Xia Defeng, the younger man after watching Zhu Yuan leave looked back at me more neutrally before he said. "Go ahead into that other room over there... Jake Bariss, you will find the initiate robes for the trial along with a sword if you don't have one already. That you may use for the trial."
I nodded silently and made my way over as I could tell the man wasn't going to be answering any questions for me.
And the next room was a fort of locker room but the lockers were made of well-polished wood and at the end of the locker room was a wall that was covered in dozens of various-shaped swords that were all Jian-style straight swords.
There were a lot of noticeable differences between them, however. Some were longer, some were shorter, some had thinner blades, and some had thicker blades.
That was the main build, but some blades had larger crossguards and even a few that had spikes on the crossguard and on the pommel of the sword.
It was only when I began stripping out of my clothes that I froze as I just realized something that had slipped my mind. 'Shit, I completely forgot I literally had a spatial ring that I got from my sponsor.' I thought as I looked at the ring on my finger.
Then I recalled how I only just got access to my qi anyway... So I wasn't stupid. I just spaced out on something I could only just recently use!
So with my brain... Properly working now, I just threw my previous clothes into my spatial ring so I could then begin the wonderful process of trying to properly put on a somewhat plain Xianxia cultivator robe without any practice in the slightest.
After a good five minutes, I got the robe and pants on correctly without it looking too bad and then I waited for my turn to go through the so-called Sword Trial. I obviously began looking at the various swords as seriously as I could.
'I don't have any special talent or training with straight swords. So using one that will get the job done is for the best.' I thought as I mentally dismissed the more ornate and thinner swords.
"This one will work," I muttered as I picked one that had a particularly thick blade and had a bit of weight to it. Meaning that although a sword was better for stabbing, with its weight I could still do a good deal of damage with slashes.
And after sticking the blade's sheath into the loops of the belt around my robe, I practised swinging the sword around a bit in the wide open room of the locker room to get a few for the blade.
I quickly realized that the blade with it's weight was supposed to be used with striking finesse, not waved around like a saber or something like that. Which was good to learn for now.
But a couple of minutes later the door at the end of the locker room opened up a crack with another male voice, this one different from Xia Defeng spoke out. "Jake Bariss are you ready?"
I walked over and I saw another male disciple who was wearing a robe similar in style to the one's Xia Defeng was wearing. "Yes I am ready. But what am I doing in the Sword Trial?" I asked as the disciple stepped away from the door allowing me into a long hallway.
"Huh? A completely new disciple?" He spoke in some confusion before shrugging his shoulders.
"Anyway, you have been slotted for the level five dungeon run. And what you need to do is simply make your way to the end of the dungeon and acquire the treasure within."
We kept moving down that hallway and then we came to a set of double doors that the disciple pushed open and as I took in the room. I saw at the end was a large white marble gate of some sort that was in the middle of the large room with the gate having its own tunnel leading somewhere with the tunnel being lit up by blue torches.
"That's the entrance to the dungeon you have been assigned. You will find monsters and treasures within there, anything you kill or collect during your initation exam is yours to keep as a gift from the sect so you have resources to trade for whatever you want within the sect." The disciple explained briefly.
And taking a breath I said. "Alright, thank you for guiding me." I finished giving the other disciple who I think was an Inner Disciple or something a slight bow of the head before I headed into the tunnel.
'Damn this really is some sort of dungeon.' I thought, as I thought back to when I was speaking with my sponsor a few days ago when I actually reincarnated here.
I honestly didn't think I would be able to get into a dungeon so soon unless I found one in the country side later on actually.
The dungeon's tunnel was only a good five or so meters wide and the roof was only a couple meters above my head as well, but after a couple of minutes of walking down the sloped downward tunnel. I saw the tunnel end as it opened up to a larger room.
And as I came close to the larger room my lips twitched as I saw what looked like something approaching a goblin was described as. But it was more burly and hunched over with its arms coming down past it's knee.
The moment I stepped into the larger room the goblin's head snapped towards me with it hissing loudly and then it sprinted at me with large hopping like steps.
I brought up my sword pointing it at the rushing monster and then as it leaped at me with its long arms poised to slam into my shoulders and head, with my free hand that wasn't holding the sword. I used my Interal Flames Breathing technique to summon some of my Spirit Root Flames.
And then with those flames, I just flicked the ball of flames directly into the monster's lower face and neck making it panic as the flames exploded a bit making it blind.
A loud crunch rang out as the leaping monster's body slammed home into the sword with it piercing through its chest and then I pushed the sword back further into its chest as I ripped it across its chest cavity.
It still lashed out at me even as it fell towards the ground so I just pulled the sword of its chest with its surprisingly strong arms hitting my sword with dull thuds ringing out.
'It's arms are extremely strong? They aren't even getting cut by my sword?' I thought as I stomped my foot to activate my Rapid Wood Growth technique which made thin roots break through the floor of the dungeon and hold the monster down as I stabbed it through the eye with my sword.
And then abruptly the monster went stiff and I felt the air thicken with spiritual energy as the monster died. But that wasn't it. I watched with a furrowed brow as the monster seemingly melted into a dark ooze that was quickly swallowed up by the dungeon. But laying on the ground where the monster originally was... Was a tiny spirit stone.
'What a tiny spirit stone. I bet I could even buy something of this size and purity with just mortal silver.' I mused with amusement. But the pitiful size didn't deter me.
As I just leaned down and picked up the tiny pebble of solid spiritual energy the dungeon left for me after re-absorbing the dungeon monster's corpse.
But it was truly proof of what my sponsor spoke about in how this world was far more proactive in recycling the souls of all living beings into energy for the cultivators and still living life forms.
"I bet if I die here in the dungeon as well. My body would be absorbed as well." I muttered as I took in the stark large room that only had the torches mounted on the walls and then I headed down the next dungeon hallway that I was likely supposed to head down towards.
Which was empty and besides a bit creepy, it wasn't any issue besides noting how I was still walking at a decline deeper into the dungeon.
After walking for a bit, just before I hit the next room, the dungeon's rough marble floor abruptly changed to a softer moss-like covering or something that had streaks of soft bioluminescence running through the moss.
For a moment I thought about getting on my knees and collecting some of the moss into my Spatial Farm to see what it was, but I decided that clearing out the next room was far more important obviously.
That and if the monsters decided to come after me, I really, really didn't want to be caught while on my hands and knees obviously.
Peaking around the corner my lips twitched. Because sitting down on the ground and mumbling between the two of them were copies of the previous monster I had dealt with.
'Ok... Jake gotta play this smart, these monsters are a lot stronger than a normal human of course.' I thought as I pulled at my Qi in my single Meridian to channel the Rapid Wood Growth technique.
Soft cracking noises rang out as the moss covering the ground broke away as thin roots that quickly thickened and got larger broke through the ground but remained low to the ground.
Taking a breath at having set my trap I tapped the flat side of my sword against the wall to get the monster's attention as I remained in the doorway. And instantly the two monsters whirled on me and then when seeing me, sprinted at me with a loud howl!
But I wasn't stupid, I knew that however strong they were. They were still very firmly within the normal logic of a living being. So as they sprinted for me with large loping leaps on their short stubby legs.
When they tried to come through the door, I used my qi that had created the root system, and the roots I had created and reinforced violently lashed out with the thumb thick magical roots grabbing their short legs and holding them there as I two-handed slammed the point of the sword into one of the monster's foreheads with a crack of bone breaking.
I wrenched the sword out and then as the monster made loud snapping noises as it began ripping the vines holding out from the ground I stabbed the monster through the chest where I thought it's heart should be for a human.
But unlike the monster who I stabbed through the head, this one didn't die immediately so I had to stab it a couple more times before it quickly broke down into the goop with a couple more tiny spirit stones being left behind.
With the two monsters dead and I collected the two spirit stones, I bent down and also collected some of the moss on the ground that had the streaks of glowing moss through it to put some into my spatial ring and then in my farm.
[Luminous Spirit Moss- Use- : Known for its gentle qi-restorative properties, it helps low-level cultivators recover spiritual energy when infused into mild tonics or teas.- When eaten directly it slightly enhances night vision-Formation time for general use 3 months-10 years growth as the moss can absorb a great amount of spirit energy]
"Hmm that can be useful... I know how to make my own tea as well." I muttered as I scrapped some more off the ground where people woudn't have walked before.
And then I just stuck the glowing moss into my mouth and began chewing with it having a pretty strong cinnamon flavor somehow.
Then I spent a minute putting more of the glowing portions of moss into my farm as I knew that I didn't have a time limit and I was literally told I was welcome to take whatever I wanted.
But after taking a good bit, I knew I should still keep going as taking hours to scrap the walls clean of a probably cheap herb wasn't going to be a good idea.
'At least the darkness isn't as bad now.' I mused internally as the flickering blue torches now were seemingly providing a good deal more light with how the moss had begin working it's way into my system.
Going through another long hallway I coudn't even peek in the room as I could already see dead ahead near the next tunnel was five... A total of five of the same monsters crouching there playing in the dirt.
'Seriously? Straight up five of them?' I thought with some annoyance, but even still. I began casting the wood spell to fill the entranceway with thick roots to tangle them up. And once again once I lowered my Qi to the halfway point building up the root's I got. Before I got the monster's attention.
The five monsters hissed and whirled around towards me. And then I allowed them to charge towards me as I readied my sword, and as they came into the tunnel the roots tripped them up and under my control pulled their legs up so they coudn't stand up properly.
All the while I went to work stabbing the shit out of the monsters and by the time the last two could break the roots with their hands that were pulling their legs into the air. I fell on them with fire and sword as I blinded one with fire, and then killed the other with my sword.