Chapter 1081: Chapter 1080: A Mountain of Knives and a Sea of Flames_1
"What place is this?"
The sky was the same, the clouds were the same, but Shi Xiaole intuitively felt that something was different from before, the most obvious being that Uncle Wang and the others were gone.
He didn’t even know when the four men and the eagle disappeared.
This was terrifying. Given Shi Xiaole’s spiritual power, even the Forbidden Martial Emperor’s movements would hardly escape his notice, unless it was a master of the legendary Sky Origin realm.
But what would a Sky Origin realm master have to gain from abducting four men and an eagle without reason?
With a belly full of questions, Shi Xiaole flew onward, seeing no desert, no sand dunes, and as far as the eye could see, even the ground had vanished without a trace.
His strong psychological constitution kept him from panicking, instead, he stayed alert to his surroundings.
Firstly, the strength of the void here was consistent with the outside world, so it certainly wasn’t a barrier or an Array System. Secondly, the spiritual power of heaven and earth here was even more abundant than outside.
Third, he had entered this place without explanation.
And a place that met all three conditions could it be... Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. Could this be the Colorless Realm?
"I must not panic, even if this is the Colorless Realm. Having existed for so many years, surely I am not the only one who has ever strayed into it."
Shi Xiaole sped up his flight. This single flight covered millions of miles, during which he tried various methods, but no matter what, he couldn’t find a flaw and was unable to leave.
Finally, after two months, from afar, a colossal mountain reaching into the heavens appeared in Shi Xiaole’s eyes.
The mountain was divided into three sections, with the top and bottom completely shrouded in clouds, their height and depth unknown. The exposed middle section alone was a thousand miles long and a hundred miles wide. Even the smallest rock on the mountain was vast compared to Shi Xiaole.
When he was ten thousand miles away from the mountain, Shi Xiaole suddenly felt a tremendous force come upon him. The next moment, he was violently dragged into a crevice in the middle section of the giant mountain.
Once he steadied himself and looked closely, what seemed to be a crevice was actually a platform over a kilometer in length and width. On the inside of the platform, there were actually spiral stone steps leading to the backside of the giant mountain.
"Foreign visitor, welcome to the Colorless Realm."
A figure emerged before Shi Xiaole, a burly man dressed unlike people of today, resembling the style of ancient times, with an aura that was elusive.
"Who are you?"
Having resigned to his situation, Shi Xiaole had already adjusted his mindset.
"I am a servant of the Colorless Realm, and you shall be as well. Come with me."
The burly man saw that Shi Xiaole didn’t move and had to stop, turning around and saying, "It seems you’re unwilling, too bad for your bad luck. The Colorless Realm has two regions, and you happened to enter the first one. If you wish to escape fate, you must withstand the trials of the Colorless Realm."
Shi Xiaole wasn’t sure if he saw incorrectly, but he noticed a cunning smile flash across the burly man’s lips, gone as quickly as it appeared.
"Why should I listen to you?"
Shi Xiaole quietly urged the power of the Heart Sword. The burly man clearly didn’t expect such a brusque reaction from an outsider and, caught off guard, immediately started screaming, his body fading somewhat, revealing he was in fact a spirit seed.
To Shi Xiaole’s surprise, just as the burly man was about to disappear, a force surged from all around, rapidly restoring him to his peak.
Shi Xiaole tried repeatedly but was unable to kill the burly man.
"In the Colorless Realm, I, as a servant, am undying."
The burly man sneered, but his gaze toward Shi Xiaole had taken on a hint of wariness and resentment. Even though he couldn’t die, the pain of being tormented was not pleasant.
"Tell me about the trial you mentioned."
Stopping his mental attack, Shi Xiaole asked. If there was no other way to leave, he would have to take this path.
"It’s quite simple, pass through the trial of mountain of swords and sea of flames. Before you, a total of one billion, eight hundred and ninety-six million, five hundred and twenty thousand people have taken the trial, and ultimately, none passed. Of course, I’m referring to the ones under my charge. It’s such a pity; if you entered the second region of the Colorless Realm, you wouldn’t have needed to face a trial."
The burly man’s arrogance had faded, but the cunning smile could not be disguised.
These fools from the outside world had such lofty pride. Once they experienced the cruelty of the trial of the mountain of swords and sea of flames, they looked more ridiculous than the next. But by then, it was already too late to regret.
Before, the burly man didn’t feel like wasting time, but now, he rather looked forward to Shi Xiaole getting a bloody nose.
Shi Xiaole inwardly clicked his tongue.
More than a billion people, with not one succeeding. The sheer number alone was enough to strike terror into anyone’s heart. Shi Xiaole didn’t think that all those billion people were fools. Statistically speaking, there should have been at least one peerless genius among them.
Moreover, note that this number surely accumulated over many years. The population of the East Victory continent was massive, and the warriors of the Martial World were innumerable. Mistakenly entering would not be difficult to reach such a number each year.
As for those who disappeared, the outside world, unable to account for the vanished, naturally left it unresolved. Moreover, most nameless fighters went unnoticed to begin with.
Regarding the second region mentioned by the other party, it must be a safer place, but there’s no point in dwelling on what’s beyond reach.
"Are you sure you want to face the trial?"
The burly man asked again.
"If I pass, can I get out?"
The burly man shook his head, his smile deepening, "I don’t know, because no one has ever passed. Everyone thinks they are different, but as it turns out, it’s just wishful thinking. I advise you not to try."
How could Shi Xiaole not hear the provocation in the other’s words, but he was not content to become a servant of the Colorless Realm. Besides, just because others couldn’t do it didn’t mean he couldn’t. He said, "Take me there."
The burly man scoffed and walked forward without looking back, no longer speaking to Shi Xiaole.
The two climbed the spiral stone steps upward. Shi Xiaole observed his surroundings along the way, but apart from the towering rocks and green moss, there were only the faintly white clouds.
Half a 2-hour period later, the two stepped onto a platform.
From here, the mountain finally showed a change, shifting from a vertical to a sloped type, and its surface was bristling with densely packed three-foot-long knives, the tips glistening with a soul-piercing sharpness.
It was actually a Knife Mountain.
"Ah..."
A scream that did not seem human rang out, as someone was climbing the Knife Mountain, already drenched in blood. In agony, his body rolled down, at least dozens of knife tips piercing through him, nailing him in place.
Soon, with the tremble of the knife tips, the man disappeared into nothingness, and a wisp of his essence could faintly be seen merging into the void.
Shouts also came from other locations, as several servants from the Colorless Realm, too, brought their own people for the trial. Some, terrified out of their wits and wishing to change their minds, were killed by a palm strike from the servants.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, why bother?"
The burly man shook his head repeatedly, looking at Shi Xiaole, "We’ve come to this, whether you want to go up or not, you have to. Hahaha, go on and die."
Ignoring the other, Shi Xiaole approached Knife Mountain, his power and spiritual force quickly being suppressed, no longer able to be used.
To climb the Knife Mountain, one had to rely on the knife tips, and considering the slope was nearly ninety degrees, it was likely to be pierced at any time, no wonder few passed the trial. And when Shi Xiaole started climbing, he immediately knew he had greatly underestimated the difficulty.
First, the tips were too sharp; he had barely grazed one, and a wound immediately appeared on his body, blood flowing freely.
Second, the pain brought by the knife tips was more than ten times stronger than under normal circumstances. Most people couldn’t bear it; not passing out from the pain was already an achievement.
Third, Shi Xiaole noticed his vitality diminishing continuously. Meaning, while enduring unbearable pain, he not only had to think about how to climb but also had to consider his pace; otherwise, he would die not from being pierced or pain, but from exhausted vitality.
What a terrifying trial!
After a momentary emotional turmoil, Shi Xiaole calmed down and began pondering a solution.
The burly man behind him saw blood start to flow, yet Shi Xiaole remained unmoved, and thought he was scared. He laughed disdainfully, and the other servants from the Colorless Realm also sneered endlessly.
About a quarter of an hour later, Shi Xiaole moved, but his actions made all the servants’ scalps tingle.
He was seen using the strength of his limbs for a mighty leap upward, and on landing, his ten fingers and ten toes were immediately penetrated. The sound of flesh being pierced made the Colorless Realm servants’ backs crawl.
The saying goes that the fingers are connected to the heart, and the pain there is most sensitive, let alone when it is amplified tenfold. Several servants from the Colorless Realm even doubted Shi Xiaole could survive the pain.
But not only did he not die, he also precisely controlled his body amidst the boundless agony, and without any gaps, he leapt upward again.
The same posture, the same spots, another ten fingers and ten toes pierced.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
The orderly sound echoed each time, making the burly man feel a chill rushing from his tailbone to the top of his skull, almost flipping open his skullcap.
From a rational standpoint, using hands and feet could indeed minimize the injured areas and maintain strength. But how could one dare!
The thought of that pain was enough to unnerve people, and even if one could bear it, how would they ensure bodily coordination under such circumstances?
This was an impossible task, but the young man in blue seemed cold and unfeeling to his own sensations, climbing upwards with an almost mechanical, masochistic rhythm time after time.
Remembering his indifferent gaze, the burly man felt his heart twitch. He’d never been so afraid of a person before.
"This guy, is too, too ruthless, right?"
Another servant from the Colorless Realm muttered.
In his memory, over the thousands of years he’d served, only a handful had successfully climbed over Knife Mountain. As for before then, he did not know, but none had ever climbed like this, certainly none other than this one.
If one looked closely, they would see that Shi Xiaole’s body was shivering, every pore covered with fine beads of sweat, his eyes bloodshot, his veins bulging as if they would burst at any moment.
But he bit down hard, without making a sound.
Ten meters.
Fifty meters.
A hundred meters.
...
Shi Xiaole felt dizzy and on the brink of collapse each time, his resting time getting longer and longer. In the end, he was solely relying on sheer willpower to hold on, his teeth nearly shattered from biting down so hard.
The servants from the Colorless Realm became tiny dots below, and lifting his head was strenuous for Shi Xiaole, who kept accumulating strength and leaping upwards. His body was about to fall, but amidst the torment, an indomitable force in his heart grew ever more resolute, stronger.
That was Heart Power!
"I can’t give up, even if only my tongue can move, I will use my tongue to pull myself up bit by bit."
Clearing the mind to view one’s true nature, Shi Xiaole caught a glimpse of his true self. Rather than climbing Knife Mountain, it was as if he was climbing over the shackles within himself. He wanted to surpass, to break free.
Fifty meters.
Thirty meters.
With all his might, body weak and nearly fainting, Shi Xiaole finally crossed over Knife Mountain, falling onto a soft expanse of grass.
It was also at this moment, his Heart Power broke through its limits, and the power of Heart Sword surged from three hundred sixty strands to three hundred ninety!
