After having a handful of wild fish LS went to his cave to practice his cultivation method. The 9DWG method is miraculous, even though he is not consciously revolving his qi along the path, once activated the path never stopped circulating qi in the route & it became a second nature for LS to circulate qi and cultivate no matter what he was doing, whether it is eating, walking or even sleeping. LS felt like a tiger given wings, he could strengthen his body, work on things other than cultivation like reading & still he will not fall behind cultivation as his body is always drawing Qi & circulating it across the 9DWG path. But the rate at which Qi accumulates is slower when LS is not actively cultivating. Actively cultivating will provide tremendous results for LS. But even if he misses a day of cultivation it is still equal to what a normal martial artist (not any genius) of his stage & rank accumulates in the day actively cultivating. When LS discovered this he was ecstatic as he is progressing at a rate unimaginable to outsiders.

2 months passed by since the beast tide, the monks who went on recon mission reported that the monastery was razed to the ground completely. That place became a wasteland where a few wild beasts roamed. In general after a beast tide, the wild beasts invade areas outside their habitat & occupy them till the disturbance in Qi is settled, once the QI settles down they return to their homes. The monks came to a conclusion that the Qi should settle in a few more months, hence they decided to stay here & further develop it more, in preparation for larger disasters.

LS religiously practiced the 9DWG method, hunted wild beasts & boars with snowy happily eating to his belly full. As LS was fighting a 7th rank qi accumulation wild snake he broke through to 9th rank Qi accumulation. He finished the beast with one punch to the head. When he was later eating the snake, he came across a relic in its stomach. It seemed to be a map of some kind etched on a cylinder. He cleaned the snake skin, heated it till it is dry & rubbed purple berry juice on the cylinder and rolled the cylinder on the skin. A miniature map appeared, he could only recognize the starting point of the map where the river meets the forest, the rest is not explored by them as they were busy cultivating resources & building caves for monks to make themselves at home.

LS was tired after a long fight with the beast and also it was getting Dark. Snowy and LS Went back, after fighting the beast for a long time and breaking through the next rank, LS felt really tired and slept like a log. Yue Ying appeared in his dream after a long time, LS I approached her and greeted "long time no see…."

Yue Ying asked "Long time indeed. How are you Long Shen? Isn't the method you received amazing?"

"I am great… indeed the method is amazing, look at how fast I am breaking ranks and leveling up…" replied LS enthusiastically.

Yue Ying smiled as if she knew it was going to happen. "So what are you going to do now?" She asked.

“I don’t know, I guess I will cross that bridge when the time comes…. I will focus on learning now” replied LS with a confused look.

“It's good not to have a plan too… you can set a goal for yourself after experiencing various things, it is better than following a path set by others…” Smiled Yue Ying before disappearing mysteriously.

LS took the map he got yesterday & studied it for a while, he then went to the point in the map that he identified. There is a mountain that is like a needle, adjacent to the river. It was the reason the position on the map can be easily identified. From there if you head westwards into the forest, the point on the map with the X symbol on it can be reached although the distance in between is not known. There are a few landmarks in between that act as anchor points along the way, between them is not charted precisely.

LS reached the foot of the pointed mountain, from there he started walking westwards towards the 1st landmark, a crater site in between hills, like a secret pond. Through the forest LS trekked the mountains along with Snowy. They faced wild beasts in between, which slowed them a little, after a few days they reached the chain of hills that formed a circle, excitedly LS ran up to them & started climbing the hills. Halfway through the mountain path, he fell into a hidden underground path, he was nearly crushed to death by the fall, saved by the interwoven mesh of roots to break his fall. LS felt a jolt of fear run through his spine, he thanked his lucky stars and slowly landed on the ground, thankfully Snowy entered his consciousness to take rest yesterday, else Snowy would have been injured.

It was relatively dark in the tunnel he fell, he grabbed a few dry roots, lit them on fire to use them as a torch. There were strange writings on the wall. It looked like a hallway that was constructed underground to keep it a secret, there were a few torches on either side of the walls. LS lit them to get a better view of the room. At the end of the hall there was a door with a lever on the right, he slowly approached the door & turned the lever, it was stuck & heavy to turn, he then noticed a cylindrical hole in the lever, he had a strange idea, he pulled the cylinder with the map in the hole, it reached halfway inside & a click sound is heard. LS tried the lever once again. This time, the door slowly opened leaving a gap large enough for LS to squeeze in. He entered the door after retrieving the cylinder.

There was a staircase that led to a large door further down. He never saw such a massive door in his entire life, after carefully approaching the door he found a puzzle on the right side of it. It is a complex mesh of symbols. LS tried multiple times to make a meaningful picture out of them but failed. Frustrated LS Punched the panel with both hands. Suddenly both the blocks that were punched clicked & went inside. He immediately realized that this puzzle is not about using all the pieces but about selecting what pieces to use to make a picture & what to discard. With this crazy thought, he rearranged the blocks & punched a few blocks to make them sunk in the panel. The picture that is elevated looked like a bird while the picture below that is formed by the sunken stones looked like a snake, after punching the final block of puzzle he heard a click sound. The ground started shaking & the door slowly opened. He could smell the antique scent that was coming out, he entered the room to discover a room filled with treasures, all kinds of wares, scrolls, pill containers, books, gold, silver etc. at the end, there was an altar and a blackbook was placed on it. He slowly approached the altar.

“What is it that brings you here young man?” a voice echoed. LS was startled, he didn’t think that anyone could live here after such a long time.. He feebly said “I got a map from a snake’s belly, I followed it..” showing the cylinder to air. Then a light scanned the cylinder. The cylinder gave a humming sound while resonating. “Hmm, it is an ordinary key given to servants of the house, the location of the treasure is marked on it, but the map itself is incomplete... it must be the work of a spy who was acting as a servant. No matter how you got here, it is my duty to conduct the test of inheritance, you meet all the requirements. If you do not pass this test, I have to kill you as you accessed this treasure room by luck, in the martial arts world, luck is also a resource, I won’t mistreat you… So boy are you ready for my test?” asked the voice…

“Do I even have a choice?” growled LS, folding his hands across his chest in a lock. A light covered LS & in the next moment he was in a dark tunnel with a pinhole size light at the very end, it seems to be the exit, thought LS. He started walking towards the exit, minutes, hours , days went by the exit never seemed closer. LS stopped & thought for sometime, he came to a realization that he never stepped a foot towards the exit, he was in an endless loop of illusion, he sat down & concentrated his Qi in his eyes. This is a supplementary method of 9DWG method - the All Seeing Heavenly Eyes (ASHE). After a long time he opened his eyes - the ASHE lit the room in a blue shade, LS could see a mesh of Qi lines intersecting in the North-eastern direction - He immediately punched the nexus with all his Qi. It created a disruption in the illusion that helped LS find the correct path to exit, he immediately rushed on that path as the illusion could repair itself shortly.

After walking along the path for some time, he could see the path getting wider & the exit bigger - after he entered the exit, he came to a room filled with cultivation resources & treasures. All the resources, treasures were covered in a layer of Qi barrier that is connected to a platform at the end. There was an old man caged there with his Qi being drained by the cage supplying it to the barriers as a fuel to support them. LS approached the old man. The old man feebly asked “Please free me from this torture, just kill me & all these treasures will be yours….”

LS was shaken; he never killed a human before. He was very apprehensive & asked the old man “Is there any other way to set you free?”. “There is, but no one would risk their lives for an old man like me” sighed the old man. “Please tell me the other way..” asked LS.

“Someone has to take my place here by entering the second cage at the east end of the room, then I will be free but you will be trapped forever if someone doesn’t deactivate the barrier. Once I am free, I can deactivate the trap barriers but it will take some time. You will feel excruciating pain for the entire time. I need 3 days to deactivate the traps. The pain is too much to bear & you are so young, there is a high chance that you will die… Why don’t you just kill me, take the treasures & leave? I don’t want to see a young man suffer.” said the Old man with a kind smile.

“I don’t want to kill you, I will take the place in the cage, I believe I can endure for 3 days..” said LS as he entered the second cage. The cage activated & slowly the Qi threads shifted from the old man to LS. Each thread felt like a knife piercing him through his limbs. The pain increased as the threads increased. If he jumps out now the only way out is to kill the old man, if he endures till the old man is free & the old man runs away he will be locked in the cage forever. He had to take a chance in trusting a complete stranger with his life. After 15 minutes that seemed like an eternity, Long Shen’s cage locked him inside. Now even if LS wanted to escape, he couldn’t.

THe old man slowly crawled out of the prison & said to LS “Please endure for 3 days, I will definitely save you” he then walked towards the barrier. LS was in a hell of pain, he counted every minute down, reassuring himself that this will be over in 2 and ½ days… After 1st day LS felt like he should have explored all the other options before jumping into the cage, he felt like a dumb log, he didn’t evern ask whether there are any more options available.On the 2nd day he thought: If the Old man could deactivate the barrier, then LS could also have done that with the help from the old man… then why did he jump into this hell? On the third day he was on the edge of sanity, he feared that the old man might have ran away leaving him there. On the 4th day he felt despair & regret “Why didn’t I just kill the old man? He definitely ran away with the treasures” thought LS. On the 5th day he lost consciousness & wokeup on the 6th day to the torture again, only today he understood the meaning of despair - as he thought he had a bad dream & waking up would solve everything, sadly that was not the case.. On the 7th day he accepted his fate - he is responsible for his choices. If that means being trapped in the cage forever… so be it, felt LS. On the 8th day the Qi threads slowly disappeared,

LS was surprised, he thought this was another delusion his mind created, unable to endure the pain. But as he extended his hand to open the cage, the cage opened creakingly. He immediately ran out of the cage & collided with the wall. He felt only joy even though he was hurt by the collision. That pain is nothing when compared to the hell faced in the cage, as he walked towards the exit, he saw the old man collapsed on the ground almost at the death’s door. “ Old man what happened…” LS asked.

“Sorry Young man, If I was at my peak cultivation I would have broken the barrier within 3 days, but I have underestimated the strain the cage caused on my body for these many years. I could not break the cage no matter what, after 7 days, I had to use a forbidden method to extract all my Source energy to break the barrier. I am ashamed that I let you suffer for 8 days, please forgive this useless old man…” Said the old man in a feeble voice still laying on the floor waiting for death.

LS felt guilt that he had misjudged an honest man. He didn’t know how he could help the old man, he then realized that the treasure room contained many vials of elixirs. He saw an elixir at the very top of an altar in the hands of a goddess-like sculpture that is healing a sick person. He ran to the altar which was earlier blocked by the barrier & got the elixir out of the statue’s hands. He could feel the strong healing power & wood spirit energy coming out of it. He rushed to the old man & said “Old uncle please take this healing potion I think it will help you heal, it is the strongest healing medicine I could find.”

"That is the lifeblood of a high level Wild beast with wood attribute. It is worth more than the treasures in this room. There is only a 50% chance that it will work on me, but if you take it there is a 100% chance of reforging your spirit nodes, enhancing your lifespan and you will become the greatest martial arts genius in your kingdom and clan. Why should you waste such an opportunity for me, a dying old man? I Will die soon, if not now, but you have a brilliant future, take the elixir & live the best life possible for both of us.. I can peacefully die after knowing that I met a kind young boy with immense potential - who can do much good to the world...” saying this the old man lost consciousness.

LS ran to the old man, lifted his head and poured the elixir in the old man’s mouth. After the glass container was empty, he carried the oldman to the stone altar, placed him in a bed made of the silk & muslin from the treasures. After a few hours, the old man woke up. Although weak, there is no danger to his life now. The elixir must have given him a few more decades of life thought LS.

Then they both approached the altar, it is written that “only 2 living entities with no treasures / 1 living entity with no limit on the treasures can exit.”

LS took the Old man & entered the exit without second thought. He then entered the same room with the black book on the altar. He finally thought that he was alive because he passed all the tests & felt relief.

Light shone on the book & he heard the voice again, you have passed all the tests - you can choose one treasure from this room for yourself, remember ONLY one!!”

LS thought for a long time & asked , “what is there in the black book on the altar?”

“The thoughts, learnings & notes of the greatest martial artist of his time Jiang Chen” replied the voice.

“ I will choose the blackbook as my treasure…” replied LS.

“Are you sure? You can have anything in this room, many martial arts methods, riches, weapons, pills etc. Do not regret later, you cannot exchange. What is decided is final.. Are you sure you want this normal note book of personal thoughts & musings over the treasures here?” questioned the voice.

“Yes..” replied LS.

“It is yours now….” said the voice. LIght shown on the book & the book floated towards him. He captured the book with his hands. He put the book in his bag, to take a look at it leisurely. He then walked into the exit beside the altar…

Everything went dark….

A light shown on his eyes & LS woke up from his trance.. He was standing there the whole time … all the things that he thought happened, never happened, they are the illusions created by the voice to test him.

“Boy what is your name?” asked the voice

“ Long Shen….” replied LS

“Long SHen you are the only young boy who passed all the tests set by the master Jiang Chen to inherit his will & resources.,.All the resources & much more are yours to use. These tests judge the character of a person regardless of their cultivation rank, they all feel the same pain & emotions, they cannot deceive the illusion created by the ancients….You have shown all the qualities worthy of a hero….I am the artifact spirit of the book, many millennia has passed since the tests were created, this is just one of the inheritances there are 4 others that test the martial arts proficiency, before you reach the level of Spirit awakening do not enter the other test location , you will die in vain, there is a reward for passing the first site & accepting the inheritance of Jiang Chen,follow the path to the right you will reach a pond. It will recreate your meridians & strengthen your body. You will become like a tiger with wings… uncontested in your rank, able to fight jumping levels / ranks...”

Long Shen put the book in his bag for real this time & followed the path to the lake. The lake was deep, filled with colorless water. The air on the lake itself evokes a feeling of power.Long Shen summoned Snowy also, both of them walked into the lake for a bath, he entered a mesmerising trance, he could feel his body being remoulded & strengthened again and again. He remained there for 15 days. After he came out of the lake he could feel that power welling inside, he immediately sat on the floor anticipating a breakthrough to the next stage, the Body strengthening stage. As expected he broke through to the next level, not just once but he broke through 2 more times. Long Shen was excited, based on his calculation he must be at the 3rd stage of body cultivation. He excitedly looked at Snowy who had already broken through to the Body Cultivation stage.

They both excitedly left the mountain range, travelling towards the cave dwellings of the monks. They covered the same distance back in less than half the time it took last time. Grandpa Shen was worried the entire time, although LS said he will be exploring the forest for some time, he couldn’t stay calm till he saw LS again.

LS finally reached his grandpa & excitedly informed him about his breakthrough to the body cultivation stage. Then grandpa said “You are still in the Qi accumulation stage LS, may be you mistook the rank you are at, i believe you are at peak Qi accumulation stage now”

“Is there a 10th, 11th & 12th rank of Qi accumulation?” LS wondered..

To be Continued....