Chapter 645 - The Phoenix Star Inheritance Part 3

Li Dong appeared in front of Kana, whose soul was still out of her body with eyes filled with worship. "Senior, my eyes were blind to not have noticed your greatness when you first arrived. I apologize for my earlier transgressions."

Kana frowned and ignored the old man. She was sick of old men and their stupidity. She merged her soul back with her body and then looked at Li Dong once more. "Did we pass the first trial?"

Li Dong was confused. He did not understand why Kana would want to know if she had passed or not. With a single word, he would be willing to give her everything. All she had to do was ask. But when he looked up and saw Kana's impatient eyes, he quickly lowered his head as he answered: "Ye-Yes, you did." 

"Then can we continue to the next trial?" Kana had a feeling that if she asked right now that this old man would let her pass easily without needing to take the next trial with how he was acting, but she did not want that. She wanted to push forward, learn what she could, and grow stronger. This fight alone, although she was lucky in the end, but when that giant hand was slamming down towards her, she understood just how weak she truly was. Her body, her mind, everything about her was nowhere even close to being strong enough. Even if she had her real power, she knew that eventually, she would run into someone so strong that if she was not careful, she would end up dead. 

This one experience was enough to really open her eyes. If she truly wished to become someone who could stand above all so she would never have to be separated from the ones she loved, then she needed to grow stronger, much stronger, so strong that no one could stand in her way. 

"Next trial?" Li Dong was even more confused now. He stared at Kana blankly, unsure if this was a test or not. "You… You do not need to worry about that. I can just…"

"No! I know you are doing this because of my soul. But my soul is my soul and nothing else. I need to grow stronger physically more than anything else. I must grow stronger…" Kana's eyes were burning with determination. She wanted nothing more than to use this world as her first stepping stone on her new path.

Before, she was still taking things in stride. Everything up to this point had been handed to her on a silver platter. Her only hardship was losing her sister. She had only been close to death a few times, and while it may have helped her a bit, she still had it too easy. Her path was laid out with a red carpet, allowing her to slowly make her way to the top while those around her assisted. She now understood why her babies were so much stronger than herself. They forged their path through many trials and tribulations. She also needed to do the same. While she may have many memories of her past lives now, this was different from her current self, who had lived for over a hundred years and had been living easily. 

Li Dong was stunned but understood fully well that Kana wished more than anything to become stronger. He was so caught up in how strong her soul was that he had forgotten this little girl in front of him was still a peak body fortification realmed cultivator. Li Dong smiled and felt that Kana was even more likable than before. "Then so be it. But I will tone down the next two trials to that of something that is just above your level. It will allow you to temper yourself. But if you truly wish to be stronger than your contracted beast, should wait with me. This way, the trial will help temper your body. With your current strength, I will set the trials to be at the first stage of the qi condensation realm."

"Thank you. Umm… Can I start the first trial over? I wish to train as much as possible." Kana asked. Although she had fought endlessly, she still wished to start over from scratch.

Li Dong's old face wrinkled up as he heard this. He had finally put on a true smile. Kana's words showed just how determined she was to grow stronger, which greatly impressed him. "That is no issue. As for your contracted beast, I have just the thing for her. As a way to apologize for what happened earlier, I will teach her a few techniques that I picked up for divine beasts. This way, when something like what happened earlier happens again, she will be able to help you more." 

Ako's eyes opened wide as she grew excited. To be able to be more useful, Ako would undergo any kind of training no matter how hard it would be on her. "Master, I will be sure to train hard!"

Kana smiled and patted Ako's head. She could sense Ako's feelings. "Train hard. I will do the same."

"Good. I will teleport her out of the trial area and begin the first trial once more. This time I will start off the waves with weak enemies and gradually raise their strength. Once you are unable to take any more, just yell out. I will immediately stop the trial. As of now, you have already passed the first trial. So this will just be training. Also… Take this. As a young lady, you should cover your skin more."  Li Dong waved a hand and sent a pair of white robes to Kana to wear. He then waved his hand, making the ground rise, forming a small hut made of bones. "After every wave, you can take a break, train to your heart's desire. Inside is a bed and some pills for both cultivation and healing. Use them as you please. Just remember you must yell out when you can not take any more. I will not stop anything if you do not tell me to. Otherwise, this would not be training." 

Kana was stunned at this kind of treatment. Although he was giving her a lot of benefits, it was not like she was going to be directly helping her while she fought. As he said, she had to tell him when she was no longer able to continue.. This meant she could still die if she did not speak up.