I continued navigating within the cave-made maze and barely managed to find a path that didn't have a dead end. The fighting sounds had long since calmed down, either the Skylark had taken them all out or they escaped it, either way, It would be best if I leave, I'm not too keen on staying in places that I have no knowledge of the layout of.
The path I followed was deserted and void of all life but some few plants and poisonous herbs, nothing spiritual, but most would make powerful concoctions or additions to already strong poisons that I can make using the harvest of Poison Spiritual Herbs I gathered when I entered the Poison Valley.
The poison valley exit soon came to present itself as I walked out of the doom and death valley filled with evil Qi and found my way back to a massive archipelago in the middle of the pond that would be comparable to a small sea.
The archipelago had a lot of smaller islands, and a good deal of cultivators moving from island to island. I immediately pocketed my sword and moved behind a random group of cultivators and followed after them.
One of the cultivators turned and noticed me, "Fellow Cultivator, why are you following us?" he asked.
"I apologize, I intended to take this place to reach the Lord's Tower, it's but a coincidence that we're on the same track," I replied.
"Right, you may follow, but please don't do anything rash," the cultivator advised and I cupped my hand at him, there was absolutely no need to antagonize anyone for being careful.
The group in front of me was composed of three cultivators all wearing the same type of clothes, they belonged to the same sect, they didn't seem to be hostile and moved forward while having their divine sense probing around and 'unintentionally' go my way.
I didn't mind it, especially as I followed closely behind them.
One of them definitely was annoyed at how close I was, and was about to talk when his friend shook his head, they seem like good kids, they didn't want to cause trouble or be the ones instigating it. interesting.
After a period of moving about, one of the three cultivators I was following halted and said, "There is a maritime creature here, let's wait for it to pass."
And his words proved true, as a massive shadow went between the two islands and swam deeper into the archipelago.
We continued hopping from island to island into a congregation of other cultivators.
"Brother Shen Bao!" the voice of Lang Xiao echoed in the distance, I turned to see him with Wu Di and Yuzehan all three of them looking my way.
"Thank you, fellow cultivators, for your company," I smiled at the now stunned group and walked away.
I heard one of them whispering, "Thank god we didn't offend him, hell if I knew he was that Shen Bao I 'would have tried to be more courteous."
'It seems that my reputation precedes me. Well, that's good. That'll make people think twice before trying to compare dick sizes with me.'
"You guys look like you just crawled out of hell," I said as I took a better glance at the three.
"It was worth it, we found a Tripod Spirit Vine, and we had a pretty tough battle," Lang Xiao said.
"If it wasn't for Wu Di, you'd be dead, the least you can do is give him credit," Yuzehan said.
"Hey, at least let me gloat a bit," Xiang Lang said, his expressions looked hurt.
I smiled at the group, "Congratulations, the Tripod Spirit Vine will help you out greatly in your cultivation."
"Thank you, brother Shen Bao," Wu Di replied, though his white robes and his fan were now slightly dirty he still exuded a 'Young Master's look.
"So, what's going on here?" I asked.
"We're waiting for the Lord's Tomb to open." Wu Di said.
"So this is what all this Demon Lands and Lord Tomb thing is about, do you know what the test is about?" I asked.
"Well, it's a strange test, it always something different, my master told me that when he visited this place, he had to fight through hordes of enemies night and day. And his own master only needed to walk through a bridge, while each had a different experience, so I cannot say what our test might be." Wu Di said.
"Right, then we'll just have to wait and see," I said and sat down, as many others had done, they had all sat down meditating and replenishing their forces in wait for the tower to open.
After what seemed to be hours of waiting, more cultivators had joined us, a few started battling even, and some demons huddled up together. A few of the cultivators from the Toad's Cave were also here, but they seemed heavily wounded, some even had a missing limb.
I didn't need to gloat, or provoke them, they sought wealth without sufficient power, and I was the one who benefited, and since they don't know that It's me who took the flower, I won't tell them I did.
More time passed as more people came into the tower, and right now, the number easily surpassed the couple thousand. It's scary to see so many people gathered up here and so close. The whole atmosphere felt like dynamite about to be lit and would turn to chaos at the drop of a hat.
As many of these kids here are the geniuses of their own sects, the leading figures, and the hopes for the future, confrontation and battle are hard to suppress in the heart of the young and restless. They are barely holding on to their composure and stopping the urge to show off their prows in front of such a great and massive crowd. But if they were the first to start they'll be labeled as the troublemaker, and would only be the target to other cultivators who will then try to put them in place for making trouble and at the same time making a name for themselves.
Everyone waited for the other to start, but no one dared start, thankfully the whole atmosphere was defused immediately when the tower shuddered and a massive blue portal opened up at the base.
"Enter the Lord's Tomb and prove your value to the Lord."
The words abruptly ended and people began funneling inside the tower. It didn't take much time before I, Wu Di, Lang Xiao, and Yuzehan entered the tower and in front of us was a celestial road made of clouds, it hovered in space over the stars and led to the depth of the unknown.
Celestial globes, stars, suns, planets, and meteors flew above and below us as we moved forward in this unending and massive celestial path.
"Walk until you can walk no more, then face your fear, prove you can break what might break you, and you shall be awarded handsomely." The voice said and in front of us hundreds of candles lit up.
The celestial road was thankfully wide, so wide that all the cultivators could stand shoulder to shoulder and there would still be space. As for the candles, they served as a measure to the distance one had crossed.
Everyone began to walk and the moment I reached the first candle I found myself in a dark alley, back on earth, the same alley I died in.
I was wearing my casual clothes, a cheap tux picked from the shelves of a brandless store, barely fitting my body, as it slightly slumped over my shoulders and was a bit shorter than my arm's length. This was my suit, and I knew it, every nook and cranny of it, every cut, bleached spot, and sweat stains on it. In my hand, was my suitcase, and it was filled with documents from work.
I didn't lose focus, nor did I think that all my days cultivating was nothing but a dream. Nor a second-rated protagonist who lost their sense of awareness, I refuse to think that eighty years of struggle was nothing but a dream, all my suffering all of the battles I had and this path I took was nothing but a dream and I'm back to reality.
I'm not such a bore.
Looking forward, there were a couple of thugs gesturing to each other, I've been marked. And they'll soon come at me. One of them had, what the fuck? A crowbar? I was killed with a damn crowbar?
The man with the crowbar had gone behind me, and it seems that the day I died I was actually too distressed with my day at work the day I died that I didn't notice this exact scene happening, but my subconscious had saved this for me to see once again, in this road.
The man with the crowbar lifted it and it came against my head, only this time, I wasn't the same Larry Hudson, I'm Shen Bao, a cultivator in another world that lived several decades and fought with monsters so frightening that these two wouldn't be worth a fart in my eyes.
I held my hand against the crowbar and a wave of agony shot through my hand.
It seems that I don't have my strength from the cultivation world, as my hand was clearly broken now. But the impact of the blow seemed more shocking not to me but the man who looked at my barely expressive face as I stared at my broken and unnaturally bent hand in amazement.
Using my other hand I immediately yanked the crowbar from the man's hand and swung it fast, hard, and decisively at his neck, ripping his entire throat out of its place.
The man with his throat ripped tried to gasp for breath, and staunch the blood flow with his other hand, but his life was already claimed the moment he tried to take mine.
"W-What the fuck!" the other man said as he turned to run.
With the crowbar in my hand, I lugged it forward and threw it with enough strength that it tore through the man's shoulder and had him drop to the ground. I slowly walked behind the man and ripped the crowbar from his back.
He turned crying and shouting, pleading even, but I gazed at him, unceremoniously, this whole shit was nothing but an illusion, and even if it was real, they had it coming. Then I used his head as if it was a golf ball, and the crowbar was a heavy golf club. End result, his head caved in and was twisted out of its place.
Almost immediately, I felt my vision swam, and I was back on the celestial road. Looking around me, I seem to be the first one to have woken from my test. I then continued moving, and once I was at the second candle, I received another vision, the first time I was facing an assassin, a threat from my early days back at Lucid Springs, there a person hired a man to kill me as I amassed a lot of wealth and he wanted to take what was mine.
Then another candle, another fear, and I continued moving, and with every candle, I looked back and see people dropping on their knees, in fright, scared out of their wits. And some outright vomiting.
Why the heck are they like that, this whole shit had already happened, and it was an experience that they already went through, why do they think that reliving it would break them, they should focus more on the fact that they already survived and came on top.
Fools.
I continued walking, moving from candle to candle, leaving everyone in the dust. I walked so far and faced so much again and again, but nothing moved me until I stopped in front of a candle that was lit and exuded a green light. I immediately knew which fear I'll be facing here, and I was ready for it.