Endless Illusions

Things were no longer as they had once been.

No matter whether the changes on the Heart-Refining Path spelled fortune or disaster, the area for dozens of miles around it had been placed under tight guard.

Disciples patrolled everywhere, and several inner sect elders had even stationed themselves here directly.

As for the ordinary disciples, their masters had issued them strict orders. This place had been designated a forbidden ground by the sect master; without permission, they were absolutely not to approach it on their own.

Otherwise, they would face severe punishment under the sect rules. In serious cases, their cultivation might even be crippled, and they would be expelled from the sect outright.

Perhaps it was precisely because the sect treated the matter as if facing a great enemy that the disciples had grown so curious.

Thus, while no one was foolish enough to set foot here, all sorts of rumors were inevitable.

Yet Lin Xiaoyao had come.

First, he was curious about what exactly had happened to the Heart-Refining Path.

After all, the Feathering Sect was now where he had put down roots. He could sign in here and live a very comfortable life.

So Lin Xiaoyao cared greatly about the sect's safety.

He feared that if the Feathering Sect encountered some great calamity, his plan to lie low here until he attained Saint-level cultivation before emerging into the world would be affected as well.

Since it concerned his own vital interests, naturally he could not simply ignore it.

Yet he was merely a newcomer disciple who had entered the sect only a year and two months ago, and no one in the sect valued him in the slightest.

In order to remain an unnoticed little nobody, he did not even have a single friend. Under such circumstances, where was he supposed to inquire after reliable information?

Though he had heard plenty of rumors along the way, the various accounts were an utter mess, contradicting one another. Lin Xiaoyao possessed too little information to make any analysis.

After considering it again and again, he could only come here himself.

After all, hearing was false while seeing was believing. Rather than follow the crowd and eavesdrop on unreliable gossip, it was better to go to the Heart-Refining Path himself and confirm things.

As for whether doing so might expose his identity?

Lin Xiaoyao had no such concern.

He had already made inquiries. The several inner sect elders stationed at the Heart-Refining Path were only in the Spirit Transformation Realm. Though their realms appeared somewhat higher than his on the surface—

—in truth, to him, who possessed the Saint Fruit Position, such a difference in realm was not worth mentioning.

Calling them ants might have been a little excessive.

But they certainly could not pose him any threat or have any effect on him.

Otherwise, if he did not possess absolute confidence, how could someone as cautious and careful as Lin Xiaoyao be willing to take such a risk?

Because there was no danger at all.

And indeed, that was the case.

All along the way,

he moved as though on level ground.

Forget the ordinary disciples on patrol—even the inner sect elders stationed here remained utterly unaware of Lin Xiaoyao's arrival.

Even when Lin Xiaoyao was not far from them, the elders, whose divine senses constantly swept the surroundings, failed to notice the slightest trace of him.

It was as though he truly were transparent air.

And so, without incident and with utter ease, Lin Xiaoyao arrived at the entrance to the heavily guarded Heart-Refining Path.

Looking at the cave before him, he saw that the defenses here were even tighter.

Not only were two late-stage Spirit Transformation elders stationed here, but the cave entrance was also sealed beneath a curtain of light.

Do not underestimate that seemingly ordinary light curtain.

It was actually linked to the core of the sect-protecting grand formation. Its defensive functions had been removed, and the freed capacity was instead used to strengthen its warning effects.

With such an arrangement, even someone of immense ability who wished to force their way inside could never do so without anyone knowing.

No matter how miraculous your invisibility technique or aura-concealing art might be, nor whatever other divine abilities or treasures you possessed, you could not enter the Heart-Refining Path without being discovered.

After all, the two late-stage Spirit Transformation elders sat on either side of the cave entrance. Though they appeared to be meditating, their divine senses continuously scanned the area around them.

Such an arrangement could be called foolproof!

Yet Lin Xiaoyao still moved as though on level ground.

He had not even used any aura-concealing or stealth technique, yet his entire body seemed to melt into the air.

That was the benefit brought by the Saint Fruit Position.

Though his cultivation was still low, far from the point where he could wield the laws of heaven and earth, the endless laws themselves would automatically draw close to him and submit.

He still could not command them, but using them to carry out a few minor tricks was easy enough.

For example, deceiving the spiritual senses and eyes and ears of the two late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators before him.

For a cultivator whose cultivation was comparable to his own, this would have been pure fantasy. But for Lin Xiaoyao, it was as simple as eating and drinking.

"Too weak."

He shook his head and walked toward the light curtain right in front of them.

This light-curtain restriction was linked to the core of the sect-protecting grand formation. In theory, even a being with far greater cultivation would find it difficult to break in, yet Lin Xiaoyao walked through with effortless ease, and the light curtain did not react in the slightest.

Thus, the heavily guarded back mountain seemed completely undefended to Lin Xiaoyao.

He entered the cave.

It led deep underground, to the so-called Heart-Refining Path.

No one knew exactly how long it was.

For even the sect master, Ancestor Tongxuan—the True Person whose realm was second only to Great Vehicle Realm cultivators—had not reached the end of the Heart-Refining Path.

There were even rumors that the ancestral masters of old had left behind a warning.

Though the Heart-Refining Path could temper one's Dao Heart and elevate a disciple's state of mind, one must never venture too deeply or walk to its end, for immense danger awaited there.

Yet what that danger was remained vaguely described. Or perhaps the warning had explained it clearly, but such secrets were simply beyond the reach of an ordinary disciple like Lin Xiaoyao.

Lin Xiaoyao had not gone far before he encountered the legendary endless illusions.

Mountains of blades and seas of fire blocked his path. Though they were illusions, one could experience excruciatingly realistic pain within them.

Even Nascent Soul Realm cultivators might not be able to withstand it. Liang Xiaotian truly had been somewhat rash to come here for training.

Yet Lin Xiaoyao's expression remained calm as he stepped into them without a care.

Mountains of blades and seas of fire lay beneath his feet and surrounded him, yet he seemed not to feel the slightest pain. He even commented, "It really is quite realistic."

Lin Xiaoyao continued onward, and the scenery changed again. For a thousand miles, the land was frozen solid. The frigid wind howled, while goose-feather snowflakes were sharp as blades. An ordinary cultivator would likely feel a chill even in their soul, yet Lin Xiaoyao remained wholly unaffected.

Saints grasped the Three Thousand Great Daos and endless laws, discerned the highest truths, and understood the essence of three thousand worlds. How could a mere illusion possibly affect him in the slightest? Would that not be the joke of the ages?

As he continued forward, the illusions constantly shifted, growing ever more real and ever more terrifying. Yet he remained as he always was, his pace unaffected in the slightest.

"Hmm?"

Lin Xiaoyao suddenly stopped, as though he had spotted something interesting, and muttered to himself, "Now this is somewhat interesting."