Chapter 11 – Calamity God Hand

That ancient voice stopped speaking and an invisible force latched onto Moons body. The enormous door which led to the second trial creaked open causing the entire ground to shake as rubble was dislodged from the ceiling and toppled to the floor.

The strange force lifted Moons body up twenty meters into the air as it pulled him through the door into the next area. From up above, he could see that the second trials difficulty increased immeasurably! A single stone path led from one end of the hall to the other, and alongside the stone path were pools of lava which endlessly spat out raging balls of fire.

Flaming magical beasts also littered the area, the aura they gave off was the strength of the low Rebirth layer. One of the beasts was a Fuzu Fire Titan, a gigantic beast made of stone and lava which was ten meters tall. In it's hand was a greatsword made of flame which flickered madly as if it was alive.

“If I somehow miraculously passed the first trial, then passing this one would require me to have the luck of a Jindan Frog! It's a good thing I have this 'Seed of Envy' the old voice mentioned.”. Jindan Frog's were magical beasts said to have the most luck throughout heaven and earth. They were almost impossible to capture, but if one could actually be captured and killed, it's blood could be drank which would allow them to be blessed with a hundred years of good luck!

As Moon flew over that Fuzu Fire Titan, he reached the end of the incredibly hot lava filled area. That strange force which was latched onto his body released him from the air, as he fell twenty foot and landed down on the ground with a bang. The Qi around his feet had softened his fall, but the bones in his legs were slightly damaged.

“Too weak, I'm too weak, I'm never going to pass this third trial! it's going to be much harder than the first two which were already so difficult..”.

Moon stood before the third and final door. The mural on this door was a lot different compared to the first two, it didn't detail that long haired man from before. The mural instead depicted two enormous red eyes and extremely sharp fangs which looked very evil, it resembled a pitch black wolf! Every passing second which he took to stare at the mural made him feel like his sanity was being eaten away. “T-This door, it's alive and it wants to devour me!”.

That old voice sounded out once again.

“Look away and you will not have the requirements to attempt the third trial. If you can withstand the mental pressure from the Yin & Yang Death Wolf for a whole minute, you will pass to the next stage.”

Twenty seconds had passed and a bloody steam was being released from Moon, the inside of his body was under incredible stress. His profound veins were being torn apart and right now many of his veins had split, making the Qi in his body release to form that bloody steam. His meridians were also being totally crushed! Four of them had already been flattened, and the pain on his face was evident. This was the worst pain he had ever felt in his entire life, he would much rather be tortured for a century by Rudan than endure this any longer.

Although the pain was increasing by the second, his body still endured. Ten seconds remained as his eyes were still fixated on that wolf in the mural, though his eyes had gone a deathly white and blood constantly poured from them.

“J-Just ten more seconds.. Ten more and I can attempt the last stage. If Uriel.. would see me fail.. She would be disappointed!”.

His thoughts were filled with his lost woman Uriel, it was the only thing keeping him standing right now. His sanity had been leached constantly during the last fifty seconds, and he felt like he could descend into madness if he faltered for even a second. One thin layer of green Qi was rotating endlessly around his head, guarding his last drips of sanity.

Five, four, three, two.. One.

Moon dropped down to the floor, blood pouring out of every single orifice. His mental state was very bad, staring at that face for a mere minute had greatly affected his mind.

“Good boy, good! You actually managed to stare at my Yin & Yang Death Wolf for a whole minute whilst being at the third stage of the Nursery layer. Your willpower is impressive, you can now attempt the third and final trial. I will revert your body back to it's previous healthy state.”

A foul black Qi appeared out of thin air, heading straight towards Moon. It enveloped his body and rotated around him rapidly before diving into his skin, healing his broken veins and crushed meridians. Even his badly affected mental state was healed by that black Qi! Those injuries which he endured would have been incurable even by the greatest spiritual doctor in the entire continent, just what kind of power was required to do such a thing? An immortal level healing technique?

Moon rose back to his feet, a stern look on his face as he investigated the injuries inside his body. “The black Qi that healed my veins was insanely powerful. This Evil God that's sealed here must be ridiculously strong, if I could become it's disciple then...” He suddenly became lost in thought, images of him flying thousands of feet in the sky, crushing his enemies and stealing away princesses rushed into his head.

The ancient and giant door opened with a bang. That evil face on the mural disappeared, leaving only a stone surface. Beyond the third door was a myriad of beautiful bright lights which dazed Moon for a few seconds as he was unable to see beyond them.

“W-What in the seven hells is this third trial?”.

Moon regained his vision, he stared curiously upon the scenery behind the door. A giant golden greatsword! The sword reached so high up that he couldn't even see the tip. Beneath the sword was a palace of exceptional architectural design. Fountains were pouring out water endlessly, huge statues of a long haired figure were placed around a green courtyard.

As he walked along a stone path to the entrance of the palace, he realized that beyond the palace was an endless field of green. Flowers could be seen swaying to and fro in the wind, and there were no walls surrounding the green plains. It seemed like as he passed through that giant door into this third trial, that he'd entered another realm!

“What a beautiful place, it's nothing like the previous trial which resembled hell. If I could live quietly in here for the rest of my days I'm sure I'd die a happy man.. but life's never that easy.”

The grand palace was right before him, and he walked up to that golden door which led to the inside. As he reached out to touch the door, it swung open as if it had a life of it's own.

Inside the palace, the architecture was like nothing he had even seen before. Black domed towers twisted on the side of the walls accompanying the most ostentatiously detailed pillars he had ever laid his eyes upon. The walls from a distance seemed to be composed of a white material, but as one went close enough to touch they'd notice it was built entirely of bones.

There were no doors on the ground floor, and it seemed as if the hall was one huge room. Sucking in his breath as he drew the courage to move forward, he felt a strong pressure on his legs as each step he took made him feel as if a tremendous evil was bearing down on him.

Every time he moved forward, he felt as if the world was disappearing in front of him, or maybe it was just him that was fading away. His lungs were burning tremendously and his heart was hitting his chest so hard he felt like it would break through his ribs and tear through his skin.

“What is this dreadful feeling.. it's like a thousand eyes are staring at me, ready to devour my soul. I dread to think what the third trial is, it must be something a lot worse than before.”

As Moon walked to the end of the hall, a tremendous throne sculpted by bones was placed before him. Sat on this giant throne of bones, was an ethereal figure with long white hair that was as wild as the jungle that fell down to his feet. It's emaciated fingers, clenched tightly to what seemed to be a cracked greatsword that was was lodged into the floor. A greatsword covered in bloodstains, each one telling a different story.

Staring at this figure before him, his heart twisted and sunk with nerves. A black light enveloped him coldly as the tremors pierced his soul, his breaths came in pants as he tried to regain control of his body but nothing was working. “It hurts, it hurts!”. He tried to breath calmly, but every time he looked back up at that terrifying figure on the throne he felt like his existence was being eaten away.

All his life he had feared death, suppressed with dealing with the notion, never willing to depart early. But as he stared at that evil figure sat on the throne, he truly wished to die! He felt like if he fell into that figures hands he would suffer greatly beyond his wildest imagination.

“Holder of the first seed, the Seed of Envy! You should already know who I am. You saw the grand vision of the battle where I was sealed, correct?”.

The emaciated man stood up from the throne of bones. His face seemed thin and weak and his skin was as pale as the full moon. He had wide ink black eyes which contained an evil glint and his movements were very slow. From how he appeared, it seemed as if he was a man of sixty years of age or more, yet his aura was ancient and frightening, seeming to be hundreds of thousands of years old.

As the godly being spoke, the evil pressure which was crushing Moon's soul vanished as he used his remaining Qi to push himself back up to his feet.

“You're that Evil God, Old White.. How come you're at the bottom of this enormous hole?”.

The ancient figure suddenly let out a huge grin, “Ah, I was sealed down here by that old bastard! It's been hundreds of thousands of years, he must have assumed control over my immortal realm already.” As he talked about the one who sealed him away, that huge grin disappeared as an incredibly evil look covered his face.

“Just what is this third trial? How can I possibly complete it with the strength of the third stage of the Nursery layer?!” An expression of determination lit up on Moon's face, if he had a shot at passing this third trial then he would use everything he had left in his body to attempt it.

A look of contempt appeared on Old White's face.

“Hm. When I was sealed down here from my realm I had no choice but to split my soul into seven seeds, you already have the first one, the Seed of Envy.. Otherwise, I would have been destroyed when I crossed through that bastards vortex! My physical body is already gone, what you're seeing is a tiny piece of my conscience which I sealed into my greatsword, the 'Calamity God Hand'.. You may be aware that when a strong cultivator doesn't wish to die and seals himself into his weapon, it becomes a divine weapon. You could simply say, that the current me in front of you now is the Calamity God Hand!".

A fierce look permeated on Old White's face, "If you can pick up my Calamity God Hand, you can become my disciple!".