Chapter 162 - The Trial of Emotions

’Young master? And this voice...?’

Cale slowly turned, seeing an apparition of Rexa materialize before him.

His eyes squinted with recognition, and he started walking forward deliberately.

Step... Step...

A smile crept across his face as he clasped his hands behind his back, walking slowly toward her.

The more he approached, the more certain he became. It was Rexa herself — or at least, that’s what it hoped to achieve.

"Y-young master... how... how am I here?" she asked hesitantly, her hands trembling with confusion.

Cale got close to her, standing directly in front of her. She could feel his breath now.

"You... don’t know?" he asked, staring directly into her eyes.

"N-no," she shook her head.

Cale smiled gently.

"Well, don’t worry. Now that we are together, it’s not that problematic."

"Yes! Yes, young master!" she cried happily, clinging to him and hugging him tightly.

Cale hugged her back.

And then—

Swoosh!

Her entire body erupted in black chaotic flames.

"Ah! Young master!... no! No! W-why are you... why! No!" she screamed, her hands grabbing his body tightly as the flames consumed her.

"A fake... heh. Such a pathetic trick as a test. I expected better," Cale smiled coldly.

With a snap of his fingers, the fake Rexa’s body burned to ashes and vanished completely.

Cracking his neck, he walked forward along the same path.

’Sigh, this is what happens when you open even a bit of your heart to people.’

"C..cale..." Emma called out from behind.

’Fake.’

A blade cut her throat before she could continue. Cale didn’t look back and kept walking.

"Cale! Her—"

’Fake.’

Slash! Cut!

Fiora’s entire body was severed into pieces within seconds.

"H-hey! What ar–"

’Fake!’

Niva, dead.

"You wh–"

Zenith, dead.

’Fake!’

"You sur–"

Arthur, dead.

Cale didn’t stop. He didn’t see any meaning to it. These were mere illusions. Is this what a Divine Stage cultivator used as a test?

’Pathetic...’

"Callist–"

Sirius, dead.

"Brat yo–"

Xanthus, dead.

Cale let out a laugh.

"Let me see how many people does this formation considers as people close to me."

As he crossed another few hundred steps, a new voice was heard.

A young girl’s voice. A girl with red and black hair, pale skin, and golden-brown eyes.

"Protector cal–"

Cale stopped in his steps, looking down at his feet.

"Move... dammit..."

He sighed heavily.

"Young miss, to think even you... sigh, what a sinful guard I am. Hahaha."

He wanted to raise his hand and kill her too, but hesitated for just a second.

How could he?

’I let you die in that life... now, well, I don’t think we should even meet. That’s for the better.’

But he didn’t feel a single hint of regret. Why should he?

Step...

’...you’re fake too.’

As he put his next foot forward, her body erupted in ice, becoming like a frozen doll locked in crystalline suspension.

Crack!

The next step shattered it entirely. The next one burned it to remove it from existence itself.

Cale sighed.

’Interesting, Sea Serpent King. You better have some good rewards... else I will revive you and then kill you again.’

He was incited to feel rage, but he smiled instead.

He was entranced to feel joy at various things. He frowned, seeing them for what they were.

He was made to feel sorrow about many things in his life. He gave a light laugh and kept moving forward.

He was being intoxicated by pleasure; by every woman he’d ever known — only to grab their necks and twist them.

"These are but fleeting desires. You dare think such things would matter to me?" he sighed.

[Then what do you want? Women? Money? Power? Everything can be granted.]

Cale smirked, sensing the spiritual form somewhere around him in the darkness.

"If you want to give me something... make me the heavenly will of this world!"

...No response came.

He smiled coldly.

"As expected, you’re weak! Oh, so weak. To even think this bullcrap would work on me. I’ve gone through countless tortures. I’ve devoured millions of souls. I’ve seen each of their lives... this is not even a percent of that."

Did Cale not have any desires? No — he was filled with desires. If anything, he was the greediest man on earth, wanting anything and everything that existed.

But then again, if he failed to obtain something, he wouldn’t dwell on it. He would rather move forward with the same sense of self rather than wailing in despair.

Using things like money on someone who had no limit to it was foolish.

Using women as a bargain? Didn’t he already have enough of them? With this face, getting a woman was as easy as taking a walk.

Power? Wasn’t he growing more powerful every single day? If the inheritance creator was this powerful... why the hell was he dead?

Cale knew why.

Because he was darn weak. Weak enough to not even leave any descendants.

There were many demonic arts to reincarnate as your descendant in some years in the future. If Cale had access to that, he would definitely use it rather than getting sentimental about legacy.

The more you tried taking freedom from a man wanting to be free, the more he would rise up and snatch your entire existence.

As he next blinked, his body was transferred outside the illusion, back in the same black sand desert.

’Now that I think about it, this sand must be from underwater.’

This place must be a dried-up sea bed.

Sesrir followed from behind a few minutes later. Looking at his sob-stricken face, Cale knew the man must have had it rough too. Sighing, he continued walking and decided not to pester the man too much.

At the end of the day, he was still an Emperor. Who knew what he might do if he got emotionally agitated?

As Cale was about to walk ahead, a system screen popped up.

[Congratulations On Clearing The Trial Of Emotions!

Rewards: Six Serene Emotions Path.

Dao Of Sixteen Desires.

New Passive Ability: Berserk.

New Passive Ability: Ecstasy.

New Passive Ability: Warmonger.]

Cale sighed.

Who knew he would get such things from a random trial? Maybe he did comprehend some new concepts...

’But were they enough to even grant me a Dao and a Path?! Who knows... it’s not like I’m forced to practice every existing path anyway.’