Ricky walked forward without stopping for half of a day. The sky was clear and the sun was beating
down on him, affecting his mood. He frowned and muttered profanities as he trudged along.
Eventually, he reached a river that was very wide and deep. Above its churning water was a bridge
made up of a single plank. Only one person could pass over it at a time. Ricky spotted an old man on
the bridge.
He was very thin and frail-looking, dressed in shabby, filthy clothing.
If people looked at him, they would be filled with annoyance. For no reason at all, all people wanted to
kill him the moment they laid their eyes on him.
Currently, the old man was lying on the single plank bridge.
'Why is this old man irking me so much?' Ricky thought to himself.
At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to sneak up on the old man and beat him up.
But he shook his head and said politely, "Excuse me, sir. I would like to cross this bridge. Will you
please move out of the way? I can't get past you."
"Fuck off! Can't you see that I'm basking in the sun?" the old man snapped.
Then, he jumped to his feet and stormed towards Ricky. Peeling off his dirty, ripped shoes, he smashed
them against Ricky's face. Then, he started punching and kicking Ricky without any sign of stopping.
Ricky was already filled with anger because of the two annoying incidents he encountered moments
ago. Now that an old man was beating him up for no reason, killing intent rose in him.
"Fuck off!" Ricky roared, pushing the old man away.
But the old man didn't give up. He cursed louder and punched and kicked Ricky harder.
Feeling rage flare up in him, Ricky gritted his teeth. The thought of him killing the robbers passed
through his mind and he smiled. Retracting his fist, he punched the old man and the latter died on the
spot.
Immediately, everything returned to its original condition. Ricky woke up from his cultivation and
opened his eyes.
'Were the old lady, the people in the house, and the old man the three character tests? Ricky
wondered.
His identity card of the disciple of the Misty South Palace stirred, resonating with the water in the
Demon Eliminating Pool. He had passed the character tests, and now, the Demon Eliminating Pool was
going to baptize his identity card.
Ricky received a piece of information from his identity card once it was baptized by the water of the
Demon Eliminating Pool.
He examined it. It was the points he had collected after he had passed the tests.
He had successfully passed all the three strength tests.
As for the three character tests, he had passed the first test, but he hadn't passed the third one. Luckily,
he had managed to squeeze by during the second test, passing by earning three points.
As he continued to examine the information, he learned that the three character tests were meant to
test how one treated the weak.
It reflected the responsibility of the strong towards the weak.
'But what is the responsibility of the strong to the weak?' Ricky frowned.
His mind traveled back to the second and third tests to see where he had gone wrong.
The information on his identity card told him that the best way to pass the second test was to save the
people without hesitation and to kill the robbers.
If he had not killed the robbers, they would have killed more people. That should be the reason why
Ricky should kill them.
But the truth was that, he had killed them because he was angry.
And three of the fifteen people in the house had died because of his hesitation.
That was why he had passed the test with only three points.
He had completely failed the third test.
The old man had been annoying and filthy. He was so thin that he was already on the brink of death. It
was clear that he was completely weak.
Ricky had wanted to cross the bridge, but the old man had refused to move and even attacked him. But
the old man was not that powerful. Ricky could have chosen to ignore him and cross the bridge.
But Ricky had killed the old man. That was why he had failed to pass the third test.
'The responsibility of the strong to the weak?' Ricky repeated those words in his head. He thought the
three tests over in every way possible, but in the end, he didn't determine anything more.
"Ricky, take a sip of the magic liquid in the Demon Eliminating Pool and it will tell you what the three
character tests are trying to tell us," said a disciple near Ricky.
"Really? Thanks, man." Ricky nodded and smiled.
He took a sip of the magic liquid in the Demon Eliminating Pool.
A few seconds later, he was hit with a realization. He knew what was the responsibility of the strong to
the weak was.
The power of strong cultivators came from the heaven and earth. All of the living creatures in the world
were citizens of the heaven and earth and were protected by the heaven and earth.
Because their power came from the heaven and earth, the strong cultivators had to protect the weak
creatures. Taking on that responsibility was the only way they could obtain the strongest power from
the heaven and earth.
The reason why the ancient masters whose names had been remembered by the world were so strong
was because they had an immense amount of responsibility in their hearts, which allowed them to
comprehend the power from the heaven and earth.
Ruling power, creating power, and original power—those three kinds of power were all derived from the
heaven and earth.
If one wanted to obtain the supreme power, they must get that responsibility first. Otherwise, they could
be as talented as they wanted and comprehend as much as they wanted, but they would never be able
to become a supreme, respectable master.
That was the power of heaven and earth when it was on the side of justice and light.
There was also darkness in the world.
It all depended on how a warrior decided to embark on their road of martial arts.
"I understand now," Ricky said through telepathy. "The world has brightness and darkness in it. When
you choose the brightness, you will have a responsibility. You become strong, but you have to tolerate
the creatures that are weaker than you. If you don't like them, you can just ignore them, but you can't
kill them.
I want to gain power from this responsibility.
And as far as the darkness goes, it must be the opposite of the brightness!"
Ricky knew that creatures were born with both brightness and darkness inside of them. The martial
world was a place where the strong preyed on the weak. As a result, creatures had to constantly
change between justice and evil if they wanted to survive.
Was there any creature with complete justice? Yes. Ricky believed that some ancient masters had
chosen the side of justice.
And there were also completely evil creatures, such as the owners of the evil mutants that Ricky had
met.
But there were only a few creatures who chose brightness over darkness completely, and vice versa.
And those two types of creatures were the only ones who could obtain the highest form of power.
"I will always choose brightness, but there is darkness in my heart. In the world of martial arts, I must
have this darkness. Otherwise, I will die," Ricky said through telepathy.
"If I can improve my strength, maybe the darkness will start to slowly disappear.
The three character tests tell us that we must take the responsibility to gain the power from the heaven
and earth. We need to choose the bright side or dark side.
One day, when I can perfectly pass the three character tests, I will be a supreme master. But right now,
it's way too hard. No creature can change their character that easily, even if they have already know
how to do it."
"But no matter how difficult it is, you have to move forward to the bright and responsible side," the
Dragon Intent Grass said. "After all, darkness will not help you.
Remember what you told us before you came to the Misty South Palace? You explained why you
chose to cultivate the martial arts."
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