"Good Job Yuyu, you're proving to be a capable martial artist," spoke a woman of excellent beauty as she was sitting comfortably on a throne of pure crystal ice.
The way Yu-Yu's chest heaved was so alluring that any man would forget to breathe for a moment at the sight. However, the rest of her would make them a bit wary.
Yu-Yu, the Former Sect Master of the Purple Cloud sect, lungs were gasping for air, the look on her face was far from someone who was being praised and more of a person who just escaped a near-death experience.
"T-thank you, Master…" she said through difficult breaths.
"Good, good, now that the warmup is over, let's get serious," she said.
"…"
The beautiful person couldn't help but crack a smile, "I'm kidding, you did well, you may rest," she said.
"Thank you, Master," she said and turned.
With disheveled hair, and sweat dripping down her forehead she still managed to maintain a straight posture as she walked out of the ice room they were in.
Just as she walked outside of the room, her legs shook threatening to betray her. But due to the presence of a certain Scholar, she managed to maintain the rest of her dignity and clasped her hands to the scholar.
"Great Lord, how may this lowly one assist you," she said.
"Don't do that here, I'm no lord, and you're not a lowly person, you're a friend of my friend, so it is okay to speak to me casually," he said.
"I would not dare," she said.
The scholar sighed, "No wonder I enjoyed Shen Bao's company, he didn't give a rat's ass to all this protocol. He spoke his mind as if we were equals before he knew who I was, and kept the same way of speech after he knew who I was, anyway," he said as he looked up and down at Yu-Yu.
"You look like you're progressing rapidly," Zhang Tian said.
"It is no of my own effort, but thanks to the guidance of my master," she said.
"Oh, Yul-Ha can be pretty severe, but keep it up, her method might be… dangerous, but they work," he said.
"Dangerous…" she said as she looked back, "Yeah, I would agree on that part," she said. "But effective still, I never thought I would be able to improve so much when I was on the verge of death for the majority of the day," She said.
"Just keep it up, Yul-Ha might not be the easiest of teachers, but she is effective, do well by listening to her advice. I shall be heading out soon, I came to see you to inform you that your appointment with the Heavenly Academy's Examiner had been approved," Zhang Tian said.
Yu-Yu's eyes lit up for a moment as she bowed deeply, "I'll make sure to not disappoint," she said.
"It's not me who you'll disappoint if you fail, it is my mother who spent a lot of effort for you and my friend who thinks you died, so make sure to pass, because if you fail the exam, you will die, and my mother will most likely bring you back once again just to kill you herself, so don't fail," Zhang Tian smiled at Yu-Yu and turned walking away while whistling a joyful tone.
Yu-Yu was left looking dumbly at the retreating man. What sin did she commit in a past life to be treated like this? But she was truly brought back to life, so was it good or bad karma that she sowed?
****
There was no time to react, not if I were even prepared, I was literally staring death in the face and it smelled fucking awful.
"Don't move, it won't attack," spoke the Man in mask rather calmly.
I would like to see him try not to move if we switched positions.
The Masked Man then approached and simply slapped the nose of the massive beast, not roughly but enough to cause the beast to slightly flinch and move away from us.
Every step it took caused vibrations to go through the ground further making me more worried.
"As long as you crossed, the ones here won't harm you," said the Masked Man.
"Ones?" I asked.
"Yes, ones, use your divine sense," he replied.
And I did, and immediately wished if I hadn't.
In this new room, there was only one single path and it extended for a long distance forward, and next to this path on the walls were large holes, caves of sorts. And they were packed full of these creatures, loitering around in dazed boredom.
"What in god's name is this," Spoke Elder Wei.
"They're wardens, their job is to keep things from going out or going in. But here, in the middle room, it is safe, they won't attack anything unless provoked. So keep your hands to yourselves, and please don't try and take any of their cubs," the Masked Man said.
Though I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to even try that, I heard an audible sigh of disappointment from the Sect Master behind us.
He really was thinking of taking one…
Our group moved across the path, carefully watching our steps and making sure that we didn't disturb any of the beasts.
"What are these things?" I asked.
"Dark Beasts," the sect master was the first to reply, "A very ferocious force of nature, these are creatures that can only survive in the dark, their worst enemy is sunlight. Though there are some exceptions to this rule, it is very rare," the sect master added.
As we continued moving, the sect master added, "They are practically useless outside of guard duty, they could be reared to do one job, and they excel at it, making sure nothing goes past them or through their territory." The sect Master added.
"Some people tried using them to wage war, though they are powerful, strong light can easily neutralize and even kill them, so they don't really do well in lit areas. So they were more a liability than help, but in dark areas like these they're kings, especially since they're born as saint class beasts from the start and can only grow up stronger," the Sect Master added.
"Also, the penalty of trying to rear them is death by the four directions," said the Masked Man. "They are imperial property," he added.
No one asked your opinion, your highness, dumbass.
Our walk continued for a while until we arrived at the end of the path, which thankfully wasn't too far away.
"Kid, from here onwards, you're on your own, make sure to make it out alive," the Masked Man said.
I didn't understand what was going on, but a divine sense message from the Sect Master immediately explained the situation.
"We'll be crossing an area where only one person can be at a time. You'll have to navigate through the dangers in there, be sure to stay calm and collected," He added.
"Once you go through here, under no circumstance should you take the black door, do you all understand!" spoke the Masked Man.
"Wait, I don't really understand, you guys didn't explain anything," I said.
After a sigh of ridicule, the Man in the mask said, "Once you cross this door you'll be in a small chamber that has four doors, unless you want to instantly die, do not take the black door. The others all have some danger to them, but the black one will spell your doom the moment you move through it due to your lack of… cultivation base," the Man in the Mask explained.
"That's much more like it, so which one is the easiest?" I asked.
"The white one," spoke the Masked Man.
I nodded as if I had fully understood and then waited for them to move.
The first to head inside was the Masked Man, then the Sect Master and Wei followed by Fu Tian, I was the last in the room.
And was only edged on to move due to a few clicking noises I heard behind me.
I didn't dare turn so I hastily moved forward.
Once inside it was almost like the Masked Man had said.
There really was one room, and there really was a black door.
But… there was only one door.
Turning to see the way I came from helped with nothing but to further bring me back to reality, the way in had disappeared.
"You gotta be kidding me, right?" I muttered