Chương 594: Chapter 589: The Fist Of Mercy

Shen Bolin's fist emerged from the other side, covered in blood.

"Ahhh," Pan Jun's words cut off mid-sentence, turning into an incomprehensible gargle as blood poured from his mouth. The strike was so fast and unexpected that it startled everyone. Xu Feng shouted something as he took a step back. Xie Ling's eyes widened at the brutality. Li Na gasped as her body merged with the background. Even Tian straightened from his wall as his hands moved instinctively towards where a sword would be.

Unfortunately, this had been the inevitable outcome from the second that Pan Jun accepted the first fragment, so I wasn't too surprised; if anything, I was a little sad to see it play out like I had predicted. A wet sound broke the silence as Shen Bolin pulled his hand out. With wide eyes, Pan Jun fell face forward, and a pool of blood grew around him as his body twitched once, twice, then went still forever.

What was eerie about the scene was that one of his hands was still reaching out towards Song Wei with fingers curled like he had been trying to grab a hold of something. And that wasn't even the end of it, silver energy coalesced around Shen Bolin to form rune-like patterns in the air that connected to each other into a three-dimensional formation that reeked of pure Lucid Lawbearer spiritual power.

"Absolute Severance," he whispered. The formation flashed pitch black and exerted its influence on the still warm corpse of Pan Jun, causing his bones, blood, even the stains on the floor to dissolve into mist, and a second later, there was no trace that the young dream cultivator ever existed. My heart skipped a beat as I realised what I had just witnessed. This was complete erasure, a technique like this even destroyed the soul.

There was no way for Pan Jun to enter the cycle of reincarnation, if this world even had something like that. Honestly, I felt like it was overkill, but then again, this was my first expedition to the Sunken Dream Palace, so who was I to judge? The only positive that could come out of something like this was us not having to worry about Pan Jun coming back to haunt us…

"Don't look at me like that," Shen Bolin said as he turned his gaze over to us. The Lucid Lawbearer's shoulders were dropped slightly, and his expression was calm, or could even be argued that it was almost bored, but I noticed that his left hand had a little tremor. Sure, it was mostly surprised, but it was still there.

"I warned him multiple times not to accept another piece, but he did it anyway despite knowing the consequences. He got what was coming to him."

"You…you didn't have to kill him?" Xu Feng's face paled.

"We could have—""We could have what? Cured him?" Shen Bolin cut in with a frown.

"I already told you all that's impossible to do so once they integrate. If he continued to accept more shortcuts, he would accumulate more pieces of the Dreamgod's consciousness, then there would be nothing of the Pan Jun left. I couldn't allow that to happen. That would be a threat to the world."

"But he…he was just a kid," Xu Feng whispered, his voice cracking on the last word.

"He didn't understand. He didn't…"

"That wasn't a kid," Shen Bolin's voice softened.

"And it hadn't been since the boy accepted the first fragment. What you've been traveling with for the past few hours was something else wearing his face. What I did was an act of mercy, believe me." There was nothing Xu Feng was able to say to that. With shaking shoulders, he turned away from us, and I could tell that he was trying to control his breathing and push down the human emotions that threatened to come to the surface.

Seeing him like this reminded me that not everyone in a cultivation world was a ruthless sociopath.

"What a shame," Song Wei murmured, shaking his head.

"I would have preferred to use him for the next trial. A fragment of the Dreamgod's consciousness would have been valuable for navigating the Unbound Stairway. It's as if the palace recognised them as part of itself, so the corrupted have an easier time on those steps."

"The what?" Xie Ling asked.

"The fourth trial," Song Wei turned to address the whole group with Pan Jun already forgotten.

"It is named the Unbound Stairway. There is one hundred steps, and every single one of them is guarded by increasingly powerful enemies. The first few steps are Thoughtshaper level, by step fifty, you're facing early Oneiric Sovereign opponents, and by step ninety, Peak Lucid Lawbearer…" One hundred steps? I held back a sigh. Damn, that was a lot of steps.

"And you both attempted it multiple times?" Tian asked.

"Yes, seven attempts for me and eight for Song Wei," Shen Bolin nodded.

"Both of us have made it to step ninety-nine…but we never passed it."

"What happened at ninety-nine?" I asked despite knowing that the answer wasn't going to inspire confidence in anyone. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Shen Mohai himself appears," Song Wei whispered. When he noticed the pale looks on our faces, he continued.

"Well, a Peak Lucid Lawbearer projection of him appears. It has perfect mastery of dream techniques, and somehow, it knows every counter to every style we've tried, so we couldn't defeat him."

"But this time," Shen Bolin said, "we're not attempting it separately. This time, we all go together."

"The trial allows us to enter as a group?" I asked.

"It doesn't prohibit it," Shen Bolin clarified.

"Most cultivators attempt it alone because having multiple people increases the number of enemies that spawn, but with our combined strength, we can push through where others would fail."

"What do these enemies look like?" Xu Feng asked, the color on his face was returning and he was starting to look more like himself, even though his eyes were still red.

"Are they constructs? Manifestations?"

"Both," Song Wei said.

"The lower steps spawn dream constructs that are generic opponents with no real personality or adaptation. The higher steps spawn something more complex. Manifestations of cultivators the Dreamgod knew during his life..."

"Some of those manifestations on the higher steps talk," Shen Bolin added.

"They'll try to negotiate, or threaten, or bargain. Whatever you do, don't engage. They're not real. They're just echoes programmed with fragments of personality."

"And step one hundred?" Xie Ling asked, crossing her arms.

"What's at the top?" The two Lucid Lawbearers exchanged a glance before Song Wei sighed.

"We don't know," he admitted.

"It is rumoured to be a doorway leading to the Chamber of the Sleeper King, which is the final trial." Before anyone could ask any more questions, Song Wei pulled out a jade compass to check it briefly.

"We rest for thirty minutes," he announced, putting it away.

"Recover your spiritual energy and prepare your techniques. The Unbound Stairway is the most brutal trial yet. Most people who were able to survive the first three trials tend to die on those steps." That made sense. It was the Unbound Stairway that gave the Sunken Dream Palace its infamous reputation. We all dispersed to different areas of the corridor. Xu Feng found a wall and slid down it, his legs giving out beneath him as he stared at the completely normal-looking spot where Pan Jun had died just moments ago.

Li Na moved closer to Shen Bolin, speaking to him in tones too quiet for me to hear. The girl was probably asking about the trial, or maybe just staying close to the teacher she trusted, I wasn't sure, but I knew I had to keep an eye on them after what had happened with Pan Jun. I sure as hell didn't want to be the next one to have a fist in my chest. Xie Ling had already returned to her meditation with her eyes closed and breathing steady.

If Pan Jun's death had affected her, she didn't show it, but I did notice that her hands were clenched slightly tighter than before. Clearly, there was more depth to the girl than what was apparent.

"You were the fourth one to finish the trial?" Tian asked, walking over to where I stood.

"Yeah, and you were the second?"

"Yes."

"What did you see?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I already knew.

"Nothing worth discussing." His tone made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it, so I nodded, accepting that because some trials were too personal to share, and I had to respect that.

"Do you think we can make it to the top?" he asked after a moment. I thought about the question for a few moments, not wanting to rush my answer. The truth of the matter was this was a trial that cut through Lucid Lawbearers like butter. Our team consisted of two Lucid Lawbearers who had failed multiple times, and the rest of us were Oneiric Sovereign of varying skill levels.

What we were up against were possibly hundreds of enemies of increasing power, and more concerningly, the final opponent was the manifestation of a god. Yeah, this wasn't going to be simple.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"But the odds aren't in our favour."

"But you're still trying."

"Of course," I smiled.

"I need that lotus. I'm not turning back now after everything we've been through."

"Likewise," Tian nodded seriously.

"I won't let my father suffer because I was too afraid to climb some stairs."

"Even if those stairs might kill you?"

"Even then." For the rest of the recovery period, we stood in silence, but I didn't mind. What this interaction pretty much confirmed was that Tian now knows that he is actually Wu Kangming. Who else but Wu Kangming talks in such a blunt straightforward manner while looking so serious? The thirty minutes passed slowly. Everyone used the time differently. Song Wei and Shen Bolin stood apart, each lost in their own preparation.

Xu Feng eventually stopped staring at the empty space and began cycling his spiritual energy through breathing exercises. Xie Ling never moved from her meditation position. Li Na was the only one who seemed restless. She paced, checked her formation plates, paced some more. The kind of nervous energy you got when you knew something dangerous was coming and couldn't properly prepare for it. Finally, Song Wei cleared his throat.

"It is time," he announced.

"Everyone come together." We formed up near the corridor's end, where a massive stone archway led into darkness, but unlike the mirror entrances we'd used before, this one showed nothing beyond the threshold except darkness.

"Remember, we all stay together," Song Wei said.

"If someone falls behind, leave them. The stairs won't wait, and the enemies keep coming whether you're ready or not."

"That's your solution to everything, isn't it?" Shen Bolin interrupted.

"Abandon anyone who slows you down."

"My solution is survival," Song Wei's jaw tightened.

"Yours got four people killed on your sixth expedition when I agreed to work with you."

"They died because you refused to coordinate," Shen Bolin shot back.

"You pushed ahead and left the rear exposed."

"I pushed ahead because you were wasting time trying to save someone who was already lost." The tension between them was thick enough to cut. Li Na shifted uncomfortably. Xu Feng looked between the two Lucid Lawbearers with growing concern. As for me, I wasn't surprised at all. This had been building since we'd entered the palace. Every interaction between them carried weight from past failures, past deaths.

The fact that they kept returning to attempt this trial together despite hating each other said something about their desperation, or maybe they knew deep down that they couldn't do this alone.

"Fine. We'll do it your way." Shen Bolin took a breath.

"Anyone falls behind, we leave them." His tone made it clear he didn't agree.

"But I want the rest of you to know you can retreat by descending. But going down means fighting through every enemy you've already passed. They return to life. Most who try to retreat die on the way back. So the choice is yours."

"Just don't get us killed with your stupid decisions," Song Wei mumbled under his breath. Everyone was silent for a few moments, taking all of that in.

"Let's go," Song Wei huffed, stepping through the archway first. Shen Bolin followed immediately after. Then Li Na, Xie Ling, Xu Feng, Tian, and finally me. The darkness swallowed us whole. It was time for the fourth trial to begin.