The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

However, Su Qi was a seasoned veteran who had seen many battles, so this scene was not intimidating to him. Instead, he took the initiative to reach out and greet them with a bright smile, saying, "Hello, are you the evil souls in the Shikon Jewel? My name is Kenshin Shishio, and I'm here to eliminate you in the name of justice."

"Ha, how ridiculous."

The demons surrounded Su Qi, and strange voices echoed from the darkness once more, "We have never seen such a foolish human as you, who would willingly come into the Shikon Jewel. Do you understand what you are about to face? From now on, your soul will be imprisoned here forever, and you will fight us in an endless battle that will last until the end of time."

"Oh, that's exactly what I've been waiting for. So, are you done babbling? Are you going to attack or not? Is it one-on-one, or me taking on the whole bunch of you?"

"Foolish! Since you're so eager to die, then let you taste what it's like to have your soul torn apart."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding monsters all glared fiercely and surrounded him.

"Soon, let's have a good fight today!"

Su Qi, full of fighting spirit, reached out to draw his sword, only to find, embarrassingly, that his sword seemed to be missing.

"Wait! Qiao Douma! My knife, the huge knife I always hang on my waist, has suddenly disappeared! I can't fight without a knife, so pause, pause for now!"

"You hopelessly stupid human, did you come here specifically to be laughed at?" The monsters actually stopped and sneered, "Ignorant fools. This is a world of souls and spirits. As long as your will is strong enough and you understand certain things enough, you can materialize them with your thoughts."

"Is that right?"

As Su Qi spoke, he used the visualization training method he had created in the pure white space. Soon, the familiar demon sword "Spring Rain" appeared in his palm. "It really works. Thank you for reminding me. But is this a good thing? Helping your enemy."

"Heh, it doesn't matter, because... whatever you do is meaningless."

"How will I know if I don't try? Well then... I'm going to give it a shot."

"Tear him to pieces."

The two sides finally started fighting. Su Qi's eyes narrowed, and he subconsciously stepped forward, but missed.

By the way, there's no ground here, so we can't use it for leverage...

He reacted instantly, his mind's eye opening wide to survey all directions, remaining calm and adaptable as he awaited the monsters' attack. Then, he would use their power to move and attack; for him, with his mastery of force at its finest, that was not a difficult task.

The next moment, the battle between one against many officially began, and the monsters' enormous size instantly engulfed Su Qi's figure.

……

About half an hour later, in the pure white space, a trembling scream shook the surrounding area.

"Damn, it hurts so much!!!!!!!!!"

Upon his sudden return, Su Qi screamed and rolled on the ground, clutching his head. The pain was so intense that tears welled up in his eyes, wetting the ground.

He finally experienced what it meant to feel like his soul was being torn apart. The tough man wept.

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Facing Fear

"Ha ha ha ha……"

More than ten minutes later, Su Qi finally recovered and lay on the ground like a dead fish just pulled from soup, panting heavily.

It hurts! It hurts so much! It hurts so much that I can't even hold back my tears!

He thought his will was strong enough, he thought his heart was clear and calm, but the truth told him that he was still a kid.

When he finally managed to endure nearly half an hour inside the Shikon Jewel, and was bitten by those monsters, the killing intent and malice accumulated over hundreds of years pierced his soul like the fangs of a venomous snake.

The feeling is like having millions of tiny steel needles driven into your body, deeply embedded in every inch of muscle, every bone, every nerve, and every cell, then strung together with a thread and pulled hard, causing flesh to rip open and excruciating pain that can almost cause a complete breakdown of consciousness, turning you into an idiot.

Moreover, this pain is not a fleeting moment, but continues continuously for a period of time, as if someone is deliberately taking pleasure in tugging at the thread with a sadistic mindset.

The reason Su Qi didn't collapse on the spot and become an idiot was thanks to his foundation in the Immovable Contemplation Method, which gave him a level of endurance far exceeding that of ordinary people.

However, compared to visualization techniques, which only visualize physical pain, being torn apart by the demons in the Shikon Jewel is pain of the soul. Physical pain has its limits, because when the pain exceeds those limits, the body becomes numb and unable to fully react to it. But the pain of the soul has nowhere to hide, no limits, and each time it is a real injury deeply imprinted into the depths of consciousness.

Experiencing such pain for the first time, Su Qi was so disoriented that he almost died on the spot before he could even use the technique. Fortunately, dying on the spot would have allowed him to use it within the Shikon Jewel; otherwise, he might have been destroyed by those demons. This was a risk he hadn't anticipated.

It hurts so damn much! No one can stand it, no living thing can stand it! Give up… just give up on this method of cultivation…

After the soul-wrenching plot disappeared, this was the first thought that popped into Su Qi's mind.

He was terrified, truly terrified. For the first time since adulthood, he was so afraid of something—this excruciating pain that could drive one to the brink of collapse. At this moment, he even recalled the fear he felt as a child at the orphanage, the terror of being dominated by the nurse's gleaming needle, and the humiliation of having his pants forcibly pulled down.

But reason told him that this couldn't go on; it was just escapism. To gain something, you inevitably have to pay a price, and the future was long—you could run away for a while, but not forever. A real man should be fearless and courageous in the face of hardship. Since he wouldn't die anyway, he might as well go all out!

However, reason and emotion are often difficult to reconcile.

"Hmph, think about it, think carefully, what other ways are there to quickly increase strength..."

Su Qi stood up, his steps unsteady, and somewhat dazed, walked to the black stone base and sat down, then began to stare blankly.

Yes, although he said he wanted to give up and find other ways to increase his power, he didn't really put his mind to it seriously, or was unable to. Because another emotion, though subtle, was lurking in his heart, constantly interfering with him, holding him back, and preventing him from taking that step.

The true nature of that emotion is resentment.

Humans yearn to become strong.

Humans yearn to be heroes.

Humans crave glory.

No matter how a person lives in the world, even if they are not recognized by others, they must recognize themselves, otherwise they cannot truly live.

Would Su Qi, deep down, agree with such escapism? If the perspective were reversed, would the viewer, as the audience, agree with such a protagonist? The answer is undoubtedly yes; having lived by the principle of "living from the heart" until now, he cannot convince himself otherwise.

Su Qi's preference for a peaceful life is not because it is easier, but because he identifies more with that lifestyle itself than with anything else.

So, should we change this principle, and in order to be more relaxed and avoid suffering, give up the lifestyle we truly identify with and become a different person?

"The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage."

"Courage is knowing what fear is, facing it, and taking it as your own."

"Only those who have overcome their own fears are qualified to be called the ones who stand at the top."

"To live is to overcome fear."

……

Leaning against the cold, solid black stone base, Su Qi closed his eyes and murmured to himself. He was trying to convince himself, not to convince himself to bow his head, but to convince himself to face his fear and not back down.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally opened his eyes and found peace. He temporarily convinced himself and decided to take a step forward, to try to become a hero, and to charge at the dragon called fear.

"Then bring it on! Let the second round of torture be even more intense! I, Su Qi, am not so easily broken!"

Su Qi took a deep breath, stood up, opened the control panel, and pressed the save/load button with a determined look.

However, in the second playthrough, just a few minutes after entering the Shikon Jewel, someone's screams once again echoed throughout the pure white space.

"Aaaaaaah! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! It's going to break! Stop it! Stop it, aaaaaah!"

Once again, our protagonist, who was just moments ago displaying an air of fearlessness, was writhing on the ground in pain, clutching his head and weeping. Without a doubt, if there were a ranking of the most pathetic protagonists in history, he would certainly be near the top based on his current performance.

And once again, reality proves that there is a gap between ideals and reality. Even if you've made all the preparations and mental preparations, the cold-blooded realist will still slap you hard in the face and tell you with a disdainful look that your preparations were far from enough.

He only lasted a few minutes. In this battle, Su Qi's performance was even worse than before. The reason was that he was too concerned about the monsters' attacks, which made him hesitant and unable to exert his full strength, ultimately leading to his rapid defeat.

He tried his best, and he quickly realized his mental flaws and tried his best to adjust them. But the hardest thing for a person to overcome is their own mind, and the results were less than satisfactory. So he failed again, and failed miserably.

But this time, despite the excruciating pain that made him roll on the ground and scream, and the thought of giving up resurfaced in his mind, he quickly suppressed it.

"Endure, overcome, and fight by any means necessary! I have countless chances to try, and I will be the final victor!"

With this conviction steadfast, Su Qi repeatedly rewound, plunging into a seemingly endless cycle of pain.

Chapter 100 Suddenly at Max Level

This is a dark, filthy swamp in the woods. Fallen leaves and the bones of wild animals float on the murky water, and occasionally mud bubbles burst. The air is filled with a nauseating stench of decay.

Suddenly, the swamp boiled as if water were boiling, and an old man rose from it.

He was short, dressed in brown and carrying a cane. He had a large, bald head with two bulging fleshy lumps around his eyes and exaggeratedly large ears that reached down to his knees. He was clearly not human.

"Naraku, you're here again? Hehe, I could hear your voice from four miles away."

The old man tilted his head, pointing his ear towards a certain spot on the shore. The next moment, a cloud of miasma landed there, then dissipated, revealing Naraku draped in a white baboon skin.

"I need to borrow your ears, you all-hearing ears."

"Heh heh, my ears can hear everything in the world. You finally couldn't resist and want to absorb my ears into your body too?"

"Don't worry, I have no interest in your filthy, toxin-filled body. The only reason I've come back to you is to ask you a few questions."

"Oh, do you still want to know the location of the Shikon Jewel? But now, you already have most of the Shikon Jewel, right?"

“That’s only one of the problems. I also need to know the location of the Mirage Pearl, the location of the Pluton, and the origin of a human named Kenshin Shishio.”

"Oh, the Mirage Pearl, a precious pearl formed from the most powerful illusionary demon, the 'Mirage.' It is said that wearing it can ward off any illusion or mental attack. And the Demon King Beast is the demon with the hardest shell in the world. Do you want to absorb its shell? It seems that you, Naraku, are also afraid of being killed."

Naraku said coldly, "Old man, you talk too much."

"Hehehe, don't rush, let me hear it..."

After speaking, the demon named Shunfeng'er muttered about the Mirage Pearl and the Hades Beast, while pretending to listen intently. Soon, he revealed a smile, "I heard it. A Mirage Pearl is hidden in the treasury of a certain daimyo. And the last Hades Beast in the world died decades ago. All that can be found now is its corpse. But for you who possess the Shikon Jewel, even just a corpse shouldn't matter, right?"

"And what about that human named Kenshin Shishio?"

"A human named Kenshin Shishio, hmm, what does he look like?"

"A man in his twenties, tall and skilled in swordsmanship, dressed in blue robes and black hakama, looking like a ronin."

"Oh... Shishi Kenshin... Shishi Kenshin... Let me hear it... Let me hear it..."

The all-hearing creature listened intently once more, and after a while, it suddenly exclaimed in surprise, revealing a strange expression, "This human is strange, really strange."

What's strange about it?

"The voice tells me that a human named Kenshin Shishio suddenly appeared in a village near Turtle City a few months ago. Before that, there was no such voice in the world. Isn't that strange?"

"Appeared suddenly?" Naraku's eyes flashed as he pondered for a moment, then said, "Tell me, tell me everything you know about Kenshin Shishio."

……

Meanwhile, while Naraku was single-mindedly preparing to cause trouble, Su Qi was still focused on leveling up.

Even in the world of the Shikon Jewel, time outside still flows in sync, so he made a pact with Kikyo that if he didn't make a move for seven days, she would kill him.

The reason for setting the timeframe at seven days was to consider both the duration of the training and his physical condition. Within seven days, with his physique far exceeding that of ordinary people, he could go without food or water without dying, at most only becoming weak; but after seven days, he, still within the realm of humanity, would need to eat, drink, and relieve himself.

Although he believed he could easily have Kikyo take care of him like a vegetable, his basic pride prevented him from having her serve him every need unless absolutely necessary. Of course, if it became truly necessary, he was willing to swallow his pride and prolong the process.

And it is precisely because of this that Su Qi's time basically revolves within these seven days.