The darkness he found himself in was absolute—heavy and dense to the point where he felt as though he were sinking into a sea of tar.
He couldn't see his hands in front of his eyes, and he heard nothing but the rapid beating of his heart.
But he maintained his composure, realizing this was the first part of the test.
'Your test is simple. Even if you fail to complete the inheritance fully, you will still gain some benefits. But how much you earn depends on you. All you have to do is walk until the end of the darkness.'
After hearing the Phoenix's instructions, Zhang Yong took a deep breath and began walking forward into the pitch-black darkness.
There was no light, no sound, no smell—nothing but the infinite sense of emptiness around him.
'I've walked through illusions before, and paths filled with ghosts. This situation should be simple.'
First: an hour. Second: a day. Third: a week.
There was no way to measure time here. His five senses became useless one after another.
Sight was the first victim, then hearing, then smell and touch.
Even his sense of taste disappeared, as if his tongue had turned into a dead piece of wood.
'Hah, yes. Loss of the five senses. It doesn't matter. I'm used to this. This is nothing.' Zhang Yong continued walking.
Then he felt something was wrong.
Drip... drip...
The sound of falling droplets, like water drops. But there was something strange.
He hadn't glimpsed anything. It was as if the sound was inside his consciousness.
Then he began to feel. He touched his chest, and there was a patch of blood. No—there was a fist-sized hole in his chest.
'What?... No, there's no damage to my life at all. It's a trick.' Zhang Yong reminded himself.
But another strange thing happened. His right hand began to turn into sand, flew through the air, and disappeared.
Zhang Yong's body continued to deteriorate slowly and mercilessly. It wasn't just his right hand that turned to ash and scattered into the void. His left leg began to melt as if it were a candle, leaving a trail of dark dust before vanishing into nothingness.
The pain was strange and banal. There were no sharp pangs of pain, only a sensation of disintegration, of vanishing, as if his very existence was being slowly erased.
But worse than the pain was the feeling of utter helplessness.
"This... is illogical!" He tried to scream, but no sound came from his mouth, which was also beginning to lose its shape.
There was no blood, no tears, no sweat—only a silent, slow transformation of the body into nothing. He watched with his own eyes as his toes evaporated one by one.
He felt a strange sensation as his torso began to collapse from within, as his organs were turning to dust
The most terrifying part was that he was fully conscious of every moment of this dissolution
His consciousness, which should have been the first to go, remained bound to this decomposing body
But Zhang Yong was still insisting it was an illusion.
"Just an illusion..." he tried to remind himself, but the memories themselves began to fade.
He was losing not just his body, but everything that made him "Zhang Yong." Every moment of joy, every memory of pain, every relationship, every achievement—all were being erased one by one.
He began to doubt the reality of his existence. "Was I ever real, or was all of this just a dream?"
He was turning into nothing. Into void.
"No... this isn't an illusion..." a desperate thought whispered in his remaining consciousness. "This is real... I'm dying..."
Even his consciousness began to disintegrate. Thoughts became jumbled, incoherent. He no longer knew who he was, why he was here, or what was happening.
All that remained was a fundamental sense of existence, and even that was fading.
In the final moments before his consciousness completely vanished, there was no longer even fear or despair. There were no emotions at all. Only void. Only nothing.
And in this nothingness, there was no longer even hope that this was just a test.
There was no longer even the possibility of return.
And for the first time since the test began, Zhang Yong—or what remained of him—felt true, complete, absolute despair.
It was a despair that came too late, after he had lost even the ability to feel it.
It was a complete, final, irreversible defeat.
And in the end, before the last atom of his consciousness disappeared, there was no longer even a "he" to feel anything.
'No... whatever... was...'
Ah. Zhang Yong's existence began to be erased. This was extremely unexpected. But there was still more to achieve.
Zhang Yong opened his eyes, and this time he was outside the entrance. He stared at the sky above him, and there was an empty feeling in his heart.
'Tch. Lucky bastard.' A look of disdain appeared in the Phoenix's tone. 'In the end, you're not a suitable candidate at all. A heart full of despair with no room for hope. You don't deserve life. If not for that last thread of will you had, you wouldn't have been able to withdraw. You don't deserve that little girl.'
Zhang Yong couldn't answer. It seemed his tongue had frozen, unable to speak.
'If you knew—thanks to me granting her some of my lineage's blood essence, she was able to transform. And she went through the same test and succeeded. Do you know what thought kept her together until the end? It was you! Damn it. Why did it have to be a hopeless, worthless person like you!'
The Phoenix's words pierced Zhang Yong like a sharp knife. He lay there, unable to respond, with a strange feeling.
He looked at his trembling hands and realized how foolishly confident he had been, convinced he could overcome anything with willpower alone.
'Hmph. Even though you failed, you still made some progress. I won't bully the young. Take this bottle of three drops of my blood. The maximum reward possible for you.'
Zhang Yong remained lying on the ground for some time, silent, absorbing the Phoenix's harsh words. The cold air tickled his face, but the cold in his heart was deeper.
He had faced death before—more times than he could count. He had fought and fought. And now he had been completely defeated. In this moment, he had failed.
He slowly raised his hand, holding the small crystal bottle containing three drops of Phoenix blood, before placing it in his storage.
'His words won't affect me. But he's right about one thing.'
"Papa!"
Kuro's voice came, full of concern. She ran toward him, her purple eyes wide and full of tears. "Are you okay?"
Zhang Yong slowly sat himself up, feeling a slight dizziness. He smiled with difficulty and patted her head. "I'm fine, Kuro. Just... a little tired."
The others looked at him, their expressions a mix of concern and questioning. They didn't know what had happened inside. All they had seen was Zhang Yong's body flying through the air past the gateway. But they knew from the Phoenix's aura and Zhang Yong's condition that things had not gone well.
After a moment of silence, Wang Fei said in a quiet voice, "Little Brother, don't blame yourself. Defeat is sometimes natural."
"I understand that, Big Brother," Zhang Yong said as he stood up. "Let's leave this place. We have a lot to do."
As they prepared to leave, Zhang Yong looked once more toward the stone gateway, which had now disappeared. His gaze was different this time—it seemed distant.
'Now... wandering with two little girls will be dangerous in these parts.'
(The host can place kuro in the pet space.)
'Isn't that impossible since she transformed into human form?'
(The pet mark is still on her. As long as it is, it is still possible to place her in the space.)
Zhang Yong nodded his head, then looked at Kuro. "I'll have to put you in the pet space for a short while until we get out of this dangerous area."
Kuro looked at him with wide eyes, but nodded in understanding. "Okay, papa , But don't leave me in there for too long!"
Zhang Yong smiled gently and patted her head. "I won't. It's just to keep you safe."
After safely placing Kuro in the pet space, Liu Yan couldn't help but frown. "How can you have the heart to put a little girl in a spatial pouch, even if it's meant for living creatures?"
From the others' perspective, what Zhang Yong did was cruel—treating a human as a spirit beast and placing her in a spatial pouch was a little inhumane.
But they couldn't really object. Kuro was a spirit beast who had taken human form. More importantly, the area was dangerous. What happened with the Brain Devourer was just a glimpse.
"Sister Liu Yan, this is a temporary safety measure," Zhang Yong said quietly, his red eyes appearing tired. "When we reach a safe area, I'll let her out"
Wang Fei stared at him , realizing that Zhang Yong was under great pressure after failing the Phoenix's test. "That's not important. The area is still dangerous. It's best we focus on getting out of here as quickly as possible."
The group began moving again, heading away from the Phoenix Mountains. The air was cold and the wind howled.
As they walked, Zhang Yong was unusually silent. Usually, he would be thinking about the next step or planning something. But now his mind was occupied with the Phoenix's words.
'A heart full of despair with no room for hope...'
Was that true? Zhang Yong had always believed he was realistic, not despairing.
He had faced many difficult situations and survived them thanks to his will and planning.
But now it was all over. He had exploited every available opportunity from Wu Ruxian's memory for the time being. If he wanted more benefits, he would have to wait for some time.
The nearest opportunity would be in fifteen years.
But the truth is , the Phoenix exam was actually pretty simple , if Zhang yong had hope in his heart , or held a picture of someone he treasure in his mind and heart , he would've succeded
After crossing the area safely after ten days of non-stop travel through this vast region—
Then, suddenly, as they were moving, a majestic killing intent rose, directed toward them.
Heavy as a mountain, sharp as a sword, as if it had pinpointed them from a great distance.
"Be careful!" Wang Fei suddenly shouted.
Zhang Yong looked toward the direction of the killing intent, his red eyes gleaming coldly. "It's indeed powerful. At least... King rank."
"King?!" Liu Yan screamed. "How can we face that?"
At that moment, a person suddenly appeared in the air above them. He was a tall man wearing a blue robe, his black hair flying in the wind along with a long white beard and grey skin with red markings.
He held a crystal scepter glowing with red light, and his cold eyes stared at them as if looking at corpses.
When Mona saw that person, her eyes widened and she screamed, "Uncle Dok!"
"Hmph! How dare you detain her!" Uncle Dok's voice rang out like thunder.
"Elder, there is a misunderstanding," Wang Fei said in a loud voice, trying to defuse the situation. "We did not detain this girl. We saved her from a dangerous area."
"Lies!" Uncle Dok shook his head, and the crystal scepter in his hand glowed brightly. "I saw everything! You are evil humans who kidnapped her to use as a hostage or worse!"
"You're wrong!" Liu Yan said angrily. "If we wanted to harm her, we would have done so long ago!"
But Uncle Dok didn't listen. He raised his scepter, and spiritual energy began to condense around him, forming a vortex of blue flame. "Return her to me now, and I may let you live!"
The team members felt the immense pressure. This man was truly at the King rank, and his power was overwhelming.
"Hmph, you foolish old man." Another voice came with the sound of a slap, and the blue flame vortex disappeared instantly.
A woman appeared in the sky with blue hair and grey skin. She slapped Uncle Dok immediately.
She slapped a King-rank!
The blood froze in the group's veins. A King-rank being slapped so casually.
"Aunt Mi!" Mona's voice suddenly rang out with joy as she stepped forward. Her expression was happier when she saw the woman than when she had seen the man.
Aunt Mi looked at Mona with warm eyes, then turned toward Uncle Dok with harsh eyes. "You fool! Can't you see they saved her? If they wanted to harm her, she would have died long ago! Besides, what if you had hurt her!"
Uncle Dok was flustered, but he didn't fully back down. "I intended to scare them into leaving her alone. Besides, they're human! And humans always..."
"Shut your mouth!" Aunt Mi interrupted him in a sharp voice. "Humans aren't all evil. Even we Barbarians aren't all innocent. Have you forgotten how that old human helped us twenty years ago?"
A brief silence fell. Uncle Dok seemed hesitant, but the pressure surrounding them began to ease slightly.
Wang Fei seized this opportunity. "Elder, we truly did not harm her. We found her lost in the Fog Field, and we promised to return her to her family."
Aunt Mi looked at Wang Fei, examining him. Her golden eyes stared at him intently. "You are the leader of this group?"
"Yes. But my little brother here is the one who made the decision to help her, and I couldn't refuse his request," Wang Fei said steadily.
Aunt Mi looked at Zhang Yong, her golden eyes examining him with appreciation. "So you're the one who decided to help Mona?"
Zhang Yong nodded quietly. "Yes. It wasn't logical to leave a little girl lost in a dangerous area like that. Barbarian or not."
Aunt Mi smiled, the wrinkles around her eyes creasing slightly. "A kind heart. Rare among humans." Then she turned to Uncle Dok. "See? If they were evil, why would they care about a lost Barbarian child?"
Uncle Dok didn't seem fully convinced, but he lowered his scepter. "Perhaps... but they're still human. We can't fully trust them."
"No one is asking you to trust them," Aunt Mi said calmly. "But gratitude is a virtue. They saved the child's life. That deserves at least some appreciation."
Then she turned to the group. "Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Mi Biao, and this is Dok Yu Yang. We are the guardians of Mona, the daughter of the tribe chief."
Wang Fei bowed politely. "Honored to meet you. I am Wang Fei, and these are my comrades: Su Ming, Liu Yan, Liu Yin, and Zhang Yong."
Mona looked at her guardians with wide eyes. "Uncle Dok, Aunt Mi, these friends were kind to me! They protected me, fed me, and helped me find you!"
Uncle Dok sighed deeply, the suspicion in his eyes beginning to melt slightly. "I apologize... I misjudged you. In our region... tensions between humans and Barbarians are high, and misunderstandings are easy."
"We understand," Wang Fei said gently. "We appreciate your apology."
Mi Biao descended toward them and extended her hand toward Mona. "Come, we must leave."
But the little girl clung tightly to Zhang Yong's hand, her golden eyes glistening with hesitation.
"Will... will I see you again, Brother Zhang Yong?" Mona whispered in a faint voice.
Zhang Yong looked at the little girl, then at the guardians, his red eyes appearing gentler than usual. "Perhaps, if fate allows."
That was a lie. After all, if Zhang Yong went to Barbarian territory, he would be considered a traitor to humanity—that is, if the Barbarians didn't try to kill him first.
But Mi Biao was looking at Zhang Yong with a mysterious expression. "You... are different from ordinary humans." She paused for a moment, then flipped her palm and pulled out a necklace made of carved bone in a primitive technique, but it was distinctive. "Take this as a token of our gratitude. It may help you one day."
Before Zhang Yong could refuse, the necklace flew toward him and tied itself around his neck. Then she gently took Mona's hand. "It's time to return. Your father must be extremely worried."
Uncle Dok looked at the group one last time, his eyes carrying a more relaxed look. "If you pass through Barbarian lands in the future, ask for the Red Tiger Tribe. You will be safe as long as you carry that necklace."
After a moment, the three disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the group alone in the cold wind.
(Mission completed. Rewards have been stored.) The completion panel appeared before Zhang Yong.
"Well, that was... unexpected," Liu Yan said, sighing with relief.
"It's fine. It ended well," Wang Fei said, shaking his head.
Zhang Yong couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly. "Nevertheless, Big Brother, did you have to highlight me in front of them?"
"Oh, that?" Wang Fei said with a smile. "It will be useful for you. Perhaps you need their help. There might be a chance they have a way to repair your Dantian. There's a good chance."
Zhang Yong thought about Wang Fei's words. His destroyed Dantian was a major obstacle to his progress. Although he had other ways to fight, repairing it would restore his true power.
"Perhaps," Zhang Yong said quietly. "But that's not our priority now. The important thing is to stay alive"but still zhang yong was deeply moved
Big brother Wang was truly a kind person , he thinks of my problems very considerably
The others nodded in agreement. They were still in a dangerous mountainous region, and staying here for long was fraught with risk.