Hundreds of kilometers away from the Battle Maiden Sect, in the Core Region of the Dark Moon Forest there were around 500 people participating in a trial.
These are the people that Mira had sent there to get stronger along with a few members of the Zaria Family. Right now, they were just finishing up the 10th Stage.
"Congratulations on passing Stage 10 of the Trial. You will soon be sent to a place to rest for 7 days before continuing to Stage 11 of the Trial."
All of the people participating in the Trial heard this voice at similar times.
"AHHH! FUUUUCK!" Most of the women screamed in pain as their bodies were rapidly put back together.
They've all been through a lot in these past 10 months. When they eventually got to the 1st Stage after completing the tutorial, they had been thoroughly pissed off. Bricks, bricks, and more bricks along with shitty traps and weak beasts. It was just a huge waste of time and they were hoping that the trial wouldn't be like this later on. They all just wanted to complete this stage as soon as possible so they could get out. Even Cole, who was the strongest and most experienced couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed. He really just wanted to destroy the walls and bust his way through, but he found this impossible as the bricks were too tough. He could only helplessly trudge through this lazily designed 1st stage.
But things immediately changed when they reached the 2nd stage. For some reason, it went from being a labyrinth to dropping them in hell. Of course, the stages were all based on their cultivation so Mira's small army and Cole weren't up against the same strength. But the girls were nothing special. The only experience they have in fighting is the daily spars between themselves along with killing beasts for food. But luckily for them, the 2nd Stage wasn't actually that difficult for them. It was only filled with Low-Stage Rank 2 Beasts for them, which they could all deal with rather easily. But the issue is that the sheer number of beasts was rather terrifying. But after killing a beast and having it temper their flesh, blood, and skin the girls got exponentially stronger than before. Since their bodies have never been tempered like this, the amount the flaming energy tempered was much more than it was for Mira and Maria.
But this wasn't the case for Cole. He is in the Mid-Xiantian Foundation Realm and so he was facing Mid-Stage Rank 5 beasts to start out with. And a lot of them too. Even though he's in the Foundation Realm, that doesn't mean he's necessarily strong, and actually, he's only around average maybe a little above average in terms of strength. If Mira were to advance a stage or two, she'd have no problem fighting Cole with how she is now. Anyways, fighting this many Rank 5 beasts is incredibly difficult and not to mention that if you can't kill them quickly, then you just attract more with your battle. Even after killing one, he didn't feel that the rewards were all that great. This is true, the creators designed it so that to get the maximum benefit out of the stage, you'd have to kill everything there. And with Cole being in a higher realm, it was naturally harder for his body to be tempered, and only truly skilled and strong warriors would be able to capitalize everything. He was only able to kill around 25% of the beasts in the 2nd Stage, which was much less compared to the average 80-90% with the girls Mira brought. This is only because they are much stronger than some shitty Low-Stage Rank 2 beasts.
The next stage, the Water World, is where most of the participants found difficulty. Killing the aquatic beasts was truly difficult, but the girls seemed to be much more innovative than Cole and the Zaria Family. This is mainly due to them having to come up with many different ways to tackle difficult situations. Where Cole and the others have not had to fight for their lives every day as they have. Also, Cole and the others were against much stronger beasts that could easily take a chomp out of them if they are careless. Needless to say that the kill percentage was around half this time around. Except for Cole, due to his strength and higher cultivation he can kill these aquatic beasts easier, so he was able to kill around 30-40%. But even so, they could feel major changes as their organs were tempered. Obviously, it was extremely painful for the women though, as their organs have never been tempered before. Actually, the only thing they'll be facing from now on is pain, so many of them came up with a catchphrase whenever they're in pain.
"Mira's beatings are worse than this!!" This is generally what the girls would think as the fear of Mira has been deeply ingrained into their bones. Just the thought of her would bring shivers down their spine and force them to work harder so they don't get beaten senseless. But believe it or not, this is what motivated them to get through the stages. They were more afraid of Mira than they were of dying, so even if they had to die they'd rather do that than face Mira if they failed.
The tenacity of these women was truly surprising. They were all able to progress further and further into the stages without dying or quitting. Most of this was because of Mira, but also their comradery. They didn't want to be the only ones to fail, so they pushed on even when they almost died. Their resolve to push through actually topped Cole's.
If Mira were to hear Cole's motivation to get stronger, she'd want to castrate him for being such a bad example to Maria. Cole just wanted to get stronger so he didn't fall behind his daughter, but little did he know that his daughter was actually nearing his strength with each passing day. He loved his Maria more than anything and just wanted to create a warm environment that she could come back to after she's done adventuring.
Erika, Maria's Mother, actually had a better reason to get stronger, and believe it or not, it was because of Mira. Mira really left an impression on her due to her strong will, unwillingness to back down, and skills, this lit a fire under Erika that only grew more and more as she underwent the trial. She's been the stay-at-home Mom ever since she became an adult and had Maria. While she never had any big ambitions or wanted strength, seeing Maria in very capable hands allowed her to put aside her worries for a second and want to gain strength. Cole was much stronger than her and she didn't want to be a burden, and she also wanted to go explore the world with her husband at some point. They were still young and the world is open to lots of possibilities. She'd love nothing more than to travel, but that required sufficient strength. So she decided to take this trial extremely seriously. When she understood that these elemental stages will temper her body, she put in every ounce of effort and willpower to get as much out of it as she can.
The stages actually went by relatively smoothly for the little over 500 participants. While it did get progressively harder with each stage, they were also getting progressively stronger. The only one out of everyone that wasn't receiving as many benefits was Cole. The beasts were getting harder and harder to deal with, while his strength wasn't rising as rapidly as the others. And the further he went in the stages, the wider the gap. He truly thought this was impossible, but just kept telling himself that Maria was able to pass these stages so how could he, her Father, give up? But he spent the majority of the time running instead of fighting even with that motivation.
The girls were having it easier mainly because the gap in the Early Stages of the Qi Condensation Realm is not that big. As long as their body is strengthened enough, then they could deal with the next month of torture. As soon as they figured this out, they turned into crazy people whose only thoughts were to kill and not let down their teammates. Which would also result in them not getting beat by Mira.
But just like Mira and Maria, there were 2 stages in these first 10 that were especially bad. The 7th Stage, the Lighting World, and the 10th Stage, the 8 Elements Stage.
They had all actually died in the 7th Stage and had to go through unimaginable pain. They kept repeating their catchphrase but being struck by lighting for a month doesn't feel very good. Even though they died, they still didn't fear the trial. Since they were brought back to life, then Mira could still wish they were struck by lighting.
But the 8 Elements World was a bit different. When they kept killing beasts and the pressure kept adding onto them, every bone felt like it would break whenever they moved. At first, it wasn't so bad, but after 2 months of getting chased, hit, knocked around, and broken by the beasts along with the pressure this is definitely what it feels like to wish you were dead. Even so, this is the feeling they got whenever Mira would beat them within half an inch of their life. Except she'd bring them back from the brink of death only to beat them to that point again. At least in this stage, their sense of pain starts to get dulled over time.
This thought process changed though when they finished this stage and reached this halfway point.
"Dammit!! Mira must've been born thousands of years ago and collaborating with the creators of the Trial!! Nobody else is as perverse as her!! Dammit, Mira!!"
"I can understand why Mira recommended this place! It's just her without the body!! Are you watching Mira?! Are you satisfied!? Stop torturing us, please!! I know you love to watch us suffer, but isn't this too much?!"
"FUCK! SHIT! DAMMIT! I'm definitely going to complain to Mira for taking us to a place that does nothing but torture!!"
All sorts of profanities and similar screams were said by everyone that was currently undergoing the trial. Little did they know that this was only the beginning of their hardship. The Poison Stage, Endless Battlefield Stage, and the Ascension Stage were all much worse than this. Even if they did know it wouldn't make a difference. Mira wouldn't allow failure among her subordinates.
After reaching the halfway point and cursing at Mira, the only thing they felt afterward is extreme hunger and exhaustion. Most of the girls picked up the ring, saw what's inside, and started eating to their heart's content then fell asleep. While others immediately fell asleep and barely had enough time to eat when they woke up. But luckily they had the perfect poison dipping sauce in the next stage to go with their food!
Cole and Erika both had different thoughts though. Most of which was respect for Maria. They didn't expect her to be able to face such abominable pain. Though after realizing that she's friends with Mira, they understood it. She was probably used to pain, but this only furthers their respect for Maria.
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