Joke

The more Wuming thought about it, the stranger things seemed.

First of all, the first cultivator he met was not only someone seemingly benevolent, but he also had incredible stakus. h

Second, he not only entered a great force without being turned into a slave, but his cultivation path was smooth until then.

Third, just when he needed it, an excuse for his future rising cultivation appeared.

Wuming was very self-aware, although he met incredible things and possessed great secrets, he was ordinary in all aspects.

Why was his life going so incredibly?

Why was he trown into that world? Why did he receive something like the guide?

But he was a mere fish in a pond. He couldn't possibly obtain answers as he wished.

But, deep down, he feared... that all of it would demand a price so big for him to support.

Just like in the fairy tales, heroes being both strong and tragic, dying after reaching the apex of strength.

Wuming sighed and shook away the useless worries. He had a mission.

In front of him was the portal leading to the inheritance realm. It was just like an ordinary door, but standing with nothing behind it.

"Are you prepared, donor?" Zi Feng asked beside him.

"You already explained enough, I have nothing else to do here," Wuming said and nodded.

Zi Feng chanted something in a low voice, and the door opened by itself, revealing a pitch dark space.

"I wish you good luck," Zi Feng said with a bright smile and with his palms together.

Wuming entered the portal and felt dizzy as the world around him began to spin.

When his senses finally normalized, he found himself in a huge hall with other five disciples, all from the same sect.

No one bothered to greet him since they had greater worries in their minds.

Having been instructed by Zi Feng beforehand, Wuming knew what he had to do.

He looked at the middle of the hall, to a huge stele standing there. It was the link to the phases/tests of the inheritance realm.

Not wasting time, he went to the stele and touched it, "Enter first phase."

He was then teleported to another space, this time a huge empty white void.

There were five sets of tea on a table there. He had to choose the right one to pass the test.

Most people failed in that test since it was based on pure luck rather than skill.

There were zero paterns about what set was the right one. Sometimes, it was one. Sometimes, it was another.

Each set was of a different color, and together, they seemed to represent the five elements.

Zi Feng said that it would depend entirely on his luck to whetever to pass or not, but Wuming was not convinced.

Because of his shallow cultivation, the guide taught him little about the great mysteries of the five elements (because he couldn't understand them even if the guide tried to explain), but he knew some basic truths.

The five elements were not really elements, but concepts that can be manifested in elements, it was a basic truth that many failed to discover even with higher realms.

Gold represented maleability and resistence, Wood represented vitality and cohesion, Water represented the myriad variations of the world and vitality, Fire represented change and energy, and Earth represented firmness and stability.

Alternatively, Gold represented division, Wood represented union, Water represented contact, Fire represented separation, Earth represented oneness.

In truth, each of the five elements can represent a different myriad of things/concepts. When together, the five elements can represent the whole world.

That was the reason many cultivators said that the world was composed of the five elements.

Not that the material five elements as seen in physical gold and the other four naturally seen materials could do it.

Unfortunately, the Grand Dao method and laws were already occult in that era, so it was very difficult for basic truths to be understood without enough strength, only innate beings that were born with their own Grand Dao methods were carefree.

Wuming knew those things, so he was doubtful when he saw the five sets on the table.

If the creator of that inheritance realm really didn't attain understanding about the truth of the five elements, it was most likely that it really only depended on luck.

But if he had attained it... each set was not about the elements but about the concepts that would explain the reason so many people said it was random.

After studying the way the sets were distributed on the table, Wuming decided to try something.

Because he couldn't touch any of them, since it would count as choosing a set, he directly flipped the table, making everything fall on the ground.

Most of the pieces broke and fragmented, but one cup of each set was still intact.

Moreover, all fell with their cavities towards the sky and were organized in the way of the five elements chart.

"So that's the reason..." Wuming smiled, "When choosing one set, the balance and cycle of the five elements is broken, and the world turns chaotic. That's why it seems random to others, and some would pass whole others not.

"The right way to pass this test is by not choosing and keeping the balance, being within the five elements, and following the harmonious flow of time."

Wuming put one foot in the middle space between the five cups and disappeared.

It was indeed tricky for others to discover this since no one would put their foot on the table or even flip it.

He returned to the huge hall of before and saw many surprised expressions since returning there meant he passed a test.

Otherwise, he would have been trown outside the inheritance realm.

But then, everyone lost interest. It wasn't that rare for someone to pass the first test.

Wuming didn't pause and went to the second test.

That one was about strength, a test of foundation. He had to beat a stone golem as strong as someone in the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

As the limit of the realm was people below the fourth layer, it was extremely difficult to pass that test, and most failed there.

It wasn't a mortal test since one could quit at any time, but it was still fairly dangerous.

After all, only extraordinary geniuses could jump so many layers to fight and win, and they had to pass the first test as well.

Although Wuming could pass the test easily, he knew he couldn't make it look easy because of the people in the hall.

After all, his apparent cultivation was that of someone in the second layer of Qi Refining.

But the golem couldn't hurt him even if he wanted, his body was too strong, so he had to be cruel to himself.

He began to punch his own face and body, making blood flow out of his orifices and looking extremely miserable.

Then, he manipulated his aura to seem seriously injuried and exausted.

He punched the golem to oblivion and passed the test, returning to the hall.

The few people there immediately noticed his appearance and were shocked.

Wuming coughed blood and said, "Damn, I almost died."

Then, he feigned to pass out and lay on the ground as if near death.

"Am I allucinating? That guy actually passed the second test?"

"How did he do that? He is at most in the third layer of Qi Refining, but he won against that golem?"

Some approached and checked his condition, "It's too early to be shocked. He is on the verge of death. Unless he possesses some kind of powerful healing medicine, he will surely die."

One of them searched Wuming's clothes and found a bottle with a pill in it, "Fuck, this guy has such a precious healing pill! He must have someone supporting him!"

Out of fear, the man who got that pill immediately fed it to Wuming.

If alone, he would surely steal the pill, but there were witness nearby, he didn't dare to do that for the risk of offending someone powerful.

Wuming was obviously awake, and made use of the situation to make it looks like the pill was super effective.

He coughed blood and opened his eyes, "Who fed me the pill, I must thank the person!"

"It was me," a big man full of scars admitted.

"Thanks for helping me, what is your name?"

"Hu Ping."

"I will certainly repay this dept to you, brother," Wuming said with a deep voice.

Of course, he never planned to do repay anything, but he had to look very grateful to match the situation.

Then, he feigned to focus on recovering and digesting the pill.

And indeed, he had to heal his self inflicted wounds.

After many hours healing, he was back to his peak, thanks to the great effects of the precious healing pill.

Not caring about the others, he went to the third test.

This one was not very well known since few people reached it, but it was said to heavily depend on luck as well.

Wuming suddenly found himself in the other side of a short table, playing chess with a golem.

Looking at the chessboard, he noticed it was divided into four territories, each representing one of the four primordial manifestations.

From the two modes (yin-yang) to the three moments (Heaven, Earth, Mortal) to the four manifestations (Four cardinal directions, Four states of time) to the five elements (representing myriad things).

Wuming had a hunch of what the tests were all about.

The four cardinal directions and the four states of time (past, present, future, stillness) were in truth the same four manifestations. West as the past, East as the future, North as the present, south as stillness.

The four manifestations were also called the four pillars of space and time.

It was much more difficult to comprehend than the five elements, and Wuming was taught very little about it by the guide, since his cultivation base couldn't support his existence to understand those mysteries.

Wuming smiled and punched the chessboard with all his might, not holding back and using his true qi to also smash the chess pieces into pieces.

The reason he did it?

The four manifestations were responsible for supressing the world, so... his guts told him what he needed to do, he didn't hesitate.

Since the game was hopeless, he had to break the game. If the world suppressed him, he had to transcend it!

It was the complete opposites of how one should deal with the five elements, by being in harmony.

It was no wonder that some cultivators also called the four manifestations prison supressing pillars, and made cultivation techniques inspired on them.

Wuming then returned to the huge hall and chose to proceed without waiting for others to react.

The fourth test was another test of strenght, but this time he didn't need to hold back since no one had ever reached it before, so no one knew it was necessary to beat a golem with the cultivation base of the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

Wuming already broke the record, but didn't rest even a bit, choosing to go to the fifth and final test.

Just as he expected, it was a test envolving the three moments, also called three talents.

He was in the center of a strange chart, with a phantom of heaven and earth above him, he was being firmly suppresed by an invisible power.

Compared to the four manifestations, the three talents were even more mysterious and difficult to understand, so he only knew what they meant.

Heaven meant unreachable, Earth meant natural, and mortal meant life.

Life was natural, and the natural was supported by the unreachable Grand Dao.

In reverse, the Grand Dao supported the natural world, which in tirn gave shelter to life.

But heaven, earth, and mortal were also moments. The moment of heaven was when yin yang just separated, the moment of earth was when things turned firm and stabilized, and the final moment of life was still ongoing.

Only when life ends will the earth crumble, and the heavens return to yin and yang, returning to unity.

"What bullshit," Wuming couldn't help but smile. He already knew what he had to do.

To pass that test, he had to die! Only then will the heaven and earth above him crumble and release him. And he had no choice, because the inheritance realm wasn't reaponding to his will to give up.

He felt extremely bitter because he had to put his life in the hands of another person.

He had to trust that it was really an inheritance realm rather than a cruel joke.

He controlled his true qi and forcefully made his heart stop beating.

His face turned pale, and a familiar feeling engulfed him..