An hour later…
The peaceful harmony has come to an end. Julius, along with Empress Cai, Zhou, and the rest of the Skolritters, all arrived at what used to be a stadium. Now, it appeared like open plains with green grasses occupying the flat space. He stood with them at the spot relative to the direction he entered when it remained surrounded by a wide building.
Ahead was still the same misty white condensed air occupying the space. They waited for the rest of the committed cultivators to attend, including the rest of the Kang family. Julius told them to ease themselves before their arrival, and he walked to his F-150 pickup, where it had been a long while since driven it. There was a plan. He wanted to make use of his truck rather than leave it parked for an uncertain amount of time. Nobody used it, which he was grateful for. He had an idea where he would use the truck as a temporary resting place, limited to a few occupants at once. Additionally, the time limit will be initiated when they are fully seated. Thirty seconds was the fairest he thought of based on the number of participants.
Julius climbed up to his truck, leaving his driver's door open. He sat down and received a call pop-up from Hu. “Hello,”
“I’m ready, and the time distortion differences reduced to one hour. There shouldn’t be any major distortion once you depart from here.”
“I appreciate that. However, you might expect at least thirty people today,” Julius said while leaning right onto the seat’s headrest.
“Not a problem. I mean the difficulty rose to accommodate the load of participants. You could join again or stay out until level two.”
“My first time was awkward and traumatizing because I was alone and got persuaded by a soothing voice to get inside,” Julius thought. “I hope that wasn’t you doing that intentionally because that hurt my mental capacity.”
It went quiet for a moment. Then she responded with a hummed no. “Strange, I’m not even sure. I didn’t even know you were in the Merit Universe realm until you had already set foot in. The battle began right after you picked your wrath from the chest. And my nine-tail fox form came in, starting the battle. But wow. Sorry to hear.”
“It’s fine. At least you gave me the moment of achieving a sense of darkness attribute. When others found out, I got into a bit of trouble. Which was also why I’m here.”
“I’ll be waiting for everyone. Will talk later when this is over,” Hu ended the connection, shutting off the pop-up in the HUD.
--
Optimizing Skoltor’s system mainframe
…
Completed.
All systems normal → Ready to enter the Merit Universe.
Team Party’s status: Normal.
--
The rest of the participants arrived at the site, and Julius leaped off from his seat, closing the driver’s door. Mr. Kang walked up with his own group of participants tailing behind. The stakes were high on his end. The entire house came to the site instead of his family, and a few trusted cultivators served under him, bringing the total count to a minimum of fifty. Julius, impressed with the attendance, met with Mr. Kang, who appeared not in high spirits.
“You don't look pleased,” Julius muttered after he saw his downed face.
“I have bad news, sir. I received an anonymous letter that foretold that the territory of Taocun was ransacked…by the Renos. The refugees and survivors that escaped are heading to the capital.”
Daiyu’s news about them. Shit. Julius recalled when she told him while he was in the bedroom. That was days ago, making the situation regrettable of not taking action earlier. He didn’t tell that to Mr. Kang. However, there were no other options he could have done as the army hadn’t reached its prior status, so he had to take the risk of not going in person. His mind became an hourglass, drizzling the sand into the opposite attraction filled with consequences, waiting to be unfolded. “In that case, we need to begin quickly,” Julius responded. Therefore, he directed everyone to the white mist. “It’s open, and we are ready to go now.”
Mr. Kang nodded and turned to his crowd. “Alright! You heard the emperor lead in!”
Julius directed the Skolritters to enter while he went to his truck. After pulling the driver’s stick and pushing on the gas pedal, he heard the passenger door open. He turned the steering wheel, and Empress Cai hopped on. She landed hard on the seat, closing the door. Like everyone else who had witnessed the vehicle, she admired the technological transportation. Although it wasn’t hers, she treated it like an important treasure, almost a sacred matter. Julius found out that during those two weeks, it was she who kept it safe and hidden in one of the basement levels directly underneath the main palace hall. Additionally, nobody could come across and touch it. That was out of her decision amid not knowing if Julius would ever return from a lengthy disappearance.
“You can’t get your eyes off it, huh?”
“I can’t let it go since the first day it landed with its four wheels, heading to the palace. It was too strange that I had to protect it.”
“Well, I appreciate it. Maybe one day, you can obtain one of these. I think you will like it; driving the truck around in the open is a blessing,” Julius said as a light shone through the condensed clouds. Empress Cai smiled slightly, without opening her lips. Her neck tightened as if she wanted to hold back her verbal thoughts.
Julius found that briefly to be amusing. He turned away, viewing the misty clouds. After the light penetrated through the low visibility, the condensation then manifested into a grand gate, removing all the illumination. The white colors of the mist that vibrated a reflection as strong as gold structured the dual doors. Mr. Kang was at the front of the truck as it moved. When he got closer to the grand gate, a confronted sound erupted, followed by the revving gears and locks from inside the wide keyhole. Then, the gate opened inward, swirling the mist inward as it moved. The prior rays of light that penetrated the fog were revealed as one big spot of light after the gate opened.
What a contrast, this is like heaven. Julius recalled. However, something came through his experienced mind. The double door. That was not the first time he felt a high surge. To be more specific, it was almost déjà vu. Another second passed, and the thought clicked like a switch flipped into positive. The only thing missing was the thunderous summons and swirling vacuum, which came from Alyssa’s arrival during Mother Elaine’s operation in the emergency room. In contrast, the gate to the Merit Universe was quiet. It maintained its prestige. Julius lowered both front windows to get a clear view. He and Empress Cai both glared at the colossal height of an entrance. Having the size of a five-story apartment as the gate entrance was a magnificent experience to witness functioning. The panels had to be made from a variant of aluminum or silver to have that vivid reflection.
“This gate…incredible,” Empress Cai said.
“I know. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Julius said as he moved his head back into the truck, closing both windows. “You’ll like the training environment.”
“I’m intrigued…Are you joining us?” she asked.
Julius nodded. “Yes, I am. I heard it’s more difficult as if it was training all of us, it should accommodate everyone with new standards. I’m excited and worried at once, not sure if I will go through another traumatic experience.”
“Just remember what Solomon and I have told you the past couple of days since the botched tournament. If you take our advice, you’ll be fine,” Empress Cai said in her soothing voice.
“I hope so…and I hope the training will pay off for everybody,” Julius said with sincerity. He calmed his doubts away after her comment.
The truck passed the gates, and with Mr. Kang remaining at the front lines, a bright light flashed at the front and illuminated the entire windshield. Julius didn’t flinch, proving his eyes had adapted to the brightness. He saw Mr. Kang’s left arm raised right above him as he picked up the pace. “Let’s run!” he yelled in command, initiating everyone on foot to sprint right directly to the source of light.
Julius pushed the gas pedal, revving the speed up to thirty miles per hour. Afterward, Mr. Kang dissipated, and then a batch of cultivators who were close to him in the distance. A distinct sound effect followed it. It swam through his eardrums in a second. Immediately, the light engulfed his surroundings. The next second, he arrived at the Realm of The Blue River (蓝河).
--
Arrived at the Realm of The Blue River (蓝河)
Level One
--
From his first time arriving, it remained the same. The pure blue and transparent river flowed along the plains. Julius directed the truck away from the spot he last remembered where the chest appeared, where he picked up the Flames of Wrath (愤怒). Driving up the hill, he parked the truck at the spot where he and Hu had a table talk, where she updated his Skoltor system.
“So, this is it,” Empress Cai muttered.
“Yep, it has been a while since, and the same as ever,” Julius said. He opened the door, exiting the F-150.
A light beam summoned from the sky shot down right down to the spot. Many cultivators around the region barely missed the area by a couple of feet. There is the chest. Empress Cai got out and stood next to Julius, witnessing the summons.
Julius turned to her. “You should go. Everybody has to get one before the training starts,” he said.
“What about you?”
“I already have one. Now go. I’ll join y’all when everyone makes their decision.”
Empress Cai flew from the hill downwards to the scene, leaving him on the hill. Hu appeared from behind. Julius felt the chilly breeze along with the slithering traces of dark qi flowing around his feet and the rest of the hill. “You’re confiding in me at the last minute?”
“Well, I’m gonna make sure you are stable. Remember, you almost died, and luck saved you with the darkness…With everyone here, I think you will have fun instead of being in agony of facing the edges of death,” Hu said while firmly gripping his right shoulder.
“How much more menacing can you be?” Julius asked, turning his red right to her.
“You’ll find out,” Hu replied, followed by a mysterious grin. She twirled away, facing her back towards Julius before dissipating out of sight.
“Hey!”
Julius heard a loud call from the crowd. He turned back to the view in reaction to the call. Down there were Celeste and Empress Cai waved their hands. Therefore, he leaped from the hill at lightning speed, which tore layers of dirt from the soles of his boots. The crowd noticed him descending from the air and hurried away. He gave one swirl of his legs, articulating a straight landing. It wasn’t soft like a bird’s feather. Unintentionally, a shallow crater erupted and spread across the flowering plains. The eruption screwed the blossomed flowers, withering and decimating them from existence. Not a deep crater but wide enough to fit an average home, adding the smokey heat enveloped from the bottom of it. “Whoops,” Julius said and walked up from the shallow depths.
As Julius turned around to where everyone gathered, his visuals went hot. It highlighted everyone within his vision, differentiating between red and blue. On the one hand, the Flames of Wrath (愤怒) represented the former, while the Flames of Azure (蔚蓝) possessed the latter. Fast as a calculator, Skoltor organized a tally chart in the corner. The data revealed a significant majority grasped the Flames of Azure (蔚蓝). It was around sixty-five percent compared to the latter’s thirty-five percent. The feeling of inferiority by number count on the team hasn’t come yet to him, and the battle hasn’t started. He looked around, certain everyone should have got their first flame by now. Confused, Julius ran right to the chest and inside were two pairs of flame, spherical orbs left. “If there are two of you present that haven’t got their desired flame, raise your hands now!!” he yelled directly and clearly across the realm.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Two hands raised from afar within the crowd. Simultaneously, the number count finalized to ninety-eight, excluding the two. Either one chooses Wrath or Azure or both could pick the same flame. Julius, restraining his impatience, gestured for them to sprint quickly to the chest. Strangely, the crowd refused or slightly moved away from them, cramping the two’s path from reaching closer to the chest. Julius lost it and pulled out his SIG P210. He then pointed it at the specific part of the crowd where he could see the two stuck behind the two towering cultivators. “I’m going to shoot if you don’t fucking move away!” Julius yelled.
Bang! Bang!
“Are you done?” he added.
The two blocking cultivators collapsed on their knees after blood leaked out of their dominant shoulder, soaking their robes. They tumbled down and cried as their heads crashed to the ground floor, revealing the two youngsters who raised their hands earlier. What the heck? What are the two young boys doing here on the training grounds? Their appearance left Julius perplexed. They had to be at least fourteen, which was troubling, given the circumstances the training would provide. Julius lowered his pistol and deeply sighed in distress. However, he then instructed the two teenage boys to grab a flame of their choosing from the chest. From their faces, their eyes appeared a signal of dread and suffering seconds ago turned to optimism when he let them to the chest. The tally went up to a hundred once the two teenage boys took their desired flame, resulting in a one-to-one.
“What are your names, kiddo?” Julius asked while looking at the two fallen cultivators, who somehow hadn’t got up. Especially, others are around trying to help them get healed. Why are they overreacting? I didn’t even fire a qi bullet. That should be only a little over a flesh wound.
“My name’s Shu (书),” the one who took the Flames of Azure replied. He looked more lenient than the other who was with him. The way his voice came out was more relaxed and had no grunt underneath.
In response, Julius nodded with a smile and directed his attention to the other, who took the Flame of Wrath. “And you are?”
“I’m Sang (嗓),” he replied. Sang, in contrast, has a naturally tough face defined by his jawline. A square-shaped head accompanied by narrowed eyes, a rough and ragged beard, and unorganized long hair that appeared dusty. It smelled like a burning tree during a wildfire, very pungent.
“Good to meet you both. I won’t ask why you are here at this age, but off you go,” Julius said, dismissing them back to the crowd. “And what the hell is this trivial matter with those two on the ground? We are about to start this damn thing, and you have fallen from a tiny piece of metal that penetrated your shoulder?! You cultivators can handle a blast or a sword but not a tiny metal…what an embarrassment…For wasting our time, I’m excluding you two from the first training session.” They reacted with wide eyes in shock, jolting themselves upward at the surprise of the crowd. “Oh, now you want to get up? That won’t change my mind. Exclude these two! Send them back!”
They desperately pleaded while Julius refused their complaints. The portal of the entrance reappeared and warped itself open wide in white brightness, waiting for them to enter. The desperation continued and turned into cries until the end, where the closed warp silenced and dissipated them from sight.
Finally, the beautiful blue sky of the realm darkened. Black clouds generated out of nowhere, overwhelming the view above. Flowers withered away, and the chest disappeared. The gusts grew angry, blasting forceful winds right on many of the faces. Julius looked around in the air and around the realm. It’s time. This is it. His last thoughts before going deep into the training. The realm switched into a desert, with the horizon illuminated by a gloomy orange gaze.
--
Julius’ Basic Stats Profile:
Cultivation Level 7
Total % Base Stats Buff: 7%
Base Stats w/o Adjustments
Stamina (LV 5)
HP (LV 5)
250
81,504
Endurance ((LV 5)
199
Durability (LV 5)
220
Power (LV 5)
Attack (LV 5)
1,710
5,060
Qi (LV 5)
11,405
Total Score
100,348
Level One (级一) initiated…
Missions Overall completed…
↓
Listing…
Survive in any manner.
Defeat the Boss of the Black Nine Tail Fox. (黑九尾狐）
Kill the Black Nine Tail Fox. (黑九尾狐）→ (0/1000)
--
Here we go. Julius gave one breath as the realm summoned packs of the Black Nine Tail Fox from underneath and the sky.
----------------------------------------
Blood splattered everywhere, flooding the desert and sandy floor. Most of the realm’s landscape, excluding the river, turned into a swamp. Uncanny at its best, given how Julius remembered his brief war experience and dealt against many Renos’ cultivators. The difference in difficulty was astronomical. They were on par with his level of qi, forcing him to raise his level to the imaginary ceiling. It was pretty uncomfortable because it tensed his upper torso, mainly the biceps, as he was a swordsman wielding Licht. Multiple times, he was on the brink, triggering his darkness attribute. Empress Cai, Solomon, or Celeste had to intervene amidst their battles, suppressing his qi. No second to be wasted. These Black Nine Tail Foxes are absolutely abysmal and sprint gods. Some cultivators on the battlefield got their first consequence. Their exact size to a regular fox was a test of their arrogance. Julius witnessed their demise a couple of times as they left themselves open, revealing their vulnerability to the Black Nine Tail Foxes. No casualties yet.
Empress Cai never felt this lingering pressure on a fight before. Not in her life. The Four Dragon Masked Cultivators, her old enemies, compared to the Black Nine Tail Foxes, was like stepping on an anthill, revealing a hell of a circus. It recalled her time with her master constantly brutalizing her with various qi-based attacks. Fire hurt the most. Ice and the cold she could bear. She mentally counted her kills since the foxes entered the realm. Each kill took a lot of effort. She had to go beyond her swordsmanship and pierce the blade at the precise weak points of the fox’s body. Whenever one kill added to her count, it saved her an inch from frustration and briefly overwhelmed her with a manifestation of dopamine.
Slit!
With her long katana pierced right underneath the pit of the fox’s upper right leg, Empress Cai’s both hands gripped the hilt and thrust the blade upwards, slicing the fox into two. Fifty. She counted as the fox’s body dropped to the floor. She couldn’t comprehend how much blood came from a decapitated head. It has to be three shengs (Liters). Empress Cai estimated. She then breathed as her heartbeat rapidly thumped her heavy chest. Her eyes scanned around, looking for Julius. As she silently stood in the middle of a battlefield, a reflective shield summoned around her. That gave her a little spare time to compose herself.
Empress Cai’s body ached from the chest down. She kneeled flat on the sandy floor and observed the sight of battle. The fiftieth fox she killed lay a couple meters away, continuously pouring rain’s worth. The puddle spread throughout the spot, reaching to the edge of her shield. Despite being protected by it, the pungent scent somehow seeped through to her nostrils, sending her up from the ground. Her master had taught her the optimization of the five senses, and how it was essentially crucial. The dead fox’s pungent scent was gripping and bold. Unknowingly, it revived her out of the fatigue. That darkness scratched my nose. Empress Cai noted. She rubbed her nose before dry sneezing, disabling the shield. I’m sure this was the darkness. But it is not the same as Julius. She contrasted.
From the beginning of level one, she had to subdue Julius’s desperate darkness twice. His darkness had no smell. It emphasized only touch and sight. The first time while at the residence gave a fistful knockback, but it only now massaged her palm. A pity that it was comfortable, much to her dismay and unexpectedness. Her master never told anything about the perks of the darkness attribute. It was almost as if there was a hidden reason, and she carried that to the grave.
As she was mentally clashing with her doubts, Julius flashed stepped right next to her, followed by a loud splat behind her. She felt the droplets from the blood tickled at the back of her neck. Her neck cringed after it touched. The jaws wanted to clench as she braced her nose from getting a whiff.
“Oh, sorry,” Julius said, rubbing the drops of blood off. “Their blood smells of burned sewage, and I can’t care about it anymore.”
Empress Cai nudged back a little, facing Julius. “And you don’t. All that whiff of darkness of yours has nothing to smell.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment…oh. I think they are done,” Julius said while observing the battlefield. “Yep, Skoltor counted a thousand dead.”
The cultivators all tumbled their knees and bottoms to the floor, relaxing themselves. They carelessly breathed simultaneously, making it nearly as loud as a dragon’s roar. The Skolritters came right up, and Celeste summoned a barrier, suppressing most of the noise.
“Let them be. We were fighting straight for more than three hours,” Julius added.
WHAT?! Empress Cai looked up, only to find a dark sky. “Excuse me? Are you serious?” she asked highly.
“Yeah, we’ve been fighting that long. He wasn’t kidding,” Solomon said. “How many kills did all of you get? I didn’t have time to read our party’s kill count.” Empress Cai doesn’t want to get closer to him or Celeste. Those two were soaked in Black Nine-Tailed Fox’s blood. The dark tinted red painted over their hair and bits of black flesh dried along their faces.
“I did seventy-two. And that’s a lot of effort compared to the swamps,” Julius answered and turned to Empress Cai. “What about you?”
She breathed, and then uttered: “Fifty.”
“Wow. The family members of the House of Kang added up to sixty-two,” Julius said, impressed. “They are basically second place, and we are first place if we count by alliance or team…That would be…four hundred and thirty-two.”
“Holy of Yinhai! Us? The seven of us combined?!” Empress Cai asked.
Daiyu, uncharacteristically energetic, arrived with a couple of bottles in her hand. “Yes, my lady. All of us together,” she said.
“Unbelievable.”
She then handed one to Empress Cai, and the other to Victoria, who grasped it from her grip in a blink. The latter chugged a whole gulp of the water bottle. Hence, she raised her right arm high in the sky with a closed fist, holding the empty bottle.
Crumble!
A lower layer of white clouds hovered above them all. Next, it rained all over them, replenishing their hydration. That caught the attention of the rest of the cultivators. Victoria performed a light variant of hydrokinesis, directing the clouds over the rest of the fatigued crowd. Any of the water droplets in midair were sent to them to not waste anything. “That should do it,” Victoria said.
“They should be hydrated after a minute, and after the break, we have the finale.”
Sally groaned in agony; even though she was well aware of the training regimen. Solomon moved a couple of steps back, dropping his black dual-bladed axe to the floor. He went through a few sets of stretches from his legs and up to his upper torso. The three ladies chatted with each other, leaving Julius standing silent, viewing the rest of the cultivators.
Empress Cai joined him, analyzing their recovery. She stood next to him, only a few feet apart. “They’re committed.”
Julius slightly bobbed his head in agreement. “Yeah. Finally, something to give them the time to utilize what they’ve gained through this realm. If any recovered quickly, that cultivator shall have a bright future.”
“I wished I had that,” Empress Cai said with a hint of jealousy. You are lucky.
“At least you have them now,” Julius said. “The West Cai Dynasty has them now. Once this—”
Rumble
A low cry from underneath the grounds vibrated the entire realm. Empress Cai and Julius teleported away from where they stood as the spot cracked open, forming a rift. The two dashed right to the Skolritters and Daiyu, pushing them away as the cracks headed in their direction. A loud and angry, raspy bark echoed from the depths of the rift. Julius ordered everyone to move back to near the entrance spot of the realm with a waving gesture. Responding to his command, they all stampeded rapidly to the area.
“Ok, stop!” Julius yelled.
Empress Cai pulled the brakes at her ankles while holding Daiyu and Victoria in her arms like a hug. Putting her speed into an abrupt stop pulled Daiyu and Victoria’s face right towards her. In an unexpected panic, she let go quickly, accidentally tripping them. Consequently, Empress Cai tripped herself from Daiyu’s leg and crashed down to the blossoming ground. Her arm cushioned her head from being slammed head-on.
She felt the petals of the flowers scratching her face. Hence, she rolled to her and lifted her back up. Daiyu and Victoria were lying on the floor, rubbing their foreheads. “I’m sorry. You two, okay?”
Victoria raised a thumbs up.
Another loud boom triggered her attention right to the rift. Volcanic lava gushed out from underneath. The river, flowed by the beautiful and transparent water, disintegrated upon the first lava surge that arrived on the surface. A giant black paw, about half the size of the grand gate, reached out from the rift’s depths. Empress Cai couldn’t believe it. She watched in horror as the beast lifted itself out, revealing it to be another Black Nine-Tailed Fox. I don’t want to fight this monster. She thought as her heartbeat escalated by fear.
Julius stood tall and almightily spoke with his greatsword in his grip. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. You’ll have made it this far. If the bloody mess was the hardest, I hate to break it to you…that’s our ticket out of here, and I’m not letting any of you excuse yourselves! We all will beat this thing, and we will be an example for our future! Is that clear?!”
Their heads rose up and quickly responded confidently. “Yes, EMPEROR!”
Screw you, Father; you ruined my reign. Empress Cai’s anger at her father and jealousy overrode her fear after listening to Julius’s direct dialogue with the cultivators. They listened with no hesitation, something she wished to have.