An extreme bloodlust and killing intent pressed Ken, urging him to turn around and run away. He easily located the source of the pressure coming from the other end of the room, meaning it'd only get worse the more he advanced.
'Since I know it's a test, I have nothing to fear.'
Ken whispered to himself and marched forward. At first, the pressure was bearable, and Ken could negate it with his own overwhelming bloodlust.
'It's only 50 meters.'
He wanted to use One Step, but something was interfering with his Qi channeling, preventing him from using techniques. He could only radiate his Qi in an unrefined way like a brute.
He walked forward, step after step, feeling a tinge of fear in his heart every time. It wasn't too hard until he got to the center of the room.
When he reached the center, the pressure doubled, and Ken started feeling like someone was about to kill him. Every step forward seemed like a mistake that would cost him his life.
"This is just a challenge."
Ken said out loud and refused to stop his legs from moving. He took 25 more steps forward, and around 25 more were left, meaning he passed three-quarters already.
The hardship took another turn for the worse, and with every movement, he felt a cold metal caressing his skin, aiming to cut him open. He did his best to ignore the constant threat to his life and reminded himself it was only a challenge repeatedly.
Sweat trickled down his temples as he persisted. 13 steps passed, and he had only 12 more left to take. Every step he took felt like he was marching for hours, contorting his perception of time.
"AH!"
He groaned in surprise when a sword came out of nowhere and pierced his heart. With a blink, the sword vanished, leaving his chest unharmed. Moving his fingers to make sure, he could only feel the pleasant fabric.
He took another step, and this time a throwing knife was plunged into his right eye, blinding it for a moment. He saw illusions of his death with every step; he got killed with a spear, an axe beheaded him, a mace crushed him, and an arrow impaled him.
His clothes were soaked with his perspiration, and his heartbeat was so loud he could hear it, yet he didn't give up. Ken only had one last step to make it to the door. The fear he sensed earlier has changed to pure terror.
'If I take this step, I will die.'
The threat felt as real as a dragon standing in front of an unarmed mortal. His whole entity screamed to leave, and his body was struggling against his brain to turn around and escape.
'No, this is a challenge. This is a challenge!'
He gritted his teeth so hard one could hear a grinding noise coming out of them, and he lifted his right leg. Hesitation filled his head, making him consider that it might not be too late to back off now.
Ken knew he wasn't exactly courageous in the heroic sense of the word; he always preferred his own safety and never took risks for others. However, he was daring. He dared take dangerous bets when those were concerned with his own future and success.
'It is too late!'
Ken pushed himself forward, placing one foot outside the door. As soon as it passed, the terror he was feeling vanished, and his head was cleared again from any external influence.
"Huhhh…"
He panted as he tried to catch his breath. He didn't even notice he held his breath ever since he entered the challenge room.
"Congratulations on clearing the Challenge of Courage! You've gained 1,000 BP for your success, and you may purchase any of those three awards."
Ken watched three pedestals rise from the ground in front of him, just the same ones as those he saw in the Labyrinth of Blood every time he had cleared a floor. It was apparently a theme of the secret realm.
"There will be some good rewards there. Thanks to your impressive bloodlust you can afford anything in this secret realm," Ken heard the voice talking to him again.
"You could talk during the challenge too, maybe you'd distract me from the fear."
"I can't talk to you during the challenges, sorry!"
Ken shrugged when he heard its explanation and went to see the rewards he could take. The first prize was a talisman, and when Ken saw its name, he raised his head up in curiosity. He didn't know where the voice came from, but he just assume it was from the ceiling, possibly because of the way speakers were installed in his former world.
"What is the 'Inheritor Protection Talisman'?" Unlike the other talismans, there was no explanation attached to the prize, and its name was not self-explanatory.
"It's an offensive talisman and can act as your life-saving trump card. It's one of the only ninth-rank talismans our sect produced, and it can release a single attack with the same prowess as a ninth-stage cultivator. Unfortunately, until you get to the seventh stage yourself, you wouldn't be able to deploy an attack stronger than the seventh stage."
The voice explained the value of the talisman to Ken and even mentioned its weakness. The cost for the talisman was 100,000 which seemed on the low side in Ken's eyes. He picked it up without hesitation and moved on to the next pedestal.
He was familiar with the next reward; there were 5 Escape Tokens, which were tokens that allowed the user to teleport inside the secret realm of the evil sect. After thinking about it, he decided to purchase them all at the price of 2,000 per token.
He felt the BP leave his Blood Token and vaporize in the air into nothing. He didn't feel any pain about spending the BP, he doubted he'd be able to spend it all, and the slaughters he initiated so far replenished a big deal of his spent points.
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