Perfectly Avoiding Them All

After landing safely, Jun Xuehan recalled his martial soul, the Silver Dragon Spear. He shook out his slightly aching arms and swept his gaze over the surroundings.

With every breath, pink mist entered his body. A faint floral fragrance filled his nostrils, his mind seemed to grow dizzy, and the scene before him rapidly changed.

The canyon that had been filled with pink mist vanished. In its place was a scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Blood had gathered into small rivers that flowed continuously, staining the earth crimson, while the air was thick with an overwhelmingly pungent stench of blood.

As far as the eye could see, corpses and bones lay everywhere, as though some earth-shattering battle had taken place here.

Atop the highest mountain of corpses stood an enormous stone stele, stained dark red by blood. Four large words were carved upon it: Eternally Suppressing the Nine Hells.

At the very top of the stele sat a youth who appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen. He wore Black Reverse Scale Armor, his head lowered as long black hair drifted in the wind. In his hand was a black spear broken into two pieces.

A black dragon, its entire body pitch-black and its scales gleaming with a faint radiance, coiled around the stele. Its eyes were shut as it silently guarded the youth.

Jun Xuehan looked at the scene before him with utter calmness in his eyes. As if speaking to himself, he said, "An illusion? The final trial is just an illusion?"

Mental Power spread from his body as he prepared to break free from the illusion and pass the trial in the barren mountains. Yet Jun Xuehan suddenly discovered that he could not escape this illusion at all.

It was not as though Jun Xuehan had never encountered illusions in the Training Camp before. As long as he used his Mental Power, he could easily break free from them. Yet he was unable to leave this one.

At some point, the youth sitting atop the stone stele raised his head and quietly looked at Jun Xuehan with silver eyes. When the youth lifted his head, the black dragon guarding him also opened its eyes and swept its gaze around the area.

When the black dragon looked at the youth, its eyes held endless sorrow. But when it looked at Jun Xuehan, that sorrow turned into a faint longing.

Jun Xuehan stared at the youth's face, astonishment appearing in his eyes. This person looked seventy percent like him. Moreover, when their eyes met, he even had the illusion that he was looking at himself.

"Star Dou Great Forest!" The youth uttered several words, and the surrounding scene shattered inch by inch like a mirror before disappearing.

Jun Xuehan opened his eyes, looked at the familiar canyon around him, and directly headed toward the iron gate. For the moment, he was unsure whether what he had just seen had been an illusion. If it had been one, then it had felt far too real. But if it had not been an illusion, Jun Xuehan could clearly sense that it was one.

"Star Dou Great Forest... It seems I'll need to take a look at the Star Dou Great Forest when I have the time." Jun Xuehan let out a long breath and suppressed the thoughts in his heart.

The instructor seated before the iron gate looked at Jun Xuehan walking straight toward him, surprise appearing in his eyes. "It's only been five minutes. How did you get out of the illusion?"

Hearing the instructor's question, Jun Xuehan said blandly, "I just came out. How else would I come out?"

The instructor raised an eyebrow. Jun Xuehan's answer was practically no answer at all.

But the instructor did not mind. Instead, he knocked on the iron gate behind him and said, "Jie Kaer, your student is out. He took nearly two days less than the Golden Generation did back then."

A rumbling sound rang out as the enormous iron gate opened, revealing Jie Kaer behind it.

Jie Kaer looked at Jun Xuehan approaching without the slightest surprise. With a light laugh, he said, "Old man, I told you that illusion couldn't stump him. Heh, remember to get me some of your Pink Mist."

The instructor sitting in the Wicker Chair nodded lightly. "Fine, I'll get you some later. But I told you back then not to place obstacles only on the main path. You should have put some on the other paths too, but you just wouldn't listen."

Jie Kaer waved a hand dismissively. "None of the students in this batch have martial souls that can fly. The cliffs on both sides of the canyon are hundreds of meters high. Even if they take the other paths, they'll still have to circle back to the main path. What, do you expect them to jump down?"

The instructor smiled. "Jie Kaer, ask him how he got here."

Jie Kaer looked at Jun Xuehan suspiciously. "How did you get here?"

Jun Xuehan pointed to the place he had jumped down from and said slowly, "I jumped down from there."

Jie Kaer followed the direction of Jun Xuehan's finger, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "You brat, you really are something. You perfectly avoided every obstacle. Forget it. No matter what, you've passed this trial. Come back with me and rest."

With that, Jie Kaer turned around and led Jun Xuehan out through the iron gate.

After the two passed through the gate, it slowly closed behind them.

Outside the iron gate, several carriages were waiting. After the two entered one of the carriage compartments, it headed toward the Training Camp.

Inside the carriage, Jie Kaer slowly said, "What a pity. With your personality, you can't experience the joys of Pink Mist."

Hearing Jie Kaer's words, Jun Xuehan asked softly, "What do you mean? What joy can that pink mist bring?"

Jie Kaer smiled. "Inhaling Pink Mist creates an illusion. In the illusion, you can be with the person you like... Forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Jun Xuehan merely glanced at Jie Kaer, then closed his eyes and entered a state of Meditative Cultivation.

Although Jie Kaer had not finished speaking, Jun Xuehan understood everything he needed to understand. There was no need for a detailed explanation.

Moreover, he was completely certain that the illusion he had entered in the canyon had basically nothing to do with the Pink Mist. Even if there was some connection, it was not much.

Jie Kaer was already used to it. During the year Jun Xuehan had spent in the Training Camp, he had been like this almost constantly. Other than training, resting, and cultivating, Jie Kaer had hardly ever seen him do anything that wasted time.

Without the students training, the Training Camp seemed very quiet. There was hardly anyone to be seen in the square, though soldiers outside the Training Camp still carried out their routine patrols around the area.

After returning to the Training Camp, Jun Xuehan stepped out of the carriage and returned to his dormitory. After taking a comfortable bath, he sat on his bed and began Meditative Cultivation.