To Live is the Only Divine Ability

The night on Golden Ao Island had never been so silent.

In days past, the air rang with celestial music and the thunder of Dao techniques clashing, disciples either debating loudly or drinking and singing at the top of their lungs—a scene of immortal prosperity. Today, utter stillness reigned. Only the wind sobbed through the mountain forests, like the wail of a Primordial Spirit being torn apart. Tens of thousands of cave dwellings had not a single lamp lit.

Every disciple who had endured the Cycle Mirror's trial curled up on their own meditation mat, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. When they closed their eyes, they saw the ten thousand beams of the Golden Light Array. They saw the bone-eating venom of the Red Water Array. They saw Old Ancestor Minghe's blood-colored Sword Qi—utterly unreasonable, utterly unstoppable. The shadow of death had become the deepest nightmare, pressing down on every heart.

The Divine Abilities they had once prided themselves on, the Dao hearts they had thought unbreakable—all had been ground to dust in those hundreds of real death experiences. No one slept.

The next day, at the faint break of dawn, when the assembly bell rang, tens of thousands of disciples were already standing silently on the Martial Arts Arena. It was completely different from yesterday's laziness and resistance. Today's Martial Arts Arena was deathly still. Every face was pale, every eye sunken, as if all their vitality had been drained away. They stared at the massive Cycle Mirror on the high platform, their gazes filled with bone-deep terror.

Chen Changsheng walked slowly up to the platform. Behind him, Daoist Duobao and Zhao Gongming stood solemn as iron towers. "It seems all of you fellow disciples rested quite well last night," Chen Changsheng said, his voice very calm. No one dared to answer. "Then today's lesson continues."

The moment he finished speaking, a suppressed stir ran through the crowd below; many people swayed on their feet. Zhao Gongming stepped forward, unrolled the roster, and said in an icy voice, "Those who did not complete the 'Hundred Deaths Achievement' yesterday—first batch, Enter the Mirror!"

This time, the disciples whose names were called did not hesitate for a moment, nor did they utter a single word of complaint. Like puppets on strings, numb and despairing, they walked toward that bronze mirror. The mirror's light flickered, and the Killing Tribulation began anew. On the Martial Arts Arena, the same brutal cycle of death from yesterday played out again.

But this time, everyone noticed a difference. The disciples inside the mirror no longer tried to force their way through or break the Ten Absolute Arrays. They began using every unimaginable method to dodge, to hide.

One disciple, the instant he was teleported before the array, used all his mana to dig a deep pit at his feet, buried himself inside, and sealed away his entire aura with a spell. Three breaths later. The Earth Blazing Array activated; Red Sand swept through, scraping off three feet of topsoil, and that disciple silently turned to dust. [Slain.]

Another disciple offered up a robe that could mimic mountain stone, pressed himself against a giant boulder, and did not move an inch. The next moment. The Gale Wind of the Wind Roar Array howled past; the boulder and he together were blown into powder scattering through the sky. [Slain.]

Someone else tried to play dead, lying on the ground and letting the Sha Qi erode him. In the end, a patrolling Yin Soldier stepped on his head and crushed it. [Slain.]

Attempt after attempt, failure after failure. Death after death, restart after restart. The atmosphere on the Martial Arts Arena was crushed to the breaking point. But gradually, in the eyes of the watching disciples, besides fear, something else began to appear. It was thought.

They were frantically analyzing every cause of failure within the mirror, mentally simulating ten thousand possibilities for survival.

"No, he shouldn't have dodged left—that's the blind spot of the Golden Light Array, but he'd get swept by the Cold Ice Array's residual force."

"Digging a pit is an idea, but he dug too shallow and didn't set up any isolation formations."

"Playing dead is useless; those Yin Soldiers have no consciousness—they only clear out anything alive."

Unbeknownst to them, the entire thought process of the Jie Sect disciples was undergoing a earth-shattering transformation.

From "how to defeat the enemy" to "how to survive."

Just then, the image within the mirror locked onto an utterly unremarkable Outer Sect Disciple.

This man was named Wang Youcai—mediocre in cultivation, mediocre in artifacts, the kind among tens of thousands of disciples who would vanish into a crowd.

After entering the mirror, he made no superfluous moves.

He simply, at the first moment, sprinted in the direction opposite the Ten Ultimate Arrays.

He didn't run fast, and his posture was utterly clumsy, stumbling and rolling.

Everyone wore expressions of confusion.

This space was sealed—where could he possibly run to?

Wang Youcai paid no heed to the towering Sha Qi behind him; he stared fixedly ahead, as if searching for something.

Finally, he threw himself before a jagged cliff face.

At the base of that cliff was a natural crack barely half a foot wide.

A burst of ecstatic light flared in Wang Youcai's eyes.

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Without a moment's hesitation, he activated the Bone Shrinking Technique, forcibly wedging himself into that crack.

Then, from his bosom, he pulled out a pitch-black stone, blocked the opening, sealed the gaps with mud, and finally circulated the most basic Turtle Breath technique, completely cutting off his own aura.

He finished all of this in less than ten breaths.

And by then, the killing intent of the Ten Ultimate Arrays had only just begun to spread.

Time trickled by, drop by drop.

One incense stick.

Two incense sticks.

Half a Shichen.

On the mirror's surface, the corner where Wang Youcai had hidden remained utterly still, as if it were just an ordinary rock.

But on the Martial Arts Arena, the breath of tens of thousands of disciples had long since stopped.

They stared fixedly at that corner, hearts pounding wildly.

Did it work?

He really... dodged it?

How is that possible!

In a Killing Tribulation laid down by a sage, he survived by relying on a dog hole?

This was practically a trampling of all their Dao hearts and dignity!

On the high platform, Zhao Gongming's mouth twitched as he looked at Chen Changsheng.

"Dao Protector, this... this actually works?"

Chen Changsheng did not reply; he merely watched quietly.

Finally, when a full Shichen had passed within the mirror.

A grand voice resounded through the mirror world.

[Trial ended, one survivor.]

The mirror's surface flashed with light, and Wang Youcai's mud-smeared, disheveled figure was ejected, tumbling to the ground.

He was still somewhat dazed, not knowing what had happened.

And the entire Martial Arts Arena, after enduring a full Shichen of dead silence, erupted.

"He survived! He really survived!"

"Heavens! A full Shichen! Senior Sister Yu couldn't even last three breaths under Old Ancestor Minghe!"

"So that's... that's how it's done! Why did we have to charge the arrays! Why did we have to go die!"

One disciple suddenly slapped himself, his face filled with regret and fervor.

In that moment, a brand-new Dao, named "Cowering," spread like a virus through the hearts of every Jie Sect disciple.

What invincible Divine Abilities?

What heaven-reaching artifacts?

In the face of death, even a dog hole to hide in is better than nothing!

Wang Youcai was startled by the earth-shattering roar of voices. He stood up in a daze, looking at the gazes from the inner sect senior brothers around him—mixed with shock, admiration, and even fanaticism—and was at a loss for a moment.

"Wang Youcai."

From atop the high platform, Chen Changsheng's voice came.

Wang Youcai's body jolted, and he quickly knelt down.

"Disciple is here!"

"You... did well."

Chen Changsheng nodded. He was very satisfied with this result.

He looked at Daoist Duobao beside him.

Daoist Duobao understood his intent. Taking a step forward, he announced in a clear voice.

"Outer Sect Disciple Wang Youcai, within the Myriad Tribulations Samsara Mirror, successfully survived for one shichen, opening up an entirely new line of thought for all disciples."

"By special permission of the Dao Protector, a reward!"

He waved his hand.

Two treasures, flowing with light and color, flew out from his sleeve and hovered before Wang Youcai.

One was a dharma robe as thin as a cicada's wing, nearly transparent.

The other was a jade talisman of earthy yellow.

"This is the 'Invisibility Immortal Robe,' a High-grade Houtian Spiritual Treasure. It can conceal your form and block detection!"

"This is the 'Ten Thousand Mile Earth Escape Talisman.' Once crushed, it will randomly teleport you ten thousand miles away!"

Daoist Duobao's voice rang out across the entire venue.

"These two treasures were both recently refined by our Calamity Aversion Department, specially designed for... preserving life!"

The crowd erupted completely.

Everyone's eyes turned red.

They looked at those two artifacts, then at Wang Youcai, who was completely unharmed, and their breathing became heavy.

So surviving really did come with a reward!

And such precious life-preserving items at that!

At this moment, the last shred of pride belonging to "disciples of the Jie Sect" in every disciple's heart completely collapsed.

In its place was an unprecedented desire to "stay alive."

"Dao Protector! Disciple requests to Enter the Mirror now!"

"I want to go too! Isn't it just dying a hundred times? For the Invisibility Immortal Robe, I'd die a thousand times willingly!"

"Don't fight me for it—that dog hole is mine!"

The scene instantly shifted from desperate wailing to frantic competition.

Looking down at the faces twisted with excitement below, a faint smile finally appeared on Chen Changsheng's calm face.

The Jie Sect, that great ship riddled with holes, had finally been forcibly steered onto a new course by him.

But then.

Just as this unprecedented wave of "Dao of Survival" learning enthusiasm was reaching its peak on Golden Ao Island...

Above the Nine Heavens, the wind and clouds suddenly changed.