Chapter 30: The Final trial: Despair Part 1

Wang Wei spends a total of ten days of rest to prepare for the Ninth and Final Trial of the Pagoda. With a strong and positive mindset, he sets out and enters the Pagoda for the last trial. In this trial, Wang Wei lives a joyous ordinary life. He had a family that loved him, an abundance of wealth that allowed him to enjoy life as much as possible, a fulfilling a job as government official who is loved by the common people, and a healthy body without any major disease. He did not participate in things like drugs, alcohol, or prostitution. Wang Wei could be considered quite the responsible and filial son. The only major event expected to occur in his life is the day when he chooses a bride and gets married. Unfortunately for him, he did not live for that long. On a certain cloudy day, Wang Wei had the day off from the office. While taking a walk in the garden with his mother and father, suddenly the heaven trembles. Wang Wei and his family hold each other as a form of support. Then, they raise their heads and look into the sky. What they say would leave an everlasting memory or trauma deep into their soul for as long as they exist. When Wang Wei looks in the sky, he sees a gigantic hand descending from the heavens heading toward him. His first reaction is that his idea is absurd, but as the massive hand starts to somehow enlarge itself, he realizes that his first assumption is actually quite right. In fact, the hand is not enlarging itself, but as it approaches him, all Wang Wei could see is the palm of the hand--which is quite massive in proportion to his size. As the hand approaches, Wang Wei finds himself incapable of talking, moving, or defending himself. Even his thinking process becomes increasingly slow and sluggish. The air or atmosphere around Wang Wei becomes solidified which results in a heavy pressure--both physically and spiritually-- to the people around. It is often said that when a person comes face to face with death, they will see all the memories or significant moments in their history flashing through their mind. However, this did not apply to Wang Wei at this moment. All he could think about before his untimely demise is how powerless he is, followed by insurmountable anger, then he left the mortal coil with regret and endless fear. After his death, Wang Wei did not immediately exit the Pagoda. This time, the setting of the trial is different. After the first death, the participants will find themselves rebirthed to a younger version of themselves--at around fifteen years old--with all the memories of the previous life intact. Their mission for this trial is to ensure their survival from that gigantic hand. On his second attempt, Wang Wei decides to follow the path of cultivation in order to fight the powerful being. In just a few decades, Wang Wei reaches the peak of cultivation and becomes one of the Nine Giants of the cultivating world. On a fateful night, Wang Wei stands upright on top of a deserted mountain. He is waiting for the moment that will forever change his destiny. As expected, a gigantic hand tears apart the sky and heads toward him. Wang Wei awaits his enemy with a smile and endless fighting intent. Unfortunately, something out of his expectation happens. Two unexpected people appear next to him: they are his parents. It was at this moment that Wang Wei realizes that this powerful being did not only want to annihilate him, but wishes to emotionally torture him. It wants Wang Wei to watch with despair as the people he cares about die in front him, while he remains absolutely helpless. Wang Wei screams in anger towards heaven. His scream is so loud and powerful that it echoes throughout the entire world. He rushes toward the still descending powerful hand to stop it. Unfortunately, things didn't go as he expected. Wang Wei soon discovers that he is not powerful enough to stop the Almighty Hand, or should say the Wrath of Heaven--as Wang Wei believes that no person or cultivator could be so powerful. Despite his fleeting thoughts, Wang Wei' situation is not looking good right about now. Despite the fact that he did not immediately disintegrate like his first life, his attempt at stopping the hand did not yield any result. All his attacks were literally useless as they disappeared before even touching the hand. As for Wang Wei himself, he manages to create a barrier around him with all his cultivation level. However, this method is only a stopgap measure. With the passing of time, the barrier around Wang Wei begins to crack, however, Wang Wei still insists on fighting--even to his last breath. However, anguish soon envelops him. Wang Wei watches as his parents--who were still located on the ground--slowly float in the air in front of the big hand, then they slowly disintegrate into sand-sized particles and fly away with the wind. Then, Wang Wei screams aloud again, this time not out of anger, but absolute despair. This burst in emotions dramatically increased his power. His barrier--that was full of crack and on the verge of being destroyed--slowly starts to heal and becomes stronger. With great anger and this powerful barrier, Wang Wei rushes straight toward the big hand and has a direct confrontation with it. Unlike last time, Wang Wei was not directly defeated or blasted off. Instead, he had a direct clash with the big hand. For a brief moment, Wang Wei had a standoff with the Wrath of Heaven. He manages to stand his ground in the face of such powerful force. Although this confrontation only lasted a brief moment before Wang Wei had to experience the eternal silence known as death, this brief moment meant a great deal to him and had a significant impact. This brief moment of confrontation represents hope for Wang Wei. Hope that one day he will be able to defeat this formidable foe, hope that one day he will not have to watch helplessly as his loved ones are killed. Although this hope or chance is actually quite miniscule, although Wang Wei will have to experience countless pain and suffering, although he will have to experience numerous death and resurrections, he did not mind. Because a slight hope is better than none at all. Unfortunately for Wang Wei, he did not know that this mode of thinking was actually the beginning of his endless despair.