Time had run out, Lute was void of all Qi. The stress upon his body finally began to release as he was no longer in danger.

The suppressing formation around the cage once again reactivated, forcibly suppressing the Twin Tail Thunder Leopard’s cultivation to the Nascent Qi first level. Losing its ability to use lightning, it became of no threat to Lute; he could take it one with his physical body alone, without using the slightest amount of Qi.

Only when chains once again clamped around the Twin Tail Thunder Leopards neck did Lute relax, collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath, “That…. That was…. Much harder than expected, to think that its cultivation would raise so much in less than a minute.

Only after a few minutes of resting did Lute finally sit up from the ground, walking slowly outside of the cage. When he left, his eyes fell upon the Elder who was supposed to be his judge, and annoyance filled his eyes. Why wasn’t he told that the Nascent Beast would suddenly rise in power?

“Why didn’t you stop the trial? That beast almost killed me!” Lute asked because he didn’t like risking his life because due to being misinformed, a mistake he wouldn’t make again.

The Elder looked up from the sheet he was recording times upon. Many names were already crossed out as more than half of the trial participants failed. His expression was showing that he didn’t understand what Lute was so angry about. He passed, although he struggled.

The Elder replied curtly, “Why are you so upset boy, it was only rank two beast at the beginning stages. Although you looked to be struggling slightly, and you aren’t too competent with the Qi Burst Steps, you still passed.”

‘Huh, early stage second rank? What is he talking about, that was clearly a Vicious Beast that was at the fifth level of the Nascent Qi Realm, and it even had powers that it should only acquire when it achieves rank three.’

As Lute was about to retort, he forced the words back down his throat. This Elder just said that the Twin Tail Thunder Leopard was only in the early stages of its cultivation realm?

Lutes eyes grew cold and he turned around, stalking off to wait for the next trial. As always, Lute was adept at noticing abnormalities in other’s speech. Clearly someone interfered with his trial again. Not only did they know his true strength, they were forcing him to transcend his limits each time. First it was in the Martial Heart trial, and now in the comprehension trial.

Each time, he went into the trial expecting to hold back his power. Hiding it, making sure that no one knew what he was capable of. It was the best method to stay alive, as long as he passed unnoticed through the trials, no one would pay special attention to him, except for anyone with a grudge against the Windcross House like Elias.

But now, only one person came to mind. Toros, the cultivator who was stronger than even Alda, he already interfered with one of Lute’s trials so why wouldn’t he do it again?

‘Humph, he clearly is forcing me to break my limits each time. Alda must have told him of my strength. But apparently he understands my thought process, hiding the true events that happened during my trial with an illusion, how crafty of you.’

A cruel light flashed through Lutes eyes as he said to no one in particular, “Alright I’ll play your game. You want to test my limits, then I will show them to you, let’s see if you can keep my true abilities hidden from the eyes of the masses, it’ll be a game between you and me.”

Hidden in the surrounding area, Toros grinned; Lute discovered it was him almost immediately after this trial. He heard every word in clarity, every word Lute said, it made his mood rise in elation.

Toros chucked as he said, “You show me your limits, and I will hide your true abilities from the masses. An interesting game indeed, if I am forced to save you because you reach your limits, then I would have to directly interfere with the trials and lift the illusions exposing the both of us, in which case everyone would know your true power. Quite the risky game we will have, I will enjoy this and savor it to its fullest!”

Although Lute didn’t hear Toros say this, or expect him to hear what he had said about playing a game. He did have the feeling that Toros would interfere again. But this time he would go in prepared.

The third trial was all about fighting to your absolute limit. Entering an illusionary world, countless illusions would assault the cultivator, growing progressively stronger each time. Sometimes they would attack in groups, other times it would only be one. But eventually a cultivator would fall, unable to free themselves from the formation.

In order to pass, it was required that at least twenty illusions of appropriate cultivation levels were killed off within half an hour. If time ran out or the cultivator failed to kill the required number of illusions, they would fail the trial.

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Although it was simple in theory, it was actually the hardest trial. This trial simulated what it would be like in a real life and death situation. It wasn’t a sparring session where the disciple could just back out when they became tired.

In this trial, they would feel pain as if they really suffered the injury, they would experience what it’s like to fight with their life on the line, but most importantly they would realize that the world wasn’t fair, and eventually succumb under the combined strength of many illusions ganging up on them, showing that in combat, sometimes it was one against many.

Most participants would be weak willed and give up after feeling real pain for the first time. This was why it was the hardest trial, anyone that was a coward would eliminate themselves by giving up, refusing to suffer through the pain. In this way, the top two hundred that were left, they had the proper mindset, that in order to advance they would need to suffer.

Lute waited for this trial with anticipation, he didn’t fear battles, and he lived every day of his life like this for many months. Instead, he was excited, as he knew he couldn’t die, he could fight until he technically “Died”. He was predicting that Toros would interfere with his trial, making it harder.

Fighting at a disadvantage, fighting one against many, dancing upon the edge of life and death, Lute was excited for such a battle. This trial, he was hoping it would give him the sufficient pressure that was needed to break through and finish the last half step he needed to shatter the bottleneck that was the wall into the Nascent Qi Realm.

At long last, with only four hundred trial participants remaining, it was time for the last trial. With no exceptions, two hundred participants were going to be eliminated.

Lute stood silently, meditating and preparing mentally for this trial.

‘Up to the second level of the Nascent Qi Realm, I don’t need to use any Qi. Due to my strong physique, I should be able to beat the illusions to death. From the third level on, which is when I need to be the most careful, not wasting any of my Qi.’

The announcer stated the rules which were simple, if you didn’t kill enough, or time expires, you were disqualified. If there were more than two hundred who successfully completed the trials, there wouldn’t be exceptions, everyone would gain one hour rest and then retake the trial, until there was only two hundred trial participants remaining.

Without any more time to wait, every trial participant, including Lute lined up. Just like last trial, each of them would enter their own illusionary realm, but this time, it was a battlefield created based upon the worst fears of the cultivator. This trial was meant to bring out every last ounce of power from the participants, and fear was a great motivator, it could cause even the weak to have a short burst of power.

As light enveloped Lute’s consciousness, he opened his eyes. He was no longer within a void, which was his inner self. Instead he was once again on a field of carnage. The sky rained blood; the atmosphere was permeated by the smell of rotting flesh. No matter where he looked, bones and flesh were littered upon the ground. It was a mass graveyard.

Lute calmed his mind, and cultivated, although he was in the formation, it was still an hour before the trial would officially start. Lute prepared by absorbing Qi. He was already at maximum strength, but instead he had an idea, it was based off what Isla had once said would happen if he closed the First Path of New Beginnings while he had absorbed the extra Qi into his body that it would allow.

His body would be put under stress because of having more Qi than his body should be able to bear after losing the extra space the First Path gave him to store Qi.

With this idea in mid, Lute forcefully absorbed more Qi than his body could bear. He kept at it until his Spiritual Gods Meridians and Dantian were full, so much so to the point they had swelled. Lute felt slightly sluggish, but it wouldn’t affect his ability to fight.

The reasoning behind this, he wanted to have an advantage, even if it was minute. This extra Qi, even if it only allowed him to achieve one more Exploding Palm, or one more Qi Burst Step, it was still helpful. He would willingly feel bloated to get even one more attack off before he was forced to surrender.

Slowly, Lute adapted to the bloated feelings within his meridians and dantian. With the trial about to start, he was ready. Whatever Toros decided to do in order to make it harder, he was prepared, nothing would surprise him.

A thunderous roar shook the blood colored skies within Lute’s illusionary world. Lights descended from the sky, and the figures that appeared were sentinels, covered in full body armor, with a myriad of weapons. Some had bows, some had spears, while others had swords, shields, or war hammers.

The only commonality between every single one of these sentinels was that each and every one was accompanied by a Vicious Beast. Some were avian, others were land based. There wasn’t a sentinel that didn’t have a pet with it. Every single entity was at the first level of the Nascent Qi Realm.

Lute’s blood began to boil; he excitedly released his Slaughter Aura at full strength. This was a challenge he was looking forward to. A pressure upon him that would aid in helping the bottleneck into the Nascent Qi Realm, it was everything he wanted.

Toros had really done as promised, the game had now begun, Lute was able to go all out, Toros had meddled with the formation Lute was in, but now, Lute was on his own, because there was one difference with his formation compared to every other participant.

He had to survive for the half an hour. If he were to give up or “Die” beforehand he would be found out by the Elders presiding over the trial. This was the game that made not only Toros elated, and excited as he enjoyed wagers like these, but Lute also was ecstatic as well, he would be able to go all out, and with such a risk, it made him feel even more alive, as now, he absolutely couldn’t “Die” in a trial where you technically could receive a fatal injury, but you would be ejected from the formation.

With his Slaughter Aura at maximum effect, Lute wore a maniacal expression, a twisted smile was upon his face, his hair danced as if it was on fire, and his eyes became the eyes of a killer… no, they were the eyes of a War God. He wanted to bathe in carnage, much like the bloody world before him.

With strong will to annihilate all before him, Lute’s voice was ice cold as he said his favorite saying for when his blood was truly boiling and he wanted to fight.

“If it’s a battle you want… I shall give you a war instead.”