When Inverted Dimension ended Xerxes and I stepped out. The blood pool had grown weaker for lack of a better word. The amount of energy inside had faded. I still wasn't sure what the pool was supposed to be. I couldn't tell if it was a pool created from dead people or if it was some kind of treasure.

  "Do you sense anything?" I asked as I expanded my Soul Sense into our surroundings. Before Xerxes could answer my ring began to warm up. It wasn't painful yet but it was impossible to ignore. I was pretty sure I knew what it was so I summoned the five tokens. Lo and behold the five tokens appeared and formed another symbol in the air. I glanced at Xerxes as we once again started a game of follow the leader.

  This time the tokens led us due north and much faster than before. As soon as we left the sanguine part of the territory we could sense other monster but they gave us a wide berth. The few that got close enough to attack us were crushed by a beam of light from the token. After the first few shots most beast stayed away. From their the journey was uneventful.

  I wasn't sure how long we had ran before we entered a quiet stretch of forest. This area felt pristine, as if it was someone's personal garden and not a murder trial. Even the trees were normal size. None of that was the biggest surprise. In the distance there was a black and red tower that I assumed was the pagoda. It was difficult to tell just how far it was but if I had to guess it was within ten miles. I turned my attention to the tokens. The tokens that were in the middle of dissolving.

  I tried to stop them but there was nothing I could do. Even with an infusion of spiritual energy they collapsed. "Well I guess we don't need those anymore." I tried to activate **Apportation** to take us further but the spell failed to activate. "Looks like we have to walk from here. You up for it?"

  "I am ready to go."

  I laughed and expanded my soul sense before we took off. When we arrived in front of the pagoda. It was beautiful it looked both old and new like someone had seen a building from imperial China and then made it modern. Only modern was fantasy. There was a sign in front but their was nothing written on it. There was a surprisingly high amount of energy inside. It wasn't hard to figure out that it was an array the only question was what kind? I didn't think it would hurt us and my danger sense hadn't reacted.

  "I guess we head in?" I gestured for Xerxes to follow as I walked up the stairs. As soon as we passed through the doorway there was a pulse the traveled through our bodies. The pulse explored every part of my body like it was probing for something. My heart practically stopped when it got to the weird mark on my chest. I prepared myself to fight my way out but nothing happened. The pulse faded and the darkness was replaced with light. I looked around in confusion. Xerxes was here to but we were the only ones.

  "I think that was teleportation. It wasn't the same as what the System does but it was kind of similar." I murmured. We stood on a balcony toward the very top of the pagoda only it was taller here than it was from the ground. At least I thought it. This felt like being at the top of the statue of liberty while from the ground it looked more like a tall building. I walked over to the balcony and reached a hand out. I extended my hand but met an invisible wall. Which was only added to the pile of unknowns since it wasn't there even with the Eye of Heaven.

  I turned around and walked back to the entrance but as soon as I stepped through the door way I reappeared on the balcony. I did it two more times before I gave up. "I guess we should take this time to recover."

  We sat down and started to cultivate. I was going to hand over a pair of spirit stone but the tower once again had a surprise for us. The energy was much denser inside. On top of that the energy practically rushed into me when I started. I glanced over at Xerxes who was in a similar situation. I pushed down my irritation at taking so long to complete the quest. If I had gotten here days ago how much progress could I have made? The treasures we found did make it sting a bit less. I took a deep breath and focused on absorbing energy.

  I sunk deeper and deeper into the process until I reached the threshold of level 43. This time I let the energy swell until that last barrier was broken. Increasing a level was still a minor break through at this point but they were fewer and further between. The question of where to put my two points only last a moment. As much as it was being super strong. My kit was pretty clear. Wisdom and Int were my main attributes. Perception was a close third place. Strength was dead last which only left Agility and Constitution. Between those two Agility was the clear winner. If I could avoid the hit in the first place why would I worry about survivability?

  Of course the nagging part of my brain said that there would be attacks that couldn't be avoided but I ignored that part. I put the two points into Perception and turned my attention to my Tao. I was confident I could push all three of them to the next level if I really wanted. Despite that I didn't want to rush them. I was sure I could do one more before we left so I turned my attention to the Strand of Compression. I took my time to reflect on all of my battles until now.

  Each one felt like a walk along the path of my Tao. It wasn't until I arrived at the battle with the Blood knight that something changed. It wasn't the same as when I got my Tao. Those were like moment of startling realization. This was more like a gradual awakening. When the sensation passed. I opened my notification screen and smiled.

  Tao Strand of Compression: Comprehension: High. Intelligence +40, Constitution +20, Wisdom +20

  The rewards were impressive and it confirmed something that I was unsure about. I could kind of stir the attributes I wanted. I focused more on the understanding of space instead of the physical compressing of something. The results swapped the Strength for Constitution. Which I assumed was due to surviving the collapse? That one was harder to explain. I opened my eyes and looked around. Xerxes and I weren't the only people here now.

  A group of cultivators in black and white leather armor sat across from us. There four of them and they looked rough. Their injuries were slowly healing but it was clear that they had been in a lot of fights. All four were men and they had swords in sheathes in front of them. The person I assumed was their leader opened his eyes and stared back at me. He released a trace amount of his aura and it wasn't bad. It was sharp like a blade that would cut through whatever was in front of him. It wasn't as strong as mine but it wasn't bad. I decided not to release my own. Mostly because I wanted to keep the peace and I was pretty sure we couldn't fight here.

  I returned to my meditation. This time I focused on the Tao of Adamance. The process for the Tao was similar to Compression only there was no individual battle that left an impression on me. It was the combination of all the battles. The desire to push forward and win against any odds. I relished each of the many battles until I completed the improvement. When it was done I pulled up my status screen and read through my improvements.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Tao Strand of Adamance: Comprehension: High. Comprehension: High. Wisdom +40, Constitution +40,

  So it appeared that 80 points was the norm for High Strands. Which was double the middle tier. It was a simple and straight forward path which made sense when you considered where it came from. I didn't bother opening my eyes this time. Instead I focused on the Tao of Lucidity. The most confusing of my Taos. It was the one I had the least understanding off. It was confusion or I guess understanding.

  It was hard to process and explain. Despite that I was mostly confident that I could upgrade it. The process was slower this time. I needed to reflect on every battle I used it multiple times before I was able to break through. A throbbing headache and wave of spiritual exhaustion made me want to go to bed. I passed a mental eye over my body but from what I could see I was fine. Outside of a lack of psychic energy.

  I made a mental note to not force a breakthrough like this again. At least not with all three strands. I rest for several minutes before I pulled up my last notification.

  Tao Strand of Lucidity: Comprehension: High. Perception +40, Wisdom +40

  It was much less interesting the third time. The benefits were great and just made my Wisdom attribute even more dangerous. I still wasn't sure how power worked with respect to each attribute point. I was pretty sure that the massive change was enough to cause some serious damage. I was about to open a communication line with Xerxes when I felt a presence enter the pagoda.

  The figure or rather figures appeared at the entrance a few moments later and I opened my eyes. I raised an eye brow to the Crown Prince who was now missing an arm. Furthermore he only had two of his guards with him and I barely remembered them. "You look like thing didn't go as well as you had hoped with your brother?"

  The Crown Prince flashed me a smile though it was clearly strained. He and his guards walked over and I stood up to greet him. "That would be a fair analysis of the situation." He began. "My dear brother had a surprises for us but we prevailed. Just not without most of my supporters being sent back."

  I nodded and gestured for him to join me and Xerxes. "I see do you regret not having my help?"

  He shook his head and we all sat on the ground. His guards popped pills into their mouths and then started to cultivate. "No, it is still better for my siblings and I to deal with our own problems. I would much rather not involve outsiders."

  I nodded and glanced at the stub that was now his arm. "Are you going to recover from that?"

  He sighed and nodded. "My family has a few methods though none are pleasant. I had expected you to be more disappointed. It appears that we aren't able to have that battle you wanted."

  I nodded. "True but Xerxes and I have gained a lot. I can't complain about the benefits and there is no use in complaining about what happened."

  The Crown Prince stared at me for a few moments and then laughed. "Well you are an interesting man. It looks we were the third to arrive. I hope we weren't too late after you."

  "I don't know for sure. We were first and we spent most of that time in meditation. I don't think its been more than few hours or maybe a few days."

  "Good, good catching up to you has been wonderful but I am going to start my recovery. If we don't get another chance for conversation than I wish you the best in dealing with the troubles of your world."

  I laughed at that and wished the same to him. I leaned back against the wall and ran my hand through Xerxes fur as we waited. We briefly discussed letting him use some of the beast cores but it wasn't the best option. We were surrounded by other people and I wasn't sure what would happen if Xerxes started the bloodline improvement process. Even he wasn't sure what would happen. If my companion was taken out of commission and a final battle happened we might be in trouble. Especially if I had to fight everyone in the tower.

  After that more people slowly filtered in over the course of three days. The groups looked worse and worse until the tenth group practically collapsed as soon as they got through. The trio passed out immediately and the decision was made to move them to a corner of the room. Soon after their arrival a pulse spread through the entire trial zone. Everyone that could move got up and staired as the trial zone turned white. It was a bit like the world just ceased to exist everywhere the wall of light passed.

  The wall of light rapidly made its way toward us until the pagoda was consumed. I glanced over at the rest of the cultivators and flashed them a final smile before we were pulled away by the System. The never ending white continued only I was alone. Even Xerxes was missing but I could still feel his presence through our connection. The emotionless voice of the System ruined the calming silence as it declared the state of the trial.

  Congratulations on achieving first place in the Chimeric Forest Trial. Total time taken: 15:10:40:32: Limited Title Provided. Awarded Title Permanence, Selection from the First Realm Chimeric Pagoda.

  After that a scroll-able menu appeared. The menu was divided into three categories, Name, Quality and Type. It wasn't difficult to figure out what I was looking at. Either the System didn't want us to see what was in the pagoda or it wanted to filter our choices. Either way there wasn't much I could do about it. The important question here was what did I want. Obviously I would stick to the peak quality stuff. I couldn't come up with a reason for why I would go with lower quality goods. Especially since I had no idea what this stuff was anyway. The System didn't give much of a description.

  I decided to ignore the weapons and armor as well. I didn't use them to fight and I didn't think I need it. Robes could be an interesting choice. Next I needed to decide what to do between a resource that could make me stronger or a cultivation resource. I still needed to repair my cultivation cave. The more I thought about it the more my answer became obvious.

  I shifted my focus to things that would spruce up my cultivation cave. I was pretty sure that at least some of the items I found and stolen would boost my strength. Ideally I would be able to add it to the contribution store as well just to get more people doing work. I couldn't help but shift my focus to the arrays. From what I could tell I would get a package that would include either array disks or flags that I would place within an area. Which should mean the arrays were mobile.

  Of the few array that were available there were two that had drawn my attention. The first was called the Chimera Blood Fusion Array. From the short description it was designed to nurture beasts and would no doubt be helpful for Xerxes. It would also be pretty great if we decided to create more beast masters in the future. I couldn't be sure but if it turned out to be big enough that I could put it somewhere public than that could be amazing. The second was called the Heaven's Convergence Array. It was an upgraded version of an energy gathering array.

  Only from what I could tell it would work on a larger scale. I should be able to use it to cover the entire main building at least. On a larger end it might cover the entire city. On the other end if it was small and only worked for me than it would be good but not great. Between my affinities, spirit stones and exploration I leveled up pretty quick. The question boiled down to my personal strength or Xerxes'?

  The answer was obvious. Xerxes was my strongest ally which meant it was best for me to have him get as strong as possible. I selected the Chimera Blood Fusion Array. A moment later a white box the size of a suit case appeared at my feet. I picked it up and took a peak inside. Sure enough there was an information stone though this one was longer and narrower than most. Closer to the ones in the hidden prison.

  Next to them were a set of ten engraved jade discs. The disc held no energy but I could tell that when I powered them up they would hold a lot of it. I considered dealing with the stone now but decided against it. I wasn't sure how long this state of nothingness would last. The last thing I wanted was to appear back home and just stand there. It wouldn't due good to the dignity of the ruler to look like an idiot. I closed up the box and sent it into the ring. With that everything from the trial was dealt with which meant it was finally time to head home. I couldn't wait to shower.