The Trial of Greed
The world Tiān Shén found himself in now was vastly different from the divine halls and grand kingdoms of the last trial. He stood in a humble village surrounded by dense, ominous forests, the sky above bleak and the land barren. The homes were small, made of rough wood and stone, and the people moved about with an air of quiet desperation. The atmosphere was filled with tension, the whispers of an impending disaster lurking just beyond the village borders.
Tiān Shén's form was now that of a mortal, stripped of the divine aura and powers that once made him a figure of awe. He was dressed in simple, tattered robes, his body thin and frail. His family was a humble farming clan, struggling to survive as rival clans oppressed and exploited them for resources. His father, a once-proud man, now lay bedridden from injuries sustained in a previous conflict, and his mother's face was etched with the deep lines of worry and fatigue.
As the trial began, Tiān Shén became aware that his family was on the brink of destruction. They had no powerful allies, no wealth, and no means to defend themselves. Each passing day, their enemies grew bolder, and the threat of annihilation loomed closer. His heart ached with a helpless rage as he realized how powerless he was to protect those he loved.
Then, one fateful day, everything changed.
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Tiān Shén had ventured deep into the nearby forest to gather firewood, his mind heavy with thoughts of his family's plight. As he wandered deeper, he stumbled upon something peculiar—an ancient, rusted book lying half-buried beneath the roots of a large, gnarled tree. Its surface was blackened, and strange, sinister symbols etched into its cover gave off an unsettling aura.
Curiosity gripped him as he knelt and picked up the book. It felt heavier than it should, and as he opened its pages, a cold, dark energy surged forth, surrounding him. He hesitated for a moment, sensing the malevolent nature of the tome. But his desperation, his need to save his family, overpowered his better judgment. He began reading the forbidden text.
It was an inheritance, the dark legacy of a demonic cultivator long forgotten by the world. Within its pages were techniques that promised great power—the ability to absorb the blood and essence of living creatures, transforming that energy into his own strength. The cost was dire, for it required abandoning all conventional forms of cultivation and feeding upon the very life force of others.
But Tiān Shén saw it as the only way. His family's survival depended on it. And so, he made the fateful choice.
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At first, the power came slowly. He began by hunting animals in the forest, absorbing their blood and essence as the dark technique instructed. His body grew stronger, his frailty vanishing as muscles formed where there had once been none. His senses sharpened, and his control over qi became more refined with each life he drained.
With his newfound strength, Tiān Shén was able to fend off the first wave of attacks from rival clans that sought to destroy his family. He stood alone against their warriors, his hands dripping with blood, his eyes burning with the dark power he had cultivated. His family hailed him as a hero, believing he had uncovered some miraculous path to strength. Yet, even as they praised him, Tiān Shén felt the hunger within him growing—an insatiable thirst for more power.
Other clans soon took notice of his growing strength. They coveted the power he wielded, speculating about its source. Rather than leave his family in peace, they mounted a relentless assault, hoping to claim his strength for themselves. But by then, the technique had already begun its darker transformation within Tiān Shén. He could no longer rely on the blood of mere animals. To defend his family, he needed more.
And so, he turned to humans.
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At first, it was only his enemies. Warriors from rival clans fell before him, and he consumed their blood, essence, and flesh, growing ever more powerful. His cultivation soared to levels he could never have imagined, his body teeming with dark energy. The more he absorbed, the more his strength grew. He became invincible in battle, cutting down any who opposed him.
But soon, even that wasn't enough.
As the hunger within him deepened, Tiān Shén began to crave more. He turned his gaze to the prisoners captured during his battles, those who had surrendered or been taken alive. Despite the pleas from his mother and family, who begged him to stop before the technique corrupted him beyond recognition, he continued on his dark path. They watched in horror as he consumed the blood of the prisoners, his body becoming a vessel of darkness.
His family grew more distant, fearful of what he was becoming, but they were powerless to stop him. Tiān Shén's obsession with power eclipsed everything else. He convinced himself that every life he took, every soul he drained, was necessary to ensure his family's survival.
And yet, the more power he gained, the more his purpose to gain more power increased
The days of fighting turned into months, and Tiān Shén's once humble family grew into a fearsome force under his rule. He absorbed entire enemy clans, their essence feeding his ever-growing hunger. His eyes, once filled with love and compassion for his kin, now gleamed with greed. The darkness had taken root within his soul, and the power he once sought to protect his family had now become an all-consuming ambition.
Tiān Shén declared himself the ruler of his own faction, a force that absorbed anything in its path—clans, kingdoms, even cultivators who had once fought alongside him. He no longer sought merely to protect; he craved dominance, control over the very essence of life itself. His family, now prisoners within their own home, could only watch as he plunged the world into chaos, his lust for power blinding him to the devastation he caused.
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One fateful day, the ancient tome whispered to him once more.
It revealed the final step in his cultivation, the ultimate act of greed that would grant him ascension to the immortal realm: the absorption of his family's essence. They were the closest to him, the ones who had shared his life force since birth. By consuming their power, Tiān Shén would gain the final push needed to break through the mortal shackles that bound him.
For a moment, he hesitated, but the hunger—now an overwhelming force—drove him forward. He marched back to his family's estate, his mind filled with dark thoughts. They would understand, he told himself. They had always supported him, had always wanted him to succeed. This was the only way.
But when he arrived, he was met with a sight that shattered his resolve.
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### Chapter Ten: The Trial of Greed (Part III)
His family stood waiting for him. His mother, father, siblings, and even the elders of the clan had gathered in the courtyard. Tears streamed down their faces, their once-proud features now filled with sorrow and regret.
His mother stepped forward, her voice trembling as she spoke. "We knew this day would come," she said, her eyes filled with pain. "I only regret that I did not stop you when you first found that cursed technique."
Tiān Shén's heart twisted in his chest as he stared at her. The hunger gnawed at him, urging him to take their lives and ascend, but something held him back. He looked into the tear-filled eyes of his mother, the people he had once sought to protect, and realized with horror what he had become.
This was not the power he had sought. This was not the purpose he had once held dear.
"I…" Tiān Shén's voice faltered, the dark energy swirling within him, fighting to maintain control. But his resolve wavered.
The tears of his family, their unwavering love for him despite the monstrous path he had walked, broke something within him. The greed that had consumed him slowly began to dissipate, replaced by the overwhelming realization of the pain he had caused.
"I can't… I can't do this."
His hands, once stained with the blood of countless lives, now trembled as he knelt before his family. He had lost his way. The darkness had taken him too far, and now he could never undo the destruction he had wrought.
In a final act of redemption, Tiān Shén drew upon the vast power he had accumulated. With one last breath, he sacrificed himself, returning the stolen essence to the world. His body dissolved into pure energy, spreading across the land like a gentle breeze.
As he faded, Tiān Shén's voice echoed across the world. "I'm sorry… for everything."