"you may enter," the old man said, opening the huge door of the mansion with a light push and gesturing for Draven to proceed.
Draven nodded and stepped inside with Alexandria.
Unlike what Draven expected, the moment he entered the mansion, he found himself in a desolate grassland with green grass reaching up to his knees. There was even a sun in the sky, obscured beneath snow-white clouds.
When he turned around, the door to the mansion had already disappeared, making Draven's heart sink further. If what he had heard about this place was correct, the door wouldn't appear again until the trial was over.
"Lord Asura is one of the greatest ancient Gods of War. When his lifespan ended and he entered the cycle of reincarnation, he used a secret technique to trap a wisp of his soul in the Asura God Mansion, to find worthy successors for his legacy. Asura is the God of War; if you want to inherit his legacy, you have to prove your worth first," the old man said, his hands behind his back.
Draven silently took out his cleavers from his scabbard and looked at Alexandria, who was clinging to his arms helplessly. "Didn't you hear what he said? Take out your weapon; we are going to fight."
A smile tugged at the old man's lips as he nodded. "Yes, you are going to fight, but there are some rules. First, since both of you are at the Mortal Realm, all the enemies you face will also be at the Mortal Realm. Second, any weapon you want, you can just imagine it, and the Asura God Mansion will make it appear in your hand. Third, no external help or artifacts are allowed."
"Fourth, in each round, until even one of you is alive, the trial will not end, and the deceased person can be revived in the next round. But if the remaining person who is alive chooses to quit the trial, their deceased teammate will be turned into a puppet and left to wander outside the Asura God Mansion."
"Fifth, if both of you die, your bodies will be turned into puppets and left to wander outside the Asura God Mansion."
After hearing all the rules, Draven sheathed his cleavers back and imagined the picture of them in his mind. Suddenly, golden light conjured around his palms and transformed into two identical cleavers.
He swung them a few times, and surprisingly, even when his vital chi wrapped around the blades, they felt and performed exactly like his originals.
Seeing this, Alexandria also closed her eyes. The next second, a white skintight battlesuit with golden lining covered her body, and a golden bow with rune symbols appeared in her hand.
Just by looking at it, Draven could feel the light essence energy contained within the golden bow.
The old man nodded in satisfaction. "You have some time to rest and replenish your energy." After that, he vanished, leaving only Draven and Alexandria alone in the grassland.
"Why did you agree to this trial? Didn't you hear what he said? If we die, we will also become ghost puppets like the people we saw outside," After the old man left, Alexandria regained some courage and asked Draven with some resentment in her tone.
"Uncle John once saved my life when I was little. If not for that favor, I would have never stepped in to save you, nor would I have ended up in this mess," Draven glared at her in frustration. "If I had said that I was not here for the trial, the next second both of us would have been killed. Even though that old man gave you two options, in reality, there is only one option, and that is to accept."
Alexandria was stunned after she heard this. She pursed her lips and remained silent with a wronged look on her face.
Seeing such a beautiful young lady, with a well-proportioned body and captivating golden eyes, standing there with a helpless expression, any young man would feel an urge to hug her and comfort her softly.
But sadly, Draven was not one of those young men. He ignored her and sat down on the grass, meditating to bring his state of mind to tranquility. After all, no one knew what they were going to experience in the trial; being at his best state would at least raise the possibility of survival.
After a while, when Draven opened his eyes, Alexandria said softly, "My name is Alexandria. My master is Henry Light; he is rather famous here, you might have heard about him."
Since she decided to speak, Draven also softened his attitude. "You can call me Draven. As for your master, we know each other. In fact, he was the one who recommended my sister to the Phoenix Academy."
"Your sister is a student of the Phoenix Academy? What branch?" Alexandria asked in surprise.
A smile appeared on Draven's lips as he said proudly, "Her name is Jessy Skywalker. Just like you, she awakened a light-type bloodline and is studying in the 35th branch. But soon she will be transferred to the 10th branch for the elite training camp."
Alexandria's face showed surprise when she heard this. After all, only people with exceptional talent were selected for the elite training camp, and for someone from a weak stronghold like the 36th to enroll in that camp was truly astonishing.
Suddenly, she thought of Draven's terrifying physique and asked curiously, "By the way, why don't I sense any elemental essence from you? Are you one of those legendary vital chi body cultivators?"
Draven nodded slightly. "I won't claim to be legendary, but I indeed practice a vital chi body forging art."
As they were talking, the old man appeared in front of them once more. "Young couple, the first trial will start now. There will be 8 enemies, 4 for each. Kill them and you will pass. Remember, you won't be given an option to quit in the first two trials."
After relaying the information, he once again disappeared.
"Rustle... rustle..."
Just then, a rustling sound was heard, and eight white rabbits with blood-red eyes and sharp claws appeared before them. Each one was the size of a regular dog and covered in fluffy fur, which made them look deceptively cute.
"White Demon Rabbits, eight at the 10th stage of the Mortal Realm...", Draven muttered to himself as he stood up with his cleavers in hand.
"Just protect yourself; I will take the charge," Draven said to the young lady and rushed forward towards the White Demon Rabbits, which also bared their fangs and ran towards them like hungry wolves.
"Swoosh... swoosh..." With each swing of Draven's cleaver, he effortlessly cut down the rabbits in two. After all, his physical strength was already beyond the level of the Mortal Realm, so killing these rabbits was not difficult, since their main expertise was speed and their sharp claws, not their defense.
Alexandria watched in astonishment as Draven's cleavers, which were not even spirit weapons, transformed into terrifying tools capable of cutting anything the moment Draven's vital chi enveloped them.
"There is blade intent in his vital chi," she said to herself in understanding.
After dealing with the eight rabbits, Draven flicked the bloodstains from his cleavers and waited for the next instruction.
Soon enough, the old man appeared once more and nodded his head in approval. "Your vital chi has already reached the point of breaking the limit. If you can push it a little further, you may be able to achieve an acquired physique according to your vital chi cultivation technique."
Acquired physiques are physiques which are not innate and are acquired by the cultivator through practicing different techniques. In Draven's vital chi cultivation technique, there was no mention of it being capable of granting an acquired physique to the cultivator. Nevertheless, Draven still bowed to the old man. "Thanks for Senior's guidance."
The old man stroked his white beard with a smile. "Inform me when you are ready for the next trial."
Draven nodded, and the old man once again vanished. Following that, the dead bodies of the rabbits lying on the ground also faded away like an illusion.
"I will recuperate for some time before the second trial," Draven said to Alexandria and sat down cross-legged on the ground.
Alexandria nodded and sat down beside him.
Closing his eyes, Draven sent his consciousness inside the Dream God Ring.
[Dream God Ring]
[Dream Points: 140]
[Life Span: 17/100]
[Innate Dream Walker Physique (Mortal)]
[Shadow World Behemoth Bloodline (Mortal): 0.005/100(+)]
[Chaos Divine Ape Bloodline (Mortal): 0/100(+)]
...
"Killing those eight rabbits increased my dream points by 80, which means all of them had a soul and were not mere illusions," Draven thought to himself as he saw his dream points increase from 60 to 140.