The Wrong Path

The atmosphere inside the main hall was solemn.

"This final path of life and death is... the recognition of the Star Tower as its master!" Perhaps seeing that Lu Yan'an remained silent for a moment without questioning this path of life and death, Pu Ti slowly spoke to itself. Although it spoke these words expressionlessly, the heaviness in its tone was so palpable that even Lu Yan'an, an outsider, could feel it.

"Teacher is unparalleled in the universe when it comes to forging powerful treasures. The Universe Supreme Being each have their own strongest methods. Perhaps in other methods, Teacher is not as good as the Giant Axe Founder in the Hong Alliance. But in forging treasures, he is absolutely the strongest." As if recalling something, Pu Ti recounted the story in detail.

"However, the vast universe and endless worlds contain many secrets and peculiarities. Even the strongest beings in the universe dare not claim to know everything. This Star Tower... was created by my teacher under special and dangerous circumstances, by chance. When it was nearing completion, a golden ray of light from the universe was accidentally incorporated into it... Thus, the Star Tower we see today came into being, which also makes it somewhat different from my teacher's original design."

"Teacher, he has his own Supreme Treasure; he doesn't need the Star Tower."

"But Teacher has discovered... that finding another master for the Star Tower, and getting the Star Tower to recognize its master, is extremely difficult," Pu Ti said. "The Star Tower... is already one of the strongest Supreme Treasure in the universe, almost on par with Teacher's own Supreme Treasure, and the requirements for recognizing a master are even more stringent."

Pu Ti looked down at Lu Yan'an: "Perhaps it's because of that golden light that the stronger the candidate's soul, the more terrifying the recognition of the master becomes. A long time ago, my teacher searched for tens of thousands of powerful individuals in the universe, from World Lord to Immortals and Universe Venerable, to experiment on them... All of these tens of thousands of selected powerful individuals perished."

"Through the experiment, the teacher determined that..."

"The greatest test of recognizing God is the heart and the will!"

"That's why the teacher guided and nurtured the Yuan Planet lineage, the lineage that has made the most rapid progress in spiritual development," Pu Ti said. "If Feng Yunruo is now World Lord, he still has hope of success. If he fails, then who knows how many more Years it will take before we see the third leader of your Yuan Planet lineage."

As she spoke, Pu Ti turned her gaze to Lu Yan'an: "I originally thought that the teacher had called you here to give you the opportunity to recognize the Supreme True Treasure, the Star Tower, as your master! But I didn't expect that you would break through to the Universe Venerable in such a short time."

"World Lord and Immortals still have a chance to be recognized as masters. But once one's realm reaches the level of Universe Venerable, there is not even the slightest possibility."

"Once the process of the Star Tower recognizing its master begins, no one can stop it."

"If it fails."

"The will of the one who accepts the master will completely collapse, the soul will completely disintegrate, and death is inevitable," Pu Ti solemnly stated.

Pu Ti's words did help Lu Yan'an clarify some of his doubts, but he didn't mention anything about Feng Yunruo's situation or why the Zuoshanke wanted to see him.

Just as Lu Yan'an was about to ask further questions, Pu Ti spoke up as if she had guessed something, saying, "I've already told you everything I know. The rest you'll have to wait for Teacher Zuoshanke to tell you himself."

"When will Senior Zuoshanke arrive?" Lu Yan'an asked.

Upon hearing Lu Yan'an's question, Pu Ti didn't answer immediately. Instead, it turned to look at a figure behind it before continuing, "Our teacher should arrive after this round of life-and-death inheritance is over, right? The first candidate persisted for 2600 years before perishing, and now Feng Yunruo has persisted for 3000 years! I hope he can succeed; the Star Tower's recognition of its master is just too difficult."

"3000 years? I remember that in the original story, the second candidate lasted for 3300 years before he perished. That means, according to normal logic, this Senior Brother Feng Yunruo can last for another 300 years?" Lu Yan'an.

An eerie silence fell over the main hall...

Pu Ti sat cross-legged in the main hall, his purple beard hanging down. Looking at Feng Yunruo, who sat cross-legged with a calm expression but trembling body, he sighed silently, "Being the leader of the Yuan Planet lineage isn't easy. I hope you, the second candidate, will succeed."

The "Crystal Bead," one of the core components of the Star Tower, slowly merged with Feng Yunruo's soul. Although the fusion was extremely slow, the pain level soared as the degree of fusion gradually increased!

One year, two years, three years... ten years, one hundred years, two hundred years...

Two hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye.

For the past two hundred years, the two people in the main hall have been watching the figure merging with the Tower Pearl with tense eyes. For Pu Ti, this was already the first major hurdle in 2600 years, and now every day is setting a new record, so this situation naturally requires attention.

Lu Yan'an, however, was different. Although he had received many favors from this nominal senior brother, the two actually had no interaction. He was more concerned about the year 3300. The original story stated that this nominal senior brother, despite possessing the third level of mental cultivation—the ability to encompass all things—only lasted for 3300 Years. He wanted to know if this predetermined ending could be changed!

Inside the grand hall, surrounded by numerous Zhenfeng Star, Pu Ti sat cross-legged, looking down at Feng Yunruo, whose body was covered in sweat and blood. In such excruciating pain, even beads of blood seeped out, and Feng Yunruo trembled all over, yet his expression remained remarkably calm, as if he were not suffering at all. The contrast between his physical condition and his expression was stark; as he absorbed this pain that felt like the destruction of his soul, he seemed to have become a part of this suffering himself.

"The previous candidate persisted for 2,600 years."

"Both were exceptionally outstanding elites and peerless figures of the Yuan Planet lineage. In terms of their circumstances, the first candidate was slightly better off than Feng Yunruo, possessing a 'Heart of the Innocent heart,' yet he perished after 2600 years. Feng Yunruo, on the other hand, crawled out of the wilderness, with fewer opportunities and more hardships, yet his heart reached the point of 'encompassing all things,' and he too ultimately perished."

"Counting back to the Shanhai Realm era, the Yuan Planet lineage has produced many individuals with profound mental cultivation. There are countless individuals at the first level, many at the second level, and quite a few at the third level as well."

Pu Ti sighed inwardly.

According to Zuoshanke, the three levels of mindset in Yuan Planet are not inherently superior or inferior; they actually represent three paths.

" To Clear Heart Seeing Nature and point directly to one's original heart" means to firmly believe in one's own heart and to be strong in one's own eyes, recognizing oneself as the strongest! No matter what one encounters, one must firmly believe in oneself and never waver. However, this path is also the most difficult, requiring one to rely solely on one's own inner self without seeking external help.

"The harmony of Yin and Heart of the Innocent, the heart of a child," a Heart of the Innocent, the Unity of Heaven and Man.

Such people can inspire the admiration and trust of countless individuals, making it difficult for anyone to hate them. They see through the hearts of millions of ordinary people and are historically known as "saints."

"The heart embraces everything, embraces the universe," and they have a greater belief in the vastness of the universe. They believe that they alone cannot transcend everything outside. They are not content with simply accepting their fate and becoming one with heaven and earth. What they want to do is to embrace, to embrace everything.

Such a strong person has a very big heart.

They possess boundless ambition and a terrifyingly unwavering conviction.

Three paths to success and fame.

The third path is the strongest, the second path is next, and the first path is the most difficult.

But in essence, they all lead to the same goal, only they adhere to different paths. What's the point of arguing about who is superior or inferior?

2900, 3000, 3100, 3200...

As the year 3300, the time for his demise, drew near, Lu Yan'an, observing Feng Yunruo's trembling state as if she were about to perish at any moment, and combining this with Pu Ti's analysis in the original work, gradually came to understand a principle.

The oppressive pain brought by the soul's recognition of its master increases more and more frequently. The power that bursts forth from the mind can never match the eternal, ever-increasing "excruciating pain." As long as the fusion continues, the soul-tearing pain will keep rising and will never stop. Even if one embraces all the pain, or even becomes a part of this pain, the problem is that this is not a mental pain, but the Crystal Bead is truly merging with the soul. This is not an illusion, but something that is really happening!

Perhaps the second or third path can push the soul to its limit, unaffected by pain. However, if the soul does not resist this pain, it cannot arouse the pressure of willpower and consciousness. Therefore, it is impossible to push willpower and consciousness to its limit, so that quantitative change leads to qualitative change, and then enters a positive cycle of leaping willpower and consciousness.

Essentially, this path of non-resistance and tolerance of suffering is wrong! When something is wrong from the very beginning, how can you expect it to achieve the right result? From the very start, Feng Yunruo was destined to be unable to break free from this predetermined fate, and he was destined to be nothing more than a pitiful worm manipulated by destiny!

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