"I think we should be careful," Jie said, "something about all this is bothering me. Maybe we should just leave it. None of us can even use that sword."

"You want to just leave a valuable treasure behind?" Pan Tian asked.

"This is a test, remember? It's all about making choices. What do we have to gain from taking that sword except to have something shiny to sell?" Jie said.

"I guess... but we could just as easily be punished for not taking it. What if we get back and there's a monster that only this sword will slay?" Pan Tian asked.

"That's true..." Jie said, "I don't know... I just... I don't like this. Maybe it's cursed."

"We'll be careful of course. I have scrolls of wisdom to help us know what it is before we even touch it," Pan Tian said as a scroll appeared in her hand, "you can watch me. Make sure I don't get mind controlled and eat your brains."

"Don't even joke about that," Jie said.

"Who was joking?" Pan Tian asked, "alright... let's do this. Do you sense any traps, Ithilix?"

Ithilix's antennae twitched. "This one only senses us and the aura of the sword. It's quite overwhelming. But, it's very strange... be careful," she said.

Jie followed Pan Tian as she edged closer to the sword. They reached the sword without incident and Pan Tian held up her scroll, without touching the sword. Jie watched her closely just in case it really was cursed and did something. She focused on her spirit sense, but only felt the sword's strange signature.

Pan Tian unrolled her scroll and it lit up with qi power. It pulsed with a white glow then burst into motes of light that rapidly faded away. Pan Tian's olive green eyes widened and she waved her hand back at Jie as she took slow steps backward.

The sword quivered and Pan Tian's claws of light appeared in her hands. Jie cycled lightning step and qi armor.

The snow exploded beneath their feet as an enormous monster burst out. Thick, bony plates covered its icy blue hide which bulged with powerful muscles. What had seemed to be a sword, was in fact a massive horn growing out of the top of its head. For a fraction of a moment, part of Jie's mind wondered just how many gullible snacks it had lured in exactly like themselves.

It swept a powerful clawed hand at Pan Tian. Each curved black claw longer than Pan Tian herself. Jie sent out a finger of light at its hand, hoping to knock it away from her friend just like she'd done to the tentacles of the plant monster. Jie's dragon lightning qi crackled through the air in an instant and the creature's gigantic hand exploded in a spray of blood, flesh, and sinew.

The massive monster roared and staggered back, clutching the bleeding stump where its hand used to be. Jie blinked at it stupidly for a moment, stunned by her own power before she sent out another finger of light at its head. It exploded in a shower of gore and its horn flew off, landing in the snow some distance away. It fell to its knees and then collapsed, turning the fresh, white snow red with its blood.

"I guess I was a little stronger than it was," Jie said.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I'll say," Pan Tian said, "and good instincts too. You totally called that one."

"This one didn't even get a chance to fight," Ithilix said.

Xue gave a meow.

"Sorry," Jie said, "I just didn't want it to hurt Pan Tian... I couldn't sense its aura well at all, so I thought it was a lot stronger than it actually was."

"This one is curious what the scroll of wisdom told you when you used it on this magical beast," Ithilix said.

"It crackled in my head and then said it was a droguth bone lure, attached to a hungry droguth," Pan Tian said.

"It must be a high quality scroll to give information on a magical beast like that," Ithilix said.

"Yeah... I was using one of my stronger ones. I thought that if Jie's instincts were warning her about it, then I should be extra careful... but it would seem I wasn't careful enough," Pan Tian said.

"Well, we got through it just fine," Jie said, "does it have anything usable?"

Ithilix wandered off a bit and dived into the snow.

"We should take that horn. It would make a good weapon for the lower dantian if a half-decent expert craftsman worked on it. Though, we could just store the whole thing. You could chop it up into pieces the storage ring can handle each time. And we need to find its core since that's the most valuable part of a magical beast," Pan Tian said.

Ithilix burst back out of the snow, holding a gleaming red gem filled with swirling energy. "Found it!" she said.

"I wish I had your gathering senses," Pan Tian said, "I don't suppose it's something you can train us in?"

"This one cannot... it is a trait of the hive. Sorry..." Ithilix said.

"Oh well... we should head back," Pan Tian said, "this was an ea--"

"Don't say it! If you do, this one will slap you. Did you learn nothing after last time?" Ithilix asked.

Pan Tian snapped her mouth shut and they started on the way back as Jie thought about the challenge.

They saw the statue up ahead and the clearing looked the same.

"I don't think we should go back," Jie said.

"What?" Pan Tian asked as she slowed to a stop and the rest of them did.

"I've been thinking about this challenge... at first, I thought that it was about picking the right path. But that would mostly just be luck. Then, I thought that maybe we should do nothing since it said that inaction is also a choice. But that magical beast wasn't that tough... and inaction is also a choice... so is only doing one path another choice? The beast wasn't that strong, but the core and body are still somewhat valuable. Perhaps the other paths also have things of value that we would miss out on if we didn't make the choice.

"Maybe for this test, the right choice isn't about picking the correct path. Maybe it's about what's right for who a specific cultivator is and what they can handle. If we were weaker, maybe inaction would be the right choice, but maybe because we're strong enough, the right choice is to explore the other paths. Since the trial hasn't ended," Jie said, "unless it wants us to think that and it's all a trap."

"I think I followed about half of that," Pan Tian said.

"Hmm... this one thinks the pri... Jie may be right. The other paths are still available to us," Ithilix said, "and this one senses small treasures down one and spiritual medicine down the other... it would be a shame to lose out."

"I guess, but they could all be traps. This path seemed like it had a treasure after all," Pan Tian said, "and the sooner we finish this trial, the sooner we get into the dungeon. After this, we only have one trial left."

"I thought you didn't want to leave any treasure behind?" Jie asked.

"Well... I don't... I just don't want to lead us straight into another trap. That was really stupid of me," Pan Tian said.

"It happens," Jie said, "you aren't all-knowing. There was no way to know that horn wasn't a sword."

"You did," Pan Tian said.

Jie laughed. "No, I didn't. I was just suspicious that's all. I could've easily been wrong, or it could've been cursed and you would've known and we could just leave it or take it without activating the curse," she said.

"I suppose that's true... and it would be silly to leave treasure behind... and you did completely destroy that monster. I bet you could've done it with just one hit if you went for its head first... alright," Pan Tian said, "let's look down the other paths. Small treasures first?"