Chapter 17: Trial

Suddenly. Su Yuan found himself in an unfamiliar world. He stared in amazement at the silver grass by the roadside, silver trees, even silver rocks and ground. The entire world was bathed in silver - what a peculiar place. Just as he was curiously touching everything around him, a silver light figure materialized before him. "What are you fiddling with?" A silver fox appeared out of thin air, glaring at Su Yuan. "Ah, who are you?" Su Yuan asked warily. "I am the Spirit of the Trial Secret Realm, overseeing this entire trial ground!" The silver fox declared proudly with its head held high. "Oh, how do I take the trial?" Su Yuan inquired curiously. "The Patriarch left two trial methods - combat or intellectual challenge. Which will you choose? I suggest combat - it'll be over quickly! Your opponent would be combat puppets, quite easy in the early stages," the silver fox advised. Su Yuan's eyes darted - since the realm spirit suggested combat, he'd choose the intellectual challenge! What if he got hurt in combat? He was physically here after all! "I choose the intellectual challenge!" Su Yuan declared. The silver fox sighed. "Very well, prepare yourself! First stage - general knowledge test!" A desk and scroll of blank paper appeared before Su Yuan, filled with numerous questions. When Su Yuan flipped to the end and saw the number "1000", he froze in shock. "A thousand questions?" Su Yuan's eyes glazed over. "You chose this yourself. Begin now, no cheating - I'll be watching!" The silver fox stood upright, floating nearby with arms crossed. Su Yuan never imagined he'd still be doing tests after crossing worlds. Picking up the brush, he began answering. Though numerous, none of the questions exceeded Su Yuan's knowledge. He answered effortlessly, each solution coming instantly. Thus Su Yuan calmly worked through them, reminiscing about his past student life. Unnoticed, three hours passed. Stretching, Su Yuan sighed: "Finally finished!" The silver fox had observed Su Yuan's entire process - from initial disdain to growing surprise, culminating in shock. After verifying his answers against the key, it couldn't help asking: "Are you a monster?" "What's wrong?" Su Yuan asked. "You answered everything correctly!" The fox said with complex emotions. "Just common knowledge, all available in the Scripture Pavilion," Su Yuan replied. "You're the first disciple to ever achieve full marks!" The fox said meaningfully. "Nothing special, I just enjoy reading," Su Yuan grinned, flashing white teeth. The fox regarded him seriously: "Your name?" "Su Yuan," he answered casually. [Ding, Fame Value +7] Su Yuan started, looking surprised at the fox. "You're exceptional, Su Yuan. You may skip the first five intellectual challenges and proceed directly to the sixth!" the fox announced. "Oh." Su Yuan nodded indifferently. Fifth or sixth stage made no difference - no rewards anyway. He was just passing time by taking the trial. Suddenly, a humanoid silhouette appeared before him, its interior revealing meridian channels where a wisp of red spiritual energy circulated, completing barely one percent of its path before stopping. Though unfamiliar with this cultivation method, Su Yuan instantly recognized the fire energy was mistakenly following water meridians, making his eyelid twitch at such a basic error. "Based on the energy flow, provide improvement suggestions," the fox requested. "That's it? Just backtrack two points then follow the Qian-3 meridian," Su Yuan said. The fox's eyes flashed. "Perfect answer. Next question." The same silhouette appeared, the red energy now having traversed ten percent but moving snail-slow. "The fire energy's circulation is sluggish. Provide improvements," the fox asked. "Easy - just shrink it. This wisp is too loose, its head insufficiently condensed - no wonder it's slow," Su Yuan shrugged. The fox paused, seemingly unprepared for this answer. Checking the key: [1. Push through in one go; 2. Reduce fire energy quantity; 3. Widen meridians; 4. Alter path as follows...] Finding no matching answer, the fox said: "Demonstrate!" Scratching his head, Su Yuan stood before the silhouette. "How do I control it?" he asked. "Use your spiritual sense directly!" Touching the fire energy, Su Yuan found he could indeed manipulate it. He immediately made the energy rotate, condensing it until it shrank by two-thirds, then expertly shaped it into a fiery serpent that smoothly navigated the meridians, completing a full cycle. The fox watched dumbfounded, eyes widening. "How? Spiritual energy can become serpents? And... do you know the 'Flame Rock Scripture'?" Seeing the fox's astonishment, Su Yuan asked puzzled: "Isn't this the Patriarch's design? Is my control really that impressive? Shouldn't this be basic for high-level cultivators?" The fox sighed: "Exactly - for high-level cultivators! You're merely at Qi Refining third layer! How is this possible? And you still haven't explained knowing the Flame Rock Scripture!" Su Yuan shrugged: "From its initial path, this fire energy clearly uses fire-earth duality to attract worldly energy. Easy to deduce the subsequent route." "Easy how?" The fox's mouth twitched. "See? From this first tenth, deducing the next tenth is simple. Then from this fifth, the following fifth becomes obvious. The remaining three-fifths naturally complete the picture." Su Yuan gestured casually - first this, then that, and voila! The fox squinted at the meridian chart repeatedly before shaking its head: "You're not normal!" "Aren't you the realm spirit? Why care? Is the trial over? I want to leave - I'm craving barbecue." Su Yuan looked around for an exit before eyeing the fox. The fox raised a paw placatingly: "Patience! You passed this stage perfectly and may skip three more, proceeding directly to the ninth and final stage. Agreed?" "Fine, hurry up!" Su Yuan said. The fox solemnly declared: "Follow me!" "Where to?" Su Yuan asked but followed regardless. As they walked, a distinct rushing sound grew louder until, passing a large tree, Su Yuan froze at the sight before him. A silver waterfall cascaded from the heavens into a silver lake, mist rising dreamily. "I've been meaning to ask - why is everything silver here?" Su Yuan inquired. "This is the Silver Spirit Falls, a natural wonder. The water is Silver Radiance Water - Earth-grade supreme spiritual water. The Patriarch said those with supreme comprehension might perceive cosmic truths here," the fox explained reverently. "Wow! Earth-grade supreme spiritual water! Must be valuable!" Su Yuan's eyes gleamed. The fox facepalmed. Missing the point much? "You can't take it. Even if you did, it'd become ordinary water!" "Why? Doesn't the sect collect it?" The fox shook its head: "To take Silver Radiance Water, one must first comprehend all eighteen truths within the falls. But those capable of such comprehension wouldn't need it. Moreover, only new disciples may enter here - none can take it." "Alright, why bring me here then?" Su Yuan asked. "Attempt comprehension. Even grasping the faintest wisp of its truths counts as passing," the fox said. Studying the falls then the fox, Su Yuan asked: "Be honest - did you peek at my choices? Had I chosen differently, would you have tested my forging or spellcraft?" The fox blinked bewilderedly: "You're a third-layer Qi Refining disciple of three months! Forging? Spells? Are you perhaps body-snatched?" Su Yuan shook his head: "Fair point." "How long for this test?" he asked. "No time limit," the fox replied. Su Yuan whirled in surprise: "So I could stay here forever?" "What are you planning?" The fox stared suspiciously. "I want to cultivate here indefinitely!" Su Yuan declared. The fox's mouth twitched. "Actually there is a limit - this place opens annually. Next year you'd be forcibly ejected!" "Then I'll stay a year!" Su Yuan decided. The fox regarded him strangely. "Weren't you desperate for barbecue?" "Barbecue? What's that? I don't recall! Those silver fruits look tasty though!" "Those are my rations!" "Honestly, so stingy!" "I misjudged you!" Thus began their endless bickering.