Take It, It's Yours

"My axe!" Meng Jingzhou shouted in the illusion, scrambling to go down and retrieve it.

The River Spirit lifted three axes and appeared on the surface of the river.

"Young child, you..."

Splash—

Before the River Spirit could finish, Meng Jingzhou dove headfirst into the river with a splash, blowing bubbles so huge they were bigger than he was.

What was going on?

The River Spirit was dumbfounded. This was the first time he'd ever encountered anything like this.

The bubbles gradually dwindled until they vanished. The river's surface was terrifyingly still. Only the aura emanating from the River Spirit stirred ripples in circles beneath his feet.

"Why's there no movement? Did he drown?" the River Spirit muttered. He wasn't too worried that Meng Jingzhou had actually drowned. This was an illusion; nobody could drown here.

Before the River Spirit could figure out what Meng Jingzhou was trying to do, another strange turn of events unfolded!

Ripples spread across the river more and more frequently. The River Spirit frowned slightly. He had his power under perfect control; the ripples shouldn't have been caused by his aura.

He realized what was happening. "It's that brat who jumped in!"

Golden wisps began to mingle with the stream. A trace of immortal aura rose from the river's mist, as though some dreadful terror were gestating beneath the riverbed!

The unknown terror sent a shiver through the soul!

Three fountains erupted from the river, soaring higher and higher and spraying pale golden mist across the entire surface. For a moment, the River Spirit couldn't see what was happening.

A wind from nowhere blew the pale golden mist away.

Three figures appeared. All looked like Meng Jingzhou, but their auras had undergone a transformation so vast it was no exaggeration to call it heaven and earth turned upside down.

The River Spirit trembled. It was an instinctive response, rising from the depths of his soul!

Ordinary mortal Meng Jingzhou, mighty cultivator Meng Jingzhou, and... immortal Meng Jingzhou!

This was the illusion's fundamental rule: when a mortal object fell into the river, it would undergo three transformations—mortal, spirit, and immortal.

"Hand them over!" the three Meng Jingzhous said in unison, taking the axes that belonged to them.

With immortal Meng Jingzhou there, the River Spirit was powerless to fight back. He could only let him do as he pleased.

Immortal Meng Jingzhou took the immortal weapon Heaven-Opening Axe. Mighty cultivator Meng Jingzhou took the spirit weapon Mountain-Opening Axe. The mortal Meng Jingzhou threw his weight around, taking advantage of the River Spirit's confusion to grab the old, battered axe.

With all three axes in hand, the illusion shattered, and Meng Jingzhou passed the trial.

Those who passed the second trial would temporarily fall unconscious. It was the body's self-protection mechanism.

The Ask Dao Sect's people stared at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who had passed the second trial, and fell silent for a long time.

Weren't they supposed to be honest, simple fellows?

Yun Zhi said nothing. She had a feeling that if these two joined the Ask Dao Sect, the sect would never know peace again.

She hoped her intuition was wrong.

The real River Spirit appeared, holding a gold axe and a silver axe, and charged furiously at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

As the Ask Dao Sect's guardian spirit, he had never suffered such a grievous humiliation.

"Don't hold me back! I'm going to teach these two little brats a lesson today. I'll break both their arms and legs, then put them back on!"

Seeing this, the Ask Dao Sect disciples hurried to restrain the enraged River Spirit.

"Senior River Spirit, you can't chop them up!"

"Senior River Spirit, please calm down!"

"If anything happens to the people taking the trials, word will get out and the Ask Dao Sect's reputation will be ruined!"

In the end, Dai Bufan stepped in and stopped the raging River Spirit.

"Don't worry, Senior River Spirit. I, Dai Bufan, designed the third trial myself. It'll definitely teach those two a lesson."

Only after seeing Dai Bufan promise it with such confidence did the River Spirit finally relent.

As the grand finale, the third trial had two possible designs. One was Yun Zhi's suggestion, which was relatively gentle; the other was Dai Bufan's, which was a little cruel. Both could test one's Dao heart. After everyone voted, they unanimously chose Yun Zhi's plan.

Yun Zhi's plan was too gentle. Even if they failed, there would be no punishment. To appease the River Spirit's fury, they had no choice but to use Dai Bufan's plan.

Yun Zhi didn't have any objections.

It would do these two little fellows good to suffer a bit.

The second trial had eliminated a large number of people. Faced with the temptation of the three axes, many followed their desires and lied to the River Spirit, claiming the axes they had dropped were Heaven-Opening Axe and Mountain-Opening Axe.

After being eliminated and leaving the illusion, they all complained that the Ask Dao Sect's second trial was too difficult.

But not everyone complained that the second trial was too difficult. Those who passed it, for example, didn't complain.

"The second trial was pretty easy," Man Gu said. "All you had to do was tell the truth."

The people waiting for the third trial nodded. They all agreed with Man Gu.

"What? So we weren't supposed to jump into the river and snatch the axes from the River Spirit?" Meng Jingzhou shouted. Why had everyone else done it differently?

Lu Yang shot Meng Jingzhou a look, thinking he was really stupid. "If the River Spirit wasn't an illusion and actually existed, wouldn't that mean you'd provoked him?"

"You should've done what I did: asked for the River Spirit's axes and thrown them all into the river. Then all three would count as having been dropped by us."

Meng Jingzhou suddenly understood. "You're still the clever one."

The others silently watched Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou share their experiences, beginning to wonder if they had passed the trial the wrong way.

Man Gu nodded slightly. He remembered his father saying that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe had nearly gone extinct because of their arrogance and lack of learning. As their descendants, they had to overcome that weakness and humbly learn from others.

Man Gu felt he had found someone worth learning from.

Just as everyone was discussing the right way to pass the trial, Yun Zhi, Dai Bufan, and the other Ask Dao Sect disciples appeared.

A faint smile played at the corner of Dai Bufan's mouth. He flipped his palm, and a mountain the size of his hand appeared. The mountain grew in the wind, reaching a height of a hundred zhang in just a few breaths.

The crowd murmured in amazement. Even among cultivators, this was a rare feat.

Trees covered the mountain, lush and green, making it indistinguishable from a real mountain. A long flight of steps climbed one side, leading straight to the summit.

"This is called Heart-Questioning Mountain. It's a wondrous artifact I asked an elder to refine. On Heart-Questioning Mountain, immortals and mortals stand as equals. Your task is to climb it. The higher you get, the more steadfast your will."

"Reach the fiftieth step, and you'll pass."

Someone raised a question. "Wouldn't that give Man Gu an advantage?"

Fifteen-year-old Man Gu had the physique of a twenty-five- or twenty-six-year-old. He stood a head taller than the others, giving him an advantage on the climb. His strides were long, each step covering as much ground as two of theirs.

Dai Bufan smiled. "No need to worry about that. Heart-Questioning Mountain will bring everyone's physical abilities to the same level. Mortal or cultivator, once you're inside my Heart-Questioning Mountain, you'll all become mortals."

"Is there a time limit?" someone else asked.

"No."

Everyone was delighted. Without a time limit, didn't that mean they could keep trying? Surely they'd be able to pass the third trial sooner or later.

Was this third trial just a formality?

"Can we use magic treasures?" They had special magic treasures bestowed by their families, which could be used without spiritual energy. They were a powerful advantage.

Dai Bufan smiled with a hint of schadenfreude. "You can."

If the magic treasures still worked, that was.