Leaving A Legacy

At first, Ren wasn’t quite sure if it had worked, but the longer he observed, the more certain he became. There were traces of illusion arrays, concealing arrays, and more, but the most conspicuous effect was the mental one.

Standing in that lush, wild garden, Ren felt safe and protected, engendering a defiant will. As if after fighting through all of life’s vicissitudes, he had finally arrived home hurt and broken but still unbowed. It made his heart soar with joy and his body relax.

Ren slowly roused himself from the wonderful feeling and took a closer look at his array. The mat the monks left in his room inspired him to create certain sections. He could spot his own customized disorienting arrays, chaotically blended in. Some of it even resembled pathways he had refined during his own epiphanies. Ren couldn’t believe he would ever make such an illogical array, riddled with errors, but somehow it worked and it worked well.

He had truly left a trace of his own achievements here. A legacy of enduring against the odds. And in this garden, in an allied sect, it would serve to thank them for the opportunity they had shared with others, including him.

Wanting to spend some time meditating on his day, Ren brought out the tortoises so they could appreciate this cozy environment as well. He soon lost himself once more in that sensation of reaching safety after relentlessly moving forward. So absorbed in his thoughts was he that Ren didn’t notice two tortoises, one with a silver and one with a gold spot on their shells, nudging his haphazard array flags with their heads. He just breathed easier while focusing inward.

---

Early on the morning of the trial, the elders brought everyone together once again just while the stars were still out. The vice sect leader addressed the excited disciples with a calm and collected tone.

“I hope you haven’t lost your edge while waiting for this trial because while it is not traditionally dangerous, only a fool would underestimate a trial such as this. If your eyes and ears weren’t completely sealed shut, then you would have seen and heard about the increased demonic presence in this region. The monks defend against that threat and protect the mortals as part of their duty.

But did any of you wonder why this is so? Long ago, in times lost to most memory, this region was a battlefield of unimaginable carnage. Supreme beings fought, shed blood, and died in great numbers.”

The disciples were stunned silent, with a look of awe on their faces as this hidden facet of history was revealed to them. The vice sect leader’s voice dropped even lower, and everyone leaned closer, listening keenly to keep from missing even a single word.

“After so long, only traces remain, but even those traces hold unfathomable power to have endured to this day. The Golden Dharma Trial is one among them. It is the remnant of a supreme being’s dantian, a subspace containing the last wisp of their might. Today, you will enter that subspace and immerse yourself inside the lake within.

The lake contains a furious vitality because that supreme being wasn’t just a cultivator but one who followed the path of body cultivation. The qi and vitality in the lake are beneficial to all, but body cultivators have an advantage in enduring for longer; hence, our method of selection.”

Just then the vice sect leader’s face grew even more serious, and she gave them a spine-chilling warning.

“Inside that lake, you will not just find the traces of a supreme being's power but also a trace of that which ultimately slayed them. So you will have to enter those tainted waters and avoid a cultivation deviation. Stay vigilant and keep true to yourself, and you will be fine, but hesitate, and you will pay the price.”

Ren knew now that it was for this reason they didn’t warn the disciples earlier because he couldn't help but start to worry. If he had more time to think on it, he would have lost his sanity while waiting for the trial to open. Even Hua looked apprehensive after the revelation of the trials' illustrious origins.

They were shepherded out to a large courtyard where other groups were gathering. This time, the whole monastery wasn’t there to greet them, only the hundred or so of each faction. An aged monk with a bowed back began to lead them up the mountain in the direction of the peak.

Ren didn’t know how far they climbed, but it had been a while since they left the most populated regions of the monastery. These areas had been forbidden to him as a guest, so he took the opportunity to distract himself by admiring the more ancient-looking buildings that sporadically appeared here.

The sky was just starting to lighten when they came to a section of the mountain where it looked like a giant hand had scooped away a large chunk. The steep incline leveled out in a large area that was absolutely covered in old yellowed talismans.

Hue leaned in and whispered, “Those are sealing talismans. Just how many of them are there…?”

A thrill of fear sped up Ren’s heartbeat. The elders guiding them stepped to the forefront and waited. It must have been dawn they were waiting for because no sooner had the warm golden light started to shine from behind them through the thick mists than they acted. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but Ren detected vast amounts of qi being released. To his senses, four different glowing rivers of qi were all converging on a single point.

At that point, a shimmering ripple spread out, and light began to seep out toward them. The disciple monks of the Golden Light Monastery rushed in first, followed by the nuns. Then it was their turns, and Ren tried not to look at the annoyed glances from the Celestial Instruments Sect as he followed Jian Feng into the rift. The other young master was focused solely forwards with a confident grin on his face.

After a brief moment of disorientation, Ren found himself in a strange subspace. There was a yellow haze coming from all directions, and in the distance he could make out the outlines of tall mountains. Once the haze cleared, Ren saw that they weren’t mountains but enormous floating rocks! The jagged, oddly curved mountain-sized objects were hovering in the sky above them, a domineering presence demanding to be noticed. There were also faint rhythmic whispers echoing all around him, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

Ren blindly followed the shadow of the person in front of him until they broke through a wall of mist, revealing a grand spectacle. A lake of liquid gold stretched into the distance, and directly in front of them was a colossal sculpture of someone sitting facing the lake, too tall for its face to be visible. They were but ants in its shadow.

Ren looked around curiously, but he saw no sign of the other groups. Three other colossal statues were visible seated on the far shores, splitting the lake into even quadrants.

‘Just how powerful was that supreme being that even after all this time, his legacy is so majestic!’

As he stood gaping at the sights, in awe of the might of ancient cultivators, the other disciples had arrived behind him. The disciple holding the top spot, who Ren now recognized as Elder Jiao Yue’s personal disciple, turned and addressed them.

“Remember what the elders said. Those waters are dangerous, so know your limits. The deeper you go, the greater the risk of deviation. We don’t have much time and will be automatically ejected afterwards, so try and make the most of this chance while you can.”

With that, he didn’t wait either and led the others to the shores. Ren half glanced backwards. It hadn’t occurred to him earlier, but now that he knew he had missed the opportunity to examine the borders of the subspace, Ren felt a mild regret.

‘Next time I enter a subspace, I’ll examine it at the start instead of waiting for later because I always seem to be leaving in a rush!’ He promised himself, despite not knowing when that chance might come again.

This time, instead of despondent, Ren felt optimistic. He turned to face the lake of liquid gold and walked forward with a determined stride. The others had already entered, and a few were standing waist-deep with furious frowns on their faces. Knowing better than to let others distract him, Ren took a moment to calm his thoughts and enter the correct mindset.

When the moment came, he stepped forward without hesitation. Despite how dense the liquid in the lake appeared, it parted like water. His legs tingled strangely as he advanced.

The waters reached his thighs, and he felt unusually warm.

Waist deep and starting to pass other disciples, Ren felt like he was wading into a hot spring.

The water reached his chest, and Ren knew that despite all the warnings, he had underestimated the difficulty because it was starting to feel like touching scalding water. Of course, with the toughness granted by his body cultivation, Ren could still endure for hours. Accepting the risk, he advanced further.

The gold reached his chin, and the pain made its presence impossible to ignore. It was at the same level as Ren’s usual body cultivation, where he moved an ember of yin flame through his meridians. It was difficult, but Ren could still tolerate it for a while. The problem was that he didn’t know how long he had before the trial kicked him out.

Ren hesitated for a brief moment, wondering whether he should proceed or stop here. In that instant, the pain multiplied threefold, and Ren’s legs buckled and collapsed face first into the waters of the lake!

Ren almost panicked, but inexplicably the increased pain sharpened his focus, and he realized he had actually drawn breath without drowning! The realization calmed him and briefly let him forget the pain of being boiled alive.

‘Wait, the pain actually decreased? What’s going on here?’ The pain started to return swiftly, so Ren ceased all thought and focused only on his body. The pain ebbed again, but this time he barely acknowledged it.

This reminded Ren of when he practiced the stances of the Heavenly Fire Body Refining, the stage where the astral energy was absorbed. Here too, the qi was wriggling its way into his body. His body was starting to fill with strands of hot qi that lingered for a few moments before dissolving.

This was the opportunity! To make the most of it, Ren knew he should cycle it according to his body cultivation method or qi cultivation manual, though the latter wasn’t an option for him. But instead of seizing the chance, he was captivated by the scene inside his dantian.

The burning sun of his Fire of Life hovering over the spiritual sea, surrounded by a cloud of ephemeral strands and some reinforced strands extending towards the walls of his healed dantian, were all the same as ever. What had changed were the thin crimson threads that had proliferated all through his dantian, which felt vile. As though he were infiltrated by something filthy, the threads were like slimy maggots. They phased through everything without leaving a trace, but a few were being tugged toward his Fire of Life!

Without knowing where they were coming from, Ren couldn’t focus on his cultivation. He extended his divine sense and saw the crimson threads weren’t just inside his dantian but all around him. Ren cycled his Sky Piercing Divine Sense to the limit and finally discovered the source.

There, at the depths of the lake, was a gigantic, clawed arm! Each finger was longer than his own arm. It was from the disembodied arm that the crimson threads emerged.

‘By the Heavens! What is that?!’