"This is a bit awkward," Elder Zhang said while coughing into his fist.

Sect leader Shen and Elder Kwang shared a look before giving the eyebrow equivalent of a full-body shrug. Jin meanwhile just sighed. He hadn't really expected it to happen like this. Still, considering that this was to his knowledge the first time an Illusion Room was being used to select outer disciples it made sense that he couldn't predict exactly how it would go.

It started well enough, just as he'd expected. A bunch of brutes had forced their way to the front only to find that muscles were not what was going to bring them through this particular challenge. They failed, screamed, ran away and told the other participants approximately what to expect. The issue started after the teenager in the blue robes had jumped forward for some reason to get access to the Room...

Almost nobody was using the other four Illusion Rooms

The boy was currently still managing to hang on and was in fact the participant that had done so the longest. However, people watching this were actually making a decision that Jin hadn't expected. They were simply watching the boy stand there with shaking limbs and a pale face, sweat running down his brow. Presumably they were waiting for this boy, who had been until now the most successful examinee to fail so they could get more information out of him before trying themselves.

Sure every now and again someone else walked up to an Illusion Room only to fall down screaming after barely a few minutes. But, at the rate this was going, they were going to be standing here for days, if not weeks.

"It's quite clear that if we continue using this as an exam, we will have to change the structure," Sect Leader Shen mused.

"Perhaps not explain to them what they will be doing, making them think that it's real... Touch the room through a hole in the wall," Jin muttered thoughtfully. "And isolate them so they can't start thinking too much about the information advantage they gain by waiting."

"It's definitely something to consider once we know more about the situation, but I imagine we must first see how today ends before making any conclusive decisions," the sect leader decided wisely.

"That boy though. He's doing quite well isn't he?" Elder Kwang piped up for once having something positive to say.

"He's sweating and shaking much less than those that had failed in the end and he's been under for much longer," Elder Zhang commented. "I'm curious which part of the scenario he is in currently," he mused.

-/-

Xiao was currently blindly touching his way through the sewers desperately trying to avoid the madmen he was trapped in there with.

That blasted Father Martin might have provided some useful information, but the fact that he'd destroyed the sealing mechanisms of the front door of the building and of the lights made any good impression a bad one.

Having to find those spirit stones just to be able to see… He could feel how with every single sound around him his heart almost jumped out of his throat and his brain threatened to explode from sheer stress and anxiety.

Thoughts about the demonic entity, the Walrider that the demonic cultivators of this so-called Murkoff sect had been trying to summon as either a weapon or a tool to achieve immortality swirled in his mind, further driving him mad from the implication that he could at some point actually be faced with a dark god of some sort.

A metallic clang suddenly came from behind him.

Not bothering to turn around, knowing that he wouldn't see anything he could only hope at this point that whoever had made the sound would not be able to see him either. Rather than run away which had been one of his first mistakes, his feet having caused sound which had gotten him chased by the demented screams of the inmates, he dropped to the floor in a fetal position to make himself a smaller target.

Tears started streaming down his face as he forcefully shoved a fist into his mouth to prevent any sound from escaping him involuntarily as shambling feet walked past him, so close to his position that he could almost taste the decaying wretched blood undoubtedly sticking to whoever was moving. There were only murderers left at this point.

The feet stopped and his heart skipped a beat as another metallic sound ran through the darkness. As if the person was holding an iron rod they were using to touch around themselves.

What felt like hours passed, but it must have been only a few seconds before the steps continued and the beleaguered breathing and shuffling went out of Xiao's hearing range. Despite this, he laid there for a bit more trying to gather whatever wits he still had, unfortunately having to admit that he was just one more bad interaction away from a full-blown heart attack.

-/-

"I imagine he's at the point where he figured out some of the underlying history behind the demonic sect," Jin mused. "I wonder if he's enjoying the lore. Frankly, it has quite a lot of effort put into it and if you really bother reading it sounds quite interesting doesn't it?" he asked in the air

-/-

Strapped down onto a chair with wheels, Xiao struggled against his bindings as the mad abomination of a variant calling himself Trager cut off two of his fingers and started talking about how his tongue and his genitals were going to be next. His muffled screams failed to burst past the gag in his mouth as his eyes rolled to the back of his head threatening complete unconsciousness once again.

But, he had to stay awake. He had to perservere. He had to keep fighting because if he didn't fight for himself now then no one would fight for the rights of mortals in the future and no one would be there to take revenge on the Baos and on the...

-/-

"I have to admit inner disciple Jin that the psychology and the human decision-making required for the scenario were quite well researched and used," Elder Zhang complimented. "Despite all of the nastiness of the business, of which I have seen a lot in all of my millennia as a warrior, I cannot help but feel that the people taking this exam today will be able to take some valuable lessons from it even if they do not pass. I've always thought that Illusion Rooms held an educational potential that wasn't being fully tapped and while I don't necessarily think that this is realising that to its maximum, I cannot imagine that the young boy taking the exam and succeeding unlike all of the other failures managing barely 20 minutes is not appreciating at least some of the horrible beauty of your product."

-/-

Mutilated and mentally scarred Xiao stood in the cell in which that crazy bastard Martin, who'd turned off the lights and the sealing array had crucified himself to the wall to prove some sort of point. That he was the chosen prophet of this Walrider monster the demonic cultivators had been trying to summon and which was now roaming these very halls haunting him just like the variants created through contact with the creature.

The stumps of his two fingers itched and the many lacerations and broken bones that he was currently suffering from clawed at every atom of his being. But nothing was worse than his mind which was screaming for release which he couldn't grant without sacrificing the mission that he had come here for.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Father Martin erupted in flames after he gave Xiao one last key. Hopefully, this help wouldn't come with the negative side-effects of the man's other efforts.

-/-

"Is he coming out?" Jin exclaimed as he noticed the boy in the blue robes moving and shaking his head sporadically. "He's already been in there for hours, he should be done no?" he asked excitedly.

"Unless he gave up just at the end. After all, they don't know how long this whole thing takes so they may not push through," Elder Zhang muttered. "Perhaps that was a bit of a sadistic choice in hindsight," he added.

"One of them passed," Elder Kwang commented as the boy, ignoring the shouted questions and the grasping hands of the other examinees passed through the purple light of the wooden gate only to collapse once on the other side.

"One in 31 of those who have attempted have passed now?" Elder Zhang muttered.

"I feel it is unlikely that any of the rest will succeed," sect leader Shen said decisively as he looked down at the remaining examinees, only one of whom was actually attempting the Illusion Room. One could see from their faces that they were all without a single exception terrified out of their minds.

"They hadn't even experienced the scenario so how exactly did that qualify to feel fear?" Jin complained to himself. "The longer they wait to try the more scared they get," he concluded. "And the longer they wait, the more likely it is that they are the type of people who easily get scared which is not necessarily what's going to help them pass this kind of test."

"Is the boy alright?" Elder Zhang asked abruptly and they turned their collective attention to their only new outer disciple who had fallen to his knees as his limbs apparently failed him. He slowly but surely curled up in a position in which he was hugging his knees to his chest and with their advanced senses they could hear that he was taking incredibly short and rapid breaths.

"He's having a panic attack," Jin realized. "It's when the body encounters too much stress and shuts down. To think that he fought it off just to get through this, perhaps I should congratulate him in person after we're done here.

"It would be good for him to meet his benefactor," Elder Zhang replied.

"After all, who knows if he would have passed the other possible tests. He should be rather grateful that it turned out to be something that he was suited for."

-/-

Shudders ran through Xiao's body as he hugged his knees to his chest as hard as he could. From the edge of his vision, he could see all of the other examinees screaming at him to tell them what he had experienced, however, none of them rushed to the other side of the gate by going around it, too afraid of the retribution from the cultivators.

Short breaths racked his body as the full stress of the experience fell on him like a whole quarry of stones. Keeping it all in as he'd gone through the nightmare was now coming to bite him. He felt like he was going to die here and now. His heart was beating at a rate that he had never thought possible before, faster than the wings of a fly.

He couldn't believe that he had apparently passed, mind still stuck on the horrors he'd witnessed

He felt short of breath despite the amount of breathing he was doing and any second now he knew he would pass out. He tried to calm himself trying to preserve a good image for his new sect but inevitably failed.

It had simply been too much. Darkness took him.

-/-

"I think we can end it here," Sect Leader Shen mused after the most recent person who had been attempting the Illusion Room failed and no one was willing to take their place.

Elder Kwang scoffed down at the examinees. "Only 33 of them were even brave enough to attempt. How would they have cultivated with such a lacking mindset?"

Jin meanwhile was looking down at the still passed-out disciple of the Mad Monks Sect. They hadn't bothered going down to help him and transport him somewhere else, so he was still lying there. They could hear his breath and when did laying on some soft grass really hurt someone?

His gaze then turned towards the mass of people who were all looking at the floating Illusion Rooms but who were apparently unable to bring up the courage to actually touch them. He wondered how he would have fared with this exam in their place.

The answer was probably that he wouldn't have come here in the first place. And then when here, he never would have been willing to work through something so nauseating just to pass.

Secondly, even if he had made up his mind and tried his best there was still a very distinct possibility of failure, he realized now that he was looking at the examinees. His current view of this situation was slightly distorted.

These were mortals unused to magic and most certainly unused to Illusion Rooms. What did they know about the death not being permanent, that the injuries would fade and that the scars would leave them after they finished the scenario. To mortals, this was probably all just a bunch of voodoo that would steal their souls. After all, the educational level of this world was quite low for those who couldn't afford the best tutors.

"With such a ratio, with one new disciple a year, assuming that none of them ever fall prey to the madness then we will just about hit replacement levels," Elder Zhang said, almost sounding as if to him the experiment was a success.

"We will simply have to see with time if indeed none of them succumb. Or at least if fewer of them will," Elder Kwang agreed. "How long should we administer the test before checking back to see the numbers?" he asked aloud.

"Not too long. It seems it was quite stressful even for those who failed after all," sect leader Shen answered. "I think a hundred years should do it. By then all of the new outer disciples will have gotten the time to either shine or not."

Jin closed his eyes and mentally apologised for all of the future mortals who would be brutalised by his creation. 'I'm sorry,' he said in his mind. 'You would thank me if you knew what fate you avoided had you gotten in without the prerequisite mental resistance.'

The exam ended with 32 traumatised mortals, almost twice as many cowards and with one new outer disciple.

-/-

Xiao awoke from a land of nightmares, however rather than opening his eyes with a gasp he kept them closed. He could remember the code that he had received at the end of the scenario and passing through the barrier, but if it had all been a lie created by his own mind to soothe him then he didn't want to open his eyes and see that he had been wrong.

"You're awake?" A voice suddenly said from beside him and it was filled with such peace and calm that Xiao immediately realised his nightmare was over. his eyelids fluttered open and immediately closed again at the bright light that irritated them.

"Take your time. You are safe," the voice said again.

Listening to the advice, Xiao slowly but surely started moving his body from his toes to his fingertips and noticed no irregularities. His eyes opened gradually, slowly adjusting to the level of light and once they had fully done so he beheld a calming wooden ceiling rather than the brutal weird architecture that he had been inhabiting for the past hours, or days, he did not know.

"Did I pass?" Was the first question out of his mouth.

"Yes, but unfortunately you also passed out after doing so. You are now currently on the mountain in the outer disciple ring. The infirmary, more specifically. It is empty so you may speak as you wish, we don't have many injuries in the sect," the voice said.

Xiao looked to the side wishing to put a face to the words and saw an androgynous-looking man wearing the burnt orange robes that he knew by now. By his side sat the young man with evil bags under his eyes and a sadistic countenance. Xiao immediately recognized him as one of the cultivators who had judged him during the exam. The man simply gave him a brief nod, seemingly distracted by something.

He seemed kinder somehow, as if now that Xiao was someone who was going to be a cultivator instead of a mortal he had gained something of value in his eyes.

Xiao scoffed internally but didn't let displeasure show on his face.

"I am Shen," the monk introduced himself. "May I ask how you feel?" he asked.

"I feel fine," Xiao replied after a few seconds with a surprised tone of voice.

The man who had not yet given his name once again nodded absentmindedly. "The trauma is most likely mental not physical. Although from what you experienced it could be that the former will show up as the latter, if you are a person so inclined to phantom stress," he said in a raspy unused voice.

Xiao suddenly remembered something and slightly bowed his head. "Xiao Yung greets seniors," he said.

The two cultivators by his bedside shared a glance before shrugging, both bowing their heads as well. "Shen greets Junior," the monk said.

"Jin greets Junior," the other one said. "Although I should inform you now that you are not my junior and I am not your senior because I'm in fact not from the Mad Monks Sect, but simply a visitor."

"More than a visitor," Shen interjected with a small smile. He turned to Xiao. "He is an inner disciple of the Illusion Room Sect and is the one who developed the scenario that you underwent."

The blood in Xiao's veins ran cold and he felt a spasm starting to emerge in his stomach. He clenched all of his muscles to fight back and managed to calm himself down but closed his eyes so the pair wouldn't notice the irregularity.

The twisted and sick mind that had come up with the nightmare that was likely to haunt him for the rest of his life was in the same room as him and yet it was at a time when he was still too weak to do anything about it. Under the covers, Xiao clenched his fists and grit teeth.

"I know that you are likely not feeling very generous in terms of opinion for the person who created the scenario that you underwent yesterday, but I can assure you that it was not his plan to create something like that, but simply something the sect commissioned," Shen suddenly said, perhaps noticing his discomfort. "I will not get into the particular reasons why something like this is necessary as it will be a part of what you will learn later, but suffice it to say that mortals should suffer and fail now than to meet the potentially disastrous consequences of becoming disciples of our sect but not having the mental fortitude necessary to complete the cultivation process."

Xiao belatedly listened to the explanation but realised that he was shutting down from all the information flying at him. He felt like an ant in a tempest. Inconsequential, small and weak.

"Just as a question," Jin spoke up, ignoring the atmosphere. "While I certainly made what I did out of the desire of others. I am still a professional at heart so out of the one person who succeeded in the test of mental toughness… How ready do you feel to challenge the endless path of cultivation? Death, hard work, eternity working towards a goal you may never reach. How do these things make you feel? What is your attitude towards the life of suffering and discipline you are about to undergo?"

Xiao had never really thought about what he would do after he joined the sect because he didn't have enough knowledge to even set up a reasonable expectation. However, if he was being asked this question now after what he just experienced. He smirked knowing that it was an ugly smile unfitting on his face. "The scenario definitely brought me to the limits of my capacity, but I feel like I could have kept going for longer. I'm only resting now because I have the privilege to do so, so I can face future challenges in a better state. I'm going to cultivate, I'm going to ascend and I'm going to change the world into what it should have been changed into long ago," he answered, staring Jin directly in the eyes and not seeing any shift in opinion from his statement.

He'd been trying in a way to tell the man and perhaps the Mad Monks Sect as well, that in the future it was going to be him dictating how things were going to go around here.

The two senior disciples didn't have much of a reaction to his exclamation, simply exchanging an amused look.

Jin stood up and clapped his hands together as if to remove dust from his palm. "You got a good egg here, lots of willpower. I think he will go far as long as he doesn't… slip," he said and turned around to walk away. "And anyway, I still have one more scenario to finish then I'll be out of your hair," he said before chuckling, nobody at the Mad Monks Sect had any hair.

Xiao's eyes followed the beige-clad figure until he exited the room. 'Inner disciple Jin of the Illusion Room Sect,' Xiao thought to himself. 'I will remember you.'