Chapter 5: -5- A real test

Chapter 5: -5- A real test Six years quickly went by with Silas learning the basics of movement at 14 and the basics of the scythe at 15. He was already considered a genius by his parents and the select few who knew. He was now 16 years old and was standing in front of 10 warriors from his Armstrong clan.

They were each peak Mortal lifeforms, much like Silas himself, though most were only qi refiners, with only two of them being both qi and body refiners.

"Same rules as always. If you can strike me, you get 200 gold coins. If you can defeat me, you get 1000. Now come," Silas said as he readied his scythe.

"Be careful, young master. Here we come," the captain of the 10 men said as they all started to rush him.

For the past year, he had trained like this, hoping that in the chaos of it all, he would finally master the second stage and reach mastery in either his movement or scythe technique, but so far, he had no success.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Shing!" "Bang!" "Shing!"

Silas weaved through the 10 men, both defending and attacking. When he had first started this, it was a bit of a struggle not to be hit, and he would occasionally mess up and lose. But now, after a year of constant sparring, he could effortlessly weave through their encirclement without being touched.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Shing!"

He blocked two more attacks and even cut into one of the men slightly, which signified his loss.

There were now only seven men remaining, and they were quickly brought down to zero.

"Very good, young master. You were as excellent as always," the captain said as his neck quickly healed from the small cut Silas had just given him, ending the fight. The captain and most others in the Armstrong clan all treated Silas with great respect, knowing that he was one of the frontrunners for the next position of lord prefect.

"Thank you, and you all did well," Silas said as he got his maid to pass the men each 20 gold coins for their efforts.

Silas then walked away, and soon, a black raven with two red feathers, one on each wing, landed on his shoulder.

[Raven (Beast) - Qi Cultivation: Late Mortal - Body Cultivation: Late Mortal]

"That was easy as always. I don't know why you still bother," the raven said in a human voice.

"For once, I think you're right, big brother Red. That's why I think I'm going to finally ask my father for a real challenge to push myself over the edge," Silas said to the raven, which he called big brother since it was two days older than him, and red because of the two odd red feathers on each of his two wings.

"Oh, really? You think he will agree?" Big brother Red asked.

"I can only ask. The worst he will say is no," Silas said with a sigh.

He soon was back home, and he quickly went and found his father. After some small talk, he finally got the courage to ask, "Father, I think it's time you let me fight a real life-or-death battle with a beast. I need it to stimulate my full potential."

His father laughed and said, "You've only been at the foundation stage for two and one year, respectively. Why are you in such a rush?"

"Why wouldn't I be? As you've said a thousand times, the only person's strength you can rely on in this life is your own," Silas said.

His father nodded, seemingly in deep thought. "Fine, I'll allow it, but first, I think it's time you learned your first advanced scythe technique manual. I'm not sending you into a fight with a beast without one."

"Thank you, father," Silas quickly said. Not only had he agreed to the fight, but he had even finally decided to let him learn one of the clan's advanced scythe techniques. So far, he had only taught him the most basic of scythe manuals.

His father then sent a maid to gather the scythe technique manuals from the clan library, and an hour later, Silas was making his selection.

There were four advanced scythe manuals in his clan's possession.

The first was [Reaper's Embrace], a style focused on close-quarters combat and precision strikes.

The second was [Black Harvest Form], a defensive style where the wielder uses the scythe's reach to create a nearly impenetrable defense.

The third was [Wraithblade's Dance], an ethereal style where the wielder seems to move like a ghost, weaving through foes with effortless grace.

The fourth was [Phantom Reave], a style focused on sudden strikes and unpredictable movements, leaving enemies in confusion.

"Which one or ones would you like to learn?" his father asked.

Silas thought it over for a while and decided to learn [Reaper's Embrace] and [Black Harvest Form].

"I'm going to learn Reaper's Embrace for when I'm stronger than the enemy, I can just overpower them with my strength and skill. And I'll also learn Black Harvest Form for when I'm outmatched and need to escape," Silas explained.

His father nodded his head. "Those are two good choices. I personally learned Black Harvest Form for its defense and Phantom Reave to suddenly attack after lulling the enemy with my defense, but your path is good as well."

"Father, I would also like to learn the other two, but I will save them for later. First, I will focus on the two I selected," Silas added.

"I see," his father nodded. "That's ambitious, but all cultivators should be. Now quickly go learn those, and once you're ready, let me know, and I will set up your battle."

***

Three days quickly went by, with Silas gaining mastery over his two new techniques. After feeling like he had learned and trained enough, he sought out his father, who, after a brief test, set up his battle with a beast.

Silas was now standing in a massive arena that was 700 meters long, wide, and tall, plenty big enough for even peak Transcendent lifeforms to battle in.

"You are now a peak Mortal lifeform, so you will be up against a peak Mortal lifeform as well. It is also a King Beast, so it is much stronger than a regular peak Mortal beast, so be ready. This is your first life-or-death battle; it will be the most dangerous fight of your life. You previously fought and killed some death row convicts of the clan, but those were nothing compared to what you are about to face, so prepare yourself," his father said as he walked out of the arena and prepared to watch his son battle an insane and ferocious beast who would do anything to escape this place.

Silas could now hear the sounds of chains being unleashed as the peak Mortal lifeform was let out of its chains and began making its way toward the smell of food.

Soon, his opponent was in sight, and it was a massive 4-meter-tall red lion.

[Red Lion (Fierce Beast) - Qi Cultivation: Peak Mortal - Body Cultivation: Peak Mortal]

"GRAAAWR!" the lion roared as it made its entrance.

'Damn, that's big,' he thought. This wasn't the first time he had seen a peak Mortal beast, but it was the first time he was standing in front of one that was unchained and ready to fight.

'Just stay calm and fight like you always do,' he told himself. He knew this fight wouldn't be easy, but that's why he was here — for a challenge to push him past his limits.

Silas knew the beast was just as smart as any human, so once he pulled out his scythe, he knew the beast would see it as an official challenge to fight.

"GRAAAWR!" the lion roared as it charged toward him.

Silas then began to charge as well, effortlessly gliding through the air with each step, thanks to his near mastery-level movement. Sёarᴄh the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Shing!"

He swiped down with his scythe three quick times to test the lion's limits, and it was able to block twice, but on the third hit, he managed to cut deep into the lion's paw. But the lion, being a Fierce Beast, had its own inherited memories, much like Silas did himself. Only a Fierce Beast's inherited memories were clearly worse than a Divine Beast. However, it still had its own weaker version of a fiendgod body refinement technique, and since it was peak Mortal in body cultivation, it wasn't slowed down at all, and its paw quickly healed itself.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Silas used his [Black Harvest Form] to defend, creating an impenetrable defense.

This was his first time fighting with his new scythe techniques, so he wanted to test out their full capabilities.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Shing!" "Shing!"

After defending for a while, he went back on offense, occasionally getting past the lion's tough defense and slicing bone-deep into its flesh.

Silas had long since reached the soul stage of splitting one's mind, so he was able to, with one mind, either focus on his footwork and defense/offense, or he could focus on defense with one mind and look for opportunities for offense with the other.

Even though Silas had reached the soul stage of splitting one's mind, he still hadn't told his parents. This would be far too shocking.

Generally speaking, Revolving Core rank 3 Disciples were able to split one's mind.

Golden Core rank 4 Adepts were capable of 'divine will.'

And Sages were capable of opening the 'third eye,' the 'eye of heaven,' and utilizing their 'divine sense.'

But Silas, thanks to his inherited memories, was able to reach the soul stage of splitting one's mind since, from his birth, he was able to meditate daily on a divine-level soul visualization technique called [God of Death]. It was a picture imprinted into his mind of the first-ever Grim Reaper King holding a scythe, about to execute a deadly attack.

The longer the fight lasted, the more amped up the fight got.

'I can feel it. It's closer than ever,' Silas began to think, but after another 5 minutes of fighting, he was still just beyond the reach of mastery.

'I need more,' he thought. He knew this wasn't challenging enough. With his Grim Reaper King's Fiendgod Body Technique, this lion couldn't kill him if he sat there and let it.

"Father, send another one! I need a bigger challenge!" Silas yelled.

"Are you sure?!" his father asked, worried. He could tell that Silas was in full control of the fight, and so far, his defense had truly been impenetrable, but adding a second beast into the mix was a completely different level of challenge.

"Yes, Father, please just trust me. I'll be fine!" Silas said.

"Ok, I'll trust you!" his father said.

***

***

[A/n: I changed some of the ranks it now goes:

1. Mortal

2. Transcendent

3. Revolving Core

4. Golden Core]