Of course, it's not like the trial is an absolutely bloody one where it's just about passing or dying, since his younger brother likes learning from him, Feicui Long, so he follows the same model as the trials in his temples.
In which each trial consists of 7 parts, where each part can be failed and exited alive, so it can be attempted again later. Because, although Feicui Long does not like giving away power and prefers that people earn it themselves, he understands that anyone can fail or make mistakes, and that doesn't mean they should be punished with death or denied the chance to try again.
If he does things that way, he would quickly run out of believers because they would all die. For example, a certain woman climbs to the top of his temple like that and becomes his partner. Unfortunately, she runs away before the wedding even begins...
But putting that aside, if that's the case, why is he so worried then? The reason is simple: he always puts a rescue system in place for the challengers in all parts, but his younger brother... it's not that he is a sadistic beast, but he only includes it in 6 of the parts, leaving one part with a slightly different system that, while it allows withdrawal, requires the challenger to do it themselves, meaning to surrender and request withdrawal.
He knows that might not seem like much, but the part where his brother puts it is in the seventh part, the most advanced and most difficult one, where they barely have time to do it, only a few moments specifically designed with pauses to allow it.
And that is his biggest problem with Isabella entering there, because the seventh part, just like in the trials of his own temple, involves using a copy of the challenger, although in a different way. The copy that Feicui Long uses is the version of the challenger from a few minutes ago, but brought through time and space by him. His brother's version is a copy generated by the formation.
The fact that it is an exact copy or even the challenger themselves is a problem because it means it has all the same abilities and capabilities. But also, both in his brother's version and his own, they possess the same memories, personality, way of thinking and everything else, which makes it extremely difficult to fight. But the reason why he highlights the difference between his own version and his brother's...
Is that his brother's copy not only copies and can adapt to the challenger, but also, if it detects that the challenger has a weakness or has gone through something bad or possesses insecurity, trauma, emotional damage, a bad experience, whatever it may be, the copy takes advantage of it and uses it in combat to hurt them. That means the challenger faces not only a physical battle, but also a psychological and moral one, right there on the battlefield, against someone who knows absolutely everything about them and is willing to use it against them.
And what's more, it doesn't stop until it kills them, because to give it more fighting intent, the formation inserts into his brother's copy a thought that if it defeats the original, it can escape and take their place. Even though that is not possible, since the formation is also designed to kill the copy if the challenger dies, this unrealistic thought gives it a will to do anything to kill the challenger. That creates an incredibly difficult trial, which, along with the fact that the challenger is the one who must use the few pause moments to withdraw, causes many to die in these trials.
Curiously, his brother only uses these trials in specific situations. This time, all his important temples in this world have them because he wants the young members of the beast clan or his believers to inherit or take treasures. This is his wish, and as for these trials that might seem cruel, it does not seem strange to him. His brother is still a beast and the Supreme God of all beasts, a clan that is heavily ruled by the power of bloodline, species, hierarchy, but also by strength...
In any case, this combined with Isabella's personality, who hates giving up, is stubborn, hard-headed, and with her abilities that basically push this to the maximum, plus the traumas and insecurities she possesses, puts her at incredible risk. That is why he is worried, so much so that he simply sits cross-legged at the entrance of the temple to wait for her, while at the same time apologizing in his mind to his brother. Because if he sees that she takes more than the necessary three days, he will not hesitate to break this formation just to save her.
...
When Isabella enters the temple, she finds the first part of the trial, which is located in a kind of pocket dimension. It is very simple, since she has to obtain 100 points by eliminating several targets, some hostile and others that run away. All of them are adjusted to her cultivation level fortunately, and all are from other racial clans, meaning there are no members of the beast clan.
This is easy. Isabella takes her sword and hunts several monsters and demons for about 10 to 15 minutes, but for some reason her score only rises to 10..
Then she thinks she has to keep hunting. When she has already killed about 50 enemies in total, she looks and sees it has only gone from 10 to 15. She cannot understand how this score is being calculated.
That was when it occurred to her to hunt only the enemies that ran away. With her sword and using the Sky Lion Steps, she quickly ran toward a small fleeing demon. It was difficult, but she caught up to it. Then she launched a simple slash, killing it on the spot. From its body, a sphere fell, which Isabella picked up. Then she saw her score jump from 15 to 20 all at once, and she understood that she had to hunt the fleeing enemies.
According to the few records that remain, this trial lasts three days, so she would have to save her energy as much as possible. So then, she began setting ambushes as if she were not a lion hunting but a tiger.
Soon she gathered the 100 points, at which point a door opened and she was able to leave this strange kind of pocket dimension she was in.
The second trial was easier to perform but more complex, since she had to know in which order certain formations needed to be activated while eliminating enemies that occasionally pursued her.
The third one is a part of spiritual fortitude. She must endure an increasing spiritual pressure while climbing a staircase, in which with each step the pressure increases more. She must climb all ten thousand steps to pass it. Even so, she doesn't get rid of the enemies either, so she has to defend herself. Thanks to her skill Indomitable Spirit, which, by the way, is a passive skill, she can endure everything without much trouble.
The fourth part is a test of mental fortitude. She must endure pressure in her mental realm from psychic powers and again endure the attacks and harassment of enemies alike. It is not easy, but thanks to her skill Sacred Steel Mind, she can stay firm.
The fifth part is indeed torture for her. Although her skill Crystal Soul strengthens her soul, the soul pressure is simply too strong. Fortunately, for the first time there are no enemies, but she does have to pass through a long path in very rugged and steep terrain. When she is about to reach the summit, she almost faints several times. In these moments at the door, she is sweating.
She is supposed to open it, but she needs to rest. She is a bit exhausted, since she has been walking for two days straight without rest and enduring all the hardships. This rest time makes her wonder what Feicui Long might be doing.
Shaking her head, she takes one of the pills she carries with her, which Feicui Long had given her to bring. Fortunately, she has pills for spiritual, mental, physical, and soul recovery. Without them, she doesn't believe she could finish this trial.
Then she stands up and opens the door, entering the sixth gate... that's when a great pressure descends upon her, combining all the previous forces at the same time, without giving her even a moment to breathe. Poor Isabella almost faints from the sudden blow, but using her sword for support and gritting her teeth, she stands up. She cannot give up. She must be the first in a long time to awaken her family's bloodline. She can't lose this trial.
So slowly, but with steady steps, she keeps walking until she reaches the staircase... this time it only has 35 steps, each one with a name she doesn't recognize, except for two... Fernando Velázquez and Feicui Long...
One is the name of the Supreme God of Beasts, and the other is the name of her husband. No, it is the name of the Supreme Dragon God, the Supreme God of Space, and the Supreme God of Time. The staircase represents the Supreme Gods, but it's not organized by classification but by power, since Feicui Long is at the very top occupying three spots. Below him is a name: Catalina Lancaster, beneath that Yun Hua, Fernando Velázquez, Aiónios Telos, and Adolf Wilfsmum.
She is confused. Soon she sees the instructions, which are very clear and direct: you don't need to climb all of them, or even any step at all, just reach the end of this pocket dimension. It measures 7 kilometers in length (4.35 mi). That alone is a challenge, but Isabella doesn't pay it much attention, even though she has difficulty moving.
Regarding the stairs, the instructions say that if she can climb a single staircase, she will be able to pass directly and even obtain a greater reward. Isabella wants to be next to Feicui Long, so without thinking, she accepts the challenge.
But she would soon realize that it is not a little joke. Just by standing next to it, she feels incredible pressure. The pressure of the room is a joke compared to this. Even so, being as stubborn as always, she places her foot on the first step. Then, with incredible willpower, she sets her other foot, climbing the first stair.
Then she does the same with the second, taking extreme care, and continues like that until she finally reaches the twentieth step. At this point, she feels out of breath, as if her lungs are about to collapse. Anyone would feel satisfied reaching the twentieth Supreme God, but not Isabella. She knows that the twentieth Supreme God in terms of strength is still at a colossal distance from Feicui Long. If she wants to be his equal, she has to reach and step on number thirty-five.
When her body gets a little used to the pressure, she resumes the climb. Step twenty-one. Her bones and muscles begin to ache, her soul, her spirit, and even her mind as well. Ignoring the pain, she continues upward. Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five. Climbing hurts so much it feels like torture. Even so, she keeps going. Step twenty-six, twenty-seven. At this point, she begins to bleed a little from her nose. Her eyes turn red because some blood vessels burst.
And even though she knows that every seven steps the pressure takes an incredible leap, she still steps on Adolf's step. This almost makes her scream, but she quickly closes her mouth and places the other foot, then Aiónios'. When she steps on Fernando's step, she falls to her knees, hitting herself hard. Fortunately, the steps are wide and broad. She fears she might have fallen off the stairs.
But Isabella, ignoring her bleeding and her wounds, only thinks, 'Four more steps, just four.' She cannot stand up, so crawling, she starts climbing the stairs, one by one, with a cracking sound from her bones, her soul letting out sounds like cracking crystal, her mental realm trembling and cracking, her spirit letting out a shriek. She continues: 32, 33, 34.
Pushing herself with her bleeding hands, she climbs to step number 35, where for a few seconds she hears several cracks and faints.
At that point, she can see an image: a man on a throne, an incredibly majestic throne, surrounded by imposing walls inside a palace made of a mix between emerald and gold. He is looking at her. This man has incredible eyes; the left half is amethyst and the right half emerald, divided by a black pupil as if it were a great crack. From the center of the pupil come out golden clock hands and golden symbols, which are definitely numbers, shining at the edges of the iris.
Looking at her, the hands spin, or so she thinks, because the next moment the man stands up and transforms into a majestic dragon to face countless enemies, all with very different appearances but with one common trait: they are horrible devils and demons who use poison to fight. Although they outnumber him, the man, no, the dragon continues fighting. Clash after clash, the universe trembles, gods die, and lives are lost, but none are allies; only enemies fall. In a few seconds, she can only see how the dragon urgently heads to a place, picking up the body of a man with platinum-colored hair.
The dragon can only shed tears on the battlefield. He is unable to save him. That is when the vision stops, because the next moment a great light envelops Isabella, healing all the wounds she has caused herself and restoring her body to a previous state, placing her in the intermediate area between part 6 and 7.