Seth focused on the healing qi flowing through his body as waves of pain tried to break his focus. He saw the minute dance of qi through his body. Fundamentally, it was doing the same thing as the regular healing, but it was guided by... something. As the pain continued, he fell further and further into himself, trying to escape the endless pain.

  For a while, he saw nothing, but eventually the void was replaced with a warm green glow. In the middle of the green glow was a copy of him, naked as the day he was born. He saw his body as it was, wounds and all, but also what it should be, overlaid in a twisted sort of double-vision. He also saw the healing qi knitting more closely now. When he went to inspect, he found his vision zoomed in, like a microscope.

  Inside this body were his seven tumors. As soon as he focused on them, he felt seven presences around him, each a different color. There was a navy blue one that radiated feelings of hunger, desire, and warmth. Next to it was an orange one that radiated peace and contentment. Strange things for it—

  A wave of pain rocketed through Seth as he saw the tumors expand within his body. In this vision, he could see exactly what they were doing and felt nauseous. When he inspected further, he could see muscle, fat, and skin bruising and being displaced. On his side, it looked like the tumor itself would rip out of his skin.

  As the healing faded, he grasped a bound spirit and started pulling power. He guided the healing to continue along his shorn-off leg. The progress was still agonizingly slow, and interrupted by wave after wave of pain, but he made progress. Instead of being lost, he knew which direction he needed to go. It felt like coloring inside the lines. A high-stakes game of coloring inside the lines, where coloring outside risked deformity.

  [hungry...]

  The voice rumbled through his mental world, and he stopped, looking for a source. He had no idea where it came from, unless

  [hungry...]

  The voice came from the emerald light. He was almost shocked enough to catapult him out of this mental space. Almost.

  Instead, he kept up the long process of healing. As he went, he was able to speed up and spend less energy on areas that helped the cancer grow. Still, it was dangerous—

  [Pain...?]

  Another voice echoed out, and he felt one of his tumors stop growing. The voice filled him with a feeling close to sadness. Seth wasn't sure whether his tumors were talking, or he was starting to hear voices. He didn't know which one was worse.

  As he started healing his other leg, he needed to grab another bound spirit. The work on his other leg was much more efficient, and didn't leak nearly as much energy for his... passengers to feed on.

  [stingy...]

  Fuck off! You're killing me, you know?

  He heard a couple of angry rumbles in his mind, but they made no further attempts at speech. He healed his second foot in peace and took care of the rest of the wounds on his body in short order.

  Now that he looked at his body image more closely, some things didn't quite match, so he started healing those. It was slow going, but eventually, he got them lined up. He liked this version of himself. It looked ten years younger and felt even stronger.

  He would have been happier if the tumors weren't part of the image, but it seems like his spirit image had accepted them. It frustrated him to no end, and yet he found himself laughing. They were in a hostile environment, and instead of dying off, they took the resources his body provided and used them against him, out-competing him. It felt a bit like what he was doing to the sect he came from.

  And if the sect realized, they would cull him with no hesitation. Then again, if he had caught the cancer early enough, he'd do the same. It was a lot to think about.

  Seth opened his eyes, stood up, and took a tentative step. Then another, and another. He jumped and felt like he could jump higher than he had before.

  After testing his body with some stretches and a light jog, he headed toward the stairs. Halfway there, however, he looked at the tables around the room. There were lots of valuable reference materials, and the healing potions were valuable. He went to the table with the healing potions, picked one up, and put it into his storage ring. It went in without issue. So did the second one, as well as the third. Even as he put the last item into his storage ring, he ran into no resistance.

  After all you put me through, some potions and books are the least you could do...

  He started climbing while grumbling to himself. The climb took hours before he emerged at the top. Emerging from the top, he entered a hallway that looked remarkably like the one he had started in. He had hoped it would be over, but should have known better.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  He mounted his flying sword again and started flying down the tunnel. The traps were much the same, and he was more easily able to dodge them.

  The first real problem came with a vertical wind blade. He jerked to the side to avoid having it take off his feet, but couldn't get his hand clear, losing it. Cursing, he stopped his sword and went to start healing.

  BOOM!

  A loud crash echoed in the distance, and he saw the hallways doing the trash compactor impersonation they had been doing earlier.

  BOOM!

  He hopped back on his sword and started flying. He didn't try to completely heal his hand; he just stopped the bleeding and continued flying. Cursing, he sped up his sword and tried to speed through various traps. He was starting to take wounds, but didn't want to have to heal anything fat—

  A stray arrow pierced through his neck, and he felt hot, sticky blood spurt from the wound.

  Shit!

  Stopping, he heard the hall start up again, but ignored it to dive deep. Luckily, he found that space in his soul again, and was able to heal the wound on his neck quickly.

  BOOM!

  He set the sword rocketing down the hallway. That last blast was a bit too close for comfort. The first three spikes were easy enough to dodge. He wasn't fast enough to dodge the fourth, which slammed into his leg, trying to yank him off the sword. Flames licked at his body as he barely dodged fire traps. Acid seared his back. Where was the acid trap? It was all he could do to stay conscious through the pain.

  Hope flooded through Seth when he saw the golden light at the end of the tunnel. He sped up, which cost him the tips of his fingers when he couldn't dodge a blade in time. The pain barely made him scream at this point. Now that he was closer, he could see a shimmering in front of the golden glow. That can't be good. The sinking feeling spurred him to focus on healing.

  Seth stopped before he slammed into the shimmering field. He tried to push his hand through. It was solid as stone. Crashes reverberated through the hall, approaching far too quickly. Without any hesitation, he pulled out three of the regular healing potions and downed them all at once. Then, he dove into his mind-space to direct the healing.

  His cancer was feasting once more, though it didn't feel as aggressive as before.

  [Yummy...]

  [Stingy...]

  And the voices were back. He ignored them as he focused on healing every issue he could find. The pressure explosions slammed into him, rattling his insides. As the last bit of healing finished, the barrier disappeared, and he fell across the threshold.

  This gold room looked much like the previous one, except there were no tables full of reference manuals and potions. There was a simple pedestal with a single book on it. On a wall was a simple "Well done conquering the fifth peak. The next peak trial will become available five flames before the end of the trial."

  He looked down at the book and opened it. The first page was blank. So was the second. And the rest of them, as he flipped through page after page. Next to the book was a quill. He put the two items in his ring and left the trial and left the trial.

  Seth dragged himself to his room. His head was swimming, and keeping his eyes open took effort. The last thing he remembered was falling toward his bed. He was asleep before he hit the mattress.

  POV - Therus

  Therus was resting in his bed when writing appeared on the wall.

  The fifth peak has been conquered. Four positions remain for the sixth peak contest.

  Damn, Seth works fast. At least, he assumed it had been Seth. If it wasn't him...

  Uneasily, he walked out to the main hall. The other initiates were also outside, staring at the updated standings.

  Seth - Fifth peak - first successor candidate

  Therus - Fourth peak (70)

  Aaron - Fourth peak (65)

  Xiaobo - Third peak (47)

  ...

  An ugly feeling flowed through him as he saw the standings. He wanted to feel happy for Seth, but he couldn't bring himself to. By all accounts, Seth should be a dead man walking. He was behind the others in cultivation and wouldn't survive the next testing without a miracle.

  Despite all that, he couldn't bring himself to believe Seth was going to be culled. Instead of making him happy, it filled him with dread. He had every advantage over Seth. Despite that, he felt as if he were falling behind. If we were to fight, could I win...no, he's not that far ahead yet.

  To make matters worse, Seth hadn't even done any wrong by him. Well, other than treat him as a child when they first met. Not that he blamed the man much. After all, it seemed he looked as if he were the same age as Seth's son. He had a hard time imagining the man with children. He seemed too cold and calculating to be a parental figure to anyone.

  Therus went into the trial once more. He wasn't about to be left behind. Nor was he about to just hand Seth the inheritance. The family expected things from him. And the power in this trial would go a long way toward fulfilling those expectations. He loved Seth like a brother, but he was not about to throw his own future away.

  POV - Johan

  Johan set the scroll down and stood up. He had been working hard over the last month to make this happen. The ruins had been well hidden. It had taken research, resources, and a healthy dose of luck.

  As he performed the technique, he kept an eye on the qi flowing through him. Everything was perfect. Qi blades darted forth from his hands as he unleashed the technique. He moved his hands, and the swarm of blades tracked the movement. Not ideal, but there's time to make this better. With one last flourish, he directed the blades to attack a boulder slightly larger than he was. The blades slammed into the rock, breaking it into multiple pieces.

  He smiled and checked his qi. There was plenty left for another casting. The smile widened as he imagined trying to rush into melee. Only to be thwarted.

  True, he had sent Seth to die. And he even had the good fortune of Therus volunteering to join him on the quest. It was better to kill the threat directly when possible, but sometimes compromises needed to be made.

  Still, to pretend that their return was impossible would be a foolish risk. Foolish risks earned some of his siblings early retirements from living. No, he would keep growing until nobody could threaten him.

  Not those upstart nobles. Not freaks of nature. Not even the family members who sent him out here to die.

  He would grow beyond them all.