Born in Blood

Liam suddenly jolted upright, a sheen of sweat on his skin. 

Grimacing, he found himself lying on the ground.

All he heard before his consciousness sputtered out was the glorious voice. It was youthful, but profound and also deep.

'Are you worthy?'

As his breathing calmed down, Liam took a look at where he was. 

He rose to his feet, an incredulous look on his face.

Right now, he was very, very confused.

He had just fallen into the crevice.

There was no doubt about that.

But right now, there was no more darkness.

In fact, there was illumination.

There was a sun above him!

Burning with light!

There were also clouds and a blue sky to accompany it!

It was like any other sunny day.

The ground below was filled with lush green grass. 

As far as his vision reached, that was all Liam could see. 

Grass and blue skies. The sun never set, and there was a light wind brushing past him.

'Where's the girl?' Liam thought with a frown. 'Did she wake up before me?'

Liam dismissed that possibility. 

His sea of consciousness was quite powerful compared to anyone his age. 

If it was a matter of mental strength, he was definitely stronger.

'So that means she's in another section of this place.'

Liam spent the next few minutes in awe of the whole place.

Liam sniffed and ripped a few handfuls of grass from the ground. 

It was real grass, not an imitation.

Obviously, the sun above was not real.

Even Liam could conjure up an illusionistic ball of light with his King's Eye. 

A Celestial could do it much better than him.

This inheritance ground was basically a sandbox for them to play around and manipulate stuff in. 

A separate dimension. Everything in it was fake, but also real. 

At the same time, Liam realized the 'Ora' purity here was far better than anything available in the Main Lands. 

It was so brilliant, in fact, Liam started to cultivate his core on the spot!

There was no announcement of any kind, after all.

He was just taking advantage of the situation!

'Nothing less fitting for a Celestial. I've only really scratched the bottom of the barrel,' Liam thought, suddenly feeling excited.

That said… what was he supposed to do?

There was nothing but a vast, but empty, horizon up ahead.

Luckily, Liam had studied the basics of inheritances, so he had a few 'troubleshooting' methods.

After half an hour of cultivating, he rose to his feet.

"Trial!" he shouted in the air.

Silence.

Only a light wind awkwardly brushed past him.

"Test!" Liam shouted again, a little louder this time.

Silence.

Liam clicked his tongue.

Eternal Sword might have made the amazing construct and separate dimension, but he forgot the most basic requirement when choosing an heir.

Directions!

Then, Liam realized something.

'If this works, I'll be mad.'

Liam took out his Black Blade. A nice shing noise left his space ring.

The same, glorious voice rang out, but Liam wasn't mad in the least.

"First Trial."

A change!

More than one hundred magical beasts left the ground!

Praying Mantises!

Their skinny bodies looked to be made from a shiny metal.

Two razor-sharp claws were raised to their front.

Their backs were long and streamlined.

They were roughly the size of a large dog.

Yet, Liam was more confused than anything.

…All of these creatures were Rank 1!

That was nothing!

"Sever all your foes in one singular slash."

The profound voice spoke its demand.

Silence.

That…

One slash.

All at once.

That meant that all the mantises had to die in an instant with the swing of Liam's blade.

But Liam smiled broadly.

That's why the Black Blade was made!

All of the mantises rushed him.

But Liam didn't swing his odachi straight away.

First, he started to herd them.

Starting by running circles around them until they started to bunch above one another.

Liam didn't want to use physical force, in fear that it might classify as an attack and disqualify him.

The mantises weren't smart creatures.

And they were so, so weak.

It was like they were attacking him in slow motion, while he was still functioning in normal time.

Liam could crush them with his bare hands if he wanted to.

Eventually, all the mantises crawled atop one another, becoming a shrieking hive of buzzing noises.

Then, when he spotted a correct opening, Liam squatted to the ground.

Strength started to pour into his thighs and knees.

Right after, Liam was launched diagonally forward, blurring.

As he flew through the air, Liam swung once, sparing no effort.

SHING!

A wide black arc left the Black Blade's edge.

As it met the tide of Praying Mantis', a series of satisfying squelches and crushes rang out.

The arc continued, and continued, and continued, until all the Praying Mantis' were dead.

Liam landed on the ground and waited for the voice to say something.

It didn't.

But instead, the ground trembled a bit.

Liam looked towards the source of the noise.

It was the sound of a passageway opening, and in the distance, there seemed to be a door to another world.

'The second Trial,' Liam thought.

Liam waited patiently.

There was silence.

'Do I not get any rewards?' he thought, furrowing his brows.

If anyone that knew Liam's personality was near him, they'd instantly call him shameless.

What kind of person would expect a reward from killing a bunch of Rank 1's?

Liam shook his head and instantly walked through the door. 

He wasn't tired at all.

Outside, it was the same thing.

Endless grass. 

Fake sun.

Blue skies.

"Trial two."

Two dozen Spirit Beasts emerged from the ground.

Liam instantly realized they were not normal.

They were sword-wielding baboons!

Two dozen of them!

All at the peak of the third Rank!

Not just that, they were triple-wielding their swords.

One on their left hand.

One on their right.

And one gripped tightly between their jaws!