When the old man’s voice had disappeared, black stone statues started rising up from the ground. There were two lines of statues and each statue held a weapon of some kind. The two rows had a space in between that neatly formed a small path for him to walk.

“So this is the path I am meant to follow.” As Jack looked down the path, he couldn’t help but have his heart clench. He may have been the number one figure in the Underworld in his previous life, a person that could kill or spare anyone but even he didn’t have a heart of stone.

At times, knowing what waits ahead is several times worse than stumbling in the dark. This was one of such cases, if he didn’t know what the test would encompass, he would have stepped on the path long ago. However, since he currently knew what he would be facing, his steps were hesitant.

Even though he had no way back any more, he still hesitated in taking the first step and officially beginning the trial. After taking a good few minutes to hesitate, he closed his eyes, regulated his breathing and slowly but surely, cleared his mind of everything.

“Clear your mind, only focus on the goal. Block out every single other thought, they will only serve as a distraction.” These were the words of the old assassin that had given him a chance at life. During his training under him, these words were the bread and butter that he heard so many times that he could say them on command even in his sleep.

When Jack opened his eyes again, his eyes were devoid of any emotion, every single distracting thought had been shut out of his mind. The only thing on his mind right now was to walk the path, no matter what happened.

With that, he slowly raised his leg and took the first step, officially beginning the Trial.

**

Far above the First Trial Ground, above the clouds, the old man in black was gazing down on Jack. He had a serious look on his face as he talked to himself, “This boy isn’t simple. It only took him a few breaths of time to clear his mind of distractions and confidently step on the path.”

A hint of smile formed on the man’s lips as he mused to himself, “He has already passed the First Trial. Now all that is left is to wait for him to walk the path and acquire the good fortune that came with it.” The whole point of the First Trial wasn’t to walk the path but rather to build up the courage to take that very first step.

It was the sole reason that the old man even went so detailed into the Trial in the first place. It was to undermine his courage and make him hesitate, if he could still take that first step even though he knew what waited him with each step, he was considered passed. The rest of the path was simply good fortune for him as it slowly and surely tempered and rebuilt his body to be more suitable for the [Art].

Even if he failed in the end of third Trial, he would still have an incredibly solid foundation for Body Tempering. These Trials were all meant to test the candidates but at the same time, mould and temper them.

**

When Jack took the first step, his face was as cold as ice. When his foot hit the ground, he felt prickling pain all over his body. It wasn’t by any means unbearable but rather, it felt like someone was just poking him with small needles. With every breath he took, he felt his lungs become warmer and warmer.

His steps were steady as he traversed the path in front of him, the only thing on his mind was to walk to the end of the path. With each step, the prickling sensation grew stronger and when he had walked a hundred steps, the pain started to become evident.

His steps slowed as he took a bit to grow accustomed to the pain. After a hundred more steps, it took him a few minutes to take each step as the pain that came with each step grew increasingly unbearable. Beads of sweat were flowing down his face and his whole body as he grit his teeth and persevered through each step.

He could feel his body slowly changing and his body becoming stronger. His skin grew harder while his muscles and bones were being tempered by the trickling pain. Every breath that he took made his lungs feel as though they were on fire. This fortune tempered him from both the inside and outside.

The pain and pressure from the steps tempered his skin, bones and flesh, while the air he inhaled burned away all of the impurities within his organs. As he continued walking on the path, popping sounds rang out every once in a while as all the impurities still hidden within his body were all being forced out by the tempering and the pressure. Every time the impurities were forced out, Jack felt strength return to his body as he found the strength he needed to continue walking on the path.

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As he simply focused on walking, he soon reached right in front of the shrine. When he took that one final step and stepped into the shrine, all pressure, pain and the heat from the air disappeared all at once. Without them bearing down on him any more, he fell to his knees and arms and started gasping for air.

He didn’t know how long he had walked on the path but he was certain that it was of tremendous benefit for him. As he caught his breath, the old man appeared in front of him with a stone cold face again. Without any emotion he said, “You have passed the First Trial.” He then pointed to the pentagram on the ground and said, “Step into the array and you will be taken to the Second Trial Ground.” With that, the man disappeared again as Jack turned his eyes to the array on the ground.

After regulating his breath and looking over his gains, he took a deep breath and walked over to the array on the ground. Taking one last deep breath, he stepped into it and he felt his world blur.

**

When he came to again, he was standing inside a room. He was currently chained to a wall with no way to move what so ever. Jack took in his surroundings and then his gaze came to rest on a figure standing at the opposite side of the room. It was the old man.

Before Jack could say anything, the old man said with a cold voice, “This is the Second Trial, Trial of Will.” This time, he didn’t say anything more detailed about the Trial but rather just waved his hand. With the wave of the hand, three figures appeared in front of Jack. Jack’s eyes opened wide as he recognized the figure in front of him. Two of the people were executioners while the person between them was someone Jack knew very well, it was his Eldest Brother.

The young man was in a very ragged state with his hands and feet chained. The light in his eyes was completely gone and none of the usual vigour was seen. Without any explanation, the old man said, “Execute him!” Jack’s eyes opened even wider but before he could say anything, the executioners had already chopped off his head.

Jack stared at the now headless body of his Eldest Brother, not a single sound could escape from his mouth. Before he could even process what had just happened and why, he heard a voice in his head, “This is the Second Trial. The path of cultivation is ruthless and if you can’t even see your acquaintances die in front of you, you are not qualified to walk this path.” After this echoed out in Jack’s head, another figure appeared right in front of him, it was his Sister in this life.

The only people he was close to in the Clan were the people of his family, as for the rest, he had no feeling or emotion for them at all. Like this, a familiar face appeared in front of him and his or her head was chopped off. Jack could do nothing but watch.

As time went on, Jack gradually grew numb and after a while, he didn’t even flinch any more, he just coldly watched another familiar person appear in front of him and be executed. Seeing Jack grow cold so fast, the old man was startled. He even started suspecting that Jack broke. After scanning him, he could tell that Jack just shut off all emotion.

Although the old man didn’t show any emotion on his face, inside, he was dumbstruck as he thought to himself, “Just who is this brat? By his skeletal age, I am sure he is only 7 years old but….” He took a breath and closely examined Jack, “From his mentality, it is as if he has killed hundreds or received specialized training for shutting off emotions.” In reality, the old man wasn’t wrong.

When Jack was taken in by the assassin, he received specialized training to shut out all distracting thoughts, distracting emotions and coldly carry out the order given. In addition to that, he himself had also killed or sentenced thousands of people to death with a word. Some of them had been like brothers or sisters to him while the others had been complete strangers. After some time passed and Jack hadn’t even batted an eye to the people being executed, the old man stopped the trial.

The person to be executed, the two executioners, all of them disappeared. The old man walked in front of Jack and looked at him straight in the eyes and asked, “Just who are you?” Jack also coldly looked at him with no emotion what so ever as he answered, “I am me.” The old man let out a light smile as he waved his hand and the chains and the room disappeared. The two were in a blank white space, standing face to face.

The old man crossed his arms on his chest and then just gave Jack a smile as he said, “You have passed the Second Trial. With this, the Trials have ended and I deem you worthy of being my successor.” Hearing this, emotions started returning to Jack as he asked, “Wasn’t there supposed to be a Third Trial as well?” The old man gave a crafty grin as he explained, “The Third Trial, Trial of the Heart started the moment you walked into the Trial Grounds. The Trial was active at the same time as the two first were.”

Hearing this, it made sense to Jack. The old man continued explaining, “Everything, from having the courage to take the first step in the First Trial to not even batting an eye to having your loved ones executed in front of you were all part of the Third Trial.” Jack slowly nodded his head indicating he understood it now. The old man then smiled again as he said, “Having passed all of the Trials, I now appoint you as my sole successor. I pass all my knowledge, Arts and Resources over to you. Use them all well.”

With that the old man started slowly disappearing as he turned into a small symbol of a black hooded figure squatting with a scythe over his shoulder. As Jack gazed at the symbol, it shot towards him and engraved itself onto his left shoulder. Then Jack felt the nauseating feeling again as he felt his world blur again. When his eyes focused again, he was standing in front of the muscular man and slender woman.

The two of them looked at him with a grin as they simultaneously dropped to their knees saying, “Greetings Master!”