Ken was shocked to see his father appear in the secret realm, to say the least. He thought his father was still somewhere at the far end of the Phoenix Feather Sect's territory, away from the main sect.
"Father? Aaron?"
Ken asked with an uncertain tone as he recognized what Haoran was holding close to his chest. It was Ken's little brother, Aaron.
"Son, I don't care if I die, but you must save your little brother. I've failed you two, but he is under your responsibility now."
Haoran said with a weak voice as he collapsed on the floor.
"What a heart-warming family reunion. I knew that keeping it for the end was the right call. Well, you were entrusted with your little brother's safety, will you give up your sword now?"
Ken's mind was in jumbles, and he didn't understand what was going on. How come his family was here?
"Where is my mother?"
Ken asked when he realized Mei was missing. It was impossible that his father abandoned her given the fact he left his clan and wealth behind to live with her.
"Probably dead, we didn't take her. She was too injured for the travel, so we left her behind."
Abigail answered carelessly as the three watched Ken process the situation.
For some reason, the thought that something might be wrong with the situation never crossed Ken's mind. He was convinced that his real father and brother were there on the floor and that he had to give up his sword to save them.
"You don't have to toss the sword here. If you prefer to throw it to the corner where your rings are, we are fine with it."
Connor and the other two laughed at the remark as they brandished their weapons and pointed them at the father and son on the floor.
'No, even if it spells the death of my family, I won't die. I can only apologize for my decision, move on, and take revenge for them later.'
Ken made his decision and placed his hand on his waist. Once his mind was firm, his psychological mechanisms kicked in, and worked full-time to justify his choice.
'The voice gave me that advice before I entered. I must take care of myself before I care about others. This is the right choice.'
Ken reviewed in his mind the events that took place since he entered, and another problem captured his attention.
'I forgot their appearance when I first saw them. The feeling was so strange since I had never forgotten anything before. Something is wrong, I can't forget things!'
Realization struck his mind, and once it did, he ignored all inhibitions.
'One Step.'
'Flash Unwind.'
He attacked, but his target wasn't any of his enemies. His sword beheaded Haoran and Aaron cruelly, and their betrayed eyes tried to burn themselves into Ken's mind. However, it only lasted for a moment, and everything vanished, revealing an empty simple room in the shape of a square with nothing inside.
'Huh, I was right. It was an illusion. I never forget.'
Ken heaved a sigh of relief as soon as he was out of the illusion and waited for the voice to announce his victory.
"Congratulations, you've cleared the second trial, the Challenge of Cruelty. To survive in the cruel world, one must place themselves before others, and be willing to sacrifice for survival. Betraying might be wrong, but self-perversion never is."
The voice wasn't late to come. As it talked, the ground shook a little and three pedestals rose from the ground just like in the former trial.
"Why couldn't I see through the illusion despite how illogical it was? There was no way Alaric and Tiara entered the chasm as I sensed them enter their respective element chasms myself. Not to mention that my family could never enter this place since my father is too old and my brother isn't a cultivator yet."
Ken asked the voice the questions that burdened his mind. Making him see things was one thing, but those illusions even made him believe in them blindly.
"The formations of the chasms are all seventh-rank or above, you can't comprehend their complexity and power now. Just remember they're potent enough to affect your mind. They even enhanced your moral code."
After seeing Ken didn't have any following questions, it continued its announcement.
"You won 1,000 BP for clearing the trial, and you may look at the rewards now."
Ken approached the pedestals, starting from the one on the right. The first item was identical to the one from earlier, the Inheritor Protection Talisman.
Ken purchased it as well for 100,000 BP without hesitation as it'd prove useful if he ever needed to run away from a seventh-stage cultivator. He didn't forget that he sent Nick to his death and still carried the Luck Pill on him. It might incur the curiosity of the evil cultivator whose aura was in the pill, and Ken didn't know the person's stage.
The next prize let Ken down; it was the Bloodlust Boost Pill, which increased the consumer's bloodlust as if the person killed 5 million people.
"Are you sure you want to skip this pill? It's of great quality, and as a Bloodlust Qi cultivator, you have to increase your bloodlust continuously. I don't know how you're still alive, but once the righteous sects will notice your massacres they will come after you."
The voice tried to convince Ken to take the pill. It was an eighth-grade pill, and its value was too high, yet Ken just left it. The sect's elders killed millions of mortals and cultivators to create this pill, and it was the only eighth-grade Bloodlust Boost Pill in the secret realm because of the high cost of human lives.
"I don't need it. It would weaken my bloodlust and harm its quality if I strengthen it with pills. Bloodlust is the threat of death looming above the heads of my enemies, and this threat can only be true when it's a result of the deaths of many other humans."
Ken moved to check the third prize.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶