The entry trial had come, right on schedule.
But instead of taking place in a solemn training hall or majestic dueling ground, it unfolded in a far more treacherous place—Thousand Phantasm Valley, a hidden gorge behind the Skycloud Sect, cloaked in ancient, powerful restrictions.
The moment we stepped through the multicolored light barrier at its entrance, reality twisted before our eyes.
Solid ground turned to soggy, sinking mud. Towering trees morphed into warped, claw-like giants. The sky above faded into a swirl of gray mist that churned endlessly, smothering the world in gloom. The air grew heavy and foul—thick with rot, dampness, and a metallic tang of blood and wet vegetation that stirred primal unease.
This was the valley's core, shaped by a massive illusion formation laid down by a great elder of the sect. Not only could it simulate deadly natural environments, it also summoned spiritual projections of fierce demon beasts, bred or captured and sealed by the sect over centuries. Boosted by the array's power, these projections retained nearly all the strength and savagery of their original bodies.
It was the ultimate battleground—a cruel crucible to test a disciple's real combat ability.
All of us, whether exceptional candidates admitted by special decree or outer disciples still undergoing final screening, were now scattered throughout this danger-filled illusion realm.
"ROAR—!"
A savage howl tore through the twisted underbrush to my left.A gust of stinking wind rushed out, thick with killing intent.
Bursting from the thorns came a massive, wolf-like beast, as large as a young bull. Its body was covered in rough, iron-hued scales, like patches of corroded metal. A single twisted horn jutted from its forehead, and its jaws gleamed with jagged fangs dripping saliva and bloodlust.
Its bloodshot eyes held nothing but the desire to kill.
"An Armored Wolf! Watch out!" someone cried out.
The yellow-robed youth beside me turned pale. In a panic, he raised his sword to block—
Clang!
The beast's claw slammed down, shattering his stance. His sword flew from his hand, his grip torn open.He stumbled back and fell into the mud, helpless.
The wolf snarled, jaws wide open, ready to rip him apart.
In that instant, I moved.
But not forward—backward.My toes pressed lightly against the mud, and my body floated several feet back like a drifting leaf.
It looked like a retreat, but was in fact a perfect dodge—
Because at that same moment, a second Armored Wolf leapt from the shadows to my right, claws slashing toward my ribs.Its strike barely missed, tearing a hole through my soaked robe.
In my sea of consciousness, the divine sigil began to glow.A faint flicker of gold passed through the depths of my pupils.
My vision pierced through the wolf's exterior, locking straight onto the chaotic flow of bestial energy within—dense and volatile, filled with earth and metal resonance.
[Copy Target: Tier-1 Demonic Beast – Armored Wolf]
[Talent Identified: Basic Scale Hardening (Earth/Metal)]
[Parsing... 30%... 70%... 100%]
[Talent Imprint Successful]
A subtle, solid strength coursed through my limbs.
Beneath my skin, it felt like invisible, hardened scales had locked into place.My muscles grew firmer—dense and heavy, like stone under pressure.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Out of my way!"
With a sharp breath, I lunged forward.No spirit energy. No technique.
Just a single punch—Fueled by my newly copied talent.
Boom!
My fist slammed into the wolf's skull.
"Awoo—!"
The beast let out a pained shriek as its entire body was hurled sideways, crashing through a twisted tree trunk.It twitched once… and lay still.
Dead.
A single punch.
The yellow-robed youth stared at me, slack-jawed.Others nearby who had witnessed the scene froze like statues.
Their gazes held shock, confusion… and a hint of fear.Like they were staring at a beast in human skin.
"T-Thank you…" the youth stammered, struggling to get up.
I didn't respond.
My eyes swept across the mist-choked forest.The sigil in my mind stirred again, warning me—
This illusion wasn't just full of monsters.It was watching.
The stench of blood, rot, and… something sweet… clung to the air.Unnatural. Wrong.
And then—
Boom.
The earth trembled.
Deep in the fog, trees snapped like twigs.A massive shadow moved—
Crushing everything in its path
The sound was like a divine hammer crashing into the earth.
Boom… boom… BOOM!
The mist-shrouded forest split apart as trees exploded in all directions. A hulking shape—like a mobile mountain—shoved its way forward with terrifying force.
It trampled thick tree trunks like brittle straw. Every step made the ground quake. Mud surged like waves under its hooves. A suffocating wave of pressure rolled out ahead of it—ten times more violent than the wolves before.
It wasn't just powerful.
It was pure destruction.
"MOOOO—!!"
A thunderous bellow tore through the valley, rupturing the mist.The raw, primal force in that sound made several disciples nearby bleed from the ears.Some collapsed on the spot, faces pale, limbs trembling uncontrollably.
Then—it emerged.
A giant beast charged out of the mist.
It had the body of a rhinoceros but towered like a fortress. Over six meters tall, more than fifteen meters long. It looked like a walking siege engine.
Thick plates of black iron armor covered its body, each the size of a door. The edges glinted like blades, reflecting faint, deadly light.And on its forehead—
A spiral horn.
Over three meters long.Its tip glowed with a dark, crimson light—dense, dangerous, sharp enough to pierce mountains.
Its limbs were like stone pillars. Each step left deep craters in the earth.Its eyes—massive, blood-red, and molten—burned with insanity.
Its nostrils spewed white steam, reeking of sulfur, blood, and something unholy.
Tier-3 Demonic Beast—Ironhide Rhino.And it was in berserk mode.
"Th-That's a Tier-3 beast!!"
"It's berserk! What the hell is it doing here?! This was supposed to be a low-risk zone!"
"Run!! Run!!"
"HELP!!"
Panic exploded.
Every disciple, no matter how proud they had been moments ago, had only one thought now—
Flee.
They scattered like terrified ants, screaming, pushing, stampeding through the trees.
But I didn't run.
I couldn't.
Not because I wasn't afraid—But because the sigil in my mind was screaming at me.
Something had locked onto me.
A dark, venomous killing intent—cold as death—was pointed straight at my heart.
That thing…It's charging straight at me.
The Ironhide Rhino's molten eyes cut through the crowd—And locked onto mine with terrifying precision.
No hesitation.No interest in the others.
Just pure, singular fury.
And not natural fury.
No—this was forced, as if something had triggered or controlled it.
Boom. Boom. BOOM!
The monster shifted its body, changing direction mid-charge.
Like a runaway train, it barreled through boulders and trees, knocking them aside like paper.
Its spiral horn glowed, locked onto my chest—
It was coming.
And it wasn't stopping.
The ground cracked underfoot. Mud sprayed skyward.It was like watching an avalanche head straight for me.
No time to run.No space to dodge.
In my mind—the sigil burst with golden light.
[Copy Target: Tier-3 Demonic Beast – Ironhide Rhino (Berserk)]
[Detected Talents:]
Blackiron Armor (Metal/Earth)
Colossal Stomp (Earth)
Siege Horn Charge (Metal)
[Warning: Target's energy tier is too high. Copying will consume source essence. Proceed with forceful parsing?]
Source essence?
Burn it. I don't care.
Sigil of Myriad Transformations—grant me strength. Let me steal it.
"RRAAAH!"
I threw my head back and roared.
It wasn't fear.It was rage—violent, primal, and wild.
I planted my feet deep into the quaking earth.My stance didn't waver.
Wum—!
A faint gray aura coated my body—Heavy. Solid. Cold like iron.
My muscles bulged under the strain.Veins rose like dragon sinews.Bones creaked, screaming under the pressure.
But I didn't care.
The sigil had copied the beast's talents—and now they were mine.
The price?Unbearable pain.Torn meridians.Life force drained away like water.
But in return—
Power.
More than I had ever felt before.
The Ironhide Rhino closed in.
Its horn screamed through the air, burning with red light—
Aimed straight at my heart.
I moved.
My body twisted at the last second—And my right arm, packed with the beast's own stolen strength, swung like a war hammer.
BANG!!!
My fist collided with the side of its neck.
Time stopped.
A shockwave exploded outward.Rocks, mud, and shattered wood blasted in all directions.
CRACK!
Bones split—some mine, some its.
"MOOOO—!!"
The monster let out a deafening cry.
Its head snapped sideways.Its massive charge faltered.That deadly spiral horn missed my chest by inches, grazing my ribs.
It tore through my robe and sliced into my side—but not deep enough to stop me.
Pain surged through my nerves.
But the sigil inside me spun faster.
Now. This is the moment.
The beast stumbled, stunned from the blow.I pounced.
Ignoring the pain in my right arm, I used my left hand—now imbued with the sharpness of Siege Horn Charge—to stab into the gap beneath its armor.
Shlick!
My fingers pierced through loosened scale and soft flesh.
The monster thrashed.Blood poured over my hand.
It screamed and shook and tried to throw me off.
But I held on like a leech.
My hand pushed deeper—until it touched something boiling hot, something pulsing—
Its core.
"Come out—!!"
With a savage roar, I yanked hard.
RIIIIP—!!!
Blood sprayed. Flesh tore.And in my hand—
A pulsing demon core, still steaming with heat.
Thud.
The Ironhide Rhino's titanic body finally gave way.It staggered. Trembled.And then collapsed like a toppled mountain.
BOOM!!!
The earth groaned beneath its fall.A massive wave of blood-soaked mud surged up from the ground, splashing skyward.
Silence followed.
The world held its breath.
Only the rain remained, falling in cold, rhythmic taps.It landed on my face, my arms, the blood-streaked battlefield.
I stood beside the corpse.Soaked in blood. Breathing hard.
My right arm hung at an odd angle—useless, broken.Pain throbbed with every breath, but I didn't move.
Because my left hand—
Still clenched tight.
In my palm… the demon core.
Freshly ripped from the beast's body.It was scorching hot, radiating intense heat through the pouring rain.
Its surface was dark crimson, veined with glowing patterns like flowing lava.Inside, molten energy churned—slow, heavy, suffocating. It pulsed like a second heart, beating with primitive, violent life.
The heat burned through my fingers, my wrist, my arm.The pain should have been unbearable.
But the sigil in my mind stirred.
It flickered—then flared to life.
[High-Purity Demonic Core Detected]
[Energy Parsing...]
[Conversion in progress...]
[Myriad Transformations Sigil Core Repair: +0.01%]
A thread of golden runes blinked faintly at the sigil's edge—almost invisible.
The energy within the core was being greedily absorbed, its savage essence broken down into nourishment for the ancient sigil.
A trickle of warmth flowed in return—soothing the pain in my body.My right arm still ached, but the crushing weakness slowly dulled.
I exhaled heavily
I slowly raised my lowered head.
My face was smeared with filth—mud and beast blood mixed together.Yet beneath the grime, my eyes shone with startling brightness.Sharp as blades, my gaze pierced through the blood mist and swirling dust, locking firmly onto a patch of unusually thick, almost congealed, gray fog in the distance.
That place—utterly silent.
But the very moment my gaze locked onto it,the fog rippled—ever so faintly.Like the surface of still water disturbed by an invisible stone.
Then—
A presence burst forth.Cold. Subtle.Like a venomous serpent forged of ice,its killing intent surged from the depths of the mist!
It carried shock.It carried disbelief.And above all—a murderous intent colder than death, ignited by my blatant provocation.
It no longer hid.It no longer lingered in the shadows.
Like venomous eyes snapping open in the dark,its malice locked onto me with the cruelty of a predator who had marked its prey.
The air froze—as though sealed in ten-thousand-year-old frost.
The sound of rain falling.The blood still trickling from the Ironhide Rhino's corpse.Even the heavy beat of my own heart—
All of it grew infinitely louder.
And then—
Still.
In the depths of that fog,the "thing" that had been watching all along—was finally provoked.
By the sight of me standing upright,bare-handed, blood-drenched, and clutching a torn-out core—
It had been roused.