The figure slowly forms itself into a figure of a woman. However, Yun Che was quite surprised. Both of his and original Yun Che"s memories are started to jumbled up when it comes to this woman.With a shocked expression, he muttered "Su Ling"er". From his memory, she was Su Ling"er. The lover the original Yun Che lost while he was living his second lifetime back on Azure Cloud Continent.
The woman has purple-pinkish eyes and long honey blonde hair that flows just above her lower back. Her side bangs partially cross her cheeks and go down all the way to her neck. She has a large bust, and generously large thighs and b.u.t.tocks. She wears a white dress and shows an emotionless face. She was holding a sword and emitting a powerful aura around her. She was beautiful. Beautiful to the original Yun Che but was common in his current eyes. From Yun Che"s memories, he observed this woman from a far. She didn"t have the sweet and innocent aura she had before. She emits a cold and ruthless aura around her.
Yun Che observed the woman and smacked his forehead. "Not another one." However, as for the current him, it didn"t surprise him that much because the description and the familiar face of Su Ling"er looks a lot like….
"Nakiri Erina, Sigh. Why am I not surprised?" He slowly continued. The face of Su Ling"er was the same as Nakiri Erina, the main heroine of Shokugeki No Soma. By the way, he had already seen too many characters of the Shokugeki and High School DxD. Probably he marked those animes as favorites back then. Back to the issue, he didn"t bother to remember it before due to his memories weren"t fully synchronized just yet. However, the moment he saw that face. All of the memories back in Azure Cloud Continent slowly hitting him like a truck. He once tried to access those memories but had no luck. From the looks of it, he need something of a trigger to enable him to access those memories.
He slowly smiled with this development and ask the System. "So this is what they called "A Blast from the past". What is the third challenge?"
[Ding…. The third challenge is a test of character where the host is challenged using the avatar made from the host"s memory. The main requirement is for the host to defeat the avatar and claim the inheritance.]
However, when he looked at her. Part of him actually telling him not to fight her. But he knew this is just an avatar. Not like the previous Yun Che where he had to go through an illusion just to prove he is worthy.
"Never expected for me to fight Erin… I mean Su Ling"er in the third trial. System, any info on my opponent?"
[Ding….. Level 70 Memory Illusion Avatar: Su Ling"er. An emotionless and expressionless avatar made from the power of the Phoenix Spirit. Derived from the memories of the host, she is way different than the host remember. Be caution as she is powerful as well as flexible.]
"d.a.m.n, Peak of Sky Profound Realm. Without using the hollow and Evil G.o.d"s powers, I"ll be in mid-stage of Sky Profound Realm. Looks like I need to top it up a notch." With that, he decided to use his Evil G.o.d Arts this time. Increasing his strength all the way to Ninth Level of the Sky Profound Realm. He decided to not to use his hollow mask this time. He needs to find the hidden objective before defeating her.
He dismissed his bow and holds Tensa Zangetsu once more. With a serious expression, he faced the avatar of Su Ling"er. This time he faced an opponent made from his memories. He could go full strength and defeat her in an instant but that will be what the trial wants.
"Ling"er, if I was my previous self when I met you. I probably feel different and surging emotions right about now. Right now, you"re nothing more than an opponent fabricated from my memories."
Kon and Jasmine observed the woman from a far. Both of them had no clue on the ident.i.ty of the woman but they decided to ask him later. For now, they decided to let him focus into the fight.
He points Tensa Zangetsu to the front and shouted. "Now then, give me everything you got."
The avatar of Su Ling"er didn"t do anything but standing by looking at him. All of a sudden....
Swoosshh
With his observation mode active, her blade was instantly dodged by Yun Che.
"Hooo, she"s fast. If I were a normal cultivator, I would instantly fall under that swing just now." He flashed step to the side to gain some breathing room. However, she was relentless. She instantly moved and attack him once more. Instead of dodging, he decided to swing and parried her strike.
"clash" When both of the blades clashed. Yun Che suddenly saw parts of his and Su Ling"er"s memories together. It wasn"t long but it was enough to distract him for a while for her to launched another blade swing. He instantly dodged the swing and teleport himself to a distance.
"System, what in the world was that?" Yun Che felt as if those memories instantly fill his head as if they were visions.
[Ding… System had detected an unusual resonance when host parried her sword.]
"Zanpakuto resonance, this blade was made purely from my spiritual power and she was made from spirit power as well. So my memories with her causing some resonance within me. Well played, but too bad it wasn"t long." Yun Che decided to keep parrying the avatar"s sword. His memories with her slowly jumbled up together but he focuses on the task in hand instead of falling into it. The moment he fell will be the moment the avatar would strike him clean. His swordplay instantly counters her powered strikes easily. Probably used to fighting Little Fairy all the time.
"Clash" The resonance is happening once more and he instantly countered it. Instead of using his sword strike. He instantly dodged her sword by sliding underneath her it. Then, he points his hand on her stomach and muttered...
"Sho"
The area around her stomach suddenly explode pushing her aside. He immediately flashed step and points his blade at her neck.
"Checkmate." He swings his sword towards her. However, he stopped immediately the moment it was nearing her neck. She didn"t dodge. Her emotionless expression caused Yun Che to felt puzzled in his eyes. The trial use part of his memory to recreate the image of Su Ling"er but when she didn"t dodge and was awaiting the strike. Suddenly he was struck with revelation and said "So that"s how it is."
The avatar took this chance to summon back her sword and started a full swing on him. He realized the incoming strike and instantly dodged it. He flashed step once more and a.s.sessed the situation. "The resonance, the avatar made from her image and the way she didn"t dodged it. Now I understand."
This time the avatar launched herself back to him. However, he didn"t do anything and simply stood there. Jasmine was watching from the distance and shouted "What are you doing?!?"
"Finishing this." He slowly said while waiting for the approaching avatar and….
Shiing *Stab
Jasmine"s and Kon"s eyes were widen when the saw the situation. They expected Yun Che to counter the avatar but instead. He was stabbed square in the gut and pierced it. Blood were gushing over behind him as notifications started ringing in his ears.
[Ding… The Great Way of the Buddha Experience points +15000]
[Ding… The Great Way of the Buddha Experience points +15000]
[Ding… The Great Way of the Buddha Experience points +15000]
[Ding… The Great Way of the Buddha Experience points +15000]
[Ding… The Great Way of the Buddha Experience points +15000]
The pain was excruciating. However, he was slowly gaining his body experience points higher than Little Fairy ever did to him. Now he knows the difference of being hit and being stabbed when it comes to the experience given by the system.
Watching him get stabbed, Jasmine could only clench her fist and gritted her teeth. If she"s behind this barrier, there"s nothing she could do. All she can hope now is whatever he is doing right now, he must have a reason.
[Ding… The Great Way of the Buddha Experience points +15000]
[Ding… The Great Way of the Buddha Experience points +15000]
[Host body level up. Current Body cultivation – Sky Profound Realm Fourth Level]
Yun Che grabbed Su Ling"er hand and looked at her even with excruciating pain right now. He looked at her with a soft expression and said "That"s enough, I understand now." Now, he had a clear line of sight. He could destroy her with his kido arts or shot a powerful Getsuga but he didn"t do it. He let her stabbed him was not because of leveling up. He let her do so to enable him to get close to her.
Instead of destroying her, he suddenly embraced her tightly and hold her in his arms. Earning both confusion from Kon and Jasmine. Then, he slowly said "This trial is the test of character, to pa.s.s this test, I must kill you. However, if you think I must eliminate you for this. Then, you"re mistaken."
Then he softens his expression and holds her face. "I am sorry Ling"er. Once, you were sacrificed for my quest of vengeance in my previous life. But, I am not going through that again. You have every right to stab and kill me but I will never sacrifice you. I am done." When he said that, he remembered during her days and herself getting killed in his path towards vengeance. He felt her fear, her willingness and her love back then as she slowly died in his arms. When the time comes and he will meet her reincarnation in this world, he promised he will take good care of her as she took care of him back then.
In her embrace, he could feel her slowly disappearing and let out a small smile at him. Even though the avatar isn"t the real her but it is enough to spark the reason for him to do this. The previous Yun Che lose her and became his nightmare back then. That"s probably why the trial chose her for this.
[Ding…. Congratulation host for triggering the Hidden Objective: Self Sacrifice]
With that, her avatar slowly dissipating along with her sword in his body. He admits, her embraced felt quite good especially her honey scented hair. The barrier of the arena started to dissipate and Jasmine immediately arrived on his side.
"What were you thinking?!? You could"ve seriously injured if you let her stab you." Jasmine started shouting at him. But, he was quiet and didn"t say anything.
Seeing his silence, he tapped his shoulder. "Yun Che?"
"The test of character. That"s the final trial. Ughhh" He suddenly coughed out blood from his mouth.
She immediately holds his wound to stop it from bleeding further. "Stop talking!! Heal yourself right now."
He shows her his painful grin and said "I"ll be fine. Watch." Then, he placed his free hand on his body and muttered.....
"Status Recovery Skill." In a blink of an eye, the wounds on his body started to heal instantly as if he was okay to begin with. Jasmine was quite shock with this development. It"s impossible even with pills and potions for him to recover in a blink of an eye. Well, actually he activated the "Status Recovery Skill" and the skill restores his HP, Stamina and Spirit Force back to full power. Heal all wounds and recovered any lost limbs in an instant. However, the skill can only use once per day and it"s a skill he can"t show to the world. This is the first time he uses this skill and saved it only when he needed it. Maybe use it for fun later.
"Well, that was painful." He slowly stood up and wipe the dust of his shoulder. As for the blood behind him, there"s nothing he could do.
With a shocked expression, Jasmine asked him "What was that?"
Yun Che kept a relax expression while examined it"s result on his body. "The Status Recovery Skill. I"ll tell you about it later."
Kon, who was observing from the side suddenly said "That"s a really cool skill. By the way, who is that "boing" nee-chan just now."
Yun Che kept a straight face and answered "She"s Su Ling"er. She is Yun Che"s deceased lover from his previous lifetime."
Jasmine was listening and said "Deceased?"
"Sort of, she was his lover back then but the original Yun Che was full of vengeance when his master died. So he didn"t pay much attention to her." Yun Che slowly narrates how the previous him met Su Ling"er and their relationship. Long story short, he was a bit of a jerk to her back then. Only when she died he started to realized her love for him. To think that she holds the figure and face of Nakiri Erina. That"s way off the books but so he won"t deny getting another Erina later in the story.
Jasmine smacked his head hard and scold him. "Still, you don"t have to get yourself stabbed."
Yun Che holds his hurting head but soften his expression. "Hey that hurts. Wait, you worried about me?"
"Only because you"re an idiot."
"Haha, not quite, I was the one wanted her to stab me. My intention was to enable her to get close to me without getting myself hacked to death. Other was to level myself up and testing the "Status Recovery Skill". Basically, killing three birds with one stone."
Jasmine was quite angry but sighs immediately at his response. "Still…."
With a playful grin, he responded "Don"t worry, at least everything"s over now."
[Ding…. Congratulation on completing the third and final trial. Host has obtained the final Crystal Fragment of the Phoenix Soul.]
The crystal fragment slowly floats in front of him and Jasmine. As soon as he grabbed the crystal. All of a sudden, ma.s.sive scarlet fire slowly converge into their position and slowly forms itself in the air.
The fire slowly form itself into a giant pair of eyes looking at them from above. When Kon looked at the giant fiery eyes, he shouted before suddenly fainted from the shock. Well, probably the eyes was too much for him to handle. Yun Che and Jasmine sweat dropped looking at him. He called himself a powerful beast G.o.d but fainted by a pair of eyes?
Then, the voice from before sounded in the air once more. "So, the final trial was beaten and my champion finally proves himself. You pa.s.sed all the trials and none of them beaten according to my expectation. Well done as I might say."
Yun Che pulls Tensa Zangetsu from the ground and holds it on his side. He knew the results but asked anyway. "So I pa.s.sed?"
"Hmph, as expected. The first trail merely a test of strength but you prove yourself by not ascending instantly but chose to stay behind to acquire more experience. Something cultivators from one thousand years ago lacked.
The second trial tested your speed and reflexes but you beaten the fire spirits aside from enduring them. Your thinking of destroying them impressed me.
"The third and final trial was a test of character. The trial test your willingness to sacrifice your loved ones for the sake of ascension but you chose to let yourself get hurt rather than sacrificing them. A n.o.ble sacrifice worthy for a champion."
Then the voice continued once more. "Yun Che, congratulation on successfully obtaining the inheritance of the Phoenix G.o.d. The one and only champion worthy of receiving the True and Complete inheritance of it."
Before the spirit could continue, Yun Che raised his hand like a student wanted to ask his teacher. "Before that, I have a question. You promised to answer my questions before right?"
"Oh, then. Ask any question you desire. This n.o.ble one will answer it accordingly.
Yun Che nodded at Jasmine and Kon fainted out of fear on his side. Turns out those fiery eyes appearance really spooked him. "My question is why did the challenge felt different and harder? You wanted challengers but I doubt you give them these kind of tests. Defeat a demon, surviving fiery birds spiting arrows and familiar figures as opponents. Those test can kill thousands of challengers." He felt that the challenges were different. Totally different from the original novel. So if he had doubts, might as well asked all of them.
"Oh, that. I decided to change the whole course of the trial."
Yun Che was a little shocked for the spirit to change the whole course of the trial. "That seems kind of weird but why?"
"When I saw you entered the boundary of the ruins yesterday, I felt a raging and familiar aura around you, so I decided to watched you while you eradicated those demons outside the barrier."
Yun Che was puzzled again. How come the spirit inside the ruins able to find out anything about the outside world. "You knew about that?"
"My champion, I knew everything happening outside and inside the giant barrier. When I saw you defeat that giant black demon, I knew you are the one."
He looked sideways and scratched his chin. "Well, it kind of escaped."
"Oh, there are a few more things making me wonder, my champion. I was observing you all the time. Your powers of transformation as well as your demonic powers. Yes, I was shocked you were able to transform into those things but still maintain your humanity."
Yun Che thought for a while and said "My hollow transformation?"
"Hollows? So that"s what you called them? No matter, it gives me quite a shock as well when you pulled out a being from four unfamiliar cubes. Those cubes contain energies I never experience and felt before. Then, you make this girl appeared using some kind of energy. As well as using a divine energy and creating a life inside that egg like bubble. Those energies felt divine to me. An energy surpa.s.sed the energy of a G.o.d."
This time Jasmine and Yun Che peak their attention. Then he continued "Energy of a G.o.d?"
"Yes, I was once they called a Divine Phoenix G.o.d. However, in front of that energy you emit while summoning that egg like bubble. I felt like I was powerless against it. Me, a spirit fragment from the Phoenix G.o.d itself was powerless against the energy hidden in your body. That"s when I knew you were perfect as my inheritor. So I fashioned a new trial for you so I can see what is so special about you to be able to command such power. Originally, the test was easy even an ordinary Nascent realm warrior can pa.s.s. But, you on the other hand was different."
He nodded in understanding and said "So you made a test exclusive for me?"
"Yes, I expected you to follow what I intended but never expected you bypa.s.s the trial and pa.s.s it on your own accord."
"Well I aimed to please." Yun Che shows his smug face while Jasmine rolled her eyes.
"As I thought. Now show me the crystal fragments you have collected before.
Yun Che pulled all three crystal fragments from his inventory. Suddenly, the crystal fragments slowly shake and float into the air and slowly fused into a single dark red crystal.
"My champion, this crystal contained all my inheritance. My Origin Energy, The Phoenix Soul, Three drops of Phoenix blood and three phoenix pellets. As well as the main cultivation art of the phoenix "The World Ode of the Phoenix." The crystal slowly floats in front of Yun Che and he was feeling excited from the inside. He was finally able to cultivate the World Ode of the Phoenix from the novel.
His excitement was interrupted by the system"s notification.
[Ding… Obtained the Crystal of the Phoenix Soul.]
[Ding… Choose to a.s.similate the crystal into the host"s body?]
Yun Che ignored the system and looked at Jasmine. "Looks like I need to fuse the crystal in my body. You probably had some question for the spirit right?"
Jasmine understood his attention and said "Yeah, I had my doubts but I do have some questions."
He decided to leave the interview to Jasmine and let Kon in his dreamland. Hope the spirit didn"t spooked him that much. "Then, I"ll leave you two in its presence."
Then, he sat down on the ground and placed Tensa Zangetsu in front of him. He placed the crystal in front of him as well and said...
With an excited feeling. He slowly said "System, initiate the fusion."