I took out yet another natural treasure from my spatial bag. I sighed as I glanced at the spatial ring on my finger, that I had yet to break into. It better have impressive rewards inside or I would be wasting all the energy I diverted to it all this while.

Turning my attention back to the treasure in my hands—this time a red flower—I tossed it into my mouth and started to chew. I wondered how many natural treasures the final organ would take. Five? Six? Ten?

I had enough even if it took twenty, but I hoped to save at least a few for some alchemy experiments once I returned to the Grasping Life Sect. I wasn't sure what organ would be the fifth and final one to be refined.

The instant the spiritual energy from the flower entered my body I had the answer. My stomach broke it down to its purest form, before it started to move towards my head.

The energies from the natural treasure flowed through my neck into my head, surrounding my brain before starting to sink into it. It was a very odd feeling, almost like a skull massage but inside my skin.

It wasn't uncomfortable. The opposite, in fact. Turning my senses inside, I saw that it had taken on a very faint metallic shimmer. That was a tell-tale sign that the refinement process had begun.

With the first mystery solved, all that remained was to finish refining it. Once I reached full completion of the first layer of the Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique I would need to focus on a method to advance to the Foundation Building Realm. For now though, it was time to refine the natural treasures I'd selected.

****

Unfortunately, even while taking breaks in between each treasure to allow my body to 'reset' from the pure spiritual energy it was refining, I found I couldn't progress beyond about ninety-percent completion towards refining my brain.

It was an annoying discovery, given that I had hoped to have at least one new tool in my arsenal before making my way further into the trial. However, I suspected that even though it wasn't fully refined, the progress would have improved my cognitive abilities somewhat.

Exhaling deeply, faint green wisps of energy trickling into the air in my breath, I opened my eyes. I had no way to tell time while trapped inside this corridor, but I suspected it had been at least a few days.

The higher my cultivation rose, the easier it was to lose track of time and cultivate for days on end. When your body had no base functions that constantly screamed for attention, it was far easier to sink into a meditative trance.

I stood up and looked around, but unfortunately the passing of time hadn't changed my situation one bit. The wall behind me was still solid and the corridor in front of me still stretched on endlessly into the distance.

I wondered if refining my fourth organ and progressing so far with the fifth and final organ would have improved my ability to break through illusions. I allowed spiritual energy to cycle through them all, a portion of every cycle still being stored in my refined liver, then sent it through my body.

When it reached my head, I felt another blockage being loosened. It suddenly felt as though a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. At the same time, I immediately went on guard, feeling exposed from every direction.

I realised why when I returned to observing my surroundings. Instead of being trapped in a corridor, I was actually in the middle of an enormous atrium with towering ceilings and walls over thirty metres away from me in each direction.

However, despite my instincts there was no one else in the room apart from me. Four white marble pillars veined with gold held up the ceiling. On each wall there was a grand fresco depicting vivid scenes of beasts and cultivators.

Behind me, a black dragon was locked in battle with a white robed youth who looked suspiciously familiar. The dragon's flames clashed with a stream of water conjured by the youth. Below them, thousands of spectators watched with mouths agape.

On my left, there was an image of a gigantic tree which seemed to encompass the entire universe within its branches. Every single leaf was a different world, each branch the void between.

Simply staring at each of these images made my dantian stir. Places where my comprehension had reached a bottleneck suddenly loosened as ideas of cultivation appeared in my mind.

The image on my right had been scratched off, covered in dozens of deep furrows and tears. It was as though a gigantic beast had gone at it in a rage, destroying the artwork beneath.

In front of me there was no image. Instead the wall only had two characters inscribed into it—'Spring' and 'Autumn'. Those two characters were filled with such dense, lingering qi and spiritual intent that it was almost physical.

They conjured images of the seasons passing by, of the new blooms of spring and the beginning of winter decay. The cycle of life and death explored through the natural world.

If I had to take a guess I would say the cultivator who built this Spring and Autumn Palace reached enlightenment by pondering on the cycle of the seasons. It didn't exactly resonate with my own path, which was proven by the spark in the lake in my mind not reacting to the images whatsoever.

Beneath the two characters, there was a pedestal made from the same gold-veined white marble as the pillars. I walked forwards to inspect it, realising that there was a slot in the top of the pedestal.

I assumed that it was designed to fit an object—a key perhaps. I frowned. Was this another confusing puzzle like the corridor had been? I found illusions distasteful at best and was loath to suffer through a large number of them.

However, I had to hope that the reward waiting for me at the end would be well worth the trouble. Suddenly I felt a powerful pulse of spiritual energy inside my spatial bag. It was so powerful that the bag itself shook, the inscriptions trembling as though they were about to shatter and break.

Immediately realising it was the artifact I'd received from the grandpa in the cave, I took it out before it could cause any lasting damage to my spatial bag. Those things were expensive—I wasn't broke anymore, but I didn't want to spend money if I didn't have to.

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As soon as I took it out of the bag, the artifact flew into the air above the pedestal. It emitted a low pitched hum and sent out another pulse of spiritual energy that washed over the entire atrium.

Simultaneously, the artifact flew down into the slot in the pedestal and I felt a sharp killing intent that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I pivoted my head around, raising my hands to guard as what looked like a black whip slapped against my forearms.

The impact sent my flying backwards, crashing into the wall bearing the spring and autumn inscriptions. I coughed blood and saw stars, but there was no time to recover.

The air distorted and I felt my skin start to blister. A jet of flames larger than my body screamed through the air towards me.

All I had time to do before it struck was cover myself with a thin barrier of qi. It held on for less than a breath before melting under the force of the flames. My skin sizzled and burnt to a crisp instantly.

The smell of barbequing meat reached my nostrils as my flesh burnt. Ignoring the agony of my physical body for a brief moment, I used my spiritual senses to see what the hell was attacking me.

At the far end of the room, the painting of the black dragon had come to life. The beast was wrapped around two of the pillars holding up the ceiling, breathing the jet of flames at me.

Definitely another test. Damn old monsters, if you're going to die and leave behind your stuff, why make it so that the majority of cultivators who stumble onto the inheritance end up being murdered?

I had been caught by surprise by the sudden attack, but overbearing flames were something I'd dealt with before. Even though my skin and flesh had been completely burnt, it wasn't a problem.

The regenerative powers of my physique were unmatched. As I stood strong against the incineration, medicinal qi flowed out of my dantian, spreading through my body and repairing the damage.

At first it was an endless cycle of my flesh being repaired and then burnt anew by the jet of dragon fire. However, within a few breaths the first layer of skin started to appear as my body overcame the threat. Soon I was completely whole once more, bathing in the fire as though it were a relaxing shower instead of the deadly breath of a dragon.

I had no doubt that this was another illusion or some kind of conjured creature. A true dragon's flames were something I was still far too weak to deal with, based on what I'd read of the divine beasts.

Someone like Wang Ren might be more suited to a trial like this. I was no warrior. I doubted I could kill a dragon, even if it was only a conjured one.

However, was there really a need to defeat it? I could last forever against its flames, constantly healing through the power of medicinal qi.

Rather than struggle, I relaxed and allowed my body to take over. I focused on the cycle of destruction and renewal as the top layer of my skin was burnt and rejuvenated over and over.

Observing the process, I suddenly burst out laughing. The dragon's flames were actually further refining my physical body!

It had already been overpowered for my realm, thanks to the two extra stars I achieved in the Body Tempering Realm, but bathing in these flames was bringing it to an even greater level. However, as quickly as it had begun, the jet of flames stopped.

Once the smoke cleared, I realised that the dragon was hovering in the air staring directly at me. Its eyes were filled with curiosity and surprise. Was it actually sentient and not just a conjuration?

"How interesting," it rumbled in a guttural voice that sounded like a volcano come to life. "This is the first time a sapling has not only resisted my flames, but healed the damage so thoroughly. What manner of creature are you?"

I paused before answering. Was this dragon the ancient bastard who'd built the palace? That didn't make sense to me given everything I'd encountered so far but things in this world rarely did.

"As far as I know I'm just a human," I replied. It was the truth, though I had left out the part about my Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique.

"Just a human, it says," the dragon said, then it began to chuckle.

At least I assumed that was what it was doing, though it sounded nothing like any laughter I'd heard before. It was more like an earthquake combined with a landslide.

"You're a funny sapling," it said.

Its eyes flashed red as it spoke and I suddenly felt like an ant as a colossal spiritual pressure descended onto me from all sides. It faded almost as soon as it had appeared, but I was left covered in a cold sweat.

"You spoke the truth. You are only a human, yet I can smell something more in that body of yours. Then there is that ring. It is not from this realm. You have piqued my curiosity. My name is Long Heiying, the first guardian of the Spring Autumn Sage's inheritance."

I was stumped. I had expected more trials but meeting a dragon in the flesh, or at least one conjured from a painting, was the last thing I had thought to encounter.

Even so, it no longer seemed to want to kill me. The overbearing killing intent from earlier had faded and instead it wanted to engage in conversation.

I had learned the name of the old monster who'd built this place, too. Also, when it spoke of a ring 'not from this realm', did it refer to the ring I'd taken from that shadowy cultivator? Maybe I could get some more information from this dragon.

"Is the Spring Autumn Sage the cultivator who created the Blossoming Heavens? And what did you mean about my ring?" I asked.

"Tch. So greedy. Of course not. What a foolish question. You might as well ask who created this world," the dragon replied as though talking to a dumb child. "As for the ring, if you don't know then it's not my place to tell you."

"How did this palace get here, then?"

"That's something I'm not allowed to tell you. You will find out on your own if you manage to reach the required realm. Some things are naturally restricted by the laws of the world. Now, enough questions! You have already learned too much, sapling," it roared as it started to fly around the atrium.

It moved as fast as lightning, almost too agile for me to follow with my spiritual senses. When it stopped, its head was floating right in front of me. As with all old monsters, its words were confusing and filled with half-answers.

Howevever, it was impossible to focus on anything except its terrifying and majestic appearance with it so close. My eyes ran up and down its head.

A long snout, a maw filled with razor sharp white fangs, black scales the colour of night, and two long, curling horns that stretched down the length of its neck and then pointed up to the ceiling. It exhaled and a puff of smoke was released into the air.

"You have already passed the first trial by breaking through the illusions in the entrance. You didn't die to my flames, either. Acceptable. I was going to send you through the Gate of Spring, but your abilities are too odd," it said, tilting its head to one side and glancing down at the pedestal.

"You also possess one of the keys. You must have met and impressed one of the sage's disciples. You are qualified to enter the Gate of Spring and Autumn. However, to do so is to put your life and cultivation on the line. Are you willing?" the dragon asked me.

I was pleasantly surprised that one of these trials actually asked for my opinion for once. Until now all these ancient cultivators had just forced their inheritances onto me and the other challengers without caring for what we had to say.

"What would I receive if I pass this trial? And what would it entail?" I asked. There was no point risking my life if the reward wasn't worth it.

The black dragon snorted, smoke puffing from its nostrils. "Greedy. If I told you what the trial involved, that would defeat the point. However, I can assure you the reward is worthwhile. Those who qualify to enter the Gate of Spring and Autumn are worthy of receiving the full inheritance of the Spring Autumn Sage."

More half-answers. However, every inheritance I'd obtained thus far in the Blossoming Heavens had been quite useful for my cultivation. There was the knowledge of the Binding Soul Empress and the insights of the Garden Sage.

"I will enter this Gate of Spring and Autumn. Where is it?"

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