CHAPTER 94: TRIAL OF THE SPIRIT GUARDIAN

The colossal Spirit Guardian, a lion made entirely of mist, electricity, and vague disappointment, descended from the skies with a thunderous roar.

Trees bent from the pressure. Energy pulsed in waves.

Hei Long stood still, hands in his sleeves.

Lin Fan? He screamed like a goose and dove behind a bush.

"WHY is it looking directly at me!?" he hissed, eyes wide, barely breathing.

The old man grunted inside his mind, "Because you’re the one it’s meant to test, boy. Now get up. This is your moment."

Lin Fan peeked over the bush, horrified. "It looks like it eats cultivators for snacks!"

Hei Long casually strolled over to the guardian beast, raising a brow. "You sure he’s the one you’re here for?"

The lion spirit glanced at Lin Fan.

Then at Hei Long.

Then back at Lin Fan.

And sighed.

Yes — it sighed. A spiritual lion. Disappointed. Visibly.

"Okay, you know what? I’ll do it!" Lin Fan shouted. "This is MY test! My story! I’m the hero here!"

He jumped from the bush and charged with a yell that sounded more like a cat getting stepped on.

"HIYAAAH!"

The lion didn’t move.

Lin Fan leapt with a punch glowing in spirit energy.

The lion raised a paw.

Bonk.

Lin Fan flew into a tree.

Then another.

Then a rock.

Then the river.

Splash.

Hei Long turned to the lion. "He’s persistent. That’s gotta count for something."

The lion made a low rumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like, "Unfortunately, yes."

Meanwhile:

While Lin Fan floated down the river unconscious, Hei Long walked into the old temple the lion had emerged from.

Inside, glowing orbs floated around a pedestal — ancient relics left behind by long-dead sages. One orb glowed red-hot with dense spirit energy.

Hei Long plucked it up casually.

"This will double my cultivation speed for a few days. Not bad."

Suddenly, the orb shimmered, revealing a hidden inscription.

To the one with the clearest fate, the realm acknowledges your supremacy.

"Wow, even the realm is flirting with you now?" the lion muttered.

Hei Long smiled. "Takes after my women."

Lin Fan Wakes Up

Back at the riverbank, Lin Fan awoke coughing water and groaning.

"I think I saw my ancestors," he muttered, soaking wet, leaves in his hair.

The old man sighed, "You failed the test."

Lin Fan looked up. "WHAT!? But I tried!"

"Trying isn’t succeeding, boy. If this was a real-life battle, you’d be digested right now."

Just then, Hei Long casually walked past him, holding a glimmering red orb in one hand and a stick of grilled fish in the other.

"Good effort," Hei Long said with a smirk.

Lin Fan blinked. "Is that a spirit treasure?!"

"Oh this?" Hei Long twirled the orb. "Yeah. It was just lying there."

"THAT WAS MY REWARD!!!"

Hei Long handed him a small, sad fish instead. "Here. For effort."

Lin Fan screamed internally as thunder rumbled overhead again — possibly just the spirit realm laughing.

The moment Hei Long and Lin Fan stepped back onto solid ground, they realized the Spirit Realm was vastly more than just a single temple or test.

The skies above shimmered in hues of violet and teal, clouds shaped like ancient beasts drifted slowly by, and the air was thick with spirit energy so potent that just breathing it could refine one’s cultivation.

Lin Fan gasped, eyes glittering. "This... this is my true opportunity!"

Hei Long casually sniffed. "Smells like fish and destiny."

The Spirit Road

A glowing path made of floating lotus stones extended ahead of them, zig-zagging through mystical trees with silver leaves. It looked serene.

Until—

CRASH.

A giant spirit boar came barreling out of the trees, chased by five half-transparent, ghost-like cultivators.

"GET BACK HERE WITH OUR RATIONS!"

The boar squealed like a horn and ran past Hei Long and Lin Fan.

"Did... did that ghost just shout about food?" Lin Fan asked.

"Let’s not get involved," Hei Long replied, already walking the opposite way.

But of course, Lin Fan did get involved.

Lin Fan’s "Secret Shortcut"

"Wait! I read about a secret trial site in an ancient jade scroll!" Lin Fan declared, running into the dense glowing forest beside the Spirit Road.

Hei Long kept walking.

Ten minutes later...

"AAAAAAAHHH!"BOOM!CRASH!"WHO PUT A TREE THERE?!"

Lin Fan came crawling out, covered in soot, bite marks, and what looked like a small squirrel spirit gnawing on his ear. "Wrong scroll..."

Hei Long raised a brow. "No kidding."

The Tower of Serenity

As they continued, Hei Long spotted a structure in the distance — a crystal spire rising out of the lake, known in legend as the Tower of Serenity.

It was said that within the tower, those with a balanced heart and clear fate could inherit powerful arts.

Naturally, Hei Long went in.

Lin Fan followed.

Seconds later...

DONG!

A magical bell rang, and Lin Fan was blasted out of the tower in a glowing beam of rejection.

He landed face-first in a pile of glowing moss.

Hei Long looked out from the balcony of the tower with a teacup. "The moss enhances digestion. Good spot."

Inside, Hei Long passed trial after trial.

Resist the illusion of power? Easy. He already had it.

Face your inner fears? Boring.

Pick the right treasure without being greedy? He picked none and still got all of them.

At the end of the tower, a ghostly woman with long, flowing robes handed him a scroll.

Serenity Art: Mist Phantom Body Technique — allows the user to dissolve into mist and avoid any attack once per day.

"Convenient," Hei Long said, storing it casually.

Meanwhile: Lin Fan’s Encounter

Still recovering, Lin Fan found a shiny rock.

"Oh! A treasure! Finally!"

He picked it up... and it started talking.

"WHY HAVE YOU DISTURBED MY SLUMBER?"

The stone turned into a mouth. It yelled.

Lin Fan yelled back.

They both screamed for three minutes until the rock gave up and turned back into... a normal rock.

"...I hate this place," Lin Fan said.

Hours later, Lin Fan caught up to Hei Long sitting peacefully under a glowing spirit tree, sipping tea made from leaves that shimmered like jade.

Hei Long didn’t even look up.

"You missed a spirit fruit bloom. It grants +1 Luck. I ate yours."

Lin Fan twitched. "I don’t even HAVE luck!"

Suddenly, a message floated down from the sky.

The Final Trial of the Spirit Realm Awaits.Prove your worth or be expelled.

Hei Long stood, stretching. "Finally. Something halfway interesting."

Lin Fan groaned. "I’m gonna die, aren’t I?"