbering beast, and the air... the air was deathly still, except for one peculiar sound.

Whoooosh...

The faint whisper of wind. A lonely, haunting sound, like a ghost murmuring forgotten secrets. The Cave of Dead Souls!

Su Xiaobai paused, his brows furrowing as the faint gust brushed against his face. "Wind... underground?" He couldn't help but chuckle, but the sound was weak, swallowed by the strange silence. "Of course. A place with no qi, but wind that makes you feel like you're trapped in some kind of ghost story."

He reached into his robe and tapped the spatial ring, summoning a small orb of water he had stored from the spiritual pond.

Thankfully, that water was rich with qi, and he'd had the foresight to absorb a little before entering this weird zone.

The moment the water appeared, he felt a rush of energy revitalizing his body.

"Ah, there it is!" Su Xiaobai sighed with relief, allowing the water's qi to circulate through his meridians. "Good thing I stocked up. Without this, I'd be as useful as a mortal in here."

He started walking forward, but something else was nagging at him—there was a subtle pulling sensation, almost like the cavern itself was shifting. It wasn't strong, but it was there, like the fabric of the space was unstable.

CRACK!

Su Xiaobai froze. He knew that sound all too well. His eyes narrowed, and he turned his head just in time to catch a faint shimmering in the air a few paces ahead.

A void crack, a tear in space itself, appeared briefly before vanishing.

It was harmless at a distance, but walking into one would be a quick way to end up in completely different location.

"Hah! What luck," he muttered sarcastically, stepping carefully around the area. "A cave with no qi and random void cracks. It's like this place wants to kill me."

But then, the thought hit him like a slap.

Void cracks… a place with no qi… wasn't this the perfect environment to practice his Void Steps?

Su Xiaobai's smirk returned.

Void Steps was an advanced technique that allowed a cultivator to momentarily step through spatial tears, almost like teleportation.

But it required immense control and skill, not to mention a place where the boundaries of reality were thin—exactly like this cave.

"No way," he chuckled under his breath, his eyes gleaming. "This place might actually be perfect for me!"

He took a few more cautious steps, feeling the void cracks forming around him. They were unstable, unpredictable, but his instincts were sharp, and his reflexes even sharper. If he could just hone in on the faint distortions in space, he could use them to his advantage.

"Alright, let's see if I can get the hang of this," he muttered, bracing himself. Drawing in a deep breath, Su Xiaobai focused on his qi reserves, now reliant on the water from the spiritual pond. He tapped into that qi carefully, channeling just enough to keep his body primed, without alerting the environment around him too much.

CRACK!

Another void tear appeared just a few meters away, but this time, Su Xiaobai didn't avoid it. Instead, he timed his step perfectly, thrusting himself forward just as the crack began to close. For a split second, he felt his body pass through a space that wasn't entirely real, his form flickering out of existence.

ZHHHOOOP!

He reappeared a few feet away, his heart pounding, but exhilaration surged through his veins. "Ha! I did it!" His grin widened, his excitement barely contained.

WHOOSH!

The winds picked up again, their strange howl growing louder as if the cave itself was reacting to his presence. But now, the eerie silence didn't bother him as much. Instead, he could feel the unique opportunities this cave offered.

The absence of qi, the strange wind, the shifting void cracks—it was all a puzzle waiting to be solved, and Su Xiaobai was determined to master it.

"This place..." he muttered, looking around with newfound confidence, "might be the perfect training ground. A world without qi… that forces me to rely entirely on skill and my own reserves. Void Steps could be perfected here."

With another flick of his wrist, he summoned more water from the spatial ring, letting its qi flow through him, just enough to keep his core energized.

The wind whispered again, louder now.

Whooosh...

Su Xiaobai's eyes narrowed. He felt another void crack form—this one larger, more dangerous. But instead of retreating, he smirked, planting his foot firmly on the ground.

"Let's see how fast I can move."

In a blur of motion, he lunged forward, stepping into the void. The crack opened wide as if to swallow him whole, but Su Xiaobai was quicker.

ZHHHHOOOP!

He disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the cavern, completely unscathed.

"Now that is what I call progress!" Su Xiaobai exclaimed, wiping his brow. "Maybe this cave isn't trying to kill me after all. Or maybe I'm just that good—"

Abruptly, Su Xiaobai stood frozen, his eyes locked on the blue, ethereal glow coming from the top of the cavern.