There's a high chance I may reboot this series and rewrite it to implement the ideas that I've come up with and developed since I started writing. There's a lot of mistakes and things that should be redone. If it does happen, I'm going to redo it from scratch and change a lot of it to better suit the traditional Wuxia style.

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As Cixi and Akiza entered into the darkness, they could not see nor feel anything.

"What is this place?" asked Akiza.

"I don't know," said Cixi. "But it's a building that is protected and clearly meant to serve a purpose to you."

Seven flames of different colors appeared in a circle around Akiza and Cixi. Straight ahead was a red one. The other flames all began to converge on the red one. Each time a flame joined the red one, it changed color. It first became a mix of red and orange, then a dark yellow, then appeared a shade of green. The entire flame then turned blue, followed by purple. Finally, the last flame joined what was the red flame and the entire thing turned into a bright white flame.

"KYAA!" There was a high pitched scream of a bird as the white flame transformed into the shape of a bird with its wings wide opened. It closed its wings.

"It's a phoenix!" shouted Cixi.

"It's been a while since there's been a Hero to visit me," said the phoenix as it faced Akiza.

Akiza felt a huge amount of mixed energy pouring fourth from the phoenix. It was a powerful being that was at least equal to someone who was at the upper end of the Emperor Stage if not higher than that. For some reason though, the flames were not hot. "What am I doing here?" Akiza asked.

"You are here to make sure that you are ready to fight the Demons," said the phoenix. "To do this, we put each Hero through a trial based on the element that he or she awakens first."

"In her case, it's the phoenix," said Cixi.

"That is correct, Hero, you must undergo the Trial of the Phoenix," said the phoenix.

"What must I do?" Akiza asked.

"The first is a test to see how you do in a fight alone," said the phoenix. "That means you are to fight without a spirit and without a weapon."

"How long will this take?" asked Akiza.

"It all depends on you," said the phoenix. "Depending on how well you do, you will have a number of stages. If you pass this test, you will become much stronger."

Akiza needed strength, strength that would allow her to fight against someone at the Emperor Stage. "I will do it," said Akiza.

"You will still here," said the phoenix as it looked at Cixi. "Even if she is your pupil, this is a trial she must undergo alone. Do you understand?"

Cixi nodded and stepped back. "I understand," said Cixi.

The phoenix wrapped its wings around Akiza. All Akiza saw was bright flash of light. When the light cleared, she was in a pitch black room. The door that was behind her was gone. Akiza suddenly felt warm. "Where am I?" Akiza asked.

"You are in a special location within the Trial Grounds," said the phoenix. "It is here that you must undergo your first test. Now watch your step."

The room began to light up. At her feet was solid rock. In the distance, she noticed a red bubbling liquid. It was lava. In the distance the rocks began to shake. Akiza could feel the earth moving beneath her.

BUMP. BUMP. The ground underneath her was shaking. A pile of rocks had assembled itself into a golem with a large sword. It began to walk towards Akiza. The ground continued to shake. Another golem appeared, this one wielded an axe. There was more than one. When the ground finally stopped shaking, there was at least five, but more were appearing. "How many are there?" Akiza asked.

"I estimate about a hundred," said the phoenix.

"One hundred?!?" Akiza shouted in response to that statement. "That's impossible."

"Nothing should be impossible for a Hero," said the phoenix. "You're expected to perform miracles, this will simply be your first. If you pass this test, you will be given even more incredible powers."

Akiza was at a disadvantage in terms of size, weight, and strength. With nothing but flames alone, and her fists, she must take down a hundred golems. But, Akiza remembered, she was not a normal person anymore. Her cultivation had granted her immense strength and speed. Even without the phoenix spirit, she could use the techniques like Phoenix Steps and Rising Phoenix Strike.

Akiza decided it was best to see how well she could do against one before they could gather. She charged forward towards the golem. She focused her Internal Energy into a fist. BANG. With a powerful swing, her fist connected with the chest of the golem. It fell back and crushed the golem behind it. Its sword dropped on the side. The one she hit had survived, but it cracked.

The danger here was the large number of golems, not their strength. Akiza picked up the sword wielded by the golem. It was extremely heavy and all she could do was drag it along the floor. It was basically useless. The axe was going to be even heavier. The spear was the only thing she might be able to use, but it was also far too long for her. They were weapons designed for golems after all, not people.

BANG. Akiza felt something smash against her back. She turned around and saw another golem wielding a mace. She was lucky that her strong Internal Energy protected her from the force of that attack. It would have probably broken the bones of any normal person. Each of the golems alone were probably at the Limit or Spirit Stage. In other words, very weak compared to Akiza. The difference was that their physique made them tough to destroy and it also gave them incredible natural strength.

Akiza slowly worked her way through them. Throwing punches left and right, constantly moving to take advantage of her speed in order to avoid being hit. The ones with the maces and axes were the physically strongest while the ones wielding swords were the fastest followed by the ones with spears. With this in mind, Akiza could time how long it took them to swing and find openings.

BANG. Each time Akiza punched a golem, it was sent flying a few feet and crushed its comrades behind it. Akiza did not avoid everything though. The clothes that Cixi had gotten her were already very damaged. The sleeves were heavily torn, the part that covered her back practically did not exist anymore and the flaps in the front and back had numerous holes in it. Akiza had taken more than two dozen hits in total so far.

Akiza tried to lift the other weapons, but they were all too heavy for her. She had to use just her hands. A golem approached Akiza and thrust out its spear. Akiza dodged to the side and punched the spear. The shift in weight caused the golem to tip over and fall on top of its neighbor, crushing it.

From behind, another golem approached with its axe. It swung fiercely in a half circle. Akiza tackled it and knocked it off balance before it could recover from its swing. It fell over and was crushed by its own axe. As strong as the golems were, they were brainless and predictable.

Another golem approached from Akiza's side. She focused Internal Energy into her shoulder and tackled it. BANG. Pieces of the golem broke off of the main body as the golem tipped over and fell. BOOM. The ground shook as it fell over onto its friends.

As the numbers thinned, it became easier for Akiza to move around. She could position herself to strike a golem and watch as it fell over its comrades, crushing them. Soon, Akiza was down to just one.

The golem raised its arms and shaped itself like an X. The ground began to shake. "It's doing something," Akiza thought.

The golem began to surround itself with the bodies of the other golems. It was beginning to fuse with the others. As the body of each golem came into contact with it, the body broke into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually, the outside of the golem looked more like sand than rock. It also began to emit Internal Energy, one that rivaled someone at the Lord Stage.

Akiza swung her fist wrapped in flames at the golem. PFFF. Her fist went right through the side of the golem as if she was punching through sand.

The golem raised its sword and swung at Akiza. Akiza feinted to the lower right attempting to strike the golem in the chest. PFFF. Again, Akiza hit sand that cushioned her attack and prevented her from hitting the rock body of the golem.

As slow as the golem was, Akiza could not hurt it. She needed more power. Akiza launched a ball of fire at the golem. PFFF. Some sand was blown off of it, but it did basically nothing. Her flames needed to be much hotter. Akiza tried to concentrate while evading the golem swinging the sword at her. As she focused, the colors of the flame in her hand began to change. From what was normally red in color, it turned to orange as she focused, the orange color became lighter and lighter.

When the flames turned almost white, Akiza turned to confront the golem. The golem raised its sword high up into the air. Akiza turned sideways aiming straight for the ribs of the golem. The golem smashed its sword downward with one arm, exposing its opposite side. Akiza swung her fist. CLANG. With a powerful punch, Akiza heard the sound of something breaking.

Akiza felt pain in her hand. It had been cut and she was bleeding a little. She immediately began to apply her pink flames to it in order to stop the bleeding. She looked at the golem. The side of it had turned to glass and was broken. She needed to do it one more time on the other side, then it would collapse under its own weight.

Akiza focused her flame again. The golem was struggling to walk properly. It was big and heavy, so something like missing a portion of its body threw it off balance. It was moving much slower than before. She recreated the feeling and the flames turned to a light orange much faster. Akiza threw another punch, this time at where the stomach would be.

CLANG. The golem broke into two large pieces with small rocks everywhere. Akiza looked around her to make sure there were no more surprises. Then, she heard a voice.

"You have passed the first test," said the phoenix.

"How many more?" Akiza asked.

"Two more," said the phoenix. "Are you ready for you second trial?"

"No," said Akiza.

"Well, you don't get to rest," said the phoenix. "It begins immediately!"

A purple flame appeared and turned into the shape of a person. It was the woman in purple.