Yu Zhou didn't dare move. He remained tense, waiting for any sudden action. Before him stood an expert. Though the man wore a smiling face, Yu Zhou's hunter instincts screamed danger.
"Boy, you know you hold something that belongs to me. How do you intend to hand it over?" The expert said with a grin.
Yu Zhou's hand quickly moved to his robe and pulled out the Tier-2 core he'd dug from the beast's corpse. I didn't even kill this thing neither benefited from it's death, he thought bitterly, visible pain crossing his face as he held it out to the grinning man.
"Good boy. You definitely know what's good for you," the expert said with sarcasm, snatching the core.
"Huh, what's that?" he asked suddenly, eyes narrowing.
"What?" Yu Zhou replied, trying to appear shocked while discreetly hiding his other pocket.
"Lad, you can't deceive my eyes. Be a good boy and hand over the other core." The man's smile widened like an old man offering gifts—but his eyes held no warmth.
"What core?" Yu Zhou spat back, pulling his hand forward to show it was empty.
"Lad, don't try to play smart." The expert's patience snapped. Suddenly, spiritual pressure crashed down on Yu Zhou like a mountain.
Xiaren realm.Yu Zhou's legs nearly buckled. The expert was a full realm above him—Xiaren versus his measly Shenlin Tier 1. The difference was like comparing a tiger to a rabbit.
Yu Zhou stumbled backward, gasping for air under the weight of the cultivation pressure.
Afraid, he quickly reached for his pocket, fingers touching the Tier-1 core.
But he stopped.
If I give him this, I'm disqualified. But if I can reason with him about keeping this core... the sun is still up. I could find two more core...
"Dear esteemed expert," Yu Zhou suddenly smiled, forcing calm into his voice. "I only have this one core—the Tier-1 core from the first beast I killed myself. If I give it to you, I fail the exam completely. Surely an expert like yourself can understand"
"Enough." The expert's smile vanished. "I don't care about your exam. Hand it over. Now."
Yu Zhou's hand trembled as it moved toward the core. Not worth dying over...
But then—
"Wait."
The expert's eyes glazed over for a heartbeat. His movements became stiff, unnatural.
He reached into his own robe and pulled out two Tier-2 cores. Held them out.
"Here. Accept them."
Yu Zhou froze. What?
Was this a trap? A test?
But the expert's smile was wrong. Empty. His eyes were distant, like he wasn't fully there.
He's... bewitched?
Yu Zhou looked closer. Deep in the man's eyes, he saw a faint icy glint. The same cold he'd felt from the orb.
Not knowing what pushed him, Yu Zhou moved forward as if in a trance. His hand reached out. Took the cores.
The expert's smile widened, but there was nothing behind it.
Yu Zhou backed away slowly, clutching three cores now. Then he turned and ran.
He'd barely made it twenty steps when the pain hit.
Yu Zhou gasped and collapsed to his knees. His chest—the orb was burning cold, freezing him from the inside out.
Not again...
But this time was worse. Much worse.
He could feel his spiritual energy draining. Rapidly. His cultivation—two years of training with Old Bing—was unraveling.
Shenlin Tier 1 stage 3. The peak he'd worked so hard to reach,It dropped.
Stage 2.
"Stop... please..." Yu Zhou clutched his chest, gasping for for breath as he coughed blood.
Stage 1.
The orb pulsed one final time, then went silent.
Yu Zhou collapsed onto his hands, breathing hard. Sweat poured down his face. His body felt hollow and weak.
He checked his cultivation internally.
Shenlin Tier stage 1. The very beginning. The weakest tier of the weakest human realm.
Two years of training. Gone in seconds.
The orb had saved him. Had controlled that expert somehow. Had given him the cores he needed to pass.
But the cost...
Yu Zhou forced himself to stand on trembling legs. He looked at the three cores in his hands. One Tier-1, Two Tier-2.
Enough to pass the exam. Maybe even earn recognition.
But he was weaker now than when he'd entered this forest three days ago.
What kind of power is this orb? And what will it take from me next time?
Back where the expert stood, the man began to blink. The glaze faded from his eyes slowly.
"What... where am I?" He looked around, confused. "I was hunting a beast?"
He patted his robes. His cores were gone. But... hadn't he used them for something?
Every time he tried to remember, sharp pain stabbed through his skull.
"Yes, that must be it," the expert muttered to himself. "I already used those cores for the beast. It didn't have a core, so I... I must have..."
He couldn't remember. The memory was gone, like smoke.
Shaking his head, the expert turned and walked deeper into the forest, leaving only confusion behind.
Yu Zhou leaned against a tree, still gasping. Three cores sat heavy in his pocket.
He'd passed. At the cost of everything he'd built.
Above him, the crows began circling again, their cries filling the air.
I need to return to the sect and hand in these cores but first I need to get out of this forest.
But as he stumbled forward, one thought wouldn't leave his mind:
The orb wasn't just protecting him.
It was using him. But he wondered why he hadn't feel pain or any drop in his cultivation the first time he was protected by the orb.
Curse that dragon man. Why did he have to hand it over to me? Feeling frustrated, he returned to the dead beast and kicked its corpse until he was satisfied before leaving the area.
Many candidates who passed there could not help but run as soon as they found the beast.
The strongest among them was at Shenlin Tier 2 Stage 3. Whatever could kill it and disfigure its body was something they couldn't mess with.
Shengling beasts were the same rank as Shenlin cultivators, but much harder to kill. It required multiple geniuses or a Xiaren—or higher—to bring one down.
Zhou quickly moved toward his bow, which lay exactly where he had dropped it before the beast had blasted him away.
Ahead, he saw Gu Yan and his group struggling against a Tier-1 beast. The sight made a part of him itch for revenge—but logic prevailed.
He needed to get back to the sect with his cores.
Then a plan formed. If Gu Yan wanted to play games, he could have a show. Yu Zhou scavenged some dry sticks nearby and lit them carefully.
Smoke curled upward as he positioned the sticks over the beast's fallen body, roasting it. The aroma and smoke would surely attract attention and cause a commotion.
Satisfied, Yu Zhou stepped back, giving the scene a final glance.
Hehehe The show has begin. With a silent smirk, he turned and sprinted toward the forest entrance, three cores pressure solved finally despite being a weakling now he can earn a favourable position just being a sect disciples.