Outside the Ancient Ruins, news swept across the nine heavens and ten lands like a storm.
"The master of the forbidden land has revealed himself!"
"He feasts with cultivators, granting them offerings of the ancient god!"
"This is the most terrifying phenomenon since the dawn of time!"
In an instant, every sect boiled with frenzy. Countless prodigies were pushed into the dungeon, each burning with zeal.
"This is the trial destined for me, the child of heaven!"
"I was born extraordinary—I will converse with the ancient god himself!"
"If I can be accepted as the master's disciple, I will truly be chosen by the Dao!"
…
At this moment.
Inside the small wooden hut by the lake, the black-haired youth was sleeping soundly.
Knock, knock, knock!
A sharp pounding on the door jolted him awake.
"Who's there… so early in the morning…"
He rubbed his eyes, threw on a fur coat, and opened the door.
Outside stood a group of cultivators radiating overwhelming aura, their robes luxurious, halos shining above their heads like chosen sons of heaven.
The one at the front, a young man with a cold and arrogant face, declared in a thunderous voice: "Guardian of the dungeon, we come under the decree of the nine heavens to challenge you!"
The black-haired youth froze, scratching his head. "Challenge? Challenge what? Did you knock on the wrong door?"
Before he could finish, the young man roared: "Stop pretending! You are clearly the embodiment of the dungeon's source! I seek tribulation, and only by defeating you can I become a saint!"
With that, his longsword hummed, bursting with light that lit half the sky. Sword energy like a rainbow cleaved straight toward the youth!
…
Inside the hut, a clay jar toppled with a crash.
The black-haired youth almost jumped in agony. "Hey! That was my pickled cabbage—I wasn't finished with it!"
He rushed out, eyes glaring, shouting: "What's wrong with you people? It's bad enough to quarrel at dawn, but smashing my jar?!"
—At that moment, a fat monstrous bird flapped out from behind the hut.
It was the "Hellsplit Feathered Fowl," feared in the outside world's records as a calamity beast capable of destroying kingdoms. But to him, it was nothing more than the hen he'd caught to lay eggs.
"Hey, hey, don't run! You haven't laid your egg yet!"
The youth shouted, reaching out to grab the chicken.
Smack!
He casually swung his palm—directly colliding with the young prodigy's sword energy.
Boom!
The heavens and earth shook. The sword energy shattered instantly. The proud prodigy was sent flying hundreds of feet, spitting blood, his face lopsided from the slap, before crashing into a distant stone wall.
Silence fell.
Absolute silence.
…
Every cultivator watching nearly had their eyes fall out.
"He… he just swatted casually…"
"The sword energy… shattered?! That was a holy son's blade!"
"The prodigy… was slapped away?!"
Cold seeped into their bones, and only one conclusion remained in their minds:
—This was the ultimate trial!
The holy son challenged the ancient god and was struck down with a single slap!
The dungeon master was declaring: You ants are unworthy!
"Ancient god's wrath!" Countless fell to their knees, trembling voices crying out, "Forgive us, ancient god!"
…
But the black-haired youth was hopping mad, jabbing a finger at the fallen prodigy. "Hey! You're paying for my cabbage jar!"
Dusting his hands, he turned and chased after the chicken. "Don't run, you stupid bird!"
Thus, the cultivators beheld—
The so-called dungeon master, after slapping a holy land prodigy into a wall, immediately turned serious in pursuit of a fat chicken.
And he scolded it sternly: "If you don't lay an egg today, I'll stew you tomorrow!"
…
The sight left every cultivator utterly dumbstruck.
"That… that calamity beast, in his eyes, is just… a hen for laying eggs?"
"He can swat a holy son away with one slap, yet quarrels with a mere fowl…"
"This must be the trial's teaching! The lesson that cultivation cannot be rushed, but must be sustained with patience!"
"So profound! So divine!"
Eyes bloodshot, the masses knelt harder, some even breaking through in enlightenment on the spot.
…
Far outside the dungeon, elders of the great sects who witnessed this scene were all struck dumb.
"Heavens! The holy son has been defeated!"
"The dungeon master… is no mere man! He is the voice of heaven itself!"
"No one can triumph over him—this is destiny!"
The world shook.
…
Meanwhile, behind the hut, the youth finally pinned down the fat hen in the grass, sighing.
"Settle down. Will laying an egg really kill you?"
The bird flapped twice, and an egg shimmering with divine light rolled out into the nest.
The youth's eyes lit up, a smile breaking across his face. "Well now, that's more like it! Breakfast today!"
Happily cradling the egg back into the hut, he called over his shoulder:
"Do you guys want some eggs too?"
…
Tears streamed from the cultivators' eyes.
—The ancient god himself had bestowed an egg!
What greater blessing could exist?!
Countless prostrated themselves, crying in unison:
"Blessings from the ancient god!"
And inside the hut, the youth crouched by the fire, frying the egg with care, humming a tune:
"The sun comes out, I bask in the sun, the egg comes out, I eat the egg…"