Chapter 151 Dangers Of The Three Tests...
The door that appeared took them to a very familiar place. At least it was relatively Familiar.
However, the environment looked a bit more crowded with plant life than before.
"Is this..?" Chiron turned to the Old man.
"Yes! this is mount Chikit." He responded.
"How did we get here?" Chiron asked.
The old man gave an elderly smile, "it is not a matter of 'How' we got here, but 'why' we are here."
Chiron raised a brow. He really did not like twisty words and parables.
The old man could see from Chiron's expression that he was not enjoying the atmosphere. He coughed awkwardly.
"For you to own the scabbard, you have to pass a series of tests."
"Tests!?"
"Yes! that is the only way that the Scabbard can accept you as its master."
For some reason hearing this, Chiron could not help but frown. Something to him did not exactly feel right.
However, before he had the pleasure of thinking about it too much, a round Iron boulder appeared before him.
It looked exactly like the one at the qualifying tests. With the only difference being its size.
"Since you are a young lad, and also a Tamashi, I have decided to be a bit merciful. There are three tests for you to pass. You must pass all three before you can have the scabbard for yourself."
Chiron nodded at his words in understanding.
"Also, I'll advise that you do it as soon as possible. The faster you do it, the better."
Chiron had a questioning look on his face, but the old man just smiled at him, "Don't worry! You'll understand what I mean soon enough."
The man pointed to the boulder.
"The first test is a really easy one. All you have to do is roll this boulder up the mountain. Remember, roll it. Not carry it."
looking at the boulder and back at the old man, Chiron was starting to think that maybe this old man was crazy in the head.
All he had to do was roll the boulder up the mountain.
The task in Chiron's head was actually easier than he thought. However, he was soon to realize that things were not as he thought.
As the old man faded away, he could hear his voice giving the last of instructions, "Also, ensure you finish it within three months. And don't forget: Danger sharpens the senses and builds the success of a cultivator."
"Three months!?"
That did not sound right. Climbing all the way up mount Chikit only took about a few days from Chiron's perspective. And that was only because of the monsters.
However, he suddenly heard roars that were coming from all around the mountain.
Suddenly, the difficulty of the task had risen. However, he was now a cultivator in the copper spirit realm. He tore out the seal suppressing his power. And then he activated his spirit energy.
Just like he had hoped, he could use spirit energy in this subspace.
The old man gave him three months. But the creatures around mount chikit were all from the Blue core and below.
Chiron suspected that it was most likely because of the dragon's egg. However, the fact remained that they was no beast higher.
If this task had been given when he did not have cultivation, giving up might have been the easier thing to do. However, at the copper realm, why not?
He started on his journey the mountain naturally got steeper the higher he went but that did not stop him.
The mount chikit in this world was just like the mount Chikit that he knew out there.
However, after only about an hour of rolling the boulder forward, he noticed one very disturbing thing.
The higher he rolled the boulder, the bigger it got.
At first, the boulder was a little below his knee, but right now, it was at his thigh level.
As if that was not enough, the first set of visitors also came.
Coming here, it did not take Chiron long to figure out that this was not the version of mount Chikit that he knew. For one, the paths that were, in reality, were not at all here.
This was probably what Mount Chikit used to look like many hundreds of years ago.
Naturally, the residents that occupied the mountain then were far more in number than there are in Chiron's reality.
Chiron recognized the grunting.
It was not long before the first beast showed its face.
Behold, it was an old pal of his. At least, it was of the same kind.
This was a herd of Rabid big foot rabbits.
However, the entire herd of them were not like the ones in his reality. All of the Rabid big foot Rabbits before him were at the green core realm.
Considering his current strength, he did not mind killing them instantly.
After all, they were all at the green core realm.
However, he soon discovered that he had underestimated this place a bit too much. The smell from the killing the Rabid big foot Rabbits acted as an attractive force for even more cored beasts.
Just when he had killed the last of the beasts, he heard grunting sounds.
And then came a herd of Blue legged wild Boars.
Once more, they had come with all their family relations. Of course, they had come for the food littered about the place. But Chiron was the intruder at the feeding spot.
Once, he engaged in physical combat. Throughout the entire process, he did not bring out Devil's touch. All he had done was use Blood manipulation to slaughter his foes.
He had not yet finished with the Blue legged boar when an eagle dove down. This pink-headed bald eagle was actually of the blue core rank.
It was the first blue cored rank beast to arrive.
Soon enough, more came, and a whole variety of different creatures arrived at the scene. Many of them were small, and many of them were large.
It had become utter chaos.
There was only so much Spirit energy he had. Even as a cultivator in the spirit realm, there was only so much he could do.
After all, if the ants were plenty enough, bringing down an elephant could become reality.
Chiron was currently facing this reality.
Everywhere he looked was one beast or the other. Fortunately, there were not just attacking him, but also one another.
However, he also noticed something else. No matter how chaotic it was, the beasts never touched the boulder.
He thought hard at his next decision. There was nothing he could do for now.
The best thing was to leave and come back when the entire situation was a bit calmer.
And so he did.
He found a hole in the ground were he rested for a while.
But he later discovered that his hopes had been a little too high.
Three days afterwards, the entire place was still in total chaos.
This was unbelievable, but after seeing this, he was starting to understand that life back those hundreds of years ago must have been very tough.
And he was thinking that they had it bad in his time.
Once more, he went back to the hole he had found. By the time he came back, it was already dark. He went in and he slept off silently.
However, he had not taken note of a particular plant that was now growing in the hole.
The next time he opened his eyes, he noticed a stiffness in his body.
For some reason, he could not move.
He willed and the system appeared showing his stats. There was a beeping red showing that his entire body had been paralyzed.
He looked around him and then he saw the plant. It was little, and it had a faded red to its flower petals.
"Shit!" he cursed. As harmless as that plant looked, it was a deadly one.
The plant it self was not the danger. In fact, the plant could not kill a person.
However, it had a symbiotic relationship with a particular cored beast.
The cored beast was called a brown-ground python.
Even back in the real world, Chiron had never seen one. The only reason he knew about it, was because of the memories he had from the MC of his book.
The smell from the plant would let one quickly fall asleep, and then the Brown Ground Python will come over and swallow the person or creature whole.
Once digestion is over and the Brown Ground python vomits the product, the plant spray its pores on it.
Fresh corpse was best and rich in nutrients for this plant when it was in seedling form.
Chiron could hear Slick gaggling sounds. Also, he could feel a tight but warm massage of slimy muscles creeping up his body.
He was paralyzed, but he could still roll his eyes.
There, he could see it. A very big Brown Ground Python. What's more, it had already swallowed him halfway to his waist.
This was already the fourth day in a month, and he had barely pushed the boulder any reasonable distance.
Yet, his life was already in danger.