Chương 98: Final trial

"Are you sure? I feel like this root-like pattern can't self-repair on its own. I think something needs to be added to it," Shu Yang said, pointing to the sketch he had drawn.

"Why would it need that? Healing is healing; an additional pattern seems useless to me. As long as you have enough spiritual qi, it should work on its own," Fan Shimo said.

"But what if it's cleaved in two? It doesn't make sense that a broken pattern can still function," Shu Yang said.

"I think I saw a similar pattern in my trial. It could self-repair even after being broken," Fan Shimo said.

"I had one too," Shu Yang said, "But it should be connected to another formation elsewhere that is responsible for repairing it. I'm thinking that you might be able to add something to this pattern itself to make it, well, reassemble, without relying on any other formation to help. It should all be contained within the same system of patterns," Shu Yang said.

"You lost me, son," Fan Shimo said, shaking his head.

"In my experience, any part of a formation responsible for repairing, also repairs itself if broken. Unless, of course, it's completely disassembled. But if that's the case, no other part of the formation could repair it. If that was possible, what would you need formation masters for?"

"I guess I see your point," Shu Yang said, rubbing his head.

"Alright, thank you for your help. I'll think it over." Shu Yang walked away from Fan Shimo and came back to the pillar where he had engraved the root-like pattern he had seen in the hidden corridor.

'I just don't get it. I should be able to add something to it to make it work. Or else the puzzle in the corridor doesn't make any sense.' Shu Yang looked to where Song Hongchi was working on her own experiments.

'I wonder if she can figure it out.' Shu Yang wasn't going to show her, of course. He was just curious about how well she would do in the final trial later. The current problem had occupied Shu Yang's time for the past two weeks. He couldn't help but believe Song Hongchi would have solved it in a day or two.

'There isn't really any hope of me beating her. I guess the only hope is there being some kind of prize for the one who comes in second.' There were only a few days left before the hidden doors leading to the final trial would open, and Shu Yang had improved a lot in the past months. But he was nowhere near Song Hongchi.

'Well, I still have time to improve a bit more.' … A few days passed, and both Shu Yang and Song Hongchi were unusually quiet.

"Did you guys…give up?" Fan Linzen stepped forward and asked.

"Just taking a small break," Shu Yang said, opening his eyes and looking up at Linzen. He had been resting for the past day, just quietly meditating and preparing. He had thought a lot about his plans going forward. How he should survive the coming tribulation. He now had some preliminary plans of action that would have to be adjusted depending on how things played out. There were just too many things that were uncertain for Shu Yang to feel confident.

"Right. Well, don't give up," Fan Linzen said, patting his shoulder.

"If there are Elders from the sect here, it seems they have decided to wait for us to complete the trial. So we're all counting on you."

"Right," Shu Yang said, nodding.

"It really is-" Fan Linzen began but was interrupted as a loud boom sounded. Suddenly, a hundred openings appeared all across the grand door. The corridor that Shu Yang had long spotted was now open for everyone to enter.

"What's going on? Did you solve it, Hongchi?" Ding Quang asked.

"Good luck, everyone," Song Hongchi answered, rushing into a nearby corridor.

"What do you-" Ding Quang began but stopped himself as the opening closed once again as soon as Song Hongchi had entered.

'Damn. It was like I suspected. You can't come back once you enter.'

"Fan Linzen, Master Shimo, hurry and enter," Shu Yang shouted. He really needed them to enter first. Unfortunately, the one who acted first on his instructions was Ding Yilang. Shu Yang grabbed his sword, but hesitated for a moment too long. Ding Yilang managed to enter another corridor, and the wall closed behind him.

'Whatever, it was only the plan to get rid of him if I could do it without bringing suspicion on myself.'

"Let's go, grandpa," Fan Linzen reacted and called out to his grandfather. Right after speaking, he entered a corridor too. Fan Shimo threw a glance Shu Yang's way before entering a corridor too. Only Ding Quang and the quiet Hanzhu were still hesitating.

"Well, good luck. Seems like the final trial has been triggered somehow," Shu Yang said, walking toward a corridor of his own. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hanzhu looked around the grand hall for a moment before getting to his feet and leisurely approaching another corridor. Ding Quang also started to move. Shu Yang glanced at them, paying close attention.

'Come on, Hanzhu, hurry up.' Unfortunately, the black-clothed man came to a stop in front of the opening, scrutinizing it for a moment.

'Ding Quang is going to be first.'

'What do I do?' Shu Yang kept on walking, thinking frantically.

'It's not worth it.' Shu Yang thought with a sigh. Ding Quang entered his corridor, and the wall closed behind him. Shu Yang shook his head and entered his own corridor. He had hoped for a way to kill Ding Yilang and Ding Quang. Both of them seemed to have it out for him. In particular, Ding Yilang, who would probably become trouble for him later on. But he had to kill them without any witnesses, or he would just be creating more trouble for himself. Unfortunately, things didn't play out that way.

He might have had a chance to get rid of Ding Quang, but that was never his priority; his nephew was. Ding Quang and Shu Yang didn't have a life-and-death feud. He doubted Ding Quang would actually waste his time on Shu Yang after all of this was over. Not to mention that Ding Quang was in the Foundation stage; it certainly wouldn't be easy to kill him. Shu Yang mostly planned to attack him since he might become a problem if he managed to kill Ding Yilang.

As well as the fact that he might have information about the people brought back by the Qing family. But with Ding Yilang still alive, killing Ding Quang wasn't as tempting anymore. Not to mention that he would have Hanzhu as a witness.

'Whatever, it's fine. Getting rid of Ding Yilang was just a small part in all of this.'

'What matters the most is the Golden Core cultivators outside.' Shu Yang had gone over countless possible scenarios of what might occur when the trial ends, and how he would handle them. Unfortunately, he had no idea how people on their level did things.

'I'll have to wing it.'

'Of course, the best-case scenario is that I manage to gain the inheritance and gain access to some kind of escape tunnel.' Shu Yang didn't waste any more time and got started with the trial. Now, the formations in the corridor were activated, and Shu Yang's path forward was blocked by one of them. He struck out with his sword, just to give it a try. But just like he expected, the formation was too high-level for him to break through. He didn't panic, though. He knew what to do.

On the wall, there were four patterns engraved, and Shu Yang had figured out long ago what he needed to do. He raised his hand and placed it in the middle of the patterns, and started engraving a pattern of his own using his sword intent. Just like he had guessed, he was able to engrave directly on the wall, just like the pillars outside in the grand hall.

'I wonder what would happen if I just smashed the wall to pieces?'

'I guess that wouldn't help me get through the formation much.' It took him only half an hour to complete the pattern. And as soon as he had finished, all the patterns on the wall lit up briefly, before the formation blocking his path disappeared.

'On to the next test.' … A week passed, and Shu Yang was completely stuck. He had managed to complete the first three puzzles easily, as he had come prepared. But now he had to tackle the root-like pattern he had been working on earlier, and was really struggling.

'I wonder how far Song Hongchi has gotten.' Shu Yang thought with a sigh. He knew that there were a total of ten puzzles you had to get through in order to reach the door at the end of the corridor. He knew them all already, but he had no idea how to solve them.

'I guess it's a bit tricky even for her. It might take a while.'

'I should try to at least get through this puzzle. There might be rewards for those who managed to come a bit of the way; you never know.' … Another ten days passed, and Shu Yang finally solved the fourth puzzle.

'It went a lot more smoothly than I thought.' Shu Yang thought with some satisfaction as he stepped into the area where the fifth puzzle was located.

'Perhaps there is even a chance I can get through this level as well.' Shu Yang didn't exactly have anything else to do, so he sat down and started working. … Four days later, a small tremble interrupted Shu Yang as he was sketching some patterns on a piece of paper.

'What was that?' Another tremble.

'An earthquake?' The trembles kept on coming, and Shu Yang frowned.

'No. That's not it. Are the Golden Core cultivators outside finally breaking in?' Suddenly, the formation blocking his path disappeared.

'What!?' Not only the one blocking his path to the sixth puzzle, but all the remaining formations disappeared, and even the door at the end of the corridor opened up.

'Did something go wrong? Was the source of qi cut off somehow?' Shu Yang definitely wasn't going to stay in a faulty trial, though. He ran as quickly as he could toward the door. The door led to a set of stairs, and Shu Yang slowed down slightly as he climbed them.

'Is there another test? There can't possibly be, right?' After a few minutes of walking, Shu Yang entered a large room. Unlike anything Shu Yang had seen before in this inheritance, the room was decorated with paintings on the wall and carpets on the floor. There wasn't really any furniture, though. Only a raised platform with cushions and a small table on the opposite side of the room.

'Where am I? Is this the inheritance?'

"What are you doing here?" Song Hongchi's voice broke him out of his thoughts. Shu Yang turned to see that Song Hongchi had just stepped inside from the same doorway he had come through.

"Did you solve it all?" Shu Yang asked.

"I was busy solving the ninth puzzle when the formation collapsed, and the door opened," Song Hongchi answered.

"You?"

"The fifth," Shu Yang answered honestly. Song Hongchi nodded, stepping further into the room and looking around. The tremors could still be clearly felt.

"Did the inheritance break?" Song Hongchi questioned, "Did those people outside do something?"

"They didn't do anything. I let you enter." An unfamiliar man's voice suddenly sounded from the other side of the room.