Damien wanted to quickly move on to learning how to cage his emotions, but the opportunity was denied. His body was soon bathed in the warm sunlight as the darkness receded along with the wall of comprehension.
Looking around, Damien noticed that he was in the middle of a vast field surrounded by thousands of people who he assumed were the other cultivators taking the disciple examination.
Each of them was separated by around 10 meters of space, creating a semi-isolated area around them.
‘This must’ve been the space that the last examination area took up.’
Within a few hours, the rest of the cultivators also woke up from their meditation and were made aware of their new location.
But Damien didn’t feel any joy about the fact that the test was over. He felt that he most likely failed it since he had barely completed half the first phase of his new art. He was fully prepared to leave and try his luck at joining another sect.
“Young cultivators, welcome back from the 2nd exam,” a familiar voice greeted. Looking up, they saw Mu Chen floating in the air above them.
“I understand that many of you are confused, so allow me to give a brief explanation. The Wall of Comprehension is a unique treasure, and the skills you were granted were done so by fate.
“Although not all of you have passed this test, you have all benefited from its contents. For this reason, I advise you not to share the process of our examination if you do not gain entry to our sect.
“You can try if you wish, but you should first question why news of the process has never been leaked to the outside.”
Damien finally realized why the Celestial Star Palace was able to remain secretive. It wasn’t simply due to respect but also fear and quick decision-making. Anyone who attempted to reveal their information was promptly dealt with.
As for how they were able to track anyone who did so? Damien could only shudder at his own wild assumptions.
“Now, if the area below you lights up red, you may leave back to your homes, but if it is green, stay in place as you have passed onto the final phase.”
Damien looked down, fully expecting a red glow to emanate from the ground, but the result was the complete opposite. The lush grass below him shone in its own color, illuminating his square green.
‘I passed?’ He wondered. He felt that there was no way he comprehender 25% of the entire Void Heart Sword Law in such a brief period.
“Young man,” an aged voice suddenly rang out in his head, “do not question the results. If you can succeed in this final segment, the answer shall be revealed to you.”
For someone to send him a mana transmission that went undetected by those around him, they had to be extremely strong. So Damien simply nodded indiscreetly to show his affirmation before focusing his attention back on Mu Chen.
All around him, cultivators were showing different reactions to their squares. Those who passed were jubilant, some even crying tears of joy while those with stature like Long Chen stayed indifferent.
The reaction of those who failed was the complete opposite. Some simply left with downtrodden expressions, but others cried and begged, hoping to gain sympathy.
Others simply didn’t accept the results and tried to revolt, but they were shut down without hesitance.
Anyone who overstayed their welcome was forcefully removed from the area, and although no deaths were incurred, plenty of injuries were handed out.
Although the scale was much smaller, their tragic scenes reminded him of what he saw in the vision about his sword law. Cries and pleas, unwillingness, and hope were all disregarded.
‘That’s right, this whole world revolves around such a principle. The Void Heart Sword Law is simply the peak of such a thought process.’
“To those of you who passed, welcome to the third phase. The rules of this phase are incredibly simple. All you have to do is survive for an entire week within the forest to your right.
“Anyone who doesn’t arrive back at this area once the week ends will be disqualified or counted dead. Now, all of you may go forth, and may fate allow you to keep your lives.”
Mu Chen immediately moved on to the next portion without sparing a glance at the failed cultivators. Hell, he didn’t even pay attention to the states of those who passed.
While the others stood confused, Damien didn’t hesitate to move. Without even doing a rough sweep of the forest, he charged in. Long Chen, who saw him move, quickly did the same, followed by the rest.
Only after entering the forest did Damien notice its strangeness. The towering trees and lush vegetation, although normal on the outside, contained too much life force to be simple.
Not only that, he could feel the aura of countless beasts roaming the area.
‘Everything living here can be considered an enemy.’
But Damien didn’t care about any of it. ‘I have a week of spare time I can use to finish the first phase of my sword law.’
He was still hung up on this. For some reason, he wasn’t apprehensive at all about closing off his emotions. It wasn’t even something new to him.
For Damien, he lived his whole life burying and suppressing his emotions. The few years he spent with Rose were the only ones where he let himself roam free. But that alone wasn’t enough to change his personality.
He was still running from his problems. It was the reason he had separated from Rose and Elena in the first place, and it was most likely the reason why the concept of void heart appealed to him so much.
He hated the control his emotions could have over his life. While he loved the time he spent with Rose, Elena, Zara, and his mother, he felt that in other situations his emotions were usually a burden.
They were something he reserved only for people he cared about, and he wanted a way to make them exclusive to those people.
‘Why should others be allowed to sway me?’
He didn’t want to be swayed by beauty, he didn’t want to be swayed by pity, and he didn’t want to be swayed by trust. Trusting people wasn’t something Damien was ever willing to do.
And while he was aware that running away from his emotions would never work as a long-term solution, he didn’t care. He would rather call himself a hypocrite than solve his emotional problems.
In this case, he was the opposite of his usual self. For someone who charged unhesitatingly in the face of danger to avoid it like this was a sight to behold, but it wasn’t funny in the slightest.
The trauma he developed on earth followed him everywhere. It haunted him even in his relationship, forcing its development to halt.
There was a reason he and Rose didn’t act much different than they did in Apeiron when they were simply friends. It was entirely his fault.
‘These emotions, I don’t need them.’
Without his conscious effort, some ethereal concepts floating within the blackness of his mind-space migrated into his Mind Prison. And then…
Click!
It trapped them within.