During my search of a new path, my thoughts concluded on something eerie. The status of the Star Fairy, if truthful, made her out to be much older than the Universe itself. This didn't make much sense, as something like the Big Bang shouldn't be influenced by energies. Countless scientists and magicians spent decades figuring out whether or not it was. So, in short, either they are wrong and the Universe is actually much older, or what I'm facing isn't from it to begin with. Obviously, the notion of Multiverse has long since been incorporated into every field of research toward the stars, but for it to be true is another statement to make.

I personally am not sure whether or not I should even care. I'm not a saint nor a demon, and my sole purpose right now is to get stronger to live a better life. "But is me living a better life pushing my path toward one of the two? I don't want to be hailed as a saint, nor do I want to get cursed as a demon..."

Sigh.

The path of Immortality can't be so smooth I suppose. And is the goal of Immortality immortality or not? Can Immortals actually be immortal? At the thoughts I just scratch my head like a brainless monkey. Maybe I don't even have the qualifications to think about it in the first place.

Tossing the sigil back into the system's void, I beg the system for an inventory, but receive nothing but putrid wind.

Back onto the search, I jump far and crawl wide, stretching into confined spaces before destroying every piece of furniture I see. Minutes turn into hours, and said hours pile up until days pass on. Throughout, there was one thing I didn't want to do, and that is to step back into the darkness of many pillars wider than skyscrapers. As I recalled the menacing claw of smoke, a shiver ran through my body, like I was imagining my deeply rooted arch nemesis. Maybe it is due to it being Death, and me seeking immortality? One wished to damn all life, while the other yearned for eternal life.

But are we so different, since I've taken the lives of many already. Perhaps it all comes down to the number, where I am no match. "Maybe I'm making assumptions... urh..." Crouching, I'm back to the hall right after Death, where I took the two candles earlier. I'm facing the wall left of the shut doors, crawling into a small fireplace until I find myself into the smoke chamber.

Coughing and sneezing my lungs out, even if it was clean prior to being abandoned, it doesn't change the amount of dust still inside. I try to breathe gently as to avoid making a mess, as a cloud already formed after a single puff. My eyes are watery, prickled by the particles as I wave a bit. Sick and tired of it, I frown before circulating Qi inside my right arm. The next moment, I fling it to the side, destroying the fireplace like it only was a pile of loose bricks. With the opening, I escape the mess and run back. "Fuck- urh! Uargh!" I don't know if I swallowed something, but there definitely is something stuck at the back of my throat.

I become desperate at the lack of findings, but keep myself composed, making sure to evaluate everything as I did for every other area. With a few swings of my heavy body, the smoke is cleared away, before I notice the insides to lead somewhere dark. It wouldn't be strange of a chimney if it wasn't at such an horizontal angle, instead of the expected vertical flue. "What's this now?"

Pondering, I am hopeful in finding the objective beyond this place. With a self comforting shrug I put my hands to it and evaluate the size. "Mmmh..." It's definitely big enough to fit a slender man or woman, but even this won't fit two children. I look down at myself and frown. "Am I too fat?" Despite the insulting feeling, as I kind of take care of myself, I blame it on the body assigned for this challenge. Whoever that is, they're too fat for this hole. "Well..." With another sigh, turquoise light shines from my right arm, before I ready myself.

Loud rumbling later, debris is littered around my feet, sometimes up to my thighs. If dust wasn't already piling up before, it must be now. The wall wasn't that thick thankfully, only able to take on a few punches. My DT got depleted quite a bit, but nothing too concerning yet. "What do you hide~?" Humming a bit, my body is more than sturdy enough to ignore the sharp edges from the uneven breakage. Astute as I am, noticing the eerie atmosphere isn't hard. "Is it too much to ask for a flashlight?" Shining with turquoise once again, the place is illuminated with expected shades of blue-green. However, due to their dim presence, the dark area is barely lit, making it even worse to look at. Cold colors really don't help feeling safer in places like this...

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Whether or not it's a good thing, after walking into the darkness for a few hours, I have yet to find anything apart from dust and some extremely rare cobweb. I don't know what kind of spiders or monsters there are in such a world, but I'm not willing to find out just yet.

One step at a time, I end up seeing light ahead. I squint but can't perceive what it is exactly. Therefore, I start sprinting before halting. "Let's not get hasty..." Breaking off some of the flooring, I throw it forward. It bounces and breaks apart, only emitting echoes as I catch up in due time. "Was I wrong?" I thought I had distinguished danger in the area, but obviously not. With a shrug I sigh and keep going.

Only a couple hours later, I'm right in front of the source of light. It's warm colored, similar to the one from before. As for where it originates from, it's another crack from the door right at my face. I have nothing better to do, so I grasp onto the rusty handle and twist. I hear the mechanism and pull, only to find myself staggering. "Strong..." Shaking my head, I push this time, soon letting go of the handle as I kick it to further open.

With the weight behind my sole, the door smashes onto the wall, causing a ruckus. Whatever could be awakened, I prefer if it is now rather than later. "Smells like backstabbing bitches in here." Sniffing around, my face falls as the brightly lit area is devastated. Shattered stone and collapsed podiums. Flickering candles remain present, but only on the shelves, as the three chandeliers have already fallen. The place isn't quite as big as I would have imagined, but it is long, badly lit walls seemingly hundreds of meters away. But the thing that attracts my attention most is what lays on the left side, stuck to the wall. Some sort of pale... cake? It probably is made of some strong material, but it does look like a cake or chocolate fountain. The top is flat, and each kind of floor going down is narrower than the next.

The whole thing baffles my design tastes, slanted from the weight which must be significant. But for it to be like this, something else must be going on underneath, to which my eyes follow. "Huh..." Apart from a chill running up my spine, I feel more disgusted and worried than scared. At the foot of this structure about as large as a living room is a pile of grey bones. Getting closer, I notice a powder right under them, that of a multitude of vibrant colors. I ask the system, dipping my fingertips in it. As I take a closer look, the system answers me.

[This is bone dust. Each color is from different subspecies, as the original bones held a distinct color depending on their mutations.]

I nod before widening my eyes and trying to get rid of it with apparent revulsion. "Urk! Gross!" I don't want to imagine the amount of diseases that are trapped in there. Even when I scratch an itch, I avoid using these fingers.

At the foot of this cake thing, hidden underneath a broken table that must have been flung, I find a dodecahedron crystal, perfectly preserved with smooth edges. It is deep black on the insides, shades of purple fading in the closer to the outside. "Looks like a black pearl, I think?" Amused by the color, I hold this football sized crystal before a message pops up.

[You have found the Cursed Jewel.]

[Destroy the altar before you to complete the challenge.]

"That thing, that cake, is the altar? What?" No point in feeling bad about that honestly ugly structure, so I start punching it with Qi. Surprisingly it isn't that durable.

Shards flown, bits annihilated, after a flurry of a hundred strikes, the altar finally crumbles. I also had to go fast because my DT was depleting pretty quickly, since I must use it on my entire arm at the very least, lest I want to shatter my bones from the excessive impacts.

"So, that's it?"

[Mission completed!]

[You have cleared the Challenge successfully!]

[Calculating your reward based on the achieved results...]

"Apparently that's it."

Now I understand the easy difficulty slightly more.

[Reward calculated. Congratulations on gaining the cultivation technique : Yin-Yang Dual Path Scroll (E)]

Yin-Yang Dual Path Scroll (E)

>Contains the common cultivation technique of the Dual Tower. Grants insights into the Daos of Yin and Yang, along the ability to wield Yin and Yang Qi manifestations. Rarely will practitioners have their vessel mutate into a matching Immortal Physique.

>Can be practiced by anyone.

>Highest level attainable : ???

[Due to your help destroying the altar and retrieving the Cursed Jewel, Death's fragment has gifted you a token of appreciation.]

[Congratulations on gaining the artifact : Death's Token (??)]

Death's Token (??)

>A black jade token containing one full powered strike from Death's fragment in the Karkonic Temple. It will crumble into nothingness after use.

>Can be used by anyone.

Now I start to truly understand the reason behind the difficulty. If Death was so adamant on getting out, then it would make sense for it to restraint its rage when an invader such as myself goes in.

Regardless, that yin-yang scroll...

"Hehe... don't mind if I do!"