Ashes Of Heaven Book 1 : Solar Calamity

Mu Ran stood in front of the statue of a man with all four of his limbs missing. The statue gave off a violent aura full of power, a heroic expression carved on its face. There were two spheres spinning madly around its head, their orbit forming the shape of a colorful crown.

"Little one, since you have chosen to follow the path of the most overbearing law technique, you need to back your ambitious choice up with your actions."

The two spheres flying around his head suddenly charged at Mu Ran faster than a normal human eye could even track. But Mu Ran managed to catch them before they hit him square in the face.

"One of those orbs contains qi for you to replenish your reserves. Use the power sources you've collected from the second stage as fuel and try to decipher the alphabets in the second orb and create a law fragment that you think is suitable for our path!"

Mu Ran nodded obediently and sat down to absorb the qi inside the first orb. The whole process was completed very smoothly. Then he looked at the alphabets floating inside the second orb.

A strange smile appeared on Mu Ran's face as soon as his eyes fell on the alphabets. Nodding imperceptibly, he took out a shining emerald power source from his pocket as well as his broken spearhead.

On the floor of the hall he was sitting in, he carved long lines with the sharp tip of the spearhead. One alphabet, two alphabets, three, four, and five...

Slowly, a massive formation of strokes took shape inside the hall. The statue of the dismembered man looked at this interesting disciple attentively. It could perceive the confidence brimming out of Mu Ran.

"It's done," Mu Ran announced after a few minutes.

The statue nodded in acknowledgment and said, "proceed with the second step. Activate the law fragment. "

But just as Mu Ran was about to establish the connection between the law fragment and the power source in his hand, the statue suddenly interrupted him.

"Hey, wait a minute...you didn't use the alphabets provided in the orb! STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Mu Ran completely ignored the statue and continued to strengthen the mental connection between him and the power source.

It was time to accomplish his goals for coming here.

...... ....... ......

The scene inside the Cause and Effect type platform was very similar to the one in the Sentient Contract platform.

A young man stood with his hands outstretched, an elegant pose complimented by the violet rays of light flickering around him like lightning bolts.

Had there been an onlooker to witness such a glamorous scene, it would be the whole package. Unfortunately, the testing ground had separated all the young cultivators. So Han Xuhan could only admire himself, not that he had any issue with that. He loved his magnificent self.

"Where is a camera when you need one?" He sighed dispiritedly.

"Good heavens, boy... How long are you planning to face the opposite direction? Did your brain get left out during the teleportation? Turn the fuck around or you shall know what it feels like to be kicked by a tonne-heavy foot." A feminine voice came from behind.

Han Xuhan immediately put his arms down and turned around, standing at attention, chest out, tummy tight, ass clenched.

"Disciple Han Xuhan, reporting for duty!"

". . . " Worldlessly, the giant statue of a beautiful woman in front of him waved its hand, summoning Han Xuhan's avatar from empty air, just like the previous automaton had a while ago.

Han Xuhan patiently waited for her to finish examining the small avatar in front of her.

"Already failed once? So soon? The test has barely started!"

Han Xuhan smiled proudly at being praised for his swiftness.

"Wait a minute...ranked last, QI QUALITY ONE POINT FIVE OUT OF TEN! WHAT THE HECK?

I didn't even know you could go that low !"

"Thank you for the compliments!" Han Xuhan yelled out and interrupted her unnecessarily loud musings.

"Cough, never mind. You should be familiar with the rules by now. I represent the Cause and Effect faction of the Holy Land of laws. If you're ready, we can start the test. Here you go," the statue awkwardly said as two small orbs floated toward Xuhan from her palms.

Han Xuhan received the spheres with a sincere expression on his face. One of them was filled with qi for absorption as expected, while the other contained a few alphabets belonging to the language of laws.

Again, Xuhan decided to scrutinize the alphabets first.

The hall was silent. Han Xuhan looked like he was concentrating hard to decipher the alphabets in the sphere. Seeing the beads of sweat rolling down his throat, which was the only visible part of his skin, the statue was slightly puzzled.

"Hey kid, you should have expended all of your qi to activate the platform. Why are you not replenishing your qi first? You can examine the alphabets later and think up a suitable law fragment."

But Han Xuhan seemed so absorbed in his studious reverie that he showed no signs of paying any heed to her advice. After a long, awkward stretch of silence, he finally shook his head and looked up at her.

"What a coincidence! Despite coming into contact with the language of laws very recently, I can somehow recognize all the alphabets in the orb! Not even a single one seems unfamiliar!" His shout stunned the statue of the woman.

The following events that played out were eerily the same as Han Xuhan's venture into the Sentient Contract platform.

The statue hesitantly exclaimed that they might be fated for such a coincidence to take place. Then it proposed that he should try to recover his qi.

Then it came to learn about Han Xuhan's heaven-defying physique!

"The world of cultivation is vast and full of wonders. You learn things every day, eh? Though, I must say, are all of your platforms the same? Relying on this single mode of examination? Show some compassion for the disabled people like me!"

His bitter complaint was received with utter befuddlement and silence.

Han Xuhan went through his planned dialogues and returned back outside the platforms a minute later, this time much more nervously than before.

His suspicions were turning out to be a highly possible chain of events. And if his suspicions were true, then everyone who had entered the third stage might be screwed...