As soon as the princess walked away, Cairen imdiately felt several, several gazes upon him. All filled with extre hostility.
He knew sothing was wrong, and so he looked around, searching for the others from his sect.
Until he finally saw a familiar face. i Ran was running quickly in his direction.
He stood still, waiting for her to approach, but he noticed she was running far too fast.
She ca closer and closer without any intention of stopping, making Cairen’s neutral expression quickly change to concern when she leapt toward him.
’Shit!’ Cairen thought in his mind before i Ran slamd into him hard, her head hitting his stomach.
She crashed into him full force, dragging him for ters until they both fell.
"i Ran! Are you out of your mind?" Cairen asked with a serious face as he pushed her back.
"Hehe, I just missed you. And I was jealous. You actually have the nerve to betray with the princess right after we started our relationship." She said, her expression growing sadder and sadder until small tears began to form in her eyes.
"Tsk. Stop pretending!" Cairen flicked her forehead before feeling the stares on him grow even worse. But beyond those gazes, there was one in particular that worried him.
Soone was aiming at him, though he had no idea who or from where. But he could feel it. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt that soone had an imnse desire to kill him.
At that mont, i Ran beca serious. She looked at Cairen with a bit of concern before speaking.
"Cairen, I don’t know what Princess Ling wants with you, but right now it’s not good. You need to be careful with everyone here."
"What do you an?" Cairen had already realized sothing was wrong. The hostility and the princess coming to greet him for no reason, just because he had a bloodline, wouldn’t explain it.
"Princess Ling is the only daughter of the King of Rhyne. After awakening her bloodline just a few years after birth, she was almost assassinated. Because of that, the entire royal family beca extrely overprotective of her," i Ran began to explain calmly.
"Any man who approaches her is found dead soti later under mysterious circumstances, no matter which faction he belongs to. And because of that, no one dares to even speak to her, even from a distance."
"But today, not only did she start a conversation with you, she even touched your body. Definitely, the princes and others who have feelings for her will be hostile toward you." She said, worried, noticing the many eyes on them.
"You must be careful during the trials."
She finished before telling him to follow her to the others from their sect, who were gathering together.
As they passed by so people, he heard murmurs about him. But he decided not to care for now.
But in his mind.
’Why the hell would her talking to cause so much hostility? Are these people idiots? What does that have to do with ?’
’Ah, yes, humans are idiots, no matter the world. It’ll always be like this.’ Cairen nodded in his mind at that thought.
When he finally joined the others from his sect, he noticed that everyone was already divided into several groups.
The disciples of the three sects, three clans, the royal family, the smaller forces, and the rogue cultivators, who were a bit separated from each other, though so had ford small groups. After all, they didn’t know what would happen next in the inheritance.
Cairen observed the surroundings more, but aside from the fish swimming below, there was nothing in that place, nothing to do, nothing happening.
"Why isn’t anything happening? I thought that as soon as we entered the inheritance grounds, the trials would begin," Cairen asked i Ran.
"I don’t know either. I’ve never been in a place like this. I think we just have to wait."
...
So ti passed, and more and more people suddenly appeared above the lake, showing that the gate was still open and people were still coming in.
"Maybe when there are enough people, the trial will start," Cairen thought.
Then, a few seconds later, suddenly, a loud rumble echoed. Similar to when the gate had opened.
And with that, the atmosphere of the place changed completely. The clear, blue sky reflected in the lake began to shift, heavy gray clouds appearing out of nowhere before it began to rain.
The rain grew heavier within seconds, turning into a storm. A fierce wind struck everyone.
At that mont, a shout ca from Cairen’s left.
"HEY, LOOK, WHAT IS THAT?!?!" A boy from the Blue Sparrow Sect yelled, making everyone look where he was pointing.
"Is that... a wave?" i Ran asked beside Cairen before stepping closer to him.
On the horizon, sothing was approaching at an abnormal speed, getting closer and closer.
It started small, then within seconds grew larger, and soon it was so big everyone could see it clearly.
"SHIT, IT’S A GIANT WAVE." Soone shouted before running in the opposite direction of the wave.
Only to realize that on the other side, another wave of the sa size was approaching.
"IT’S THE FIRST TRIAL, IT’S ALREADY STARTED." The blond boy who had explained the mission to the sect leader said.
Suddenly, desperate screams began. The wave was enormous, over thirty ters high.
"Damn it, there’s nowhere to run. The wave is coming from all sides. At this speed and force, our bodies won’t withstand it even with Qi protecting us," a girl from the Golden Sword Sect said before her sword slipped from her trembling hand and fell to the ground.
Cairen looked at the wave, feeling terrible pressure. He knew that once a wave that size reached them, everyone would be killed instantly.
But unlike the others, his eyes were relatively calm.
"Cairen, what do we do? There’s no way to survive this," i Ran said, extrely worried. He didn’t see the fake expression or voice she usually put on.
While most were panicking, there was another person completely calm.
Princess Ling, far away from Cairen, was still watching him. Seeing his calm expression, surprise flashed in her eyes.
’He’s already figured it out?’
Cairen was now looking at the wave that would reach him in just monts, and then a small smile appeared on his lips.
"i Ran, don’t think. Close your eyes, the wave isn’t real," he said, convinced he was right.
It was a test, if the wave were real, they would all die imdiately. If that happened, what would be the point of this inheritance ground?
i Ran didn’t understand what he ant, especially since she could see the wave almost upon them. But before she could ask.
"Just know you won’t die. Think of it as a trial, not a death sentence. Hold on!"
When he finished speaking, the wave was already in front of him. Everyone around had already run away, even the disciples from the Three Poisons Sect.
Aside from Cairen, only i Ran stayed by his side, clutching his sleeve.
And then the wave crashed down.
Cairen felt the impact slam into his body, millions of tons of weight falling on him as unimaginable pain erupted, it felt like his body would explode. He held his breath and endured it. But in his mind, he scread at himself to stay calm.
He didn’t feel the sensation of death, didn’t feel that his life was in danger. He just needed to stay conscious.
And that’s what he did.
The giant wave quickly engulfed everyone. No one escaped, so used their Qi to cover their bodies, others had armor or treasures to save their lives, but no matter what they did, they were all caught, their bodies torn apart.
It lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Then suddenly, Cairen felt he could breathe again. He felt his body, the pain completely gone, and then he opened his eyes once more.
And the sight he saw was... terrible.
Cairen watched in silence, unsure what to think. He had survived, but...
A few seconds ago, there had been hundreds and hundreds of people above the lake. Now he could barely see fifty. And many of those who remained were unconscious.
Worried, he looked behind him and let out a small sigh.
"i Ran, wake up!" he said when he saw i Ran still unconscious, lying on the surface of the lake, a horrible expression of pain on her face.
But it slowly faded until she woke up. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to understand what had happened.
Cairen helped her stand, and when she saw the situation, her face completely darkened.
"How many... died?" she asked, choking slightly on the words.
The rain suddenly stopped, the clouds dispersed, and the blue sky returned. But the sky was no longer reflected in the clear, clean water.
The lake was now completely stained with blood. The bodies of those who had died had completely vanished, turned into nothing more than dark blood that polluted the once beautiful view of the lake. The once-beautiful trees now seed sinister, and the calm of the place seed to have completely disappeared.
Reviews
All reviews (0)