Chapter 41

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Chapter 41

The first challenge of the illusion is a solo trial. The formation captures the memories of the entrants and uncovers their deepest fears, filtering out those who are not worthy to inherit.

The path of cultivation is a long, dull, and difficult journey, and the path of the sword is the same. Even those with a natural talent for swordsmanship are not born with deep skills in it.

A cultivator with a sword bone can learn thousands of sword techniques more easily than others and discover their unique sword intent. The potential of a sword disciple is much higher than those with ordinary talent.

However, to become strong, one must practice swinging the sword thousands, no, millions of times.

No matter what kind of sword path it is, whether it is the Heartless Tao or the Path of Slaughter, the timid and weak believe they cannot succeed on the path they choose.

In just a short time of less than fifteen minutes, many cultivators who entered the Sword King Palace found no treasures and failed in the secret realm, being ruthlessly kicked out.

When they tried to come back in, they discovered an invisible barrier in front of them. No matter what skill they used, they could not break through.

Some cultivators who arrived later laughed and said, "Don’t waste your effort; this means you have no connection to the Sword God’s legacy. While you still can, hurry and go find other opportunities before you get kicked out of the secret realm."

The cultivator who was kicked out right away was not entirely unfortunate; there were some traps and hidden dangers in this palace that were not so gentle. They could directly take the lives of those who entered without permission.

While some cultivators were still struggling in the illusion, outside the secret realm, in the Soul Hall of some sects, the Soul Lamps belonging to young disciples quietly went out, one after another.

Compared to the cultivators who previously died in the wave of demon beasts or those who perished in traps, disappearing without a trace and leaving no soul behind, these cultivators were quite lucky.

On Yun Chuyou’s side, the first level of the individual illusion tested the challenger’s courage, creating scenes from their deepest fears, making them think of what they feared the most.

She realized something was off almost as soon as she saw the illusion because it was built from the memories of her past life.

Outside the window were tall buildings and busy traffic, while inside was a warm and familiar room, with the air conditioning blowing cool air.

What a nostalgic and lively scene! She had spent over a decade in the cultivation world and nearly thought she had forgotten such liveliness.

A jarring alarm suddenly rang out in the space, and her mother burst in angrily, questioning loudly, "Why are you still not up?! Don’t you remember? Today’s your college entrance exam! You’re already late!"

Yun Chuyou had two very smooth lives. In this life, when she first arrived in the cultivation world, she was still a bit dazed. The first face she saw upon opening her eyes was the breathtaking beauty of Xie Fuzhi.

Although the battlefield was very old and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood, those things had nothing to do with her.

She was wrapped in a cloak and suddenly taken away by her beautiful master, brought all the way to Qingxu Sect, and then began her life as the first disciple of Qingxu Sect.

In her memories, she felt no fear of the bloody smell of monsters because the warmth of the cloak filled her senses with a lovely scent. The cloak wrapped around her tiny six-year-old body, keeping her warm, soft, and fragrant.

So, in the world of cultivation, she didn’t have many things to fear. The greatest fear in her life was the scene today: the college entrance exam! But she overslept, missing the most important exam of her life.

Facing her angry mother, Yun Chuyou stood frozen in place, watching until her eyes turned red, almost crying.

She knew this was an illusion, yet she still felt attached and said nothing, wanting to see this familiar face a little longer.

"Alright, alright, how can you cry? I want to cry too! Hurry up and go take the exam!"

Yun Chuyou stood in her own room but didn’t take a step forward. Instead, she sniffed and spoke softly yet calmly, "Mom, don’t forget, I’ve already gone to college; the college entrance exam is in the past."

Failing the college entrance exam was indeed frightening. She used to dream of returning to the exam room, but after years in college, she had long forgotten all the knowledge and felt completely blank facing the exam paper, filled with anxiety.

Then he would wake up scared from such a dream, and once he was awake, he remembered: she is already a university student; the college entrance exam is long over, so what is there to be afraid of?

As Yun Chuyou’s words fell, the scene before her began to shatter; she had successfully escaped this illusion.

If she could meet the creator of the illusion, Yun Chuyou genuinely wanted to give them some advice: since they are creating an illusion, they should not mix all the memories together when reading them.

The mother in today’s society was wearing clothes from the world of cultivation, with her hair adorned in a very complicated style, even having a uniquely designed golden hairpin.

Her mother loved beauty, but she preferred to wear cheongsams instead of ancient costumes. The glass cabinet by the wall did not display cartoon character figurines but various elegant clay figurines instead.

Looking outside the window, there were even people flying around, standing on flying swords or magical tools, while cars with four wheels on the road were tied to beautiful spirit horses.

There were so many mismatched elements that she simply couldn’t trick herself into believing she had returned to the modern world.

She only allowed herself a brief moment of indulgence, and quickly broke free from that illusion.

After escaping the illusion, Yun Chuyou saw her younger martial brothers and sisters not far away.

To be precise, in the Qingxu Sect, only Zhong Wei and Hu Xiaobai seemed to be in pain, while Meng He even looked a bit excited, and Yu Jiu had a slight smile on his face. However, this smile was not the simple, happy kind usually seen, which made Yun Chuyou feel a little creeped out.

"Yuzu, what did you see in the illusion just now?" Xie Qi, who came out around the same time as Yun Chuyou, might have escaped the illusion even faster than she did.

Yun Chuyou pressed her lips together. She didn’t plan to share her memories of another world with anyone, but she could express some of it with careful words, "I dreamed that I was taking a very important test, but I ran out of time and missed it."

Xie Qi looked a bit surprised. "It sounds like Yuzu, you are a very hardworking person, and your greatest fear is that studying won’t go well?"

The scenes created by the illusion are made up of events from each person’s memories, with a touch of artistic creation, and they amplify the emotions of those experiencing the illusion.

Xie Fuzhi had died too many times and easily escaped this illusion. To be precise, his soul was too powerful; even a small part of it made this simple illusion useless to him. The way he broke free was very simple: he unleashed a bit of Phoenix fire, and everything burned away cleanly.

He wondered why he had never set any strange tests to challenge Chuyou, yet the other person seemed to fear exams the most.

Xie Fuzhi was sure that when he first met her, Yun Chuyou was just a naive little girl.

Could it be that what she feared most in her mind was his tests on her? That wouldn’t do. Although Yun Chuyou had successfully broken free from the illusion using her own abilities, what if she was left with a psychological scar? He didn’t want to become a master who frightened his treasured student.

He quickly asked, "Did you dream about your master? Is he very fierce to you?"

Yun Chuyou shook her head, "It is not my master’s test."

Whenever she mentioned her master, she always spoke highly of him, with a softer tone. "My master is wonderful and very gentle, not fierce at all."

Although Xie Fuzhi could be unreliable and sometimes strange, his overall image in Yun Chuyou’s heart was indeed very gentle.

As soon as she said this, she saw Xie Qi’s lips curl up uncontrollably, unable to hide his joy.

?? Why was Xie Qi so happy when she praised her master?

She had never heard the name Xie Qi from Xie Fuzhi; however, she had heard of the Tianyuan Sect Supreme Elder and the born sword bone.

She replied, "Do you know my master well?"

Because she had always suspected that the other person was Xie Fuzhi’s illegitimate child, she was afraid to touch on any sad topics and rarely mentioned Xie Fuzhi in front of Xie Qi.

But now it seems that I must have misunderstood something; Xie Qi seems to admire Xie Fuzhi very much.

However, this does not mean her guess is certainly wrong; in this world, most children greatly respect their fathers, and hearing others praise their fathers would surely make them feel proud.

Xie Qi cleared his throat and pretended to be modest, saying, "Well, not exactly, but if he can teach someone like you, he must be a remarkable person."

Yun Chuyou heard someone scream in pain and instinctively looked over. They were the first group to enter the small door, but not the only group, which meant that there were others who also fell into the illusion, the other cultivators who entered afterward too.

Some had come late and hadn’t broken free yet, but from the looks on their faces, they could escape the illusion at any moment.

Some were quite special, like the Buddha Child, who was one of the main characters. He walked in and suddenly radiated a golden light; his expression didn’t change at all, and it looked like he instantly saw through the illusion.

However, Yun Chuyou knew that he had practiced a special Buddhist secret technique, which could automatically resist most illusions. Shi Rujing hadn’t seen through it; he hadn’t fallen into the illusion at all.

Some people’s expressions twisted dramatically, and their bodies suddenly disappeared right in front of Yun Chuyou.

Could this illusion be dangerous, where people could die if they couldn’t escape? She couldn’t help but feel anxious and quickly shook her little younger martial sister, who looked in pain. She didn’t know if the younger sister could hear her, but she couldn’t just let her drown in fear, "Zhong Wei, wake up, those things are not real."

With the help of external forces, Zhong Wei woke up from her dream. The reason she became a cruel character was because her heart was weak and sensitive, making her thoughts easily twist. For a moment, she was lost in a fantasy, tightly held down by her old nightmares.

The little girl in the red dress fell into Yun Chuyou’s arms like a burst of fire. Smelling the calming scent of green bamboo, her heart that was racing slowly steadied, "Senior martial sister, I’m so scared."

"If you are this scared, you should go out sooner."

Meng He had woken up by this time, and he looked very excited, "What is there to be afraid of? Just take a knife and chop them!"

His method to break the illusion was very simple. He just chopped away with a knife, and when that wasn’t enough, he threw the knife and used his fists instead.

Yun Chuyou twitched her mouth; it’s a good thing this illusion kept everyone who was caught standing still. Otherwise, with Meng He’s excitement, swinging punches left and right, he would have knocked everyone around him down.

Zhong Wei said, "Even though I’m scared, when I think of my senior martial sister and hear her voice, I find my courage again and am no longer afraid of anything."

Zhong Wei’s fearful image was of being tied up and sold. At that time, she had no strength at all; she was just a weak little girl. In the illusion, she forgot about her powers and feared a terrifying future.

The vehicle did not crash like in reality; instead, it followed the original plan and reached the destination where she was sold to a brothel. Seeing the girls in the building and thinking about her miserable future, she felt genuine fear from the bottom of her heart.

But when she was in pain and uneasy, suddenly a familiar and gentle voice came. A beautiful fairy, dressed in blue, descended from the sky. Zhong Wei, whose memory was hidden by the illusion, exclaimed, "Senior martial sister!"

She remembered everything, set a great fire, and burned the brothel that bred evil. This illusion naturally shattered.

"Alright, I only said a few words and didn’t really help. Younger martial sister managed to break free by her own strength."

If a cultivator cannot break free at all, they would be like those few cultivators who just disappeared.

At this moment, Yu Jiu also regained his senses, "Now, besides the little younger martial sister, everyone here is at Golden Core Stage."

Twenty-seven people entered through that small door, but now only twenty-one people remain.

Meng He curiously asked, "What happened to those Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators? Are they dead?"

Xie Qi said, "They were just transported out by the secret realm. After all, those who cannot overcome what they fear do not qualify to receive the Sword God’s legacy."

The place where the small door was located was a closed room. There was a shelf here, holding the Sword God’s ancient treasures.

A disciple of the Tianheng Sect immediately reached out to touch the treasures, but as soon as their finger brushed against the items, they turned into a cloud of dust before they could even find out what they were.

The disciple quickly apologized to their senior brother, Lan Fang, "Brother Lan Fang, I didn’t put it away, and it just disappeared!"

He swore that he truly was not trying to trick anyone or take the treasures for himself.

Shi Rujing recited a line of Buddhist scripture, "These treasures are just illusions."

Sure enough, after the Tianheng Sect disciple left, the treasures that had disappeared returned to the shelf.

"We can’t take any of these items; this Sword God is so stingy!"

Meng He complained openly, and upon hearing this, Song Mingzhu looked over with curiosity, her face lighting up with a brilliant smile, obviously finding Meng He’s words amusing.

A spark of curiosity grew in Song Mingzhu’s heart; she felt a special connection with the beautiful older sister Yun Chuyou and found their sect very interesting.

Ye Xuanye said they belonged to the Qingxu Sect. Before this, Song Mingzhu had never heard of Qingxu Sect, but she knew Yun Chuyou was a nascent soul cultivator, and there were several Golden Core Stage cultivators around her, all seemingly quite young.

So young and already so skilled, the Qingxu Sect must be quite powerful.

Meng He scratched his head as he looked at the female lead. He wanted to argue with her. Why was she smiling? Wasn’t what he said just the truth? That old Sword God was so petty.

But for some reason, when he saw that cute smiling face, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything mean.

This kind of girl clearly had never faced much hardship. If he said a few harsh words, she would definitely turn into a little crying bundle.

Tsk, imagining that scene in his mind, Meng He actually felt quite pleased, but the other person was a disciple of Tianheng Sect and seemed quite favored in her sect.

People like that shouldn’t be messed with, or it would bring trouble to the sect. Xie Fuzhi, who could take the blame, was outside the secret realm, and he didn’t want to cause any trouble for the senior martial sister leading the team.

After repeating the rules so many times, they finally had some effect. Meng He bit his lip with his little tiger teeth, managing to hold back the urge inside him.

Well, considering his senior martial sister, Meng He decided to be magnanimous and not argue with a yellow-haired girl who hadn’t even grown up yet.

There wasn’t much in the small room; the only mechanism, once activated, opened the same door.

This time, Yun Chuyou did not move, and Song Mingzhu did not move either. The two cultivators from Hehuan Sect were still lost in the illusion and had not come out.

Shi Rujing smiled slightly, "I will go ahead."

If it were that kind of illusion, he would have no fear, but after entering the door, Shi Rujing regretted it.

Behind the door was still an illusion, but this time the illusion was completely different in power from the previous one.

The previous illusion read and blurred their memories, creating their greatest fears, with harm only at a mental level.

But this illusion was different; it made the people trapped in it become someone from a script. They had memories, but all their Spirit Qi could not be used, and the so-called Mirror Breaking Secret Technique was completely ineffective.

Yun Chuyou searched the small room again and determined that there was no second door and no other way, so she led the team into the small door they had just seen.

As soon as she stepped through the door, the scene around her changed immediately. A palace maid wearing traditional clothing came up to her, waving a handkerchief, her voice sharp and thin, sounding quite strange, "Your Majesty!"