“Rao Wu!” Ju Tu and Xian Da cried out in panic as the youth flew past them and crashed head-first against the ground. The head trauma, coupled with the shock and pain from the fatal injury, nearly rendered Rao Wu unconscious.

Fortunately, Rao Wu barely retained clarity long enough to weakly take out a jar of Eternal Spring Water from his ring. Rao Wu’s quick, instinctual action proved to be his life-saver. Half a second later, the youth’s eyes rolled to the back as he collapsed in a dead faint.

Typically, this injury should have claimed Rao Wu’s life. Thankfully, however, Xian Da was well-versed on how to use the Eternal Spring Water. The Dusklight Wolf cub suppressed its fear as it commanded Ju Tu to directly pour some of the Eternal Spring Water around the injured area.

Ju Tu did as asked, and then under Xian Da’s watchful gaze, gently lifted Rao Wu and poured some more into the youth’s mouth. Initially, Ju Tu was worried that Rao Wu wouldn’t swallow, but luckily, the child instinctively swallowed the drink down his throat.

Xian Da watched the process with frightened eyes. However, it kept its composure and waited until some color returned to Rao Wu’s face before instructing Ju Tu to remove the spear shaft.

Ju Tu nodded, and then snapped the shaft a few inches above Rao Wu’s stomach. The Steelback Ape noticed that the spearhead was pinned to the floor, and decided not to try jostling it free. Instead, it gently cradled Rao Wu and then slowly lifted him up and over the shaft.

Pltch!

Blood from the gaping hole in Rao Wu’s back poured onto Ju Tu’s arm and legs, but the Steelback Ape paid them no heed. Instead, its eyes shone with excitement when it saw Rao Wu’s injuries beginning to close up at a rate visible to the human eye. Ju Tu set Rao Wu on the ground and then sat down by the youth with relieved eyes. It was no doctor, but it could tell by Rao Wu’s increasingly steady breathing that the child was out of the woods. The Eternal Spring Water was truly miraculous. At this rate, it was not a matter of ‘if’ but rather ‘when’ Rao Wu would wake up.

“Rrao~” Xian Da walked up and rubbed its head against Ju Tu’s legs. Seeing Rao Wu safely out of the woods, the little cub could no longer hold up its tough exterior. Its legs crumpled as it collapsed in tears.

“Guo~ It. O.K,” Ju Tu clumsily consoled Xian Da. It softly patted Xian Da’s as it watched over Rao Wu. Truth be told, it also wanted to cry. Still, as the older one, it felt a responsibility to Xian Da that overrode its personal sentiments. And so, time passed with both soul pets watching over their sleeping soul trainer.

*cough* *cough*

Perhaps as a result of the shock, Rao Wu only woke up a whole day later. When his eyes fluttered open, Rao Wu found Xian Da and Ju Tu deeply asleep. Rao Wu ran his hands over his stomach and then looked at the half-empty jar of Eternal Spring Water. Quickly putting two and two together, the youth realized the soul pets had saved his life.

“Heh. Seems I owe you guys one,” muttered Rao Wu as he sat up. Intriguingly, aside from a little stiffness from lying down a whole day, he did not feel any pain or discomfort. Rao Wu once again understood why the Eternal Spring Water was so highly coveted. With these miraculous healing properties, its user could recover as long as no one destroyed their brain or heart.

“Ah… I ruined another shirt.” Rao Wu looked at the bloody shirt with mirth. How did people in the city wear clothes daily? Did they spend all their money on clothes?

If city folk were around, they would have drowned Rao Wu in spit. Leaving aside non-trainers, even trainers did not go through clothes as fast the child because they did not ‘foolishly’ fight on the front lines. Conventionally, soul pets fought on the frontlines while soul trainers supported with various soul techniques. It spelled defeat if an enemy soul monster reached a soul trainer.

Sighing, Rao Wu rose to his feet. Choosing not to awaken the sleeping soul pets, he carefully sidestepped them and then walked to the test’s entrance door. The youth stopped at the threshold and then gravely looked into the dark corridor.

“I underestimated this test.” Rao Wu hated to admit it, but he let his comfortable victory in the first test cloud his judgment. In truth, that test should have been so much more difficult, but due to his unique upbringing, he breezed through.

Rao Wu ran a simulation in his mind. If he was not raised in the jungle, he would not have confidently wandered around for fear of getting lost. Furthermore, it was his unique upbringing that made him first adopt an observer attitude before killing anything. If he killed the Sprites first, then his route to Lu Lin would have been cut off, making hunting much more difficult.

Rao Wu surmised that most candidates would have been too busy worrying about day-to-day food and shelter to have time to chase the highest score. It was not a matter of strength or skill, but rather experience.

Rao Wu’s experiences might have given him an edge in the first test, but those experiences were moot in this test and possibly beyond. If Rao Wu did not get in the right headspace, this Infernal Difficulty Test would be his graveyard.

“Wait. I guess I’ve already died once.” Rao Wu shivered at the thought. He would already be a cold corpse without the Eternal Spring Water. Pa! Pa! Rao Wu slapped his cheeks as he affirmed his resolve. “From now on, I won’t underestimate this test. Infernal Difficulty, I’m coming for you!”

With those words, Rao Wu once again looked at the corridor. He then replayed the previous attempt in his mind. In his opinion, the reason he failed so woefully the last time was that he was caught flat-footed. Due to not expecting an ambush, Rao Wu did not dodge properly when the spears shot out of the walls. As a result, he was caught in a bad spot when the spears stabbed down from the ceiling.

Fortunately, Ju Tu blocked those spears, but that then took it out of commission. Trapped, the Steelback Ape could do nothing to block the final spear that pierced Rao Wu’s stomach.

Rao Wu chilled as he recalled the terrifying spear. In reality, that spear was aimed at his chest. If Rao Wu did not jump at the last second, his heart would have been obliterated!

“My ears saved me,” murmured Rao Wu as he softly scratched the fox ears on his head. He jumped back then because he heard a whistling sound bearing down on him. It was already too late by the time Rao Wu saw the spear. “My hearing’s improved. Could it be because of the cultivation technique?”

Indeed it was! Beastkin cultivation techniques famously improved beastkin senses and strength, making them more akin to their beast ancestors.

Regardless of the reason, Rao Wu chose to put his hearing to the test. Besides, he wanted to see if the test worked on repetition before going in with the soul pets. With these purposes in mind, Rao Wu once again crossed the threshold.

Tsing! Straining his ears, Rao Wu heard the tell-tale sliding of metal ringing to his left and right. ‘Two steps forward!’ Rao Wu took two steps forward just as several spears stabbed out of the adjacent walls. Rao Wu, who was in one of the few blind spots, smiled and then took three steps diagonally left as he dodged overhead spears.

Just like before, Rao Wu heard a rapidly increasing whistling sound coming from the corridor’s depths. This time, however, Rao Wu was prepared and bent low as a spear sailed harmlessly over his shoulder.

Rao Wu, learning from his previous experience, did not let down his guard even after that spear. ‘Whoosh!’ That choice proved to be correct as a ball attached to a chain suddenly fell from the ceiling and then swung in his direction.

Rao Wu ungainly rolled to the side as the wrecking ball whooshed past. Patting his chest, the little boy looked at the metal ball in disbelief. The ball itself made no sound as it fell. If he didn’t look up as a result of the low crackling of the chain, he would have thought he was safe.

“So, I can’t just depend on my ears, is it?” Rao Wu began to understand how the test worked. It seemed this test was designed to check not only his reflexes but also his situational and spatial awareness. “This is not a bad place to train,” muttered Rao Wu.

If past test-takers were present, they would have insulted the child’s arrogance. This was Infernal Difficulty, alright? Test-takers focused everything on emerging alive. Who would dare see this death trap as training? How would they know that Rao Wu had engaged in death-defying training since birth due to the cheat code called Eternal Spring Water?

Rao Wu waited in the corridor for a further one minute, but when nothing happened, he gathered two pieces of information. The traps were repeated, and they seemed to be divided into sections. Unknown to Rao Wu, they were set up this way so candidates could theoretically rest after completing a section of traps. After all, only the best of the best could survive endless random traps. This was a test, not an execution ground.

“Rao Wu!”

Ju Tu’s booming call drew Rao Wu out from his reverie. He turned to see Ju Tu and Xian Da at the threshold, watching him with equal parts excitement and fear. It seemed they wanted to rush in, but were scared of triggering the traps and implicating Rao Wu.

“Hehe, how are you guys so smart?” Rao Wu chuckled as he complimented the duo. He was about to walk up to them but then stopped. “Wait. Xian Da, come over. Let’s see if you can trigger traps I’ve already been through.”

Xian Da hesitated, but upon Rao Wu’s urging, it stepped past the threshold. Intriguingly, nothing happened even after several seconds. Seeing it didn’t trigger the traps, Xian Da ran the rest of the way and then jumped onto Rao Wu’s shoulder.

“Ruwuu~” Xian Da furiously licked Rao Wu’s face, expressing its relief and anger in the most direct manner possible.

“Hahaha!” Rao Wu laughed as he pried the struggling Xian Da off his shoulder. Holding the cub, he chuckled and said, “I’m fine, I promise! I’m sorry I scared you like that. I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“RRaff!” Xian Da barked, expressing it would temporarily forgive Rao Wu.

“There’s a good boy.” Roa Wu cooed as he rubbed his nose against Xian Da’s and then returned the Dusklight Wolf to its position on his shoulder. Rao Wu then walked over to Ju Tu.

The Steelback Ape maintained a strong façade, but its reddened eyes betrayed the turmoil and relief in its heart.

Seeing this, Rao Wu smiled. The child knew the importance of strength to the Steelback Apes. So, he simply held out his fist.

“Guo! Ne’er. Die!” Ju Tu ordered as it angrily bumped Rao Wu’s fist.

“Hehe. Promise.” Rao Wu chuckled and then sent Lu Lin a comforting thought. She was probably the most frightened of the trio. When a soul trainer died, any soul pet in their soul space perished alongside them. For the first time, Rao Wu felt the weight of a dependent’s life.

Soul trainers lived not just for themselves, but also their soul pets!

Rao Wu spent a few more moments consoling each soul pet and then drew everyone’s attention to the corridor. “Last time was my fault,” he confessed. “I let our win get to my head and underestimated this test. This time, we were lucky. It could have easily been my head, or worse, one of you who died because of my carelessness.”

“Guo~” Ju Tu argued that everyone came in with that attitude.

“No, Ju Tu. It’s my responsibility as a soul trainer to make sure we don’t make stupid mistakes like this.” Rao Wu bowed his head. “First, I must apologize for my failure. I promise to never treat your lives so casually in the future.”

“Ruwu~” Xian Da let out a soft cry and gently nudged Rao Wu’s head.

Rao Wu laughed. “I’m fine, Xian Da. Better than fine, in fact. We’re going back in there. But this time, we’ll be smart about it.” He looked at Ju Tu and said, “I will take the lead. My senses are sharper than yours. I’ll be able to sniff out danger early. You stay behind me; if I can’t dodge a trap, I’ll need you for defense.”

“Guo!” Ju Tu confidently beat its chest.

Rao Wu nodded and then looked at Xian Da. “We’ll do each test three times. The first time, you stay on my shoulder. The next one you lead with Ju Tu behind you. Finally, Ju Tu will go alone.” Rao Wu then explained to the confused Xian Da. “I’m going first to learn the traps’ timing. When I’m done, you two will train your reflexes. It’s not every day you get perfect training material like this. I say we make the most of it.”

“Ruwu~.”

Rao Wu frowned. “Yeah, I wanted to hurry up and get home too, but you heard that metal thing. We’re probably gonna be here for at least a year. I didn’t believe it at first, but if every other test is like the last one, there’s no point rushing. We should train, so we are strong enough to complete this thing to start with. Also, if we’re stronger, we’ll definitely make it into the Academy, right? That’ll help Uncle and Aunt better than barely surviving through the tests. What do you think?”

“Rraff! Train!” Xian Da, realizing Rao Wu was right, resolved to train hard. That way, it would surprise its parents when it returned. Look, just a month of training, and it already learned Shadow Dance. What else could it learn in this magical place?

“Train!” Ju Tu pounded its chest as it parroted the little cub. Unlike Xian Da, its heart burned with a fever to surpass its father. Ju Tu did not care if he didn’t return home for another five years, as long as it could pump out its chest and be proud when it finally returned home.

Having stoked both soul monsters’ resolve, Rao Wu had everyone get into position and then pointed at the corridor’s dark depths. “Let’s Go!”