The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 10: The Hardest Tutorial?

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RUMBLE!

The corridor changed, becoming a hundred times as wide. Traps spread out through it all—giant magic circles I have never seen before imbued into the stone. Runic engravements generate all kinds of high-level spells. The elements unleashed a rain of powerful and colorful attacks. But I walked through it all without even activating a barrier, my body unscathed, not even my clothes damaged.

Once I reached the end, I had at least calculated roughly a hundred magical missiles sent my way, all of them enough to destroy half of New York. This Tutorial difficulty was truly Infernal! However, for me, it was yet another walk in the park. These elemental attacks could simply not even compare to 0.1% of Venerable’s Primordial Technique.

“Well, I’ve reached the end; is that it?” I wondered.

Ding!

[Well done! You have passed the Tutorial’s First Trial!]

[Rewards will be administered once you complete all three trials.]

[You have been automatically healed of all your injuries, and your Mana has been fully restored.]

I felt a wave of golden and blue energy rush into my body. It seems this was “full recovery” or whatever. Even though it didn’t even compare to my weakest healing technique, Whatever, the Mana was well appreciated. I also decided to take all the bricks with magic circles imbued into them to examine them later. 

“This is some nice loot already; I’m satisfied.”

There were roughly thirty such magic circles for me to analyze later. I was rather curious about how this entire formula of runic engravements worked. It’ll be a nice hobby to find out how it works once I’m done with this shabby Tutorial.

[Please cross the gate to enter the Tutorial’s Second Trial.]

A message appeared above me: there was a stone gate in front. I gently pushed it, breaking it apart into pieces by "accident" as I stepped into the second room. The entire space around me shifted, rapidly changing into what appeared to be a medium-sized village. The village was full of people—mortals.

And the entire place was set ablaze. However, these mortals were not humans. They resembled anthropomorphic beings, more animal than human. Still, they wore weapons and had emotions just like humans.

“Uuuaagh! Help!”

“Run!”

“Nooo!”

They were all screaming and crying, running away from the ever-growing flames as larger creatures chased after them, invading their village. They looked even less human-like, covered with black and red scales and with sharp horns growing from their heads. While the average person in this village was not taller than two meters, these monsters were over four meters each, glaring down at the villagers with cold, crimson-red eyes.

[You have entered the Tutorial’s Second Trial: {Special Randomized Scenario}!]

[The Tutorial’s Second Trial consists of a randomly generated Scenario that once happened within the worlds of the Tower.]

[You must search for several objectives and survive to complete them within a time limit.]

[Because of the difficulty level, the Scenario has been set to its maximum difficulty and level of complexity.]

[Scenario Completion Requirements]:

[1: Defeat the Devil General]

[2: Slay a minimum of 20 Devils.]

[3: Rescue at least 30 Villagers.]

[4: ???] (Hidden)

[5: ???] (Hidden)

[Time Limit: 120 Minutes.]

“Interesting.”

I disappeared from where I was as I read the messages. I appeared and disappeared constantly, cutting through the bodies of the Devils one after another with my nails, charged with Photon Energy. Their bodies fell with a mere touch. I scanned the entire village as I did, spreading my Aura and then transforming it.

“{Primordial Spirit Aura Arts}: {Heavenly Doppelgangers}”

My Aura divided into hundreds of doppelgangers of myself, running in all directions, rescuing every person that was about to die and healing them rapidly. At the same time, I clapped my hands around myself, releasing a cold shockwave of winds that turned off all the flames.

FLASH!

A second later, I appeared above a larger-than-usual Devil, at least twice as large as the rest, surrounded by at least a dozen Devils as guards.

“So you’re Devils, huh? I’ve never been fond of barbarian races.” I sighed. “In Murim, I never stopped until every barbarian within my territory was slain. Of course, the children were spared and re-educated to become good people. This is but a simulation, so I sadly cannot enlighten you.”

“RAAAAH!”

The Devil General roared, lifting a huge bone axe and leaping into the skies. His legs unleashed bursts of red flames, which he used to maneuver in the air. Interesting.

“I will give you a swift end.”

I summoned my Yin and Yang Blade and swung it vertically; only a single slicing attack was all I needed. A wave of darkness and light descended, cutting through the Devil General’s entire body and disintegrating it. The rest of his bodyguards had a swift end as well, disappearing before they could feel any pain.

“Death is the only mercy I can offer to barbarians.” I sheathed my sword as I looked around. 

Every villager was safe, the village was saved as well, and all Devils were slain. Yet the scenario had not ended yet. I looked down, quickly flying towards the church of the village. I entered rapidly, ignoring the trembling dog and cat-faced people.

“The statue…”

I looked at the statue of what appeared to be their Goddess, a chimeric being made of many animal parts combined together, yet it still had the shape of a beautiful woman, a mother, with a big belly, perhaps signifying pregnancy, and large breasts and wide hips. Despite most of the people here being mammals, she had the face of a reptile.

[The Statue of the Tower Goddess {Mother Of All Beasts} blesses you with her strength to save her people.]

[You have received a temporary buff: {Devil Slayer}: Increases Attack against Devils by +300%, ignores 50% of their defenses. Duration: 10 Minutes.]

“Oh… Was I supposed to use this to…?” I wondered, feeling like laughing right now. “My bad, I suppose. I’ll take the blessing anyway. Thank you.”

I left the church; the scenario was not done yet either. I quickly moved to another place, underground, right below the village. I broke through to find something rather horrid. There were dozens of Devil women and children chained, trembling, some about to die.

“So that’s how it is…” I sighed. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions so fast, huh? Well, it’s not like it can't be fixed. They died just recently, right? Even if vaporized,"

“{Primordial River of Time Arts}: {Regression}”

I channeled some dews of Primordial Essence into my Inner Realm, where a Primordial Heavenly Treasure of the Murim World, named the Primordial River of Time, was flowing. I had stolen only half of this treasure because it kept Murim’s world moving forward. Once I channeled its powers, Time itself started to go back, and the areas where all the Devils died began to regress; they revived in an instant.

My Doppelgangers quickly restrained them before they were able to kill any more villagers. And then I freed the Devils below, healed them, and brought them to the surface. The people were shocked at what I was doing; some didn’t know of this, others did.

“Hey! What did you do?! Didn’t you slay the devils?! Why are you freeing those slaves?!”

“Slaves…” I sighed. “I know this is a simulation, but this is getting slightly annoying now. Move aside if you don’t want me to kill you.”

“E-Eek!” The dog-faced nobleman stepped back, angered and frustrated.

It seems the house above these slaves was his. From just a glance, I could tell he was some sort of ruler of this village. The fool kidnapped and enslaved the Devil women and children and then never expected the men to come back for them.

“T-Thank… you.” The Devil General was still trying to process what happened, but the moment he met one of the Devil women and two little children, he quickly hugged them, tears flowing from his eyes.

“No, it’s fine. I’m sorry for killing you without thinking about it twice. A bad habit of Murim, for sure.” I sighed. “I will have to rethink my actions so far. Even as strong as I am, I often commit mistakes. You may go, and please never return to this village.”

“As long as the beast people don’t do anything, we won't come back.” The Devil General nodded, walking away with everyone alive.

And the scenario was finally done. All my surroundings shifted as the people and the devils disappeared, turning into nothing but particles of light. They were indeed never real; I knew from the beginning that they were just projections of Mana.

Ding!

[You have completed the following Requirements for completion]:

[1: Defeat the Devil General: 1/1]

[2: Slay a minimum of 20 Devils: 20/20]

[3: Rescue at least 30 Villagers: 30/30]

[4: Receive the Blessing of the Beast Goddess: 1/1]

[5: Find the Devil Slaves and uncover the true reason behind the Devil Attack: 1/1]

[6: Send the Devils back home with their families: 1/1] (Never seen before!)

[Time spent: 12 Minutes.]

[You have completed the Tutorial Second Trial!]

"There are quite a lot of tricky requirements. It is certainly a Trial made for someone powerful.” I smiled. “Though, I feel rather interested now! Are all the Trials on the Tower’s floors going to be as interesting as this? I am beginning to feel rather curious now.”

[Well done! You have passed the Tutorial’s Second Trial!]

[Rewards will be administered once you complete all three trials.]

[You have been automatically healed of all your injuries, and your Mana has been fully restored.]

[Please enter the Gate for the third and last Trial of the Tutorial.]

A gate opened in front of me, spiraling slowly as it glowed with a bright blue light. I stepped forward without any time to lose, finding myself in an open field. A wasteland of only stone and rocks. In front of me, there was another gate, a blue portal that slowly turned red, then black. Something from within was coming.

Ding!

[You have entered the Tutorial's third and final Trial: {Surpass your Limits}!]

[To end the Tutorial, the Player must showcase their potential to the Tower Gods and surpass their limits. The Tower is a place where anybody can become powerful with hard work and temperance.]

[You must defeat the foe in front of you with all your strength. It is a foe specially designed to fight you—someone that might even be similar to you but that will, without doubt, try to kill you.]

The gate slowly opened further as someone stepped out. It was a man, a simple human male. With short and shabby-looking black hair and bright blue eyes, he was rather muscular but not overly bulky. Slightly tall, but not too tall. He was wearing a suit of medieval clothes and silver-colored armor, holding a magic, golden sword in his hands.

He immediately looked at me, and I could feel an immense amount of Mana surging from him. It wasn’t endless, but it was certainly very big, almost comparable to Yanisse’s own Mana reserves. Which I already thought were the largest I’ve ever seen.

“This place… Am I back on Earth? Wait, no! I didn’t want to return!” He muttered, looking rather shocked. “Who sent me here? The Saintess? But she’s my obedient slave! Who else then?”

Back to Earth? Wait, is this man…?

[To complete the Third Trial of the Tutorial, slay the [Returner (??? Rank)]!]

[Once it is confirmed that you have slain the monster, you will be able to complete the Tutorial and receive all accumulated rewards.]

“Monster?” I wondered. “How amusing… Yes, I am from Earth. And you seem to be trapped inside the Tutorial, son.”

“Tutorial? What are you talking about?” He asked me with sharp eyes, full of doubt. He slowly approached me, his Aura of Mana folding around his body as protective armor. “Wait, aren’t you cute? I was just done fucking my harem, and I was suddenly sent here… I guess I can just go back and forth now?”

“…Excuse me?” I asked.

“Nah, not like I need to explain anything else. You’re cute; you want to become my wife too?” He asked me out of the blue. “Don’t worry, I’m going to take good care of you.” 

The moment he realized I was beautiful, he easily lowered his guard, and his Aura receded almost completely. Instead, he had a disgusting expression on his face. His eyes only looked at me as some sort of object to pleasure himself.

“…”

“Nothing to say? I guess you’re baffled about my Mana. Heh, everyone’s always surprised.” He laughed. “Since I got sent into that world, I’ve been finally living the life I wanted. Free from my job, free from society. I even lost my virginity to my cute beast girl slave.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah! You’re so hot, actually; can I grab your tits?” He stretched his hands towards me.

However, the moment he was about to touch me, a blast of rainbow lightning blew up both of his hands, blood splattering everywhere.

“E-Eh?”

His eyes opened wide as he moved as quickly as possible before my sword was about to cut him apart. I glared at him; his arms suddenly began growing back up as he conjured a potent healing spell.

“I was feeling a bit bad about you, but it seems I was completely wrong. You’re just another bastard, the same type of man I’ve killed many times.” I smiled. “For daring to offend a great primordial such as myself, the only thing you deserve is an agonizing death.”

“W-What the fuck are you talking about?! I’ve never met such a powerful woman before…” He cried. “Y-You damn slut! I’m going to cut you down and then rape the shit out of you to show you who’s boss here!” While screaming like a pathetic teenager, despite being way past his thirties, he leaped towards me. “I can’t wait to see your face once you get pregnant with my seed! HAHAHAH!”

A flurry of powerful spells descended upon my body—explosions of divine flames, black lightning, crimson winds, swords made of ice, and even summoned spirit familiars to all elements—constantly attacking me.

Yet they couldn’t even get past my Immortal Intent Aura.

“Very flashy, but dull.”

“W-Wha…? Are you immune to magic or something?! Then…”

He suddenly smiled wickedly, unsheathing his divine magic sword and pointing it at me. A sudden surge of tremendous quantities of mana and other energies surged from within.

“How about this?!”

SLAAASH!

The wave of light cut through any stone or rock in the vicinity, making the floor collapse. Yet when it reached me, I didn’t even need to use my sword to parry it; I used one of my fingers. His face was distorted in utter disbelief once his attack was completely negated.

CLASH!

“W-What?!”

“You seem to have landed in a much weaker, safer world than the one I landed in. In a world where your high quantity of mana makes you their king, you abused the people there, and you have done terrible things to them, it appears. By merely looking at how you act and talk, you’ve never met someone stronger than you.”

“What are you talking about? I am the strongest! I am the strongest Isekai protagonist! I am the main character!”

He was completely insane. A flurry of powerful attacks was unleashed against me, magic and sword techniques combining into endless explosions of elemental colors. Yet, there was absolutely nothing to fear; he was weak.

“You’re only feeding me with your Mana.” I laughed. “I appreciate it, but I have to be honest. You’re completely insane.”

I walked right in front of him, his eyes full of shock, but then he smiled.

“Hah… Hahaha, yeah. I get it now; it’s an illusion of sorts, right? I am dreaming or something. Must be Lilith giving me another weird dream as usual, that Succubus really likes pranking me.” 

He was becoming delusional. But I couldn’t pity a man like him.

"Okay, Lilith, enough! I get it! Just get me out! I’ll fuck you three times today just so you can shut up.”

I grabbed his sword and shattered it into pieces with my bare hand. I absorbed all the Mana inside of the sword; it was a nice amount.

“This is not an illusion.”

“E-Eh?”

“This is real, and you’re going to die now.”

“What? No…! I killed the Demon King; I am Arcadia’s strongest!”

“Maybe, but not the strongest outside of Arcadia.”

I grabbed one of his arms and then tore it apart from his body. The pain that came with it quickly made him realize this was indeed not a dream. When I vaporized his hands before, it seemed like it was so fast that he didn’t feel enough pain.

“AAARRGH!”

He fell to his knees, his eyes full of disbelief.

“Let me see what you’ve done.”

I touched his forehead, peeking through his memories, only to find absolutely disgusting things. Rape, pillaging, killing nobles that offered him a helping hand, destroying the Demon Kingdom, which was actually peaceful. And even more, because he was tired of people, he later burned the same kingdom that summoned him there to the ground without even sparing children. Even though they offered to return him to Earth as a reward.

“I don’t want to return, idiots! This is my Isekai life; I’m living here! I’ll be here forever. I am your new ruler! Hahaha!”

“Without a doubt, you’re a monster fitting of living in Murim as a despicable Demonic Cultivator.”

I sliced his other arm as he continuously screamed, imploring me to stop. I drained him of all his Mana, so he couldn’t do anything but see as I cut his body into pieces bit by bit. This was a method of torture I often used against irremediable and corrupt demonic cultivators, so they would learn and taste the pain of all those they had wronged and killed.

“Do you feel it now, young man? The pain? The agony of all those you’ve wronged. It is now all over your body. Pain, agony, and blood. Do you understand that you were never perfect? That you were merely a speck of dust in the universe? You should have been a good person instead; you should have at the very least attempted to continue being a decent human being.” I sighed. "Yet, what did you do once you gained power? You killed innocents; you raped; you pillaged; you did as you pleased.”

“P-Please wait! I did it because I didn’t have any other option! I-I was scared, okay?!”

“And because you were scared you brainwashed, tortured, and raped girls all the time? Oh, how scared you were!”

“Y-YOU…! YOU FUCKING SLUT!”

He gave a mighty roar of fury, and suddenly, a draconic power surged from within. His bloodline boiled in the last moment; his body started transforming into a half-dragon being, rapidly regenerating all the damage I dealt. Oh, so he’s that kind of fighter.

“I will kill you with the power of my Divine Black Dragon Bloodline! I still have this; I almost forgot! HAHAHAHA!”

“Interesting transformation, but aside from being flashy, it doesn’t make much of a difference.”

SLASH!

As he laughed loudly, I slashed through his entire body again with my sword this time. His gigantic, over a hundred-meter-tall dragon body fell into pieces, splattering blood and flesh over the wasteland’s floor.

“E-Eh?”

His head fell from the skies as I quickly stomped over it. I kept only his head alive, constantly injecting it with life force, so he could see as I slowly started to shatter his skull under the pressure of my weight. I can imagine the pain was unbearable. 

“P-Please wait! Don’t kill me! I don’t want to die yet!”

CRACK!

Slowly, I shattered his skull and crushed his brain. 

Crack, crack…!

“I haven’t even fucked enough girls! WAIT!”

Slowly, very slowly, until he finally…

“PLEASEEEE!”

His brains exploded out of his gigantic, draconic skull.

CRASH!

The Returner’s body didn’t turn into particles of light as I imagined; blood splattered everywhere. I sighed in relief. Well, this was just a normal day back in Murim. Almost every day I was slaying an immortal that attempted to catch me, kill me, or enslave me because I was a beautiful woman.

“I didn’t even ask his name... Oh well, may you rest in peace.”

I gave a silent prayer as I stored his body inside my Inner Realm. I will analyze his magic abilities and dragon bloodline later. I could use him to create a new weapon, or maybe armor for my mother and sister.

Ding!

[Congratulations! You have passed the Tutorial’s Third Trial!]

[You have completed the {Infernal+++} Difficulty Tutorial, and you will now receive the best rewards available from the Tutorial. Use these rewards to begin your climbing of the Tower!]

[You have received the following Tutorial Rewards: [Divine Healing Elixir (S Grade)] x5 [Divine Mana Elixir (S Grade)] x5 [Gold Weapon Ticket (S Grade)] x1 [Gold Armor Ticket (S Grade) x1 [Gold Accessory Ticket (S Grade)] x1 [Random Skill Book (S Grade)] x1 [Classless Skill Slot +1 Ticket (S Grade)] x1 [Magic Skill Slot +1 Ticket (S Grade)] x1 [Legendary Monster Pet Egg (S Grade)] x1!]

[You can now choose a Class once you enter the Tower’s First Floor!]

[The Tower Gods are full of utter amusement and disbelief over your strength.]

[The Tower God {Spawn Of The Abyssal Chaos} can’t believe his Avatar was unable to kill you!]

[He’s now screaming and sobbing in frustration that the Avatar he spent so many resources on rising in that fantasy world has now become mere fodder to you.]

[The Tower Gods that hate {Spawn Of The Abyssal Chaos} smile happily at you, nodding in approbation.]

[They have sponsored: 100.000 Credits and [Golden System Gachapon (S Grade)] x10!]

“Oh, well, thank you for the generosity. And I got many rewards. I hope some of these items are slightly useful.” I smiled. “I didn’t know I could earn Credits this way. I should check that Credit Shop later.”

As I inspected what I earned, a new portal appeared in front of me, leading me to the Tower’s First Floor. I stepped forward, finding myself in the middle of a medieval European city, bustling with all kinds of people of all shapes and sizes. Mostly a lot of humans. But I also noticed the Devils from before, the beast people, elves, orcs, and dwarves.

[Welcome to the Tower’s First Floor: {The City Of Beginnings: Nexus}!]

[To be able to reach the Second Floor, you must first register as an Adventurer in the Adventurer’s Guild, and complete Ten Missions, with a minimum Rank of D!]

[Once the ten missions are completed, you will gain access to the Tower’s Second Floor and rewards based on the level of difficulty of such Missions.]

[Note: You can choose your Class and open your Level Cap in the {Divine Shrine of the Gods of the Tower}, situated at the center of the city.]

“How simple…” I yawned. “Oh well, here we are! I suppose you two can come out.”

I let my mother and my sister walk out of the Inner Realm; they’ve been inside my Golden Palace, petting the Golden Fluffballs, a bunch of little creatures I keep that clean the palace for me.

“Phew, you’re finally done? I was tired of petting those things.” My mother sighed. “Hey, we’re here! So this is Nexus, Katherine. You’ll like this place. The Adventurer Guild is a really nice place. A bit rough around the edges, but it's still nice.”

“Ugh, what with these system notifications?!” Ruby groaned as I noticed she was getting swarmed with them. “It says... Error, and then that I completed the Tutorial? But I didn’t do anything?”

“Let me see…” 

[Congratulations, you’ve completed the… ERROR]

[ERROR, unregistered Tutorial Completion.]

[You have completed the Trial of the Tutorial- ERROR.]

[Congratulations! You have completed the Tutorial’s Trials.]

[ERROR]

[The {Administrator: Clide} has decided to handwave things as usual.]

[Your Tutorial Completion will be counted as the same one Player Bing Xue completed because you were technically with her.]

[The Gods of the Tower are growing rather annoyed that you and your sister are getting so many special treatments.]

[You have received the Tutorial Completion Rewards…]

Suddenly, a bunch of items materialized in front of Ruby without her doing a single thing. She received the same things I did! Hahaha, this was hilarious.

“E-Eeeeh?! Is this okay?! I have so much good stuff! Wait, why did I get an egg?”

A lot of people started staring at our rewards in awe. I suppose S Grade items are not even a thing on the Tower’s first floor.

“For now, we should go find a safer place with some privacy. Follow me. I know of an Inn with a big room.”

My mother led us through the treacherous city, and I admired every corner of it in awe.

Of course, some suspicious figures began following us as well.

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