I slowly followed the path into the stone grotto.
The air inside circulated well, and with light entering from openings in the grotto's ceiling here and there, the interior was not dark.
Judging by the intricate design and craftsmanship, I could tell this place was built by a truly skilled craftsman.
As I walked slowly through the grotto, I passed a certain point and felt a subtle ripple in the air around me.
Shhhhhhhh.
I knew instantly.
A top-tier formation, one that only a master with keen senses could detect, had been activated.
Thinking about it, it was only natural.
Why couldn't those who died here escape? If the gates were too difficult, they could have just given up and left.
They must have died because they couldn't get past this formation.
You could walk in with ease, but if you failed to pass the gates, it would transform into a hellish formation from which you could never leave.
How long had I walked?
A rather large plaza appeared.
At the entrance of the plaza stood a stone stele explaining the first gate.
One, cut down all enemies without using Sword Qi or Sword Force.
Two, if you do not succeed within the time limit, another chance will be given after ten days.
Three, when ready, stand in the red circle.
'Ten days later? What am I supposed to eat until then?'
Looking around, I found a jar full of abstinence pills on the wall.
'If I have to eat this tasteless stuff for ten days, I'll go mad.'
Without hesitation, I stood in the center of the red circle drawn in the middle of the plaza.
A moment later, with a clanking sound, dozens of man-shaped wooden dummies shot up from the floor on all sides.
The parts that needed to be cut were painted red.
For some dummies it was the neck, for others an arm, and for some, a leg.
My body reacted reflexively.
The moment they rose, I threw myself forward, instinctively deciding which form to use and what to cut first.
Swish.
Swish.
Swish.
The wooden dummies were sliced apart.
The dummies were not fixed in one place.
The panels on the floor began to move, changing their positions.
In the midst of that chaos, some of the dummies began to descend back down.
'No!'
I knew it.
If I missed those descending dummies, they would never come back up, and that would mean I had failed the challenge.
So, I cut the descending dummies first.
Just as I expected, the other dummies moved quickly, obstructing my path to the ones I was trying to cut.
I leaped over them and swung my sword.
Slice!
A dummy I almost missed was cut down.
The dummies' movements grew faster and faster.
At first, I thought this gate was a test of footwork, but I was wrong.
This gate was a test of judgment.
What should be cut first?
Quick and accurate judgment was the priority; footwork came second.
The gate was complex and difficult, but not so elaborate as to surpass my instincts and skill.
Just like that, I cut down all the dummies and safely passed the first gate.
One thing was certain.
If I had my skills from before my regression, I would have never passed this first gate.
Even if I had run, rolled, and flown about like a madman, I would have failed.
I could see why the test resumed after ten days.
Many challengers must have failed this first attempt, and they would have needed at least ten days of careful study and practice to succeed.
And even then, only those who accurately remembered how the dummies moved and which ones descended and when could have formulated a plan.
A slow-witted challenger would have had to try over and over again.
Seeing the first gate, I could understand why it took an average of three years to clear the Little Heaven Grotto.
Rumble.
As I passed the first gate, the stone door to the second gate opened.
I slowly walked towards the second gate.
Just before leaving the first gate area, I noticed writing carved on the wall.
The words of the old masters who had come before were left on the wall near the exit.
—Succeeded on the ninth try.
Hahahaha.
—Took me sixteen times.
—This is madness!
—Finally succeeded after thirty-seven tries.
Tears cloud my vision after such a long ordeal.
—Will I die in this place? I just can't solve it.
I resent my father.
—Damn it! I tried to go back, but there was no way out.
—Success in six tries, I dare say I am the best.
Among them, at the very bottom, was a familiar handwriting.
—Fools.
It was my father, who must have passed this gate before me.
"Hahaha."
I couldn't help but burst into laughter.
It seemed my father had passed on his first try.
But still, to be so bold as to curse his ancestors, technically speaking.
"Father, I also passed on my first try! Hahaha!"
I continued on and arrived at the space where the second gate was located.
In the second plaza, a stone stele stood as expected.
One, using the swords on the wall, slice the stone in half within one shichen.
Sword Qi or Sword Force may be used.
Two, if you do not succeed within the time limit, another chance will be given after twenty days.
Three, when ready, stand in the red circle.
This time, the re-challenge was after twenty days.
A simple calculation meant it was twice as difficult as the first gate.
'Endure twenty days on abstinence pills? I'd rather die.'
I steeled my resolve to succeed and stood in the red circle in the center of the plaza.
Clank.
A stone table rose from the floor.
On top of the table was an iron orb the size of a man's head.
'I have to cut this iron orb.'
The given time was one shichen.
That was too long to cut a single iron orb.
Figuring there must be a reason, I slowly examined the orb.
Its surface was smooth; it wasn't ordinary iron but an artificially made stone.
It must be a material stronger than cast iron, right? When I tried to lift it, it was so heavy I couldn't do so without using my inner energy.
Hundreds of swords to be used for the test hung on the wall.
There were various kinds.
There were long swords, short daggers, heavy swords, and light swords.
There was even a flexible sword that could be worn around the waist.
Truly, every kind of sword was there.
The message was clear: this was not an easy challenge, so choose wisely and try multiple times.
I slowly walked over and took a sword from the wall.
It was a well-made, ordinary Iron Sword.
I stood before the sphere, calmed my mind, and swung the sword down with force.
Clang, with a clear sound, the sword broke and flew away.
The sphere, on the other hand, was left without even a scratch.
It was a really strong metal.
I examined the sphere again.
To the naked eye, it was just an unremarkable iron orb.
I brought another sword and this time swung it vertically.
Again, only the sword broke, and the sphere was fine.
"As I thought, it's not that simple."
I took a new sword and infused it with my inner energy.
Whoosh.
A blue light immediately shimmered from the sword.
I had summoned Sword Force.
Before my regression, at this age, I could use Sword Qi but could not summon Sword Force.
I only grasped the mysteries of Sword Force in my thirties.
"My first Sword Force after regressing."
Every martial artist's Sword Force had a different color.
Even if they learned the same heart technique, the color varied slightly from person to person.
I always found that fascinating.
I like the color my Sword Force gives off.
Sometimes it looks like the sea, other times like the sky—this pleasant blue.
The moment I was about to slowly cut the sphere with my Sword Force.
A sudden sense of unease washed over me, and I quickly withdrew my inner energy.
The Sword Force coating the sword vanished.
'Isn't this too easy?'
At a glance, I thought it was a test to see if challengers could use Sword Force since an Iron Sword couldn't cut it.
It seemed difficult with Sword Qi alone.
So, it was a test one couldn't escape until they had mastered Sword Force.
But any promising young martial artist who could use Sword Force would just slice it and pass.
Could a gate be this simple?
On the other hand, for someone who couldn't summon Sword Force, reaching that level was an incredibly difficult task.
One side was too easy, the other too hard.
Something didn't feel balanced.
So, just in case, I went to look at the words left by my predecessors on the wall.
—Sliced it in two with one strike of Sword Force.
—I tried eighty-nine times to cut it without Sword Force, but all failed.
In the end, I used Sword Force.
—I cut it without using Sword Force.
—How on earth? I can't believe it.
—Damn it! My Sword Qi can't cut it.
I can't generate Sword Force, what should I do?
—It's been two hundred days of studying Sword Force.
I feel like throwing up just from the smell of abstinence pills.
—That comment above about cutting it without Sword Force is a lie.
—I second that it's a lie.
What I wanted to see was the message my father had left.
As expected, my father's words were left at the very end.
—What nonsense.
Hahaha.
Calling his ancestors' struggles nonsense.
This man must have had a hard time pretending to be so stern.
But this time, he had added a line next to it.
—Getting heated is losing.
'Getting heated is losing? Why did he add that? Father would usually just leave a single curse like in the first gate.'
Getting heated? Getting heated? Could it be?
I quickly went back to the first stone slab.
One, slice the stone in half within one shichen.
Sword Qi or Sword Force may be used.
The words that caught my eye.
Sword Qi or Sword Force may be used?
It wasn't 'must be used,' but 'may be used.' In other words, didn't it mean to try cutting it normally and only use them if you really can't?
Come to think of it, the given time was also too long.
One shichen was enough time to cut hundreds of such stones.
Lastly, the number of swords on the wall was also excessive.
'Ah! For this gate, I must cut it without using Sword Qi or Sword Force.'
My father's words about getting heated being a loss was a kind of warning not to use Sword Force.
When one summoned Sword Force, a scorching heat emanated from the sword.
A fact that supported this guess.
Doesn't the twenty-day re-challenge period mean it's more intricate than the first gate?
This had to be cut simply.
'Thank you, Father.'
In any case, if I mustn't use Sword Force, I had no time to waste.
I went back to the sphere.
Now that I thought I had to cut it without using Sword Force, the sphere looked different.
'How on earth can I cut this? Vertically? Horizontally? Sideways? Diagonally? Or with a Fast Sword? A heavy sword?'
I tried various methods with the provided swords.
But I only succeeded in breaking the poor swords; the sphere wouldn't be cut.
After about thirty failed attempts, I sat down against the wall, half-giving up.
'There must be a way.'
The cruel time kept ticking by, and now less than a quarter of an hour remained.
'Do I have to try again in twenty days?'
I was in a state of half-surrender.
'Should I just cut it with Sword Force and pass?'
But since my father had gone out of his way to leave a message, I couldn't choose the easy way.
'This is hard, so hard.'
As I sat there, having given up, I absentmindedly emitted my energy.
It was the energy emission practice my father had taught me on the mountain.
A stream of energy extended from my body and touched the sphere.
'I wish you were a wild boar.
Then you'd be cut in a single stroke.'
My energy enveloped the sphere, slowly feeling its surface.
Suddenly, my eyes shot open.
"Huh?"
There was a fine line on the surface of the sphere.
A line I hadn't felt when I looked at it or touched it with my hands.
Focusing all my senses, I felt it.
My energy began to envelop the orb like a bird incubating an egg, striving to become one with it.
The line continued all the way around the sphere and met back at its starting point.
I got up and slowly approached it.
My energy still connected me to the sphere.
I closed my eyes, feeling the sphere only with my energy, and brought my sword down precisely on that line.
Swish.
I didn't strike it hard.
I focused on hitting the line on the sphere precisely, without a hair's breadth of error.
The next moment, something incredible happened.
Crack.
The sphere split in half.
That line had been a kind of vital point that allowed the sphere to be split perfectly.
And an even more surprising thing awaited me.
Plink.
From the empty space inside the severed sphere, a single pill rolled out.