Chapter 37: Forest of blades. When the white light around Yao Jun finally receded, he found himself standing at the top of a flight of stairs. In front of him stood a vast forest of blades. Weapons of all kind were struck into the ground, each radiating a sense of power. Some of the weapons were rusted, mere shadows of their former glory. Some weapons shone with the light of a divine weapon, while some were still dripping with blood and other liquids. Standing in front of this forest, Yao Jun felt a sense of oppression bear down on him, restricting his movements. Even the sword at his waist seemed to be repressed by this atmosphere, refusing to leave it's sheath no matter how much Yao Jun tried to draw it. There was a small path, just large enough to accommodate one person, going from where Yao Jun stood through the forest. Yao jun looked around, but couldn't find any sign or words telling him what he would have to do, so he assumed that he would have to follow this road. “Just follow this road. If you manage to get through the forest of blades, you will have passed this area.” The voice of the middle-aged man rang out in the surroundings, causing all the weapons to hum in response. His words confirmed Yao Jun's thoughts, he would have to cross this forest of blades to pass through to the next level. Instead of rushing to get through the forest of blades, Yao Jun sat down on the ground and connected his mind to the gate in his chest, the Demon God's Gate. With a slight movement of his mind, Yao Jun entered the gate, finding himself at the top of that familiar mountain. Yao Jun turned his eyes towards the large tree at the center of the garden. With just a move of his mind, his entire body blurred and vanished, reappearing in front of the tree. Standing in front of the tree, Yao Jun felt a breath of fresh air entering his body, cleansing it. The breath of fresh air also contained an ancient aura that seeped into every cell in Yao Jun's body. He could feel the ancient aura slowly integrate itself into his body, changing it, but he did not know in what way it was changing his body. Little Thunder and Sirius were laying in front of the tree, while Little Gray was resting on a branch at the top. The ancient aura was also slowly entering their body, transforming them like it was with Yao Jun. Yao Jun moved forward, sitting down next to Sirius. Sirius nestled up against Yao Jun, rubbing it's head against his chest. Yao Jun stroked the head of Sirius, all the while examining it's body with his eyes. The reason he entered the Demon God's Gate was too examine Sirius. Sirius had been absorbed by the Demon God's Gate without Yao Jun having to kill it, he had also caused the Demon God's Gate to throb when he first touched it. But after being absorbed, Sirius did not grant Yao Jun an increase in power, nor did he gain any new abilities from absorbing him. Besides the strangely blue eyes, Sirius seemed like a completely normal wolf. “So what can you do, my little Sirius?” Yao Jun kept stroking Sirius while muttering to himself. After he finished his words, Sirius raised it's head and stood up. It seemed to have understood his words as it let loose a low howl. When Sirius howled, Yao Jun could feel a strange energy gather around Sirius's body. After the energy gathered around Sirius's body, Sirius took a step forward, but instead of going forward, Sirius went upwards. Sirius continued to take several steps, each step bringing him slightly higher. “Hoh? You can walk on air?” Yao Jun looked on with interest as Sirius walked around in the air like he was on flat ground. He stood up and walked over to where Sirius was. He tried to see if he could emulate what Sirius was doing, but he was unable to summon that strange energy that allowed Sirius to walk on the air. After trying and failing for a few times, Yao Jun sighed and stopped trying. He couldn't spend all his time inside the gate, he also had to finish walking through the forest of blades and reach the next level. It would be a lie if he said that he wasn't interested in the inheritance of the Nine Heavens Sword Empyrean. Yao Jun moved his mind and left the Demon God's Gate, reappearing on the small path in front of the forest of blades. The sense of oppression from the blades returned, pressing down on his body, but Yao Jun noticed that the oppression was slightly weaker this time around. Yao Jun took a step forward, moving into the forest of blades. When he took that first step into the forest of blades, he felt the sense of oppression almost double in strength, threatening to push him down onto the ground. Yao Jun stopped walking and straightened his body, resisting the oppressing force. As the oppressive force bore down on his body, he could also feel slivers of it enter his body. When the oppressive force entered his body, it started drilling into his bones, bringing with it a drilling pain, before settling in his marrow. Yao Jun realized that this path was probably a test and and opportunity that the Nine Heavens Sword Empyrean had organized for him, so he grit his teeth and took another step forward. When he stepped forward this time, instead of the oppressive force increasing, he felt a sharp wind flow around his body, slicing his skin. Once more, slight amounts of oppressive force, this time mixed with the slicing wind, entered his body, settling in various parts of his body. After standing still for around five minutes, Yao Jun felt that he was capable of taking another step forward. He took another step forward, but the moment he finished his step, the oppressive force dramatically increased, pushing him down onto the ground. Yao Jun felt like his organs were being squeezed by the oppressive force, almost rupturing, but he could also feel them slowly strengthen. Yao Jun slightly moved his head, looking at the weapons stuck into the ground at the side of the road. When he first entered the road, there were all types of weapons. On the second step, the weapons all turned into small daggers. On the third step, the one he was currently on, all the weapons had turned into large hammers, towering above Yao Jun. Looking at the weapons around him, a theory formed in Yao Jun's mind. To find out whether or not his theory was correct, required Yao jun to move further down the path. He closed his eyes and focused on the oppressive force bearing down on his body, slowly absorbing trace amounts of it.