THE BLACK CULTIVATOR

ONE VERSUS SEVEN

[Daily Quest Activated.]

[Daily Quest: Defeat The Seven Shadow Guardians.]

[Rewards: +15 Healing Pills, +2,100 Points, +1 Intermediate Sword Technique Manual, +1 Random Cultivation Pill.]

"Seven!?" Chris's eyes widened in disbelief. "Una dey try oh. One against seven? This trial dey cheat wella." (You guys are not playing fair. One against seven? This trial is cheating)

Seven humanoid figures materialized silently from the swirling mist. Each one resembled a formidable warrior clad in dark, imposing armor, but their faces were blank, featureless voids that radiated an eerie chill. They wielded an array of deadly weapons: a long spear, twin blades, a massive axe, a bow, a staff, chained sickles, and a towering greatsword.

The spearman advanced first, thrusting forward with lightning speed. Chris sidestepped at the last moment, but the spear still grazed his side, drawing first blood.

"God abeg help me for this second trial. These guardians look like my mother when she wan use belt flog person." (God please help me in this second trial. These guardians look like my mother when she wants to flog someone with a belt.)

The Naija youth quickly regained his balance and unleashed a powerful Qi shockwave. However, the warrior with twin blades sliced cleanly through it and appeared at his flank in an instant. A sharp, searing pain exploded across his ribs.

[25x Recovery Engaged.]

[Multiple Cracked Bones Detected.]

Chris growled fiercely and grabbed the twin-blades warrior's arm, slamming him into the ground with enough force to c***k the ancient tiles. He raised one leg high, ready to crush the guardian's face.

[Rhythmic Combat Intuition Engaged.]

Just then, an arrow whistled dangerously past his ear, followed by the chained sickles wrapping tightly around his left leg.

"Argh!" He roared, spinning mid-air and ripping the chains off with raw, explosive power. He quickly wrapped the chains around his right hand and yanked the sickle warrior toward him. A brutal headbutt shattered the guardian's helmet with a loud, resounding thud. The figure fell heavily, cracks spreading across the floor from the impact.

Chris turned just in time as the greatsword user brought his massive blade down like a falling mountain. He drew his katana and met the strike head-on. The tremendous impact drove him down to one knee, cracking the floor beneath him.

"Body na iron!" (My body is iron!) he roared defiantly. His late-stage Foundation Building energy surged wildly as he pushed back up and drove his palm forcefully into the greatsword warrior's chest, sending him flying backward into two other guardians.

The battle rapidly turned into a brutal war of attrition. The axe user dashed at him with incredible speed, swinging his weapon in devastating arcs. Chris met him in the center of the hall, katana drawn. Both weapons clashed violently, sending bright sparks flying in every direction. The ground shattered as a cloud of dust exploded outward.

While he fought the axe user, the bow user released five arrows aimed directly at his vital points. Chris dodged four with agile movements, but the fifth buried itself deep into his chest.

"f**k!" he grunted in pain.

The axe user brought its weapon down mercilessly.

"Damn it all!"

"Blade Art: One Blade, Ten Thousand Cries!"

The air went deathly silent for a split second. Then the axe user's body was sliced into thousands of pieces—no blood, just dissipating void energy.

The Naija youth charged relentlessly at the chained sickles warrior. The ground cracked beneath his pounding feet. The guardian's weapon glowed with ominous void energy, and hundreds of dark portals suddenly opened around Chris. A deadly storm of chain sickles infused with Void Qi shot toward him from every angle.

"Naija Heritage: Shield Of Shege!" he roared.

A glowing palm-shaped dome wrapped protectively around him. A massive explosion rocked the entire hall.

**Boom!**

Thick dust covered everything in sight.

"Naija Heritage: Pressure Of Tinubu!"

Chris appeared behind the chained sickles warrior in a flash. A giant brown sword materialized in the air above, and its sheer spiritual pressure pinned the guardian to the ground before slamming down with devastating force. A deep crater formed where the guardian once stood.

Chris moved like a whirlwind—slamming, kicking, grabbing, and smashing with unyielding fury. He took hits that could kill multiple Foundation Building experts, but his enhanced recovery kept him standing and fighting.

Thirty grueling minutes later, he stood panting among scattered pieces of broken armor. Sweat poured down his face, mixing with blood and dust in the stifling heat of the hall. Only four guardians remained: the spearman, the archer, the staff user, and the twin-blades warrior.

[Host Body Status: Several Cracked Ribs, Left Hand Broken in Multiple Places, Serious Internal Bleeding.]

[Warning: Blood Loss at 50%.]

[25x Recovery In Motion.]

[Adrenaline & Willpower Surge 80%.]

Chris smiled grimly, blood dripping from a cut above his eye.

"You guys are seriously determined to kill me, abi?" he yelled, his voice shaking the hall and causing more dust to fall from the ancient pillars. "Alright, come at me with everything you have left!"

His Foundation Building aura exploded outward like a raging storm.

"Qi Shockwave!"

The powerful energy blast pushed all four guardians back. Chris charged forward immediately. The staff user tried to block, but Chris grabbed the staff mid-swing and used it to impale the archer behind him.

**BOOOOM!**

The archer detonated itself in a violent explosion before it could fully die from the impalement.

Chris was slammed hard into the wall, coughing out a mouthful of blood.

[25x Recovery Maxed Out.]

[Warning: Multiple Bones Broken In Host's Body, Flesh Tearing Apart From Within.]

[Adrenaline & Willpower Surge: 100%.]

Chris dropped to one knee, inhaling deeply through the pain.

"I didn't know they could do self-destruct," he muttered under his breath. "Still, to become a god isn't easy. I will go beyond my limits."

He rose to his feet with sheer determination, eyes blurry but resolute, knuckles whitened from the strain.

The spearman appeared at his back, but Chris spun and shattered the guardian's knee with a Qi-infused kick. The twin-blades warrior attacked from the side, creating several clone shadows. Chris observed them calmly. "One of you is radiating too much bloodlust." The real one struck from behind. He ducked low, severed both of the guardian's legs with his katana in one clean, flashing motion, then delivered a powerful uppercut that smashed the warrior into the ceiling.

The staff user's eyes widened in visible fear. It turned and dashed toward the door like lightning. As it fled, it summoned massive walls of earth in its path. Chris shattered them all with raw power and sprinted after the guardian, driving both elbows into its head and crushing it mercilessly into the floor.

**Boom!**

The floor shattered, sending debris flying across the hall.

Time seemed to slow down. The spearman raised its spear into the air, the weapon glowing intensely with void energy as its shattered knee rapidly rejoined.

"Spear of the Void!" the spearman whispered.

Thousands of car-sized spears emerged from dark portals all around.

"Since you're so determined to kill me, I no go go down easily!" Chris roared as portals surrounded him from every side. (Since you're so determined to kill me, I won't go down easily!)

"Naija Heritage: Shield Of Shege!"

The glowing palm-shaped dome wrapped around him at the center of the hall.

The spearman dropped his hand, and all the spears shot toward him at once in a deadly barrage.

"s**t! E dey c***k fast!" (s**t! It's cracking fast!)

"Blade Art: One Blade, Ten Thousand Cries!"

The Naija youth unleashed a thousand screaming blades that collided violently with the incoming spears. Huge craters opened up everywhere.

"Naija Heritage: Pressure Of Tinubu!"

The overwhelming spiritual force pinned the spearman to the ground. Chris pushed forward relentlessly, multiple spears erupting from the earth around him. He groaned through gritted teeth and dashed ahead.

[Warning: Multiple torn flesh around the Host's knees, and shattered foot bones.]

[25x Recovery Boosted.]

More spears kept shooting at him from every direction, but Chris kept moving without faltering.

Then he appeared directly in front of the spearman.

"Blade Art: One Blade, Ten Thousand Cries — One s***h!"

The air suddenly dropped to freezing temperatures. The spearman's body turned to dust and scattered.

[Void Trial 2: Cleared.]

[Time Remaining: 20 Minutes 50 Seconds.]

[Daily Quest Completion Rate: 100%.]

[Rewards Distributed: +15 Healing Pills, +2,100 Points, +1 Intermediate Sword Technique Manual, +1 Random Cultivation Pill.]

"Ha, God! I don weak!" Chris exhaled heavily, collapsing onto his back. (Ha, God! I'm so exhausted!)

Golden light washed over him once more. His broken arm slowly realigned with audible cracking sounds as his meridians pulsed with revitalizing pure Qi.

[Foundation Building Late Stage: 50%.]

[Notice: Meridians Expanded and Strengthened, Dantian Strengthened. 20% Blood Recovered.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Basic Qi Sense (Can now faintly detect nearby energy signatures).]

"Damn, not bad," Chris smiled, pushing himself into a sitting position. "If I manage to clear the next three stages, I might even reach Golden Core."

The door groaned open. A new glowing bridge had formed outside the pagoda, leading to an even larger floating island in the distance—one that looked like an entire mountain range suspended majestically in the void.

As Chris stepped onto the bridge, a deep, resonant voice echoed through the realm:

"Challenger, you have proven to possess both talent and will. But beware. From the Third Trial onward, the Guardians will begin using techniques of their own."

Chris chuckled softly. "Anything wey I come across, I go defeat am. God and my mama dey my side. Besides..." (Anything I come across, I will defeat it. God and my mama are on my side. Besides...) He smirked confidently. "I'm going to become a god over this world someday."

[Notice: 2 Months and 2 Weeks Left Before the Lion Clan Makes Their Way Into the Void Realm.]

"No wam. That old man and his people go collect serious beating next time we meet." Chris clenched his fists. (No problem. That old man and his people will collect serious beating next time we meet.)

---

**Outside the Void Realm...**

Senior Yang stood at the edge of the barrier alongside Elder Sung, Mia, and Hu.

"Everyone is fully assembled," Hu reported. "Over eighty disciples, three Core Formation experts, and one Golden Core cultivator."

Yang's eyes glowed with bright golden light.

"Good. When the barrier weakens in two days, we will enter and seize that boy—dead or alive. Whatever treasure he has found inside, and whatever treasures lie within the Void Realm, all of it belongs to the Lion Clan."

Mia smiled cruelly. "If he's still alive, I want to be the one to end him."

Elder Sung stood silently with his hands behind his back. A sharp, cold smile flashed across his face for a split second.

Meanwhile, Chris advanced into the mountain-like city, his white hair flowing in the wind, his aura surging powerfully, fists clenched with unbreakable resolve.